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1
Mar

#Fantasy Snuff by Terry Pratchett

 

Finished: 28.02.2019
Genre: fantasy
Rating: B+

Conclusion:

  1. Commander Vimes is persuaded by his wife, Lady Sybil
  2. and Lord Vetinari (boss) to take a family holiday.
  3. They go back to Sybil’s roots in the countryside.
  4. Comic relief: Wilikins, Vimes’s thug-turned-butler, accompanies them.
  5. As Vimes arrives in the countryside he senses crime.
  6. “Where there are little crimes, large crimes are not far behind”
  7. Commander Vimes, pg 169)
  8. Pratchett, though diagnosed in 2007 with dementia,
  9. penned a number of sizable pieces while living with the disease.
  10. He said only his spelling and typing were affected
  11. …..he still had the
  12. words to write 5 more Discworld novels.
  13. Snuff was great fun to read.
  14. I haven’t laughed out loud while reading…in a long time.
  15. I’d love to visit “the therapeutic baths at Ham-on-Rye” (pg 25)!

 

Last thoughts:

  • I would recommend using an audio book.
  • Through the voices the story and the
  • quirky characters come alive!

 

25
Feb

#Classic: Hamlet

 

Quickscan:

  1. Lovers:  Ophelia and Hamlet
  2. Focus: revenge – the obsession to avenge can drive one mad
  3. Family issue: Uncle kills Hamlet’s father and marries his mother (yikes!)
  4. Plot twist: ghost of King Hamlet wants revenge. Triggers entire play!
  5. Hook: Ghost in Act 1…all acts end with cliffhangers!!
  6. Genre:  Revenge play
  7. Pivotal acts:  Act 3 and Act 5
  8. Soliloquies:  7 spoken by Hamlet
  9. Tragic flaw Hamlet: overthinks everything! “To be or not to be…” (Act 3, 1)
  10. Villian: Claudius manipulative, ruthless
  11. Ophelia: weak character compared to Desdamona!
  12. Minor character who plays major role: Laertes
  13. Symbol: poison (weapon, manipulation and madness)
  14. Motif: spying (eavesdropping) to seek truth)
  15. Spies: Hamlet, Horatio, Reynaldo, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, King Claudius
  16. Victims: Queen, King, Ophelia, Hamlet, Laertes
  17. Shakespeare’s statement: “What a piece of work is man!” (Act 2, 2)
  18. Setting:  Elsinore Castle, Danish coast, graveyard
  19. Major themes:  revenge, madness. death. appearance vs reality
  20. Minor themes:  ambition, corruption
  21. …”Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”  (Act 1, 4)
  22. Body count: 9
  23. King Hamlet (before play starts)
  24. Queen Gertrude
  25. King Claudius
  26. Polonius
  27. Rosencrantz
  28. Guildenstern
  29. Ophelia
  30. Laertes
  31. Hamlet
  32. The only main character left
  33. …standing at the end is Horatio,
  34. …who is usually seen sitting on the ground,
  35. …cradling Hamlet’s corpse.
  36. So technically, he’s not standing.
    1 drowning
    2 beheadings
    1 simple stabbing
    2 simple poisonings and
    3 aggravated stabbings (poisoned blade/some poison)
  37. Now that’s what I call a tragedy!

 

Trend:   Theme: illusion vs reality

  1. In Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello and Hamlet
  2. ….Shakespeare uses this theme to drive the plot.
  3. I will be looking at other plays by WS to see if he repeats this theme.
  4. Midsummer Night’s Dream: play-in-play (illusion)….is also used in Hamlet
  5. Othello: it appears Desdemona is having an affair ( lost handkerchief)…she is not.
  6. Hamlet: it appears Hamlet is in a legitimate duel…he is not, sword is poison tipped
  7. Hamlet: Claudius appears to be praying on his knees…he is not.
  8. Hamlet: Claudius must appear to be guiltless in death of Hamlet…he is not.
  9. Hamlet: Killing Hamlet must appear to be an accident….it is not, it is premeditated

 

Last thoughts:

  1. I have been avoiding this play for years
  2. …too difficult, complex plot.
  3. Finally I can strike this play off my Bucket List!
  4. I ordered the Kenneth Branagh’s film  Hamlet (1996)
  5. It is the only version that includes the complete text
  6. …nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
  7. …and is 4 hours long.
  8. #GetOutThePopcorn
20
Feb

#Short Story: 28 Tales by Edgar Allan Poe

 

 

Introduction:

  1. After a grueling fitness lesson  to increase my ‘mobility’
  2. that felt more like torture during the Inquisition
  3. I was very happy that I had audio book of  E.A. Poe’s tales.
  4. All I needed to do was lie down, relax and listen.
  5. I read 28 tales….and 1 poem.  I did not read all the letters!
  6. 50% of the 28 stories were good!

 

Conclusion:

  1. I only read 28 stories
  2. …and still have 43 to read to
  3. finish the complete list of Poe’s tales.
  4. I have the highest admiration for Poe’s genius.
  5. With his words  the demon was visible,
  6. insanity palpable and  the reader
  7. …is mesmerized by Poe’s bizarre mind.
  8. Baudelaire  became obsessed with Poe and
  9. who was both is idol and as he saw it his
  10. …American double.
  11. I enjoyed reading/listening to the stories but
  12. feel that some are overrated.
  13. I’m sure Poe got paid ‘by the word’ because at times
  14. he uses 4 adjectives….where one could suffice!
  15. Pit and the Pendulum:
  16. “…with a steady movement, cautious, sidelong, shrinking and slow.”
  17. I read 1 paragraph  summary of ‘The Spectacles’ and the
  18. audio version lasted 1 hour and 13 min!
  19. So you can imagine how
  20. …Poe goes on…and on….and on.

 

Last thoughts:

  1. Edgar Allan Poe was an oddity.
  2. His life was odd, his literature is odd.
  3. He sent a man to the moon 30 years before Jules Verne.
  4. He created the modern detective story.
  5. He destroyed our planet with a comet.
  6. He sent shivers down my spine with the horror stories.
  7. Poe was plagued with many personal issues.
  8. “Poe purchased a couple of ounces of laudanum
  9. …to cure him of the fever called living.”  (Poe-Land, J. W. Ocker)
  10. #Classic

 

  • “The Angel of The Odd” – GOOD
  • “Berenice” – GOOD
  • “The Black Cat” – GOOD
  • “The Cask of Amontillado”
  • “The Maelstrom”
  • “Eleanora” – GOOD
  • “The Facts in the Case Of M. Valdemar”
  • “The House of Usher”
  • “Hop Frog”
  • “Imp of the Perverse” – GOOD
  • “Island of the Fay”
  • “Ligiea” – GOOD
  • “Man of the Crowd”– GOOD
  • “Message in a Bottle”
  • “The Masque of the Red Death”
  • “Mesmeric Revelation”
  • “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” – GOOD…but the ending…far-fetched!
  • “Never Be the Devil Your Head”
  • “The Oval Portrait”
  • “The Pit and the Pendulum” – GOOD
  • “The Premature Burial”
  • “The Purloined Letter”
  • “Silence – A Fable”
  • “Some Words with a Mummy”
  • “The Spectacles” – GOOD
  • “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather” – GOOD
  • “The Tell Tale Heart” – GOOD
  • “William Wilson” – GOOD
  • “The Raven” – GOOD
19
Feb

#Short Story: J. Tiptree jr. …but not her best work!

 

 

19.02.2019 – READ – The Girl Who Was Plugged in

  • This is a ‘Jekyll-and-Hyde story about a female monster.
  • 17 yr ugly girl makes a Faustian bargain.
  • She will be kept in a cabinet strapped with electrodes.
  • She will animate the artifically grown body of a perfect girl
  • …her dream..to be beautiful!.
  • Tiptree submitted this story for publication
  • …but is was REJECTED so many times
  • …she shelved it.

Last thoughts:

  • Now I know why it was refused….it was awful!
  • The story lurches, stumbles is at times painful to read
  • …because I know Tiptree can do better!
  • I read that Alice Shelden (Tiptree)
  • …was a longtime user of Dexedrine (speed).
  • It feels like Tiptree let the drug
  • …push her creative mind a bit too far for this reader!
  • #MonsterOnSpeed

 

18.02.2019 – READ  And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side

  • Title:  is from “La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad”  by John Keats
  • “Frame” POV: unnamed narrator (news reporter) tells the reader about
  • a nameless station engineer at the Orion docking junction who
  • is …telling his story about seductive aliens.
  • Tone: is NOT sentimental….but erotic, lascivious
  • Message: the man  warns reporter that
  • “Man is exogamous…one long drive to find and impregnate the stranger.”
  • In this case…aliens: Procya, Lycran, Sirians, Sellice…
  • This biological drive is where humans are most at risk
  • At risk not from a monster from a star
  • ….but a signal from the human brain stem.
  • #Strange

 

9.04.2018 – READ    The Last Flight of Doctor Ain:  (1969)

  • The story drifts between the past and present.
  • Dr. Ain is on a mission to save the world for a “later race”.
  • Allusions to W.H. Hudson’s novel Green Mansions and
  • the “Gaea Gloriatric“….Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life…
  • are the keys that will unlock the theme in the story.
  • Dr Ain boards his last flight and
  • …no one sees the  moral insanity inside him.
  • Note: After the first reading I was confused.
  • It took a second reading and some note taking to
  • finally appreciate this
  • …classic short story by one of SF   ‘grande dames’.
  • #Readable

 

Last thoughts:

  1. I’ve reviewed 4 of James Tiptree jr.’s short stories.
  2. The Screwfly Solution….was very good,
  3. ..but I may have to read some ‘duds’ before I
  4. finished all the selections.
  5. I’ve included a  Wikipedia link about Alice Sheldon’s life
  6. It was unconventional….and ended in double suicide.
  7. #ReadShortStories

 

 

18
Feb

#Short Story: James Tiptree jr. (SF)

 

 

Conclusion:

  1. The Screwfly Solution (1977 )… the story’s tone was playful and threatening.
  2. POV: told alternately from the perspective of a devoted husband and wife.
  3. The ‘hook’ was the POV of Anne (the wife) in her letters
  4. bubbling with news and love….but later fear
  5. to Alan (husband) in Columbia doing scientific research.
  6. After reading Anne’s letter with the words:
  7. “The quietness is worse, though, it’s like
  8. …something terrible was going on just out of sight.”
  9. I could not put this short story down! 
  10. I even dreamed about it last night! 
  11. The Screwfly Solution is a quick read, and although
  12. …knowing the ending doesn’t remotely spoil it,
  13. …I’m hesitant to spell out too much.
  14. Here is the best description of aliens I’ve ever read:
  15. “…it was big and sparkly, like
  16. …a Christmas tree without the tree.”

 

Last thoughts:

  1. Truly, reading short stories is  most rewarding
  2. ….intense writing
  3. …and instant gratificaton  (reading time 30-45 min)
  4. I’ve included a  Wikipedia link about Alice Sheldon’s life
  5. It was unconventional….and ended in double suicide.
  6. #ReadShortStories

 

17
Feb

#Non-fiction: The American Short Story

Raymond  Carver

William Faulkner  

John Updike

Flannery O’Connnor

 

 

Finished: 17.02.2019
Genre: non-fiction, literary reference
Rating: A


Conclusion:

  1. This was an excellent overview of the American short story!
  2. The short story is no longer the baby brother of the novel.
  3. It is a genre open to experimentation, new ethnic voices and
  4. focuses on the most intense and life-changing experiences.
  5. Raymond Carver kept a 3×5 card on his desk with a quote by
  6. Anton Chekhov:
  7. “ …and suddenly, everything became clear to him…”
  8. This was an expression of the essential short story effect.

 

Last thoughts:

  1. In this digital age with our declining attention spans
  2. …some may consider short stories as
  3. bonbons for lazy readers.
  4. I’ve discovered  genius the day I dared to give up
  5. …on reading novels and read short stories.
  6. Example: The Complete Stories  by Flannery O’Connor.
  7. Invite the coyote into your life!
  8. Invite the short story into your TBR!

 

 

 

16
Feb

#Classic: Beowulf

 

Quickscan

  1. Plot:  Beowulf  relates the adventures of its Scandinavian hero,
  2. at the same time presenting a detailed description of
  3. the life and mood of the age during which it was written.
  4. Epic in a nutshell:
  5. Monster kills human – Grendel kills Danes in Herot
  6. Human kills monster – Beowulf kills Grendel
  7. Monster kills human – Grendel’s mother kills Esher
  8. Human kills monster – Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother
  9. Human and Monster  – kill each other
  10. Motif: quest for personal glory
  11. Major Theme: Good vs Evil…slaying of monsters and dragon
  12. Minor theme: Beowulf’s friendships… with King Hrothgar and Wiglaf (warrior)
  13. Question: Why so swords have names? Heruntling, Nagling

 

Conclusion:

  1. I found the translation
  2. …by Seamus Heaney breathtaking!
  3. Strong point: crystalline alliteration!
  4. line 209:
  5. “…the warrior boarded the boat as captain,
  6. a canny pilot along coast and currents.
  7. Strong point: Heaney taps into his vivid vocabulary
  8. …and his writing  is designed to draw the reader
  9. …effortlessly from page to page through
  10. …this Medieval classic epic poem!
  11. I was not prepared for such an enjoyable read!
  12. But I must advise any reader to gather the
  13. basic story lines by reading a summary (wikipedia)
  14. before reading the poem.
  15. IMO..the story is simple and  not the best
  16. part of the poem.
  17. It is Heaney’s choice of words ...his translation
  18. …that brings Beowulf  life!

 

Last thoughts:

  1. If you are interested in studying Medieval Literature
  2. …Beowulf is a #MustRead
  3. If not…it STILL is a must read!.
  4. Tip: there is a great family tree illustration in this book!
  5. You can’t read this poem without it!
  6. In the film Annie Hall, Diane Keaton confesses to Woody Allen
  7. her interest in attending some college classes.
  8. Allen is supportive, and has this bit of advice:
  9. “Just don’t take any course where you have to read Beowulf.“
  10. I had to laugh when I read that!
  11. I don’t agree with Woody Allen…..
  12. #Classic  for all to enjoy!
14
Feb

#Valentine’s Day 2019

 

Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs (1864)

  1. …is a painting in the National Gallery of Ireland
  2. …by Irish artist Frederic William Burton (1816-1900).
  3. Based on a medieval Danish ballad about the ill-starred love between
  4. Hellelil and her bodyguard, Hildebrand,
  5. …it features the lovers sharing a fleeting moment of intimacy.
  6. Things don’t go well for them.
  7. When her father discovers their attachment he orders
  8. ..that her seven brothers should kill Hildebrand.
  9. But the bodyguard turns out to be a formidable adversary.
  10. He has killed  six of the brothers and Hellelil’s father.
  11. Hellelil  intervenes to save the life of her surviving sibling.
  12. Hildebrand succumbs to his wounds and
  13. …she decides she cannot live without him.
  14. #Breathtaking
11
Feb

#Play: Chimerica

  • Author: Lucy Kirkwood
  • Title: Chimerica
  • Published: 2013
  • List of Challenges
  • Monthly plan
  • List of Plays and theatre links
  • Trivia:
  • Winner, 2014 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
    Winner, 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Play
    Winner, 2013 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play
    Winner, 2014 Critics’ Circle Best New Play Award

 

 

Finished: 11.02.2019
Genre: play
Rating: A

Conclusion:

  1. If you are in a winter ‘reading slump’ read a play!
  2. This award winning work by Lucy Kirkwood is a good place to start.
  3. There was a tank man (see cover), the photo proves it and
  4. Kirkwood has taken a creative leap to tell us who he is…
  5. why he is standing there….and what is in those shopping bags?
  6. A writer’s duty is to the story rather than the facts as they happened.
  7. Kirkwood’s Chimerica  is based  loosely on the
  8. 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
  9. She fictionalized it and retained control of the impressive narrative.
  10. It took Kirkwood 6 years to write this play
  11. …and you can read it is 2,5 hrs.
9
Feb

#Classic: The Mill on the Floss

 

Finished: 09.02.2019
Genre: novel
Rating: C
#AudioBook  19 hr  – narrator Eileen Atkins

 

Conclusion:

  1. This book has been on my TBR since 2010!
  2. I have finally read this auto-biographical classic by G. Eliot.
  3. Spanning over a period of 10 years,
  4. The Mill on the Floss follows the coming of age of the
  5. …beautiful and idealistic Maggie
  6. …as she experiences family tragedy, forbidden love and
  7. the wrath of the English patriarchy.
  8. The 1+2 books were a (too) long exposition of
  9. family and childhood Maggie and brother Tom.
  10. Eliot in part 1 wants to expose the differences between brother and sister.
  11. TOM: “I’d do just the same again.” That was his usual mode of viewing his past actions.
  12. MAGGIE: Maggie was always wishing she had done something different.
  13. TOM: “Yes, you’re silly; but I never do forget things, I don’t.” (holds grudges like his father)
  14. MAGGIE: “I’d forgive you, if you forgot anything–I wouldn’t mind what you did–I’d forgive you…”
  15. TOM: …instinctive discernment of what would turn to his advantage or disadvantage
  16. MAGGIE: rushed to her deeds with passionate impulse.
  17. Theme: forgiveness is the thread throughout the  book
  18. Book 3 – 5 reveals adult loves and friendships
  19. Part 6 – must be one of the longest ‘break-up’s in literature!
  20. Part 7 – the river is the symbol of life and death.
  21. I was impressed by Eliot’s writing but needed
  22. a combination of audio listen and download Gutenberg.org book
  23. ….to keep me reading through long, long (preachy) speeches by Maggie.
  24. #Classic but you have to be committed to finish it!
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