Let’s Fold Scarves

Tagged

I got this from maurinsky:

Here’s the deal:

1. Grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long).
2. Open to p. 123.
3. Go down to the 5th sentence.
4. Type in the following 3 sentences.
5. Tag five people.

“Don’t you get tired of wading in mud and filth? – No, I can’t do that. Y’know it. Especially this coming week, there’s too much to do. I’ve already been away too much.” - Haweswater by Sarah Hall

I tag any five people who have left a comment on this blog.

Posted in Books, Meme | 1 Comment »

What is up with The Guardian?

The Guardian’s blogging editorial policy seems determined to be as divisive as possible regarding gender. The Guardian used to be one of my quick links but recently I removed it because I was fed up with being sucked into a Comment is Free blog full of mutual hatred just because I was looking for some news to read. I still have their arts blogs feeds set up in Netvibes because they are interesting. However, this piece by John Sutherland is mind-bogglingly stupid. He asks whether women can write about war by going on about joysticks and shrivelling balls when he hears a woman’s voice coming from a cockpit and, without irony, uses an article by Pat Buchanan to illustrate a point. (Hang on, maybe, the whole thing is ironic! And maybe it’s meant to be funny!) It is painful to read because of sentences like this

Can a class of writer so institutionally and historically disengaged from a subject write a classic (or even a good) novel on it?

and

Why, with all those “women’s subjects” at her disposal, did Kennedy venture into this most exclusive of manly enclaves?

I shall certainly read Can Jane Eyre Be Happy? and Is Heathcliff a Murderer? in a different light now.

But still, a good thing has come out of it - I actually quite fancy reading Day by AL Kennedy now.

PS Even it is written in humour this type of article is all over The Guardian these days and they are serious.

Posted in Books, Female thinking | No Comments »

I do read books

Literary criticism is hard for me so here is a list of the recently read:

• The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. Stef came in for a hard time because she has never been to Canada and yet wrote a book about the place. I guess she has never been to 1867 either. Stupid, stupid criticism of a moody book which has maybe too many fascinating characters with their all too brief stories. Recommended and I am looking forward to her second book already.
• Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Ah, speculative fiction or sf as it is usually known. Despite Atwood’s lack of commitment to the genre, this is science fiction and very well written too, unlike:
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy which I could not get into due to the liberal chucking around of obscure words. I don’t know how it ends, I returned it to the library.
• Carol (aka The Price of Salt) by Patrica Highsmith. Apparently first published as pulp fiction. What a treat to read pulp this good. Trademark unsympathetic characters but entirely gripping.
• As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann. Slash fiction. Jacob is a pig of a man but I loved reading his story and his love for Ferris. Impeccable Civil War detail. Someone else whose next novel I am looking forward to.
• 1984 by George Orwell. First read at school, I read this every few years and never tire of it. It always seems particularly revelant. He was a genius.
• Observations by Jane Harris. Written in Scots and Northern Irish dialect, this was really easy to get into. However, despite the thrilling feeling that it was going to all Fingersmith on us, it didn’t and just ended poorly. Nice try though.

Posted in Books | 2 Comments »

Incredibly true

Except for the fact it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer that made me spend all that money: this list is the same as mine (except add Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me for Farscape). So Farscape, hmm…

And the early issues of Runaways have made me love Brian K. Vaughan which in turn has led to more spending.

Posted in Books, BtVS, Comics, Dead Like Me, Films, Firefly/Serenity, Television | No Comments »

“We are living in catastrophe”

I have always enjoyed reading the work of Doris Lessing though I do know I haven’t read nearly enough by her. The Children of Violence series notably Martha Quest, A Proper Marriage and A Ripple from The Storm impressed me immensely when I was younger and I did enjoy The Good Terrorist though I fear a lot of the references were beyond me. I remember back in college watching a South Bank Show (tx’d 17/04/1988) featuring her and she talked about how people worry about approaching disaster and menace as if it was just around the corner and she simply pointed out that “we are living in catastrophe”. As we settle into the twentieth first century this is being more apparent as things set in motion decades ago are now really getting weird: bumblebees in January anyone?

Anyway, Doris, has a MySpace account which seems very strange. This is what she has to say on her main site: “I am so happy to be communicating with people on this newest of new wavelengths which to some older people must seem like a kind of magic.”: which is probably true.

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Catching up with a whole new world

When I was a child I used to read The Beano, the Broons and Oor Wullie, and moved on to Tiger and Roy of The Rovers (The Safest Hands in Soccer was my favourite story: initially it was beautifully drawn and it was about a goalkeeper who was Scottish so…bliss) but as I got older I left that all behind except for a brief sojourn as a student to read Maus. In 2005, the tv showing of the film of Ghost World prompted me to get the graphic novel from the library which was absorbing but didn’t enchant me. Andy, who was a collector of Crisis as a younger man, remembered Watchmen so we read and enjoyed that but my interest had still not been excited.

As I have said before Buffy has ruined my life except what I actually meant was that Buffy has improved my life. And one of those improvements has been the encouragement to get further into the world of comics aka graphic novels aka sequential art. And it’s all Amber Benson’s fault and the fact that Ealing Libraries has a healthy collection of Buffy trade paperbacks. I slowly fell in love with Tara on BtVS and with Amber Benson: the more I know about her the more there is to admire.When I realised she had co-written a Buffy comic I had to get it. I liked it well enough but wasn’t that impressed. I have subsequently come to believe that the more sequential art you read the more you appreciate it.

However, it was Amber Benson’s afterword for WannaBlessedBe is the thing that did it for me:

“As someone unexposed to comics, I had no idea that there was such a plethora of genres out there. All I knew was the superhero. I think if I had been turned on to Promethea or Strangers in Paradise as a kid, my whole comic outlook would have been changed. Here are comics that deal with things that appeal to me as a female. As a kid, I could have so related.”

These are the comics I have read so far:

Buffy: The Death of Buffy - various (”Lost and Found” by Fabian Nicieza is excellent)
Buffy: Willow and Tara - various (the Terry Moore illustrated WannaBlessedBe has the classic line “My heart doesn’t stutter” but I thought Tara and Caitlin looked too much alike - in fact, my only criticism of Strangers in Paradise is the sameyness of some of the characters)
The Complete Ballad of Halo Jones - Alan Moore and Ian Gibson (it took a while for me to warm to this but by the time Halo got to Moab, I did not want it to end - the art work is dated which takes a bit of getting used to)

Ghost World – Daniel Clowes (I need to read this and to see the film again - “Ghost World” by Aimee Mann is one of my favourite songs)
Maus - Art Spiegelman (the subject matter is unforgettable but what I remember most distinctly is that Volume 1 just ended and it cost me a lot of money)
The Plot– Will Eisner (the story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion told superbly)
Preacher: Gone to Texas - Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon (oh my word, this is unpleasantly gruesome and, well, graphic - intriguing story but the style is just too much)
Promethea Book One/Two/Three – Alan Moore and J. H. Williams III (this started off brilliantly and then got bogged down in philosophical and metaphysical musing and, quite frankly, by Book Three I was bored - fantastic art work though, it looks gorgeous)
Shadowplay: Demon Father John’s Pinwheel Blues – Amber Benson and Ben Templesmith (this is graphic and gruesome but unlike the traditional look of Preacher it has an arty quality (you can tell I haven’t done art appreciation) which I liked - the story itself is intriguing and tantalizingly brief)

Strangers in Paradise: Pocket Book 1 - Terry Moore (wonderful - worth a post of its own)
Strangers in Paradise: Love Me Tender – Terry Moore (I read this first and I just adored it - apparently I have been Katchoo’d but I do relate more to Francine)
Stuck Rubber Baby – Howard Cruse (I liked this but I couldn’t love it - Toland was too dull)
Watchmen – Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (I need to read this again)

Posted in Amber Benson, Books, Comics, Images, Other people's written work | No Comments »

The Daily Lit update

Okay, I failed miserably with two of my three choices: life is too short to read Bleak House and Notes from The Underground. I am continuing with The Time Machine and have started reading The Woman in White which really is more my Victorian cup of tea.

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The DailyLit

I have to recommend the DailyLit where you can sign up to read short chunks of public domain literature sent to you daily by e-mail. I am signed up to Bleak House (because this is the only way I’ll get through a Dickens novel), The Time Machine (because I like Wells) and Notes from (the) Underground (because it sounded strange - and it is).

A quote from Notes from Underground:

“I am forty years old now, and you know forty years is a whole lifetime; you know it is extreme old age. To live longer than forty years is bad manners, is vulgar, immoral. Who does live beyond forty? Answer that, sincerely and honestly I will tell you who do: fools and worthless fellows.”

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The Alienist

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

I read this because another book, which is on my tbr pile, has been described as this meets Buffy. I don’t usually find the whole “meets” thing very helpful but when I read the blurb for this, I thought it did sound promising.

I was surprised that it wasn’t at all intellectual which for some reason I had expected it to be. In fact, it is a straightforward serial killer novel but set in the 1890s. However, it is the period detail that won me over to the book, I loved Sarah Waters’ Victorian novels for several reasons but not least because I was utterly convinced by the setting and it is the same here.

The early forensic science, the first days of psychiatry, the appalling social conditions, nascent feminism - all added to the chilling atmosphere.

My only gripe was the slightly disappointing ending with too many “just in the nick of the time” moments. My only puzzle is just what we are supposed to make of the extra eyes in the apartment?

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I apologise

but this is so cute and thanks to Londonist for this.

Posted in Books, Images, Misc | No Comments »