Thoughts For Today

Thoughts For Today

I found it hard to read God's Demons by Wayne Barlow. The main problem is that there was a big picture of a demon on the front cover of the book. Somehow, this does not seem like a great image for a book while you are on the subway. Also, it makes references to Milton's Paradise Lost and John Dee. This makes it slightly uncomfortable for me to read. He is using the names of demons as they would appear in alchemical texts from the 16th century which is a bit unsettling. It is an attempt to recreate hell as a fantasy setting.

In a fantasy setting, I would like to have my demons and evil creatures remain completely fantastical. The writing is good. This is something which I think would be better to read in a private setting with plenty of time for contemplation on what you are reading.

I have started reading House of Many Ways by Diana Wynn Jones. This is the sequel to Howl's Moving Castle. Howl's Moving Castle was made into an anime film. It is lightweight entertainment written for young adults.

I am still doing a bit more ordering for social sciences. I have ordered Freedom From Oil by David Sandalow as part of the order as well as Public Domain, How To Find and Use Copyright Free Writing, Music, Art, and More by Stephen Fishman. This book is part of the Nolo Press imprint. I am requesting a copy at my library so I can see if it might be useful for this blog.

Fantagraphics Books sent me their latest catalog. This is one of my favorite presses for alternative graphic novels. I was looking through this and there are a few new items which look fascinating. The first is The Wolverton Bible by Basil Wolverton. Basil Wolverton's art and comics are astoundingly different and very strange. Spacehawk is quite interesting to look at.
http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/wolvertn.htm

The other book which really stood out for me in this catalog was Blazing Combat by Archie Goodwin. This is a really excellent war comic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blazing_Combat

I am still ordering social science books. It is making my head spin a bit at this point. I sometimes think my brain will fly off to the land of words, where there is a castle made entirely out of sentences and punctuation. I will be off next week and am looking forward to my vacation.

Todays Thoughts

A picture by Arthur Rackham of the fairytale, The Three Bears

I was reading the New York Times Book Review for June 8, 2008, P.11. They had a review for The Enchantress of Florence. The critic hated it. He called it a fantasy book that was very hard to follow. The reviewer admits that he found the novel to be quite confusing.

I also found the novel to be confusing, but at the same time, I found it to be beautifully crafted and deeply enchanting. If you are reading it as a fantastical romance it works quite well. However, if you are reading it as a novel it does not work quite as well. I am not sure I can even review it. It is one of those books which makes you think very hard because it is truly awful in some aspects, and truly fantastic in other ways. People will love or hate this book.

I am sitting looking at the book wondering when I will begin writing the review.

Earlier on the train, instead of writing a review of the Enchantress of Florence, I read the graphic novel (comic book) Castle Waiting by Linda Medley. It was absolutely wonderful. There is an introduction by Jane Yolen one of my favorite storytellers. The drawing is very pretty. It uses elements of Kay Nielsen, and Arthur Rackham in a clean black and white comic book drawing style. One of the characters in the novel is even based on Arthur Rackham, a half man, half-stork character.

There are a lot of puns in the story, Rackham, the stork man has a chicken which lays solid gold eggs. The Dutchess of Carabas comes to visit Castle Waiting and gives birth to a half cat child. This is very much a fractured fairytale. It is what happens after the princess who has lain asleep for a hundred years leaves her castle with her knight never to return.

I would call this story, a thinking persons fairytale, there is not a lot of violence, but there are plenty of tricks, adventures, and tall tales spun into the story. I especially like the order of bearded nuns which appears toward the end of the story.

There are many fairytale references sprinkled throughout the story. There is Iron John, the Town of Bremen, and Simple Simon. There are also ghosts, pookas, brownies, minor spirits, and other fairytale creatures. There is even a little imp who tries to trick the characters in the story into doing bad or foolish things. He is constantly testing the bearded nuns.

I enjoyed the stories and artwork set in a medieval fairytale otherworld with talking bears, fairies, and other creatures. I think it really is entertaining. It also entertains you with stories that make you think and be amused at the same time. There is a strong sense of kindness, community, and tolerance written into the stories. This is not your typical swords and sorcery tale.

Earlier today, in the diner while I was having a toasted bagel and coffee, I was reading two articles in the Daily News, the local New York newspaper. The first one was about how General Motors is releasing a new plug in hybrid vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, that is supposed to get 600 miles on a full tank of gas in 2010. They already are showing the demonstration models at the automotive shows. The second article that caught my attention was about a set of underwater tidal turbines being worked on in the East River of Manhattan. Apparently, they hope to have 30 turbines in place by 2009. Verdant Power is building the turbines. They were replacing the blades on the turbines with a more durable set of blades.

Also, two more books came in for me to read, God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe about a revolt in hell, and Sagramande by Alan Dean Foster. I now have several large piles of books to read on my desk.