The theme for today is, 'Favourite book about a bookshop'. No contest for me. Helene Hanff's 84 Charring Cross Road is the obvious answer. A brilliant evocation of the bookshop and its characters, spanning the Pond and bringing life to its era. A lovely, feel-good book, which I enjoyed immensely. If you haven't read it, go get a copy, borrow one, but read it. Gentle humour, emotional engagement, and a social message well expressed.
Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 October 2014
#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 9
The theme for today is, 'Favourite book about a bookshop'. No contest for me. Helene Hanff's 84 Charring Cross Road is the obvious answer. A brilliant evocation of the bookshop and its characters, spanning the Pond and bringing life to its era. A lovely, feel-good book, which I enjoyed immensely. If you haven't read it, go get a copy, borrow one, but read it. Gentle humour, emotional engagement, and a social message well expressed.
Monday, 6 October 2014
#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 6
Today's theme for the Books Are My Bag bookshop promotion, is the 'first book I bought in a bookshop'. Two things strike me about this one. The first is that bookshops were the ONLY place you could buy a book when I started out on my long career as a reader. It's only relatively recently that other options arrived. The second is that I can't possibly remember the first one: it was centuries ago! However, (for those of you of the grammar police that object to this sentence's opening, click on this link), I can recall the first purchase I can remember. It was Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence. I bought the Penguin Classics edition when I was about 18. Very formative to a teenager, I can tell you! I no longer have the book: when I divorced from my first wife, she insisted on taking half our books, though almost all of them were, in fact, mine. For practical reasons, I couldn't take them all anyway. That first book was lost in the process of separation and moving out.
Sunday, 5 October 2014
#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 5
Today's theme is 'Favourite cinema/film reference in literature.' Since I can't think of a single instance of this in anything I've read, I can hardly have a 'favourite'. Loads of references the other way round: let's face it, many very popular films have their roots in literature. But literature that references film? Not something I've come across. I'm sure someone will enlighten me. It may even be that I've read such a thing without recognising the references. Film, for me, is generally something I use for entertainment. Not a 'buff', I enjoy the lighter side by and large, though I have watched some pretty strong drama. So, there you have it. For me, a non-event in the programme. But I imagine that's my loss.
Friday, 19 September 2014
A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Reviewed.
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| English: Cover art by Frank E. Schoonover from A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, McClurg, 1917. Uploaded by User:BPK2. Español: John Carter y Dejah Thoris en la cubierta de la primera edición de Una Princesa de Marte por Edgar Rice Burroughs. Illustrador: Frank E. Schoonover. Bajada por User:BPK2. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
This classic, which I mistakenly thought I’d read in my
youth, came up amongst some free books on my iPad. Once I started to explore,
to see whether I had, in fact, read it, I was hooked.
The story is typical of the author, of course, and the style
is dated, as you’d expect. But there is a quality to the writing that keeps the
reader engaged. Full of what modern readers would perceive as politically
incorrect attitudes, bursting with out-dated ideas about the Red Planet, it may
be, but the story moves at a pace, with plenty of action to keep the reader
interested.
There’s a good deal of imagination displayed in the solutions
to various envisaged problems of living on a dying planet. And the wonderful
exaggeration of an Earthman’s prowess on a planet with lower gravity is
entertaining rather than irritating.
Written almost entirely as narrative, telling rather than showing
and therefore breaking umpteen ‘writing’ rules, this story relies on its
powerful plot and strong characters for its success. It may well be dated, but
it still entertains. And I love the way the author refuses to be deflected from
his tale by the sheer incredibility of his hero’s passage from Earth to Mars
and back again. No explanation is given for this remarkable feat, and it’s
simple acceptance as an inexplicable happening fits well with the story.
There are some wonderful examples of mixed moral stances,
with all sexual references dealt with indirectly and under the covers. The
violence and war, however, is accepted as perfectly normal. A reflection,
perhaps, of the times and the land in which the author lived at the point of
writing? Have things changed very much, I wonder.
I enjoyed this piece of old science fiction and recommend it
to those who have grown up with the genre over many years. Younger readers
might find the nature of the telling and the idiosyncrasies of the story a
little too difficult to take, however.
Sunday, 13 July 2014
Fantastic Fantasticon and Fantasy
A date for your diaries: 16th
August 2014. What’s so special about that? A great event for all those
interested in Fantasy, Science Fiction and Gaming.
Fantasticon is convention
where there’s a fantastic amount going on. As a taster, here’s a short extract
from Fantastic Books Publishing’s recent newsletter and blog:
The fantasy author we will be
showcasing is our very own Stuart Aken who
will be signing his books and talking about how he managed to keep track of the
hundreds of characters in his upcoming trilogy ‘A Seared Sky’, the first book
of which ‘Joinings‘ was released earlier this year. With luck,
paranormal fantasy author Linda Acaster may
also make an appearance at the event although we are unsure of her schedule as
her excellently woven time slips are so convincing they can often spill off the
page and disrupt her real life too!
There will be so much going on
on the 16th that it would be silly to list it all here so head over to www.fantasticon.co.uk and check out what’s on offer. If you
can make it, we’d love to see you there and meet you all in person!
Outside of the gaming aspect of FantastiCon we have lots of fantasy and
science fiction attractions. As you know, we will be officially launching our
Fantastic Elite Fiction at the event but in line with our ethos of helping
Fantastic folks whether they are in the FBP family or not, we will also be
launching ‘Zero‘, an
excellent debut SF novel from J.S.Collyer who will be at
the event signing her books, talking about her journey and, if rumours are to
be believed, handing out cup cakes too. J.S.Collyer is an author represented by Dagda Publishing, an excellent little publishing house based in
Nottingham who treat their authors with the same care and respect as we do. A
truly forward thinking and driven outfit headed by the equally energetic Reg
Davey, who will hopefully be there at the event too.
Of course, you’ll have to visit the 2017 City of
Culture, Hull, to be at the show, but I know plenty of you will make the trip.
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