Weekend Miscellany

Heya y’all, hope you’re enjoying your weekend wherever you are. I spent yesterday having fun with Our Vicar and Our Vicar’s Wife – we played Scrabble before heading out for a wander, and Dad was keen that I share this little photo of his Scrabble score (the columns go Dad; me; Mum).

…and on with the show. (Well done, Dad!) Even in the grips of defeat, I’m thinking of you all – and we’re going to have a book, a link, and a blog post.

1.) The book – is actually a graphic novel sent to me called Kill Shakespeare by Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery. The very modern world of graphic literature and the very non-modern world of Shakespeare come head to head for this series of comic books. I think I can call them comic books, although I’m worried that fans of the genre will tell me I’m wrong? What is a comic and what is a graphic novel? I don’t know, but this is a series, so I’m going to say graphic works and hope for the best…

A miscellany of Shakespeare’s characters are united – it’s a who’s-who, really, with Hamlet, Juliet, Othello, and Falstaff, for example – tracking down an evil reclusive wizard called… yes, William Shakespeare. (Interestingly enough, this whole combining of characters from different plays is nothing new – I once spent a week or two writing about the fascinating world of Restoration period Shakespeare adaptations, and they threw the characters around like nobody’s business. As You Like It waning a bit? Throw in Beatrice and Benedick! Romeo and Juliet a bit glum? Happy ending time!)

Anyway – I must confess I’ve only flicked through this, but my brother read it cover to cover and was impressed. I’m hoping he’ll come along and say something in the comments about it… and if he does, by the magic of editing I’ll put it here…

2.) The blog post – is Thomas’ about International Anita Brookner Day, the creation of his own fair hands. It’s especially for people like me who have wanted to read something by Anita B, and have somehow yet to do so – pop over here to read the details, and make use of Thomas’ fancy buttony whatsit.

3.) The link – is for the London Book Fair Masterclass – Felicity (who emailed me) tells me “the perfect opportunity for aspiring authors to gain first-hand information and practical advice from bestselling authors, agents and editors.” Peter James, Lesley Pearse, Luigi Bonomi, Jon Wood, and Fiona Lindsay will be there. Could be worth going!

Happy weekend, one and all.

Happy weekend one and all! Hope you have a fun couple of days, and what better way to kick off the party than with some links and suchlike…

1.) The blog post – is courtesy of everyone’s favourite literary foxes, those good folks at Vulpes Libris. They’ve done a great interview with Theresa Breslin, one of the brains behind the Save Our Libraries protest in Edinburgh. Click here to read it – and feel a little inspired for the cause. If you do feel inspired, here’s the protest statement you can sign.

2.) The link – is to Short Fire Press. They publish short stories for e-readers at 99p a pop – having looked at Penguin’s Mini Modern Classics yesterday, this seems an appropriate time to bring to light another publisher behind the short story cause. Their catalogue is very much hand-picked, with exciting debut authors as well as better known ones. Something to investigate for those of you with electronic devices.

3.) The book – is The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons. This is something of an advance warning, since it isn’t published til April – but I’m excited about it. I don’t think I’ve yet mentioned the Sceptre Books lunch event which I attended last Thursday – a few bloggers, authors, and publishing folk hob-nobbed, and it was a pleasure to meet lots of lovely people. Especially great to meet were Jenn Ashworth and Natasha Solomons, two authors for whom I have great admiration. I have even more admiration for Natasha now that I know she wrote her delightful first novel Mr. Rosenblum’s List (review here) whilst studying for a PhD (how?!) and am looking forward to reading The Novel in the Viola. This is what the publisher has to say:
When they started coming for people like us, I was forced to swap my life of champagne and glittering parties in bohemian Vienna for the cap and apron of a parlour maid in a country house on the Dorset coast.

I knew nothing about England, except that I wouldn’t like it. But then, clutching a copy of Mrs Beeton`s Household management that I could barely read, I saw Tyneford for the first time. That great house on the bay, where servants polished the silver and served drinks on the lawn, where Kit caused an outrage by dancing with me, where Mr Rivers read the letter on the beach that changed everything.

And now the house and that world is gone. All that remains is my story of the sea, of love lost and found, and of a novel hidden inside a viola.

Happy weekend, everyone. Hope you’ve got something fun planned – I’m off to London later on Saturday to see Sheridan’s The Rivals, with Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles. Something of a To The Manor Born reunion… plus, I’ve never seen a Sheridan play, and this one was fun to read. But, in my absence, enjoy this little miscellany of links and posts.

1.) Three Percent, a resource for international literature at the University of Rochester, have announced the 25 books on the longlist for 2011 Best Translated Book Award. Here’s the list. Do go and check it out – it’s something a little different from the usual literary awards. I’ve only read one of them – being honest, I’ve only heard of one of them – but it is The True Deceiver by Tove Jansson (oddly, for it was translated in 2009). If the others are up to that novel’s incredible standard, then this is a list worth watching.

2.) Speaking of which, do go and read Danielle’s lovely review of The Summer Book, also by Tove Jansson.

3.) More neat segues (that’s segues, Colin… heehee) – Danielle and Darlene have both agreed to take part in two mini-readalongs this month (that’s one each). Both sprung from Virago Reading Week and surrounding discussions, which is lovely.

Darlene and I will be reading William by E.H. Young – I’ve been meaning to read more Young for a while, and have had William for five years or so.

Danielle and I will be reading Gay Life by E.M. Delafield. You’ll note that my copy is signed! This novel is rather more difficult to get hold of, so participants would have to search hard. Try your library catalogues? And Danielle’s little introductory post will definitely entice you…

Do join in with either or both, if you can. One day I’ll head up a readalong of a book that’s actually in print! Anyway, we’re reading about the middle of February, so over the next couple of weeks.

4.) I give up on being seamless… I found this link to the books which Harold Bloom considered fitted into his study The Western Canon. It covers more or less all time… and is enormous. I have no idea how he managed to read all these books, let alone all the ones which (presumably) didn’t make the cut. Once you’ve got a subsection for modern Catalonian literature, you know you mean business. BUT, it definitely makes for interesting reading.

5.) And, finally, Wikio have released their latest literary blog rankings. Off I slip, down the charts… but I’m clinging on! As usual, silly but fun.

Wikio.co.uk – February Literature Ranking

Ranking made by Wikio.co.uk

Happy weekend, one and all. Col and Mum were here today, so we were a vicar and a cat away from being a whole family reunion. But I’ll whip out a quick weekend miscellany, and wish you well for Saturday and Sunday.

1.) The link – is to the South Bank Sky Arts Awards website. Leanne has sent me a nice email and asked me to ponder (and I in turn shall ask you to ponder) who I think should be awarded a South Bank Sky Arts Award for Literature.

Well… as you probably know, most of my favourite authors are dead, so this is tricky. The nominated authors are Edmund De Waal, Barbara Trapido, and Candia McWilliam. From that list, I’d give Trapido the award – not least (perhaps solely) because she’s the only one I’ve read.

Hmm.. do you know, I can’t think of any novel published last year that I actually thought was really great? I know I only read a handful… Well, I’m going to be controversial and award the prize to Debo Devonshire. Over to you…

2.) The blog post – is Lifetime Reader’s great review of Evelyn Waugh’s The Loved One, one of my favourite books read last year. Do pop over and have a gander.

(And if you’re in the mood to read a review of an Elizabeth Taylor novel, you’re rather spoilt for choice this week – see what Harriet has to say about At Mrs. Lippincote’s and Simon S’s thoughts on Blaming.)

3.) The little bit of info. – comes courtesy of David Nolan, a blog-reader who has his eye on the pulse and often spots little gems. He emailed me to let me know that Radio 4 will be playing three of Tove Jansson’s short stories. They’re on at 3.30pm Tues-Thurs (and afterwards, of course, on iPlayer). More info here. Thanks, David!

4.) The book – is a kind gift from Deanna, who got in touch to say she had a Muriel Spark going spare. It’s flown across the Atlantic, and is now sitting in my tbr pile, waiting for my next novella reading weekend. ‘Curiously disturbing’ (as the cover proclaims) doesn’t sound like something I’d leap at, but in the hands of Spark, I know I’d find it enthralling. Thanks so much, Deanna!

Happy weekend, one and all. Hope the weather where you are is a little less gloomy than Oxford… roll on spring. But, before that, roll on a book, a blog post, and a link. Today’s Miscellany is a little more verbose than most…

1.) The link – (which is actually a blog post, I suppose.) The other day I reviewed Remember Remember by Hazel McHaffie, a novel with the theme of dementia. I intended (were I to summarise in a single line) to write something along the lines of ‘This is a good novel; the second half is rather better than the first half.’ That would save me an evening! And it is – a very interesting idea, executed skillfully and with feeling. Re-reading the review, from the author’s p-o-v, I realise that my quibbles seemed to dominate, and my praise perhaps get a bit lost. But I didn’t really have to try and work out the author’s p-o-v, because Hazel got in touch – and has written this response to my blog post.

I’ve got to say, I felt flattered that Hazel thought my blog post worth responding to, and read her thoughts with much interest. I was rather mortified to realise that my review had come across worse than I meant it to (Hazel and I have since exchanged friendly emails!), but it also made me want to say something which is perhaps controversial. I do believe that the very worst writer (which, of course, Hazel is not anywhere close to being) is somehow on a higher plane than the best reviewer/blogger. To be creative is so much more valuable than to analyse creation. So my view, really, isn’t that important, in comparison…

That sounds negative about blogging, doesn’t it? It wasn’t meant to – rather I wanted to celebrate writers. Of course, blogging can cross over into ‘creative writing’ territory, but generally I admire those wonderful people who create novels – and must remember to be humble as one who merely writes about them.

Oh, and my failure to get on board with Aaron in Remember Remember does (as I have told Hazel now) put him in the same category as Mr. Rochester, Mr. Knightley, and Heathcliff!

2.) The blog post – is Pamela’s beautiful list of ‘Simple Pleasures’… which just happens to include Miss Hargreaves…

3.) The book – is Vanessa Gebbie’s new short story collection, Storm Warning, which sounds intriguing. I reviewed an earlier collection by Gebbie forever ago, here. And here’s what her publisher (Salt) have to say about Storm Warning: Storm Warning explores the echoes of human conflict in a series of powerful stories and flashes inspired by life with the author’s own father, an ordinary and gentle man who fought and was decorated in WWII, but who suffered the after-effects for the rest of his life.

The conflicts range from conventional warfare through violent tribal clashes to historical religious persecution. Gebbie’s viewpoints are never predictable. War veterans are haunted by events that echo louder and louder. A prisoner sees the violent execution of a friend and mentor, a boy hides from a necklacing, a young student escapes the fighting in Iraq in the hope of continuing his education in the West and a woman tells what she knows of her parents’ torture.

Echoes of conflict are often explored from the child’s perspective. A young girl witnesses an attempted escape over the Berlin Wall. Another is present when her grandfather, a writer, is targeted in the Russian Cultural Revolution, and two small boys are unwilling bystanders to atrocities in African inter-tribal conflict.

The people in these stories are not those who go down in history. They are the ordinary troops. They are the powerless, caught up involuntarily. All are tested, sometimes to breaking point, in this extraordinary collection as Gebbie pulls no punches, exploring the surreality of conflict, the after-effects of atrocity and sometimes, the seeds of atrocity itself.

Hope you’re gearing up to have a good weekend. I am slowly weaning myself off painkillers, and more or less back to normal. No marathons, but then… ‘normal’ never included marathons. It did, however, include a book, a blog post, and a link, so shall we get on with the show?

1.) The book – is a novel about the life of one of my favourite writers, Katherine Mansfield, by Joanna FitzPatrick. It’s called In Pursuit… the Katherine Mansfield Story Retold, and I have high hopes… Susan Seller’s Vanessa and Virginia (about Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf) was one of my favourite reads in 2008, so I’m hoping Joanna FitzPatrick can work similar wonders.

2.) The blog post – is Verity and one of those things which can’t help make you smile: a gingerbread house. For my own terrifying attempt from August 2009, scroll to the bottom of this post.

3.) The link – is about the new TV adaptation of Richmal Crompton’s William Brown books. I loved the series which was on 15 or so years ago, and I’m looking forward to this one, which stars Daniel Roche of Outnumbered fame. The article also features a great celebration of the William books from legend Martin Jarvis, who narrates the new series, and is the voice of Richmal Crompton for those of us who loved the cassettes.

December approaches, and perhaps you have snow in your part of the world… none here in Oxford, but maybe before next week… I’m heading off for a nice early night, but will type this out to appear early on Saturday morning.

1.) The link – is courtesy of The Dabbler, where you can win a copy of the Christmas edition of Slightly Foxed – click here to enter, if you know your Christmas literary trivia.

2.) The blog post – is Harriet Devine’s, because this amused me…

3.) The book – is the Persephone Ninety Diary, which Nicola Beauman very kindly gave me as a birthday present. It’s beautiful – like the Persephone books, but with a more flexible spine, and has pages with the endpapers from all the Persephone books, alongside the diary pages. The question is, of course… is it too beautiful to use? I haven’t made my mind up on that just yet…

My week has been slightly confused, since I’ve spent all day convinced that it was Saturday… which has essentially given me an extra day in the week. How could I have thought it was the weekend without my weekend miscellany? Book, blog post, and link coming up…

1.) The blog posts – are myriad. I mentioned earlier in the week a little blogger meet-up to welcome Thomas to our sceptr’d isle, and I thought I’d point you in the direction of the various reports of the day. Especially of interest if you like to see photos of the people behind the blogs… Here are links to the reports: Thomas, Polly, Miranda, Claire, Hayley.

2.) The link – a friend of mine mentioned that the Paris Review Interviews were now available online – here. I’ve bought the collected interviews they’ve published over the years, but now I can have a skim through for any author. Here’s some ideas for you: interviews with A.S. Byatt, E.M. Forster, Graham Greene, Milan Kundera, Iris Murdoch, P.L. Travers, Rebecca West, and P.G. Wodehouse.

3.) The book – isn’t really a book… but Mills and Boon (Heaven knows how they got my email address) sent me this image earlier in the week:

Thanks everyone for the welcome back – it’s nice to be blogging again, even if I seem to be lingering with a cough that won’t be away… and my eyes not quite up to reading much yet, so I’m quite behind in those stakes too. Oh well… let’s have a weekend miscellany to cheer ourselves up, eh?

Oh, and the above picture is the park at the end of my road, from the other day. I looked out the window and the mist was amazing. The jogger appeared after I clicked to take the picture, but I quite like his mysterious inclusion…

1.) The book – is Nella Last in the 1950s, which Profile Books kindly sent me, after seeing my rave review of Nella Last’s War. They also accepted my cheeky plea for Nella Last’s Peace, the book covering the period between these books. Although I finished Nella Last’s War back in February, it’s still my favourite book read this year – can’t wait to read the next two.

2.) The blog post – is Becky’s lovely review of Miss Hargreaves, which is just as enthusiastic as I could wish!

3.) The link – is to The Persephone Post which, with the entry for 12th November, has shown off Our Vicar’s Wife’s photography skills! And do keep visiting Mum’s blog for more news from the South West, not least the activities of lovely Sherpa.

Hello there, hope all’s well with you and yours. This weekend we’ll be having murder-afoot at our house, as it’s my birthday murder party. My actual birthday isn’t til the 7th November, but the Saturday nearest to that is always Bonfire Night at South Parks in Oxford. Lots of fun stuff in the weekend miscellany…

1.) Starting with the winner of The Love Child by Edith Olivier. Thanks for all your fantastic suggestions of ‘E’ titles and authors – I especially loved how often Enid Blyton, Emma, and E.M. Delafield came up – all ones I’d have chosen. But, without further ado, the copy of this brilliant novella is going to… (one random number generator later) SPOTS OF TIME. I don’t remember seeing your name before (have I?), so welcome, welcome, and well done! Send me your address to simondavidthomas[at]yahoo.co.uk, and I’ll get the book off to you…

2.) Speaking of books (aren’t we always?) the wonderful Persephone Secret Santa is happening again this year. Head over to Paperback Reader/Claire’s post for more details… it’s good fun, very festive, and guilt-free book buying. She’s said we can use her fab image, so thanks Claire!

3.) Here in Britain we have some wonderful publishers – Persephone being just one of the companies which make me pleased to live in this scepter’d isle. The one time I get jealous is when the New York Review of Books Classics are mentioned. I own a few, but they’re difficult and pricey to get here – they are such beautiful books, in terms of design, touch, the way they open… and, of course, they have printed some brilliant titles, including Tove Jansson’s novels, one by Barbara Comyns, Sylvia Townsend Warner, etc. etc.

Anyway, Mrs. B and Coffeespoons are organising a NYRB Reading Week – see here. Also see Thomas’ post on this – he gave me permission to reproduce his stunning and jealousy-inducing photo of his NYRB Classics collection (below). I think it’s my favourite photograph I’ve ever seen on a blog – I could stare at it for hours, hoping somehow to master self-teleportation. I thought I’d read all my NYRB books, but I’ve just remembered I have Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner waiting in the wings, so perhaps I will join in…