WBN 2013-The Books BookElf's Verdict

Once again, World Book Night managed to send me my 'apply to be a giver!' email a whole days after I had already done so, but apart from that this year I'd like to say BLOODY WELL DONE. From a reading for pleasure promoter's (working on the job title...) point of view this is a fantastic list, one I can definitely work with and it shows that they are listening, and have learnt. Two biographies, an accessible classic, more YA, and a Graphic Novel (that's also about to be a film), this is a list that might not get already avid reader's hearts singing, but as a way of introducing people to reading for pleasure as a socially acceptable activity, or enticing people back into reading this is perfect.
What to do
1) look at the list of books below, try not to make my massive ranting cloud your judgement.

2) choose your top three
3) go to the World Book Night website and register yourself as a giver.
4) join me and some other book lovers, as well as the regulars and not-so-regulars of my local, Arcadia, on the 23 April to a celebration of reading for pleasure!

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

The 50th Anniversary of the first James Bond film, this book is a timely inclusion that should be quite popular. I've never actually read a James Bond book, but it is a good choice.

Damage by Josephine Hart

To be honest, I've never heard of it and know nothing about it. Anyone read it? Any good?

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Jasper Fforde's fans are legendary in their commitment to this series, and their love for his quirky style of writing. Myself personally I couldn't get into this and abandoned half way through, but I know of a LOT of book lovers who I know will be applying for this book and enthusiasm is always the best way to promote so go go gadget fans!

Girl with a Pearl Earring-Tracy Chevalier

I went through a really big Travy Chevalier stage in my Youth, and loved her historical fiction, and this is by far her best. A nice plot, lovely writing and also handily links to an alright film, this should be popular.

The Knife of Never Letting Go-Patrick Ness

My love of Patrick Ness knows no bounds-he supports libraries, he is tireless in his promotion of reading with younger people and is a multiple winner of the Carnegie Prize and other various prizes-this one won the Guardian's Children's Prize, which I REALLY hope they don't put on the cover of the WBN version. This is the first in a spectacularly epic trilogy which, to be honest, I haven't read because they are all about 400 pages long and never stay on my work library long enough. Dystopia fans should get into this.

Last Night Another Solider-Andy McNab

There's a Quick Read!!!!!!!!!! This is fantastic news, and yes it might be Andy McGuns, but this is the sort of thing that gets especially older people reading-I know this from experience. This isn't the best of the Quick Reads and I'd have much rather seen Chris Ryan's war one but anyone living in squaddie towns would be well off thinking about using this.

Little Face-Sophie Hannah

I've read one Sophie Hannah (The Point of Rescue) and it scared the bejaysus out of me. Her books, psychological police thrillers, are very accomplished but also accessible, and fans of Scando Noir would enjoy her. This is her debut and I should look out for it.

A Little History of the World-E.H. Gombrich

I've never heard of this book but upon some investigation I'm now fascinated by it. A best seller in Vienna in 1935, written in six weeks by the then 26 year old Gombrich who had been commissioned to write a history of the world for younger readers, this tells the story of mankind from the stone age to the modern age.  The reviews of it are consistently wonderful, I've already ordered a copy for work and it just sounds lovely. If I had already read it, I would probably go for this as I like this sort of book quite a lot!

Me Before You-Jojo Moyles

Oh how much do I hate this book! I got so cross with it, I had to stop reading it and throw it at the wall a couple of times. However. This book has been borrowed more from my work library than any other book this year. I've had a million conversations with students recommending it to their friends and it never ever stays on the shelf. I put it on display and it's out in half an hour. It was a massive bestseller, was in every single shop window for about six months and people love it. I strongly suspect, however, that the reason they've said 'yes' to putting it on is that they've already made as much money as humanly possible from this book and she's got a new one out next year and a re-release of her back-catalogue, but that's me being cynical...

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency-Alexander McCall Smith

This book is yet another example of why I don't have a soul. I don't get the obsession people have with this series at all. My mum loved them, my boss eats them. I find them boring and twee and completely lacking in substance, but not crap enough to constitute a guilty pleasure. BUT again, they are incredibly popular, and I've seen a lot of people take them as their first book on the various reading challenges I do, and the Travelling Suitcase Library never keeps them in for the same session. Will be a popular choice, so get in there quick.

Noughts and Crosses-Malorie Blackman

The World Book Night people should receive a massive big up for including this one, which I've chosen in my application. A brilliantly written, intense book about race in a dystopia which makes you think and cry and fall in love. The characters are two young people from opposite sides, but they are real teenagers, not this glittery feisty vampire nonsense, and their problems are so well described, whilst being totally accessible. I love this series of books, and again this never ever stays on the shelf and every single young person I recommend it to loves it. Not sure how it'll go down in a pub but hey ho, I don't care, it's ace.

Red Dust Road-Jackie Kay

One of the two memoirs included, I've never read this but ForBooksSake love it, so I'm guessing it is going to be pretty good. It also won Scottish Book of the Year, so guess where this is going to be popular...

The Secret Scripture-Sebastian Barry

My second choice, because I loved this book. The story of a woman labelled 'mad' in a world that hates mental illness, this is beautiful a sad story and anyone who loves Maggie O'Farrell's The Vanishing of Esme Lennox, or historical fiction in general, should read this. Again, it was a huge bestseller, and deserves its fame, and I would recommend it, more to people who already read a bit for pleasure but aren't 'avid' readers.

The Dark Judges

It's a graphic novel, which is amazing, but I'd love to see how they publish this in the current World Book Night paperback format. I'm not a graphic novel expert but I know a lot of people who are and are excited by this one's inclusion. Plus, film's out this year.

The Island-Victoria Hislop

I am so surprised this hasn't been included before now, I think I already sort of presumed that it had. We read this Back In The Day when the book club was just the three of us in my kitchen, and all of us loved it. It was huge, and again might have already made as much money as it can-I see this a LOT in my charity shop hawls and book swaps so maybe it has already had its moment, hence the inclusion, but if you were giving your books out round the office say, this would be a lovely one. Great beach read.

The Reader-Bernhard Schlink

Never read it, heard only good things about it.

The Road Home-Rose Tremain

I've had this book on my TBR pile for the past five years or so and really really should read it because it looks ace! Shall bump up to the top of the pile and review asap.

Treasure Island-Robert Louis Stevenson

I love this book, Robert Louis Stevenson's writing is extraordinary, he really sucks you into the adventure. Yes, it is slightly old fashioned, but it is also 130 years old and if they had to choose a classic, they couldn't have picked a better one. I really now wnat to re-read this and I hope that people give it a chance.

The White Queen-Philippa Gregory

There had to be a Philippa Gregory at some point, and whilst this isn't the one I'd have chosen (The Queen's Fool is her best one), it is the start of a series they are still promoting so, like the Bernard Cornwell one last year, is probably a tactical choice on behalf of the publisher. It is good, but I can imagine a lot of historical fiction fans will be diasappointed.

Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal?-Jeanette Winterson

This one will be huge, as I know a lot of people who love this book and Jeanette Winterson in general. I read it last Easter and enjoyed it for the most part, though I did skim parts as it (sorry) goes on a bit in places.

The Ryedale Book Festival

I love love love lit fests of all kinds, and in Yorkshire we are blessed to have some cracking ones right on our doorstep. The last couple of years have seen me travel to Morley, Ilkley, my home town of Scarborough, and round the corner to Headingley in search of a good outing about books, and then we had the fantastic Leeds Big Bookend this summer!

Now Malton, which is a gorgeous market town only about 40 minutes on the train from Leeds, featuring some lovely pubs, Roman ruins and surrounded by beautiful countryside is hosting its own book festival, and I'm incredibly excited about it.

The Ryedale Book Festival will be held on the 20 October and contains a varied programme designed to appeal to everyone who enjoys reading, writing and story telling. It is a completely community created project, and is so massive it is an utter wonder that they've managed to squeeze it into one day!

Included are appearances from GP Taylor, whose Shadowmancer series is set in Yorkshire, Lucy Beckett, Andy Seed and Kate Fox. There is story telling for children (in fact, 2000 local children are involved in projects leading up to the festival), puppets, a rap workshop (which I, being about as street as you get, am especially looking forward to) poetry open-mic, and performances from the Malton DickensSociety, which sounds awesome. There is also going to be a fantastic line-up of book shops and publishers hosting book signings and selling books on the day, as well as a Book Swap hosted by the Travelling Suitcase Library. And there are also Special Secret Plans afoot that I am so excited I could burst about, but more of that later...

Tickets go on sale from Malton Tourist Information Centre from 1 September. Seriously recommended as a Autumn Day Out, this festival is definitely something to look forward to... go to http://www.ryedalebookfestival.com/ for more information.

The Lightbulb Moment-the Launch

I've plugged it, and reviewed it, and now I'm going to celebrate it!
The Lightbulb Moment, edited by Sian Norris, is a collection of writing from people identifying as feminists, about the reasons behind them becoming so. Some are sad, some are funny, but all of them make you think.

Sian is launching the book as part of the Festival of Ideas, at the Watershed in Bristol, on Tuesday 15 May at 7.30 pm, and I'm going!

As well as readings from the book, the launch will include guest speakers on the future of feminism by Natasha Walter, Zohra Moosa, Chitra Nagarajan, Anna van Heesvijk, and Mara Clarke, who represent the bredth of feminist activism out there, from anti-objectification to abortion support.

Whether or not you're an out-and-proud feminist, this is bound to be a very lively and interesting event and also, Bristol, I'm going and I want to meet you! This is the first time I'll be leaving Yorkshire this year, which is an event in itself, so I expect you all to turn out in force! And buy your copy of the book!

TBR 4# Frenchmen's Creek

I bought this book first hand, from Waterstones, with my Christmas book tokens, after a long conversation on Twitter after reading the nonsense that is A Discovery of Witches, about true love and it's representation in fiction. I was recommended reading this by @sianushka, who has such a similar taste in fiction to me for it to be scary, and I loved every single second of the five hours it took me to read it.

Firstly, I am reclaiming this as a feminist love story, so this post is going to upset a lot of people who don't like the whole 'feminist' thing, but hey ho.

On the one hand, this is a simple but heart racing tale of swashbuckling pirates in Restoration England, adventure on the Cornish Coast, and romance abounding. On the other it is a cry for freedom, a treatise on captivity and an exploration of privilege and the role of women within a heteronormative society.

***SPOILERS***

Dona St Columb, rich, beautiful and bored, runs from her simple husband Harry to their ancestral home on the Cornish coast, taking with her her two small children and their trusty nurse. There she finds an almost abandoned house cared for by the solitary William, who it turns out (SPOILERS) is actually the servant of the notorious French pirate who has been sacking the locals along the coast with his motley Breton crew.

Dona meets the Frenchman, Jean-Benoit, and becomes fascinated by him and the pirate way of life, so different from her apparently stilted and repetitive London society one. She signs on to his ship and together they plunder the local gentry's treasure. Dona and the Frenchman fall in love, or rather admit of their love for each other, and have a torrid affair that ends quickly when Dona's husband, accompanied by the detestable rogue Lord Rockingham, who fancies himself Dona's amour.

Harry and the local gentry led by Lord Godolphin (best name in fiction, you Go Dolphin Go!) decide to capture the pirates and set a trap, but the Frenchman surprises them all at dinner and steals their jewellery and swords. During the commotion afterwards, Dona kills Rockingham after he tries to strangle her. Dona faints, and when she awakes discovers her love has been captured and is in Godolphin's castle, to be hanged the following Saturday.

Dona together with the trusty William hatch a plan for the Frenchman's escape by pretending to be the doctor delivering Lady Godolphin's baby, and they all three flee to the coast. Dona realises she must abandon all hope of happiness with the Frenchmen for the sake of her children, and he returns alone to his ship, leaving her to pick up the pieces of her old life.

The writing in this book is incredible. I grew up on a coast line and Du Maurier's description of the cliffs, the cries of the gulls, the smells, the wind, everything is spot on and so evocative of the sea. The sense of place, but also the sense of time in the novel is so well done; like the best historical fiction she doesn't overload you with information obviously gleaned from hours of research and thusly incredibly boring, but creates a believable set up of characters and situations living in a particular place that just happens to be five hundred years ago.

What makes this book stand out more than anything though is the love story. This isn't some stupid patriarch clasping his woman to his chest to make him feel superior; this is a person and another person wanting each other through mutual respect, lust, and passion. The Frenchman doesn't belittle Dona, he doesn't tell her what to do, he doesn't tell her she's been brave, when he helps her he's not showing off or patronising her he's actually helping her. He doesn't even lift her off the ship. All this makes him frankly hotter than Librarian Ryan Gosling.

It's so rare to find an adult love story I can understand and sympathise with. Having never really properly been in love myself though this book made me a little sad. Du Maurier describes Dona's feelings as being one of completeness, like a missing part of her has been restored upon meeting the Frenchman, and I just don't feel like that. I'm whole, I'm a complete thing, I don't feel like my 'other half' isn't here, I'm happiest on my own and always have been. Although this makes me a little sad in a whimsical sort of way, it's also reassuring to know that I'm not spending my life not being "myself" because I don't need a partner.

I loved how the affair between them comes about, the build up to their first 'date', honestly that's twenty pages of the most understated erotic writing I think I've ever read. I love how Dona is in turmoil because part of her wants to throw herself on him whilst the other part is embarrassed about her feelings and is shy. I also love how they are grown ups. I was really looking forward to an adult love story with A Discover of Witches, and in Frenchman's Creek I found one-she is 29, he presumably a similar age and they are Proper Adults with Proper Adult Feelings.

Now, the feminist thing.

This book is about captivity. Dona describes herself to Harry as a bird in a cage, and in London she is, albeit a large and gilded one. Comparatively Dona is incredibly privileged, a fact she never discovers in the novel, and in the first chapter I hated her. She abuses her servants and her horses and upsets her children.

Dona's need for a life outside of the norms of her society shows how 'othering' people creates nothing but bad things. Giving people 'roles' and not letting them be fluid things means Dona is frustrated and possibly depressed. Gender roles are rigid, Dona thinks often of her wish to 'be a boy', though whether this is literal or a reference to her unhappiness with the constrictions placed on her own gender is not properly examined within the text-though she does not recognise that patriarchy is just as constrictive to men as is it to women this again is privilege at play.

Dona's eventual giving up of the love of her life is due to her love for her children, a love she cannot help and acknowledges only when she imagines them dead. It is also restrictive to her youngest child, James, as she rarely thinks about his elder sister. This could be again emblematic of societies' preference for male children, so much ingrained that Dona invests in it herself-maybe showing why she wishes to be 'a boy'-because boys are better? The Frenchman and Dona discuss the limitations of women due to unplanned pregnancy several times-it is one of the main reasons the Frenchman gives for not having a wife because he would never be able to be 'free'. The comparative freedoms of the Frenchman and Dona, he always on the run from the law and she never being able to do what she wants (even though she is...just not in the way she wants. She's a rich titled woman with a million more options than most) are marked and frequently examined in the text. If Dona had access to reliable contraception or safe and stigma free abortion her life would be so incredibly different. She is also unable to divorce Harry. These things though are never even thought about, which is a brilliant device in placing the book in the time-why would a Restoration woman of high birth even consider contraception until she needed it? Amber St Clare is a village girl who procures a miscarriage because that is part of her life, but never would be for Dona St Columb.

This book made me think an awful lot, that is an impressive feat for an historical romance/adventure, and I highly recommend reading it, if only for the beauty of the writing. As unlike Rebecca as it's possible to be, I'll definitely be investigated Du Maurier's other work now!

What I Read During My Holidays Part 2- Why Be Happy When You Could By Normal?

Now I'm going to sound really dreadful, but I've never read any Jeanette Winterson before. I've heard of her, obviously, and I own quite a but of her, but I've never read any!
I understand this means they want by Feministy Book Blogger badge back but HA HA HA YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BECAUSE IT IS IMAGINARY.

This, her autobiography, tells the story of her life up to leaving home, then skips twenty years of finding fame through her writing, and onto the last few years of finding her birth mother. Parts were very very hard to read, dealing with depression, anxiety and abuse as they did, but parts, especially on how language and literature are such wonderful things and how the library saved her childhood, made me very smiley indeed. I also love love LOVED the description of Northern Town Life in the 1950s (even if she is from Lancashire...) and her stories of her various loves and the wonderful people who helped her along the way, this is one of those autobiographies that is mostly about other people and doesn't suffer for it.

If it wasn't so literary in places, this was be lapt up by my students, because the love 'true life' stories (because happy childhoods don't exist), but I read this in a night, and it's definitely worth a loan from a library. Parts are a bit dragging and skimable, but all in all this is a fascinating incite into an authors' world and the first half is some of the most gripping stuff I've read this year.

Holiday Reads 02 - Why be happy when you can be normal?

Holiday Reads 01 - The Luddites

What I Read During My Holidays Part 1-The Luddites

Last week I broke with tradition and spent my holiday lying on my Dad's sofa and reading. And it was, as it always is, utterly blissful.

I took originally three books to read with me, this soon rose to four as I went via my Auntie S, who's always good for a lend, and I managed all but one of them. Then I went to Headingley on Friday and had a bun and very stupidly went into Oxfam Books and came out with a bagfull (this Mount TBR is never going to happen, admit it) so I had to read one of those IMMEDIATELY. Anyway, this is what I read.

Inheritance by Phyllis Bentley.

I inherited three things off my mother; my chin, my hair, and my love of historical fiction.

My obsession with the Luddites started as a child hearing the story of the Dumb Steeple in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, where they gathered on 12 April 2012 (still not established a proper time frame, sorry Father) to march on Rawfold's Mill, run by Mr Cartwright, in protest of the new machines that, as they saw it, were stealing their jobs leaving them and their families to starve. Seeing as it's the 200th anniversary of the Luddites this year, a shed load of activities are happening surrounding them. Myself and Father set off on Thursday on a fascinating and at times quite emotional tour of the route of the Luddites-including the beautiful Norman Church in Hightown, Liversedge, where those that died in the ensuing ambush at the mill were secretly buried, and the site of the mill itself, now Cartwright Street, which houses a liposuction clinic.

Me, next to the Dumb Steeple.

As a personal way of remembering the Luddites this year (I wrote my dissertation on them and also did this talk at Bettakultcha last year on them) I re-read Phyllis Bentley's Yorkshire Classic, Inheritance, that no one but me has ever heard of, and isn't even in print (BUT IS BEING RE PUBLISHED IN AUGUST, THANK YOU BLOOMSBURY*) but was mysteriously part of the Headingley Lit Fest a couple of years ago (I missed that talk and was beyond gutted). Inheritance is basically North and South meets Maureen Lee; a family saga filled with Emotion and Tragedy, but with shit loads of historical references and a really important message about class divide. I love it, and anyone who enjoyed South Riding/The Apple Tree Saga/Gone With The Wind/The Thorn Birds would probably as well. It's also got some cracking examples of Yorkshire dialect, that I always enjoy reading, 'Aye, we're allus thrung a neet' being my favourite line, and was also made into a TV series Back In The Day starring Inspector Morse but YOUNG. Telling the story of the manufacturer and the mill hand, this intermingling of two families, the Bamforths (mill hands, with soft voices and hair like clouds) and the Oldroyds (mill owners, with pulsing veins in their foreheads) over 80 years starts with the old Mr Oldroyd bringing in Frames to him mill for the first time, and the reaction of this by the local community. The characters spend half their time walking about on the moors between their cottages, the mill and the pub, and everything is always incredibly tragic, but if you live in the West Riding (Leeds, I'm looking at you), you need to read this book as the history it contains is IMPORTANT. Just ignore that slightly ridiculous love stories that are mingled in with the cracking descriptions of the wannabe revolutions. There's also not one redeemable woman character in the whole thing, but never mind.

Happy Reading!

BookElf xxx
* as an aside, what is with all these 'ere reprints of amazing books over the past few years? They did Stella Gibbons last year, Dodie Smith just a couple of months ago. Now Phyllis Bentley. Anyone would think that the generation brought up to love these authors by their mothers now were in their late twenties/early thirties with a disposable income...

Holiday Reads 02 - Why be happy when you can be normal?

Holiday Reads 01 - The Luddites

The Light Bulb Moment Review

The Light Bulb Moment is a collection of pieces from various women and men, edited by Sian Norris, loosely based on the question 'what was the lightbulb moment when you became a feminist?'.

Like many of the contributors, my answer to this would probably be "I've always been". This doesn't stop this being a fascinating and moving collection that had me nodding my head throughout as well as reaching for my notepad to add various books mentioned and instances discussed to my 'read about' list.

The pieces are grouped (sort of) by theme, so you'll have stories about when the writers were children, stories of activism, stories focusing on the anti-porn movement, or vawg, or other issues. The stories are all written in distinctive styles, Sian has done very well in her editing in allowing the contributors to maintain their 'voice'. One piece written as a poem in particular "Girls Get Jam" (sorry I immediately lent this book to fellow feminist R so haven't got the name of the woman who wrote it in front of me) was excellent, and I'll be contacting her to request permission to post it up here.

There are a lot of big names in the book-which I think is my only issue with it. Having Laurie Penny and Jo Swinson as contributors might have added as certain gravitas for publicity, but Penny's contribution is the article from the Graun about The Female Eunuch which isn't even very insightful and I've already read on about fifty different websites a hundred times, and Swinson contributes an entire page. Wowsers.

Another thing this book shows is how much activism in inherited. I'll put my hands up here and say my hippy parenting from feminist lefty Guardian reading Northern parents may have contributed slightly to my politics a bit, but Finn Mackay's history of activism in the family, growing up on Greenham Common and having Julie Bindel round for dinner didn't inspire me. How is someone so influential in feminism being the product of a system that creates and supports influential people any different from someone being equally influential in another spectrum being a product of the system that creates and supports their peers? You can't really crap on Cameron and his ilk for being a Tory Scumbag, in power solely because of his privilege and inherited position and wealth when you're who you are because of where you come from too. This made me think about how I criticise others, who can't help not having a massive lefty for a dad and being force fed politics from childhood. Forgive them, for they know not what they do, and I know not either, to be honest. (I still would say that, having seen Finn Mackey speak a few times she is still the most powerful public speaker I've ever seen and still makes my heart beat that little bit faster every RTN).

However, these teeny criticisms aside, I loved this book. It made me cry small tears in places. Recognising a lot of the names as people I would be now proud to call friends, I was shocked at how much shit some people have gone through that I knew nothing about. It's like one of the contributors says "women don't talk about it". There were moments where I wanted to jump on a megabus and give all my sisters magic heeling boob hugs!

This book isn't one I'd recommend to people who aren't already feminists, as it's more of a reminiscence and reflection piece than a call to arms. It is also very limited in the scope of who is included, which Sian acknowledges. However, if you've got a family member or friend who is any way interested in the history of the woman's movement, gender or feminism I would give them this book as a wonderful New Year's gift. I've already passed it on, and shall definitely be buying a couple more copies to stick around some of the pubs in Leeds, as this would be a great book to dip into.

You can buy The Light Bulb Moment here.

Happy Reading (and Happy Christmas!)!

BookElf xxx

A Chat With Melinda Moustakis

Earlier this month I fell in love with Melinda Moustakis’ award winning collection of short stories ‘Bear Down Bear North’ that was published in September. The stories focus the Alaskan homesteading, trapping and fishing traditions around the Kanai River-some of the harshest landscape in the world, and the unbreakable, tough, people that live there.
Often brutal in its description of Alaskan family life, the stories in the book cover three generations of survivors in sparse, lyrical prose that shall send a shiver down your spine and is perfect for a night snuggled by the fire.
I was really pleased when Melinda agreed to talk to me about the book, and her talent and enthusiasm shines through throughout. This is a writer worth watching, and I cannot wait for her next offering.

BE : What made you decide to focus your writing on Alaska and especially the people who feature in your stories lives?MM: I was born in Fairbanks and my grandparents homesteaded in Alaska and my parents grew up in Anchorage. Then we moved to California when I was very young and I grew up hearing all these fantastic stories about Alaska. They stayed with me. And we would go up to Alaska and visit family and go fishing. Then about seven years ago I started going up more regularly in the summers to go with fishing with my uncle, Sonny, who is an expert fisherman and the storyteller in my family. I fell in love with fishing and with fishing stories. All of these factors combined--the love of fishing, being on the river, the almost mythological family stories about Alaska--and converged in my work when I started to take writing classes and started to take writing more seriously. I found my voice as a writer when I focused on the landscape of Alaska and all these stories I had inherited. These stories and stories my uncle tells me and experiences I have while fishing are the often the spark that starts a piece of fiction--but by the end, the initial spark has been completely transformed into something else. It's as if I am given a kernel of truth, a diamond, and then it is my task to build the coal around it, to build the story that will make that diamond transform and sparkle like it's never sparkled before.

BE: So do you see your work as a re-telling of old stories, a celebration of the culture you've inherited, or an exploration of how a landscape affects a culture?MM: I don't know if I could ever presume to represent a culture. I would say "a re-telling and re-imagining of old stories, a celebration of the stories I've inherited and experienced, and an exploration of how landscape affects character and voice." In terms of representation, my goal was to be truthful about both the majesty and the darker undercurrents of the Alaskan wilderness and the people who live there. The true test of the book is how it will be received by my family and other Alaskan readers--and so far there has been an incredibly warm reception. I didn't want Bear Down, Bear North to be considered "another touristy book" about Alaska. I wanted every word, every story, to be saturated in Alaska, to be authentic. In many ways, a book can be an author's love letter sent out into the world. This book is a love letter about Alaska--and this love, this relationship, is full of paradoxes: complicated and sharp and dark and light-humoured and heart-lifting and heart-breaking and biting and tender. I would use the same terms to describe the relationships between the characters in the book as well.

BE: I agree, I read it as a 'love letter to Alaska' as well, even though the character's lives aren't always romantic, but very realistic. Your characters go through an awful lot over the course of the stories, was any of it difficult to write?MM: I did not want to romanticize the Alaskan wilderness or these characters and so I had to address brutality and violence. There were many parts of the book that were difficult to write because children were in danger. The story "Bite" was especially difficult for me to write for this reason. Also, while writing this book, these characters furnished my imagination, became beloved, and so placing them in harm's way or knowing they would harm each other was devastating. I remember, while writing "Some Other Animal," that imagining losing one's mother became overwhelming, the loss unfathomable. I have to be moved while writing a story for it to be any good and I think that is the only way I can know the reader might be moved as well.
There are also certain story structures that were especially challenging for me. For example, "Point MacKenzie," which includes the perspectives of five children, was maddening to write in terms of structure and emotional content. That story took intense concentration and a lot of time, but I knew the story had to include all five voices.

BE: Your stories are so wells structured-you obviously spend a lot of time on that aspect of your writing, which as a reader you forget because your work is so lyrical! I loved the sparseness of some of your prose, if that makes sense. I particularly enjoyed the five aspects in “Point MacKenzie”, as the voices of the children informed the story more. How do you go about building up the bricks of the story, do you start with the structure, or do you have phrases that you know you want to use already stashed away?MM: I thought, briefly, that I was going to be a poet when I was taking creative classes in college. But all my poems included narrative and then fiction took over. You might call my writing failed poetry or lyrical fiction. I enjoy writing toward a structure because my brain feels so scattered at times--structure allows me to unravel the tangled ball of odds and ends and find the overall narrative arc. But I'm glad you said that as a reader you forgot about the structure which means the story pulled you in. This is my goal. I want readers to come away from a story feeling a swell of emotion because they have connected with the characters, not "That was an interesting structure." I usually don't start with a structure in mind. I have to have a character's voice in my head, a point of view, or an image to write to when I start a story--as if I have to find the structure and rhythm of the line before I discover the structure of the scene and then the structure of the entire story. Sometimes I have a line of dialogue or an image stashed away, sometimes a moment, sometimes a strange map or running list of all of these things.

BE: Within the various storied there are clear links, stories told by different members of the same family or at different times in a person's life for example. One thing I really enjoyed was discovering different aspects throughout the different stories, for example in "The Last Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show", it is mentioned that when her husband proposed he made her go to the AA, this immediately made me remember in the earlier story "Miners and Trappers" where Gracie finds her brother Jack in the cabin her wanting to swig back the vodka. Do you have entire families’ histories in your head? I suppose what I'm asking is, is there room for a prose novel about the family?MM: The book could have been called a "novel-in-stories" because the stories are all linked together and cover three generations of one homesteading family. I do have entire family histories in my brain. At the beginning, I didn't know that I was writing a book about one entire family. But I kept returning to the characters and their lives and I will continue to return to them for future projects. So there is room for a novel, I believe, perhaps even a number of them.
BE: Good! I have to admit I completely fell in love with Gracie and Jack!
MM: Gracie and Jack were the first characters to take a hold of me—“The Weight of You” was really the start of this whole project

BE: One of my favourite things about the book was how accessible it was. I live in a city in England, and have never been fishing in my life and yet immediately became swept up in the Alaskan landscape and even the (very intricate) descriptions of fishing and the technical terms used didn't put me off the writing- what's the reception been like in Alaska amongst the people who it describes?
MM: The reception from my family and other Alaskans has been fantastic. I actually go up to Alaska in October for Alaska book week and will see more how it is received. But Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Dispatch did articles on me and the book when I was in Alaska fishing this summer and both reporters read the book and loved it and told me they were thrilled to read a book about Alaska that felt authentic. Alaskans are the true reader test for the book and it meant a lot to me that my family enjoyed the book and that press in Alaska had really connected with the stories.

Bear Down Bear North is out now


Happy Reading!


BookElf xxx

E-Books, Free books and audiobooks. Oh My!

(Last week, a friend of mine confessed that she had no idea where to find a good selection for her eReader. I've done a little digging and these are my favourites)

So, you betrayed your principles, the printed page and all that is good in the world and acquired an eReader.*

You've tinkered with the settings, brightness and contrast.

You've oohed and aahed at the 'amazing' screensavers and marvelled at the glare free screen.

You've downloaded the free copy of Winnie the Pooh from the linked book store (where available).

Now it's time to build up some sort of collection.

So, I love buying books...

There are a number of sites/marketplaces/stores where e-Books -  in a variety of different formats - are fairly accessible, even to the most technically challenged reader. Possibly the best known are Amazon and Apple, but most book stores and their related web sites now have ebook sections.

For some incredibly inconvenient reason, there are dozens of different formats, so bear in mind that you need to research which will work for you.
How annoying.
I hate when these 'format wars' come into play. Sure, part of the battle is to find a suitable working format, but for the most part, I'm pretty sure this overwhelmingly  impacts the consumer negatively. Like if you had a kindle and then got an iPad, you can't (couldn't?) swop your books over? Grrr.

From a quick search online, and after chatting with my mates, there are two primary complaints to be heard over and over again - eBooks cost too much, and the choice is limited.
With regards to the latter, I think that time will be the only solution. The longer eBooks are a viable option, the more books will be released in varying formats. And here in the UK, the emphasis is till very much on printed books. As the eBook market grows, more stores will offer a greater range.
However, the former is a little more tricky. See, me, I like books. I actually prefer reading a page over a screen. And I value having a *physical* copy on my shelves. So, I wouldn't want to pay full price for a virtual book - I just wouldn't feel like it's good value for money. I'm aware that's probably a little ridiculous - same author, same work etc. Besides, I'm always terrified everything will get wiped in some unimaginably horrible home IT catastrophe.
I expect that eBooks will follow the same path as music. Virtual albums originally cost the same as a CD version, and are now often considerably cheaper. Course it took years for that to start...

...but I prefer when I get them for free

So it's good to know that there are some fantastic book shop alternatives, offering public domain books, audio books and more FOR FREE - my favourite price for any book! (Course this is just to get you started. A definitive list would take forever and a day!)

Your Local Libraries - That's right folks, chances are, your library is providing or preparing to provide ebooks and you never even knew it! Recently, there have been new deals worked out between libraries and publishing houses so if you haven't thought to check before - now might be the perfect time!

Project Gutenberg - I can't possibly promote this site enough. I think I tell every person I can about it!
Created in 1971 to digitise and archive cultural works, in order to encourage access to eBooks; there are now over 10 different affiliated sites (i.e. Project Gutenberg Australia). All the books submitted to PG are in the 'Public Domain' or out of copy write, so there are just tons of classics! I love the ideology and concepts that drive PG. Mostly, I love being able to access over 34 000  books (in multiple formats). So regardless of your eReader, you should be able to find something you can use!

LibriVox - Since 2005, this site provides a free online audio library, with a collection of over 4200 audio books as of the beginning of this year. Run by volunteers; any one with an interest can contribute by recording excerpts/chapters/books for the site. The site is predominantly orientated towards English language content, though slowly other languages are starting to become available.
In all honesty, the quality of the audio books varies - some are as polished as professional audio books, while others are ...not, with gaps, or mumbled parts.
There is an easy work around for that. Download an audio book, and if you think that you could read it better - do so!!

Google Books - Either the best or worst thing to happen to literature, depending on whom you ask. Google books provides full scans of books, in some cases regardless of whether the author approves. Have to admit, it's still pretty useful, if a bit murky. 

Open Content Alliance - Created in part as a response to the Google Books, this site differs in that it digitises books AFTER receiving permission from the copyright holder. Member of the Open Book Alliance.**

And there are some sites that specialise on particular geographical regions.

Runivers - a not for profit website focused on providing library like access to Russian culture and history. (Slightly controversial this - the site has been criticised for using borrowed content. You've been warned. I imagine that if Russian history, literature and culture is your thing, you'll have been right put off by this addendum...)

Europeana - This is the hub for digitised culture throughout Europe - books, music, art - this site has a little bit of everything. Institutions across the continent have all contributed, and the idea is to bring together European Culture to be accessed by all.

Project Runeberg -Patterned after PG, this specialises in Nordic History.


Anyhoo, these are just a few of the dozens of sites out there, but free from dodgy malware (a worry whenever you look at downloading anything). Feel free to share your favourites in the comments!


*Not phrased thus through jealousy. Honest. My lack of eReader status has left me with no bitterness.

**Collection of book related sites, unified by opposition to the Google Book Settlement. They are working together to avoid a monopoly in the digital marketplace.

The Golden Notebook

So just over a week ago I started reading Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, one I have been meaning to read for a good two years. I *had* to write down what I feel about it, though you have to remember that I've had a *very* stressful week!

I am going to get a hell of this wrong, I know, but this is more or less how I figured it all went. Please, excuse any massive blunders and remember I'm not an academic, I'm just a reader, reading for pleasure.

The book is divided into four notebooks, each supposedly detailing a different strand of Anna's life, and the stand alone story of "Free Women" (a play on her 'maiden' (hate that phrase but only appropriate one can think of right now) name Freeman?). The book covers a twenty year period, focusing mainly on Anna's life in Central Africa during the Second World War, and the 1950s in London with her daughter Janet.

The book starts with Free Women, followed in turn by the notebooks. The writing style within the notebooks varies depending on themes, and also includes references to letters, newspaper clippings and other printed sources stuck within the pages. I would love to see a art project of the notebooks as they actually appeared, as I believe that the state of Anna's unravelling mind directly compares to the disorganised and frantic way the notebooks change over time.

Also what interested me is the emphasis on the different notebooks in terms of length; at the beginning, when Anna starts the experiment, the black notebook, that supposedly chronicles her 'writing life', but which I see as more of her remembrances of the past and of Africa in general starts off as long sections talking about her first novel and how it was influenced by real-life events in Africa (I know its really bad to just say 'Africa' when its a continent with a wide variety of cultures and countries, but that's what she says in the book.)

By the end of the novel it is the blue notebook which is sprawling and massive. The blue notebook is supposed to be a diary and concentrates more on day to day events, thoughts and fears and dreams, particularly those to do with her mental health and how this relates to how she sees herself sexually, and how other people do. I believe this is because Anna has been taken in by psycho-analysis, to such an extent where she cannot just 'be', but everything has to mean something and every man she meets must have a context within her life purely as a sexual being. I hated the blue notebook as it frustrated and confused me. I don't agree with the notion that dreams are vastly important in deciphering who we are and where we're going as I believe there is such as thing as being up oneself to the point where one is blind to reality, and I feel uncomfortable with self-analysis to the extent Anna has it (counselling three times a week at two hours a time? Talking about yourself and your life exclusively for six hours a week? For over ten years? Come off it love you're not fucking Jordan).

The Yellow Notebook was my favourite. Actually, complete lie, the first bit of the black notebook was my favourite but the yellow notebook on a whole was excellent. As far as I can figure out, this was a story version of Anna's life, much like her book Frontiers of War was a story of her earlier life in Africa. The yellow notebook is also more or less chronological so a lot easier to digest that the blue notebook, which you need a map to navigate, to be honest, or the black notebook which is threads of memories of false experiences that Anna can no longer recall clearly to the extent where at the end it is a movie she keeps seeing where she is convinced she has remembered the plot but hasn't.

Ella lives with her son Michael in the flat she shares with her friend Julia (Anna, Janet and Molly in Free Woman). She works on a magazine answering letters for a medical advice column. At a party given by her boss she meets Paul (who corresponds to Michael in Anna's life. Lessing only uses about three male names throughout, which is confusing, but probably Very Relevant (is it? I don't know!)), who she later finds is married. They have an extremely involving affair for five years, which she dedicates her life to, even though she knows he will never leave his wife (she sees their home once and realises that, actually, he isnt 'her's'. Really? You think?). When, of course, he leaves her for a job abroad, she becomes depressed, having only had him as her emotional compass for the last five years, despite living with her best friend and her son. She goes to Paris for work where she meets a American man who she ends up in bed with after they have a near-death experience on the flight home. She realises that she will never be able to experience sexual pleasure with anyone but Paul, because she is still in love with him. She continues to have several affairs, moves into a new flat with her son, which nearly causes an end to her friendship with Julia. The notebook ends with Ella having a conversation with her father about his relationship with her mother, and with herself. It becomes apparent that they really don't have much of an emotional relationship.

Now when I look at the yellow notebook incomparsion with the blue is becomes apparent to me that this is another response to Freudian psycho-therapy; because Ella doesn't have an emotional relationship with her father she has planted that love onto another man, Paul, who cannot give it back because he is not in love with her enough to leave his wife and career for her (or, as I like to put it, he is a Bastard). When she is rejected by Paul she is unable to find sexual fulfillment (because of course that's the only possible thing one could possibly want in ones life, there is No Point proceeding otherwise-what utter utter self obsessed tosh. Have a wank, love, its not hard).

However, I feel so much for Ella I'm going to completely ignore this interpretation and continue in my sobbing for her. The poor poor love. Paul is clearly a Massive Massive Bastard, he assumes straight away that Ella will fall madly in love with him, and does nothing to dissuade her, even though he is married. He treats her dreadfully throughout, yet she always comes back because she loves him, and there's not a lot she can do to stop herself. I loved loved loved Lessing's use of simile in the book, the whole thing is gorgeous but the line that stood out as most poignant for me was "his going has left me like a snail that has had its shell pecked off my a bird" which is one of the very few things I'd seriously consider getting permanently marked on my body for the trueness of it. If you've ever had your shell pecked off yourself, you'll understand why.

The bit where Ella is contemplating suicide on the plane grabbed me by the throat a bit in how well realised it was. There is a reason not to allow yourself to be that emotionally attached to another person, they can make you feel that shitty even years after they've trodden your heart in the mud. I wanted Ella to find happiness, but I loved how Lessing wouldn't let her. This is the rest of her life now, all because some Bastard just couldn't be honest to her, or his family.

The black notebook is in my opinion the most beautifully written on the notebooks (though this is appropriate when the content reflux Anna's writing, as opposed to emotional or mental state). The stories surrounding the group of Communists who find each other and become friends during the war is so so beautiful and moving. Each character I could see, and know. Paul, the charismatic, young, bully of a pilot was such a good anti-hero, and that we know about his death from quite near the beginning of the story makes it even more so.

I loved the way Lessing describes relationships in the black notebook; I agree that in every group there is a central couple; having been part of a similarly insular group of friends myself I recognised instantly a lot of the intricacies and dangers apparent with such groups. Anna and Willi I particularly liked, they are together, as far as I could see, from want of anything better to be.

The book as a whole, in my opinion (and again, I've probably got this horribly wrong) was about failing to deal with disappointment. Anna is socialist by nature, and intellectual. She knows and lot of people and supports a lot of causes. She is disappointed on many levels throughout the book; most prominently by her politics (the red notebook is one long fall out from Stalin, and heartbreakingly sad, especially for a lefty to read) and emotionally by the various men (for the most part married, which riled, but its set in the 50s when you were even more of a failure if you were single than you are now) that she ties herself to. But not just these two major themes; Anna is also disappointed by motherhood (her daughter Janet wants to go to boarding school and is normal, despite her bohemian upbringing and being from a "broken home"). Her friendship with Molly/Julia is constantly under strain, mostly due to Molly using her as an emotional crutch and then getting upset when she gives advice (I really didn't like Molly, almost as much as I didn't like Tommy, both of which again need to Get Over Themselves a bit. Though Tommy's story is incredibly sad, he then punishes his mother and rips the piss out of his step mother for no reason other than he can, as far as I could see. Couldn't quite forgive him for that. At least Richard is honest; he wants to have lots of money and shag young beautiful women and so he DOES make lots of money and shag young beautiful women. Molly wants to teach the world to sing and all that but at the end of the day she doesn't).

By the end of the book, Anna has had a breakdown. This is not helped by her falling in love with her lodger, Saul (or is it Milt? Again, the chopping and changing of names, whilst brilliant, confused the help out of me). Saul is an emotionally abusive man, even more or a bully than Paul from the black notebook. He torments Anna with emotional blackmail because he is weak and pathetic and it is the only way he can get his kicks, by demeaning someone far more successful and intelligent than he is on the basis on their gender, which he deems lessor than his own. Saul is also mentally ill and going through a breakdown of his own, or "cracking up" as Lessing calls it.

The abuse of Anna by Saul extends to his taking over her life to the extent that she starts a brand new notebook-the golden notebook, which he claims for his own. Exploring how they hurt each other, Anna finally asks him to leave her. She returns to her main priority being her daughter, gets a job working for a relationship counsellor and joins the Labour Party.

I LOVED this book. It was so thought provoking, so well crafted and structured, I could have happily spent two days reading it to re-emerge re-born, and will do that exact thing one day. Anna terrified me; if I had been born in the 1920s to middle class parents I would have probably gone down a similar route. It terrified me that this intelligent, intellectual, thinking woman could allow herself to be involved with such pricks of men, and not receive any support whatsoever from her women friends; Molly doesn't even know that Anna is having the affair with Saul, or that is is mentally breaking down. This disgusted me, as I would hope that my friends would never allow things to get that bad for me.

This isn't a "feminist" novel, apart from that it illustrates just how horrible and constricting a place Britain was, for both sexes. But this is because it is about the 50s, rather than explicitly about the struggle for equality of the sexes and an end of socially constricted gender roles. One line, however, massively stood out for me as still relevant today and that is when Anna says to Saul,

"In a society where not one man in ten thousand begins to understand the ways in which women are second class citizens, we have to rely for company on the men who are at least not hypocrites."

There is so much more I could say about this book and I would love to have a very long and in depth conversation with someone slightly more academic than I am about every part of it. But I have waffled on enough here. If anyone has any recommendations as to further reading into this book, they would be gratefully received.

Thank you
Happy Reading!
BookElf
xx

World Book Night at Arcadia

I woke up on Saturday with a horrible horrible hangover, fresh from a dream where we had set World Book Night up on trestle tables on Otley Road, nobody had come and everything was covered in sand...

...so its fair to say I was sliiiiiightly nervous when it came to 6.30 that evening. The lovely lovely people at Arcadia had reserved the side room downstairs for us to use, and I started to sweat a little hoping I hadn't completely wasted their time and done them out of a night's takings.

By 7.15, with 60 books on the table, and a packed-out venue full of amazingly brilliant people talking about their favourite books, beer and how to set up book clubs in their local area, I was already grinning madly, and a couple of hours later the tears had started stinging in my eyes at just what a brilliant, brilliant thing was going on around me.



Some of the early arrivals with their chosen books

It started when we heard about World Book Night in November. I instantly applied to be a giver for what I believe to be a great incentive to get people talking about books. Twenty Five Titles, 48 copies each, given out by 20,000 people up and down Britain, with massive support from writers such as Margaret Atwood and Alan Bennett, this was always going to need a bigger boat. When I found out The Travelling Suitcase Library had been selected to be a giver of "Stuart: A Life Backwards" by Alexander Masters (thoughtfully and eloquently told real-life story of a man who is homeless and stimulant dependent, fighting for his rights in a world that seem designed to go against him) I was jumping for joy a wee bit.

A few shout outs on Twitter and I soon realised I wasn't alone in wanting to share the books with others. Together with Lauren (@walkyouhome) and Alice (@bulbnose) we decided to gatecrash Arcadia for the night and give out the books we had chosen (Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez for Lauren, One Day by David Nicholls for Alice) to the locals and regulars that frequent the CAMRA pub of the season.

Then, when I toddled off to ask the amazing management of Arcadia if I could borrow a table for the evening, I found that there had already been some interest. A Random Man had apparently asked if he too could give out books. Then R the manager heard from her old friend Paula that she too was looking for a base to give hers out. It was all getting a bit big.



Some of the books given out

Come Saturday I had no idea if we could pull it off. Having promoted the evening in some online publications I know I still wasn't sure how it would go; an awful lot of people say to me "what a marvellous idea" when it comes to the Travelling Suitcase Library, but enough to fill a pub on a Saturday night?

At 7 there was mine and Alice's books on the table. These were soon joined by ten copies of The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid given by the absolutely gorgeous Steve, who had given the rest to his rugby team that day in an effort to bring his hobbies together.

At 8 Paula arrived, her brown box full of copies of Toast by Nigel Slater, greeted by cheers.



Alice, Lauren, Me and Paula with our books

The Travelling Suitcase was open throughout and about ten people brought books to be swapped. When my very good old friend M arrived with a bag full of graphic novels I had barely time to read out the titles before they were snatched from my hands.



The Travelling Suitcase Library

People were talking passionately about their preferences. Whether this was aided by the venue's excellent choice of beers and wines I couldn't comment, but the couple of pints of Black Velvet definitely loosened my tongue!

I popped upstairs to announce "free books" and we suddenly had about fifty people clawing their way to the table to get their hands on copies. When Kelly pulled out copies of Case Histories by Kate Atkinson to contribute to the hoard they lasted, what two minutes? When Lauren arrived (after moving house!) with 48 fresh copies of Love in the Time of Cholera she was greeted like a hero.

And then, at about 9, just when it couldn't get any better, Rebecca arrived. She'd read about the event on the World Book Night website, would it be alright to give out her 48 brand new copies of Northern Lightsby Phlip Pullman? I almost cried.



Standing room only at World Book Night!


I must have spoken about reading to 80-odd people that night, including a rather socially relaxed conversation with three rather nice young men about how they should definitely take a copy of Northern Lights (which only one of them had read, and whose reaction to hearing his friends hasn't was far to explicit for me to repeat) and use it as a chat up line during their night on the town.

It also turned out G, the deputy manager of the pub, hadn't read it either, which astounded me but I'm now really looking forward to discussing the series with him!



My face in the crowd at about 8 o'clock... says it all really!


This is what I love about books, they really do bring people from all walks of life together. Yes we were all adults, but students, locals, regulars and staff came together to talk about something they love and that should be celebrated. My favourite part of the night was possibly when regular Barry walked out with two books, and a massive grin on his face. It was also a pleasure to see a couple arguing massively over why she should take more books. "You already have five shelves!", "Oh really, and what about all your cricket gear?". Classic.

As the night wound down, and the good 400 books that had been given away from both the World Book Night haul and The Travelling Suitcase Library were packed carefully away into bags and coat pockets, we reflected on what we had done. Many people had said they would now be joining the book club, many more people have talked about the need to create one of their own. All in all I couldn't have been more pleased with how the night went, I just hope that everyone who came was inspired, and enjoys their new books!

Thank yous... to the amazingly supportive and accommodating Arcadia Bar, especially Tom and the team who were working that night, it was really really busy and you did a fantastic job (like you always to)

To R & G, the management, for continued love and support. Could not have done any of this without you.

To N, who has just been an utter utter rock. Bigger and better things next time!

To L, M, J and A for being there. Thank you.

To Lauren, Alice, Rebecca, Paula, Kelly and Steve the book givers who shared there passion and books with us. It would have not been half as amazing without.

To the word "amazing" that apparently sponsored this blog post!

And finally to every single person who came and took a book (or eight!). Enjoy them, read them, and pass them on. If one more person read one more books out of this whole thing, its a success, so thank you



Me, at the end of a long night, with books


Happy Reading!
BookElf
xx

Return to Labyrinth

Have you ever been at a party and had someone mention... the macarena or something similar, and before you know it, a whole pile of 20-somethings are on their feet, singing along, doing all the movements, generally making right eijits of themselves, and loving it?

Well, my version of that occurs at least twice a year. I'll be at some do or other and someone will say 'You remind me of the babe...' 

And before I know it, we're replying:

'what babe?', 

'the babe with the power...', 

'what power?', 

'the power of voodoo, 

'who do?', 

'you do, you remind me of the babe!'

If you've seen the Labyrinth, and loved it, chances are you knew what I was typing before you read it! 

If you've seen it and didn't like it...then this might not be the blog post for you(but you'll probably find something else you like!).

If you haven't seen it...yet... I envy you!!! 

The Labyrinth is a 1986 film, directed by Jim Henson (The Muppet's!), produced by George Lucas (some space based trilogy, twice), and designed by Brian Froud (who created the good faeries/bad faeries book, amongst others). 

More importantly, it stars a be-wigged, all singing, all dancing, all Lycra wearing David Bowie, as Jared, alongside an enchanting and enigmatic Jennifer Connelly as Sarah.

The film follows the adventures of Sarah Williams, a 15 yr old girl struggling to come to terms with the death of her mother, her father's remarriage, and her relationship with her baby brother Toby. During a fit of rage, she wishes the baby away with the goblins, and to her shock, the baby vanishes. 

He has been kidnapped by Jared, the King of the Goblins, who is in love with Sarah, but has a rather strange way of wooing her. She has only 13 hours to learn the tricks of the labyrinth or she will lose her baby brother for ever (such a pity...). 

On her journey, she meets the weird and wonderful, makes some true friends and finds that life is not always as it seems. It's all very surreal and wonderful (gotta love the MC Escher inspired ending), and there is singing and dancing galore, by creatures of all sorts and shapes. For years, it has been one of my favourite films, and I would have happily chewed off my own arm for some sort of a sequel. 

Turns out, they didn't need my arm!

The wonderful people at Tokyo Pop have released a four part comic series, designed to bring the legendary world back to life, and up to date. 

It is set some 15 years in the future, and little Toby - now a rather blase, yet hapless teenager - is the hero of the books...though Sarah does make her presence felt too!

The characters that we know and love are all present and correct (Jared, Ludo, Sir Didymus and of course, Hoggle), though the focus is on new ones. Though very different (in that durr, it's a different format completely sort of way), I do think that the spirit... the heart of the original lives on in a glorious fashion!

Everyone that I have lent these too has loved them, almost as much as the original film. So, if you are a fan, I can't recommend these enough! If you merely liked the film, but are looking to explore the world of comics more, this is a great introductary set. I know that it's contrary to all comic conventions, but these are set out in western linear fashion - you don't have to read em backwards. I find reading backwards disorientating with comics. My eyes automatically move in the wrong direction, so this was fantastic.

If you fancy em, I know that OK Comics have had em in the past, and are rather super about ordering stuff in (and lending a patient ear when you want something but can't remember the name!). I imagine that they will be available competively priced online, though I obviously haven't looked (never understood that tendency myself) - I have mine now!

(As for me, I've started collecting the sister series - a sequel to the Dark Crystal! 2 down, 2 to go)