Northern Lights Books and Gifts out of Duluth, MN. On this blog, we're looking to discuss new books, literary events and other issues we face within the world of Indie Bookselling!
Fairy Tale told through Information Flow complete with graphs, population densities, and nutritional values of Granny, this video re-imagines the story of Little Red Riding Hood to have modern/technological components.
My favorite retelling of Lil' Red is in Angela Carter's collection of retold fairy tales The Bloody Chamber. The story is "The Company of Wolves." Dark, disturbing, and turns the old notions of innocence and power into a strange pretzel.
I like a book that I keep thinking about long after I've shut the back cover. I like a book that makes me question my beliefs and value systems and leaves me pondering ethical tenets. A Lion Called Christian is such a book. The book tells of a pair of young Australian men who purchased a lion cub at Harrod's Department Store in London in the late 1960's. One cannot miss the irony of naming a lion Christian! I also can't help but be horrified that they could buy a lion at Harrod's.
The men kept Christian for about a year in which time he grew to be quite a sizable creature. They realized that they could not keep a full-sized lion and researched places for him to go. They didn't want him to have the fate of finishing his life in a zoo or circus. They were able to connect with George Adamson who worked with Elsa (of Born Free notoriety) and took Christian to Africa to be rehabilitated to live as a lion in the wild.
Footage of Christian seeing these men a year after he was set free in Africa has been circulating on YouTube. There is no question that he recognized his previous housemates when they came to see him. I don't want to spoil the story by telling you more about it but I'd be curious what others think about issues that are raised.
Why, after almost 40 years, is this story reemerging? What is it about it that we find so irresistible? Do animals truly have the ability to feel toward humans the love and affection that we feel toward them? Why do we expect wild animals to live among us for our joy and entertainment? (I often think of the case of a circus elephant who escaped in Honolulu and was killed by authorities because of the danger she posed when she ran through the streets.) I don't like animals being utilized in circuses but can zoos provide them a hospitable habitat? Some endangered species seem to need extra care and protection and might zoos keep them from becoming extinct?
I'm quite impressed with the maturity and selflessness shown by these young men to make the decision to try and have Christian "return" to the wild even though he and his parents were born in captivity. As much as I would want this for all wild animals, I can't imagine the feeling of letting him go knowing that he might not survive. Even though it is obviously the right thing to do, my human emotions keep surfacing when I think about doing this.
I invite you to read this book and see if it raises some questions in your mind as well. By the way, a search at Harrod's website shows that one can no longer purchase a lion there. Now, that's progress!
Largely this is because I'm not a huge movie-goer. (For just a few dollars more, I can own the book and be the visual director.) I'm also wary of adaptations because they are re-tellings of stories; stories that we've come to love because they were originally told so well! But, it can also be very magical to see and hear another person's vision of what you've loved.
I have a feeling that this movie will be one of those magical, visual experiences. Coraline by Neil Gaiman looks to be quite tremendous. For those of you who are not familiar with Neil Gaiman, here's my reductive impression of his works: he understand Story(yes, with a capital S) to an extraordinary level; he is not afraid of the dark; because he truly embraces Story, his works span age levels very easily; he has a great wit; and he has a true knack for teaming up with brilliant visual artists. Take that writing force, apply it to a story of a little girl who is fleeing the ordinary and then trapped by the wondrous, compose it with an innovative/creative production company and you have a potential classic on your hands. Opens February 6th. I'll have to watch it February 7th, since I'll be listening to Michael Ryanread at CSS. So, if you can't make it to listen to Michael Ryan, I highly suggest you see Coraline. Here's the Gaiman approved trailer:
These Olive Editions from HarperCollins are a great concept - good size and durability and featuring recent classics (beating Penguin Classics to the punch?).
Thanks, again, to M&Q for giving a heads up to Utne's vlog coverages of the Twin Cities Book Festival. It's a fantastic event put on by one of my favorite zines, Rain Taxi (available at the store for free!). We were lucky to come across many of these books and booksellers and publisher reps at MBA. Now you can experience it second hand and be aware of the event for next year.
The Milkweed and Coffeehouse books are on my to-read list, Once and Future Celt is on my table at home, and Graywolf's Refresh Refresh sounds right up my alley!
If none of these great books leap out at you, then check out these National Book Award nominees for 2008. We'll do our best to get them in/ keep them on stock at the store for you!
Kash's Blog from Boulder, CO: wherein he details being fought over to go to dinner with John Hodgman and Chuck Klosterman. And the hilarity that ensues.
If you haven't checked out Downtown Owl, make sure you pick it up, or at least some of Klosterman's other works.
Push to shove, I have to say I'm a Hodgman fan through and through. He had me at 700 Hobo Names. As such, I'm looking very forward to the 21st, when More Information Than You Require hits the shelves with more made-up knowledge than any shelf could hope to hold! Here is More Information than You Require
Many authors attempt what Diaz does so well- the intelligent portrayal of both brutality and tenderness. I became a big Diaz fan when I read his collection of connected short stories, Drown in a Latino Literature class. I was captivated by the grit and wit combinations in his stories. I wanted more.
So, I was excited when The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao came out and even more excited when I heard that it won the pulitzer this spring. The novel is impressive with its flawed narrator, casual code-switching to Spanish, and blending of story, history, fantasy, family, love, pity, lust and finding one's spot in the world. Diaz does not deny hope nor offer any clear redemption. He creates a narrative that invites us to examine our own lives, and lives around us, to see the forces that sweep through our lives and how we react to them.
We're still new in this blogging endeavor and we couldn't let this news item slip!
Shakespearean actor Mark Rylance, in his acceptance speech (for Best Actor) at the Tony Awards this past June, recited a poem written by Duluth's own Louis Jenkins. He did a fine reading - worthy of Jenkins's own delivery - and left the audience more than a little perplexed and a lot more than a little amused.
The attention garnered by the unique approach to an acceptance speech has given rise to talk about a possible production to be made of a series of Jenkins's poems. More of the story here.
Carol Bly was a tremendous literary force. She worked tirelessly with writers seeking to hone their craft. Insightful, sharp, stern and caring: she made a mark with many authors. Her only novel, Shelter Half, was published by Holy Cow! Press after her recent death.
Thanks to Jim Perlman of Holy Cow! Press for letting us know about this video. Entitled "The Lucky Predators," it features Carol Bly on the psychology of violence. It was recorded in 1991 during the first Gulf War.
Posts
