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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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A slender book in which our protagonist/author arrives at Castle/Tavern and finds that both he and the other guests are mute. Thus, after dinner, they all tell their stories with a pack of Tarot Cards, the narrator interprets as each guest selects a card and begins to tell their tale...
...Until at last all their fates and destinies are intertwined, and all of the cards spread out upon the table, and the interpretation, the reading, the symbolism of each unique to the narrator, to the position - above, below, left, right, preceding or following, only by choosing the correct entry point you can find where every story begins, ends, where the cards have been arranged to tell those bits of the stories of MacBeth & Hamlet, and onward and so forth, until the Author/Narrator chooses to tell his own story...
Now, an interesting premise which I've considered (not exactly), and recalled reading that Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" was actually based upon a deck of Tarot Cards, and - while on my first reading I did not get this, not at all, maybe with this foreknowledge I'll try it again...
On that note, for a while I was doing a fair bit of reading on the topic, the cards, they are an inspiration, and so maybe it's time to pick them up again...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 202
After the unforgiveable introduction by Nigel Reeves & David Luke, whose analysis seems to consist largely of giving away the plot and outcome of every story....
...it proved not bad. Somewhat modern, or approaching, a perfectly good book of short stories very much of the Period, my favorite of which was undoubtedly Michael Kohlhass, a disgruntled horse trader much abused by the law who is forced to take matters in his own hands to seek justice, rounds up a posse of grooms and peasants and leads a seige upon Wittenberg.
How sympathetic - and modern the character is, in his outlawery, in how as he grows in strength he grows in Madness, the theme of an honest man vs the unjust state, how thoroughly modern he is when again he sees the Gypsy who gave him the talisman that would save his life, thoroughly pragmatic when he says to her (essentially) "Why Me?" in response to the incredible events that have befallen him.
So, a relatively thick book, now on to a relatively thin one - Italo Calvinos' "The Castle of Crossed Destinies".
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 228
A selection of grotesque and supernaturally inspired stories by E.T.A. Hoffman, perfect for Christmas.
Lots of notes made and googling to be done afterwards, his stories, both comical, thrilling (after the fashion of Shelley), Ghost Stories filled with sleepwalkers, psychics, odd characters that seem to exist between worlds, the Wandering Jew, for example, capturing in turns the implacable remembrance of love, those moments one knows will never be repeated, of true-love generally thwarted, of fashions and news of his day, for example he spins the tale of a miner who was found perfectly preserved in Copper Sulfate, only to be identified by his widow of 50 years, a true tale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fet-Mats), then embellishes upon it to create a story of a sailor drawn to the Mine at Falun by a supernatural agent, not that the events at Falun were by the fashion of the day not fantastic enough, expositions that rely upon unknown circumstance and incredible coincidence, both fantastic and yet relatable, The character, for example of Chancellery Private Secretary Tusmann, whose taste in books somewhat reflects mine own, for example: 1720 "Cicero Presented as a Great Windbag and Pettifogger in Ten Orations" and from whose varied list of recommendations of books long out of fashion I'm led on to:
Wiegleb's - Natural Magic (a practical book on conjuring, or Magic as practiced by Penn & Teller, written in the late 1700's)
Nudow's "Theory of Sleep",
Frankfurt Dream book
Artemidorus - on dreams & Excerpts Here
Anyways, a light but suitable holiday read. Now off to do some work...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 230
This was a discovery. French Modernist, he writes, well, brilliantly, genius even. Rhythm, style, cadence, pacing, the plot, characters, situations, the balance of narrative, philosophizing, an author I'd seen referred to by Henry Miller (and you can see his influence), as well as influencing Modigliani, (Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Blaise_Cendrars), Picasso, Chagall and others. Discovering him is a little like discovering Celine - and - fortunately for me, he has quite a number of other books in translation.
Unfortunately they're pretty rare and often very expensive.
I'll get to them.
The cover art - a Penguin Paperback with Thomas Hafner's "Lucifer" (an AI Hallucination before AI, actually conceived and painted by the artist) - this is the original "Fight Club", "Apocalypse Now", I could go on.
And his writing - trying to discern what is factual - within his experience, vs fiction - what he's making up - is in points night on impossible, he paints perfect, vivid strokes, in the general and then perfectly again in the specific, make it impossible to differentiate...
An absolutely brilliant author but poorly represented in English Translation.
5/5 Stars.
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 237
And so I'm diving down rabbit hole after rabbit hole looking for next reads tangent to the one I've just finished.
Of course, I enjoyed it greatly and would be curious as to the literary milieu that birthed some of my favorite books, there are undoubtedly a few new favorite books that I haven't read yet, and I'd like to get them on the list....
(I'd started the "Marquise of O and other tales" by Kleist only to have it ruined in the introduction by a translator that presumed I was familiar with the plot, outcome and themes of each of the stories. I am now, you asshole, but you've rather ruined my discovery of it!!!)
So far:
Red Spectres - An Anthology of Gothic Russian Tales, Translated by Muiriann Maguire, authors include: Valery Bryusov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Aleksandr Chayanov, Aleksandr Grin, Sigizmund Krzhishanovsky, Pavel Perov & Georgy Peskov. Title is linked to excellent reviews, you can find others online.
Now this would be a good start, I'd love the introduction to authors I might want to follow a little more closely. A quick tour of town and all the bookstores turns me up empty-handed.
Online, well, prices are expensive and I'm not in a mood to wait. Although I might have to.
Alexander Vasilievich Chayanov - whose short story “Venediktov” directly inspired Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita". But that's available in the above anthology. Worth clicking on the link though, for the illustrations are perfect.
Then there's Lyubov Belozerskaya, who wrote "My Life with Mikhail Bulgakov", which would give some background but again is ridiculously priced for a used book...
Anyways, a brief look at what I'm keeping my eyes peeled for...fingers crossed, but stranger things have happened. Maybe time to make a trip to Kaslo and check their bookstore? Or maybe just call...
Oh, and a good website devoted to "The Master and Margarita" - https://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/index.html & the discovery that there's yet another film version to be coming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita_(2024_film). Note the list of adaptations at the bottom of the Wiki Page, there's a few I have yet to see...
Although I'd need a wife connection, as the library and cafe aren't letting me pirate shit...