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inlovewithjournals

~ musings on the hand-written life

inlovewithjournals

Tag Archives: books

See your Fist

17 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by inlovewithjournals in bloghopping

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books, handwriting, jack kerouac, journal, pens

I have written out excerpts from books I love for many years now. I have a couple of notebooks full of them. When I am struck by the beauty of a sentence I have to write it down so I can better remember it, and through practice recognize the same thing in my own words, if I should be so lucky.

I was reminded of this practice when I read this post by Marisa at The Unwritten Word. Not only can you savour great writing, you can also use your favorite pens and ink, and fill up your journal with inspiration.

The greats will teach us to be better writers by example. We just have to listen.

jack kerouac

Book Review: Bellman & Black

30 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in book reviews

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bellman & black, books, diane setterfield, notebooks

bellman

Image from http://www.amazon.ca/Bellman-Black-Diane-Setterfield/dp/0385679505/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388467001&sr=1-1&keywords=bellman+and+black

I finished Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story today, the second novel by Diane Setterfield, whose first book, The Thirteenth Tale, was a phenomenal bestseller, debuting on the NY Times Bestseller List at number one. Bellman has received mixed reviews on Goodreads and Amazon but I was hooked by the cover blurb:

Caught up in a moment of boyhood competition, William Bellman recklessly aims his slingshot at a rook resting on a branch, killing the bird instantly. It is a small but cruel act, and is soon forgotten. By the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to have put the whole incident behind him. It was as if he never killed the thing at all. But rooks don’t forget…

Years later, when a stranger mysteriously enters William’s life, his fortunes begin to turn – and the terrible and unforeseen consequences of his past indiscretion take root. In a desperate bid to save the only precious thing he has left, he enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner. Together, they found a decidedly macabre business.

And Bellman & Black is born.

This novel is about death and madness. Death seems to follow William as in business he moves from success to success but neglects his family life, or what remains of his family after it is decimated by a mysterious illness. Around every corner and in every dream the rooks are waiting. After his meeting with the elusive stranger whom we come to know as Mr. Black William sets out to establish London’t first funeral store, a one-stop-shop for Victorians celebrating mourning. Little does he know his obsession with creating the perfect retail environment for death will ultimately result in his own.

There were such elaborate rituals associated with death in the Victorian age; wearing black for two years and then slowly moving into lighter shades of grey, outfitting even the lowliest servant in mourning clothes. There is a list of reference books on the last page that Setterfield used in her research and one in particular sounds worthy of further study: James Stevens Curl’s The Victorian Celebration of Death. Indeed.

For me the book was engaging and well written. It is a very different style from The Thirteenth Tale, which I loved. I had no difficulty seeing it through to the end. One of the elements that stayed with the main character throughout the story is his calfskin notebook. He carries it with him everywhere and writes list after list of everything he needs to do. Sound familiar?

[William] filled every minute of the day with activity. He lived in fear of idleness, sought out tasks to fill every chink and every nook of his waking day, and if something was finished five minutes earlier than he’d allowed, he grew fretful. He learned to keep a list of small jobs to fill those dangerous spaces in his day. Accompanying Paul to a meeting with a haberdasher in Oxford, he stopped off in Turl Street to purchase a calfskin notebook for the express purpose of writing these lists. He kept it close by him: in the office it was always on his desk; on site at the mill or travelling it was to hand in his pocket. He slept with it by his bed, reached for it the moment he awoke. When the monster reached his claw for him, sometimes just the touch of the calfskin cover was enough to hold it at bay while he armoured himself with work.

I identified with this image so much; I carry my notebook around with me everywhere, even to bed. It is a magical talisman that calms and protects me.

I pictured something like this when I read the description of his notebook:

calfskin notebook

Image from http://www.amazon.com/Franciscan-Calfskin-Leather-Photo-Album/dp/B000PWIUZU/ref=&tag=polyvore006-20

Along with the recurring element of the notebook, one cannot escape the rooks, just like William. Interspersed in the text are interludes of rook history and behavior, told from the rook’s point of view, in a different font which is as effective as it is creepy. The rooks’ cries and wing flutters are just out of reach for William, but ever present. He is truly haunted by a thoughtless act of killing committed as a child, and the image never quite leaves his consciousness. Here is an excerpt from the last, and best, missive from the rook:

All stories must come to an end. This one. Everyone’s. Your own.

When your story comes to an end, a rook will harvest it, as I harvested William Bellman’s story. So when you arrive at the last line of the last page, it is Thought or Memory or one of their many descendants who will be waiting to accompany you as the book closes on your story. En route, over the last blank page and beyond the covers to that unknown place, your rook will harvest your story. Later, he will make his way back without you. And then, when the time is right, he will make his way to the white page of sky where he will partake in the most important rook ritual of all.

All will be gathered together in an inkpool of black. First one will rise, then others, then hundreds, then thousands until, ink-black marks on a paper-white blank, the descendants of Thought and Memory will dance together in a passionate and spectacular act of collectiveness: a storytelling, of gods, of men, of rooks.

I hope in my eagerness to convey the atmosphere of the book I have not given too much away. Ultimately I would recommend this book. Not a match to her first wildly successful effort but a worthy follow up, in my opinion. 

 

Image

The Greatest of Human Inventions

28 Wednesday Aug 2013

Tags

books, carl sagan, writing

carl sagan

Posted by inlovewithjournals | Filed under quotes

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Green Notebook, Winter Road

21 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in books that sound interesting

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books, jane cooper, publishers weekly

Came across this book review on Publishers Weekly. Great title. And I’m intrigued by the quote:

It seems I am on the edge

of discovering the green notebook containing all the poems of my life

I mean the ones I never wrote.

I will definitely have to look for this at the library or at my local bookstore. And if their of those efforts fail, amazon.com has it.

Image from amazon.com

Stephen King’s Gun Essay

05 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in articles

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Tags

books, guardian, stephen king, writers, writing

Excellent article in the Guardian about Stephen King’s essay Guns, which he published exclusively for Kindle in January for 99 cents. A gun owner himself, King says gun owners should unite and ban automatic and semi-automatic weapons. The essay was a reaction to the December shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut.

I was extremely moved by this section of the article:

King recalls that the fictional schoolboy killer in his 1977 novel Rage, which was published under a pen name, Richard Bachman, resonated with several boys who subsequently rampaged at their own schools. One, Barry Loukaitis, shot dead a teacher and two students in Moses Lake, Washington in 1996, then quoted a line from the novel: “This sure beats algebra, doesn’t it?”

King said he did not apologise for writing Rage – “no, sir, no ma’am” – because it told the truth about high-school alienation and spoke to troubled adolescents who “were already broken”. However, he said, he ordered his publisher to withdraw the book because it had proved dangerous. He was not obliged to do so by law – it was protected by the first amendment – but it was the right thing to do. Gun advocates should do the same, he argued.

It’s no secret to those who know me that Mr. King is one of my heroes. I think he is a modern day Dickens. I read everything the man publishes. His book On Writing is the only handbook for good writing you will ever need. I have a copy of Rage (in a paperback edition called The Bachman Books, purchased in 1986). And I was struck when I was reading the above passage – he didn’t have to withdraw Rage, but he did so because it was “the right thing to do.” As writers we have a responsibility to ourselves to be true to our muse, even when it takes us to dark places. At the same time we have a responsibility to manage the effect our words might have in the world. And I think Mr. King demonstrated that beautifully.

bachman and on writing

The Golden Notebook on TIME’s List of 100 Best Novels

06 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in websites

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Tags

books, doris lessing, time magazine

I have never read any of Doris Lessing’s novels but I came across this Wikipedia entry for The Golden Notebook and it sounds like a very challenging read; I will have to see if my library carries it.

I was also intrigued by the reference to TIME magazine’s 2005 list of the 100 best English language novels from 1923 to present, which included The Golden Notebook. Very funny article; apparently if my name was Richard I would have a more than decent chance of being hired as a critic for the magazine! (This “Richard” thing is getting ridiculous. Here is an article about Newsweek going digital and whether TIME will follow suit, and TIME Managing Editor RICHARD Stengel is quoted extensively!)

Some of my all time faves are here: 1984, Lord of the Rings, Possession, Brideshead Revisited. Also some surprises: Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. And I was disappointed that Wide Sargasso Sea made the cut, while the original piece that inspired WSS was not? Nothing against Jean Rhys (I’ve never read her) but I doubt WSS would deliver on as many levels as Jane Eyre. Even though they said they wanted enraged emails (I would love to type You pathetic bourgeoise insect!) I guess I’m 8 years too late.  🙂

T100_novels_Possession1st

Image from http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/slide/possession-1990-by-a-s-byatt/

Enchanting Paper Sculptures

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in websites

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books, paper, su blackwell

Check out this exhibition of Su Blackwell’s paper sculptures. Wow – to be so talented! Notice the light in the turret!

Image from http://www.thehousemag.com/su_blackwell.

50 Reasons to be a Bookworm – thanks QwikLit

24 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in websites

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Tags

books, lists, reading

Had to share this – great list! How many have you read? I’ve read 19 out of 50 but most of these are on my list!

Qwiklit

Let’s face it: I’m a bookworm. Some people might think that spending hours mulling over an old paperback edition of a Russian novel will help you with nothing. But there are many reasons why you should stop everything you’re doing right now and head to that odd-smelling used bookstore around the bend. Us bookworms know more than you think.

1. We know how to move on

Slaughter-house Five

2. We know how to get away with murder…and feel bad about it
Crime and Punishment

3. We know how to make the worst possible things sound pretty

Lolita

4. We know how to Dress for the occasion

Great Gatsby

5. We know how to question authority…

1984

6 …Even when everything seems perfect

Brave New world

We understand:

7. Those who others ignore

Curious incident

8. The oppressed

Beloved

9. The Lost

Road

10. The Blind

Blindness

11. the Faithful

Brother's Karamazov

12. The Non-faithful

Father's and sons

13. The Drunk

Underthevolcano

14. The Addicted

Choke

15. The Good

Idiot Book Cover

16. The Bad

Brighton rock

17. …And the Ugly

Hunchback of Notredam

18. We…

View original post 247 more words

Book sculptures

06 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in websites

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books

Beautiful paper sculptures.

Image from http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/daniel-lai-kenjio-thinker-sculptures

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