Tag Archives: Genres

By My Valentine?

February 14, 2016 peaadmin

il_340x270.540617950_6fa8 — Quote by Oscar Wilde Print by http://www.etsy.com/shop/JenniferDareDesigns

This week, one of our favorite blogs, Book Riot, came out with this Valentine’s Day themes post about “Romantic Heroes I Wouldn’t Date“, which very wisely points out the fact that a number of the men in literature that have been traditionally regarded as romantic leads….but through a twenty-first century gaze really so seem to be rather odious/abusive/creepy/smarmy. Though I do take exception to some of the piece (Rhett Butler will never trump Rochester. Never.), it’s an interesting piece.

Thankfully, classic literature is full of admirable, humane heroes who may have gone a bit overlooked and under-appreciated in comparison to their brooding, smarmy, snooty counterparts. So I thought that today would be an appropriate day to counter Book Riot’s list with one of my own. Here are some ideas of heroes who won’t lock you in an attic at the end of your first date…

Diggory Venn: Members of the Library’s Classics Book Group have heard of my adoration for Thomas Hardy’s Return of the Native, but I don’t think anyone has quite appreciated how besotted I was as a teenager for the reddleman, Diggory Venn–which is also among the greatest literary names ever. If I ever need to go on the lam, I shall call myself Diggory Venn. When he first appears, Venn seems like a specter of the heath himself–mysterious, a little ragged, and oddly colored, thanks to his job, which involves traveling the country supplying farmers with a red mineral called “reddle”, the slang term for the dye used to mark sheep. But we soon learn that, for all his strangeness, he is a smart, insightful, and eminently capable young man who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty–literally and metaphorically–and is really the reason that anything happens in this book at all, and there are times when it seems that Venn may just have some superhuman powers…but what really earned my eternal adoration was his love for his heroine, Thomasin Yeobright. Thomasin rejected Venn’s proposal two years ago, and while he never makes her feel guilty for her choice, or tries to change her mind. What he does however, is everything within his power to make her happy, without asking for thanks or attention, even when she marries someone else. True love is more than putting someone else’s happiness above your own. It’s letting the one you love make their own choices…and being there with a handkerchief (albeit one that has some red dye stains all over it) when they need you.

Gilbert Markham: Everyone swoons over Heathcliff and Rochester, but nobody ever gives Anne Brontë’s hero enough credit. Gilbert, the narrator of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall stars out as fairly unrecognizable from other young men around him. He’s got a temper, and he is rather overly-confident in his own good looks and talents; but when he meets independent artist Helen Lawrence Huntington, he realizes that there are things in this world bigger than himself, and people who need more than a crooked smile to make them whole. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a remarkable book for the simple reason that it features a tortured heroine, a woman with a past, and a man who has to prove himself worthy of her. And Helen doesn’t make it easy. But Gilbert has the good sense to realize that understanding Helen’s fear and reticence is worth the effort…and as he learns the hell that Helen has survived before moving to Wildfell Hall, he realizes that he is going to have to become far more than a pretty face in order to win her heart. Because real love makes you grow up, face the world, and realize it doesn’t revolve around you.

Professor Baher: When crafting a love interesting for the quirky, self-determined heroine of Little Women, Jo March, Louisa May Alcott intentionally created a man who was the very opposite of what mainstream fiction dictated a hero should be. But, in the end, Professor Frederic Bhaer turned out to be precisely what a hero should be. He meets Jo when she has moved away from her home, family, and friends in order to make her own way in the world, and, though he finds her fascinating, he lets her do her own thing–but encourages her to be the best version of her that she can be. The discussion (argument, really) that results from his criticism of her writing isn’t a pretty, or a comfortable one, but the result is that both Jo and the good Professor learn what it really means to respect each other, and to realize that they both have room to grown–as individuals, and together. Louisa May Alcott knew that love isn’t easy, and the answers aren’t always simple ones. But, in the end, love isn’t about the sunny days–it’s about sharing your umbrella with someone when it starts raining.
Note: This selection does not in any way detract from Theodore Lawrence, who was my first love.

So, Happy Valentine’s Day, dear readers. May it be full of love and literature!

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Happy Birthday, Jules Verne!

February 8, 2016 peaadmin

In his introduction to the reprint of ‘Salem’s Lot, Stephen King explains that he was, and remains a “writer of the moment”, which means that his characters, and the themes in his books, often reflects the ages in which they were written, even though their themes may be timeless. In a recent report from UNESCO, Stephen King was the 9th most-translated author worldwide. The man who occupies the #2 spot on that list is a writer much like King…his writing reflects his world, yet imagines a world altogether new. That man is today’s celebrant: Jules Gabriel Verne, born this day in 1828.

Verne was always an adventurer, and ever the dreamer. Family legend has it that when he was eleven, Jules got himself hired as a cabin boy on a ship bound for the West Indies, so that he could procure a coral necklace for his cousin, Caroline. His father made it to the docks in time to catch his son, and made him promise that, thereafter, he would travel “only in his imagination”.

Verne always loved storytelling, but, as the oldest son of the family, it was expected that we would take a position in the family law firm, rather than try to make a living through his writing. And Jules was truly dedicated to his work, writing furiously only after finishing his studies. But in 1849, he met with Alexander Dumas, and together, the two young men wrote and produced a play called Les Pailles rompues (The Broken Straws), which debuted at the Théâtre Historique in Paris, on June 12, 1850. As his literary successes continued on the stage and in popular magazines, Jules quickly realized that he would only make an indifferent lawyer, at best. Though he would later get a job in a brokerage in order to win favor with his fiancee’s family, Verne’s lifelong passion would be for writing.

One of Jules’ favorite places to work was the Bibliothèque nationale de France (yay libraries!), where he kept up-to-date on the latest scientific and geographical discoveries that were being produced by French cartographers and explorers. This research got him thinking of writing a new kind of novel–a Roman de la Science (novel of science)–that would allow him to incorporate the wealth of facts he was collecting, while still allowing to put his prodigious imagination to good use.

Those novels came to life following Verne’s meeting with Pierre-Jules Hetzel, who was intending to publish a family magazine that would combine scientific information with fun adventure stories. Verne’s “novels of science” were a perfect addition, and Hetzel presented Verne with a contract stating that he would pay a yearly flat fee, and, in return, Verne would produce three novels a year for his magazine. Verne was delighted to find a steady outlet for his writings, and his first novel of science, now known as Five Weeks in a Balloon was published in January, 1863.

Though his work was enormously popular during his life, Verne’s work has always been the focus of a debate that still rages today…can science fiction be considered “literature”, or must it always be relegated to “genre fiction”? For years, Verne’s work was discounted, but a number of scholarly works published in France around the 1960’s and 1970’s brought his work back into the forefront of French literature.

adc97105-8b42-45e9-aca1-09fb4f7cd253-2060x1236 — A still from the 1902 A Trip To The Moon, one of the first films ever, inspired by Verne’s writing

In English, though, Verne hasn’t made the same kind of triumphant return. This is largely due to the fact that traditional translations of his work have been, generally speaking, pretty lousy. During Verne’s lifetime, British and American publisher decided to market his work to young audiences, and thus scaled down a lot of his ideas, and edited out a good deal of the words, as well. As Michael Crichton pointed out in an introduction to Verne’s work, in the publication of Journey to the Center of the Earth, “Griffith & Farran…blithely altered the text, giving Verne’s characters new names, and adding whole pages of their own invention, thus effectively obliterating the meaning and tone of Verne’s original.”

So perhaps today is as good a day as any to rediscover Jules Verne is all his true, wise, and insightful glory. Recently, several publishing houses have begun to reassess Jules Verne and his work, giving Anglophones a new taste of his work. Here are a few that have been widely hailed as rather good translations that will allow you to access all the weird and wild wonder of his work:

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: Oxford World’s Classics are an excellent way to get to know some of the planet’s greatest works of literature, and these new translations by William Butcher actually go back to the original manuscript in order to get at the heart of Verne’s work, rather than relying on previous tradition. Here, Captain Nero and his submarine the Nautilus appear as wild and colorful as they first did in 1870.

From the Earth to the Moon: Walter James Miller translated and annotated this 1865 novel set in Maryland just after the American Civil War, when the Baltimore Gun Club decides to build a massive gun, pointing to the sky, in order to shoot the club’s president and a French poet to the moon. This work was an enormous influence on H.G. Wells, and now, you can discover it, as well, with excellent annotations, to boot! Miller also translated and annotated 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, as well.

Paris in the Twentieth Century: This novel was discovered by Verne’s great-grandson in 1989. It had originally been turned down by Hetzel as being too pessimistic, as well and, comparatively, unimaginative. Today, however, it is recognized by Verne scholars as a massively important work, and by science fiction aficionados as a marvel–none of Verne’s other works went so far as to prophesy the future of an entire civilization so comprehensively, or to include so many ideas about how science would change human society.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, here’s a fun piece from National Geographic discussing eight inventions that Jules Verne accurately predicted in his writings. Enjoy!

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Genre Talk: Be still, my heart….

February 2, 2016 peaadmin

Though I have to admit that the overwhelming wash of pink splashed across every window display in the greater Peabody area is a bit much to handle, February is the ideal month to talk (a bit more) about romance novels, and the genre in general. And since we at the Free For All are firm supporters of reading what makes your heart happy, and trying out new genres–from poetry, to cookbooks, to romance–today seemed like as good a day as any to discuss romance, and help you find a place to start in your exploration of the genre.

Frankly, there has never been a better time to start reading romance. The market for the genre has exploded over the past eight years or so, especially since the advent of the ebooks (because, as we’ve noted before, the covers can be a smidgen much sometimes). According to the Romance Writers of America, some 64.6 million Americans read at least one romance novel in the past year–and 25% of those nice people checked their book out from a library, which makes us happy on a number of levels. In case you needed some further statistical incentive, in 2013, the annual total sales value of romance sales was $1.08 billion, and romance books comprised 13% of all fiction books published. What all these facts combine to show is that, in choosing your romance novel, your options are myriad, and you will be among excellent company.

But how to know what to chose? As with fantasy–indeed, as with most any fiction genre–the categorizations are not hard and fast, and the stickers on the spines don’t always give you the best indication of what is between the covers. So here is a quick break-down of the bigger categories of romance novel for you, with a few suggestions along the way to get you started in the right direction:

Contemporary: By far, this is the largest genre of romance novels, comprising a little less than half of the romance books published in the United States. Interestingly, according to the Romance Writers of America, “contemporary novels” are books that are set after 1950–a date that shifts every few years as time marches on. Largely, though these books are set in the “present day”, which means some older books can feel a bit dated, not only in terms of the fact that the characters don’t text each other, but in terms of some of the social mores between the characters. There are some very definite subgenres within the contemporary heading, and some very familiar tropes including cowboy hero–sometimes they are ranchers, but the word “y’all” comes up a lot, and spurs are worn unironically, military heroes–if anyone finds a romance novel with a military heroine, I will, quite literally praise your name from the rooftops, and, more recently, motorcycle club badboys. And the billionaires (they used to be millionaires, but inflation affects even romance novel characters). Everyone has their favorite tropes, but I love Lauren Layne’s two contemporary series, or anything by the writing team known as Christina Lauren.

Historical: Though contemporary’s hold the plurality on the market, I think it’s fair to say that these are the kind of stories that people think of when they think of romance novels. It’s funny…every single year, publishers claim that the historic romance genre is “dying”, because it is only about 15% of published romances, but every year, historical romances are featured in mainstream trade magazines as the books to read. Though technically, historical romances are any that are set before 1950, the early 19th century is still by far and away the most popular period for these books, particularly the Regency Period (officially 1811-1820). The glittering ballrooms, fancy dresses, and other fun details aside, historical romance novels succeed for a number of reasons–because gender role were so rigidly defined, it’s much easier to talk about challenging gender stereotypes–in the character’s time, and in our own. Sarah MacLean is a marvel at drawing these parallels, but doing so in a novel that is wildly entertaining and genuinely moving. Similarly, by placing romances in a world without cell phones and cars, authors can also get rid of the distractions that keep us apart (even while they bring us together). Eloisa James is really talented at this–and, as a Shakespearean professor in real life, you are also guaranteed a wonderfully thoughtful story, as well!

Paranormal Romance: Though series like Twilight defined this subgenre for many, in reality, it is an enormously diverse one that features a wealth of science-fiction, fantasy, and supernatural elements. Vampires, yes, certainly; but shape-shifters are also hugely popular within the realm of paranormal romance. Increasingly, there are also magicians, necromancers, and gods and goddesses, too! While some paranormal romances are very firmly focused around the central relationship, like Larissa Ione’s Demonica Series, in many cases, they are much more like urban fantasy novels, with a complex world and a larger story arc, like Thea Harrison’s Elder Races series, or Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress books.

Romantic Suspense: Perhaps not surprisingly, these books are ones that feature suspense, mystery, or thriller elements as a major part of the plot. Very often, the two aspects, the suspense and the romance are intertwined and cannot be separated. In Cynthia Eden‘s LOST novels, for example, the main characters are all part of an elite search-and-rescue team, and fall in love as a result of the cases they take on. Many of the books I’ve read in this genre seem to rely on the damsel-in-distress trope to succeed, but some authors, like Jayne Ann Krentz and HelenKay Dimon are great at creating heroines who are just as strong and capable as the heroes.

Inspirational Romance: These books feature faith as a major component of their plots–traditionally Christian, but any number of believe systems can be the focus of these books. These books can be both historical–very frequently, they feature characters living in Amish, or similar religion-based communities–or contemporary. Readers looking for recommendations need look no further than this blog, as our beloved Melissa is the resident expert here!

Until next time, dear readers–Happy Reading!

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A Word About Book Recommendations

January 24, 2016 peaadmin

I led a very misguided youth, my friends. A wild, rebellious life, full of dangling participles, chilled red wine, and moving parking cones around when I thought people weren’t looking…Ok, so maybe I wasn’t precisely a dangerous rebel, but there were mistakes made. For our purposes, let’s say that the greatest of these was the inability to accept book recommendations.

When I younger, people would offer me suggestions for books that I should read, and I, in my omnipotence, would pull my sleeves over my hands and roll my eyes and proclaim to the Heavens “You don’t know me! You don’t know what I should read next!” (Again, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point).

Eventually, however, as I grew older, and began to accept that I didn’t, and indeed, might never, know everything, I began to realize that other people might actually have some good ideas about books…and other things, as well.

I’ve mentioned here before about the benefits of having bookish friends, but it’s worth mentioning again. Because, very often, friends can see parts of us that we ourselves cannot. Therefore, while some of their recommendations may be straightforward “oh, I just read this and it was good–read it too, so I have someone to talk to”, very often, these recommendations can speak to a part of you that isn’t readily visible, can speak to a part of you that you don’t normally acknowledge, or can help you though a problem that you didn’t know you had. Sometimes, these recommendations speak to the nature of your unique relationship with anther human person, or just remind you of the reasons you entrusted yourself to this person in the first place.

For those of us who love to read, books are more than just entertainment. They can very often become extensions of ourselves and parts of who we are. So talking about books and their characters, their twists and turns, even their settings or details, can be a way of learning about ourselves and finding our way to others. So for that reason, book recommendations should seldom be discounted, particularly when they come from a trusted source (human, or blog…book blogs are great places for recommendations, you know!)

And thus, I’ve included a list of some of the best and/or most memorable books I’ve read as the result of a recommendation, to show how diverse and wonderful a reading experience you can have when you rely on the kindness of others. Please consider this my recommendation to you, as well!

‘Salem’s Lot: I’ve waxed lyrical about this book before, and I will again, but I might never have read Stephen King were it not for my Dad. When I was little, I genuinely thought Stephen King was a friend of ours, because his books (and, thus, his publicity photos) were all around our house. He has a terrific story about the first time he read ‘Salem’s Lot that I’m sure he can tell you if you ask nicely, but hearing it had me convinced that if this book was enough to creep my father out, it had to be terrifying. But the truth of the matter is that ‘Salem’s Lot is so much more than a scary book (though it is, indubitably, a scary book). It’s a beautifully-written book that I have, in turn, passed on to a number of friends, and we have all enjoyed making our own memories of The First Time We Read ‘Salem’s Lot, too!

Eugene Onegin: I was incredibly fortunate to have one of the best advisers ever in the history of undergraduate advisers, not only because she was infinitely wise and never let anything bother her, but because she began every conversation we ever had with “What have you been reading?”. And she genuinely cared about the answer. It was because of her that I first picked up Pushkin’s classic poem. Even in translation, Pushkin’s brilliance is obvious, and his rhyme scheme is subtle enough that the book reads as much like a novel as a poem. More than anything, though, I marvel at the way he can balance the humor and sarcasm of his narrative with heart-wrenching honesty and sympathy for all his flawed and unforgettable characters. If you’re interested, there’s also a superb film adaptation, starring Ralph Fiennes, and directed by his sister, Martha.

Silent in the Grave: I discovered Deanna Raybourn first delightful historical mystery series from a dear friend who was, like me, an historian, a fan of mysteries, and a lifetime devotee of Jane Eyre. In this series, Raybourn not only shows off her skill at creating complex and genuinely shocking murder mysteries, but her characters are total and unique treats to meet. Her heroine, Lady Julia Grey, is a young widow from what might be the most eccentric family in England, and her interactions with her father, brothers, and sisters, are some of the funniest I have ever read. But beyond this, there is her erstwhile and irresistible companion in sleuthing, the secretive Nicholas Brisbane, who is a slightly handsomer, slightly less angsty version of the great Mr. Rochester himself (swoon, sigh, etc.), making this series (in particular, the first three books), sheer delights to read.

Bird Box: This is the latest recommendation I’ve had, and it came from the lovely Lady Pole. She is one of the few people who doesn’t flinch when I talk about scary stories, or dark fantasy stories, or creepy stories, because she knows that reading scary stories can be good for you. It allows you to explore the feeling of fear in a safe place, it allows you to conquer those fears vicariously, and it also helps us realize that we are stronger than the scary stuff, both in books and in real life. So when she heard that this book was a genuinely terrifying exploration of Things That Lurk Where We Can’t See Them, she knew who to tell. And while I’ve only read the first few pages, I can confirm that this book is an immediately engrossing and unsettling one that is going to necessitate keeping the lights on–but it’s also beautiful and fascinating, and I can’t wait.

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Celebrating The Edgars, Celebrating THE Edgar…

January 20, 2016 peaadmin

And the list of birthday celebrations continues, with the master of the gothic, the macabre, and the darkly, seductively imaginative…Edgar Allan Poe, himself.

Poe was born in Boston (hooray!) on January 19, 1809, the child of two actors. His father abandoned the family when Poe was still an infant, and his mother died the following year. Poe was then taken in by the Allan family, and though never formally adopted by them, he remained a part of their family into his young adulthood. It was with the Allans that Poe moved to London as a child, a topic we mentioned during our first Postcards From Faraway Series, and John Allan also financed Poe’s tuition to West Point–though, when he failed as an officer’s cadet and declared his decision to become a writer and poet, he and John Allan parted ways for good.

Poe did earn quite a name for himself during his lifetime, both for his fictional writing and poetry, and for his irascible, cantankerous personality. His editorial reviews were often acidic, to put it mildly, and his public appearances were dicey events, at best. When invited by the Boston Lyceum to read his works, Poe grew annoyed that the first lecturer went on and on (and on…for over two hours). So, instead of reading from his wildly popular poem “The Raven”, he recited “Al Aaraff”, a very, very long poem, which he wrote in his teens. When he was attacked by the Boston press for his act, Poe used his own newspaper, the Broadway Journal, to respond:

We like Boston. We were born there – and perhaps it is just as well not to mention that we are heartily ashamed of the fact. The Bostonians are very well in their way. Their hotels are bad. Their pumpkin pies are delicious. Their poetry is not so good. Their common is no common thing — and the duck-pond might answer — if its answer could be heard for the frogs. But with all these good qualities the Bostonians have no soul.

We got over it, eventually, though, and put up this statue on the corner of the street where Poe was born:

5434dd7ea5c2d.image — Yup…Poe and a Boloco…..

But for all the fame and infamy Poe garnered during his life, and by his throughly mysterious death, his true immortality came from the influence his work had, no only on individual writers, but on American Literature as a whole. He invented the modern detective novel with his stories of Auguste Dupin, the man that Arthur Conan Doyle used as the inspiration for his own Sherlock Holmes. He gave us the real meaning of the macabre. He exploited our deepest fears and insecurities, and made them into something haunting, yes, and grim, certainly–but also something beautiful.

Stephen King has noted, “He wasn’t just a mystery/suspense writer. He was the first.” Louis Bayard, who wrote a fascinating novel featuring the young Poe, explained that “Poe is so ingrained in us—so deeply encoded into our cultural DNA—that we no longer recognize him. And yet whenever we write a mystery, whenever we write horror, whenever we write science fiction—whenever we write about obsession—we’re following in his tracks.”

Perhaps this is why the Mystery Writers of America have named their most prestigious award after our Edgar. They announce the shortlist for these awards, auspiciously, every year on Poe’s birthday. These awards honor “the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2015”, but are most associated with mystery novels, and are regarded as one of the highest awards a mystery writer can achieve.

This year’s shortlist was announced yesterday, on Poe’s 207th birthday, with the actual awards to be handed out at the end of April. You can check out the full list of nominees right here, and we’ll be breaking down some elements of this list in the weeks to come, but here are a few highlights for you to peruse, in honor of the good Mr. Poe’s legacy (and maybe have some pumpkin pie? Edgar seems to have been pretty partial to pumpkin pie…).

BEST NOVEL

The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter
The Lady From Zagreb by Philip Kerr
Life or Death by Michael Robotham
Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy
Canary by Duane Swierczynski
Night Life by David C. Taylor

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney
The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter by Malcolm Mackay
What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan
Woman with a Blue Pencil by Gordon McAlpine
Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty
The Daughter by Jane Shemilt

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Endangered by Lamar Giles
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis
The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
Ask the Dark by Henry Turner

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

“Episode 7,” – Broadchurch, Teleplay by Chris Chibnall
“Gently with the Women” – George Gently, Teleplay by Peter Flannery
“Elise – The Final Mystery” – Foyle’s War, Teleplay by Anthony Horowitz
“Terra Incognita” – Person of Interest, Teleplay by Erik Mountain & Melissa Scrivner Love
“The Beating of her Wings” – Ripper Street, Teleplay by Richard Warlow

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If I could save time in a bottle….

January 14, 2016 peaadmin

I think it’s because I study history when not at the library, but I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of time travel. Partly, I’d love the chance to see what “the good old days” were really like.* What was it about Lord Byron that made him so compelling? What stories did those prospectors tell while panhandling for gold in the Klondike? I would give a great deal to be able to watch the Wright Brother’s first flight (and jump up and down in giddy delight, obviously); I’d love to hear Queen Elizabeth’s speech before the battle with the Spanish Armada. Maybe you could even hang out with Amelia Earhart, and be able to record what really happened on that fateful final flight…

But that brings us to the moral dilemma of time travel. Can we really affect any change–positive or negative? Do we really know that saving the Titanic from hitting that iceberg, we could prevent World War I? How do we know it wouldn’t lead to some catastrophic alternate possibility that we never foresaw? Or that we would discover it is all predestined, and the fates found a way for war to break out in 1914 regardless of our meddling? Do we have the right to say what should and shouldn’t happen? And what if we bump into ourselves whilst wandering around? Would time literally implode, as some writers have theorized? Or could I be able to catch my 10-year-old self before she falls off her roller skates and fractures her wrist?

This, dear readers, is the precious gold of which fiction is made…maybe not me fracturing my wrist, but the deep, moral complexities of our power in the world, and our agency within time and space. Television shows have reveled in these issues…Doctor Who, for example, which is a delightfully entertaining series, often dances with the serious and dangerous aspects of time-travel, giving the show its suspense and daring. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander has shown us the soul-changing power of time travel, blending the fantastic and the romantic in a way that has captured two generations of fans.

And books have been showing us the way for even longer. For those brave enough to tackle the uncertainties of time travel, the results can be wildly entertaining, relentlessly inventive, powerful, and often challenging. These books offer us the chance to escape into a kind of alternate, “what-if” universe, but still tie us to our present, or our pasts, in a way that lingers once the final pages have turned. Those are some of my favorite kinds of literary adventures–and if they are yours, as well, then check out these selections on time travel and adventure from our shelves!

download — If you need me, I’ll be hanging out with Wilbur…

*…and partly, I’d like to know that I could escape those “good old days” and, you know…take a shower. And wear zippers. And vote. But since I didn’t win Powerball, I won’t be building a time machine. Which leaves more time for reading, at least….

The Smithsonian Institute: A world-renown historian, Vidal’s insight into time travel and change is also a heartfelt study of American history, and a tribute to its most iconic museum. In this book, ‘T’, a young man, arrives at the Smithsonian Museum at the beginning of World War II, having been hired to work on a secret part of the Manhattan Project. But what he discovers is that, when no outsiders are watching, the exhibits come to life. And while such a setup lends itself to comparisons with the Night at the Museum films, the journey that T takes within the walls of the Smithsonian is a wholly unique–and a deeply moving one. My favorite scene, bar none, occurs the night after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but you’ll have to read it to find out why. *A note: some editions of this book have a really wacky bodice-rippery cover. There is no bodice-ripping in this book. At least nothing that would require a cover that kitschy…

Making History: Stephen Fry has one of the best minds, and one of the most inventive imaginations at world today, and all of his books have a charm, wackiness, and brashness all their own…but this book is something special. Cambridge graduate student Michael Young has recently finished his dissertation on the early life of Adolf Hitler when he meets a German physicist who believes he has figured out how to travel in time. Both men decide to ignore the horrendous danger of changing history, and ensure that Hitler was never born–but can they live with the results. This is a marvelously well-constructed plot that shifts time, place, and viewpoints with lightning-quick ease (at one point, it is also told like a film script), but, as a whole, it functions beautifully, providing readers with a tragically human story that is ultimately, surprising hopeful.

The Shining Girls: Lauren Beukes is a remarkably inventive, ruthlessly creative author who doesn’t pull punches in coming up with deeply unsettling, but irresistibly engaging stories. This story features a serial killer with the ability to travel through time, the very opposite of the kind of hero we’ve been discussing up to now. Harper Curtis found a key that allowed him to escape the hell of Depression-era Chicago, and gave him the opportunity to enact some of his most fearsome desires. However, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi from 1989, discovers his secret, and begins hunting Harper across time, with only her wits, and a single detective to help her. Though bleak and genuinely scary at times, this book is also a brilliant re-invention of the time-travel genre that should not be missed.

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Happy Birthday, Charles Perrault!

January 12, 2016 peaadmin

charles-perraults-388th-birthday-5071286030041088-5767494685949952-ror — Courtesy of Google

If you’ve checked Google today, you’ll see that they’ve set up a Doodle to celebrate Charles Perrault, the French author who gave us such classics as Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella, among others.

It’s no secret that we here at the Free For All are big fans of fairy tales, magic, fantasy, and those who write them. Last week, we celebrated the birthday of Jacob Grimm, who, along with this brother, became the most renowned mythologists in western culture. Their work focused primarily on collecting stories from around Germany, concentrating on how they differed, agreed, and evolved over place and time. But what sets Charles Perrault apart from the industrious Grimms is the fact that he invented his stories, based on pre-existing French fables, some two centuries before the Grimms began their work–and he was so popular that the Grimms actually recorded a version of Sleeping Beauty that made its way to Germany via word-of-mouth.

Perrault was born on this day in 1628 in Paris, and trained as a lawyer before turning to a career in government service, and finally, to writing, though most of his work dealt in the realm of fables. He helped Louis XIV design 39 fountains for the labyrinth at the Palace of Versailles that were constructed between 1672 and 1677. Each fountain featured an animal from Aesop’s Fables, and the water that jetted out of each creature’s mouth was designed to look like conversation between them all. Perrault also wrote the guidebook to accompany the labyrinth for visitors.

orangerie_versailles — The Gardens of Versailles

He was also involved in the evolution of opera, which was developed as an art form during Perrault’s lifetime. When a close family friend came under attack from critics for writing a modern opera (one not based on Greek mythology), Perrault wrote a now-famous editorial stating that, thanks to the Enlightenment and the scientific and philosophical progress of the current age, that modern art was better than anything that had been produced by the Ancients.
It is interesting, then, that Perrault used ancient folktales and fables as the basis for his own fairytales; to be fair, though, he reinvented each so much that they became new and unique, a genre unto themselves (though he did publish his first collection of these stories under his son’s name…just to be safe…). Many of these stories were inspired by the world Perrault saw around him–one of his friends, the Marquis of the Château d’Oiron, because the inspiration for the Marquis de Carabas Puss in Boots, while the nearby Château d’Ussé was the model for the castle in Sleeping Beauty. Like the originally Grimm tales, these stories are far more gruesome and disturbing in the original text than in the versions we read today–these were cautionary tales, meant to warn children of the danger of strangers (like the Big, Bad Wolf) and wandering off alone (usually into the woods), and don’t hold back on the dangers that wait for children who misbehave. But despite, or, perhaps, because of the unsettling, vivid realities that these stories create, Perrault’s tales live on, and still form the basis of some of our earliest literary experiences.

So come into the library today, and pick out some of these books to help celebrate the birthday of Charles Perrault!

The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault: This beautifully illustrated edition of Perrault’s tales brings together not only his most well-known tales (like”Little Red Riding Hood”, but also “Puss in Boots”), but also some of his lesser-known ones, like “The Fairies”. The Library also has a collection of Perrault’s tales illustrated by Gustave Doré in 1867. These illustrations show a completely different side of these tales, and its truly fascinating how much Doré’s imagination changes the tone of the tale.

Puss in Boots: Ok, so perhaps this Dreamworks production isn’t quite an adaptation of Perrault’s original tale, but I’m going to list it here anyways, because it’s just that cute, clever, and funny (and because the feline star looks remarkably like my cat, Oscar Wilde). This film is, technically, a prequel to the Shrek films, but it’s also a brilliant stand-alone film about the adventures of one of literatures most courageous and charismatic felines that will entertain kids and adults alike.

The Glass Slipper: This retelling of Perrault’s “Cinderella” by Eleanor Farjeon is one of the most beautiful and engaging versions you can read. This version takes out a good deal of the Perrault’s violence and cruelty, and substitutes character analysis and insight in order to make this a story with heart, soul, and substance (the inclusion of Cinderella’s father makes this story even more interesting. Even better, this version features illustrations by E.H. Shepard, who created the classic illustrations for Winnie the Pooh.

Beauty: Robin McKinley is one of my favorite YA authors, and this retelling of Perrault’s “Beauty and the Beast” remains among my favorite of her books. Like Farjeon’s retelling, this story sticks close to the original story–a young, beautiful girl is forced to live in a castle with a prince who has been transformed into a hideous beast, and helps him break the spell that is slowly killing him–but adds layers of complexity and dimension to the plot and characters that transforms this story into a novel with depth and power. McKinley’s writing style is stunning, making this story, as well as her numerous others, easy to read, and impossible not to love. For another adaptation of this story, check out Beastly, which was also adapted into a film.

Wishing you a day of Happily Ever After, dear readers!

Free for All

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"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." ~Frederick Douglass