A brief commentary on the “The Hobbit” movie. December 26, 2012

I've been waiting for ages for The Hobbit movie and I was thrilled to have finally watched it yesterday. The cinamatography was fantastic. There were a couple of things that did not work well for me. But then there were others that I thought were brilliant. I've been wanting to list out these things and I've decided to go ahead. This isn't a review, it's just a post about the things I like and did not like about the movie.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Let's start with the negatives:

• I felt Bilbo's character was compromised a bit. Especially as seen in the beginning when the dwarves start pouring into his house. His reaction in the movie is more hapless and less hospitable than his response in the book.
• A bit too mushy…but it worked fairly well, I guess.
• As there is plenty of backstory from the appendices of The Lord of the Rings there are so many scenes with explanations going on that, I felt, made the movie a bit of a bore. I recall trying to stifle a yawn some time in the middle of the movie. I wonder how much would be understood by those who haven't read Tolkien.
• While I was quite impressed with how they brought in the whole White Council planning and meeting, I felt the whole scene with Radaghast was also a bit too long.

Positives:

• My favourite scenes:

1. the Riddles in the Dark scene
2. the dwarves and Gandalf battling their way through the goblin army in order to get out of the mountain
3. “The eagles are coming!”

• I loved the theme song for the dwarves…it was beautiful!
• I liked Radaghast. But as mentioned before, it was rather unnecessary and was a bit of a drag. Having said that I enjoyed the personality given Radaghast….quick and rabbity-like.
• The panoramic shots. There are no words to describe those!

I understand how this movie can get under the skin of Tolkien purists. But, I have learnt to not expect a movie based on a book to be more than based on a book. It's a different medium of creativity, and when keeping the book aside it's a worthy piece of art.

 

Again, I'm not sure how much a non-Tolkien reader would have gathered from the back story. I would be interested in knowing what the thoughts are of any of you who have been introduced to Tolkien only by this movie. Did you understand what was going on? Or did you feel a bit lost? Did you find the scenes of explanation a bit of a drag or did you find it vital?

 

 

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The beginnings of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”. September 22, 2012

Ever since I'd heard that September 16 to September 22 was Tolkien Week, I'd been wanting to do, or write up, something special. I had contemplated reading The Hobbit again. However, finding myself not in the mood for it I decided to post a little something about it instead. What I am about to write is not a summary of or my reaction to the said novel, but rather a glimpse behind the working of The Hobbit. What was the original purpose of The Hobbit and how it finally led to it's overwhelming sequel, The Lord of the Rings. All of my facts and information I draw from the letters of the author himself, J R R Tolkien. My source is The Letters of J R R Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien.

Dates and initial target audience.

Something interesting I came across almost as soon as I began researching The Hobbit…it was first published on 21 September 1937. Not something that would have struck me before except that both 21 and 22 September are considered the birth day of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins (The American Tolkien Society). As you might or might not know, Tolkien had first written this story of a hobbit to amuse his children. Having had it approved by friends, though, he dicided to publish it. Tolkien writes about his children's reaction to it when refuting that his novel was meant for the 'nursery': …is the age-implication right? I should have said 'the nursery' ended about 8 when children go forth to school. That is too young. My eldest boy was thirteen when he heard the serial. It did not appeal to the younger ones who had to grow up to it successively. (Letter #15)

Influences

When asked about the whole episode wbout the theft Tolkien admits to being greatly influenced by Beowulf and other myths and legends but…: As for the rest of the tale it is…derived from (previously digested) epic, mythology, and fairy-story…Beowulf is among my most valued sources; though it was not consciously present to the mind in the process of writing, in which the episode of the theft arose naturally (and almost inevitably) from the circumstances. It is difficult to think of any other way of conducting the story at that point. I fancy the author of Beowulf would say much the same. (Letter #25)

A little more on hobbits and their geographic location

Readers of The Hobbit wondered if these little, furry-footed creatures were influenced by some African pigmy tribe. Another reader recalled having read a fairy story on a hobbit that was a horror. Tolkien is very clear that while there might be a homophonic accident in terms of the name, he did not derive this race from any living peoples he knew or from any other story. He says of Bilbo: He was a prosperous, well-fed young bachelor of independent means…His feet,IMF conveniently clad and shod by nature, were as elegant as his long, clever fingers. (Ibid) He also talks of the hobbits only lived in The Wild, and they were mostly unaware of their location. (I could pull out more on this from the appendices of my copy of The Lord of the Rings, unfortunately my copy is with a friend right now.)

An image from The Hobbit graphic novel illustrated by David Wenzel

In another letter, when asked to describe Bilbo for the purpose of illustration Tolkien says: I picture a fairly human figure, not a kind of 'fairy' rabbit as some of my British reviewers seem to fancy: fattish in the stomach, shortish in the leg. A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'; hair short and curling (brown). The feet from the ankles down, covered with brown hairy fur. Clothing: green velvet breeches; red or yellow waist-coat; brown or green jacket; gold (or brass) buttons; a dark green hood and cloak (belonging to a dwarf). [...] Actual size — only important if other objects are in picture — say about three or three feet six inches. (Ah! Really miss my copy of LotR! There are more details on height there. At this point in time, in Tolkien's letters, he is just getting this race together, in a manner of speaking.) He continues: There is in the text no mention of his acquiring boots. There should be! It has dropped out somehow or other in the various revisions — the bootings occurred at Rivendell; and he was again bootlegs after leaving Rivendell on the way home. But since leathery soles, and well-brushed furry feet are a feature of essential hobbitness, he ought really to appear unbooted, except in special illustrations of episodes. (Letter #27)

The beginning of the sequel that will come to be known as The Lord of the Rings

Tolkien had never intended to go any further than The Hobbit. It was sort of like a side project for him. His heart was really in The Silmarillion (that was published post-humously). He had created the world of Middle-earth where elves were a dominating race, and the philologist in him was already well into creating the elven and dwarvish languages. It had pleased him that he was able to incorporate a wee bit of this world into The Hobbit, but it had never occurred to him to take this story any further. He writes to his publisher: …the original Hobbit was never intended to have a sequel — Bilbo 'remained very happy to the end of his days and those were extraordinarily long': a sentence I find an almost insuperable obstacle to a satisfactory link. (Letter #31) To readers of the sequel we know how exactly Tolkien was to use those 'extraordinarily long' days to work out the next plot.

Tolkien found himself thawing to the idea of a sequel when his daughter longed to know more of the Tooks (a wealthy hobbit family from whom the foolish yet adorable Peregrine Took of The Lord of the Rings is a direct descendant and Bilbo and Frodo are strongly connected to), and a reader was eager for more details on Gandalf and the Necromancer (Sauron of the sequel).

By Letter #34 we see that Tolkien is having trouble maintaining the tone of The Hobbit in the sequel. He writes: …it was running its course, and forgetting 'children', and was becoming more terrifying than the Hobbit. It may prove quite unsuitable. It is more 'adult' — but my children who criticise it as it appears are no older. …The darkness of the present days (this was written on 13 October 1938) has had some effect on it. Tolkien is quick to state, however that it is not an 'allegory'.

Four months later Tolkien is twelve chapters into the sequel when he writes to his publisher again saying that The Lord of the Rings: is in itself a good deal better than The Hobbit, but it may not prove a very fit sequel. It is more grown up — but the audience for which The Hobbit was written has done that also. The readers young and old who clamoured for 'more about the Necromancer' are to blame, for the N. is not child's play. Tolkien assures Unwin, his publisher, in a footnote that there are more hobbits and dwarves, and Gollum makes a major appearance, not to mention that Gandalf is pretty much in the forefront.

And so begins the epic journey of Frodo and the One Ring to the fires of Mount Doom.

 

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Enter a little prince. December 26, 2011

The Little Prince Pop-Up by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A few months ago a friend of mine sent me a surprise through the mail. I found myself opening a package to reveal a lovely pop-up book of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince. It goes without saying that I was absolutely delighted…perhaps doubly so since I’d never read The Little Prince before. I was tempted then and there to begin reading it, but the fact that I already had two or three books going at the time prevented me from doing so. I finally got to read it at the beginning of December.

Let me commence with saying how much I loved the pictures — the original ones, of course — and how thrilled I was to work all the pop-up images. The whole case of the boa-constrictor and the sheep in the crate made me laugh so much! The narrative is amusing throughout, but also veined with pathos with the little prince is concerned, and a great many truths about the adult world. The little prince has his own little planet where he is the sole inhabiter…apart from his only flower that he realises from all his travles, that he loves so much. His travels start out because of a quarrel he has with the flower, and he decides to leave. On his journey he discovers other little planets with ‘adults’, all of them possessed of some major flaw. There’s a blustering king with no subjects, a vain man with no one to admire him but he himself, a drunkard, a businessman and an explorere — all of these people prove that their existance has no meaning. They always looks so busy, seem to be busy, but when questioned by the inquisitive little traveler, they, none of them, have any purpose to what they are doing. None of them have a vision of the end to what they do. But then the little prince comes across a lamplighter on one planet, and sees him working all the time, realising that his purpose is to light up the planet on orders. A meaningful existance. Then, the little prince comes to Earth and meets our narrator who spends many days with the young boy, trying to figure out who he is and where he comes from.

It struck me, during the course of this story, how so-called children’s literature is really meant for adults. Just before I began The Little Prince, I had finished reading Alice in Wonderland. Both these stories seems to project the fact that there is much one can learn from children and their conversation. Children aren’t meant to be just seen. When they are heard they tend to drop little pearls of wisdom. Also, children have a purpose for the several, unseeingly, disconnected questions they tend to ask. One soon understand that all of the little prince’s questions really revolve around his trying to understand his flower. Once we, as adults, understand that, we begin to see where the little boy is going with all his questions.

This is truly a beautiful story — meant for adults. To see through the eyes of a child. To understand that the simple questions a child asks are really loaded with deep truths if an adult stops to think about it. Really, I can’t describe how much this books affected me. It was simply, achingly beautiful!

Let me end this post with a passage from The Little Prince that is representative of all the beauty and pathos in this story:

When we had walked for several hours in silence, night fell and stars began to appear. I noticed them as in a dream, being somewhat feverish on account of my thirst. The little prince’s words danced in my memory.
“So, you’re thirsty, too?” I asked.
But he didn’t answer my question. He merely said to me, “Water can also be good for the heart…”
I didn’t understand his answer, but I said nothing…I knew by this time that it was no use questioning him.
He was tired. He sat down. I sat down next to him. And after a silence, he spike again. “The stars are beautiful because of a flower you don’t see…”
I answered, “Yes, of course,” and without speaking another word I stared at the rdiges of sand in the moonlight.
“The desert is beautiful,” the little prince added.
And it was true. I’ve always loved the desert. You sit down on a sand dune. You see nothing. You hear nothing. And yet something shines, something sings in that silence….
“What makes the desert beautiful,” the little prince said, “is that it hides a well somewhere…”
I was surprised by suddenly understanding that mysterious radiance of the sands. When I was a little boy I lived in an old house, and there was a legend that a treasure was buried in it somewhere. Of course, no one was ever able to find the treasure, perhaps no one even searched. But it cast a spell over that whole house. My house hid a secret in the depths of its heart….
“Yes,” I said to the little prince, “whether it’s a house or the starts or the desert, what makes them beautiful is invisible!”
“I’m glad,” he said, “you agree with my fox.”
As the little prince was falling asleep, I picked him up in my arms, and started walking again. I was moved. It was as if I was carrying a fragile treasure. It actually seemed to me there was nothing more fragile on Earth. By the light of the moon, I gazed at that pale forehead, those closed eyes, those locks of hair trembling in the wind, and I said to myself, What I’m looking at is only a shell. What’s most important is invisible…

As I was just typing out this passage, I was reminded of two things. One, the shepherd boy in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and two, God is invisible.

Venturing into Alice’s wonderland December 2, 2011

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I owned a copy of Alice in Wonderland a long time ago as a child. I recall picking it up several times, but always giving when Alice comes to the table with the golden key and shrinks. I think, even as a child, I felt it was too unbelievable. Or maybe I just didn’t care for Alice at all. I couldn’t relate to her. Whatever the reasons might have been, this book lay in shelf for so long until I gave it away about ten years ago without having read it at all.

However, as one grows older one does feel guilty for not have given ‘must reads’ a proper chance. So, it’s been a little while since I’d been planning on getting myself an other copy of Lewis Carroll’s famous book. Never really getting round to buying though, I decided to read it in installments from DailyLit.

I’m glad I did.  I still found Alice annoying. All the little animals were interesting. But, what really captured my attention this time and caused to really like this books was Carroll’s play with words. He would take words, exploring their various meanings within the context of the story. I suppose that is why, at a cursory glance, the story itself is meaningless. But, stay awhile and let the sounds wash over you without letting the story bother you, and it’s quite fascinating! Even Carroll’s own twists on well known rhymes and poems make sense in this topsy turvy world.

My favourite chapter was “The Mock Turtle’s Story”. It was the one in which I enjoyed the play of words the most!

`When we were little,’ the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, `we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle–we used to call him Tortoise–’

`Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn’t one?’ Alice asked.

`We called him Tortoise because he taught us,’ said the Mock Turtle angrily: `really you are very dull!’

`You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple question,’ added the Gryphon; and then they both sat silent and looked at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth. At last the Gryphon said to the Mock Turtle, `Drive on, old fellow! Don’t be all day about it!’ and he went on in these words:

`Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn’t believe it–’

`I never said I didn’t!’ interrupted Alice.

`You did,’ said the Mock Turtle.

`Hold your tongue!’ added the Gryphon, before Alice could speak again. The Mock Turtle went on.

`We had the best of educations–in fact, we went to school every day–’

`I’VE been to a day-school, too,’ said Alice; `you needn’t be so proud as all that.’

`With extras?’ asked the Mock Turtle a little anxiously.

`Yes,’ said Alice, `we learned French and music.’

`And washing?’ said the Mock Turtle.

`Certainly not!’ said Alice indignantly.

`Ah! then yours wasn’t a really good school,’ said the Mock Turtle in a tone of great relief. `Now at OURS they had at the end of the bill, “French, music, AND WASHING–extra.”‘

`You couldn’t have wanted it much,’ said Alice; `living at the bottom of the sea.’

`I couldn’t afford to learn it.’ said the Mock Turtle with a sigh. `I only took the regular course.’

`What was that?’ inquired Alice.

`Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with,’ the Mock Turtle replied; `and then the different branches of Arithmetic– Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.’

`I never heard of “Uglification,”‘ Alice ventured to say. `What is it?’

The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. `What! Never heard of uglifying!’ it exclaimed. `You know what to beautify is, I suppose?’

`Yes,’ said Alice doubtfully: `it means–to–make–anything–prettier.’

`Well, then,’ the Gryphon went on, `if you don’t know what to uglify is, you ARE a simpleton.’

Alice did not feel encouraged to ask any more questions about it, so she turned to the Mock Turtle, and said `What else had you to learn?’

`Well, there was Mystery,’ the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers, `–Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling–the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: HE taught us Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils.’

`What was THAT like?’ said Alice.

`Well, I can’t show it you myself,’ the Mock Turtle said: `I’m too stiff. And the Gryphon never learnt it.’

`Hadn’t time,’ said the Gryphon: `I went to the Classics master, though. He was an old crab, HE was.’

`I never went to him,’ the Mock Turtle said with a sigh: `he taught Laughing and Grief, they used to say.’

`So he did, so he did,’ said the Gryphon, sighing in his turn; and both creatures hid their faces in their paws.

I read this passage over and over again and laughed myself to stitches! Carroll is simply wonderful twisting words and sounds here. If I were to read Alice in Wonderland again, I would do so to read Carroll’s language and not for the story in particular.

Hmmm…really, now that I think about it I would give this book a 4 on 5 rating rather than the 3 it has now. I’m off to change that!

So, have any of you read this book before? What do you think of it? Does Alice annoy you. Do you find the storyline and characters interesting? Has Carrol’s language struck you?

Forbidden Mind: Content like X-Men, reads like Percy Jackson November 20, 2011

Forbidden Mind by Kimberly Kinrade

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I got a kindle version of this novel(la) from Smashwords when I found it was going free for a few days at For the Love of Reading. What grabbed my attention about this book was its whole X-men-like theme (I love the X-men!). The premise is this – A school, nicknamed Rent-A-Kid, educates and trains children with paranormal powers. These kids and their powers are leant out to the highest bidder who needs to dig up dirt or take revenge on someone. But, when these kids turn eighteen they are allowed to “retire” and pursue their own lives. Sam is about to turn eighteen and she’s looking forward to a ‘normal’ life in college when all of a sudden her entire life turns upside down on her first meeting with a new-comer into Rent-a-Kid. The rest of the book is a question of whether or not Sam and her friends will survive what they know.

Right from beginning to the end this book is fast paced. No words are wasted. The writer has a plan and she does not deviate a single bit. Things happen so fast you find yourself at the edge of your seat all the time! If I were looking for another book to compare this style of story-telling to, I would pick Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. This novel does not pretend to be anything that it is not. If you’re looking for some racy adventure, with so many things happening so quickly together; if you’re looking for something that is nail-bitingly exciting and refuses to drag its feet, then this book is worth a read.

Simply put, it is exciting!

The Ladies of Grace Adieu October 29, 2011

The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The last time I felt this way was when I read Gone With the Wind, and now, as I turned the final pages of The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories – sheer disappointment that there was no more to read. I’ve had such a lovely five days exploring and re-exploring, in some cases, the magical world that Susanna Clarke has built. For those of you who are unaware of this author, she made a debut a few years ago with her faerie novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. It is set in Regency England where magic is a highly scholarly field with only two gentlemen (the ones whose names make up the title) really practicing it. Clarke brilliantly weaves magic mixed with many real political issues of the day, especially the battles with Napoleon Bonaparte. Clarke recreates the original meaning of ‘faerie’. It isn’t happy and pleasant; it is eerie and unnerving sometimes. It’s the kind of stuff country folk must’ve talked about in fearful and hushed tones when the moon was up and they gathered round the warm fires of their humble homes. The kind that they used most effectively to describe strange things that happened around them that they could not otherwise explain.

We see this world again in Clarke’s book of eight short stories. While all of them have something of the fae in their stories, whether in great amounts or small, they are each of them so different from the others – with completely different plots and protagonists that are so unalike.

“The Ladies of Grace Adieu“
This one is about three young ladies who prove to be practicing magicians. However, in Regency England, it is believed that only men can do magic, and for the most part there are only two, at the time, who actually practice magic – Mr Norrell and Jonathan Strange of the Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell fame. But these women are quite content to have things as they are, delighting and scorning the ignorance of men and their opinions of the female sex. If you’ve read Clarke’s enormous novel you will find that the men magicians tend to argue a great deal over theories and give absolutely no importance to what is known as Faerie. On the other hand, the women magicians are firm believers in Faerie and the potent magic of Faerie…hence their magic is also of a different sort. (You will find this difference, not only in this story but in all the stories that involved magic by women.)

Now, one of these ladies is a governess to two orphan girls who are to come into a great deal of inheritance when they leave behind their minor status. An uncle of theirs (also their trustee) comes over one day with the intent of doing away with the children so that he might inherit everything. The governess and her two friends do all in their power to prevent any harm from coming to the children.

“On Lickerish Hill”
Now this story is a spin-off or rather, an adaptation of the well-known tale of “Rumplestiltskin“. The story is told in the first person by a young woman who seems to be rather low down the rung of society. Due to a lie her mother tells a rich landlord, Miranda (the narrator) finds herself married to him. In the last month of their one year of being married he locks her in a tower and tells her to spin the finest silk off flax. And the rest is history with a slight twist – it is actually quite dark in terms of atmosphere, though the tone is a bit light due to the rather practical cheerfulness of the narrator herself. She is no weepy, moany woman. She is constantly on the go (not physically speaking), figuring out her next move. It is interesting, however, that many things seem to turn out because she seems to have planned it that way. However, one does not really see her planning anything. At the end I wondered if she just got lucky. But really…you can’t say with Miranda.

“Mrs Mabb”
I think this tale was so typically faerie. Have you ever heard of fairy folk tales from the British Isles where people suddenly disappear, see strange things, grow old over night, etc etc? Well, this could be one. A young woman called Venetia comes back to her little village, from attending to a friend who was extremely ill, to find that a neighbour has got her claws into the man Venetia was hoping to marry. Convinced that Captain Fox really loved her, Venetia seeks Mrs Mabb. But the latter is a mystery and like the elfin fires one hears of in the woods, Mrs Mabb’s location keeps changing and strange keep happening to our heroine, until, at long last, the Fae gives her back her Captain.

“The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse”
Yep! This is about the Duke. And this story is set in the world of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust. More specifically it is set in the town of Wall. Wellington isn’t particularly popular among the inhabitants of Wall when he comes to visit him, and one of them plays a trick on him. As a result his horse strays onto the faerie side of Wall, and when Wellington goes to get him back he comes across a strange stone house with a beautifully lady busy at embroidery. This is a very short piece, and one of two in this collection that portrays the power the women have with their needle skills.

“Mr Simonelli or The Fairy Widower”
Simonelli is a poor scholar and priest who is encouraged to accept a living in a ‘rich’ parish. On his arrival he finds himself assisting with a strange delivery in which the mother dies in child-birth, and meets some very strange people. John Hollyshoes claims to be the master of All-Hope (the little village). But Mrs Gathercole, the acting patron of the village, has never heard of Hollyshoes. Hers is the only rich establishment in an otherwise extremely poor village. Simonelli journals his entire experience in this little village, as well as the discovery of who he really is. This entire story is told in the form of journal entries.

“Tom Brightwind or How the Fairy Bridge was Built at Thoresby”
David Montefiore is a Jewish doctor who has been called to attend to a sick man on his death-bed. One of his closest friends, Tom Brightwind who is a fairy prince, declares his intention on accompanying the doctor. On their way there they come to an astonishingly poor village called Thoresby. The squire has been negligent in his duties, allowing the village to go to ruin for lack of a bridge over the river that separates it from the more commercialised land. Brightwind decides to take a hand as a whim, and overnight he builds a fairy bridge, and spawns yet another son in the process.

“Antickes and Frets”
This is a very short piece that deals with Mary Queen of Scots when she was Queen Elizabeth’s prisoner. She seeks to kill her cousin in the hopes that she might inherit the throne of England. But the Countess in charge of her is just too clever. Again, this is a story of magic through embroidery. Apparently, antickes and frets refer to two kinds of embroidery used in Elizabethan tapestry.

“John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner”
John Uskglass is the Raven King of North England, the lord of Faeries and the most powerful magician in the kingdom. On one of his hunting sprees he stumbles across a charcoal burner and destroys this man’s only possessions. Angry and upset, the charcoal burner prays to the saints, and revenge is his. Uskglass returns, thinking the charcoal burner is a brilliant magician. He offends the old man again, and again the man cries out to the saints and he is avenged. This whole goes another round until finally Uskglass accepts defeat.

Apparently, this story is supposed to be a retelling of a tale, much like “On Lickerish Hill” (the second story reviewed in this collection). I am not sure if this is a re-telling as the previous sentence means it, or if it is a re-telling within Clarke’s magical universe. I say this, because I haven’t heard of any story that moves along these lines. If you have please do tell me, I’d love to have a read!

So, there it is! The eight stories in Susanna Clarke’s Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories. This was an incredibly enjoyable read and I would recommend this collection to anyone who loves fantasy, history, literary fiction, Jane Austen and fantastic writing!

Short Stories on Wednesdays #16 October 26, 2011

Short Stories on Wednesdays is a weekly event hosted here, at Breadcrumb Reads. The purpose of this event is to encourage people to read at least one short story a week. There are no limits, of course! If you have made a post on the short stories you’ve read this week, please do leave a link in the comments section. If you haven’t made a post, it does not matter. I’d still love to know what you’ve been reading. Just put the titles down in the comments section.

Hey everyone! I apoligise for the lateness of this post. We’ve been having trouble with our internet connection all evening. We just got ourselves a respite that I hope isn’t brief! In the mean time, I’ve had my nose buried in Susanna Clarke’s The Ladies of Grace Adieu. I’m three stories down with five more to go…and wow what stories!

“The Ladies of Grace Adieu“
This one is about three young ladies who prove to be practicing magicians. However, in Regency England, it is believed that only men can do magic, and for the most part there are only two, at the time, who actually practice magic – Mr Norrell and Jonathan Strange of the Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell fame. But these women are quite content to have things as they are, delighting and scorning the ignorance of men and their opinions of the female sex. If you’ve read Clarke’s enormous novel you will find that the men magicians tend to argue a great deal over theories and give absolutely no importance to what is known as Faerie. On the other hand, the women magicians are firm believers in Faerie and the magic of Faerie…hence their magic is also of a different sort. (You will find this difference not only in this story but in the following two I will briefly review for you.)

Now, one of these ladies is a governess to a couple of orphan girls who are to come into a great deal of inheritance when they leave behind their minor status. An uncle of theirs (also their trustee) comes over one day with the intent of doing away with the children so that he might inherit everything. The governess and her two friends do all in their power to prevent any harm from coming to the children.

“On Lickerish Hill”
Now this story is sort of a spin-off or rather, an adaptation of the well-known tale of “Rumplestiltskin“. The story is told in the first person by a young woman who seems to be rather low down the rung of society. Due to a lie her mother tells a rich landlord, Miranda (the narrator) finds herself married to him. In the last month of their one year of being married he locks her in a tower and tells her to spin the finest silk off flax. And the rest is history with a slight twist – it is actually quite dark in terms of atmosphere, though the tone is a bit light due to the rather practical cheerfulness of the narrator herself. She is no weepy, moany woman. She is constantly on the go (not physically speaking), figuring out her next move. It is interesting, however, that many things seem to turn out because she seems to have planned it that way. However, one does not really see her planning anything. At the end I wondered if she just got lucky. But really…you can’t say with Miranda.

“Mrs Mabb”
I think this tale was so typically faerie. Have you ever heard of fairy folk tales from the British Isles where people suddenly disappear, see strange things, grow old over night, etc etc? Well, this could be one. A young woman called Venetia comes back to her little village, from attending to a friend who was extremely ill, to find that a neighbour has got her claws into the man Venetia was hoping to marry. Convinced that Captain Fox really loved her, Venetia seeks Mrs Mabb. But the latter is a mystery and like the elfen fires one hears of in the woods, Mrs Mabb’s location keeps changing and strange keep happening to our heroine, until, at long last, the Fae gives her back her Captain. 

I’m having a wonderful time reading this short story collection of Clarke’s and I think these are perfect Halloween stories to read!

So, what have you folk been reading this past week?