Some of my favorite English books

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A tweet from Hannah-Elizabeth, who blogs at The Last Classic  http://sonnemann.wordpress.com  inspired this post. She follows my book reviews and recently asked for a recommendation on something to read.

The other inspiration was the Olympics opening ceremony, which got me thinking of English novels and stories.  My greatest literary pleasures, from the first read-alouds I heard as a child until now have come from England.  The riverbank, the Shire, and Baker Street have become the landscapes of my soul.

There’s one key distinction to make:  when I talk about favorite novels, I don’t mean breakout, thrilling, or dramatic novels – necessarily.  I mean stories with  characters and worlds I want to live with and visit again and again.  When I started The DaVinci Code, for instance, I couldn’t put it down, but when I finished, I traded it in for credit at the local used bookstore.  I can’t imagine reading it again.

So here is a list, probably not complete and not in order of preference, of some of the story treasures British authors have given me.  To set the mood, let’s begin with this beautiful hymn that every diehard fan of Masterpiece Theater knows and loves.  “Jerusalem” was inspired by William Blake’s poem, “And did those feet in ancient time,” which was based on the legend that as a youth, Jesus visited England and Glastonbury with his uncle, Joseph of Arimethia.

Favorite English books.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. I reviewed it here: http://wp.me/pYql4-19a. Try to get the edition illustrated by Arthur Rackham, which really gives a feel for the rural England of rivers, forests, and fields that were so soon to disappear in the new century .

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien – Here was a man who spent his life giving shape to our spiritual homeland – The Shire and Rivendell.  His son said he suffered from bouts of depression all his life.  Understandable when you reflect that the summer this gentle dreamer graduated from Oxford, he was thrown into the maelstrom of the Somme.  There he saw the Shire, the rural England he loved, along with his college classmates, evaporate in the fires of Mordor, aka, the western front.

The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  I read these detective stories again and again, even though I know who done it. Who doesn’t sometimes dream of life on Baker Street, sharing a pipe with Holmes before the game is afoot again? I could argue that Holmes was an early superhero, using uncanny intellect and powers of observation to save the world from uber-villain, Moriarity.

The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix. Nix, a former editor, has written a number of middle grade Arthurian adventures for boys.  In the Abhorsen tales, he gives us two fine female protagonists. In doing so, he inspired my first novel, whose main character, Emily, is a lot like Lirael, the heroine of the second and third books of the trilogy.  Nix lives in Australia, but the map of his Old and New Kingdoms looks a lot like the Scottish border, and everyone acts quite British, sometimes to the vexation of the good guys.

T.S. Eliot:  The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909 – 1950 I’ve been reading this book since I took a class on Eliot as a college sophomore. “The first gate” into the world of imagination and dream is an image at the opening of Eliot’s “The Four Quartets,” my favorite poem of all time.  Eliot was an American who spent his writing life in London.

Agatha Christie Mysteries.  Few authors create two characters as compelling as Hercule Poirot, star of 33 novels,  and Miss Marple, featured in 12.  When Christie killed off Poirot in 1975, a year before her own death, the little Belgian detective became the only fictional character to receive an obituary in The New York Times.   Books like Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, will stand with any mysteries ever written.  Here is free download, in all ebook formats, from Project Gutenberg, of  The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920, the first Poirot mystery. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/863

In the spirit of things. Yours truly at Avebury, 1991

The Narnia Tales by C.S. Lewis. Tolkien told Lewis not to publish the Narnia stories, saying Lewis would “embarrass himself.” Just goes to show the master of middle-earth didn’t know everything.  Mysterious old wardrobes will always be objects of interest to fans of Lewis’ series.

Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock.  A small patch of primeval forest, one of the last in England that dates from the last ice age, is actually a “mythogenic zone,” a region which manifests the creatures of the deep human psyche and racial memory.  They deteriorate at any great distance from the wood, but near and in it they are very real – sometimes dangerously so.  in 1946, when Stephen Huxley returns from the service, both he and his older brother Christian, strive to enter the wood with the aid of a mysterious journal (don’t you just love those!) left by their father.  Both Stephen and Christian fall in love with Gweneth, who lives deep in the forest.  When his brother begins to assume the attributes of the dreaded “Outsider,” you know Stephen’s journey will not be easy.  Published in the US in 1986, this book had a profound effect on my outlook on fantasy literature.

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling. I don’t think this needs any explanation

The Mabinogian Anonymous. Welsh tales, full of strange and sometimes ominous magic, that were already ancient when they were written down in the middle ages. Joseph Campbell and Heinrich Zimmer discussed some of these stories. They are best approached with poetic imagination as Fleetwood Mac did with the goddess, Rhiannon, who figures in two of the tales.

Rhiannon riding in Arbeth. Illustration from “The Mabinogian” by Lady Charlotte Guest. Public domain in the US

The Amelia Peabody Mysteries by Elizabeth Peters. Here are some great British mysteries written by a yank. Ms. Peters, now 84, was born in Illinois and received her PHd in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. There’s the connection. Her protagonists – Amelia Peabody, Amelia’s husband Emerson, their brilliant but incorrigible son Ramses, and in later stories, Amelia’s daughter in law, Nefret, are unconventional British archeologists who excavate in places like the Valley of the Kings when they’re not solving murders. There are twenty books in the series, spanning the decades from 1895 through the first world war against the background of mystery and intrigue in the turn of the century middle east. These are among the best beach reads I’ve ever found. Check them out at Ameliapeabody.com.  http://ameliapeabody.com/bookshelf.htm

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I hope this excursion through some of my favorite books leads you to something enjoyable to read.  Lists are fun.  This was a small list, so next time I’ll post some with hundreds of titles to choose from.  Stay tuned!

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Quite a few writers I know follow Kristen Lamb’s blog. She writes extensively about blogging, publishing, and the nuts and bolts of being an indie author.

Now, in response to the copyright lawsuit filed against Roni Loren (http://wp.me/pYql4-2fA), Kristen is using her organization, WANA (We are not alone) to create another source of copyright free images – the WANA Commons. Best of all, everyone is invited to contribute. Here’s a chance to give back to the blogging community, upload your own visual art to an appreciative audience, and strike (as the Jefferson Starship put it a long time ago) blows against the empire! Please check out Kristen’s post – to me, this is a very exciting project! – Morgan

Author Kristen Lamb's avatarKristen Lamb's Blog

First of all, I want you guys to know that I MISSED YOU! July was a whirlwind month for sure and reminded me of the days when I used to be on the road for sales. Wandering out of bed in the night to go to the bathroom, yet suddenly realizing you’re in a coat closet. Fun stuff!

We will talk about LA another day, because I have a GIFT for you guys. I KNOW! Another one? Hey, y’all are like my kids, and I’m a terrible mother because I dig spoiling every last one of you. Here, have some cake.

Most of you guys know I am all about writers blogging. Blogging plays to our strengths. Blogs are far less volatile than other types of social media. Twitter might be gone in a couple years, and Facebook could implode, but blogs will likely remain. This makes them one of…

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Sales of “Imagine” halted after author admits inventing quotations

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In May, I reviewed Jonah Lehrer’s new book, Imagine:  How Creativity Works  http://wp.me/pYql4-1Rv.  I ended by saying, “This is a wonderful study for anyone interested in imagination, creativity, and the conditions which favor it.”

Today I was saddened to read that Lehrer admitted fabricating Bob Dylan quotes in Imagine and lying about them when questioned by another journalist.  He resigned as a staff writer for The New Yorker, and Houghton Mifflin halted sales of the book, which had sold 200,000 copies since March and spent 16 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.  http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/30/4674919/author-acknowledges-fake-dylan.html

In a statement Monday, Lehrer said:  “The lies are over now. I understand the gravity of my position. I want to apologize to everyone I have let down, especially my editors and readers.”

The incident raised a number of questions.  It is striking in part because strict enforcement of ethical standards has become so rare in public life.  We don’t even blink when we read of fresh bank scandals, or athletes on steroids, or the California Parks department with a hidden stash of millions of dollars even as it was moving to shutter some of our finest parks.  We’re running a presidential campaign on attack adds, where truth is merely an option, rather than statements of principle from either candidate.  These days I look to PBS and the Comedy Channel for responsible TV journalism.

With standards so lax in so many areas of public life, how many aspiring writers can be certain they would resist the urge to tweak a sentence or two for a shot at the best seller list?  I am not, by any means, excusing Lehrer’s actions – I am saying I think I understand them.

I also understand failure.  It’s a fire that can consume a person or temper what they are made of.  I hope Mr. Lehrer can rise from his ashes with the kind of deeper and darker wisdom that comes from enduring the dark night of the soul.

Copyrights and the Olympic Opening Ceremony

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Since my July 24 post on copyrights http://wp.me/pYql4-2fA generated significant interest, I want to direct you to another blog post discussing the probable copyright violations of Danny Boyle in his fanciful opening ceremony at the Olympics.

In her article “Reclaiming Mary Poppins and the Characters We Love,” Maggie O’Toole discusses way in which corporate interests have successfully lengthened and strengthened the rules in their own interest.  Maggie says:

“In this bit of public theater, director Danny Boyle reclaimed the British people’s ownership of their children’s literature, the rights to which have long since been sold off to various corporate interests…In doing so, he challenged the idea that these characters, or any characters, can belong to someone.”

Despite my recent musings on copyright, the idea never occurred to me.  Please read the full article.  If you love these characters, you will enjoy it!

http://maggienotmargaret.com/2012/07/28/reclaiming-mary-poppins-and-the-characters-we-love/

The hour of the wolf

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Welcome Library, London, CC by NC

On monday morning, I woke around 3:00am with a sense of dread far out of proportion to the rather mundane dream I’d been having.  A thunderstorm rolling by increased the sense of menace at this darkest hour of the night.

The hour of the wolf is the phrase I’ve always used for such moments.  “It’s always darkest right before dawn,” we tell ourselves by daylight.  “It’s always darkest just before it goes pitch black,” says a demotivational poster you can find on despair.com.  That is the hour of the wolf (though despair.com is a funny website).

When I was an undergrad, we used to say, “Wherever two or more are gathered, they’ll start a film society.”  College film societies of the time loved Ingmar Bergman, and I did too, so I knew his 1968, The Hour of the Wolf, but it wasn’t one of my favorites from his surrealistic period.  The best definition I know came from dialog in the “Hour of the Wolf” episode of Babylon 5, in 1996:

“Have you ever heard of the hour of the wolf? … It’s the time between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning. You can’t sleep, and all you can see is the troubles and the problems and the ways that your life should’ve gone but didn’t. All you can hear is the sound of your own heart.”  – Michael J. Straczynski, writer, Babylonian Productions.

Since I couldn’t sleep, I tried to remember what I knew of the phrase.  A long time ago, I read that it was coined in medieval Paris.  The gates of the city were shut at night, but during the winter, wolves sometimes slipped through at dusk.  At the darkest hour of the night, they would glide through the streets like shadows to prey on the poor unfortunates who were sleeping alone on the streets.  “Hour of the wolf” was the phrase coined by those who encountered the grisly remains in the morning.

Hint:  thinking of wolves chewing corpses doesn’t help you get back to sleep.

I knew by then what was keeping me up.  Some of it had to do with the Colorado shootings.  It’s hard to sleep easy after such an event, but that was not the heart of it.  On sunday, I’d listened to Chris Hedges, a guest on Moyers & Company, in a segment called, “Capitalism’s ‘Sacrifice Zones.'”

Hedges is a journalist who worked for the New York Times until he was “pushed out” for outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq.  The interview is important and very depressing, like much honest reporting these days (when you can find it).  

http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-capitalism’s-‘sacrifice-zones’/

It’s hard to know what to do with this kind of unpleasant truth.  One good thing that came out of this post is that I learned the source of the phrase, “live with the questions.”  Therapists, especially Jungians, like to quote it, but it was Rainer Maria Rilke who first penned it.  In 1903, in Letters to a Young Poet, he said:

“…I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

A warning about copyrights

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Yesterday, friend and author, Amy Rogers, sent me a link to a recent account by a blogger who was sued after posting a copyrighted photograph.  In this case, attribution and a willingness to take down the image were not enough.  The photographer demanded compensation – “a significant chunk of money” – for the use of the photo over several week’s time.

Anyone who grabs or has grabbed pictures from Google images or related sources should read blogger, Roni Loren’s story. http://www.roniloren.com/blog/2012/7/20/bloggers-beware-you-can-get-sued-for-using-pics-on-your-blog.html

As I first read through the post, my thought was, “that’s nasty,” with a head shake for the litigious society we live in.  Then, as I scrolled through the comments, I saw several photographers say they were sick of seeing their images used without permission.  Regardless of anyone’s opinion, this is how it is.

Fortunately, Roni Loren provides some good info and links on finding millions of pictures that are okay to use.  Two sites in particular are Wikipedia Commons and Creative Commons.  Here is an exceptional article by Megan Ward on finding photos on Creative Commons and what the various usage codes mean.

http://meghanward.com/blog/2012/06/21/where-to-get-photos-for-your-blog/

I used Ward’s guidelines to search for replacements for several landscape photos in an earlier post, and found 60 nice ones to choose from, licensed by the artists to Creative Commons, with simple conditions like attribution and links to a website.

The first link given above, to Roni Loren’s article, references  a Wikipedia article on public domain, with websites for literally millions of images bloggers are free to use, arranged in dozens of categories.  I clicked on one link of public domain photos from WWI, and was pleased to recognize the site I had used for an earlier post on the Christmas Truce.  In general, copyrights are time limited, but research is necessary.

I had already learned to read the fine print in books I set out to review.  Some allow you to quote small sections for review purposes and some do not.  This is a similar exercise and one that is clearly just as important.

Many thanks to Amy for bringing this to my attention, and to Roni Loren for sharing her painful experience.  She urged other bloggers to pass it on, so consider doing so.

We have met the enemy…

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The Colorado shootings will forever cast a pall over the opening day of the latest Batman movie, the kind of action-adventure fantasy many of us were looking forward to as an escape from all the other bad news that fills the papers these days.

I cannot add anything to the expressions of grief and outrage that the people of Colorado have and will make, but I heard one thing this morning that gave me pause.

The governor of Colorado said, “This is the act of a very deranged mind.”  It’s a natural thing to say, and we hear the same words after every similar tragedy.  The Texas Tower.  Oklahoma City.  Columbine.  The first thing we try to do is assure ourself that the crime was the work of a nut or monster.  The last thing we want to hear are comments now emerging from people who knew the suspect and say he seemed “really smart,” and “a nice guy.”  It’s terrifying to think that an “ordinary person” or a neighbor could do something like this.

Thich Nhat Hahn, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk who Martin Luther King nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, was versed both in Buddhist and western psychology.  His teachings gave me the concept of “store consciousness.”

Thich Nhat Hahn

This is the part of our unconscious psyche where all possible tendencies reside, like seeds, waiting to germinate.  The ones we water with our attention, thought, and action are the ones that grow.  Like all Buddhists, Thich Nhat Hahn believes that we cannot know for sure which seeds we have watered in previous lives, but our proclivities in this life, for good or ill, give a strong hint.

Metaphysics aside, we can recognize the truth of the core concept – the seed tendencies we water are the ones that grow.  The only memorial we can make to the people who died in that theater is to stand beside those like Thich Nhat Hahn, Martin Luther King, and all men and women of goodwill of the present and past.  We can join with them in trying to give the water of attention to qualities like compassion, patience, and non-violence – the seeds we want to grow.

Those who follow this blog know how often I quote Walt Kelley’s comic strip character, Pogo, who said, “We has met the enemy and he is us.”  It doesn’t have to be that way.