Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the category “writers”

17 Mar 2015
6 Comments

Author Snapshot: Lois Lowry


Sometimes a novel is similar to a wave in how its impact builds momentum, breaks, recedes, and begins the cycle all over again. The Giver by Lois Lowry is such a book. First published in 1993 it pushed societal paradigms, gathered a following, and is once again building another following due to the film adaptation. It’s still considered controversial some twenty years later. The story is deceptively simple, yet profound in its impact. There are so many issues presented: government control, euthanasia, loss of innocence, and dystopia versus utopia. Lowry presents these heavy issues with a light hand and leaves reader with hope in its ambiguous ending. It deservedly won the prestigious Newberry Award.

For many years The Giver remained a standalone title. And then Gathering Blue came out in 2000; however, it wasn’t a true continuation of The Giver and frustrated many readers looking for answers, because it teased a bit, alluding only slightly to Jonas’s world. Readers had to wait until 2004 for Messenger, which served as a bridge between The Giver and Gathering Blue. Alas, answers still weren’t totally available and finally in 2012 closure arrived with Son.

Having read The Giver when it first came out, I was impressed with its message, although a bit dissatisfied with its ambiguity at the end. “That’s it?!?” I felt like shaking the book to see if I could render out the last drop, maybe find the missing resolution or at least find a denouement of sorts. I wasn’t aware of the succeeding books that formed the quartet and had the distinctive pleasure of reading the quartet in succession after watching the 2014 film adaptation of The Giver. Due to the sizable waiting list for The Giver (could it be the movie stirred people to seek out the original?) I began reading the other three and saved The Giver for last. Glad I did so, because the library (love my library) bought the newest edition, which is a twenty year celebration of the novel, and it contains an introduction, a reflection, by Lois Lowry. Her humor and unique outlook is prevalent and added a dimension to the reading I wouldn’t have probably gained reading the standard paperback issue. A bonus section (special features?) included interviews of different actors from the movie including Taylor Swift.

Yet, there is more to Lois Lowry than The Giver. Her talent extends to comical middle reading found in the Krupnik series which is about the plucky Anastasia and her rascally brother Sam. Another notable book, her first Newberry Award, is Number the Stars, which covers the Danish Resistance in WWII. Lowry’s diversity is evident when scrolling through her impressive book list of thirty plus titles which range from picture books to historical fiction, and include young adult reads. I have been exploring other Lowry titles and I am amazed by her diversity. For instance, I just finished an audio reading of  Silent Boy, which reminds me of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird recalling her childhood memories from an adult perspective. Another audio novel, The Willoughbys is radically different from any of her other works. This a parody of all those long ago old-fashioned tales starring orphans who make good after much travail. Think Lemony Snicket meets Pollyana. The reading was enhanced by the reading talents of Arte Johnson, best remembered by his Laugh In days. The humor varies between lampoon and subtle, the vocabulary rivals SAT prep exercises, and there is a constant anticipation of “What next?” right up there with “This is a kid’s book?”
Lowry is one of those authors who provides the reason why adults peruse the kids’ section when searching for a good read.

Interesting bits about Lois Lowry:

  • she’s been a contestant on Jeopardy
  • traveled to Antarctica
  • had The Giver turned into a play, opera, film, and musical
  • she’s been a clue in a New York Times crossword puzzle
  • has owned numerous dogs, cats, and horses
  • has a great little author website
Posted in Americans, Awards, Books, reviews, writers and tagged , , ,
23 Feb 2015
17 Comments

Overbooked


I have become a victim of over booking, and I have only myself to blame. No, I didn’t get postponed at the airport, or delayed at the restaurant. Actually, it’s all my fault I got caught in this dilemma. Life just happens sometimes, you know?

For the first time since fifth grade I am conscious of how many books I am reading this year. In fifth grade Mr. C, my fifth grade teacher, challenged us to read over the summer and bring him the list in fall. I think I read a 100 books–memory tends to fade the accuracy of details. I do recall the look of surprise when I trucked in my list on my way to sixth grade next door. I’d like to think I was the only one who took up his challenge. I would have read all summer anyway. Too bad I didn’t keep the list. It would be fun to revisit what I was interested in reading at eleven years old.

This year I have taken up the GoodReads Challenge and I am diligently marking off my books with reviews. My goal is 50 books, because I think I can manage that amount. I now realize how idealistic that amount might actually be. Therefore, my dilemma. I calculated I will need to read at least 4 books a month to hit my goal. And for honesty sake (former Campfire Girl) I will double or triple up on children’s books because they are so much shorter. Then again, does a 400 page plus book count as double? War and Peace count as triple? I’ll figure it out.

This is why I am currently reading 4 books 3 books (just finished the newest this morning).

  • In the car I’m listening to Lois Lowry’s Silent Boy, a mesmerizing story of a young girl, Kate, remembering back to the time she befriended Jacob, who everyone in town referred to as “touched.”
  • On the living room side table is Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt. I have been gnawing away at this one for a while because it is so fabulously rich in content. I should just buy it, since I put a sticky marker in every other page. If you are interested in the texture of Shakespeare and his times, this is THE book to read. Probably explains why it earned National Book Award Finalist.
    • By the bed, and in the bookbag, and at school it’s a rereading Jane Eyre. As long as I teach it, I tend to read it. JE is one of favorite heroines, so it’s a pleasure, not a chore. In fact, there are times that I miss my Jane time because I get so busy I can’t sit down and relish her story. I am involved with this novel. I’m studying it, analyzing it, researching it, and most of all enjoying it. Again.
    • Back to four books. Make that five. Both holds came in: Way of the Peaceful Warrior (saw the movie and I’m curious) and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller–a recommendation from one of my many book review blogs.
    • Actually six–I picked up Number the Stars by Lois Lowry as a reread.

Sigh. Anyone else overbooked this week?

The movie definitely got my attention… image: amazon.com

Will I be able to NOT think Brad Pitt as I read this? image: GoodReads

I have to read a Lois Lowry I haven’t liked image: Wikipedia

 

 

 

Posted in Books, Libraries, Reflections, Teachers, writers, Writing and tagged , , , , ,
15 Feb 2015
14 Comments

Author Snapshot: Daphne du Mariuer


Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again…

 

One of the more famous opening lines for a novel is Daphne Du Mariuer’s first sentence of the eponymous character recalling her days at Manderley. Rebecca, a gothic romance, if there ever was one. No wonder Hitchcock snapped it up. I’m not sure which is the bigger hit: the novel or the film. They are both memorable, eerie, and suspenseful. Whenever I reread the book, I immediately want to view the film again. The novel leaves a legacy found in a variety of mediums:

Literature

  • Stephen King alludes to Mrs. Danvers, the troubled housekeeper, several times in Bag of Bones, and again refers to her in “Father’s Day.”
  • Jasper Fforde creates an army of Mrs. Danvers clones in his  Thursday Next series.
  • Danielle Steel nods to the novel in her Vanished, since the plot is similar to Rebecca.

Film

  • The Man with Two Brains, a Steve Martin comedy, acknowledges the novel as his character consults the portrait of his deceased wife, Rebecca.

Television

  • Dark Shadows, the original 70s Gothic soap opera (not the Johnny Depp film) relied on Rebecca’s sinister setting to create its creepy plotline.
  • Carol Burnett lampooned the novel with her “Rebecky” skit.

And if Rebecca‘s Gothic romance plot line isn’t your cup of tea, perhaps you remember The Birds? It was a short story before Hitchcock got ahold of it and produced a movie that still freaks me out. I found her short story in an anthology of animal uprising stories including Animal Farm. Watch out for pigs and birds–they pack a punch when they take over the world.

While Daphne Du Mariuer might not be in vogue as much as she once was, she definitely left on impact on the literary world with her contributions of novels, plays, and non-fiction. She often wrote ahead of her time, as evidenced in her House on the Strand, which alluded to the mind-altering drugs used in the sixties. There is some controversy about plagiarism, which I choose not to dwell upon. And some aspersions about her personal life, which I won’t delve into either. What fascinates me is her diversity as a writer. Though labeled as a romantic novelist (a label she disliked), she proved she could write beyond what critics’ and the publics’ labels. She wrote historical biographies, chilling mysteries, science fantasy, and wrote them well.

Some trivia which isn’t trivial:

  • awarded the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
  • daughter of actor parents: Sir Gerald du Maurier and Muriel Beaumont; granddaughter of George du Maurier, Punch cartoonist.
  • cousin to the Llewelyn Davies boys, who were the inspiration for J.M.Barrie’s Peter Pan.

    Daphne du Maurier in her later years image: BBC news

Posted in Literature, Movies, Reading, reviews, writers and tagged , , ,
11 Feb 2015
9 Comments

2/50: Bloom’s BioCritiques–William Shakespeare


William Shakespeare Frustrated Harold Bloom. image:meme.com

Harold Bloom knows a lot about literature. I think “intimidated” along with “impressed” are among my reactions to his introduction on William Shakespeare

 

2015 is going to be my Shakesyear, since I have set out a goal to gather research to write about Shakespeare. I’m not sure from what angle I’ll proceed, but I’m looking forward to the process. I do enjoy researching. It’s the doing something with it all that I struggle. I do know I have a daunting task ahead of me. Consider how little we know about him, I realize I’m probably going to be chasing about looking at the same old information presented by different people. Maybe I’ll be fortunate and find two needles in the info haystack…

The first book I’ve come across is a dandy. Harold Bloom, esteemed literary critic, takes on the task on presenting literary biographies of all sorts of famous authors. Although intended for juvenile readers, I found his vocabulary and syntax fairly challenging at times. For instance, what middle schooler would grasp this sentence easily: “I surmise that the egregious interventions by Vencentio and Iago displace the actor’s energies into a new kind of mischief-making, a fresh opening to a subtler playwriting-within-the-play.”

Bloom creates a portrait of Shakespeare through the observations of others including Samuel Johnson and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Considering this volume is under 200 pages, it’s packed with vital insights, including a chronology, works list, and a bibliography, to set me off along the trail in my search for Shakespeare.

Some new-to-me facts about the Bard:

  • he was “fostered” out to another family whose connections might have helped him rise above the failings of his father (which is quite the story in itself)
  • in 1587, when Shakespeare was 23, five theatrical companies visited Stratford and it wasn’t long after that Billy Boy went off to London
  • Hamlet, produced in 1601, was among the first plays the Lord Chamberlain’s Men performed at the Globe theater
  • Shakespeare’s company performed at least twelve plays every year for King James and his court
  • The purchase of the Blackfriars, another theatre, allowed Shakespeare’s acting troupe to perform year round since this was an enclosed theatre, unlike the Globe

I look forward to my discovering of William Shakespeare, and I hope you won’t become bored with my Bardinating over the course of the year.

Posted in Blogging, Books, Literature, Reading, reviews, writers and tagged , ,
20 Jan 2015
4 Comments

Writerly Wisdom: V


Scrolling through all my former posts, I rediscovered a forgotten series I started way back when I first began blogging: quotes from writers.

Here is a quote found in Marja Mills’ The Mockingbird Next Door, a biography on Harper Lee:

p. 80:

[referring to her lifetime habit of reading, which she traces to her family reading aloud to her when young]

Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books. Instant information is not for me. I prefer to search library stacks because when I work to learn something, I remember it.

This quote encapsulates my philosophy about the learning process. As a teacher, I encourage students to look up information so that they will better remember it. The brain is a muscle and it needs a workout to stay strong and viable. I use both technology and the library stacks, yet I prefer thumbing through books over scrolling screens any day.

Posted in Americans, Reflections, technology, writers and tagged , ,
15 Jan 2015
15 Comments

Author Snapshot: Edward Rostand


You might not be familiar with Rostand as an author, yet if I said “Cyrano de Bergerac” I imagine a glimmer of recognition would spark. Cyrano or “I nose a hero with a flare for the ridiculous when I see one.” The guy on the left is thought to be the real Cyrano (really, there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac) and the actor on the right is Jose Ferrer, who presented an entertaining version in the 1950’s adaptation:

Do you nose these men? image: listal.com

 

When I inherited the AP English Literature program I had a gamut of material to select from to build my own signature curriculum. Although most literature programs focus on Shakespeare’s plays, I veer towards presenting breadth, along with my depth, and toss in Cyrano de Bergerac as a study in the comedic hero. And what a hero! We romp and frolic through this play reading scenes, discussing deeper moments, celebrating epiphanies, and watching clips. We end the unit with a French feast of bread, cheese, fruit, Martinelli’s, and chocolate while we watch Megamind. You did know Megamind is thinly veiled Cyrano, didn’t you? There’s even a Roxanne!

  The classic (image: Amazon.com)

And the retelling of the classic (image: Dreamwork.wikia.com)

 

Wait–you aren’t quite familiar with Cyrano, beyond knowing he was the guy with the big nose? Okay, quick recap:

In old time France, think Musketeers, Cyrano is a dashing soldier known for his flair (flare is nostril, of course) with his wit and sword. A fighting poet, making him a bit of a paradox. He has a major crush on his high society cousin Roxane (that’s when marrying your cousin didn’t weird people out). She doesn’t know this and thinks fondly of Cyrano as the brother she never had, putting him in that awkward friend zone, or brother/cousin zone. She confides she is in love with the new guy, who has great hair, face, etc, but she doesn’t know his name. You know what’s coming, don’t you? It turns out the mysterious new guy in town, Christian, also has a crush on her.

Jumping right into the action: Roxane extracts a promise from Cyrano to watch out for Christian since he will now be in Cyrano’s regiment. Cyrano takes the watchful friend idea a little too far by helping Christian woo Roxane through some amazing letters he writes under the guise of Christian. Roxane ends up falling in love with the letters (which is really Cyrano) and begins to become bored with Christian’s feeble attempts to woo her on his own. “I love you. I want to kiss your neck” doesn’t work for her.

As the plot unfolds, there is a villain by the name of Le Guiche, a war, a quick marriage, a revelation, secrets, and an unhappy/happy ending–depends on your point of view.

This play is a favorite and is responsible for introducing the word panache, which originally meant the feather(decoration) on the person’s hat , but has come to mean a person’s style or manner of expression.

Steve Martin introduced his own version of Cyrano as Roxanne, which is an 80’s comedy worth checking out.

Steve Martin plays CJ Bales, who crushes on the new astronomer in town. image: Amazon.com

 

Rostand also wrote a play about Chanticleer, the rooster who believed the sun needed his crowing in order to rise everyday. This was made into a clever little animated film called Rock-a-Doodle.

No matter the version you encounter, you will not forget Cyrano, a comedic hero worth getting to nose, umm, know.

 

 

 

Posted in education, Literature, reviews, writers and tagged , , , ,
13 Jan 2015
9 Comments

1/50: Bonhoeffer Abridged


It’s January and the month for resolutions, except I’m more for goals than resolutions. They just seem more positive in purpose (“I will get an agent in 2015”). Resolving to do something sounds like I really don’t want to do it, but might as well give it a try (“I resolve to go through the long, painful process of sending out manuscripts and query letters in my search for representation”). Maybe it’s just semantics.

So–one goal I have this year is to keep track of how many books I actually read in a year. Blogger Bud Valerie Lawson got me looking into it on my Good Reads account and I set up my challenge of 50 books. I roughly hit that last year after going through and counting my GR reviews.

image: amazon.com

 

 

 

As I attempt this challenge I’ll keep track of my numbers as I periodically share some of my reads. Most of my reviews are on my Good Reads account found on the right hand side of the blog. For instance, my first read of the year is by Eric Metaxas. His Bonhoeffer Abridged provides a fascinating overview about the man who did not back down from his beliefs and openly challenged Hitler and the Nazi regime. A more detailed review is found amongst my GR review collection.

Anyone out there up for taking on the Good Reads challenge? How many books do you think you can take on this year?

Posted in Blogging, Books, Reflections, writers, Writing and tagged , , , ,
10 Jan 2015
21 Comments

The Giver et al


I have rediscovered The Giver. 

the-giver

sometimes the movie reminds the reader the greatness of the book image: bookopia.com.au

When it arrived on the scene in 1993 I was not an impressionable YA reader. No, I was a thirtysomething wife/mom/librarian and read books no matter what age they were intended for. Hmm. the only thing that’s changed is my age and the fact that I’m a librarian at heart while teaching English.

Like most readers, I felt a bit cheated at the ending. It was not neatly wrapped up and presented as a conclusion of satisfaction. Ambiguity can be quite frustrating, yet that’s one reason why The Giver is so memorable. We all want to know what happened to Jonas. Having rediscovered The Giver through watching the 2014 film led me to discover the other books in the series: Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. And here I thought all these years that the story ended with that famous sled ride.

Apparently it took twenty years for the book to become adapted to the screen. Jeff Bridges bought the rights and had originally wanted his father Lloyd to play the part of Giver. It didn’t happen, but viewers can watch a family reading of The Giver as one of the special features selections on the released DVD. Having finished reading the entire quartet I am smitten with the entire story. I hope there is a continuation of the series since each adds to the overall understanding of Jonas’s world.

An added bonus to rediscovering The Giver was reading the latest edition which contains author Lois Lowry’s twenty year reflection of The Giver’s impact.

A goal for this year: revisiting novels, particularly juvenile and YA novels, to gain a different perspective and insight.

Anyone interested in doing the same?

 

Posted in Books, Movies, Reading, Reflections, reviews, writers, Writing and tagged , , , ,
15 Dec 2014
14 Comments

Author Snapshot: Thomas Hardy


image: Wikipedia

 

Thomas Hardy is not being featured because he’s a fave found on my author list. Actually, I’m doing so because I recently finished reading Far From the Madding Crowd and I surprisingly liked it. I had tried his other novels: Jude the Obscure, Tess of the d’Urbervilles and they simply didn’t grab me. FFMC did. The funny thing is while reading the book I kept imagining Julie Christie as Bathsheba Everdene and Alan Bates as the faithful Gabrial Oakes. These are not current box office top notes of today. Click. Click. I watched the movie version years ago, and guess who were the stars of that gem? Yup, Julie and Alan.

image: lecinemadreams.blogspot.com

 

Book Cover: Far from the Madding Crowd

image: Penguin Books

 

Hardy’s tale of a headstrong, independent young woman who is courted by three men is set in Hardy’s fictional Wessex county, which in reality was a composite of different counties found in southwest and central England. The story is of rural England in 1874 and of love found in its many forms: unrequited, endearing, faithless, adoring, and feckless. A complicated love story of multiple levels, Hardy exposes readers to his real love, which is the pastoral side of England. His details of running a farm, the harsh cruelties of nature, and the enduring spirit of the hard-working people is what makes this novel so memorable. It’s considered the novel that moved his career into the front spot of literary fame. Although he did write novels, Hardy also wrote poetry and considered himself more of a poet than a novelist. In fact, FFMC’s title is inspired from a bit of poetry from another Thomas (Gray). From PublisherWeekly.com:

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy comes from “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray

Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray;
Along the cool sequester’d vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.

Hardy Bits:

  • His heart is buried at Stinsford with Emma (first wife) and his ashes are in the Poets’ Corner
  • He disdained much of Victorian principles, just like Dickens
  • Hardy’s second wife, his secretary, was *ahem* forty years older
  • A remake of Far From the Madding Crowd is due out March 2015http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEXGL-Y5D2A

I’m looking forward to comparing the two versions. And we all know the book is always better.

Here is a bonus for you Hunger Games fans: an interview from Entertainment Weekly with Suzanne Collins. See, there is too a reason for reading classics.

Which classic have you never read — but pretended you did?
I sort of half read Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge. It was assigned in 10th grade, and I just couldn’t get into it. About seven years later I rediscovered Hardy, and consumed four of his novels in a row. Katniss Everdeen owes her last name to Bathsheba Everdene, the lead character in Far From the Madding Crowd. The two are very different, but both struggle with knowing their hearts.

Posted in Literature, Movies, Reading, writers and tagged , , ,
08 Dec 2014
14 Comments

Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art my balcony?


As a professed Bardinator, I must admit my dismay upon learning some shocking information concerning Shakespeare’s most famous scene from Romeo and Juliet–perchance there was no actual balcony in the balcony scene. I will give you a moment to recover. Basically, this:

Balcony_Scene

image: education portal presents the traditional view

 

is what we have grown accustomed to over our years of study and admiration of this endearing romantic tale of woe, that of Juliet and her Romeo. However, according to The Atlantic, this is more in align to actuality:

image: rapgenius.com presents as Shakespeare liked it

that Juliet, like most Italian girls of her time period, lived protected behind the walls of her father’s villa. Traipsing about on balconies wouldn’t have happened. For one thing, Shakespeare didn’t know what a balcony happened to be, because no balconies existed in England when he wrote R&J.  From the article:

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest known use in English of the word “balcone” (as it was then spelled) didn’t occur until 1618, two years after Shakespeare died. Even the concept of a balcony was (literally) foreign to Shakespeare’s British contemporaries.

Why then, do we associate a balcony with our two tragic lovers? Blame it on Thomas Otway, who heavily borrowed  from Shakespeare’s play for his own 1679 play, The History and Fall of Caius Marius. Otway places his lovers on a balcony, a known bit or architecture adornment by then, and somehow over the years when Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet returned to public favor–yes *gasp* it wasn’t always popular, the audience simply filled in the gap and placed Juliet on her own balcony.

You don’t believe me? Here, check out why Sparknotes did with the scene. They have  perpetuated the mistaken notation of balcony traipsing versus window leaning. As for me, I go with the balcony. Window leaning just doesn’t cut it for romance. What do you think?

 

Posted in Literature, Reflections, writers, Writing and tagged , , , ,

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