In the Labyrinth

What Is Your Library Saying About Fairy Tales?

I am happy to post up more "What is Your Library Saying?" images of friends' book titles, re-arranged to offer strange and wonderful literary moments. Today's offerings are two, fairy tale themed images from Bri Saussy, owner of Milagro Roots, a lovely shop of sacred oils, candles, and creative inspirations, and Heidi Anne Heiner, the mistress of all things fairy tale at the Surlalune Blog.

 

Bri Saussy -- whose own work with flowers, herbs, and alchemy make this more true than fanciful!

 

Heidi Anne Heiner strikes a humorous "noir" note with this terse Cinderella drama.

This series here was prompted by the Sorted Books Project from artist Nina Katchadourian. Since most writers, readers and artists I know have groaning library shelves, I thought it might be fun for the rest of us to join in. You can find early posts under the catagory "What's Your Library Saying?" Got one you want to share? Just email me at the address above in the right hand sidebar.

Top Art: Marginalia from a six-volume Gradual, tempera + gold leaf + ink on parchment, Italian, circa 1460-1480 (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, ms. Ludwig VI 2).

What Is Your Library Saying? Part III

Continuing with our own version of the Sorted Books Projects here at the Labyrinth, I was delighted by the offerings from historical fiction author Tinney Sue Heath. Tinney's novel A Thing Done -- a wonderful medieval bit of intrigue and treachery in 13th century Florence -- has been included in her artful arrangement of titles to suggest wry, poetic, and a little bit naughty moments.

 

"Exhibit A: Advice to a Writer"

 

"Exhibit B Vaguely Poetic" (which I think reads a bit like a Japanese Tanka with it's five lines and mixture of seven and five syllable lines.)

 

"Exhibit C: Perhaps Not Entirely G-Rated" (but I love this one because I have some of the same titles in my library and it's hilarious to see them here! )

 

For more about the inspiration of this project and to see other submission to the blog, go here Sorted Books and here and if you want to join in the fun, send me the photo to the email in the side bar.

What Is Your Library Saying? Part II

Awhile back, I posted about the "Sorted Book Project" -- where visual artist Nina Katchadourian used the titles printed on the spines of books to create clever literary moments with the unexpected arrangements of those titles. So I asked friends who visit me here and on facebook to consider sending in pictures of what their libraries are saying. Here's a wonderful trio from my friend Karen Obermiller.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More are coming -- including some from my shelves (really I have these hilarious little piles of books all over my living room.) Please feel free to email me or facebook message me your own photos if you are inspired to join into the play.

Laura Ottina: Domestic Comforts

Laura Ottina has one of the most charming blogs Animalarium -- which features a wide range of art illustration and illustrators not well known in the United Sates. Her international selections are wonderful, eye-popping, funny. satiric, and dreamy. I have discovered so many artists on her pages that I might not have ever known had it not been for her blog. I do recommend it highly -- subscribe, you won't be sorry. Here are a few images from her most recent post "Domestic Comforts" which seems perfect for this mid-winter time of year. (Even here in Tucson it has been cold -- with a record number of freezing nights, and lots of snow in the mountains -- so these illustrations are most welcomed!)

Art from top to bottom: Catherine Zarip, Manon Gauthier, and Métier Illustrateur

Stephen Chow's "Monkey King"

I am very excited by the release (on Chinese New Year) of Stephen Chow's latest film, "The Monkey King," base on the 16th century Chinese epic, Monkey God's Journey to the West. (There is a terrific translation by Arthur Waley which I read years ago.) It is a rich and complicated text -- taking its inspiration and plots from Chinese folktales, Chinese Mythology, the pantheons of Buddhist and Taoist gods and immortals. Long and picaresque, it is the journey of a monk, along with three fantastic companions (Monkey, Pigsy, and Dragon's Son), who must travel from the "hedonist" East to India in the West to obtain sacred texts for the purification of the East. The journey is filled with natural and fantastical dangers -- demons, bad people, mountains, and the usual road trip disasters. But luckily for the pious monk, his traveling companions are tricksterish and combative -- swing their fists and swords as needed for the protection of the monk. They are also greedy, always hungry, and looking for sex.

Stephen Chow's film looks fabulous -- with many of the same tropes that appear in his other films, like "Kung Fu Hustle," and "Shaolin Soccer." For all of the huge landscape of the Epic narrative, there is still the feeling that this story is being played out by the cast of neighbors in the courtyards of a backwater tenement. Chow has a theatrical Commedia dell' Arte effect with partially masked characters mingled with human characters, broad slapstick battles (gorgeously choreographed), monsters, and loopy misadventures, all of which lead to a comedic climax with badass, badly-behaving Monkey receiving enlightenment.

Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Very excited to see the announcement about the soon to be released short story anthology Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy, edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow. It looks to have the perfect blend of fantasy, Victorian imagination, magic realism, and terrific stories from wonderful authors such as Delia Sherman, James Blaylock, Gregory Maquire, Ellen Kushner, and Jeffrey Ford -- all set in the Victorian era. Here's a bit from a review in the recent Publishers Weekly:

"Datlow and Windling collect 18 stories of elegant beauty and gothic murk in this anthology of “gaslamp fantasy,” an umbrella term for speculative works set in or inspired by the Victorian era....Fans of steampunk and Austen-inspired fantasies of manners will be completely enraptured by these stories, which show us how Victorians saw themselves and offer an assortment of ways for modern readers to consider the bright lights and gloomy shadows of the past."

The anthology is now available for pre-ordering and it looks like it will be available in hardcover, paper, and ebook all at the same time. Here is the Table of Contents:

Preface Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Introduction Terri Windling
The Fairy Enterprise by Jeffrey Ford
From the Catalogue of the Pavilion of the Uncanny and Marvelous, Scheduled for Premiere at the Great Exhibition (Before the Fire) by Genevieve Valentine
The Memory Book by Maureen McHugh
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells by Delia Sherman
La Reine D’Enfer by Kathe Koja
For the Briar Rose by Elizabeth Wein
The Governess by Elizabeth Bear
Smithfield by James P. Blaylock
The Unwanted Women of Surrey by Kaaron Warren
Charged by Leanna Renee Hieber
Mr. Splitfoot by Dale Bailey
Phosphorus by Veronica Schanoes
We Without Us Were Shadows by Catherynne M. Valente
The Vital Importance of the Superficial by Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stevermer
The Jewel in the Toad Queen’s Crown by Jane Yolen
A Few Twigs He Left Behind by Gregory Maguire
Their Monstrous Minds by Tanith Lee
Estella Saves the Village by Theodora Goss

Thaliad Give-away on Good Reads

Go on and sign up to win a free copy of Marly Youman's gorgeous new work Thaliad, a post-apocalyptic epic poem written in blank verse and guaranteed to send shivers up your spine. You can read my full review here. It's one of those texts that would be perfect for a young adult reader as well as an adult with its themes of rites of passage, and the power of love and grace to restore the world. Oh, and did I mention it is beautifully illustrated by Welsh artist Clive Hicks Jenkins? Yes...definitely worth a moment to sign up. (Promotion dates runs from January 14, 2013 to February 14th, 2013)

Alicia Baladan: "Una Storia Guaraní"

Alicia Baladan is an Italian illustrator whose work has given me yet another reason for massively improving my Italian. I love this work -- with its beautiful palette of colors and evocative imagery. Her latest children's book "Una Storia Guaraní" is about the Guaraní Indians of Uruguay and their sacred and incredibly useful relationship to the spider. (You can see more of her moleskin sketches for this project on her blog.) Here's a brief description of the book from the publisher:

"For the indigenous Guaraní the spider is the most sacred animal. When a child is born, you put a spider in the window of the hut to defend him from other insects and some mothers, in hot weather, they build the web around the cradle. The webs also treat the wounds of the men returned from hunting. This is why the web is the most precious gift. But it is also the most difficult to obtain. Deciding to give his beloved a spider web, a boy enters into the forest, encoutnering strange people, animals, and mysterious, arcane presences. A story of initiation into adulthood, enchanted and fragile, to remind us of the delicate balance on which rest the life of the heart and of nature." (I cleaned up the google translation which got a bit wonky towards the end.)

 

A Band Of Wild Petticoats...

"Peeking at the Underthings of Literature."

My daughter Taiko has recently created a new blog called "Band of Wild Petticoats" (because all the other names she wanted were taken, and because fate decided this name is perfect for her.) A graduate student in Spanish and Portuguese literature, Taiko posts thoughtful and interesting reviews of poetry, fiction, and art -- much of which is new to me. I am very excited to be following her blog and I suspect it will change the accent of my reading this coming year. Stop by and have a look -- and expect to have your skirts ruffled. Here's a poem by Mexican author and poet, José Emilio Pacheco, the subject of one her recent posts -- beautiful.

"Mar eterno"

Digamos que no tiene comienzo el mar
Que comienza donde lo hallas por vez primera
Y te sale al encuentro por todas partes.

"Eternal sea"
Let us say that the sea has no beginning
That it begins where you find it for the first time
And comes out to meet you in all places. (trans Taiko Haessler)

Life In The Margins: The Surprising Art And Story In Medieval Manuscripts

I seem to be on a medieval manuscript wave length lately -- they just appear on my computer unexpectedly, and I lose a morning to them, ogling their beauty and enjoying their peculiar sense of peasant humor. There are animal tales and fairy tales, tales of revenge, tales of hunting, eating, farming, battling giants and devils, being chased and chasing wildmen and beasts, playing dice, carding wool, and rabbits jousting. Here is a wonderful example of this teaming life in the margins from the catalog of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Museum listed as the Detailed record for Royal 10 E IV, edited by Raymond of Penafort, with gloss of Bernard of Parma, titled Calendarium, Decretals of Gregory IX with glossa ordinaria (the Smithfield Decretals.)These marginal bits of art are especially inspiring right now as I have signed up to do the Sketchbook Project.  I love how these 14th century French artists created such visually compelling stories in such small spaces on the page.

There are over 300 of these marginal images in this collection and here is a very small selection. Note many of the images are placed horizontally along the bottom of the pages -- but some of the most interesting (and fantastic bits) are the vertical images in between columns of text. There is really no empty space in this manuscript as though the calligraphers took time out out from the tedium of lettering to doodle far more interesting dramas.

 

Reynard the Fox Disguised as a Bishop (a later image shows the fox being hanged by these same attentive birds.)

 

Wildman Embracing a Woman

 

Thief Stealing Food Through a Tube From A Blind Man

 

Mary of Egypt Covered in Hair Feeding a Stag, A Bear, and A Lion

 

Man and A Lioness Returning Home in a Boat. (And returning a lost child who in other illustrations is shown suckling the Lioness.)

 

A Woman on Stilts Nursing a Child

 

Mermaid

 

A Grotesque