Gormenghast will provide a glimpse into our own world, and even though it's not always pretty, it's always done in beautiful colors. I would rather see it as a fantastic movie, where the laws of the "normal" world aren't broken - just a little bent out of shape. It has no or few classic fantasy elements at all in it. Some has been left out, of course, but there's still plenty of material left to build the characters of the story. (Although I would have loved to see this in a cinema!) Good actors and an excitingly stylistic production makes this a worthwhile four hours. So what do I think about the mini series? Well, obviously no one would dare do what Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema did with the aforementioned movie, so I guess a four part mini series was the next best thing. To me, the story of Titus Groan, 77'th earl of Gormenghast, is one that can actually compete with Tolkien's "The Lord Of The Rings". The life and times of Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Gormenghast - a vast stronghold of crumbling masonry steeped in immemorial ritual and inhabited by an extraordinary cavalcade of characters including the kitchen boy, Steerpike, who ruthlessly rises to the upper echelons of dynastic power through mischief and murder. I've read Mervyn Peake's books over and over again.
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The painting was supposedly given to Aunt Ada by Mrs Lancaster. The picture strongly reminds Tuppence of a house she once saw and immediately liked. One of the items Aunt Ada had left is a painting of a house by a river. Tuppence suspects there’s more to it and tries to find the relative but the trail turns cold. The matron tells them that a relative called Mrs Johnson took her away. When they return to the home after the funeral to make arrangements for Ada’s possessions, they find that Mrs Lancaster has suddenly departed. While Tommy talks with his aunt, Tuppence has a conversation with another resident, Mrs Lancaster, who unexpectedly says 'Was it your poor child? There behind the fireplace.'Ī few weeks later Aunt Ada dies of natural causes. In Book 1 Tommy and Tuppence Beresford visit Tommy’s aunt Ada in a retirement home called Sunny Ridge. It traces the improbable career and tumultuous private life of a charismatic genius who rose to fame on his motto: "If it's big, hit it. "Up Front" featured the wise-cracking Willie and Joe, whose stooped shoulders, mud-soaked uniforms, and pidgin of army slang and slum dialect bore eloquent witness to the world of combat and the men who lived-and died-in it.This taut, lushly illustrated biography-the first of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin-is illustrated with more than ninety classic Mauldin cartoons and rare photographs. Week after week, Mauldin defied army censors, German artillery, and Patton's pledge to "throw his ass in jail" to deliver his wildly popular cartoon, "Up Front," to the pages of Stars and Stripes. Bill Mauldin had an uncanny ability to capture the life of the infantryman in cartoons, with sufficient impact to rile up senior allied leaders (such as. See images for the condition of this book.īlurb: The real war," said Walt Whitman, "will never get in the books." During World War II, the truest glimpse most Americans got of the "real war" came through the flashing black lines of twenty-two-year-old infantry sergeant Bill Mauldin. : Up Front: owner name and bookplate on fep otherwise no markings, 1945 date and no later printings, jacket is mylar protected with some small tears and minor losses, 3. Condition: Acceptable: Signs of wear and consistent use. He is presented as an individual who was with Joan during the three major phases of her life – as a youth in Domremy, as the commander of Charles’ army on military campaign, and as a defendant at the trial in Rouen. However the Harper’s editors decided to cut 12 chapters that describe much of Joan’s Great Trial, saying the chapters were not suitable for serialization since, “They will not bear mutilation or interruption, but must be read as a whole, as one reads a drama.” This recording contains the complete text!ĭe Conte is a fictionalized version of Joan of Arc’s page Louis de Contes, and provides narrative unity to the story. It was originally published as a serialization in Harper’s Magazine beginning in 1895 and later published in book form in 1896. The work is fictionally presented as a translation from the manuscript by Jean Francois Alden, or, in the words of the published book, “Freely Translated out of the Ancient French into Modern English from the Original Unpublished Manuscript in the National Archives of France.” For those who’ve always wanted to “get behind” the Joan of Arc story and to better understand just what happened, Twain’s narrative makes the story personal and very accessible. Mark Twain’s work on Joan of Arc is titled in full “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte.” De Conte is identified as Joan’s page and secretary. (This migration had its beginnings in the late sixteenth century, so some novels set in the sixteenth century are included in the North America sections.) At first, Native Americans were mostly friendly to the colonists, but conflicts developed as more and more Europeans took over lands where Native Americans had once lived and hunted.ĪLANCB = American Library Association Notable Children's BookīBYA = An American Library Association "Best Books for Young Adults" pick Many Dutch and English settlers, including religious dissenters like the Puritans, came to the states now known as New England, while French colonists settled in Canada and the Louisiana territory. Charles II restored the English monarchy after Cromwell's death in 1658.Įuropeans migrated to North America in large numbers. One of the seventeenth century's greatest conflicts was the English Civil War, which led to the beheading of King Charles I and the establishment of a Commonwealth government headed by the strict Puritan Oliver Cromwell. Groups like the Puritans and Quakers pushed for religious reforms. By the end of the century, most people stopped believing in witches. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft and put to death in both Europe and America. In the seventeenth century, people still feared witches. This page lists historical novels for young adult readers set in seventeenth-century Europe and North America. Young Adult Historical Novels: The Seventeenth Century The themes are manifold and form a dense subtext – it is difficult to define it as solely modern fable as it is also a metaphor for brave motherhood. Her end comes in a glorious act of self-sacrifice which buys freedom for her duckling, now grown and able to fly away.Īlthough the anthropomorphic tale is a well-worn genre, and although the translation can sometimes stilt the narrative flow, this is a moving and heart-warming tale about family, growing up, life and death. She is a loving, loyal and courageous mother, determined to raise Baby in the face of adversity. Undeterred, Sprout forms a strong friendship with Straggler the duck and when his mate falls prey to the ever-present threat of the weasel, Sprout hatches her egg and adopts the duckling. The barnyard, she discovers, is not the happy place which she had anticipated, but a place of hierarchies, prejudice and fear. Then one anxious day, when the end of her egg laying days means certain death, Sprout unexpectedly finds herself free and on the run. From the coop in which she lays her daily eggs, Sprout can almost taste the freedom that she sees in the barnyard. Sprout is a hen whose only desire and hope in life is to raise her own chick. The Hen who Dreamed She Could Fly Author: Sun-Mi Hwang Illustrator: Kazuko Nomoto Through this character’s direct and untainted child-like outlook, de Saint-Exupery has a none too subtle dig at the ‘grown-up’ thinking and futility of each’s circumstance. This is in part a recounted tale of The Little Prince’s journey from one tiny planet to the next and his interactions with different adults, such as a king, a businessman, a geographer, and a lamplighter. In addition to being cute and whimsical for children, the relative proportions within the illustrations really help focus the more adult satire. For example, we are reminded that we need to put up with a few caterpillars if we want to get to know butterflies. I am so glad I did this because while the text itself conveys great wisdom, in my opinion the author’s illustrations take his intended message to a whole other level.Īs with all children’s stories that become classics, The Little Prince contains much, if not more, value for an adult reader. The Little Prince (not to be confused with Conor Brennan’s equally charming memoir Little Princes) is one of those classics that I’d always wanted to read but not got around to until now. There is a certain mystique about it, mirrored by that of the author Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s own life story.Īlthough I read it in ebook format I made sure it was one that featured Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s original illustrations. Disclosure: If you click a link in this post and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. The most interesting personality King reveals is that of Meisonnier, a painter, obscure until he began to play a role in King’s book, but a giant in French 19th century art. Expensive, I know, but I wanted to see more. My only quibble is with the dearth of coloured plates. Ross King does that in a very readable book. The painters of Impressionism had always interested me, so I was happy to find a writer who placed them in their world, and explained the influences that shaped their work. I’ve just finished reading Ross King’s The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism (2006). with unexpected plot twists and plenty of girl power." - Booklist"Giddy, fizzy, hilarious fun!" - Lauren Myracle, author of Luv Ya Bunches"Tons of fractured fairy tale fun!" - Meg Cabot, author of Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls and The Princess Diaries"The feminist in me adored it, and the mother in me loved how my daughter would long to cuddle in close as we read together. will enchant readers from the first page." - Kirkus Reviews "Hilarious. The swift pace of the tale and non-stop action. Praise for Whatever After:"An uproariously funny read. with unexpected plot twists and plenty of girl power." - Booklist"Giddy, fizzy, hilarious fun!" - Lauren Myracle, author of Luv Ya Bunches"Tons of fractured fairy tale fun!" - Meg Cabot, author of Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls and The Princess Diaries"The feminist in me adored it, and the mother in me loved how my daughter would long to cuddle in close as we read together." - Danielle Herzog, blogging for The Washington Post will enchant readers from the first page." - Kirkus Reviews "Hilarious. Bad Hair Day Sink or Swim (Whatever After 3) by Sarah Mlynowski Once again my brother and I are in hot water.We werent planning to mess up the fairy. Underneath the unfolding of Quasimodo's love of La Esmeralda is a historical drama set in 1482, a time that in many ways mirrored the times and political struggles of Hugo's nineteenth-century world. But Hugo was a very complex writer who gave his readers a much more complicated story. On the surface, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a story of unrequited love between a man horribly disfigured and a beautiful woman who loves someone else. Even more popular than it became throughout the twentieth century and into the early 2000s, this romantic story grabbed the imagination of the French people who embraced it for its melodramatic storyline and Hugo's detailed rendering of the life and culture of fifteenth-century Paris. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was to change all that. Although he had written one other novel ( Han d'Islande, 1823), he had not really been known as a novelist. By the time Victor Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame (published in French as Notre-Dame de Paris), he had already made a name for himself as a poet and dramatist. |