The Sartorialist

If you're into clothing, this is a book you must check out:

Scott Schuman's philosophy is inspiring- he's a fashion photographer who takes photos of ordinary people wearing their everyday clothes.

I like to wear things that look interesting, but still function as everyday clothes. I like colour. I like beautiful fabrics. I like things that are not the norm. I like clothes that make a statement about who I am.

This book is full of inspiration for out-of-the-ordinary outfits, like the "shirt as skirt" I just had to have. (Yes, I got myself one. It's so easy to make- no sewing required. Tip: only use a shirt with a pleat in the centre of the back. And pinstripes work!)

Look over The Sartorialist for ideas, or just because it's beautiful to look at.

(P.S. Thanks ML for putting me onto this book!)


Buy on fishpond: The Sartorialist

Princesses and Pornstars

In my eyes, my mother will always be the ultimate feminist. She never campaigned for her right to work or vote, she never wrote essays or participated in protests. But she is a passionate advocate for women's rights to their own bodies. She has worked alongside many women who have had those rights violated. She is a homemaker, but she is a homemaker because that's what she wants to be. She is not a homemaker because she feels societal pressure to be so. If anything, she has had pressure in the opposite direction. Her greatest life ambition was to raise children and to devote her time to her family, and she did this despite the disapproval of her pro-career generation.

My mum would never call herself a feminist, though. To her, feminism is embodied by single career-women with little respect for family. To her, feminism means man-hating.

Emily Maguire, in Princesses & Pornstars aims to debunk exactly these kinds of myths. She discusses why feminism is about equality, and why equality is still something we need to strive for. In recounting her own experiences and those of many friends and acquaintances, she shows that feminism is not a dirty word and it is not a fight that is behind us.

I was especially drawn to the chapters about marriage and child-rearing. Compared to women in generations gone by, I am exceptionally lucky. I have political rights. I have intellectual rights. I have rights in the workplace.

But.

I am a young woman with no desire for a white 'meringue' wedding. Or domestic 'bliss' of the suburban white-picket-fence sort. Or children.

People seem to find this extremely threatening.

Drawing Down the Moon

Have I mentioned before that I absolutely adore fantasy art?

Two imports arrived for me this week at work (I work in a bookshop), and I literally jumped up and down in my excitement.

The first was a collection of Arthur Rackham's illustrations, which I'm sure I'll mention again once I've had a chance to look at it. The second was Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess. The book is full of gorgeous fantasy illustrations and contains commentary from Charles Vess himself.

I was very interested to read: "After college, when I returned to the 'real world,' I had to struggle for many years to regain that lost, individual sense of whimsical fantasy that those school years tried to squelch." I hope the same doesn't happen to my writing.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman

I've mentioned the Sandman comics a few times in passing. Now it's time to give them a proper treatment.

I've been a fan of Neil Gaiman for a couple of years now, so when I made the decision a few months ago to start reading more comics it seemed natural to start with the Sandman. I really didn't expect to enjoy them so much.

The series's main protagonist is Dream (aka Morpheus/the Sandman), lord of the realm of dreams (and stories). It begins with Dream being captured by humans, and the hideous consequences which occur when mortals meddle in such things.

I've enjoyed later installments even more than the first one. The character that's really captured my attention is Dream's older sister, Death. She's just so... well, for starters, she's hot. But she's also cute, and rather lovable. When she turns up to chat with the recently deceased, why wouldn't they want to go with her?

The treatment of death as something to embrace (not before one's time, but as a natural part of life) is common theme in Gaiman's work, and one I like.

For now, I'm ordering the fourth volume of the Sandman from Minotaur, a brilliant store in Melbourne which sells all kinds of wonderful things related to pop culture and cult followings.

Good Omens & The Finn Family Moomintroll

I have recently being trying to mix up my reading habits to include different mediums. A few weeks ago I thoroughly enjoyed the visual challenge of reading some comics- but that's another post. Another medium I've been trying is audio. It's been years since I have listened to an audio book (I did listen to them quite frequently as a child), and I'd forgotten what a heady experience it is.

Recently, I've been listening to two audio books.

The first is The Finn Family Moomintroll, written by Tove Jansson and read by the incredibly talented Hugh Laurie. The Moomin stories were favourites of mine as a child, and it has been a rather magical experience (albeit strange, with childhood memories popping up all over the place) to hear Hugh Laurie perfectly represent each character with a different 'voice'.

Find out more about the Moomins here.

The second audio book in question is Good Omens, written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (oh why, oh why have they never worked together since!?), and read by Stephen Briggs. If you never read any other comic fantasy, read Good Omens. Or better yet, allow Stephen Briggs to read it to you.

The story is both hilarious and thought-provoking. It follows Aziraphale, an angel, and Crowley, a demon (or an angel "who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards"), unlikely partners in crime who face impending Armageddon and realize that they've come to like Earth the way it is, really. There are many other characters you won't soon forget, many of them endearing. (Read more about the book at Gaiman's webiste, here.)

Stephen Briggs lends to all this an actor's talent, giving different characters distinct voices and often making me chuckle out loud as I sit and listen through my earphones.

I can't recommend it highly enough. Buy it for someone this Christmas. Or buy it for yourself. You deserve it, right?

Team Darcy

So I saw New Moon last night. It was god-awful, though not quite as god-awful as Twilight. Unfortunately this also meant it did not provide as much amusement as Twilight did. Of course I'm talking about the film, not the book, because I refuse to (publicly) judge something I haven't read.

Anyway, I didn't get the film. I didn't understand who I was supposed to be rooting for, or why I was supposed to care what happened to any of the characters. Except maybe Jacob. Victoria was kind of cool, but I suspect I wasn't supposed to think so. I do think I finally understand all that 'Team Edward'/'Team Jacob' stuff. As I see it, this is how it stands:

JACOB
Pros: hotness; charm; charisma; allows Bella her own autonomy; funny; fun to hang out with
Cons: might accidentally scratch half her face off

EDWARD
Pros: ... Um ... (thinking really, really hard) ... No, I've got nothing.
Cons: way too pale; looks like he's about to cry all the time; no sense of humour whatsoever; makes Bella depressed; has a strong desire to eat Bella; stalks her; won't allow her to make her own life choices

OK, I suppose that makes me Team Jacob. Except that I think Jacob could do way better than Bella. I think Jacob belongs in a different film altogether. In any case, Jacob is all well and good but he ain't no Darcy. At least in Pride & Prejudice the Byronic Darcy meets his match in Lizzy (as opposed to taking over her entire life and controlling her), and I don't have to feel like an old perv for having a little crush on him.

Now, for your viewing enjoyment, a picture almost as weird and impossible to understand as the film:

Magicians and Graveyards

I mentioned Lev Grossman's brilliant The Magicians some time ago. Well, here is an interview of Grossman in which he discusses his book, among other things (e.g.; the disappointment of the Harry Potter epilogue).

The book gives a lot of insight into the nature of fantasy novels and fantasy worlds. So does the interview. =)

Grossman also has an Time Magazine essay (written in 2005) entitled 'The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth', about the increasing coolness of geek culture. Neil Gaiman gets quoted, which always wins points with me. You can find the essay here.

Speaking of Neil, I just finished reading The Graveyard Book. What can I say? Neil is genius!

Graceling- a review

Graceling is a curiosity. The first few chapters were rather disappointing in their clichés, the flatness of the characters, the lack of original plot. I usually refuse to finish a book I’m not enjoying, but for some reason I stuck with this one. I was richly rewarded.

Graceling is author Kristin Cashore’s first novel, and simultaneously suffers the marks of inexperience whilst being an exceptional first novel.

This is what I will say of the first few chapters: the story is set in a rather typical medieval fantasy world with seven kingdoms and (surprise surprise) a few kings grappling for more power. The protagonist is Katsa, a feisty, bad-tempered girl who happens to have a supernatural knack (a ‘Grace’) for killing. Aside from her killing Grace, Katsa could be lifted straight out of a Tamora Pierce novel; she’s exactly that kind of hot blooded, strong young woman.

Lost in Austen

I came a little late to Lost in Austen (coming late to TV shows is a deliberate habit of mine- I prefer them on recommendation and on DVD), but when I finally popped the first disc into the player and settled back with the thought 'I'll just watch one episode,' I found myself compelled to watch the next... and the next... and the last.

The show follows Amanda Price, a modern girl who inadvertently swaps places with Elizabeth Bennet, finding herself in the world of Pride & Prejudice, right at the beginning of Austen's classic story. From there, everything starts to go wrong and Amanda desperately tries to make events follow the book (most of the time, she only makes things worse).

I've never been a purist when it comes to film and TV adaptions of books (after all, what's interesting on the page is so often boring on the screen) and the series is probably best avoided by those who think the role of an adapted screenplay is to slavishly copy every detail of the original text. Pride & Prejudice is one of my absolute favourite books, but nonetheless I am unashamed to admit that I enjoyed every moment of this adaption, which works to honour the book as well as highlight the irony of modern girls daydreaming about a 'romantic' world in which most of their liberties would be removed.

Some favourite moments: Amanda's 'postmodern moment' (pictured), and the vindication of Mrs. Bennet. If you're planning on watching the series, watch out for these!

Some observations: it's interesting that the show, like many readers, seems to conflate the BBC series with the book. It has always mystified me that the literary buffs, usually so nit-picky when it comes to screen adaptions, embrace the Colin Firth version so readily. It seems that Colin Firth's Darcy is Darcy (forget Austen's Darcy who, dare I say, was somewhat different). I suspect this has something to do with the fact that many readers saw the series first. It is a bit of a shame that it seems to be a job requirement of all screen Darcys since (and probably all that will follow) that they look very much like Colin Firth.

Nevertheless, Elliot Cowan is a wonderful Darcy. If I were in Amanda Price's shoes, I'd spend less time worrying about getting the plot right and more time trying to steal Darcy.

Juliet, Naked

Last night I finished reading Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked. I actually read the last 200 pages of it (and there are only 250) in one sitting.

I'm tempted to say it's not the masterpiece that is About a Boy, but then Hornby seems to be daring reviewers to say he's getting soft in his middle-age. The book is, after all, an exploration of what makes art valuable and to compare it to his earlier works would be to miss the point entirely. It was a brilliant book, and I suspect that in twenty years or so, experiencing the decisions and revisions of middle-age, I might pick it up again and understand the characters better.

Hornby's work is always incredibly character-driven, and this time we meet an obsessive fan, a critical reviewer and a fallen artist. The story revolves around cult rock musician Tucker Crowe, silent and reclusive for the last twenty years. Scoring a demo version of Crowe's most famous album, die-hard fan Duncan is sent into a spin and his long-term partner Annie writes (horror of horrors) a bad review. Her review reveals the fractures in their relationship, but it also captures Crowe's attention.

I was fascinated by the exploration of the nature of art. The reader is confronted with the paralysis experienced by an artist who has produced, for once and for all, his 'masterpiece' and doesn't know where to go from there. There are also questions about the lies we tell to make sense of things, and the way we rely on other people's art to illuminate our own lives.

For an interview with Hornby about the book, click the 'Nick Hornby' label which appears at the bottom of this post, and the page will display an earlier blog with a link to said interview.