She who invented words, and yet does not speak; she who brings dreams and visions, yet does not sleep; she who swallows the storm, yet knows nothing of rain or wind. I speak for her; I am her own. ― Catherynne M. Valente‘s The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden
It’s nasty enough out that I passed on my morning ramble around the Estate, as once again there’s a stiff wind along with a freezing drizzle — not quite what I would want to walk or ski in. So I settled in for a quiet day of reading and answering correspondence (my fellow librarians and book lovers still like letters), as Ingrid, our new Steward, took my apprentices for the day for them to learn what an Estate Steward does.
First, breakfast. I always drink tea as I never developed a taste for coffee no matter how good it was. So it was lapsong soochong, a loose leaf first blush smoked black tea from Ceylon. With a splash of cream of course. And a rare surprise too — apple fritters served with thick cut twice smoked bacon, using apple wood only, and yet more apples in the form of cinnamon and nutmeg infused apple sauce. There was even mulled cider for those wanting even more apples in their breakfast fare! Thus fortified, I turned to writing the What’s New for this week…
In a trip through the archives, I started down the Yellow Brick Road and somehow ended up in the land of gargoyles and medieval architecture! Along the way I found a lot of interesting books, as you’ll see. So let’s start where I began, with the books of L. Frank Baum.
Cat did an omni review of two volumes, The Annotated Wizard of Oz, and The Annotated Alice, the two great works of English language fantasy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Of the Oz book, annotated by Michael Patrick Hearn, he says, ‘Hearn is the foremost authority on everything of importance about this novel, having spent his entire adult life studying the novel and its impact on culture. Everything you need to know about this book is here: the contemporary references, (e.g., was Baum commenting on the silver vs. gold standard); the critical interpretations; an insightful look at the author; and even an in-depth look at W. W. Denslow, the man who illustrated the first edition. There’s also a definitive bibliography of Baum’s copious published and unpublished work.’
Chuck took on the daunting task of reviewing all 13 of Baum’s sequels to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in a superb omnibus review that you should definitely read. ‘Baum also produced 13 sequels, as well as several other books taking place in Oz’s universe). I have, over the last several years, read all 14 of Baum’s Oz books to my son as bedtime stories and enjoyed every one of them. Indeed, I dare say the original, The Wizard of Oz is middle-of-the pack when it comes to my favorites.’
Faith succinctly reviewed Evan I. Schwartz’s Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story: ‘Finding Oz is a biography of L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. Rather than being one of those ghastly concoctions that look at their subjects’ public lives in total isolation from the private influences on them, Finding Oz painstakingly catalogues Baum’s private and public worlds from infancy on up.’
Lahri was ambivalent about The Kansas Centennial Edition of Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but not the iconic story itself. ‘For those whose only trip to the wonderful land of Oz has been by the annual Thanksgiving weekend TV showing of the 1939 Warner Studios/MGM movie, you owe it to yourself (and your kids) to read the original book that started it all. The characters are considerably more alive, and Baum’s thinly veiled metaphors about the decline of American farms and the industrialization of the country at the turn of the 20th century are as powerful reading for adults as the story’s fantasy elements are for kids.’
As I said, somehow my path then took a meander through medieval architecture and specifically gargoyles, and the occasional green man. Why don’t you come along?
Despite not being much of a reader of short fiction, Cat enjoyed Nancy Kilpatrick and Thomas Roche’s anthology In The Shadow of the Gargoyle. ‘It’s important to stress that the definition of gargoyle gets really stretched in this anthology, beyond “decorative rain-spouts guarding old churches” to include things out of nightmares, angels, things that might be hoaxes, sheela-na-gigs, and much more.’
Cat realized he should have included a couple of other gargoyle books when he reviewed the above anthology, so he did an omni review of them: Stephen King and f-stop Fitzgerald’s Nightmares in the Sky, and Janetta Rebold Benton’s Holy Terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings. Of the former, he says, ‘King’s essay very neatly complements the photographs of Fitzgerald. This is a visually magnificent book, excellent to use as a reference for understanding what a gargoyle is. … This is a book any lover of gargoyles should have in their library.’ And of the latter: ‘Janetta Rebold Benton is a professor in Art History, so her viewpoint is that of a scholar — quite knowledgeable and just the right level of passion. Her area’s Medieval Art, so gargoyles, which are quintessentially medieval in nature, are right up her mew!’
Speaking of things medieval, Cat also reviewed another anthology, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling’s The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest. ‘Amazingly, everything is better than good, and most are simply fantastic. There’s hours and hours of great reading here.’
He went on to review a delightful chapbook, Anthony Hayward’s The Green Men of Birmingham, many of which were from the 19th century. ‘Victorians were fascinated by the Gothic architecture of their ancestors, and that naturally included the green men that are found in many a Gothic church. Architects used many of the same symbols and decorations as the medieval trades did, so the foliate heads were a natural for their artist endeavors!’
Finally, Laurie gives us a review of Ronald C. Finucane’s Miracles and Pilgrims: Popular Beliefs in Medieval England, which, she says, ‘…examines the connection between faith-healing and medicine. Because the medieval period had less scientific knowledge than our own, the pilgrimage was as standard a form of medication as aspirin is in our own day and age.’
As cold temps are the rule of the day, Denise takes a look at Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix. She found it a lovely way to start the day, and perhaps even enjoy the evening; “…if you’ve a mind, a splash of Kahlua and/or Bailey’s wouldn’t be amiss.” Now go see what she thinks cocoa lovers should give this one a try.
Gary liked just about everything about James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, which tells the tale of the first few years of Bob Dylan’s musical career. ‘Timothée Chalamet totally nails Dylan and does an incredible job singing the songs — as does Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez. Ed Norton is a joy as Seeger, at once sagacious and sweetly naive. Boyd Holbrook kicks ass as Johnny Cash, and the screenplay rightly spotlights the role Cash played in Dylan’s career as one of his most ardent and vocal fans and boosters.’
Gary’s been thinking a lot about Johnny Cash since he saw A Complete Unknown. From the archives, here’s his review of a DVD called The Best of The Johnny Cash TV Show, 1969-1971. ‘In addition to Cash himself singing some of his biggest hits (“I Walk The Line,” “Hey Porter,” “Daddy Sang Bass,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” and “A Boy Named Sue”), here are some of the biggest names in country, folk and rock – not just from then, but from the entire era.’
Warren Ellis is a very prolific writer and he’s done quite a number of graphic novels down the decades. So let’s take a look at some that we’ve reviewed.
Cat has a look at Global Frequency, a comic series that starts to seem frighteningly real: ‘Global Frequency is a organisation devoted to combating those incidents that are too extreme, too weird, or just too dangerous for the usual first responders to handle. Funded by the mysterious Amanda Zero, it consists of exactly one thousand and one agents, all of whom are specialists in something, say, for example, bioweapons or taking out snipers.’
Desolation Jones has, says Richard, ‘The long shadow of John Constantine lingers over the figure of Desolation Jones. But whereas Constantine is a spiky-haired Brit occult operative who abuses his odd network of friends while intimidating people into giving him answers by sheer force of personality, Jones is a spiky-haired Brit ex-spook who abuses his odd network of friends while intimidating people into giving him answers by sheer force of personality.’
And it just so happens that Robert got his hands on another of his comics, Ignition City: ‘I promised myself, when I read Warren Ellis’ Planetary, that I was going to become more familiar with his work. Well, up popped the first volume of the collected Ignition City, and it’s just as good.’ Is that serendipity, or what?
Robert has a comics series that — well, let him explain: ‘Planetary is a comics series that ran from 1999 through 2009, with gaps. Created by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday, it’s what I can only call an archaeological thriller. Planetary is an organization that investigates “incidents” that don’t seem to have ready explanations. There is a field team composed of three members. The story opens as Jakita Wagner is recruiting Elijah Snow to become the new Third Man. The other member of the team is the Drummer — as he says, “First name ‘The,’ second name ‘Drummer.’’’
In new music, Gary reviews Opening, the third full-length release from the New York ambient music trio numün. He finds the ensemble and its collaborators ‘ …continuing to expand its sonic palette with woodwinds, violin, and vocals, while remaining true to the original concept of finding the place where eastern and western sounds can mingle in lightly psychedelic, acoustic and electronic ambience.’
He also reviews the debut album from The Baltic Sisters, which he says is ” …a mesmerizing collection of polyphonic folk songs from the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The Baltic Sisters are Marion Selgall (Estonia), Laurita Peleniūtė (Lithuania), and Vineta Romāne and Liene Skrebinska (Latvia). The album, whose title is The Gateway or The Portal in the three languages, blends the folk songs of the three countries, sometimes individually and sometimes interwoven as seamlessly as their vocals twine around each other.
Some Norwegian alternative music, Stein Urheim’s Speilstillevariasjoner, caught Gary’s fancy. ‘Field recordings and spacey, often playful electronics mingle with the traditional sound of Norwegian fiddle and Urheim’s decidedly untraditional picking and plucking of the guitars and other stringed instruments in unusual open tunings. Lest I scare you off, fans of John Fahey will find many familiar sounds and motifs in Speilstillevariasjoner with those open tunings, the creative picking patterns, and incorporation of slides on several tracks …’
From the archives, Chuck reviews a couple of obscure albums centered on the English North Sea port of Whitby, Charles O’Connor’s Angel on the Mantlepiece: The Resolution Suite, and Ray Randall’s Polly Swallow. ‘Of these two recordings, the instrumental Angel on the Mantlepiece is the better.’
David, who edited The Rylander, a newsletter and blog dedicated to the music of Ry Cooder, for many years, turned in an omnibus review of Ry’s solo albums from 1972 to 1987, plus some compilations and best-of collections. It’s definitely worth a read!
David also reviewed John Stewart’s Havana, which he noted was something like the singer’s 40th solo album. ‘John Stewart, songsmith to such diverse artists as the Monkees and Pat Boone; ex-folkie; guitar stylist; and his own man. Havana is a fine addition to his catalogue, and a great place to start for the newcomer.’
‘It began its life in 1958 as a hit London musical comedy that lampooned the new musical fad known as rock ‘n’ roll,’ says Liz of Expresso Bongo, in her review of the original stage cast album. ‘Let’s see … musical fusion, ethnic diversity, black comedy, casual sex, cocaine and a rampaging “cougar” … is it any wonder that Expresso Bongo went way over the heads of its 1958 audience?’
Tim was enthusiastic about Barn Owls Live, an album of contradance music. ‘Energetic and creative, The Barn Owl Band makes me wish for a caller, a wooden floor, and a line of dancers. Lacking those, I don’t mind just sitting and listening to this live recording.’
Our What Not is on the matter of Complaint Choirs. So you might well be asking ‘What is a complaint choir?’ No, it’s not the musicians in the Neverending Session expressing their annoyance at having to wait too long for a fresh pint of Winter Ale, so go thisaway for the charming tale of them. Yes, charming.
Hedningarna is our music this time with ‘Veli’ recorded at the Old Town School of Folk Music a quarter of a century ago. This is the more Faster Harder Louder end of the new Nordic sort of trad music with noticeable percussion. You also get to hear their lovely vocals as well!
