Thomas Covenant

TR, as I have said, has started the Thomas Covenant series reading the first book, Lord Foul's Bane.  He has come to this kicking and screaming.  After reading a series of nine books written by Steven King (his favorite author), he began to tell me he loved the "horses and swords fantasies."  I said, he can't say that if he has not read Thomas Covenant (Stephen Donaldson) or Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien).  He said they were chick books with fairies in them.

"No, TR, neither of them have fairies in them (Lord of the Rings does have elves), and The Dresden Files has fairies in it, which you love." 

"They are girlie books."

Well, then he read a short prologue to something that Steven King wrote in which he said that Donaldson and Tolkien were major inspirations.  He decided he would try the Thomas Covenant series.  But all during the first half of the book he has been saying, "I hope the story starts soon.  All there is is description.  Nothing is happening."

"The first book mainly introduces 'the land.'  Learn as much as you can about the land...everything you learn will be used.  Learn to love the land in this first book."

Now, finally, a bit more than half-way through, he says, "I love that the horses choose who can ride them." 
:-)  

"They do much more than that...they are not horses as we know them...they are magical people in horse suits."

I think, maybe, he is going to like these books.  If he doesn't, I'll never get him to read Tolkien!

Tempted, A House of Night novel

I started Tempted by P.C. and Kristin Cast (a mother and daughter writing team.)  The House of Night series is written with an intended audience of adolescent girls, which I admit composes part of me.  Lawrence Yep (a children's author who also does adult sci-fi and some Star Trek books) once told me that "children's" books are much better edited than any other print material.  It is very true.  This makes them read more smoothly.

Although this 'verse is about vampyres, they are very different from the vampyres we meet in other 'verses.  This society is matriarchal and reminds me strongly of witches of Avalon.  They worship Nyx, the Goddess, and call the elements--earth, air, water, fire, and spirit--to their worship circles.  Many of the vampyre's are blesses with gifts: prophesy, sure aim, a special artistic ability, or an affinity with one of the elements are among them.  For those of us attracted to Wicca beliefs, these novels are a lot of fun.

The novels in this series that I have already read are, in order, Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, and Hunted.  I really love this series.

Finished Lillian Gish's Autobiography

The point I stopped reading at yesterday seems to have been a stopping point for Lillian as well.  After that she talks much less about the process of making movies and much more about the people in her life:  her mother, sister, and mostly D. W. Griffith.  She talks about his problems with money and alcohol in later life (after the silents.)  When talkies came in, she did much work on stage only doing a few smaller parts in film, but did go back to film in the 40's and then into early television doing a number of plays live for TV in the 50's.  The book was published in 1969 just after the death of her sister.

She died in February of 1993, at the age of 99.  In movies and TV, she was in 119 "titles."  This does not include her stage work.  The last movie credited is The Whales of August in 1987.  (She'd have been 93 for the filming of this.)

We will be keeping this book (most books we read get given to the Goodwill) as reference.  TR has put a number of silent films onto CD.  We never cease to be fascinated by the artistic quality and superb storytelling exhibited in these movies.  The only books I have read that really give insights into the making of these is this book I just finished and Charlie Chaplin's autobiography.

Highly recommended!

Miss Gish Goes through Problems Leaving D. W. Griffith's Company

With D.W., Lillian had been involved in all aspects of production, as had all the company members.  I was able to relate because back in the dinner theater world of the 60's and 70's, so was I.  We built sets and props.  We built and took care of our costumes.  We'd move sets between scenes and acts and keep up with our own props.  I often had to run backstage after my lines to work the lights.

Lillian didn't mention working lights or camera, but she did all else: sets, costumes, props, made suggestions, helped with script selection and writing, viewed all the rushes and helped with editing.  Because of the expense of film causing, they could do only one take of each scene  Therefore, the company rehearsed the entire story, often for weeks, prior to actual filming.  Since it was always rehearsed in the correct sequence, the company became intimately familiar with the story and had plenty of time to develop nuanced character.  They were as involved with the storytelling as I was back in the dinner theater.

She left Griffith at about the same time that the unions were coming in.  Actors were just that and were not allowed to move a set piece or manage their costumes or props.  Scenes were rehearsed and shot individually and out of order, so the actors were adrift from the story.  A number of other problems also conspired to remove her from California at this time, but the loss of contact with the storytelling was certainly a part of the reasoning for her decisions.  She made movies in Europe and went back to the stage for awhile.

Now I am about to set out with her on the adventure of adapting to the "talkies"....

The Help--Movie and Book

We watched The Help (movie) last night.  It was beautifully cast.  Minny had been my biggest worry...as my favorite character, I wanted her to be perfect, and she was even more than I'd envisioned.  I knew Skeeter would be hard to cast.  In the book, she was 6' tall and skinny as a rail with really hard to deal with hair.  They did their best to show that with costumes, short actors working next to her and camera tricks to make her appear taller than most other characters, and, of course, the hair straightening scene.  In the book, the only character taller than her was the guy Hilly had arranged the double date with.

To me, all of the young white male characters looked alike.  Was that deliberate?  I think it is funny.  Altogether really great casting.  Cicily Tyson was wonderful!

But, as usual, the book was better.  The movie was so compressed and left so much out that it came across as being a rather tame feel-good chick flick.  The book, on the other hand, was a masterfully written suspense thriller that kept me terrified and on edge worried about my favorite characters to the end and even after...

Lillian's chapters on THE BIRTH OF A NATION

Because of the repugnancy of the subject matter of this movie, I've never been able to watch more than bits and pieces of it, let alone acknowledge it as a monument in the development of the filmmaker's art.  Having read the three chapters Lillian devotes to this, I can see how D.W. Griffith was innovating with nearly every scene in the movie.  It was the first (what we would call) full length movie to be made and accounts for a great many film making techniques we see today.

The film was met with huge controversy at the time, which bewildered D.W., who seems to have been a true child of the aristocratic South.  Lillian spends much time trying to defend and explain his thinking (she wrote the autobiography I am reading in 1969.)

I am struck by what a student she was of the medium...She would have been about 22 when "Birth" was released.  She had worked on it during any free time she had during her sixteen hour days, often seven days a week--doing whatever needed doing and watching the rushes whenever she could.  On the stage from the time she was 5 and in movies from about 16 on, she immersed herself in the storyteller's art and understandably idolized D. W. Griffith.

As it turns out, the film was re-edited in the 30's and three reels were totally left out.  So, what we have access to today is not the film Griffith was so proud of.  (Of course...it might have been worse from a subject matter standpoint.)  Lillian was really just a child, and a child of the medium at that.  I wasn't even born until 30 years after this movie was released, so I am not one to put her down for her support of the film and its maker.  And I must avow a new respect for the role Griffith (an Lillian Gish) played in the development of the medium of film.

Starting Lillian Gish's Autobiography

Since all I seem to do these days is exercise and read, I've decided to share my reading. About a week ago I finished reading The Help.  Tom and Larry gave me the movie for Christmas, but I'm worried it couldn't possibly be as good as the book. Love the storytelling in first person by three characters.... A very moving book.

 

I'm going to try to fit the movie into our week-end.  Hope it is as good as the wonderful reviews I've heard from my friends.

Then I read Night of the Vampires by Heather Graham. The premise supposes that part of what made the Civil War so bloody was opportunistic vampires not only feeding on but turning fallen soldiers. A fast read that was lots of fun.

Now I am reading Lillian Gish's autobiography, The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me. It is longer than your average celebrity autobiography and is a wealth of information and stories about making early movies (I'm reading about the early silent films at the moment) and the development of an art form.

TR has just started reading the first Chronicles of Thomas Covenant...Lord Foul's Bane. I rather envy him the adventure which he has ahead of him. I have read the first book of the last Chronicles and have the second and third, but I break them up with other books. TR will read all nine books through without breaking.

Background

After spending 34 years teaching seventh and eighth grade reading, I guess I just want to keep sharing my reading.  During those years, I read mostly adolescent literature.  Now my reading has broadened (and, in some cases cheapened), but I am still drawn to many books for adolescents. 

My method evolved into reading aloud--a kind of reader's theatre.  I cast parts, read the harder paragraphs myself and cast myself into my favorite (character) parts.  My students loved my "feisty old person" voice which I used for Scrooge and Gandalf as well as "Gram" in Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan.  We all enjoyed reading with a drawl for Hank the Cowdog, and I even tried a Caribbean accent for Tituba in The Crucible.  I believed in reading entire books all the way through and teaching the skills of reading as they came up--of course, books had to be selected carefully to teach certain skills.  In the end, I depended on the story-telling ability of great authors to involve my students in the learning process and hopefully to establish a reading habit which would last all their lives.

This technique at least worked on me.  I am still reading and always will be.

I'd like this blog to function as a kind of easy book club.  But, I'm not fond of the regimentation of traditional book clubs. I was hoping the blog would be a place where I could share what I'm reading, read about what my friends and family are reading (though I've opened it up to anyone interested), and we could make comments and add books to our own reading lists... :-)  It is also a way to keep up with friends and family I am a long way away from, without the invasiveness of facebook.

 

I read a lot of Supernatural Romance, but I also love celebrity biography, crime drama, mystery, adolescent interest, some historical romance, suspense, and best sellers.  So, all kinds of reading are appropriate.

 

The blog is set up for comments on what I write, but don't let that stop you.  Tell me what you are reading and make comments on what others write as well.  I'd like to keep a very undisciplined blog...:-)