literature
Kid: Books of Wonder
Last Friday I had the day off and decided to visit AIGA to check out a great exhibition full of innovative and inspiring ways to use type and material. Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to stop by Books of Wonder, where I’m guaranteed a treat in the form of beautifully illustrated and produced books, as well as yummy cupcakes.
Here’s a visual summary of my visit.
The Third Man: Graham Greene
I love the consistent use of imagery on the Graham Greene covers from Penguin Classics.
Tangent from: The Third Man
I’d forgotten all about the excellent opening credits to The Third Man until I borrowed the DVD from a friend and watched it again this week.
It’s the perfect introduction to the film. The zither score contributes so much to the tone of this movie and is far more versatile than I ever imagined. The Third Man is about an American writer who travels to Vienna to visit his old friend, but ends up investigating this friend’s death instead — all this to the sweet playfully melancholic sound of the zither. Like I said — versatile.
Other reasons why I enjoy this movie:
1) My infatuation with Joseph Cotten. We also share the same birthday, so I’m pretty sure that if fate did a better job of coordinating the year of our births we would have been an awesome match.
2) The sinister brilliance of Orson Welles.
3) The sharp and clever dialogue of Graham Greene.
4) The subtle and beautiful imagery of Carol Reed, reinforcing the emotion and mood at the core of the scene (a swinging door and a coat on the floor; fingers through a sewer grate; the twisted body of a teddy bear). I would frame the final scene if I could.
If you’ve seen this film, then you know that these are fairly obvious reasons and you understand why ‘The Third Man’ is now stuck in my one-track mind.
Third Man Theme by The Band
The Wife: The Reader
Research conducted by the Orange Prize for Fiction some time ago asked the following questions:
- How important is the gender of the author in our choice of books?
- To what extent are particular authors’ books perceived as being written mainly for women, for men or for both and on what basis is this judgment made?
- Do books written by women have to ‘work harder’ to sell to men than vice-versa?
Their work resulted in the following answers:
“From the survey, men are far more biased towards books written by men than women are to books written by women. They are easily put off buying books if they judge the cover design or title too feminine, regardless of actual subject matter of the book. Women on the other hand are less likely to judge a book’s suitability from its cover and less inclined to label a book a male or female read.”
It also showed:
“Of the 20 books chosen for the research…only one title, High Fidelity, was considered a male read and nonetheless over 50% of the female respondents said they would be interested in reading it. Yet less than 30% of men would choose to read the books deemed to be female reads (12 of remaining 19) which include The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Tales of the City (both by men).”
So I wonder, did Mr. Hornby’s fan base, which clearly consists of a strong male presence, need much convincing to read How To Be Good? And did the cover designers take this into consideration?
Tangent from: The Wife
At the recommendation of Nick Hornby, I recently read The Wife by Meg Wolitzer. I was surprised when I learned that this book shaped Mr. Hornby’s writing. A number of his books deals with predominantly male interests (obsessive record collection/soccer/prolonged bachelorhood). Then I remembered How To Be Good, in which he writes from a woman’s perspective. After reading The Wife, I can certainly see Ms. Wolitzer’s influence.
The story is about Joan, 64-year-old spouse of novelist Joe Castleman. On a plane ride to Helsinki, where Joe will be accepting the much coveted Helsinki Prize, Joan decides to leave her husband. The book retraces Joan and Joe’s relationship and examines their evolution both as individuals and as a couple. The characters are strongly developed and the tone is sharp, clever, and witty. Ms. Wolitzer reviews the role of “the wife” (well, of this wife) and all that it entails — the happiness, the sacrifices, the betrayals, the rewards. She raises issues about gender, including its impact on the characters (who shared literary aspirations) and their life choices. She also provides insight on the connection between two writers and shows how passion and talent can both bond and break people.
I have seen different jackets for this book, but this is my favorite. The M, the W, and the open book between the two letters could represent the author herself. But it could also refer to Man and to Woman — who, like the letters, share similarities, but are not the same — and to the ones in the story who were united and divided by the written word.
Maneaters: The Charm of the Wild: Addendum
Just saw a tweet from Maud Newton and had to share.
The intro for Olivia Gentile’s forthcoming book, Life List, is a treat.
Magical music. Beautiful birds.
Maneaters: El Matador
Let me be clear about this: I do not condone bullfighting. I think it is a cruel, barbaric,and unnecessary sport. I fully support PETA’s campaign in Europe to end it.
I am, however, fascinated by the grace and glamour of the matador and can understand how Manet and Hemingway were inspired by them.
Maneaters: aka Femme Fatales
You know the type — the kind that Hall and Oates sing about. The kind that’ll chew you up. There aren’t just songs about them; there are movies, books, paintings, sculptures, late-night diner conversations!
Cleopatra is one of the famous, but certainly not the first. When it came time to make a movie about her, studios turned to her Hollywood heiresses: Theda Bara and Elizabeth Taylor. (Oh, and they asked Claudette Colbert, too.)
