Sunday, January 02, 2005
Lovey Dovey-Ovey All The Time
Now that the obligatory "Best of 2004" articles are the out the way, London papers are turning to a more interesting topic: what's coming in 2005. The Guardian weighs in with two articles; along with the usual nods to Updike, McEwan, and Ishiguro, there are some appealing oddballs listed.
Take At Day's Close: A History of Night-time by A Roger Ekirch ("A fascinating idea, exploring what went on at night between 1500 and 1830. Before gas and electric light rewired the glamour of darkness, night was a different thing altogether...") and Epileptic by French artist David B ("The author's visual account of his brother's struggle with epilepsy... The art style is strikingly beautiful, at times so heavily inked as to resemble occult woodcuts, and the decision to show the oppressive swarmings of serpents and other fantastical monsters as a visual metaphor for the illness is inspired. ")
I've blurbed Pantheon's US edition of Epileptic, and enthusiastically so. Parts have been previously published by the heroic Fantagraphics, but this new complete version is a must-have if you care about graphic narraritives, or books, or the human condition. So: Just. Go. Get. It.
Meanwhile, down the hallway at The Guardian, Stuart Jeffries cites a memoir that should warm the hearts of bookworms everywhere: "Julie Myerson's touching memoir Not a Games Person is about how hopeless she was at PE. " Julie, you are among friends now. But over at the Independent, there is a horrifying preview of the Atlantic title Divine Love:
Its authors, Sara Hulse and Toby Starbuck, "examine their own romance" to "embark upon a journey that is part wedding plan, part philosophical odyssey". If that makes you feel a little queasy, just read on. "About the authors: Sara and Toby recently abandoned their West Hampstead love nest for the Sussex countryside, regularly returning to the capital for work, sushi and fashionable clothing. When in town, Toby provides the scripts for movie trailers and Sara works at a literary agency."
Ah yes. Splendid. Please excuse me while I put out my eyes with a rusty thumbtack.
Take At Day's Close: A History of Night-time by A Roger Ekirch ("A fascinating idea, exploring what went on at night between 1500 and 1830. Before gas and electric light rewired the glamour of darkness, night was a different thing altogether...") and Epileptic by French artist David B ("The author's visual account of his brother's struggle with epilepsy... The art style is strikingly beautiful, at times so heavily inked as to resemble occult woodcuts, and the decision to show the oppressive swarmings of serpents and other fantastical monsters as a visual metaphor for the illness is inspired. ")
I've blurbed Pantheon's US edition of Epileptic, and enthusiastically so. Parts have been previously published by the heroic Fantagraphics, but this new complete version is a must-have if you care about graphic narraritives, or books, or the human condition. So: Just. Go. Get. It.
Meanwhile, down the hallway at The Guardian, Stuart Jeffries cites a memoir that should warm the hearts of bookworms everywhere: "Julie Myerson's touching memoir Not a Games Person is about how hopeless she was at PE. " Julie, you are among friends now. But over at the Independent, there is a horrifying preview of the Atlantic title Divine Love:
Its authors, Sara Hulse and Toby Starbuck, "examine their own romance" to "embark upon a journey that is part wedding plan, part philosophical odyssey". If that makes you feel a little queasy, just read on. "About the authors: Sara and Toby recently abandoned their West Hampstead love nest for the Sussex countryside, regularly returning to the capital for work, sushi and fashionable clothing. When in town, Toby provides the scripts for movie trailers and Sara works at a literary agency."
Ah yes. Splendid. Please excuse me while I put out my eyes with a rusty thumbtack.
