I love The Guardian’s literary quizzes. More often than not, I do abysmally on them, and today’s was no exception. I scored a lowlt 4 out of 10 – and all but one were guesses. A sad state of affairs indeed. Can you do better than I did?
Take the Guardian’s Tax in Literature quiz and see how you fare.
I, for one, am ashamed.
It’s bed time, and you know you shouldn’t pick up the scary book you’re midway through, but you just can’t wait to find out what happens…
What is it about fear that can be so enticing, and keep us diving deep into the terror? How do writers weave words so skillfully as to conjure a primal fear response inside us, in essence tricking our brain into fearing what we know to be imaginary?
Proceed with caution. These are the books that fear built.
The Blade Runner Sketchbook is one of the ultimate pieces of memorabilia for fans of the 1982 science fiction movie. The book details the look and feel of the film’s production artwork from simple props like Deckard’s gun to police cars and clothes. Some of the designs come from director Ridley Scott himself but also Syd Mead.
Blade Runner starred Harrison Ford although the real star is Rutger Hauer, and it’s a movie that stands the test of time and that probably owes much to its look. I remember thinking the first time that I watched it that the streets were shockingly packed and the rain never stops. The movie is based on Philip K Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Edited by David Scrogg, the Sketchbook has been out-of-print for many years but there are five copies on AbeBooks for prices between $300 and $500.
But somebody has put the book online.
Everyone quotes Shakespeare and most of the time they don’t know they are doing it. Everyday language is littered with phrases popularized by the Bard in his writing.
French presidential candidate François Hollande made a key speech on Sunday and, indeed, quoted Shakespeare, reports the Daily Telegraph.
The “universal message” he wished to convey, Mr Hollande told the crowd, was best summed up by Shakespeare’s great words: “They failed because they did not start with a dream.”
Sadly, he quoted the wrong Shakespeare. Hollande quoted Nicholas Shakespeare, the Daily Telegraph’s chief book reviewer. Nicholas Shakespeare is apparently a descendant of William’s grandfather, so he was close.
The quote comes from Nicholas Shakespeare’s 1989 novel, The Vision of Elena Silves. It’s a story of a Maoist revolutionary who becomes a terrorist for Peru’s Marxist guerrilla band, Shining Path.
Probably not the connection that Hollande was hoping to make!
This sort of thing is easily done. Karl Marx/Groucho Marx would be a mix-up with fascinating results.
Attention Canada’s young book collectors – there is still time left to enter the 2011-2012 National Book Collecting Contest for Young Canadians Under 30.
We are one of the contest’s sponsors and this is a great opportunity for young bibliophiles to show their passion for rare books.
The winner takes home $1,000 (CAD) with the second and third place collectors receiving $500 and $250 respectively. Entrants are required to write a 1,500 to 2,000-word essay about their collection describing important features such as binding, decoration, illustrations and key bibliographical aspects such as format, printing and publication data.
I enjoyed this slideshow* on Flavorwire of the beautiful estates of 15 authors. I especially liked the creepy gate on Stephen King’s abode. And they’re not kidding about how lovely Ernest Hemingway’s home in Key West, Florida is – I was lucky enough to enjoy a tour of it a year ago, and it was absolutely beautiful. And anywhere with that many cats (many of whom have extra toes!) is aces in my book.
*why does everything have to be a slideshow now? I understand it from an advertising perspective, but find it irritating – I would much prefer all the images on one page.
Aside from his wand, Harry Potter’s most useful accessory was his invisibility cloak. If my memory serves me correctly, the Boy Wizard used it in every story and his father also found it very useful during his time at Hogwarts.
We should all own invisibility cloaks (I would use it to sneak into major sporting events without paying and at work to allow me to sleep at my desk) and it seems scientists at the University of Texas are one step closer to actually inventing such a device.
The BBC reports “Researchers have ‘cloaked’ a three-dimensional object, making it invisible from all angles, for the first time.
They apparently made an 18cm-long cylinder invisible to incoming microwave light. The story is too scientific to actually understand but the writer points out that a Harry Potter-style cloak is a long way off.
Happy Rabbie Burns Day, ye auld wee sleekit tim’rous beasties! Yes, beloved Scottish poet Robert Burns was born on this day in 1759, and 253 years later, we still toast his memory with ale and haggis and bad Scottish accents and merriment all ’round. A friend of mine is even performing Highland dance for the occasion.
If you’d like to commemorate the birthday of the Ploughman Poet a little more concretely and extravagantly, there’s no better time to pick up something special – have a gander at the copy (pictured left) of Burns’ Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, exquistely contained in a gorgeous Cosway-style binding with an inlaid portrait of Scotland’s Bard himself. If that’s too dear for you, we have plenty of other collectible Robbie Burns, as well as a vast selection of affordable, regular copies of Robbie Burns poetry for the common man. Tip a glass of ale and enjoy your day.
American author and illustrator Howard Pyle had a huge influence on modern popular culture. He died in 1911 and you can see his influence in movies, television and books today. He transformed Robin Hood from a villain to a hero. He defined the look of pirates and positioned them as fearless adventurers.
His first full length work was a highly successful interpretation of the Robin Hood stories called The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood.
He wove various tales of Robin Hood into a single cohesive narrative, but he was happy to alter the original stories, so any child could pick one of his books and be gripped. Pyle used pirates in many adventure stories. He invented the flamboyant romantic garb that has become standard issue for any tale about piracy these days.
By 1900 Pyle founded his own art school – the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art. He instructed many great artists including the great N.C. Wyeth, and it became known as the Brandywine School style of illustration. Read more.
There’s nothing sweeter for an avid reader than a thick omnibus edition packed with three, perhaps four, titles from your favourite author. Getting to the end of one novel, and having a nice thick stack of pages left is a satisfying feeling.
Sink your teeth into Biggles, Nero Wolfe, Travis McGee, Simon Templar or something else from our omnibus selection.
It’s been two years since the mystery visitor to Edgar Allan Poe’s grave failed to show up for the first year. January 19th 2012 marked Poe’s would-be 203rd birthday, and the third year in a row that the traditional visitor – a figure in a black and white scarf and wide-brimmed hat who left three roeses and a half-full bottle of cognac on Poe’s grave every year – did not make an appearance.
Fans waited hopefully, but while two impersonators showed, the real figure did not. No word as to whether the figure decided Poe’s 200th birthday was a fitting final tribute, or died, or moved away. Not even any word on whether it was only one person, or a passed torch, but the visitor had been a faithful guest since the 1940s. Disappointed fans had stated that they would show up this year for the final time, and if nobody came, let the tradition go. But the visitor and associated mystery will no doubt be much missed.
Eastman Kodak, one of the giants of photography, has filed for bankruptcy protection, reports the BBC. Sad but not surprising news as they have hardly been a player in the digital age although I do have a very good little Kodak video camera for filming the children playing the fool.
Kodak has been around for 133 years and that means there is a wide selection of books about Kodak itself, books featuring Kodak’s cameras, adverts and catalogs, instruction books and even books written by founder George Eastman. Here are some Kodak books (and an antique camera!) from the collectible end of the spectrum.
The most interesting one is Through Jamaica with a Kodak by Alfred Leader. Published in 1907, this travel book sheds light on the era when photography was becoming available to ordinary people. The cover, which is eye-catching, is an early example of a photo being incorporated into a book’s cover artwork.
There are a couple of interesting books dealing with the company’s legacy – The Story of Kodak by Douglas Collins and History of the Kodak by Mina Fisher Hammer.
I had to laugh watching this take-off of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s early nineties rap hit “Baby Got Back”. It’s called “I Like Big Books”, and it was done by the staff and students at Dowell Middle School of the McKinney school district in Texas. It’s over a year old now, but this is the first I’ve seen it, and it definitely made me smile. I especially liked the school librarians blowing imaginary smoke off their barcode scanners. Kudos to all involved – what a fun video.
I am biased but AbeBooks is a treasure trove. Yesterday, I came across this amazing item. You would only find it by searching for “avant garde steam locomotive” hence my eagerness to showcase this undated leporello from Russia’s Soviet era. A leporello is a single sheet of paper that has been folded several times. Some people also refer to the zig-zag style fold as an “accordion pleat.” This one comes in amazing condition and just look at the red star on the front of the steam engine – no doubt where this poetry originates.
Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930) was a Russian poet of immense significance and ‘Kem byt’ is his most famous children’s poem. The title translates as Whom Shall I Become? and it encourages children to create their own identities and suggests various professions.
Mayakovsky was writing at height of the Russian Revolution and gained fame as a revolutionary poet even though his interests were far broader than mere politics.
He was jailed under the Czarist regime for subversion and began writing poetry during his imprisonment. He wrote poems that supported the Bolsheviks during the uprising and penned an elegy for Vladimir Lenin, but eventually he fell out of favor for being too avant garde. His life ended in a desperately sad fashion when he killed himself with a pistol. After his death, Stalin praised his work and positioned him as a hero of the revolution.
The price for this ultra scarce piece of poetry – $2,990
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