Helen Lowe's Blog, page 6

Gorgeous Words from Ray Bradbury, 1920 – 2012

Last week I shared an idea on reading from the great Ray Bradbury. I also shared that I considered his writing influential — and remain in awe of the prescience of many of the ideas explored through his writing.

But when it comes to gorgeous words, it’s hard to beat this:

“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”

~ Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine (1957)

…With A Little Help From M’Friends :-)

So-o, awa’ aways back on Monday, I shared an idea from the great Ray Bradbury about reading a poem, a short story, and an essay every night for “the next thousand nights.”

Why not 1001, I ponder — it is, after all, traditional. However, one thousand it is.

And I’m off to a flying start, because recent visitors from Scotland came bearing the following gifts:

Ten poems from Scotland

Selected and introduced by Don Paterson

This is a chapbook featuring ten poems penned by Scottish poets, and publi...

An Idea from (the Great) Ray Bradbury, 1920 – 2012

I’m a Ray Bradbury fan. No, not just Fahrenheit 451 — though it’s a brilliant book and also (sadly) very topical right now — but also short story collections like The Golden Apples of the Sun.

I read it a long time ago, but still think about several of the stories, so I guess that counts as “influential.”

So I was very interested to spot this Bradbury quote on reading, oot thar in interwebs land. It was featured by a T’verse inhabitant, Boze The Library Owl, aka @SketchesByBoze. (You all get t...

On Supernatural Underground — Great Leaders in Speculative Fiction #3

It’s that time — and having slipped over April, I’ve landed on April 2 with another “Great Leaders in Speculative Fiction” on the Supernatural Underground.

This month’s leader is Pyanfar Chanur, from CJ Cherryh’s The Pride of Chanur and the subsequent Compact Space trilogy: Chanur’s Venture, The Kif Strike Back, and Chanur’s Homecoming.

To find out why I believe she rocks the great leadership stakes, just click on the link and enjoy.

Pyanfar Chanur and The Pride of Chanur

Celebrating Openings #3: “A Tale Of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

As promised in post #1, this series is going to look at some of my personal favourites among book openings, starting with the classics. The word classic and Charles Dickens are, of course, synonymous, but when it comes to openings he definitely has some chops.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was ...

What’s Up On Supernatural Underground

Not long now until my next “Great Leaders of SFF” post on Supernatural Underground — but in the meantime, here’s what up on the SU:

Currently, Kim Falconer is celebrating The Art Of Adaptation and this month her focus is KDramas (Korean TV shows and films), with a number of different takes on the adaptation theme. Overall, it’s another great read from the redoubtable Kim, so do check it out:

The Healing Magic Of KDramas

A KDrama I’ve seen & liked.

And there are, of course, some great backlist p...

The Curve of the World — for World Poetry Day, March 21

Last Friday, 21 March, was World Poetry Day.

Tis a little belated, but here’s The Curve of the World for you today, to celebrate poetry and human creativity:

The Curve of the World

Summer breathes
through marram grass, salt-tough
where the southerly whips in
off the Pacific, light &
shadow all the way out
to the distant smudge
of albatross feeding—at night
you see lights dance,
squid boats fishing
the same spot.
The larger ships, too,
follow the albatross road,
tall towers disappearing
beneath t...

Meet Peta: Meet The Minor Players in “The Wall Of Night” Series

USA

Not all players, aka characters, in a story, need be human. They need only play their part — but also, I would maintain and aver, feel real in their role.

I believe that Peta, an Aralorni Hill horse that appears in Daughter of Blood, fulfils that function, albeit in a modest way, hence today’s post.

For those who may not know the drill, the “Meet the Minor Players” features the minor (or sometimes—as today—“much more minor” ) characters in The Wall Of Night series because:

“I think it’s th...

Celebrating Openings: #2 — “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy

As promised in post #1, this series is going to look at some of my personal favourites among book openings, starting with the classics.

And it’s hard to get more classic than Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina:

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Immediately upon reading this, I wanted to know more of the unhappy family — the Oblonskys. In other words, as a hook, it was extremely successful.

(I believe many others have found the same, i.e. I am not alone in ...

Gorgeous Words From Charles Dickens

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

~ from Great Expectations (1861)

—

I do love me some gorgeous words, and it’s hard to beat this snippet from the great Mr Dickens.

The other aspect that always strikes me is that Dickens will have been writing of the Northern Hemisphere’s early spring, while March is early autumn here in the Southern Hemisphere. And yet the March days here may be exactly tha...