Katherine Nabity's Blog, page 203

Deal Me In, Week 37 ~ “Indigo Moon”

Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis

“Indigo Moon” by Janet Berliner

Card picked: Three of Spades

From: David Copperfield’s Tales of the Impossible, edited by David Copperfield & Janet Berliner

Review: This story has a 90s TV movie feel. I can imagine very big hair and shoulder pads. It’s a thriller that takes a supernatural turn, a very 80s-90s thing to do. And maybe this nostalgia is also because I associate movies and fiction about Carlos the Jackal with that time period. The Jackal is one of our main characters and the target of some transformation magic. My one objection is that Berliner draws some direct supernatural lines between Carlos the Jackal and Jack the Ripper. These are two very different types of killers. Perhaps some other terrorist would have been a better fit?

(Quick review this week. I am enjoying some crisp fall weather away from my computer.)

Is This Your Card?

R.I.P. IX Update #1 – Perils on the Screen

Check out more R.I.P. IX Reviews or Join the Perilous Fun!

Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

True Detective (2014, TV series) – starring Matthew McConaughey & Woody Harrelson. In general, I appreciate this trend toward limited run series, like True Detective and American Horror Story. (Some might call them mini-series, but that has a different connotation.) When there isn’t pressure to keep a story going for multiple seasons (in some cases seemingly indefinitely), writers can write cohesive stories with definite archs. Even if they’re only a meager eight episodes long…  SPOILER AHEAD! – After hearing so much about True Detective‘s nod to Robert W. Chambers and his King in Yellow stories, I was a little surprised that there was no supernatural twist to the show. I was expecting it, but I wasn’t disappointed when it didn’t come. I’m fine with the mundane. –END SPOILER  And in retrospect, I’m also surprised at how reserved the gore was. Hannibal? Much more shocking in its visceral gore. In all, good performances, good characters, and well-made. When I first saw trailers for True Detective, I was excited and it didn’t disappoint.

Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

Invisible Ghost (1941) – starring Bela Lugosi. This is a schlocky piece with a somewhat silly premise but a few good moments of creepiness. Lugosi plays Mr. Kessler, a–widower? cuckolded husband? I’m not sure now–, who believes that his wife will one day return. Unbeknownst to him, after his wife was involved in a car accident, his gardener has been keeping her in the basement. When Kessler sees his wife, he’s sent into a homicidal fugue and no one is safe. There are just so many weird overtones to this movie. Lugosi dines with his “wife” on the anniversary of her death, but everyone shrugs it off with a “poor old guy” attitude. Then there’s the gardener benevolently keeping the injured wife semi-captive and the fiance of Kessler’s daughter being executed for the first murder. In R-rated modern hands, this could be a very different movie.

Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

 

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) – starring Tilda Swinton & Tom Hiddleston. In my corner of the internet, I had seen many gifs from this movie. The look of Only Lovers Left Alive *is* gorgeous. The music is also pretty good and Tilda Swinton is captivating as usual. Who else would you cast as a contented vampire?  Unfortunately, this movie strikes me as over-indulgent. Nothing much happens. There is really no tension. Adam (Hiddleston) and Eve (Swinton) have an novel way of existing after hundred of years, but there’s just nothing there aside from Hiddleston being eye-rollingly emo. John Hurt is the other bright spot playing Kit Marlowe.

Magic Monday ~ History Channel’s Houdini

I like Mondays. On Monday, I am refreshed from the weekend and exhilarated by the possibilities of the week ahead. I also like magic. I like its history, its intersection with technology, and its crafty use of human nature.  I figured I’d combine the two and make a Monday feature that is truly me: a little bit of magic and a look at the week ahead.

A year ago, I had a Saturday Cinema post about various screen incarnations of Harry Houdini. Last Monday and Tuesday, the History Channel broadcasted their mini-series and I figured I’d give it my Cinematic Houdini treatment and a general review.

“Houdini 2014″
Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia.

Houdini (2014)

Adrien Brody – 6’1″

What it’s got: Houdini as a kid growing up in the small town of Appleton, WI (except it wasn’t a small town), including his brother Theo. Royal performances for everyone in Europe, including Rasputin. Bess threatening to leave due to the dangerous tricks; Harry having affairs, including little bit of bondage for the 50 Shades set, a biting comment from Bess about marrying a Jew. Most of the signature tricks, including disappearing an elephant (except that’s not how it was done at all).  Engineer Jim Collins (except Jim Collins wasn’t an American). A nod to Houdini’s film career. The Halloween curse. The gut punch.
What it’s missing: Houdini’s other siblings–it was a big family. “Mundane” jobs before becoming a performer. Martin Beck. Needles. The Scotland Yard challenge. Houdini’s interaction with other magicians. Houdini and Hardeen (his brother Theo) working together to keep imitators to a minimum. The Houdinis inability to have children.

The History Channel’s Houdini includes quite a few things that haven’t been seen in a Houdini biopic, but gets so many things very wrong. John Cox at Wild About Harry has a two part post of fact-checking (night one, night two) that goes in-depth about inaccuracies. The general reaction to the mini-series has been mixed within the realm of Houdini-philes. On one hand, there’s a level of disappointment and even rage at what the History Channel is portraying as truth. On the other, most are also happy that Houdini is getting some play in a nice, medium-to-big-budget manner. The movie is nice looking, though the writing is somewhat flat and I don’t think Adrien Brody quite has the angry-short-man ego to pull off Houdini.

I’m not a fan of Houdini, but when reading about  turn-of-the-20th-century magic, he is inescapable. There is also a certain amount of embellishment that occurs when magicians set down their biographies. I’ve seen several comments along the lines of, “This is schlock, wouldn’t Houdini love it?” I think he would definitely love what a Salon writer is calling the Houdini-Industrial Complex. What bugged *me* about this biopic is something that bugs me in general about what writers (and maybe especially screenwriters) sometimes decide to dramatize. This movie goes for low-hanging fictional fruit.

The biggest example in Houdini is the portrayal of Houdini’s wife, Bess. By all accounts, Bess was supportive of her husband’s career. But the easy dramatic beat is: Bess is upset by Harry doing dangerous escapes, but Harry *needs* to do dangerous tricks. Conflict ensues. To me, there are at least two other angles. A.) Bess didn’t act in the cliched way you’d expect from a wife and didn’t have a problem with Harry doing dangerous things. Or, B.) The tricks really weren’t dangerous. Do we deep down think that Houdini risked his life so often, or that maybe he was, you know, a professional magician who created the illusion of peril? That’s harder to write.

There’s plenty of drama in Houdini’s life. He grew up in poverty and was determined not to live so as an adult (but didn’t blame his father for those humble beginnings). He was an organizing *and* divisive force in the magic community. He had his own motion picture company, which became a bit of a thorn in his side. Like most magicians of the era, he faced having to make the change from vaudeville to a bigger stage–something he did quite well. (Until the elephant scene in Houdini, I hadn’t realized how much I was looking forward to seeing the trick in some fashion. With visions of the enormous New York Hippodrome in my head, I was disappointed that the TV version involved a circus ring and some silliness with gauze on poles.)

Houdini is far from being my favorite magician and Houdini is far from being my favorite movie about him.

What Am I Reading?

I’ll be working on The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, at least until a late-week trip to Omaha. I’ll probably only take my Kindle with and both of the former are physical copies. I don’t know what I’ll read ebook-wise. It seems too early to read the two ARCs I have planned for R.I.P.. I had a slow start with Kavalier & Clay, but it turned into compulsive reading over the weekend. For Deal Me In, I have a second Janet Berliner story, which I’m not really looking forward to.

What Am I Writing?

On the cusp of 15,000 words on In Need of Luck. Eric’s been working hard on PHYSICa, so I’ve been on my own a bit more than previously. He gave the first 14K a read-through last week. So far, so good, aside from one or two things that will get rewritten.

Deal Me In, Week 36 ~ “Geroldo’s Incredible Trick”

Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis

“Geroldo’s Incredible Trick” by Raymond E. Feist

Card picked: King of Spades

From: David Copperfield’s Tales of the Impossible

Review: Jerry, the Great Geroldo, and this step-daughter/assistant Jillian need to fire their booking agent. They find themselves playing a theater in (fictional) Nagafia. It is the stereotype of an unstable Middle Eastern country. “…the notice from the State Department only urges caution,” Jerry assures Jillian. The newly “elected” leader of the Nagafia is in the audience and he’s a hard man to amuse, but luckily, the Great Geroldo has an incredible trick that will be able to keep him and Jillian out of danger.

This story was okay, but I wish Feist would have done something a little different with that the unreasonable dictator trope.

About the Author: Raymond Feist is another big name in the realm of fantasy literature. I rather enjoyed the first trilogy in the Riftwar cycle and his stand-alone novel Faerie Tale.

Review ~ Tomboy

This book was provided to me by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt & Zest Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tomboy by Liz Prince

Growing up, Liz Prince wasn’t a girly girl, dressing in pink tutus or playing Pretty Pretty princess like the other girls in her neighborhood. But she wasn’t exactly one of the guys either, as she quickly learned when her Little League baseball coach exiled her to the outfield instead of letting her take the pitcher’s mound. Liz was somewhere in the middle, and Tomboy is the story of her struggle to find the place where she belonged.

Tomboy is a graphic novel about refusing gender boundaries, yet unwittingly embracing gender stereotypes at the same time, and realizing later in life that you can be just as much of a girl in jeans and a T-shirt as you can in a pink tutu. A memoir told anecdotally, Tomboy follows author and zine artist Liz Prince through her early childhood into adulthood and explores her ever-evolving struggles and wishes regarding what it means to “be a girl.” From staunchly refuting anything she perceived as being “girly” to the point of misogyny, to discovering through the punk community that your identity is whatever you make of it, regardless of your gender, Tomboy is as much humorous and honest as it is at points uncomfortable and heartbreaking. (via Goodreads)

According to Tomboy,  as a kid, Liz Prince was almost militantly anti-girly. You can’t blame her. As a tomboy, she’s slightly more accepted by boys, boys have the better toys, and, to young eyes, boys have the better lot in life. Why would anyone want to *make* her be a girl? The beauty of Liz Prince’s narrative is, even as we understand her point of view, we can see where there are definite flaws in her young self’s reasoning. Prince fumbles toward a more balanced view of others and herself in a realistic way. There is no epiphany; no Oprah “ah-ha” moment. Being a tomboy is an ongoing negotiation with the world. For a fellow tomboy, this is a book that let’s you know that you’re not alone. For everyone else, it’s a great insight into a different point of view.

I owned (and maybe still own) a collection of essays about tomboy-ness that I never finished reading. The editor of that collection seemed to have decided that there were two kinds of tomboys: girls who grew out of it at puberty, and girls who are tomboys because of sexual orientation (i.e. they’re gay). Neither of these theories fit me and that was distressing. Liz Prince’s life experience doesn’t fit me either, but her version of being a tomboy is more familiar. I like dresses and cute shoes (only comfortable ones), but I don’t wear make-up or own a single pink article of clothing. I’ve always liked boys (even as friends!) and equally liked “boy” stuff like science fiction and action movies. I’ve never cared if that bothers anyone, but I do realize that my point of view is very different from most women.

Publisher: Zest Books

Publication date: September 2nd 2014

Genre: Graphic Novel, Memoir

What Else In August

Writing Work & Other Life Stuff

August was a fairly miserable month. After a pretty good first week, it was just continuous low-grade stress.

And I had written three paragraphs whining about stuff, but I’m tired of listening to me. If I’m annoyed with me, I imagine that none of you really want to hear my kvetching. Instead, I’ll say that September will be better.

Writing-wise? Eric kicked my ass and got a better month out of me that months previous, but I’m still having problems getting things done. I’m trying to do better with energy-management. I’m cutting back on a lot of internet things that zap me. Eric created a mock-up of the probable future cover of In Need Of Luck. I like it.

Deal Me In, Week 35 ~ “The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories”

Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis

“The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories” by Neil Gaiman

Card picked: Ace of Spades

From: David Copperfield’s Beyond Imagination

Review:

I’ve noticed that I always have trouble putting together my thoughts about Neil Gaiman stories. It’s not that I find his works befuddling, but the layers of the story settle into a hierarchy in my thoughts rather than a simple line. It’s hard to make them into sentences.

A young writer’s first blockbuster novel is optioned to become a movie. He travels to Hollywood to meet with producers and to write the script. This story was published in 1996, so I’m not sure how much Neil Gaiman had been exposed to the Hollywood system at that time, but the writer’s experience seems very reminiscent of William Goldman’s Adventures in the Screen Trade and Which Lie Did I Tell?. Basically, the writer meets four different sets of producers/directors who have attached themselves to the project, the previous ones never to be heard from again. Each set know less and less about the project. It’s like a game of phone message. When the writer finally leaves, he’s writing a script for a totally different project.

The second thread of the story involves the titular goldfish pond at the old Hollywood hotel where the writer is staying. The pond is looked after by an aged groundskeeper who has been with the hotel since the 1920s. His name is Pious (“Sometimes I am, and sometimes I ain’t.”) and he tells the writer what he knows of old Hollywood–stories of who was popular and beautiful and what became of them. Of course, considering how the younger people of Hollywood have particular memories of people and events (the death of John Belushi is recounted by nearly everyone the writer encounters with the details always different), we wonder how reliable Pious is. Then again, he is the keeper of fish that are very old and maybe immortal.

And the third “other” story is about the writer trying, in his spare time between meetings, to write a story about Victorian stage magic. In particular he’s taken with the illusions known as the Artist’s Dream and the Enchanted Casement. Both were innovated in a time before TV and movies and both involve moving figures within a frame. Unfortunately, the young writer just can’t get a handle on what should happen in the story.

All of these threads, as well as the story of the writer’s original novel, are all woven together in 40 pages. It works well.

Is This Your Card?

I did have a card trick for the Ace of Spades, but I found rendition of the Artist’s Dream presented by Paul Daniels:

Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) IX

It’s one of my favorite “challenges.” R.I.P. R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril.

Hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings, this is the ninth edition; the third for me. What is R.I.P.?

Mystery.

Suspense.

Thriller.

Dark Fantasy.

Gothic.

Horror.

Supernatural.

Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.

That is what embodies the stories, written and visual, that we celebrate with the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event.

As time has wound on I’ve honed this event down to two simple rules:

1. Have fun reading (and watching).

2. Share that fun with others.

There are levels of participation to fit everyone. If you love any of the above genres, sign up!

I *might* read four applicable novels during September and October, but I *know* I’ll read at least two. Here’s what’s on the slate:

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – (see below)
Last Winter We Parted by Fuminori Nakamura – “A young writer arrives at a prison to interview a man arrested for homicide. The suspect, while world-renowned as a photographer, has a deeply unsettling portfolio…”
The Bullet Catch by John Gaspard – The second mystery featuring magician Eli Marks. Really looking forward to this one.

I *might* fit in some short stories as well, but I have my hands full with Deal Me In and Monstrous Affections.

Currently watching True Detective, on episode five now. Good stuff. Looking forward to the new American Horror Story too. On a similar note to both of these, I’ve been itching to re-watch Carnivale. And… Did I hear maybe a chance of an Estella Society Haunting watch party?

The Haunting of Hill House is one of my favorite novels of any genre. A reread readalong with the Estella Society should be fun.

R.I.P. IX images by artist Abigail Larson

Review ~ Shadow Show

Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury by Sam Weller (Editor) & Mort Castle (Editor)

“What do you imagine when you hear the name” . . . Bradbury?

You might see rockets to Mars. Or bizarre circuses where otherworldly acts whirl in the center ring. Perhaps you travel to a dystopian future, where books are set ablaze . . . or to an out-of-the-way sideshow, where animated illustrations crawl across human skin. Or maybe, suddenly, you’re returned to a simpler time in small-town America, where summer perfumes the air and life is almost perfect . . . “almost.”

Ray Bradbury–peerless storyteller, poet of the impossible, and one of America’s most beloved authors–is a literary giant whose remarkable career has spanned seven decades. Now twenty-six of today’s most diverse and celebrated authors offer new short works in honor of the master; stories of heart, intelligence, and dark wonder from a remarkable range of creative artists. (via Goodreads)

According to Goodreads, it took me two years to read this book. This is why Deal Me In is helping me get through anthologies…

This anthology was published a month after Ray Bradbury’s death, but that was just a scheduling coincidence. I think I’d had it on my wishlist since December. I had been rather keen to buy it, but like most anthologies, it took me a while to get through it.

Previous Highlights:

Review of “The Companions” by David Morrell
Reviews of “The Page” by Ramsey Campbell, “Light” by Mort Castle, “Conjure” by Alice Hoffman, “Backward in Seville” by Audrey Niffenegger & “Earth (a Gift Shop)” by Charles Yu
Review “The Tattoo” by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Review “Fat Man and Little Boy” by Gary Braunbeck

I had three stories left and all of them were horror stories. “Hayleigh’s Dad” by Julia Keller and “Who Knocks?” by David Eggers both fell into that area of “bad things happening to girls who have adventures.” I hadn’t realized that Bradbury had set a precedence for this in his story “The Whole Town’s Sleeping.” While that’s a tense story, I’m disappointed that girls in Bradbury stories and Bradbury-esque stories are doomed to horrible fates.

I really enjoyed Kelly Link’s “Two Houses.” It’s a great combination of sci-fi and horror. It reminded me a little of Event Horizon. What makes a haunted house? Can you conjure a ghost by replicating a house perfectly? It’s not the last story in the book, but it was a great ending for me.

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Publication date: July 10th 2012

Genre: short stories, horror, fantasy

Why did I choose to read this book? I like Ray Bradbury

Magic Monday ~ In which Schrodinger’s Cat is Invoked

I like Mondays. On Monday, I am refreshed from the weekend and exhilarated by the possibilities of the week ahead. I also like magic. I like its history, its intersection with technology, and its crafty use of human nature.  I figured I’d combine the two and make a Monday feature that is truly me: a little bit of magic and a look at the week ahead.

As I mentioned a few weeks back, often the fun of magic is how different performers decide to use the standards. Here Morgan & West (well, mostly Morgan) pair cup-and-ball basics with their own comedic twist.

I read an essay last week by Michael Close about the Big Lie of magic: That people *like* to be fooled. In fact, people really don’t, but there are things that performers do that can take the sting out of boldly lying to their audience. This trick of Morgan & West’s is a good example of the Conspiratorial Approach, in which the magician takes the audience into their confidence, and especially the Non-Magic Approach, using comedy to soothe befuddlement. A propos, Morgan & West recently wrote an article for the Guardian about this very type of thing.

What Am I Reading?

I started The Confabulist but I’m not sure I like one of the narrators. Some of Monstrous Affections and Magic And Mystery will probably be read as well.

“The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories” by Neil Gaiman for Deal Me In.

Writing, Blogging, and Other Life Stuff

This has been a rough year for me. A rough handful of years, actually. I’ve been trying to regain my writing mojo and I’m looking at all the things that have changed in this last 7-ish years. In addition to Eric working from home, our self-publishing, and my sometimes sketchy health, the big change has been in my use of the internet. I used to keep a sporadic journal of stuff, unstructured. I’d maybe comment back and forth with a handful of people I knew primarily online. Now, I have a more scheduled blog. I follow more sites and more people on Facebook and on Twitter. While I find these things enjoyable, they wear me out, little by little. I need to be more protective of my time and attention and, you know, actually do my job.