Ned Hayes's Blog, page 58
January 19, 2015
BOOK QUOTE:
"Stars steam away as a pale sun rises, hot coal...
The Way Home by Oer-Wout
Herfst by Oer-Wout
BOOK QUOTE:
"Stars steam away as a pale sun rises, hot coal dropped in a watery sky. Light seeps across the forest as the reedy shrieks of wood fowl echo in the trees. The path from our village to the King’s Highway is no road at all. To the east, that faint track leads up through the forest until it reaches, finally, the open country and paths that lead to other places. Hob is taking us beyond the bounds of the known world.”
— from the novel SINFUL FOLK
PHOTOS: The Way Home & Herfst by J-W van Ederen | Website | 500px | Flickr
January 18, 2015
National Readathon Day - January 24
The National Book Foundation, GoodReads, Mashable and Penguin Random House are creating National Readathon Day, which will take place on Saturday, January 24, 12-4 p.m. (in each respective time zone). Under the program, readers are asked to read a book for four straight hours and to raise funds to support theNational Book Foundation, which brings books to needy communities and promotes a lifelong love of reading.
Bookstores and libraries are being invited to host “reading parties” on January 24, so that readers can gather, connect and read silently together. Bookstores and libraries can enroll to host the parties through the end of the year.
Readers can raise money individually or as organized teams (bookstores and libraries, can organize teams under their names). National Readathon Day is partnering with FirstGiving.org for this effort (more information here), and all money goes directly to the National Book Foundation. National Readathon Day is asking participants to share their experiences using the hashtag #timetoread.
"I open my eyes, and look out through the open hole in the roof....
"I open my eyes, and look out through the open hole in the roof. The swallows wisk back and forth in the light of dawn, tiny black cracks against a bright blue sky. I am alive: no one took my life in the night. I smell my fellows, and the musty smell of straw in this little croft, the sharp stink of the horses outside, hobbled near at hand."
PHOTO: Todos os direitos reservados a Sam Williamson Photography
BOOK QUOTE:
“The sound of a distant ocean covers me with...
BOOK QUOTE:
“The sound of a distant ocean covers me with surf, that tide that bears me back into the past, back to the place where I was born. People come through the whiteness, through the bright light, but all of them are ghosts.”
January 17, 2015
Books - amazing old books — from MAR - Art Museum of Rio...
Books - amazing old books — from MAR - Art Museum of Rio de Janeiro (23) by Jorge from Brazil on Flickr.
January 16, 2015
Medieval Review of the Month - MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH
Ariana Franklin is the master of historical suspense, and I love what she did in MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH. My favorite part of the book is her mock-Chaucerian beginning, where she quickly sketches the different characters who are approaching Cambridge after their Canterbury pilgrimage, and shows a fine eye for detail, humor, and human insight.
Her protagonist — the inimitable and forthright Adelia — is an unusual character for a medieval novel, as she is a very intelligent, independent and free-going woman who is not allied with any particular church sect, any religious belief (she’s very modern in her agnosticism), or any racial or cultural identity (ie. raised Jewish/Christian, but not tied firmly to either one).
She is therefore an anomaly, and might be unbelievable in the hands of a lesser writer. However, Franklin makes Adelia believable by giving us direct access to her inner thoughts, which are full of self-doubt, logical assertions and love-lorn longings. This makes this strong and powerful woman accessible to the reader, and makes her every action more believable, even though her assumptions and actions are very modern. She is a forensic specialist (the art of death) and is a woman who has determined that she won’t get married (and thus, won’t be allied to any male’s power) — this makes her potentially weak, but it also gives her a great deal of autonomy.
I personally loved the twist ending, where the villain turns out to be a different kind of killer than you might have expected… and I love the clarity of her vision of the medieval world.
My wife recommended this book to me several years ago, but since I was deep in the throes of writing my own medieval mystery novel SINFUL FOLK, so I avoided reading Franklin’s work until I was done with a publishable draft. (I have the problem of getting derailed by other people’s good ideas.) I’m very glad I waited, as we approach similar ideas and stories from a different angle, and I’m glad to read Franklin with a fresh and uninhibited eye.
I’m now looking forward to reading — the next novel featuring Adelia !
Medieval Review of the Month – MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH was originally published on NedNote
Middle Ages Book Review - Morality Play
Morality Play, by Barry Unsworth, is a tight taut tale of a troupe of actors in 14th century England who enter a new village and find out about the murder of a local boy. In a twist unusual to their station in the culture and their tenuous place in life, they actually become involved in this local crime.
In fact, they choose to create an original play (which was strange to do in the period) around the crime, in order to put the facts before the local village population. In the time period, this brave attempt to portray the contemporary life — and mysteries — of the village on stage, was strange and provocative. Given the facts of the events, it is close to heresy and treason.
Rapidly, they become enmeshed in a mystery that involves far more than a boy’s murder, and the play they thought they were creating has ramifications beyond this small village — in fact, this drama includes some of the most powerful nobles in England at the time.
The story really plays with the idea that every person is an actor in their own drama. As another reviewer pointed out, this sentiment was expressed by Shakespeare in his famous quotation, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
In this novel, I personally loved the complicated period-appropriate characters. Nicholas, who narrates the story, is philosophical and has strong psychological insights. I also like Martin Ball, who is the head of the acting troupe. The other actors are fully fleshed characters with believable back stories.
In fact, I liked the acting troupe so much, that I gave them a small walk-on role in my own novel of the Middle Ages, Sinful Folk: […] Nicholas, Martin and the other members of the troupe are briefly featured in a scene outside the Monastery, just after my own travelers have been sent out on the open road.
Morality Play is more than a commentary or a murder mystery. Instead, it functions as an analysis of the idea of drama and fakery, of stagecraft and lifecraft, of roles and the masks we all wear. I highly recommend the book.
Middle Ages Book Review – Morality Play was originally published on NedNote
"People come to me on waves of memory, but all of them are...
"People come to me on waves of memory, but all of them are ghosts. The sound of a distant ocean covers me with surf, that tide that bears me back eternally into the past, back to the place where I was born. My mother took me out in our little fishing boat, out on the open water of the sea. The thrum and hiss of surf upon the shore behind us, the breaking rhythm never ceasing. My mother waited until we were out of sight of land. She waited to tell me the secret."
January 15, 2015
BOOK QUOTE: “April comes to us, with her showers sweet. I...
BOOK QUOTE: “April comes to us, with her showers sweet. I wake to the cries of little birds before the light comes across the heath. They wait all night with open eyes. Now, with the rain at dawn, their voices make melody.” I imagine my mother calling to me, her words echoing across the years. Every night, I slip into the empty winter land of memory.”
— from the novel Sinful Folk, by Ned Hayes
January 14, 2015
BOOK QUOTE:
"Stars steam away as a pale sun rises, hot coal...
BOOK QUOTE:
"Stars steam away as a pale sun rises, hot coal dropped in a watery sky. Light seeps across the forest as the reedy shrieks of wood fowl echo in the trees. The path from our village to the King’s Highway is no road at all. To the east, that faint track leads up through the forest until it reaches, finally, the open country and paths that lead to other places. Hob is taking us beyond the bounds of the known world.”
— from the novel SINFUL FOLK
