Flavorwire recommends ten novels that are based on classics, such as Ursula K. LeGuin’s novel about Aeneas’ second wife, Lavinia, based on Virgil’s poetic epic. They quote Philip Pullman saying his trilogy, His Dark Materials, is based on Paradise Lost. I didn’t know that.
A Documentary on Walker Percy
Walker Percy, preview two from Winston Riley on Vimeo.
This one-hour program on author Walker Percy will be worth any booklover’s time. Image Journal notes:
Now, it would hardly be true to say that Percy’s been forgotten—two major biographies of him have been published and his books continue to sell well. But we are convinced he should be even more widely read. . . . The experts consulted are extremely well chosen, and include the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and psychiatrist Robert Coles, novelist Richard Ford (who has long cited Percy’s Moviegoer as his inspiration for becoming a writer), the late historian and novelist Shelby Foote, Paul Elie (author of The Life You Save May Be Your Own), and biographer Walter Isaacson (whose most recent book was about Steve Jobs).
In which the old Viking picks some nits
There will be no scenes like this, filmed on the Hardangerfjord in Norway, in the History Channel’s miniseries.
If I had cable TV I’d be all excited about the miniseries on the Vikings they’re filming for broadcast on The History Channel next year.
I trust it’ll show up on Netflix eventually.
Of course, if the final product follows the hallowed tradition of previous Viking movies, it’ll probably stink like a Saxon in summer in any case.
This article tells us that Gabriel Byrne, the Irish actor, has signed to play a character named “Earl Haraldsson” in the series.
The casting part is fine. Byrne is a good actor, and generally elevates any project he participates in.
The name “Earl Haraldsson” bothers me, though.
The news item doesn’t make clear whether this guy is supposed to be a Viking or not. One assumes he is, because Haraldsson is a Viking name.
The problem is that it’s not a Viking first name. “Haraldsson” is a patronymic. Not exactly a last name, but it serves the same function, differentiating a particular person from all the other guys who share his first name.
And we’re not given the first name. This makes no sense. “Earl” is a title, and ought to be followed by a first name. We don’t say “Queen Windsor.” We say “Queen Elizabeth.” If you have an earl, you’d call him “Earl Sigurd” or “Earl Olaf” or some other first name. And then, if you needed to, you’d add the patronymic, “Haraldsson.”
This choice of name (unless it’s just a case of bad reporting) bodes ill for the historical accuracy of the miniseries. If the writers are naming characters this way, then they just don’t get it, and aren’t listening to the technical advisors (note to Hollywood: I’m available for that gig).
As a sidelight, I also saw an article recently on a Norwegian news site (can’t find it, and you couldn’t read it if I could), which complained that the History Channel people had wanted to film at least part of the miniseries in the fjords of Norway (as Kirk Douglas did with his The Vikings movie [see clip above], back in the fifties). But production costs were just too high, so they’ll do the whole thing in Ireland.
Do you understand this, liberals? Big government is the enemy of art!
Multiple matters of moment
Several things to comment on today. All of them important, but I’ll touch lightly on them and pass on, like an obsessive-compulsive in a faucet factory.
First of all, today is the anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944. Fewer and fewer there are among us who were there and can tell the story. A grateful nation honors the living and the dead.
And, as Phil mentioned, Ray Bradbury died today. I think I read most of his books in high school. Though I wasn’t a huge fan, I remember liking Something Wicked This Way Comes and The October Country.
Andrew Klavan illuminates both culture and the creative process in an article at The City Journal, No Joke. (In case you’re wondering, I found the joke amusing, but not hilarious. I guess that explains why Klavan’s famous and I’m not.)
Here’s a link to video from yesterday, when the Viking ship replica The Dragon Harald Fairhair was set in the water and christened in Haugesund, Norway. The video’s in Norwegian, but it’s mostly visual anyway. A fellow reenactor complained to me about the propeller that’s visible near the stern. According to the project web site, Norwegian law requires them to have an engine (for emergencies, one assumes). But they’re not planning to cheat. This is a sailing and rowing vessel.
And last but least, my test went fine, and the doctor said things looked good. Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts.
Ray Bradbury Died This Morning
Ray Bradbury, 91, died this morning in Los Angeles. He received a long overdue national medal of arts from President Bush, a special Pulitzer citation, and National Book Foundation recognition only a few years ago.
The Literary Tourist
Nigel has released his literary tourist audit of Rochester, NY.
In which I am cruel to be kind
Sunday was Danish Day at the Danish American Center in Minneapolis. You may recall that I came out of that event damaged last year, with a finger broken. This year I’m OK, largely because I did no fighting at all. There were a couple young guys to carry the load, and I’m still trying to fight off this bronchitis that’s draining my energy like a gestating alien in my chest cavity.
Sold a few books, and one of my buyers expressed interest in becoming an author. I tried not to encourage him too much, since only a sadist would point anyone in the direction of that pitiless muse.
“Being an author would be great,” he said. “You could travel all over the world and deduct it!”
I had to burst that little bubble, as it was burst for me long years since. “Unfortunately, that’s not true,” I said. “If you travel to attend a professional conference, or do a lecture, or something like that, you can deduct it. But just going someplace to get local color for your story—the IRS considers that a vacation, and you can’t deduct it.”
I could see the hope die in his eyes.
Which is, of course, a good thing.
Tonight I am prepping, in a way I shall not detail, for a medical text I shall not identify, scheduled for tomorrow morning. If I don’t post anything in the evening, it’ll be because I’m too mellow.
Reading Flannery
Biographer Jonathan Rogers is hosting discussion on stories by Flannery O’Connor all summer. See the reading list here. The first story is up this week, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”
There’s Nothing Worse
This is for our friend, Hunter Baker of Union U.
- There’s nothing worse than having a billboard block your view of a gorgeous sunrise. That’s why I use The Awayinator, an environmentally safe dashboard ray gun that will zap those billboards into the nothingnessville. Ahh! A clear view with the touch of a button. (A Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. Invention)
- There’s nothing worse than unrequited love. That’s why I use Money, a technique scientifically proven to keep women from falling out of love with you. Try it yourself today. Where all quality products are sold. Seriously, everywhere.
- There’s nothing worse than getting your key stuck in the ignition when the zombies are storming your parking lot, except perhaps eating a stale Rice Krispy treat when you sit there thinking what a dummy you are for paying $3 for what looks like a big, marshmallowy treat that can’t be stale because it’s $3 for Pete’s sake and yet in the back of your mind a little voice says it’s going to be stale and you argue with that little voice, spend the money, and take a bite–man, I hate that.
Don’t Look Back, by Karin Fossum
“It’s a legend, a story from the old days. If you’re out rowing and hear a splashing sound behind your boat, that’s the sea serpent rising up from the depths. You should never look back, just be careful to keep on rowing. If you pretend to ignore it and leave it in peace, everything will be fine, but if you look back into its eyes, it will pull you down into the great darkness. According to legend, it has red eyes.”
As you’re all aware, I’m very old and very wise, and therefore rarely surprised. If you’ve been following my reviews, you’ll know that although I’ve sampled several Scandinavian mystery writers (the genre has suddenly taken off in the backwash of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy), I’ve mostly not been overwhelmed with them. Too polite, too depressing, too politically correct, and usually not well translated. But when Norwegian author Karin Fossum’s Don’t Look Back
I was surprised.
This is a very good book (and the translation is one of the best I’ve seen). In my experience, female authors generally have trouble writing good male characters, but for my money Fossum nailed this one.
She grabs the reader by the short hairs from the very beginning. The novel starts with one of those police situations which anyone with a touch of human feeling has to follow with fascination and a cold clutch of fear at his heart. I won’t tell you how that turns out, but it actually leads into the real central mystery of the novel, the discovery of a dead, fourteen-year-old girl, lying naked and almost unmarked next to a mountain tarn, an isolated body of water which, according to legend, is home to a sea serpent.
Fossum’s hero is Inspector Konrad Sejer (his last name is Norwegian for “Victor”), an aging, empathetic city police detective who lives alone with his dog and mourns his late wife. As he gets to know the victim’s parents, her friends and their families, and her boyfriend, he uncovers one secret after another. There are plenty of motives and plenty of suspects, and plenty of unhappiness to go around in the small mountain town that is the story’s scene. The dead girl will not be the last person to get hurt.
Although religious questions aren’t central (Sejer is agnostic, as is almost everyone in the story—which accurately reflects Norwegian life) it’s interesting that Fossum makes Sejer’s partner, Jakob Skarre, a believer of some kind. His gentle explanation of his faith to his superior, dropped in passing, seemed kind of wishy-washy to me theologically, but (in my opinion) added depth to the whole story.
I’ve already purchased another Inspector Sejer book. Highly recommended, with cautions for language and adult themes.