Todays Thoughts

A picture by Arthur Rackham of the fairytale, The Three Bears

I was reading the New York Times Book Review for June 8, 2008, P.11. They had a review for The Enchantress of Florence. The critic hated it. He called it a fantasy book that was very hard to follow. The reviewer admits that he found the novel to be quite confusing.

I also found the novel to be confusing, but at the same time, I found it to be beautifully crafted and deeply enchanting. If you are reading it as a fantastical romance it works quite well. However, if you are reading it as a novel it does not work quite as well. I am not sure I can even review it. It is one of those books which makes you think very hard because it is truly awful in some aspects, and truly fantastic in other ways. People will love or hate this book.

I am sitting looking at the book wondering when I will begin writing the review.

Earlier on the train, instead of writing a review of the Enchantress of Florence, I read the graphic novel (comic book) Castle Waiting by Linda Medley. It was absolutely wonderful. There is an introduction by Jane Yolen one of my favorite storytellers. The drawing is very pretty. It uses elements of Kay Nielsen, and Arthur Rackham in a clean black and white comic book drawing style. One of the characters in the novel is even based on Arthur Rackham, a half man, half-stork character.

There are a lot of puns in the story, Rackham, the stork man has a chicken which lays solid gold eggs. The Dutchess of Carabas comes to visit Castle Waiting and gives birth to a half cat child. This is very much a fractured fairytale. It is what happens after the princess who has lain asleep for a hundred years leaves her castle with her knight never to return.

I would call this story, a thinking persons fairytale, there is not a lot of violence, but there are plenty of tricks, adventures, and tall tales spun into the story. I especially like the order of bearded nuns which appears toward the end of the story.

There are many fairytale references sprinkled throughout the story. There is Iron John, the Town of Bremen, and Simple Simon. There are also ghosts, pookas, brownies, minor spirits, and other fairytale creatures. There is even a little imp who tries to trick the characters in the story into doing bad or foolish things. He is constantly testing the bearded nuns.

I enjoyed the stories and artwork set in a medieval fairytale otherworld with talking bears, fairies, and other creatures. I think it really is entertaining. It also entertains you with stories that make you think and be amused at the same time. There is a strong sense of kindness, community, and tolerance written into the stories. This is not your typical swords and sorcery tale.

Earlier today, in the diner while I was having a toasted bagel and coffee, I was reading two articles in the Daily News, the local New York newspaper. The first one was about how General Motors is releasing a new plug in hybrid vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt, that is supposed to get 600 miles on a full tank of gas in 2010. They already are showing the demonstration models at the automotive shows. The second article that caught my attention was about a set of underwater tidal turbines being worked on in the East River of Manhattan. Apparently, they hope to have 30 turbines in place by 2009. Verdant Power is building the turbines. They were replacing the blades on the turbines with a more durable set of blades.

Also, two more books came in for me to read, God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe about a revolt in hell, and Sagramande by Alan Dean Foster. I now have several large piles of books to read on my desk.