Tag Archives: Randomness

“…And heal the anguish of a suffering world…”

We live in interesting times, Beloved Patrons…but there are times when that can actually be a good thing.  In an effort to keep our spirits up and hearts engaged, I thought I’d tell you about one of those Good Things here…the discovery and release of an unknown poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

imagesshel
Nice collar, Percy.

Our story begins with Peter Finnerty, an Irish journalist, was tried and found guilty of seditious libel.  Finnerty was a member of the United Irishmen, a group dedicated to liberating Ireland from British rule, and one of its members, a man named William Orr, was executed for treason after attempting to recruit a British soldier to the United Irishmen.  It’s very clear that the British government wanted to make an example of Orr, and journalist Peter Finnerty was not about to let anyone forget that.  As a result, he was treated with the same heavy hand as his comrade, and was sentenced to a two-year prison sentence, and a session in the pillory.

When the seventeen-year-old Shelley began his studies at Oxford, was incensed to learn of Finnerty’s treatment–indeed, it seems he was infuriated that William Orr had been executed, as well, which is pretty surprising, especially given Shelley’s affluent, British upbringing.  But in Finnerty’s case, there was something Shelley could do to help.  Prisons in Britain at this time charged their inmates for room and board, and for anything else they could legitimize.  The result was often that a prison stay of any duration could bankrupt a prisoner, in addition to ruining his health.  Thus, Shelley decided to help Finnerty with the costs of his incarceration by writing a poem.

Shelley-009His work, titled “A Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things”, was published by a printer on Oxford High Street in 1811.  The poem itself is a 172-rhymed tirade not only against the hypocrisy of governments and bureaucrats, but against British imperialism, and the cruelty of dominance, as well; he mentions how “The fainting Indian, on his native plains; / Writhes to superior power’s unnumbered pains”, which, for the time, is a remarkably bold commentary on British actions in India, and displays an incredibly human response to the plight of natives, who the British government continued to see as less-than-human.  Shelley was not advocating violence to replace violence, though–he expressly mourns the “Millions to fight compell’d, to fight or die / In mangled heaps on War’s red altar lie”.  His argument is for rational thought and humanity, which he realized at the time was even more dangerous to tyranny than violence.

Ultimately, though, Shelley’s poem is one of hope and encouragement, urging that without freedom for all, no one can claim to be free.  He ends his poem with the verse:

Oppressive law no more shall power retain,

Peace, love, and concord, once shall rule again

And heal the anguish of a suffering world;

Then, then shall things, which now confusedly hurled,

Seem Chaos, be resolved to order’s sway,

And error’s night be turned to virtuous day.

Percy_Bysshe_Shelley_by_Alfred_Clint_cropThe poem was not attributed to Shelley until some fifty years after his death, and, by then, it was assumed that no copies of the 20-page pamphlet existed.  In 2006, however, a copy was discovered amidst a private collection, and quickly bought by the Bodleian Library at Oxford.  Since then, only a handful of scholars have been allowed to see it–until Michael Rosen, who also championed the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, advocated for its release to the general public.  In a statement to The Guardian, Rosen explained: “This is someone who from a young age… in spite of his position in the class system, chose to champion the poor, the exploited, the oppressed and the victimised…he sees that the poor afflicted by ‘indigence’ and ‘persecution’ are ‘deprived of the power to exert those mental capabilities which alone can distinguish them from the brutes’.”

And last week, the world got to meet “A Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things” by Percy Bysshe Shelley for the first time.  Not only is the pamphlet on display at the Bodleian, but they have digitized it, as well, so you can read it for yourself, wherever you might be!  The link is here, complete with flippable-pages and transcribed text.

Be sure to have a look at this newly-discovered treasure, and here’s hoping it brings a little light to your day.

~~~~~~~

Shelley's memorial at Oxford
Shelley’s memorial at Oxford

For those looking for more of the story…Shelley was expelled from Oxford in April of 1811 after publishing another pamphlet, this one titled “The Necessity of Atheism”.  He eloped with a sixteen-year-old poet named Harriet Westbrook, and in 1813, eloped again with Mary Godwin, who was the daughter of early feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, and anarchist poet (Harriet committed suicide in 1816).  Shelley would go on to write a wealth of powerful poems, while Mary wrote Frankenstein, after she and Percy whiled away a rainy vacation with Lord Byron and his doctor, John Polidori.  Shelley grew increasingly revolutionary as the years went on, and following his death from drowning on july 8, 1822, onboard his boat, named the Don Juan in honor of Byron, rumors floated around that he was murdered for political reasons–though a freak storm and Shelley’s poor skills as a navigator may have played a larger role.  He is buried in Rome, and has a place in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey in London.

ODYSSEY!!!

Homer has a question for you...
Homer has a question for you…

Question: What are you doing right now?

Answer: Checking this blog in order to get the link to the Almeida’s day-long reading of The Odyssey!

image003

 

 

…..right?

 

 

Good!  Then here it is: http://www.almeida.co.uk/the-odyssey

Also, for people who do The Twitter Thing, you can follow along with Odysseus and his water-logged crew: @almeidaodyssey,  and #Odyssey

Fair winds, and fair sailing, beloved patrons!  We’ll check in again once the journey is over and share our impressions!

arnoldbocklin

 

“By hook or by crook this peril too shall be something that we remember”

CMX7ORhWUAExMLq (1)

I hope you remember back in August, when we covered the live reading of The Iliad that took place between the British Library and the Almeida Theatre in London.  It was, as I said at the time, by far and away the greatest-super-colossal-fantastic days I can remember, and proof positive that people telling people stories is still one of the most powerful forces in the world.

Indeed, because the event was live-streamed and covered by Twitter, the reading became a worldwide phenomenon–I even understand some of you lovely patrons were able to watch parts of it!  For those who missed it, here is the link to all 16 hours of readings.  As mentioned, one of the most memorable moments was when and Marco Brondon read his passage out loud on the bus from the British Museum to the Almeida Theatre in order to ensure that the marathon would not flag.

84909105_84909104-300x300

Well, thanks to the enormous acclaim and overwhelming success of The Iliad, and no doubt because of my near-hysterical promotion of it to anyone who will listen, the good people at the Almeida are upping the proverbial ante….

odyssey1
Oh, hello Homer.

That’s right, beloved patrons.  In honor of the end of The Greek Season, the Almeida is planning a marathon reading of The Odyssey, another epic poem attributed to the poet/poets known as Homer, and the second oldest extant piece of literature in the ‘Western’ canon.

Now, at 12,110 lines, The Odyssey is noticeably shorter than The Iliad (which is 15,693 lines, for those of you who need to know these things), which should, logistically speaking, make this piece somewhat easier to manage, right?

Scoff, scoff.  The good people at the Almeida are never ones to take the easy route–a statement as factual as it is now literal.  Because this performance is going to be an actual Odyssey, performed at five as-yet-undisclosed locations throughout the city of London.  Listeners in the City will have the opportunity to listen to readers for up to 90 minutes at a single site, and there apparently are plans to read on public transport, and even the Thames.

When will all this wonderfulness take place?  November 12, 2015, 9am BT (4AM EST).

How will it look?  What will happen?  Who knows?  But I know that I’ll be watching on the Almeida’s live stream site and via Twitter (#Odyssey & ).  And I hope you will be, too!

For those of you would like to get into the spirit of things beforehand, here are some ideas to get in you in the mood for a day of high-stakes adventures, startling adventures, and sweet homecomings.  And a Cyclops or two.  It’s just no fun otherwise.

2599829The OdysseyPerhaps a bit of an obvious first choice, but there is no better way to get into the Odyssey than by traveling along with Odysseus and his beleaguered crew who suffer the wrath of Poseidon in their desperate attempt to return home.  It stands to reason that, since the Almeida used Robert Fagles’ translation of The Iliad, it’s a pretty fair bet they’ll be using his translation of The Odyssey as well.  Truth be told, it’s a very accessible translation that sounds simply wonderful when performed aloud–but don’t take my word for it.  Check it out for yourself!

 

2033697The Odyssey: Against all odds, this 3.5 hour adaptation of Homer’s epic (co-produced by the Hallmark Channel, who would have thought?) is actually quite good, overall.  With excellent performances, and special effects that are pretty impressive for turn-of-the-century television broadcast, this is a highly entertaining way to get introduced to Odysseus’ tale for those who don’t have the 12+ hours it is estimated to take to get through the print version.

 

3150458Torn from Troy: Patrick Bowman’s YA spin on The Odyssey stars Alexi, a fifteen-year-old Trojan boy who is made Odyssey’s slave following the conclusion of the Trojan War.  The trilogy of Alexei’s journey may parallel the events of The Odyssey, but this is by no means a simple re-telling.  As an outsider, and a conquered slave, Alexei’s view of Odysseus, and his analysis of his actions, are very different from Homer’s narrative, and Alexei’s personal story adds a very human dimension to this sweeping adventure story.  These books are a fun read no matter what your age, especially because they allow so many most characters in the story to come forward and tell their own stories and journeys.

 

2313233The Penelopiad: And for those of you who are a little tired of all the men unable to find their way home and seemingly unconcerned about their lack of punctuality, Margaret Atwood presents a cycle of stories about Odyssey’s wife Penelope, who appears here as a much more complicated figure than any of us ever expected.  Inspired by the “hanging of the maids” reference in the original text of The Odyssey, Atwood set out to reimagine Penelope’s world, her birth and childhood, as well as the events that took place after her marriage and during the timespan of The Odyssey.  The result is a woman who is strong and enigmatic, proud and secretive and, overall, utterly compelling, as is everything that Margaret Atwood writes.

Be sure to check back for more news regarding this performance, and see you on Thursday for the live-streaming of The Odyssey!

The Iliad: An Update

Dt6P-3hF
Hi Homer!

Remember that time I told you about the 16-hour marathon reading of The Iliad that I attended in London?  For those of you who haven’t been forced to listen to me go on incessantly about how this was perhaps the coolest thing I have ever witnessed, you might want to consider yourselves lucky…..but for those of you who might have liked to have been there, I am happy to inform you that The Almeida Theatre is a great institution.

They have put the entire marathon reading online for your viewing pleasure!  Yay!

holdingIliad

 

In case you don’t have 16 hours to devote right now to seeing the entire presentation, you can also read the Introduction that was delivered by Professor Simon Goldhill of the University of Cambridge, and watch this five-minute trailer that gives an overview of the whole day, as well as some insight and reactions by those involved in the production (you can, apparently, also see my Big Giant Head around 3:16).

The full set of readings will be available online until September 21, 2016, so enjoy!  And to the Almeida, should you ever read this, thank you, not only for the event, which was unforgettable, but for letting me share it!

CMX7ORhWUAExMLq (1)

Making History

Our patrons, I’m sure,will know that books still have–and will always have–the power to change and challenge the world, but last week was an especially fruitful one for books in the news: we were treated to the awarding of the Man Booker Prize, as well as the announcement of the National Book Award nominees; but we also encountered some controversy.

36374313651769It all began last Monday on the BBC Radio 4’s morning program, Start the Week.  The show’s guests were both authors whose books had recently been released: Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley, whose book, Golden Age rounds out her Last Hundred Years trilogy, and Professor Niall Ferguson, whose latest release is the first volume of his authorized biography of Henry Kissinger.  Things were going pretty civily, overall, until Smiley began to articulate what she saw as the difference between history and historical fiction: “history and memoir tell us what happened, but novels tell us or have a theory about how it felt”.

On the whole, this seems to be a perfectly sensible statement, and one that also allows the existence and necessity of both genres.  Her statement, however, didn’t sit particularly well with Professor Ferguson, who immediately launched into a defense (mansplaining?) of non-fiction history, sadly, at the expense of historic fiction.

I’ll let the resulting debate, as recorded by The Telegraphstand for itself:

niall_jpg_2129056b“Historians are as much concerned with how it felt – the difference is we are actually basing it on research rather than our imaginations,” Ferguson said.

An affronted Smiley replied: “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t base it on research? I didn’t realise that.”

But Ferguson continued: “It seems to me that whether you’re reading Tolstoy or Jane Smiley, people who write historical fiction are telling you what it must have felt like. But that’s not what it felt like, because essentially they’re projecting back, in this case early 21st century ideas, on imaginary characters.”

Smiley: “How do you think that I discovered what it must have felt like? I did research and read what people said it felt like.”

Ferguson: “But your characters are imaginary, Jane. Not to disparage what you do, but we need to recognise that it’s different because these aren’t real people. You’re just telling us what these imaginary people must have felt…Historians are in the business of reconstituting past experience but from primary sources, from things that people wrote down. We’re not allowed to just make it up.”

Smiley, ultimately, had the last word in this debate, however, when she published a letter in The Guardian addressing both Professor Ferguson’s comments and elaborating on why she writes historic fiction:
Jane-Smiley-009“I do not consider literary forms to exist in a hierarchy; I think of them as more of a flower bouquet, with different colours, scents and forms, each satisfying and unsatisfying in its way, but if there is one thing that I do know about history, it is that it must be based on the author’s theory of what happened. He or she may change the theory as the research is completed, but without a theory, and if the research doesn’t fit into the theory, then the text has no logic, and therefore makes no sense. If it makes no sense, then readers will not read it.”

As a historian, as well as a reader, I would just like to state here and now that “what happened and how it felt” are, generally speaking, two totally and completely different things–neither are ‘better’ or ‘worse’–they are just very, very different.

It’s probably fair to say that getting injured in war hurts, regardless of whether it’s 1148, 1916, or 2015–but I would never conjecture to tell you how it hurt.  Even more importantly, I would never, ever, ever, put on my Historian Hat and presume to tell you what it felt like to watch the Titanic sink, or what, precisely, goes through a person’s mind as they wait for a battle to commence, or watch a sunrise.  One can infer a good deal by virtue of being part of the same species, and generally be afraid of things that might kill you, or interesting in colorful, shiny things, but I think it’s fair to say that is as far as one can go.

And that, as Smiley notes, is part of the beauty of historic fiction.  By virtue of being fiction, these stories can go where history simply can’t–into the moments that don’t make it into the archive, into the minds of people whom history didn’t remember, and into the hearts of those who didn’t record their feelings to paper.  By virtue of the research performed by their authors, they can bring a period of time to life in a way that history has neither the space nor the time to do.  A straight-up history of the First World War can describe uniforms and trench conditions, but historical fiction can take the time to linger on details–the scratchiness of wool tunics in the July sun, the smell of sweat and carbolic power, what men experienced putting them on…  What to history might be some atmospheric detail is the stuff of life for fiction.  And because of this, they can serve as an ideal compliment to history, feeding our imaginations and hearts, as well as our brains.

 Don’t believe me?  Come in and check out these sensational historic fiction books for yourself!

3104313Vlad: The Last Confession:  I’ve gone on (and on) about how this is one of the greatest books ever, so I’ll spare you today.  C.C. Humphreys, however, originally intended to write a biography of Vlad Dracula.  However, when he couldn’t find any new sources, he decided to write a fictionalized biography, using all the details he learned to create a fully three-dimensional world and an enthralling portrait of a man who was both a monster and a hero–and what it was like to love and hate him.

2057534Speaks the Nightbird: Though Robert McCammon’s tale of witchhunting is set in the Carolina colony in 1699, this is still quite a timely suggestion.  The sights, smells, fears, and superstitions that fill the world of this book are completely transporting, and makes the battle of laws and wills that ensues over the fate of an ostracized widow in the community that much more intense.  McCammon may be a bug name in the horror genre, but this book, and the resultant series, proves he can tackle historical fiction with equal aplomb.

3092040The Return of Captain John Emmett: Speaking of the First World War, Elizabeth Speller’s debut novel is an evocative and occasionally stunning pieces of historic fiction that captures, in heartbreakingly simple prose, what everyday life was like for those who survived the war.  Though not as successful as a mystery, the stark descriptions of grief, loss, and utter bewilderment that her characters endure helps readers understand the true impact of the war on an individual, as well as a collective basis.

Bookish Pets!

254214_612194774660_5704142_ngrreading

 

The UK’s largest bookseller recently put out a request via Twitter; the staff at their flagship store were looking for a fictional pet….

Which got me thinking about bookish pets, and pets in books…Though our library doesn’t have any pets (that aren’t imaginary), there are a few Library Animals around the world whose stories are truly epic, and serve to highlight what a great place libraries are for the two-legged and four-legged visitors alike!

Check out, for example, Library Cat, the sort-of-official-stray cat of The University of Edinburgh Central Library.  According to this article from the Scotsman, “Jordan” was originally adopted by a local friary in the hopes that he would catch mice.  “Jordan” had much loftier ambitions, however, and a love of heated libraries and turquoise chairs.  When he began appearing regularly in the nearby library, and tolerating the affection of staff and patrons, he was given a library card, a new nickname, and allowed free reign of the building.  His fame grew to such an extent that when Library Cat decided to spend a few nights with his Friar Friends, rumors of his demise caused such turmoil that a national newspaper investigated, and offered conclusive evidence that Library Cat was alive, well, and very grumpy after being woken from his nap.  

Library Cat is apparently also exceptionally tech-savvy, updating his Facebook account and Twitter on a regular basis, and keeping in touch with the Keele University Squirrel and the University of Portsmouth Penguin, whose name is Pablo, and is so cute I can hardly bear it.

From Library Cat's Facebook page:  "Books, he suddenly thought. Books! When I need restored faith in the kindness of humans, I turn to books."
From Library Cat’s Facebook page:
“Books, he suddenly thought. Books! When I need restored faith in the kindness of humans, I turn to books.”

 

Library-Cat-235x187In Russia, Kuzya the Cat made international news when he was actually hired as a member of staff in Novorossiysk, a city on the Black Sea.  Kuzya was a stray who showed up at the library in October of 2012.  The staff welcomed him inside, as all good library staff do, and Kuzya quickly decided that the library was a lovely place to stay.  However, because he was a stray, Kuzya lacked the appropriate documentation required by Russian law (which mostly involved a rabies vaccine and micro-chip).  The staff quickly got that sorted, and even acquired a cat passport for Kuzya (which is a thing in Russia, apparently), but he was so cute, so public-spirited, and so talented at bringing people into the library, that he was soon promoted to “Assistant Librarian”.

Kuzya can still be found in the Novorossiysk Library, wearing a bowtie, because that is what gentlemen do, and, according to sources,  plays “Pushkin the Cat Scientist” in plays for children, in addition to his vigorous routine of napping in the stacks, napping in the newspaper racks, and napping in the comfy chairs before snacktime.

 

Kuzya's passport and letter of employment
Kuzya’s passport and letter of employment

 

So, in honor of the library pets* around the world, across the universe, and in other realms entirely, here are some nominees for Best Literary Pet.  Any suggestions for our Library Pet are entirely welcome.

downloadMog the Cat: Judith Kerr based a good deal of her series about the forgetful and often perplexed Mog the cat on her own family, including the names of the children in Mog’s house, and Mog’s south London neighborhood.  It’s nearly impossible not to fall in love with the portly, adorable Mog (who was brought to life through Kerr’s illustrations), and her adventures are the kind of funny, slightly absurd tales that parents will enjoy right alongside their kids.

1220764Tock the Dog: Aside from being one of the most wonderfully original, imaginative, unforgettable books you will ever read, The Phantom Tollbooth also features Tock, the watchdog–whose body is part watch–who guides the hapless Milo through his adventures. Tock is also a guard dog who protects against, you guessed it, wasted time.  Though vigilant in his duties, Tock is also a stalwart friend to Milo, staying by his side, flying him out of the Mountains of Ignorance (because, of course, time flies…), and offering some of my favorite advice in all of literature to Milo when he winds up in the Doldrums: “Since you got here by not thinking, it seems reasonable to expect that, in order to get out, you must start thinking.”

1496430Gruffalo: Julia Donaldson wrote The Gruffalo as an adaptation of a Chinese folktale involving a fox and a tiger.  However, when she couldn’t think of a rhyme for ‘tiger’, she created an animal whose name would rhyme with “know”…and hence, the Gruffalo, a hybrid animal who lurks in the forest, was born.  Her beloved tale offers a wonderful lesson in courage and bravado, and has been adapted into a film and now has a sequel, The Gruffalo’s Childwhich continues to play on the idea of myth and reality.

HarryHedwig-200Hedwig: I think it goes without saying that Harry Potter’s snowy owl, Hedwig, would make this list.  As heroic as her illustrious owner, and as brave as any human in the world of the Harry Potter series, Hedwig has a personality all her own: she disdains the immaturity of other owls, isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and will even go so far as to peck Harry’s friends to remind them to write to him regularly.

———————-

*A note: we were unable to find any Library Dogs, per se, but very much encourage you to take a look at the Library Dogs website, dedicated to service dogs and the wonderful work they do with children in libraries across the country.