DAILY PHOTO: Silver Danube
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Author Archives: B Gourley
BOOK REVIEW: The Fall by Albert Camus
The Fall by Albert CamusMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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This is a novel for someone who revels in philosophizing. It’s not a book for those who like to get lost in a story. It reads as if one sat down at a bar next to an obviously intelligent, but also obviously tipsy individual, who proceeded to tell his life story reflectively and analytically – without emphasis on thrilling exploits.
It falls among books that deal in the crisis of modernity – by which I mean, the challenges that arise from being evolutionary optimized to live a certain kind of life, while living one that is completely different. (i.e. It’s like “Fight Club,” but both far more boring and less broadly introspective.) The protagonist, Clamence, tells us about how he once got hit in public and how angry he was with himself for not getting in a lick of his own. He also describes hearing a woman jump / fall into the Seine, and not lifting a finger to help – despite hearing the woman’s screams. Adherence to laws and norms (in conflict with animal impulse,) disconnection from community, and ethical ambiguity are recurring themes in such books. What one does in a post-god world is also reflected upon. Religion and belief, like it or loathe it, fulfilled a function for humanity, and a vacuum was created for people for whom the cons of belief came to outweigh the pros.
Personally, I’m prone to philosophizing, and so I did get into this book – despite not finding it engaging as a story. When I read one particular line, I learned I was a suitable drinking companion for Clamence: “I have never been able to believe, deep inside, that human affairs are serious matters.” [Virtue or vice, I can relate.]
If you’re prone to philosophize, check out this book.
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BOOK REVIEW: Frank Pe’s Little Nemo by Frank Pé
Frank Pe’s Little Nemo by Frank PéMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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This is a comic strip character / concept redux of material created in the early 20th century by Winsor McCay. It features surreal scenes from the dreamworld of an imaginative and sleepy boy. The artwork of Frank Pé’s revisitation of Nemo’s dreams is stunningly beautiful and brilliantly creative. But…
I would argue that it’s not a good children’s book for two reasons. First, there are a few panels that are likely to prompt questions / conversations that most parents probably don’t want to deal with during story-time. In particular, there’s some prominent cigarette and smoking imagery. It does contribute to the book’s retro feel. When the original strip came out in 1905, there was probably lots of smoking in it (maybe even some product placement advertising by tobacco companies,) but by today’s standards it’s conspicuous and controversial. I won’t get into the few other questionable frames, but they exist. (Though most of it is perfectly kid-friendly.)
Second, there is a segment or two that use vocabulary that will send many parents to the dictionary just to be able to decipher the speaker’s comments for their child. This is a shame because it’s not this way throughout the book. As with the questionable art, most of the book is perfectly manageable as a children’s book. I’m not sure whether Pé was seeking to be true to the original, or whether he thought it was fitting for a children’s book, but with relatively few edits I think it would be much more suitable for children.
For adults who are interested comic strips (historically or artistically,) I’d highly recommend this book. For those considering it as a book for a child, I’d consider whether some grandiloquent vocabulary and a provocative frame or two are troubling, and decide accordingly.
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Mantis Kung Fu [Common Meter]
A mantis landed on the rail, and it put up its dukes as one might expect of madmen or drunken Irish kooks. Why would one seek out a fair fight with someone much bigger, I shook my head and started to engage in a snigger. But then it did occur to me that he couldn't stand elsewise. So, I tried to gauge his intent, and looked him in the eyes... and he stomped me in my nether bits - much to my surprise.
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DAILY PHOTO: Solitary Tree
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Unity [Haiku]
A Boy’s Theory of Hell [Free Verse]
The boy pressed his hand to the cool interior wall, sitting on the floor of a dark, empty chapel. Outside the sun blazed, and humidity oppressed. The orphan created a narrative in his head, one based on some strange logic. If hell was an "eternal torment of flames," then the cool interior of the monk's chapel must be the anti-hell -- a place that devoured the heat of hell-fire... but what did that make that baking place that was outside those thick walls.
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Cloud Tricks [Tanka]
thin clouds drift in, showing their black bellies, hiding blue skies like a young boy doing his first magic trick
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DAILY PHOTO: Bhairavnath Temple, Bhaktapur
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Stone Sages [Free Verse]
They shouted irate philosophies about the foul leviathan. The angry measure of angry men, and all those foul winds blew back on them.
