WHY IS THE PRESENT SO ATTRACTED TO THE PAST?

 

Thanks to Monica, one of my  latest acquaintances in the blogosphere, I got to read this article in The Guardian.co.uk by Mark Lawson. My friends know how hectic I am these days and are always ready to help me in the hard task of being an updated,  active blogger. Grateful thanks to them all!

This is a reflection about the success of and the great interest in filming the classics,  even when the same text is adapted for the umpteenth time. It's always the same, same old story would you say? You'll find out that many disagree with you.

RA-NDOM THOUGHTS - THANKS FOR BEING EXACTLY AS YOU ARE

I usually can't bear when I send an e-mail message and get no sign from the other side.    I start wondering: " Did they get it? Read it? Is everything ok? " .

I can understand we are all hecticly busy these days but "Got it, thanks a lot" would be nice enough as an answer. So, I thought it  might be fair  to answer the very special message we got yesterday. Others have already done it, while I didn't. So here I am and here's my answer. My very personal answer to ... Richard Armitage's message. (He sent it to all his fans through Annette's site) .  Ready for a laugh?

(picture on the left from http://armitage-online.ucoz.ru/)

(legenda : RA black  /  MG blue)

29th May 2011

Dear All,

I wanted to post a message to say a huge thank you for your generosity of donations to the Christchurch fundraiser on 22nd May, I gather there was a considerable contribution from members of our little community, which is gratefully received to help a rather larger and damaged community 'rise up' get back on its feet. I am so grateful and proud to see such support from so far away, you really are hugely reliable when it comes to those in need. Thank you. I hope our little teaser want too much of a tease, it is so difficult to give anything away, of the movie we are making but we had to do something; I have resisted signing anything 'Hobbity', until the film is finished (just a little bit superstitious) but I was very proud to add my name to the book for Christchurch.

ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE: A GREAT MEDIEVAL QUEEN. GUEST POST BY CHRISTY ENGLISH

Eleanor of Aquitaine and how she might have looked  was the fascinating subject of Anne O'Brien's guestblog exactly two weeks ago. Today, Christy English,  author of To Be Queen: A Novel of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitaine, is here to tell us something more about this great Medieval queen's personal history. Welcome on Fly High, Christy!

Eleanor of Aquitaine was queen in a time when men dominated the political scene. Raised as a young girl to be the heir to the duchy of Aquitaine, Eleanor always knew that she would have to marry in order to hold her territories safe from encroaching enemies. Literate in Latin and possibly some Greek, Eleanor was extremely educated, and unusual thing for a woman in the medieval period. Most medieval men never learned to read, save for the monks and priests of the Church. Noblemen and kings often had clerks trained by the Church to write their histories and their letters. But in Aquitaine, at the Court of Love established by her grandfather, noblemen and women learned to read and write in the langue d’oc, Eleanor’s native tongue.

RA-NDOM THOUGHTS - DO YOU SUFFER FROM THE SYNDROME OF THE LAST EPISODE?

I was reading this article about TV fans distressed without their favourite shows. I even found an Italian article which quotes the same study calling the distress "Syndrome of the last episode". I started thinking, "Isn't that I 've been so stressed and distressed lately  just because of that"? I may be, yes. 

First they wrapped-up Vicar of Dibley and I am here,  fingers crossed,  hoping they'll decide to shoot at least another special with Geraldine and her gorgeous husband, Harry Jasper Kennedy.

AT HOME WITH THE TEMPLETONS - BOOK REVIEW

Another Australian writer, a best-selling author, I've come to read thanks to my very active blogger life. Thanks a lot to the web and the Internet for the incredible richness and variety of contacts I've got so far, and especially, to Monica McInerney's publicist who thought I would like this novel and sent it to me. I did!

The main characters of this gripping novel are numerous and skillfully depicted but the real protagonist is a stately mansion in Victoria, Australia , which I imagine as enchanting, mesmerizing, impressive: Templeton Hall. 

Everything is not as it seems in this entertaining exploration of  family links and relationships, with romance and turmoil, and you need to get as far as the epilogue, through its 471 pages, to get hold of every hidden detail of the story you were told before.

A warm and captivating family saga that spans about twenty years - from 1993 to 2009 - and three continents in which the main theme explored is: how the things we do to protect our children may really just protect ourselves - with unintended and potentially devastating consequences. Other themes are redemption and forgiveness. Difficult to say which the lesson here is ultimately. Certainly, more than one. 

DEVIL'S CONSORT BY ANNE O'BRIEN - GIVEAWAY WINNER

Eleanore of Aquitaine seems to have drawn great interest among  you and Anne O'Brien's guestblog collected several comments of readers eager to get a copy of her DEVIL'S CONSORT. Here I am to announce the name of the winner, as well as to inform you that this amazing historical novel will be soon published in the US,  with a new title and a new cover, as QUEEN DEFIANT. Anne O'Brien is going to be my guest again on that occasion, on June 7th, with a Q/A post and you will be granted the chance to win a copy of the American edition.

Meanwhile, the signed copy of Devil's Consort has been won by ...

MARIE

Congratulations to the winner and thanks to everyone who entered this contest. 

Stay tuned! There will be other giveaways soon.

WHAT I'VE BEEN WATCHING - SOUTH RIDING

I've read very different reactions  to this series, very different reviews. Some extremely positive and some rather disappointed ones. I am totally drawn to its story and I loved almost anything, from the brilliant stellar cast to their characterization, from the setting to the costumes, from the plot to Andrew Davies 's screenplay. Maybe, that's because I, actually, didn't read the book, nor knew anything about it, but I really think this is the best series I've seen since the beginning of 2011. Better than Downton Abbey? Well, I liked it even more, I found it more deeply touching and less soap-opera style. A real BBC period production. 

At first, I was not sure I wanted to see it, since my friend K/V had more than once said, both about the novel (which she read) and about the series (that she saw before me): "So terribly depressing! Don't watch it if you are in a blue mood. It could worse the situation" . I usually love being moved to tears by stories I read or watch, I don't mind it at all. But her warning made me imagine a gloomy, dark, hopeless, tragic melodrama which BBC SOUTH RIDING is not. It is romantic, melancholic, even tragic but not hopeless, not gloomy. I just loved it. 

OUT OF FEAR BY DON HUTCHESON : E-BOOK WINNER!

I hope you haven't missed my review of this brilliant novel as well as my interview with its author, Don Hutcheson. I you have, however, can take a look HERE and HERE. 

After thanking Don for taking the time to answer my questions and for granting you readers not one but TWO giveaways of his book, here I am to announce the name of the second winner. The e-book version of Out of Fear goes to ...   

iz4blue/Fanny

Congratulations to the winner and thanks to all those who entered the giveaway. 

Out of Fear has been released as paperback and in the Kindle version.

If you are a  blogger interested to get a review copy of the novel 

contact the author at donhutcheson63@att.net

Visit Don Hutcheson facebook page 

(you'll find my review there too)

THE LOVER - FAULKS ON FICTION PART II

The focus of this second issue of Faulks on fiction is  the figure of the lover in  novels. Great characters are discussed and  analysed, starting with  Mr Darcy and Heathcliff.
 In the introduction Faulks says: 
“For centuries the language of love was verse , from the chivalry of courtly love, with crusading knights and lonely maidens to Shakespeare’s  star-crossed lovers. The passion was real, but the settings were not. So where did we really learn about  love? In the pages of novels. Much of what we understand of love comes  from the lives of great fictional lovers. But there’s a problem here. In celebrating the power and passion of love, novelists overlooked its frailty, its tendency to fail. Romantic fiction gives us happy endings, but the reality is seldom like that. A proper novel takes you inside the heads of people  going  through a real crisis and real emotional  choices and many of us appraise our own experience of love in the light of these fictional characters. It was in fact the psychological novel which told us the truth about love and its power to transform".

JANE AUSTEN’S MR DARCY

Here’s Sebastian Faulks’s portrayal of one of the most widely popular and best loved fictional lovers. Remember: this is HIS point of view!

RA-NDOM THOUGHTS - THE STRIKE BACK DILEMMA

Andrew Lincoln, Richard Armitage and  Orla Brady  in Strike Back 1 

John Porter is back!  "John Porter is back" is, at least, what  they say on SKY1 HD Strike Back official site. The dilemma is : is he "really" back? For how long? Is he going to come out (alive) of the tight and tough situation he's in in the opening episode of series 2? From being a rescuer in series 1, he's been turned into the one to be rescued in series 2. This Project Dawn (the title of this second series) sounds more like Project Sunset to me!

GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY - ANNE O'BRIEN, THE DEVIL'S CONSORT

I've invited Anne O'Brien, author of Devil's Consort, to tell us more about her fascinating research on Eleanor of Aquitaine while writing her novel . She's kindly accepted and even granted you the chance to win a copy of the book. So, if you love historical fiction, don't miss it! Leave your comments and add an e-mail address to enter the giveaway which is open internationally and ends on May 23rd. Enjoy her thoroughly written, very  interesting piece and good luck!

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall ... by Anne O'Brien

What did Eleanor of Aquitaine actually look like?

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - DON HUTCHESON ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS OUT OF FEAR + GIVEAWAY WINNER & NEW GIVEAWAY

Don Hutcheson, author of Out of Fear, one of my latest great reads (my review here) , has kindly accepted to answer some questions about his just released work. The result is this very interesting chat about reading, literature, classics, writing. At the bottom of this post you'll discover who's won an autographed copy of the novel and the details of a new giveaway. Read & Enjoy!

MG: First of all, Don, I’m curious to know when, how and why you decided to start writing.

DH: Shining my father’s shoes was one of my weekly chores growing up. One Saturday I happened upon a wrinkled paper bag behind his shoe rack. In the bag were Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer (1934) and Grace Metalious’ Peyton Place (1959).  At age 12, I had never read anything remotely like them. Both novels awakened my growing sexuality and my passion for the written word. But I didn’t begin writing fiction in earnest until four decades later.

WHAT I'VE BEEN WATCHING - THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE

A tale of love, lust, desire and revenge. I must warn you, especially if you are very sensitive : if you dare enter this world, you better tread carefully. As soon as the first images run on the screen, you get a punch in your stomach, with painful images of beaten women and squalid London slums in all their disgusting details. The Crimson Petal and the White, is set in 1870 Victorian London but it's not Dickens, nor George Eliot and neither brave Mrs Gaskell. Based on Michel Faber's novel of the same title (2003), it is a very gripping and realistic tale, as if Dickens's London turned much more wicked, more desperate, more disturbing, definitely nightmarish, seen through the eyes of a 21st century writer.

OUT OF FEAR BY DON HUTCHESON - BOOK REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY - You can win an autographed copy of Out of Fear paperback. Leave your comment and add an e-mail address, you'll get a chance to win this amazing new book. The giveaway is open worldwide and ends on May 13th.

My Review - Out of Fear is many books in one

First, it is a contemporary story of one man’s journey to liberation—an in-depth look into three tempestuous weeks in the 30^th year of protagonist, Will Stallworth. Will is a rising star in the glamorous world of advertising in 1984—a successful writer and creative director who is at the moment going through a serious melt down, just when he is given the chance to run the creative department of a hot ad agency and lead the pitch for a $100 million account. While Will is successful in his work, his striking good looks and confidence make him an irresistible magnet to women. Immediately upon returning to his hometown, Atlanta, Georgia, he gets involved with a beautiful sales representative for a top TV station. They begin a torrid affair.

KRIS SEARLE - LIFE AND MUSIC BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC

The possibilities of interesting meetings in the web and social networks are  infinite. But going on blogging in different areas, I am more and more astonished. I've been really lucky so far! I'm here today  to introduce one of my latest fortuitous interesting meeting to you: Kris Searle, a very talented musician.

Searle is a BBC featured artist in the UK and is enjoying his musical career both sides of the Atlantic. Since his forth award win in Los Angeles, Searle has gone on to win other awards including VH1 songwriter and other accolades so his career is breaking through. After just winning his forth Los Angeles Music Award, last year for Best Electronic/Dance Artist and the year before for Single of the Year, Kris now has 3 movie placements in 2010, 2 trans-atlantic collaborations for MTV Base channel and a collaboration coming out with his record label Inspire U Records called "Inspired Artists". His single "I Would Give You It All" has been placed on a film titled "Truth About Kerry" with Stana Katic from ABC's "Castle". He has 2 UK releases with Big Brother Celebrity Darnell and UK Rapper AYO with songs "Warning Signs" and "Honestly Remix" and he is also writing for a animation trilogy. For the rest of 2010 Searle wrote his second album "Dawn of Momentum" with producer TMAC. Last year Kris' song 'Warning Signs' was considered for a Grammy in the Best Pop collaboration with Vocals and Best Short Form Video which compliments his move into his new electro/dance/pop sound. You can listen to a TEASER of the first 6 tracks from the album here.

AN ACADEMIC VIEW OF NORTH & SOUTH - PART I

Any excuse is good to watch again and read again Gaskell's North and South. This time it was my good friend K/V's fault, ehm... merit. She sent me two essays written by two different university scholars saying: "See if they can help you with your lessons". 

Titles: 

1. Taking bearings: Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South televised by Margaret Harris (discussed in this post)

2. A View of North and South by David Kelly (very soon, in a second post)

Sigh. Did she really want to help me with my lessons? 

Mmm...maybe. Fact is, she knows me too well and I couldn't resist. Result is, I GOT DISTRACTED from my duties and start reading them.  Practical evidence of the fact, here's my post about them.
Jokes apart, these essays are interesting. Why didn't we study period drama when I was at university,  I wonder?

MARRIAGE A LA MODE

I  was looking for visual materials to support my lessons on Samuel Richardson 's work to my fourth year students -we are reading from Pamela and Clarissa as well as listening/watching bits from adaptations of the latter (if you want, have a look here) - when I bumped into this interesting series of pictures. Isn't marriage between nobility and commoners, one of the topics of these days? Well, apart from that, these images are precious to visualize the social context of the literary works I'm working on.
So, what I want to share with you is this series of paintings by William Hogarth (1697 - 1764) which I thought could be perfectly linked to our discussion of Richardson's work at school and of some interest for you readers of Fly High!