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Three for Review
Jun. 23rd, 2013 11:45 amHey,
So I've been a bit remiss in keeping track of the stuff I read. Let's fix that:
First up: Diary of a Witchcraft Shop by Trevor Jones and Liz Williams. Ms. Williams is a fairly well-known sci-fi/fantasy author and she and her partner operate a witchcraft shop in Glastonbury. This is a diary of one year in the life of the store.
It's...disjoint and more impressionistic that a strict chronology of events in the store and it slops out into their lives outside the store and Glastonbury in general. And I suppose real life is like that, but it wasn't very cohesive. At least it was only a buck and I don't have to consider picking up the second volume.
Next: Argonautika, The Voyage of Jason and the Argonauts by Mary Zimmerman. This is actually the script of the play Ms. Zimmerman wrote and directed. I'd had a similar idea so I was intrigued to see her take on it.
It's pretty good. The script reads out pretty well and makes efforts to include a generous helping of female characters. There's also some impressive stagecraft that's only hinted at in the script but expanded upon in the back of the book. This points up the only real problem. Ms. Zimmerman states that the play is an in-process, collaborative effort where she starts with an outline and then fleshes out the actual script during rehearsal. Part of that includes the staging. So that means the text is optimized for one particular performance -- hers. How well this would carry over into other productions is a real question mark. Frankly, one might as well adopt her methods and just custom-roll their own Argonautika rather than pay royalties for something that a.) would take a lot of effort to adapt to your local conditions and b.) is the epitome of public domain.
It is an interesting read and the stagecraft ideas are also pretty neat, but it seems more like a resource than an actual candidate for production.
Finally, because we're nearing the 150th anniversary and because I just got a snazzy new boardgame treatment of the battle -- Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen C. Guelzo. My knowledge of the Civil War is pretty sketchy. I can mostly get the years right and tell you who won. This is a marvelous book that takes apart one of the crucial battles of the Civil War and really orients you to how it fits into the larger picture and how the larger picture shaped that battle.
The book really highlights just how close the whole thing was. Not just the battle itself (where dumb luck saved the Union as often as courage and bravery), but the course of the war and the preservation of the US as a whole. Part of Lee's aim in marching north into Pennsylvania was to bolster the cause of anti-war forces who were putting tremendous pressure on Lincoln to reach a peace deal with the Confederates. The victory at Gettysburg gave the President something to rally around and convince the North that the war could be won and that there was cause and reason to pursue it.
That ties into the other interesting facet of the war which was the political leanings and influences of the command in both armies. Since neither side had much (if any) standing army at the start of the war, both sides relied on state-sponsored militias and those militias were under the command of men who were at least as good at lobbying their local congressman as they were at military matters (and in some cases, they were much more politician than general). There are some truly astounding personalities involved and after the war, they carried on quite a few feuds that carried over into the comments about the book on Amazon. Quite interesting to see the defenders of long-dead generals hashing it out.
Anyway, the book is very well-written, provides a solid foundation in what you need to know about the battle and carries you right along from Lee's crossing into Maryland to his retreat and ending with the Gettysburg Address. Highly recommended.
later
Tom
So I've been a bit remiss in keeping track of the stuff I read. Let's fix that:
First up: Diary of a Witchcraft Shop by Trevor Jones and Liz Williams. Ms. Williams is a fairly well-known sci-fi/fantasy author and she and her partner operate a witchcraft shop in Glastonbury. This is a diary of one year in the life of the store.
It's...disjoint and more impressionistic that a strict chronology of events in the store and it slops out into their lives outside the store and Glastonbury in general. And I suppose real life is like that, but it wasn't very cohesive. At least it was only a buck and I don't have to consider picking up the second volume.
Next: Argonautika, The Voyage of Jason and the Argonauts by Mary Zimmerman. This is actually the script of the play Ms. Zimmerman wrote and directed. I'd had a similar idea so I was intrigued to see her take on it.
It's pretty good. The script reads out pretty well and makes efforts to include a generous helping of female characters. There's also some impressive stagecraft that's only hinted at in the script but expanded upon in the back of the book. This points up the only real problem. Ms. Zimmerman states that the play is an in-process, collaborative effort where she starts with an outline and then fleshes out the actual script during rehearsal. Part of that includes the staging. So that means the text is optimized for one particular performance -- hers. How well this would carry over into other productions is a real question mark. Frankly, one might as well adopt her methods and just custom-roll their own Argonautika rather than pay royalties for something that a.) would take a lot of effort to adapt to your local conditions and b.) is the epitome of public domain.
It is an interesting read and the stagecraft ideas are also pretty neat, but it seems more like a resource than an actual candidate for production.
Finally, because we're nearing the 150th anniversary and because I just got a snazzy new boardgame treatment of the battle -- Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen C. Guelzo. My knowledge of the Civil War is pretty sketchy. I can mostly get the years right and tell you who won. This is a marvelous book that takes apart one of the crucial battles of the Civil War and really orients you to how it fits into the larger picture and how the larger picture shaped that battle.
The book really highlights just how close the whole thing was. Not just the battle itself (where dumb luck saved the Union as often as courage and bravery), but the course of the war and the preservation of the US as a whole. Part of Lee's aim in marching north into Pennsylvania was to bolster the cause of anti-war forces who were putting tremendous pressure on Lincoln to reach a peace deal with the Confederates. The victory at Gettysburg gave the President something to rally around and convince the North that the war could be won and that there was cause and reason to pursue it.
That ties into the other interesting facet of the war which was the political leanings and influences of the command in both armies. Since neither side had much (if any) standing army at the start of the war, both sides relied on state-sponsored militias and those militias were under the command of men who were at least as good at lobbying their local congressman as they were at military matters (and in some cases, they were much more politician than general). There are some truly astounding personalities involved and after the war, they carried on quite a few feuds that carried over into the comments about the book on Amazon. Quite interesting to see the defenders of long-dead generals hashing it out.
Anyway, the book is very well-written, provides a solid foundation in what you need to know about the battle and carries you right along from Lee's crossing into Maryland to his retreat and ending with the Gettysburg Address. Highly recommended.
later
Tom
