Contrariwise

I've been thinking of getting a tattoo for the last decade or so now. I love the idea of etching something onto myself that I can keep as a permanent reminder. I've known what I want, I just haven't figured out where to put it. A while ago I created the design, based off the title of this blog, but I keep holding back because I want to find the perfect place to put it. As you know, once it's on there, it stays.

So knowing that I was interested in tattoos and that I love books, my little sister pointed out the website Contrariwise to me. For those of you who don't know, the title is a reference to Alice in Wonderland. "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrariwise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” The website shows off book-related and literary tattoos, like the Alice in Wonderland themed beauty below.

Based on the John Tenniel drawing.

Others contain only words like this great section of a poem (A Psalm of Life) by Longfellow below.

The tattoos run the gambit from a simple word to elaborate pictures, often taken from the illustration or simply made up. But all of them are book related. Most of them I would be more than happy to have adorning my body. A couple of the tattoos have led me to seek out new authors and books. I am fascinated by the variety of styles and by the number of authors represented. A fantastic site with some inspiring and fun tattoos.

A wild thing from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

A Picture is Worth....

The first real graphic novel I ever read was Maus by Art Speigelman. For those who tell me that graphic novels are kids stuff, I point to these books. Maus handles the holocaust in ways that are hard to describe. Even though the characters are animals there is no mistaking what is going on. The images are disturbing and sometimes truly gut-wrenching. It would be a hard hearted person who read these and didn't swept up in the emotions of the story. And I still claim that this story needed to be told in this format. Somehow the visual portrayal of these actions are so much worse then they would be through words alone. They are powerful stories.

But starting with Maus was interesting because when people would tell me that graphic novels are just oversized comic books (which I've read my share of) I couldn't believe them. Comic books have their own purpose but the beauty of a graphic novel is the depth it can take people. And since that time I have sought out graphic novels that educate just as much as I have the ones that entertain. There is far more to graphic novels than superheros. (although those are fun too.)

A friend of mine recently lent me Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This starkly black and white graphic novel tells the true story of a young girl growing up in a very turbulant Iran. She lives through a dictatorship, a quick democracy, and the Islamic Revolution, until she is finally forced to leave the country. The story is brutal in parts and sweet in others. This is story of childhood told from the safer viewpoint of adulthood. The author mixes tales of relatives going to prisons, families fleeing, and the constant fear of discovery (her parents are revolutionaries). There are silly parts in the book but it left a vivid impression of darkness for me. The book has recently been turned into a film. A powerful story.

But I promise you, not all my reading selection is that dark. As I have mentioned in the blog before, The Arrival is a wonderful story of immigration, told entirely through pictures. The setting is strange enough to not be an identified place, but the emotions are very real. We follow one man as he leaves his family to travel to a foreign land. The reader gets to try to figure out the new society along with the protagonist. Until eventually he is able to welcome his family to the country and show them how to navigate. This is a wonderful story with a much happier ending then either of the previous two. If nothing else check the book out for Shaun Tan's amazing illustrations.

And for sheer humor (but also education) I'm reading Larry Gonick's The Cartoon History of the Universe, parts 1-7. This light and often silly graphic story starts at the big bang and looks at human history from early fish life through the Ancient Greek civilization. There is a long section on the Egyptians that was just fascinating and the stories of early Canaan and Persia are wonderful. For the first time I was able to keep track of at least some of the ancient rulers. Gonick mixes just enough silliness with just enough facts to make for a very entertaining and informative read. Jeff had recommended the book and I have to say I've learned a ton about ancient history and laughed out loud a couple times in the process. There are more books following that bring history up to the modern time.

Nevermore

I was 7 or 8 when I first heard The Raven by Poe. Although I don't remember my exact age I do remember where I was when I heard it for the first time. My dad and I were huddled around the book with him reading the poem out with just the right mix of doom and excitement. I didn't understand all the parts of the poem but I knew that I loved it. Instantly. From the grim "Nevermore" to the "rapping at my chamber door". It was and still is a magical poem for me. I can actually remember the exact place I was in whenever I read any of his works for the first time (something that I can't say for any other author). They just cut deep into my psyche in ways that other stories don't.

Edgar Allan Poe and I have an odd relationship. I am thrilled by his work and terrified by his work. I read "The Fall of the House of Usher" when I was 12 or so and slept with the lights on that night. Now I am a coward when it comes to horror films. I like to say that I have too good an imagination for them. And I don't read a lot of horror, but I keep going back to Poe. "The Pit and the Pendulum" has inspired more horror and torture films than any other work. I noticed that the new Saw film pays homage. And although I won't see that movie, I will still read the story over and over and shiver.

Even before I knew his terrible past (parents dead when he was two, estrangement from his foster parents, homelessness, alcholism, and a pennyless death followed by posthumous fame) I knew that his work was dark and tortured and thrilling. I had an English teacher who spent an entire class reading "The Bells" in a way that none of us could forget. She made us (lazy high school students) pay attention with those words. We scoffed at Wordsworth and Longfellow and even Hawthorne, but we sat rapt in our seats for Poe. It had just the right mix of darkness and violence to catch our attention.

Monday was not just MLK day but the 200th birthday of Poe. I celebrated by reading "The Cask of Amontillado" (one of my favorites) and watching the incredibly creepy animated version of "The Tell-tale Heart" from UPA pictures. So in honor of his terrible life and his torturedly beautiful works, find a dark corner, light a candle, and read some Poe.

Literary lust

I've been quiet with the blog these last couple of days. It's not that I haven't had anything to say but I've been focused elsewhere. I haven't even logged onto World of Warcraft yet this week. What has been keeping me so occupied? Literary Lust. 

I go through these periods occasionally. Literary lust is a brief passionate affair with an author. Okay now before you talk to me about monogamy and Jeff's feelings, don't worry. Basically these periods mean that all I do is read every piece of writing by a particular author that I can get my hands on. And I mean all I do. No housework, little time with Jeff. Heck, its tough to make myself go to work. And the poor cat keeps looking at me as if she hates me. 

I have had literary affairs with John Irving, Jane Austen, Christopher Moore, Neil Gaiman, E.M. Forester, to name a few. These affairs tend to last a couple weeks, until I have exhausted all the books by an author or until I move on to another writer. My current lust is actually an old passion. I picked up a book of short stories by Ray Bradbury and fell all over again. If you can possibly read "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" and not be amazing by the man, explain it to me. Show me where "The Veldt" didn't have enough tension for you. Read Fahrenheit 451 and tell me you are not moved. And then read Dandelion Wine and tell me you are not nostalgic for a time you never lived in. 

I have been reading passionately this past week. Barely pulling myself away to eat. And I love food, almost as much as reading. This lust period is a little different though. I actually mixed in a different author today. Stuck at work with no book, I went online to www.literature-network.com. This site is a free website that offers public domain stories in full text. I picked Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte because a friend had recommended it.Anyone who tells you that the classics are boring have not read this book. Stabbings, insanity, false marriage proposals, fires, and orphans make for exciting reading. I devoured it in two days. I still have not gotten to the library to pick up The Illustrated Man to resume my passion. I have had a taste of the book and need to finish. And then perhaps this Bradbury affair will again be replaced. I don't stay in one place long, at least reading-wise. Until then I will awe at the far-off worlds, tense moments, and pure horror that Bradbury can create in a well crafted paragraph. If you have never read him, pick up Something Wicked This Way Comes. I guarantee you will be hooked.