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gogmagogThis evening there was an event that I actually wanted to go to - Prairie Lights Bookstore (the local independent bookstore which is VERY GOOD) brought in Susanna Clarke, author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, on the tour for the paperback edition of her book. For those of you who haven't read it, DO IT NOW - it's a wonderful fantasy novel set in regency England during the Napoleonic Wars. This is a period I've been interested in for ages, and there's not enough good fantasy written set during this time period, so I was pleased as punch to see this come out, and when Neil Gaiman recommended it strongly that just cemented the deal. I loved it, and just devoured all ~800 pages. If you've ever read Jane Austen and thought, "you know, what this really needs is WIZARDS," then this book is right up your alley. XD
Anyway, the talk was great - she talked about the process of writing the novel, what was the inspiration for certain things, a little about the fact that it's apparently been optioned for a movie (!), et cetera. Then she read a passage from the novel; specifically, the passage where Jonathan Strange and Jeremy Johns come upon the sleeping magician in the hedge, surrounded by the silent crowd of townspeople with farm implements. (She's actually a very good public reader, and really made it come alive.) Then she answered questions, both from the mediator and from the audience, and I was one of the questioners. (I asked why she'd decided on regency England specifically for the book.) So, when they finally get the archive recording of the event up (it'll be here, but as they're only up to the end of July it'll be a while), you should listen to it - not only for my dulcet tones, but also because Susanna Clarke is a great speaker (and because by then you'll have read her book, RIGHT?).
...Looking at that page of Prairie Lights Live! recordings, there's some that jump out at me. For example, "Jane" Desaulniers is actually Janet, and she's an old teacher of my stepdad's - in fact, the release party for that book was held in Kansas City, orchestrated by my mom and cosponsored by us folks at the Women's Center at UMKC. (Remember it,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rathershady?) Also, Jen and Amy (aka Jennifer Baumgartner and Amy Richards, authors of the feminist books Manifesta and Grassroots) spoke there probably around the same time the WC brought them in. (And I bet courters28 remembers this one.)
Anyways, back to this evening. I got a book and got it autographed (and Ms. Clarke was totally nice and friendly), and I also ran into one of my classmates, Satya. She's come to quite a few of the author visits, and told me that Prairie Lights had brought in Bruce Campbell the weekend after classes started and I missed it! (;_;) So I will now be watching the "upcoming authors" list LIKE A HAWK. I'm probably gonna have to go to their author reading this Wednesday, because they're bringing in Whitney Terrell (author of The Huntsman, and here to talk about his new book whose name I forget). Not only is he from Kansas City, but my parents both know him (the KC literary community is a small, small world, and he's currently a visiting lecturer at UMKC) and I've taken French classes, not to mention a couple of years of Honors Colloquium, with his wife Gayle Levy. So I figure I'd probably better go. x_x
But anyway, I now have my (ginormous, since I bought it in hardcover) signed copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. :D :D :D
Let's Positive Linking!
- Inventor Turns Dead Cats into Diesel. From someone on the flist who I totally forget. x_x
- London's Daily Mail reports that NOLA doctors had to euthanize critically ill patients. I'd take this with a grain of salt - while the British tabloids do often break major stories, they're also notorious for, well, being a tabloid. Still, given the state of things this would not surprise me.
- This is actually kind of old, but if you didn't read Savage Love a few weeks ago, there's a woman who writes in concerned about her friend's Yu-Gi-Oh! fetish. XD
- Also, for you Bleach fans, Kubo Tite has done it again. Massive spoilers for the latest chapter of Bleach, but HOLY SHIT SHE'S BACK. AND SHE'S NOT ALONE. I currently have a colored version of that last pic as my wallpaper. :D :D :D
- And this is a great day for videogame news: a new Sam and Max game has been announced, as has Suikoden I+II for the PSP, and Nippon Ichi's Makai Wars has come out of development hell and been shifted from PSP to PS3. :D~
Edit: Oh, forgot to mention, I watched Final Fantasy VII: Last Order. Oddly enough, it manages to both confirm and deflate my "Cloud is gay" theory. XD
Edit 2: Dude, RPG Maker XP has finally been officially released in English. That's the first non-console Maker release EVER. :D
Anyway, the talk was great - she talked about the process of writing the novel, what was the inspiration for certain things, a little about the fact that it's apparently been optioned for a movie (!), et cetera. Then she read a passage from the novel; specifically, the passage where Jonathan Strange and Jeremy Johns come upon the sleeping magician in the hedge, surrounded by the silent crowd of townspeople with farm implements. (She's actually a very good public reader, and really made it come alive.) Then she answered questions, both from the mediator and from the audience, and I was one of the questioners. (I asked why she'd decided on regency England specifically for the book.) So, when they finally get the archive recording of the event up (it'll be here, but as they're only up to the end of July it'll be a while), you should listen to it - not only for my dulcet tones, but also because Susanna Clarke is a great speaker (and because by then you'll have read her book, RIGHT?).
...Looking at that page of Prairie Lights Live! recordings, there's some that jump out at me. For example, "Jane" Desaulniers is actually Janet, and she's an old teacher of my stepdad's - in fact, the release party for that book was held in Kansas City, orchestrated by my mom and cosponsored by us folks at the Women's Center at UMKC. (Remember it,
rathershady?) Also, Jen and Amy (aka Jennifer Baumgartner and Amy Richards, authors of the feminist books Manifesta and Grassroots) spoke there probably around the same time the WC brought them in. (And I bet courters28 remembers this one.)Anyways, back to this evening. I got a book and got it autographed (and Ms. Clarke was totally nice and friendly), and I also ran into one of my classmates, Satya. She's come to quite a few of the author visits, and told me that Prairie Lights had brought in Bruce Campbell the weekend after classes started and I missed it! (;_;) So I will now be watching the "upcoming authors" list LIKE A HAWK. I'm probably gonna have to go to their author reading this Wednesday, because they're bringing in Whitney Terrell (author of The Huntsman, and here to talk about his new book whose name I forget). Not only is he from Kansas City, but my parents both know him (the KC literary community is a small, small world, and he's currently a visiting lecturer at UMKC) and I've taken French classes, not to mention a couple of years of Honors Colloquium, with his wife Gayle Levy. So I figure I'd probably better go. x_x
But anyway, I now have my (ginormous, since I bought it in hardcover) signed copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. :D :D :D
Let's Positive Linking!
- Inventor Turns Dead Cats into Diesel. From someone on the flist who I totally forget. x_x
- London's Daily Mail reports that NOLA doctors had to euthanize critically ill patients. I'd take this with a grain of salt - while the British tabloids do often break major stories, they're also notorious for, well, being a tabloid. Still, given the state of things this would not surprise me.
- This is actually kind of old, but if you didn't read Savage Love a few weeks ago, there's a woman who writes in concerned about her friend's Yu-Gi-Oh! fetish. XD
- Also, for you Bleach fans, Kubo Tite has done it again. Massive spoilers for the latest chapter of Bleach, but HOLY SHIT SHE'S BACK. AND SHE'S NOT ALONE. I currently have a colored version of that last pic as my wallpaper. :D :D :D
- And this is a great day for videogame news: a new Sam and Max game has been announced, as has Suikoden I+II for the PSP, and Nippon Ichi's Makai Wars has come out of development hell and been shifted from PSP to PS3. :D~
Edit: Oh, forgot to mention, I watched Final Fantasy VII: Last Order. Oddly enough, it manages to both confirm and deflate my "Cloud is gay" theory. XD
Edit 2: Dude, RPG Maker XP has finally been officially released in English. That's the first non-console Maker release EVER. :D
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-17 02:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-17 04:40 am (UTC)So maybe Cloud isn't gay, he's just very molestable! XD
(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-17 05:26 am (UTC)Bleach
Date: 2005-09-17 03:06 am (UTC)Re: Bleach
Date: 2005-09-17 04:42 am (UTC)Re: Bleach
Date: 2005-09-17 05:25 am (UTC)Actually, though, I'm wondering if Rukia was at least a seated officer at the beginning of the series. We didn't really get much of a chance to see how good she was 'cause she lost her powers in chapter 1. Hopefully now she has them back and is at least stronger than Orihime. XD
(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-17 03:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-17 04:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-17 07:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-17 06:13 pm (UTC)...grad school? What grad school? XD
(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-17 05:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-17 06:11 pm (UTC)But yes, I'm glad to see you've recognized the excellence of the novel. :D