My latest column for BitchBuzz is actually a book review. I must say I had fun writing it. More fun than the book. Even better, BitchBuzz is now part of the Glam Media network, so there's hope this leads to bigger and better things for the whole BB crew:There's something to be said for injecting new life into a mouldering corpse, as both Mary Shelley and Herbert West knew. However, it is usually best to wait until the body actually dies. While Jane Austen may not be dancing a hornpipe these days, her legacy is as sprightly as ever.
I know this book, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters -- and the one that preceded it and the ones that will inevitably follow it like mutant spawn or enchanted brooms -- is really at heart just a mash note of fondness for everyone's favourite Regency babe, but like the tentacled Colonel Brandon the Dashwoods first meet in its pages, it is difficult not to look away with a grimace.
Remember when mash-ups first hit? Wasn't it cool to hear "Paperback Believer" and "Smells Like Booty" or um, that one with Cher? Well, for about five minutes or so, it was cool. Video mash-ups, too -- they were popular for a while....
As always, peruse the rest over at BBHQ.
I should also mention my other publication this week, also a review, of Faust: My Soul Be Damned for the World by E. A. Bucchianeri in the Journal of Folklore Research. It's a two volume set all about Faust (for those of you who can't get enough of the mad necromancer).
I've got more guest bloggers coming up; hope you're enjoying the special Women's History Month celebration. It's wonderful to be able to celebrate the multi-talented women I know -- and the women they admire and find inspiring. Men like 'em, too!
13 comments:
Definitely, I gather, more fun to write about than to read. I'm seeing them as loggarheac Wacky Packs, myself.
My own favorite Fausting, THE DEVIL'S EYE (the Ingmar Bergman comedy)...when oh when do we get the DVD, he shirt-rends...
Or even logorheic. That's typing befor caffiene for you.
HA HA HA -- I see!
Particularly since THE DEVIL'S EYE is actually about Don Juan, but I've always seen him as a randier Faust.
Whoa, a Bergman I haven't seen. Hmmm, must see if I can find it.
Hee -- just got it off eBay for $2.99! It's a Tartan Video.
One of my favorites. His best comedy...at least that I've seen (and the uninitiated always seem puzzled by the notion of Ingmar as Laff Riot).
I should probably see if my players can read, with or without minor hacking, a Tartan UK dvd copy...but there really should be a domestic release.
I have the US VHS release. THE MAGICIAN is similarly neglected. Criterio, what's your excuse?
Bergman, I've just read, wasn't too proud of THE DEVIL'S EYE. He should've been.
Well, you know, creators always have their favourites and they seldom accord with the fans' choices. FYI the Tartan copy I got is coming from Hong Kong and says it's All Region. We shall see.
I think Bergman can be very funny -- that's what surprised me most about The Seventh Seal when I saw it for the first time. I realise that Scandinavian humour doesn't always appear to be that to Americans, who tend to need the yucks spelled out (i.e. the inexplicably career of Dane Cook).
Thanks for introducing me to this two volume mega opus. It's a bit expensive right now but I'll keep an eye on it for future purchase.
Wonder if he covers the Lenau-Gounod-Boito and Busoni interpretations. (Mustn't forget Liszt's Faust Symphonie either.)
Truly a champagne taste on a beer pocketbook. ;-)
Well, Jack, now that I've finished the review, I can give it away as a premium...
Send me an email if you'd be interested.
Thanks again for the review, I have an update to report:
“Faust My Soul be Damned for the World” 2 Volumes, Authorhouse (2008) edition is out of print,
however, new Hardcover second editions featuring revised material now available from Batalha Publishers (2010).
(Faust: Vol. 1) ISBN: 978-989-96844-0-9 (520 pages)
(Faust: Vol. 2) ISBN: 978-989-96844-1-6 (850 pages)
Please go to http://greatbooks.bravehost.com/index.htm for more information.
Thank you,
E.A. Bucchianeri
Excellent news!
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