An interview with Helene Hanff, the thrill of uncut pages, women mountaineers, how Kazuo Ishiguro comes up with his titles, resources if Shakespeare intimidates you, and some literary inspired recipes
We just had a great discussion on Lear at my WRM the other night. I also endorse the Arkangels, but I still find it helpful to have the text with me because I can't always remember who's speaking!
Another set of *amazing* resources for Shakespeare are the essays of Northrop Frye. He covers Lear specifically in his collection called "Northrop Frye on Shakespeare" and references it very much in his tragedy section in "Myth and Metaphor" (of which I am currently cherry-picking through the mythos section and it's mind-blowingly awesome). His Lear essay though was very illuminating, and he gives such a helpful framework of the Renaissance understanding of the cosmos and how Lear fits into it. I sadly only had Goddard's Vol 1 which doesn't contain the Lear essay so I need to get on that! And Isaac Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare is like a really thorough footnote, scene by scene.It's really fun and I think super helpful for a novice Shakespeare reader.
Also, I just have to note that this is the first time WRM has ever included Shakespeare... crazy!! I forced...er, cajoled my group about 6 years ago to read Much Ado over the summer, and it was a hit (including lots of love for the Thompson/Branagh movie adaptation); I love seeing other people enjoy Shakespeare!!!
Yes, absolutely to reading the text while listening! I hope it didn't come across that I meant just listening!
These resources are so helpful! Thank you! I've got to get hands on "Myth and Metaphor." And I agree that it's wild WRM is just now doing Shakespeare! I love that you got your group to read Much Ado. I feel like I need to rewatch the Branagh film every summer. It just magically transports you to the sunny Italian countryside.
Absolutely-- the next best thing to going oneself! :D
I was able to get the Frye on Shakespeare very cheap on Thrift Books, and Myth and Metaphor we found in a giveaway pile!! What?! I always hunt up these goodies on used sites because they're often out of print and no one wants them anymore.
I bought it a couple of years ago as a special postpartum read but ended up reading it before my baby was even born because I couldn’t help myself 😂 it was delightful!
I'm so glad you said that, because I had no idea how good an adaptation it was but I have it checked out from the library and am planning to watch it this evening!
Oh how lovely! Another seemingly 'slight' book, with an equally stunning film adaptation is JL Carr's 'A Month in the Country'. The film stars a young Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh and the sadly late Natasha Richardson, and moves me to tears every time...
I adored the film! And that's so funny you mention 'A Month in the Country' because I kept thinking about it as I was watching 84 Charing Cross Road for the same reason--slim book, fantastic adaptation. I love it and J.L. Carr's novel. Natasha Richardson is so angelic in that role!
I recommend watching the Hopkins film of 84 Charing Cross Road right after watching Silence Of The Lambs because you will spend the whole film wondering whether Frank is going to suddenly switch roles and eat a bicep.
Looking forward to exploring these offerings! I read the Hanff book nearly 30 years ago, and I bought the Slightly Foxed edition more recently, but I have yet to revisit it. Will definitely check out DID.
And I will be consulting you in the future regarding the Bard!
I got the Slightly Foxed edition for one of my dearest friends for her birthday. It's beautiful! There are a lot of treasures in the Desert Island Disc archives! Also, I'm going to try to get a post out on Lear this month but we shall see...
Lear is my favorite Shakespeare tragedy. I was lucky enough to see it staged very well when I studied abroad; and it was just a magical moment at a magical time of my life. And I agree that reading it is especially fruitful-I read and wrote about it for a class in depth the year after I saw it in London and just gleaned so much from it.
I think it's by far his best tragedy. I want to say best play period, but that's probably because I'm immersed in it at the moment. That's such a beautiful memory to get to hold on to!
This is such a delightful collection of bits and bobs. Funny I was just listening to The Literary Life podcast episode about 84, Charing Cross Road and thinking about how I should reread it. P.G. Wodehouse loves to quote that serpent’s tooth line but he changes it to aunt. 😂 You’re really wanting to make me revisit King Lear too!
I completely forgot about Wodehouse using that line! So funny! I should listen to The Literary Life podcast episode on it. Their love for books is infectious. Hopefully I'll get a chance to write more on Lear this month. Rereading is making me reel over its brilliance again.
Oh Helene Hanff is such a treasure. Thank you so much for the link to the desert island interview. That was a treat! It's been ages since I read 84 Charing Cross Road.
About cutting pages.... true story, I once bought a book in a Boston bookstore for the sole reason that it had uncut pages. I didn't even care about the title and I had no intention of reading it, I just loved the fact that the pages hadn't been cut. It was the first time I'd ever seen a book with uncut pages and I had to have it. I have no idea what the title even was anymore. Nor do I know what happened to it.
I love the Kazuo Ishiguro interview. His lists of titles are delightful. Also having to tweak the book a little to fit the title. But I hadn't really thought about how "never let me go" is a request that's impossible to fulfill. (Though I would argue, contra Ishiguro, that God is the one person who can actually fulfill that request.)
The Charles Lamb comments about the stage production not doing Lear justice reminds me of a long-running debate about Shakespeare that I had with a college boyfriend. He was a drama major and I was an English major. He maintained that plays shouldn't be read or studied, that they were meant to be *performed*, that when you read a play you aren't truly experiencing it, but only when you see it brought to life by actors on a stage. I never really agreed with him and yet, I think his argument rubbed off on me a little because as a teacher I have tended to prioritize watching Shakespeare over reading Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong, I love to read Shakespeare. But I do think that in order to really get it, I have to watch a performance first. Only after I've seen a play can I sit down to read it and imagine the people and the voices. I don't have a very good visual imagination and I need to see them acted out. Dialogue on the page feels quite flat to me and doesn't live and breathe until I have seen a performance.
I love that you bought a book specifically because it's pages were uncut! Amazing.
I find Ishiguro's titles so evocative and I loved that bit, too, about tweaking the book to fit the title. I agree with your comment that the Christian worldview is the answer to the request in the title, "Never Let Me Go" though this is something I love about Ishiguro. He takes you right to the precipice of a materialist, secular worldview and makes you feel its inadequacy and ultimate tragedy. He never posits the Christian view, but I think the deep sadness that penetrates his work is an argument in itself or at the very least is an expression of the longing for that wholeness found in the Divine Persons of the Trinity.
I don't know which I prefer to do first--watch first or read! I know for a fact that I'll never truly love one of Shakespeare's plays until I read and bushwhack my way through every line and slowly meditate on the themes, but it moves me and takes on an unparalleled beauty when someone delivers a really gifted performance of one of his characters.
"He takes you right to the precipice of a materialist, secular worldview and makes you feel its inadequacy and ultimate tragedy. He never posits the Christian view, but I think the deep sadness that penetrates his work is an argument in itself or at the very least is an expression of the longing for that wholeness found in the Divine Persons of the Trinity."
Yes! That's it, absolutely.
I also like what you say about bushwhacking through every line. And that's why my college friend never quite won the arguments. I think for the actor who is playing the role, that kind of wrestling is done while learning the lines and hearing everyone else's lines in performance. But for the audience the lines wash over you so quickly, it's not the same thing. You need to slow down, wade into the play yourself and really wrestle with the language. Maybe ideally we'd all have the opportunity to wrestle with the plays the way an actor does. That was one of the things I loved about Judi Dench's book The Man Who Pays the Rent-- she amazes me how after a lifetime playing Shakespeare roles on stage she has whole plays in her memory.
The lines do wash over you so quickly when you're in the audience! Especially on that first viewing of any play. I was also amazed by Dench's memory of Shakespeare when I read Man Who Pays the Rent earlier this year! I would love it if I could round up some like minded friends to put on amateur Shakespeare productions, just to soak the language up on that level.
Thank you so much for the Hanff interview, I just read 84 Charing Cross Road for the first time in April and really loved it! So sad about the McDonalds, seems second-hand bookselling has been in decline for longer than I realised...
You're so welcome! I fell in love with the book all over again and then immediately went and put a number of her other books on hold at the library. I'm hoping they'll live up to my expectations. And yes, I don't know what's a worse fate for a second hand book shop than to become a fast food restaurant.
“Maybe I go with the wrong kind of people but I’m just not likely to have twelve guests all sitting around simultaneously eating fruit.” This made me laugh! (Because, me neither :)) (Although it does happen in seminary and convent dining rooms…)
So funny! I can imagine a scene in a novel taking place during the fruit course in a convent dining room. When I studied abroad, my French host parents always served fruit after dinner, and they were aghast when I tried to peel a banana with my fingers. After that, I used a knife and fork, but I did not end up adopting their level of gentility for my own life.
We just had a great discussion on Lear at my WRM the other night. I also endorse the Arkangels, but I still find it helpful to have the text with me because I can't always remember who's speaking!
Another set of *amazing* resources for Shakespeare are the essays of Northrop Frye. He covers Lear specifically in his collection called "Northrop Frye on Shakespeare" and references it very much in his tragedy section in "Myth and Metaphor" (of which I am currently cherry-picking through the mythos section and it's mind-blowingly awesome). His Lear essay though was very illuminating, and he gives such a helpful framework of the Renaissance understanding of the cosmos and how Lear fits into it. I sadly only had Goddard's Vol 1 which doesn't contain the Lear essay so I need to get on that! And Isaac Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare is like a really thorough footnote, scene by scene.It's really fun and I think super helpful for a novice Shakespeare reader.
Also, I just have to note that this is the first time WRM has ever included Shakespeare... crazy!! I forced...er, cajoled my group about 6 years ago to read Much Ado over the summer, and it was a hit (including lots of love for the Thompson/Branagh movie adaptation); I love seeing other people enjoy Shakespeare!!!
Yes, absolutely to reading the text while listening! I hope it didn't come across that I meant just listening!
These resources are so helpful! Thank you! I've got to get hands on "Myth and Metaphor." And I agree that it's wild WRM is just now doing Shakespeare! I love that you got your group to read Much Ado. I feel like I need to rewatch the Branagh film every summer. It just magically transports you to the sunny Italian countryside.
Absolutely-- the next best thing to going oneself! :D
I was able to get the Frye on Shakespeare very cheap on Thrift Books, and Myth and Metaphor we found in a giveaway pile!! What?! I always hunt up these goodies on used sites because they're often out of print and no one wants them anymore.
“Big Mama” ☠️ I’m deceased! You’re a riot. And this whole post is a TREASURE. I’m adding every single book to cart asap!
Couldn't help myself lol! Yay!! There are some great ones in here. If you haven't read 84 Charing Cross Road, you're in for a real treat!
I bought it a couple of years ago as a special postpartum read but ended up reading it before my baby was even born because I couldn’t help myself 😂 it was delightful!
I loved 84, Charing Cross Road and loved this interview. Thank you
Same! Such a gem! You're welcome!
The film of 84 Charing Cross Road - Antony Hopkins, Ann Bancroft and Judith Dench - is stunning too ...
I'm so glad you said that, because I had no idea how good an adaptation it was but I have it checked out from the library and am planning to watch it this evening!
Oh how lovely! Another seemingly 'slight' book, with an equally stunning film adaptation is JL Carr's 'A Month in the Country'. The film stars a young Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh and the sadly late Natasha Richardson, and moves me to tears every time...
I adored the film! And that's so funny you mention 'A Month in the Country' because I kept thinking about it as I was watching 84 Charing Cross Road for the same reason--slim book, fantastic adaptation. I love it and J.L. Carr's novel. Natasha Richardson is so angelic in that role!
Yes indeed, 'same' downplayed, unspoken love story.
Wasn't she, yes! 😍
Oh gosh it is SOO good! So true to the spirit of the book, too.
I love the movie! I'll have to read the book!
Yes, do😊
Oh that's an amazing cast. I need to watch that.
I recommend watching the Hopkins film of 84 Charing Cross Road right after watching Silence Of The Lambs because you will spend the whole film wondering whether Frank is going to suddenly switch roles and eat a bicep.
Looking forward to exploring these offerings! I read the Hanff book nearly 30 years ago, and I bought the Slightly Foxed edition more recently, but I have yet to revisit it. Will definitely check out DID.
And I will be consulting you in the future regarding the Bard!
I got the Slightly Foxed edition for one of my dearest friends for her birthday. It's beautiful! There are a lot of treasures in the Desert Island Disc archives! Also, I'm going to try to get a post out on Lear this month but we shall see...
Lear is my favorite Shakespeare tragedy. I was lucky enough to see it staged very well when I studied abroad; and it was just a magical moment at a magical time of my life. And I agree that reading it is especially fruitful-I read and wrote about it for a class in depth the year after I saw it in London and just gleaned so much from it.
I think it's by far his best tragedy. I want to say best play period, but that's probably because I'm immersed in it at the moment. That's such a beautiful memory to get to hold on to!
What do I need to do to get added to that book club group chat? Move to another city??
I mean...it is a very good reason for moving!! Haha!
What a delightful find you and your writing is this morning.
Thank you so much for your kind comment, Lisa!
This is such a delightful collection of bits and bobs. Funny I was just listening to The Literary Life podcast episode about 84, Charing Cross Road and thinking about how I should reread it. P.G. Wodehouse loves to quote that serpent’s tooth line but he changes it to aunt. 😂 You’re really wanting to make me revisit King Lear too!
I completely forgot about Wodehouse using that line! So funny! I should listen to The Literary Life podcast episode on it. Their love for books is infectious. Hopefully I'll get a chance to write more on Lear this month. Rereading is making me reel over its brilliance again.
Oh Helene Hanff is such a treasure. Thank you so much for the link to the desert island interview. That was a treat! It's been ages since I read 84 Charing Cross Road.
About cutting pages.... true story, I once bought a book in a Boston bookstore for the sole reason that it had uncut pages. I didn't even care about the title and I had no intention of reading it, I just loved the fact that the pages hadn't been cut. It was the first time I'd ever seen a book with uncut pages and I had to have it. I have no idea what the title even was anymore. Nor do I know what happened to it.
I love the Kazuo Ishiguro interview. His lists of titles are delightful. Also having to tweak the book a little to fit the title. But I hadn't really thought about how "never let me go" is a request that's impossible to fulfill. (Though I would argue, contra Ishiguro, that God is the one person who can actually fulfill that request.)
The Charles Lamb comments about the stage production not doing Lear justice reminds me of a long-running debate about Shakespeare that I had with a college boyfriend. He was a drama major and I was an English major. He maintained that plays shouldn't be read or studied, that they were meant to be *performed*, that when you read a play you aren't truly experiencing it, but only when you see it brought to life by actors on a stage. I never really agreed with him and yet, I think his argument rubbed off on me a little because as a teacher I have tended to prioritize watching Shakespeare over reading Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong, I love to read Shakespeare. But I do think that in order to really get it, I have to watch a performance first. Only after I've seen a play can I sit down to read it and imagine the people and the voices. I don't have a very good visual imagination and I need to see them acted out. Dialogue on the page feels quite flat to me and doesn't live and breathe until I have seen a performance.
I love that you bought a book specifically because it's pages were uncut! Amazing.
I find Ishiguro's titles so evocative and I loved that bit, too, about tweaking the book to fit the title. I agree with your comment that the Christian worldview is the answer to the request in the title, "Never Let Me Go" though this is something I love about Ishiguro. He takes you right to the precipice of a materialist, secular worldview and makes you feel its inadequacy and ultimate tragedy. He never posits the Christian view, but I think the deep sadness that penetrates his work is an argument in itself or at the very least is an expression of the longing for that wholeness found in the Divine Persons of the Trinity.
I don't know which I prefer to do first--watch first or read! I know for a fact that I'll never truly love one of Shakespeare's plays until I read and bushwhack my way through every line and slowly meditate on the themes, but it moves me and takes on an unparalleled beauty when someone delivers a really gifted performance of one of his characters.
"He takes you right to the precipice of a materialist, secular worldview and makes you feel its inadequacy and ultimate tragedy. He never posits the Christian view, but I think the deep sadness that penetrates his work is an argument in itself or at the very least is an expression of the longing for that wholeness found in the Divine Persons of the Trinity."
Yes! That's it, absolutely.
I also like what you say about bushwhacking through every line. And that's why my college friend never quite won the arguments. I think for the actor who is playing the role, that kind of wrestling is done while learning the lines and hearing everyone else's lines in performance. But for the audience the lines wash over you so quickly, it's not the same thing. You need to slow down, wade into the play yourself and really wrestle with the language. Maybe ideally we'd all have the opportunity to wrestle with the plays the way an actor does. That was one of the things I loved about Judi Dench's book The Man Who Pays the Rent-- she amazes me how after a lifetime playing Shakespeare roles on stage she has whole plays in her memory.
The lines do wash over you so quickly when you're in the audience! Especially on that first viewing of any play. I was also amazed by Dench's memory of Shakespeare when I read Man Who Pays the Rent earlier this year! I would love it if I could round up some like minded friends to put on amateur Shakespeare productions, just to soak the language up on that level.
Thank you so much for the Hanff interview, I just read 84 Charing Cross Road for the first time in April and really loved it! So sad about the McDonalds, seems second-hand bookselling has been in decline for longer than I realised...
You're so welcome! I fell in love with the book all over again and then immediately went and put a number of her other books on hold at the library. I'm hoping they'll live up to my expectations. And yes, I don't know what's a worse fate for a second hand book shop than to become a fast food restaurant.
I must look her others up! If they're as enjoyable as that one then that would be wonderful.
“Maybe I go with the wrong kind of people but I’m just not likely to have twelve guests all sitting around simultaneously eating fruit.” This made me laugh! (Because, me neither :)) (Although it does happen in seminary and convent dining rooms…)
So funny! I can imagine a scene in a novel taking place during the fruit course in a convent dining room. When I studied abroad, my French host parents always served fruit after dinner, and they were aghast when I tried to peel a banana with my fingers. After that, I used a knife and fork, but I did not end up adopting their level of gentility for my own life.
Ooh that’s a great scene… maybe a murderer is identified by his fruit-cutting technique….
Ha! I would read it!!