The Season of Summer: Romance

It’s finally summer!  Go outside!  (Maybe still social distance?)  Do things!  Be active!

Northrop Frye was a Canadian educator, literary critic and theorist.  His most significant contribution to literary theory was his book, Anatomy of Criticism, in which he divided literature into two categories: Comedic and Tragic.  These two categories were further broken down into two subcategories: Comedy and Romance went with Comedic and Tragedy and Satire went with Tragic.  He then associates each of these categories with a season:

Spring

Comedy is associated with spring because it is representative of the birth of a hero as well as the defeat of darkness and the winter.

Summer

Romance is associated with summer because it represents the culmination and fulfillment of life.  Life, in summer, is the triumph over death.  Additionally, as is often in the genre of romance, the hero is married, and thus can create life with his/her spouse.

Fall

Tragedy is associated with fall because it represents the defeat of the hero as well as the approach of the death of winter.

Winter

Satire is associated with winter as it is considered a “dark” genre.  Satire mocks elements of ones self, friends, or society.  Winter also represents the death of the hero.

The Romance of Summer

Summer is hot… and, if you live in Southwestern Pennsylvania, heckin’ humid!  Check out some of these steamy Romantic reads…

Classics & More

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Prospero, sorcerer and rightful Duke of Milan, along with his daughter Miranda, has lived on an island for many years since his position was usurped by his brother Antonio. Then, as Antonio’s ship passes near the island one day, Prospero conjures up a terrible storm…  –Goodreads.com

The Bookman’s Tale by Charlie Lovett

Hay-on-Wye, 1995. Peter Byerly isn’t sure what drew him into this particular bookshop. Nine months earlier, the death of his beloved wife, Amanda, had left him shattered. The young antiquarian bookseller relocated from North Carolina to the English countryside, hoping to rediscover the joy he once took in collecting and restoring rare books. But upon opening an eighteenth-century study of Shakespeare forgeries, Peter is shocked when a portrait of Amanda tumbles out of its pages. Of course, it isn’t really her. The watercolor is clearly Victorian. Yet the resemblance is uncanny, and Peter becomes obsessed with learning the picture’s origins.

As he follows the trail back first to the Victorian era and then to Shakespeare’s time, Peter communes with Amanda’s spirit, learns the truth about his own past, and discovers a book that might definitively prove Shakespeare was, indeed, the author of all his plays.  -Goodreads.com

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases–a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice–with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan–from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he’s making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…  -Goodreads.com

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up — she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.  -Goodreads.com

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn’t normally do. But there’s something about Drew Nichols that’s too hard to resist.On the eve of his ex’s wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend…

After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she’s the mayor’s chief of staff. Too bad they can’t stop thinking about the other…

They’re just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century–or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want…  -Goodreads.com

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Too hot and heavy?  Get in the air conditioning!

Do you have any favorite romances?

-Snicket’s Servant

Of Poe and Lovecraft

Having recently read H. P. Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, the thought came to my mind: Why does Edgar Allan Poe dominate the high school horror curriculum when Lovecraft is just as terrifying, if not more? So, what makes Poe better? Why not include more Lovecraft? This post is dedicated to this pondering inside my head.

Why Poe?

Chances are that you read at least one of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories when you were in high school. As a high school teacher myself, I always did several of his stories because it generated interest in the students and, hey, who doesn’t like a good creepy story? When I taught these stories, I taught them for several reasons: 1) Their connection to American Romanticism, 2) as evidence of Poe’s Philosophy of Composition, and 3) as a representation of the horror/Gothic genre.

Connection to American Romanticism

Romanticism, in general, was a movement that saw thinking move away from strict Enlightenment thought about reason to embrace the power of imagination. In Britain, poets turned predominantly to poetry that expressed imagination through personal experience and the power of nature. Romanticism was also heavily influenced by both the American, French, and Industrial revolutions which were causing upheavals in the everyday lives of millions of people. Nature was seen as a creator, destroyer, preserver, and a balm against the industrialized world, but to some writers, nature alone was not enough to escape from the grinding metal of industry. Thus, people yearned for something beyond the natural.

In the context of Romanticism, nature can certainly be supernatural, but the supernatural can also take imagination to new heights. The Gothic grew out of Romanticism to help satisfy, shall we say, a heightened need for escape that “traditional” Romanticism did not offer. In the Gothic, the supernatural held heightened sway and led characters on more fantastical adventures that did a better job at distracting people from the drudgery and stresses of their everyday life.

American Romanticism also focuses on the expression of imagination, personal experience, and nature, but seemed to permeate the short story as equally, if not more, than it did poetry. (In Britain, when you talk about Romanticism, it’s almost entirely poets and their poetry….) Poe, as a horror writer, takes the Gothic into account in many of his stories. For example in Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” the supernatural is brought into play through the Red Death manifesting as a masked and uninvited party-goer at Price Prospero’s castle. The Red Death is itself a manifestation of nature as a destroyer, and all of this came from the imagination of Poe. So, at its heart, it’s a Romantic story of death. Not every Poe story fits into this exact formula, but Poe has a formula nonetheless.

Poe’s Philosophy of Composition

Poe probably didn’t intend to be Romantic. (For that matter, literary periods are not named while they are occurring, they come to light in retrospection and once a new era has begun or even later.) Poe did intend to follow his own philosophy to write the best stories that he could. In brief, Poe believed the following about any short story:

• The end of the story (denouement) must always be kept in view…
• Every element of the story must move toward a single effect…
• A story should take no longer than one sitting (in Poe’s day, 2.5 hours) or the reader would be interrupted by the needs of everyday life…

These basic elements create a solid foundation with which to analyze a story. Thus making Poe a great opportunity for literary analysis; he identified a clear set of criteria and high school students are generally more engaged when reading his stories and likely to learn more.

Example of the Horror/Gothic Genre

Due to the nature of how Poe wrote, his work lends itself to be very teachable in the high school setting. For student’s who had not yet been exposed to the horror or Gothic genre, because, let’s be honest, it’s deplorable how little these young people read, Poe is an accessible introduction.

However, having read several stories by H. P. Lovecraft, including The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, I felt that I was significantly more impacted by his Gothic horror fiction than that of Poe’s. Why?

What About Lovecraft?

Considering how Lovecraft stands up to Poe related to his connection to a literary movement, philosophies, and and option for exposure to a genre, he is unfortunately eclipsed by a series of factors that are not related to his ability horrify and disturb his readers.

Firstly, Lovecraft and Poe were not writing at the same time. Poe was born, wrote, and died in the first half of the Nineteenth Century. Lovecraft’s was writing much later; his first published story, “The Tomb,” was not published until 1917. So, Lovecraft simply cannot be chosen as a representation of both the Gothic/horror genre as well as an example of American Romanticism.

Secondly, Lovecraft does not have a strict philosophy of composition like that of Poe. Lovecraft does, it appears, heavily incorporate different themes into his writings. These themes often include superstition, religion, threats to humanity, race, fate, guilt, and forbidden knowledge. While these themes can make for a juicy story, Lovecraft’s views of race were… well… racy. So that could be another nail in the coffin.

Lastly, while Lovecraft could certainly be a representation of the Gothic and of horror, if a teacher has covered the base with Poe, they likely do not have time to incorporate another story or set of stories from Lovecraft. It is also possible that Lovecraft may be looked over because he is a good but more wordy than Poe. However, in Snicket’s Servant’s opinion, many of Lovecraft’s descriptions are part of what make his writing so memorable and disturbing.

So, Should Lovecraft be Ditched?

Absolutely not! While Lovecraft is put at a disadvantage when compared to Poe, Lovecraft still evokes a more lasting impact on his readers due to a number of factors. (See my post about The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.) His themes, especially of forbidden knowledge, seem to creep into his readers. Furthermore, Lovecraft does something that Poe does not. Lovecraft has a way of building suspense that continuously piques his reader’s curiosity, even beyond the end of his stories. With Poe, everything in self contained; once the final effect is achieved, things are resolved, and the story ends. Lovecraft’s stories also end in a satisfying way, but he manages to leave a part of the story within us that ruminates and takes longer to dissipate. While we are given an acceptable explanation, we yearn for more.

Or, perhaps, we were brought closer to other worlds that we thought we could have been in a story.

A Selection of Their Best Works

Edgar Allan Poe

According to Interesting Literature, the following 10 are recommended…

1. The Balloon Hoax
2. The Premature Burial
3. Hop-Frog
4. The Gold-Bug
5. The Tell-Tale Heart
6. William Wilson
7. The Purloined Letter
8. The Black Cat
9. The Murders in the Rue Morgue
10. The Fall of the House of Usher

It would be remiss if I didn’t also recommend “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Case of M. Valdemar,” and “The Masque of the Red Death.”

H. P. Lovecraft

According to the Discovery section of Reedsy.com, the following 10 stories are Lovecraft’s best…

1. The Call of Cthulhu
2. The Shadow Over Innsmouth
3. The Whisperer in Darkness
4. The Dunwich Horror
5. At the Mountains of Madness
6. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
7. The Silver Key and Through the Gates of the Silver Key
8. The Shadow Out of Time
9. The Mound
10. Imprisoned with the Pharaohs

In Snicket’s Servant’s opinion, there are two others that should be added to the list: “The Color of Space” and a short novel, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Both are suspenseful, disturbing page turners.

Who horrifies you more?

Your humble blogger,

-Snicket’s Servant

Works Cited

“The 10 Best H.P. Lovecraft Books for New Readers.” Reedsy, Reedsy

Limited, 15 Feb. 2020, reedsy.com/discovery/blog/best-lovecraft-

books.

“The Best Edgar Allan Poe Stories.” Interesting Literature, Interesting

Literature, 18 June 2017, interestingliterature.com/2015/10/the-best-

edgar-allan-poe-stories/.

Lovecraft, H. P. Great Tales of Horror. Fall River Press, 2012.

Poe, Edgar Allan. Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. The Franklin Library, 1979.

Featured Photo

Elchavoman. Poe and Lovecraft. 11 Mar. 2015.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

Charles Dexter Ward
Jagoba Lekuona Huegun

Charles Dexter Ward was born an antiquarian, a word which here means “an enthusiast of old things.” Of this, the entire town of Provedence, Rode Island is aware; Ward could be seen countless times walking the streets of the town admiring the architencture and eating up all of the history about the place as he could find. Eventually he learns of a previously unknown ancestor, Joseph Curwen, and his life takes a turn to the macabre.

Joseph Curwen, it seems, was not your average man. Curwen seemed to be involved in shady buisnesses in his home, about the town, and at his farm on the Pawtuxet Road. What were the lights that glowed from his windows? What were the voices heard in the night? Why did he seem not to age? That didn’t matter much when the town put him to an end.

Much later, Charles Dexter Ward discovers Curwen’s writings and strange things begin to happen again… lights, voices, and changes in his habits. What on earth… or perhaps not of earth… did Ward find? Why has he moved to a remote house like his ancestor? What of the similarity in their appearance? Will Provedence be the same again?

What Made The Case of Charles Dexter Ward a Good Read?

Descriptive Vagueness / Suspense

I have included these to characteristics together because they truly do kind of go together. Lovecraft has a way with his descriptions that begin to lead you into an idea that you will find out exactly what is happening, but also complicate your understanding of the situation at hand. For example, he might begin describing an event which, at its climax, is satisfying to the reader but also introduces something new that the reader yearns to know more about. He is specific, but plays the reader’s curiosity for the next revelation. Now… isn’t that like suspense?

Yes and no… suspense is, more specifically a type of anxious uncertainty about what will happen next. So, depending upon how you look at the situations Lovecraft creates, they are suspenseful, but they are also descriptively vague, which heightens the suspense and interest while adding a new twist and glancing at a concrete answer. If anything, he is a true master of rising action.

A more concete example of descriptive vagueness comes even when the “end” of a certain event happens. For example, in the passages where Lovecraft is describing the “end” of Joseph Curwen when the townsmen raid his Pawtuxet farm, there are descriptions that provoke questions in the reader:

“Then the flaming thing burst into sight where the Curwen farm ought to lie, and the human cries of desprate and frightened men were heard.  Muskets flashed and cracked, and the flaming thing fell to the ground.  A second flaming thing appeared, and a sherik of human origin was plainfully distingished.” 

–The Case of Charles Dexter Ward pg. 402 

The questions provoked by this passage are “what is the flaiming thing?” in addition to the idea that the reader ought to know what the flaiming thing is. This is because Lovecraft introduces the flaming thing as “the” flaming thing versus “a” flaiming thing. The reader is, possibly, intentionally alienated to help evoke a sence of unease and mystery like the event itself. Situations like this happen many times in the story and help to create unease in the reader in addition to making one think that the events they are reading about shouldn’t be known because of their arcane and macabre nature, as described by Lovecraft. See the “Notable Quotes” for other examples.

“Notable Quotes”

“In the middle of a moonlight January night with heavy snow underfoot there sounded over the river and up the hill a shocking series of cries which brought sleepy heads to every window; and people around Weybosset Point saw a great white thing plunging frantically along the badly cleared space in front of the Turk’s Head. There was a baying of dogs in the distance, but this subsided as soon as the clamour of the awakened town became audible… The next morning, a giant muscular body, stark naked, was found on the ice jams around the southers piers of the Great Bridge…

-The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, pg. 396

“The next day Charles resumed his strict attic seclusion, drawing down the dark shades of his labratory windows and appearing to be working on some metal substance. He would open the door to no one, and steadfastly refused all poffered food. About noon a wrenching sound followed by a terrible cry and a fall were heard, but when Mrs. Ward rapped at the door her son at length answered faintly, and told her that nothing was amiss.

-The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, pg. 420

“Mercy of Heaven, what is that shape behind the parting smoke?”

-The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, pg. 461

Does the Book Pass the “So What” Test?

Yes, with terrifying effect! The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a disturbing, suspenseful, and terrifying tale that will make you look over your shoulder. While you do learn what Joseph Curwen and Charles Dexter Ward do under the ground in the middle of the night, you don’t feel like you totally understand, but you also feel like you know too much! I think this is especially the case becasue a person, according to the story, doesn’t need to have a magical bone in their body… the magic–the evil–is in the words… and some of the word are written in the book! Perhaps the reader comes closer to the unearthly and the evil than they care to believe. Read at your own risk!

Similar Reads…

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

The Whisperer in Darkness by H. P. Lovecraft

At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft

The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman

Works Cited

Lovecraft, H. P. “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.” H. P. Lovecraft: Great

Tales of Horror, edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Fall River Press,

2012, pp. 372–475.

Featured Image

Ashraf. Hand of a Ghost. 30 Apr. 2013.

Dracul

Bram Stoker, since his birth, has been a sickly, ill child and confined to his attic bedroom. His family cares for him deeply and wants the best for him, but only Nanna Ellen is able to ease his suffering. Once day after Ellen helps Bram through a particularly severe episode, he seems to be miraculously healed! To Bram’s sister, Matilda, things don’t and up; she and Bram begin to search for more information about their mysterious Nanna Ellen and make some frightening discoveries before she dissapears.

Years later, with Bram now in his twenties and blessed with shockingly good health, Matilda returns home from a trip to Paris. While there, she is certain she saw Nanna Ellen! Stranger yet, she looks just as young as she did so many years before. How could this be?

Bram and Matilda begin to realize there is much more to Nanna Ellen than they knew and begin a new search, in earnest, to learn more about her. Their brother, Thornley, who has secrets of his own, gets involved and the trio becomes wise to the frightening truth about Nanna Ellen… and vampires!

What Made Dracul a Good Read?

The Suspense

Vampires and the fright they create are one thing, but the suspense of a book can only add to what a vampire and the other characters do. I like to think that I am well-read in the genre of vampire books. Some books do a fantastic job of creating both a frighteneing character and thrilling suspense… others fall short and hope that their vampire is thrilling enough to carry the story. The suspense of Dracul is well-created and well-earned. If you see the “Notable Quotes” section below, they hilight some of the most suspensful moments (there are many more). Bear in mind that they are out of context… in context, they are even more powerful!

The suspense in this book reminded me of the suspense I felt when reading a short story, “Let Loose,” by Mary Cholmondeley and in Stoker’s Manuscript by Royce Prouty.

The Perspectives

Like its predecessor, Dracula, the story of Dracul is told throught he compiled letters of Bram, Thornley, and Matilda as well as news clippings and other letters. The varying perfpectives give the book a well-roundedness. The reader is able to get into the head of each character without the use of an omnicient narrator, which seems to heighten the collaborative aspects of the characters. Each character knows they need to work with one another, but has their own reservations and experiences. They all uniquely contribute to their mission and add of the drama and dramatic irony of the story as hidden bits of information are exposed as the story unfolds.

The Vampires

I’m sure a post comparing the different vampires from variuos books is not long in the distance, but the vampires as presented in Dracul are unique and worthy of note. One of the first discriptions the reader gets of a vampire in the book comes from Thornely. The following description is compiled from his first encounter with one, though he does not know it at the time:

“His skin was nearly translucent, lined with tiny red veins that seemed to absorb the light from the streetlamp and glimmer with the dancing flame of the gas…

“Those eyes, though! My God, those eyes. His soul black eyes were death’s own and yet they teemed with life. As his head tilted, I swear on my soul they flickered bright red before retirning to bottomless black pools…

“I daresay his teeth frightened me the most, for when his lips opened, I saw them protruding; they were profoundely white and appeared to be filed to points, resembling the teeth of a canine more so than of a man.”        -from the Diray of Thornely Stoker, Dracul, pg. 213

These identified details highlight the main ways in which Stoker and Barker’s vampires stand out. The other details related to each vampire’s physical descripotion helps to flesh them out more, but you will find them out if you so choose to read the book (you should.) My main point here is that Stoker and Barker have created a suave and menacing creature that only adds to the intensity and suspense of the book.

Interesting Connections

Dacre Stoker is the great grand-nephew Bram Stoker, the writer of the original Dracula. At the end of the book, Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker detail what they were intending to do with Dracul. Overall, there is some mystery surrounding Bram Stoker’s original manuscript… read the book to find out!

“Notable Quotes”

“As we pressed on, a thin mist began to fill the air, and a stray wind drifted through the forest–initially only a mild breeze, but a few minutes later it gained strength, and a gust tore past us. The collar of my coat flapped against mt cheeks, and I pulled Matilda closer. She wanted to go back, I sensed that much, but she would never speak the words aloud; her will was too strong. I often heard the fall winds whistle past my room, but I had never once stood in their midst; I found it exhilarating. The forest was alive around us; from the creatures to the swaying trees, I felt the forces of nature in the night air, the delicate balance of life and death.        -from the Diary of Bram Stoker, Dracul, pg. 79

“I stood there, one hand clutching the sheet, the other limp at my side, unable to look away from the wound at this man’s neck. It appeared to be an animal attack, but that was not plausible, not here, not in the basement of this hospital. Then what? Surely not a man, for what instrument would yield such a ghastly tear? It certainly wasn’t a knife, but the alternatives were unthinkable. -From the Diary Of Thornley Stoker, Dracul, pg. 211

“He can still hear them, though. Their brooding howls break through the night from all around, and occasionally the creature behind the door answers them, sometimes with a howl of its own, other times with nothing more than a frustrated-sounding grunt or the shuffle of agitated feet. At one point, it sniffed the door frame again, first at the bottom, then somehow going up the side and over the top–high above Bram’s head. Bram has no idea how it could do such a thing and tries not to even think about it. -Now, Dracul, pg. 244

Does the Book Pass the “So What” Test?

Absolutely! The book’s story, based on seeds planted by Bram Stoker himself, takes its reader on a terifying adventure as well as tryig to explore the shady details about Stoker’s early life. The suspense of the story is exceptionally well created and carried through each character’s perspective; additionally, the vampires are original and thrilling. Stoker and Barker spin these elements together to create a truly unique read that will not dissapoint… you may find youself looking over your shoulder and avoiding the outdoors at night. No knowledge of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is necessary (but you should definitely read it too!) You will not be dissapointed!

Similar Reads…

Stoker’s Manuscript by Royce Prouty

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal

The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

Works Cited

Stoker, Dacre, and J. D. Barker. Dracul. Putnam, 2018.

A Darker Shade of Magic

Are you bored of this world’s London, England? Are you looking for some adventure? Then V. E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic, the first book in the Shades of Magic Trilogy, is the book for you. In this world… or, I suppose, these wordls, there is Grey London, Red London, While London, and, in the past, Black London. Gray London is bleak and magic seems to have forsaken it. Red London is full of magic and majesty. White London is brutal and unforgiving. Black London was burnt out by magic long ago.

In Red London, Kell, an antari who was taken in by the royal family, is the personal bodyguard of Prince Rhy. While things are certainly good for Kell, a little rule breaking is thrilling as he transports items between Londons, something that has been illegal since the doors between them were closed. While on an errand, Kell comes into contact with a mysterious person who asks him to transport something to Red London. What Kell doesn’t know is that this object is from Black London and a power like he has never seen.

What begins as simple task quickly escalates to a crisis with the balance (or perhaps imbalance) of magic and power at stake. An item, such as the one Kell has come to possess, could give its weilder absolute power… if it doesn’t immolate them first…

What Made A Darker Shade of Magic a Good Read?

The World(s)

Much of the beginning of the book is devoted to following Kell as he completes an errand for the Royal Family. While all of the information given about the worlds at the beginning may seem unnecessary, it actually helps throughout the remainder of the book.

Gray London is the first stop. Magic seems to have forsaken this London and is ruled over by a mad king, George III. Here, things are, for lack of a better term, normal and boring.

White London is brutal and unforgiving. This London is ruled over by Athos and Astrid Dane, a brother and sister who know how to ruthlessly control what magic is left in their city.

Red London is the home of Kell, the protagonist, and is full of magic. Overall, things is Red London and good and its people are happy. Kell and his brother, Rhy, are well-liked and sort-of-celebrities.

Black London is gone… sort of. Black London still exists, but the magic present there burnt through its people and the land. In an effort to stop the spread of this magic, the doors between all the Londons were sealed off. Now, only antari can travel between them.

The Characters

While there are a lot of great characters, Kell and Lila Bard are the two most significant…

Kell by Lesya Black Bird Ink

Kell Maresh, is powerful far beyond the average person in Red London, let alone any London. He is an antari: one of the few blood magicians. At the same time, he isn’t too powerful… he just wouldn’t be as interesting is he were all poweful. Tasked with protecting his brother, Rhy, you learn about his relationship with his brother and what he has done to protect him. In the beginning, Kell appears to be sure of himself and be in control, but everyone, even an antari, has much to learn. A round and dynamic character, Kell learns more about the magic he is so aquainted with.

Lila Bard by Mona May

Delilah “Lila” Bard, near the beginning of the book, has just murdered someone and sank a ship. She’s pretty badass, to be honest. All she wants is an adventure and some freedom. Stealing affords her an escape and a means to an end, but it’s not really getting her there like she hoped. Everything changes when she steals from Kell and levers her way into an adventure and into other Londons. Lila is someone you want on your side: resourceful, cunning, and clever.

Athos and Astrid Dane are also two great characters! But you will have to read the book to learn more about them…

The Conflict

It seems that so many antagonists are bent on world domination. World domination is a siginificant task… perhaps they should think small and then grow big. In a way, that’s what the antagonists might ultimately desire once they succeed in their plot… you will find out who they are and what they’re after. One of the best things about A Darker Shade of Magic is that everything is set in motion by a rock. Actually, it’s half a rock… but, either way, a really powerful rock… from Black London. I think I’ve said enough.

“Notable Quotes”

“But magic that bound a person’s body or mind was not only forbidden–it was a capital offence. Those accused and convicted were stripped of their power, a fate some found worse than death in a world ruled by magic. And yet, Kell bore the mark of such a spell. Worse, he suspected that the king and queen has sanctioned it.” –A Darker Shade of Magic pg. 56

“He doubled over in the alley with a groan, hand still fixed to the grip. The black sword glowed with a dark internal light, and then began to dissolve. The gleaming weapon melted, not down, but in. Through the wound, and into Booth’s body. Into his blood. His beartbeat faltered and then redoubled, steady and strong in his veins as the magic spread. His body shuddered, then stilled. –A Darker Shade of Magic pg. 155

“‘Conviction is key,’ observed Holland, running his thumb over the stone’s surface. ‘You believe that magic is an equal. A companion. A friend. But it is not. The stone is proof. You are either magic’s master or its slave.'” –A Darker Shade of Magic pg. 172

Does the Book Pass the “So What” Test?

Don’t let the book fool you. In the beginning, there is a lot of exposition… if you ask be, not much happens untill about 120 pages in… this is a long time. However, the book does keep you interested and then it takes off! So, in the end the set up is not done in vain. (If you have read Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart, the situation is similar…) The information you learn about the different Londons, about Kell and Lila, and about other significant characters makes the middle to end a thrilling adventure where lives and the status quo hangs in the balance.

In a world that had been dominated by the Harry Potter Series, (Harry and J. K. Rowling are awesome, don’t get me wrong), A Darker Shade of Magic, the first book in the Shades of Magic Trilogy, is a different and refreshing creation that is easy to read, become interested in, and capture your imagination!

Similar Reads…

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, Book 2) by V. E. Schwab

A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, Book 3) by V. E. Schwab

Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, Book 1) by Leigh Bardugo

Scythe (Arch of a Scythe Trilogy, Book 1) by Neal Shusterman

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer (Johannes Cabal Series, book 1) by Jonathan L. Howard

Works Cited

Schwab, V. E. A Darker Shade of Magic. Collector’s ed., Tor, 2015.

The Season of Spring: Comedy

Thinking of Spring lately? Looking to finally going outside again and enjoying your freedom from cabin fever?  Well.. unfortunately… not this year!  Yes, a happy COVID-19 Spring to you, too.  While we might be stuck inside, or at least six feet from the next person, Spring continues on as it bursts forth from the depths of winter.

Northrop Frye was a Canadian educator, literary critic and theorist.  His most significant contribution to literary theory was his book, Anatomy of Criticism, in which he divided literature into two categories: Comedic and Tragic.  These two categories were further broken down into two subcategories: Comedy and Romance went with Comedic and Tragedy and Satire went with Tragic.  He then associates each of these categories with a season:

Spring

Comedy is associated with spring because it is representative of the birth of a hero as well as the defeat of darkness and the winter.

Summer

Romance is associated with summer because it represents the culmination and fulfillment of life.  Life, in summer, is the triumph over death.  Additionally, as is often in the genre of romance, the hero is married, and thus can create life with his/her spouse.

Fall

Tragedy is associated with fall because it represents the defeat of the hero as well as the approach of the death of winter.

Winter

Satire is associated with winter as it is considered a “dark” genre.  Satire mocks elements of ones self, friends, or society.  Winter also represents the death of the hero.

The Comedy of Spring

While this spring is rather depressing, you don’t have to feel that way!  Read below to learn about some great comedic reads!

Classics & More

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde’s madcap farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lover’s entanglements still delights readers more than a century after its 1895 publication and premiere performance. The rapid-fire wit and eccentric characters of “The Importance of Being Earnest” have made it a mainstay of the high school curriculum for decades.

Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen as Ernest while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack’s ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack’s country home on the same weekend the “rivals” to fight for Ernest’s undivided attention and the “Ernests” to claim their beloveds pandemonium breaks loose. Only a senile nursemaid and an old, discarded hand-bag can save the day! -Goodreads.com

The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have”) and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox—the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod’s girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years. –Goodreads.com

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s intertwined love polygons begin to get complicated from the start–Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia’s father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists up when Oberon’s head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of labourers preparing a play for the Duke’s wedding (one of whom is given a donkey’s head and Titania for a lover by Puck) and the complications become fantastically funny. –Goodreads.com

Claypso by David Sedaris

If you’ve ever laughed your way through David Sedaris’s cheerfully misanthropic stories, you might think you know what you’re getting with Calypso. You’d be wrong.

When he buys a beach house on the Carolina coast, Sedaris envisions long, relaxing vacations spent playing board games and lounging in the sun with those he loves most. And life at the Sea Section, as he names the vacation home, is exactly as idyllic as he imagined, except for one tiny, vexing realization: it’s impossible to take a vacation from yourself.

With Calypso, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation toward middle age and mortality. Make no mistake: these stories are very, very funny–it’s a book that can make you laugh ’til you snort, the way only family can. Sedaris’s powers of observation have never been sharper, and his ability to shock readers into laughter unparalleled. But much of the comedy here is born out of that vertiginous moment when your own body betrays you and you realize that the story of your life is made up of more past than future.

This is beach reading for people who detest beaches, required reading for those who loathe small talk and love a good tumor joke. Calypso is simultaneously Sedaris’s darkest and warmest book yet–and it just might be his very best. –Goodreads.com

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

In Amy Poehler’s highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious. Powered by Amy’s charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book full of words to live by. -Goodreads.com

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Of course, if you’re looking for something shorter, there are plenty of stand-up comedians all over the place online!  If you haven’t looked up Joe Lycett, he’s a hoot and a half!  (And if you like the British in general, the 90s comedy show “Keeping Up Appearances” is absolutely hilarious!)

Do you have any favorite comedies!

-Snicket’s Servant

Fahrenheit 451

In the spirit of the Season of Satire, I though that a brief look at some satire would be a good choice of post.  Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 isn’t necessarily a satirical novel, as it reads much more dystopian adventure os sorts, but it seems to ever more increasingly satirize the direction society is moving today.

For those of you who have not read the book: 1) You should read the book. 2) The movie versions are largely unfaithful to the book.  3) Here’s what you need to know.

Farenheit 451 takes place in a dystopian future where books are illegal.  Like our current society, this future society has fireman, however, these firemen start fires to burn illegal books.

Guy Montag, a fireman, loves his job. Then he meets someone with views different from his own.  This experience, and unlikely friendship, lead him to begin to question everything he has known.  Soon, he realizes that he can no longer live in the ignorance his society promotes, and abandons the life he has always known.

Satirizing Society… maybe…

Books

Some of the biggest influences that may have influenced Bradbury to take a stand for books were the Soviet’s “Great Purge,” Nazi book burnings, and also possibly what come to be known as McCarthyism.

For those of you who may not know, the “Great Purge” was a sort of political campaign led by Josef Stalin that sought to repress and eliminate people with views that differed from his own.  Among the multitudes of people involved, many were poets and authors.  Nazi book burnings we are all a little more familiar with.  Similar to the “Great Purge,” book burnings were intended to eliminate the collected knowledge and histories, most specifically, of the Jewish race.  McCarthyism, as it is now known, is the practice of making accusations about treason and subversion without proper evidence.

The purge, book burnings, and McCarthyism all ultimately sought to silence people and ideas that differed or were thought dangerous to the cause of the countries and dictators they were created by.  Books were, and continue to be, one of the best ways to spread ideas quickly and concisely.  This does not make books intrinsically bad or dangerous; it however does show the underestimated power of books.

At the moment, the popularity and consumption of books is relatively stable, however that could be on the decline before we know it.  Younger generations are less and less interested in reading and would much rather watch a TV show and have the show feed them entertainment and information.  If anything is dangerous, it is going to be a population what would rather passively absorb the information that is provided than one who seeks good information out.  All functioning people need to be able to make their own decisions, decisions that they make from their own information gathering, not from easily provided information.

This passivity, I think as well as others, identifies what Bradbury is warning us about, as well as satirizing it: the lack of practical and critical thought.  We need to be active in our information gathering, otherwise, we can be easily influenced by the information that is provided… not the information we learn through multiple mediums and sources.

Technology

In the novel, technology plays a significant role in helping the population of the dystopian city that Montag lives in.  Since books have been made illegal, and by extension reading, all of the members of society must rely on technology, and the people/government behind it, to tell them everything they need to know.  Here in the 19th year of the 21st century, technology isn’t all that bad, but we need to be cautious.

Montag’s wife, Mildred, is the prime example of someone who is unquestionably controlled by the technology in her society.  She is most controlled by their television, through which she interacts with her “family.”  Mildred’s family or “the family” in the book refer to the people Mildred has come to associate herself with just as much , if not more, than her actual, real life family.  She is even able to interact with the family in the TV, which provides gaps in dialogue for people to respond with their own or lines provided for them.

In the 1966 movie, there is a scene in which Mildred attempts to show Montag how much she liked her family on TV and how she can interact with them.  The entire scene is unsettling for multiple reasons.  Most significantly is that the characters on the TV turn and direct their attention upon you, the viewer.  This gives the audience, at least, the overwhelming feeling that they are being watched.  Mildred, however, likes the attention.  Additionally, when the time comes for Mildred to supply her lines whether written or not, she can’t!  Mildred is entirely tongue-tied and unable to respond… she can’t think for herself; she has been conditioned by the technology and the information provided by her society.

I thin it’s also important to note that, in the book, a TV isn’t your average size.  Through Mildred, and other sources, we learn that the TV is the size of the entire wall of the room it is in.  If that isn’t surprising enough, three of the four wall are TVs!  On at least one occasion, the narration refers to the room as a “volcano.” This seems to imply that the room is both spewing government approved programming, but also destroying the individuals who enter it.

Some food for thought:  Samsung just released a 146″ television that they are calling “The Wall.”  Is this book really discussing a distant dystopian future or is it closer than we think?  Maybe it’s here already.

Technology is also seen in the book’s Mechanical Hound, which hunts Montag when he becomes a fugitive from the law.  Like the creepy “family” scene in the 1966 movie, the Mechanical Hound is another element that carries the idea of “big brother.”  It is important to note that the creepy “family” scene is present, as I have discussed it, only in the movie.  The Mechanical Hound belongs to the book.  Throughout the book, the hound shows aggression toward Montag and creeps around Montag’s house.  We learn that Captain Beatty, Montag’s boss at the fire department, has intentionally allowed the hound to agitate him because he is aware of Montag’s dangerous proclivity for books.  Despite the threats of Beatty and the hound, Montag still chooses to leave ignorance behind.

Ignorance

…is bliss?  What you don’t know won’t kill you?  Well, maybe not. We again go to Mildred to look at the idea of ignorance.

If ignorance is bliss, it’s certainly a lie.  While Mildred has pretty much everything she could ask for, she still isn’t happy; she has even asked Montag, on multiple occasions, about buying and installing the fourth TV on the fourth wall of the TV room.  Additionally, it certainly seems that ignorance will kill you.  At the beginning of the book, Montag comes home to find that Mildred has severely overdosed on sleeping pills.  Did she know better?

In my opinion, the big idea here is that being ignorance is both a choice and imposed.  We learn in the book that people wanted a level playing field: there are those who could read and were educated and there were those that weren’t.  The best way the society determined to level the field was to eliminate the forms of knowledge and just give everyone the knowledge they need… well… that the government thinks they need.  If someone in society possessed more knowledge than they were supposed to, most notably in the form of books, they had to be eliminated to preserve the unified ignorance.  So again, people chose to level the playing field, and once it was leveled, it was imposed.

While we aren’t imposing upon by a certain kind of knowledge in the population yet… (or are we?), we need to recognize that we can’t take everything at face value.  We must learn something and then check our sources to see how true something is.  If we only watch or listed to one person or one kind of something, we will have a very narrow view of the subject at hand.  For example, I give you one of my favorite pictures:

This picture, I believe, speaks volumes and is painfully true today.  I think to when Kellyanne Conway, who was a counsellor to President Trump, said that Sean Spicer had used “alternative facts” when discussing the number of people who had attended Trump’s inauguration.  If we just listened to Spicer or Conway, we would have had a very narrow and, let’s be honest, absolutely falsified view of the situation/event.  Montag rejects this sourceless words for one in which he can determine the truth.

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So… is this really a satire?

Fahrenheit 451 gives us a glimpse into a dystopian world where people chose ignorance to level the playing field.  While they thought this as a good idea, it came back to bite them in the behind.  In the end of the story, we learn of a group of people who saw books, and knowledge, for what they were and chose to abandon society to embrace it.  The society they left behind is ultimately destroyed, but there is a glimmer of hope that the new society will choose to be better informed.

Satire is more or less defined as making fun of or exaggerating the status quo of others, yourself, and/or society.  The novel certainly exaggerates society’s choices with its future dystopia and characters, however, as we can see many of the things the books discusses as having a frightening possibility of becoming real; it really kind has transformed into a warning.  And at that, a warning that we ought to heed: Be informed and reject ignorance!  

-Snicket’s Servant

The Season of Winter: Satire

Think of winter.  Not hard at the moment, right?  What words come to mind? Cold? Snow?  Death?  I always think of winter, especially January, as dark. Once all of the Christmas decorations go away, there’s nothing but the icy coldness and darkness of winter.  Perhaps by friend Northrop Frye thought similarly.

Northrop Frye was a Canadian educator, literary critic, and literary theorist.  His most significant contribution to literary theory was his book, Anatomy of Criticism, in which he divided literature into two categories: Comedic and Tragic.  These two categories were further broken down into two subcategories: Comedy and Romance with Comedic and Tragedy and Satire with Tragic.  He then associates each of these categories with a season:

Spring

Comedy is associated with spring because it is representative of the birth of a hero as well as the defeat of darkness and the winter.

Summer

Romance is associated with summer because it represents the culmination and fulfillment of life.  Life, in summer, is the triumph over death.  Additionally, as is often in the genre of romance, the hero is married, and thus can create life with his/her spouse.

Fall

Tragedy is associated with fall because it represents the defeat of the hero as well as the approach of the death of winter.

Winter

Satire is associated with winter as it is considered a “dark” genre.  Satire mocks elements of ones self, friends, or society.  Winter also represents the death of the hero.

The Satire of Winter

While winter wi well underway, it’s never too late for a good book.  Here are some great adventures in the genre of satire.

Classics

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever.  –Penguin Classics

Animal Farm by George Orwell

A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible.  –Goodreads.com

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

Shipwrecked and cast adrift, Lemuel Gulliver wakes to find himself on Lilliput, an island inhabited by little people, whose height makes their quarrels over fashion and fame seem ridiculous. His subsequent encounters – with the crude giants of Brobdingnag, the philosophical Houyhnhnms and the brutish Yahoos – give Gulliver new, bitter insights into human behaviour. Swift’s savage satire view mankind in a distorted hall of mirrors as a diminished, magnified and finally bestial species, presenting us with an uncompromising reflection of ourselves.  –Goodreads.com

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a retinue that includes a beautiful naked witch and an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka. The visitors quickly wreak havoc in a city that refuses to believe in either God or Satan. But they also bring peace to two unhappy Muscovites: one is the Master, a writer pilloried for daring to write a novel about Christ and Pontius Pilate; the other is Margarita, who loves the Master so deeply that she is willing literally to go to hell for him.  –Goodreads.com

1984 by Georg Orwell

Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake and persecutes those who dare to commit thoughtcrimes. But as he starts to think for himself, Winston can’t escape the fact that Big Brother is always watching…  –Signet Classics

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Of course, if you’re looking for something shorter, “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift is always a good choice… if you want to eat babies…

Leave a comment with your Winter Satire suggestions!

-Snicket’s Servant

Indiana Jones: The True Adventurer

Netflix recently added everyone’s favorite adventure movies to their ever expanding library: Indiana Jones.  From the moment my family watched Raiders of the Lost Ark with me, I was hooked.  (My first experience with an adventure story was in 7th or 8th grade when my class read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  This book was also much enjoyed.)  With Netflix’s recent additions, I began to think about why I liked the Indiana Jones movie so much.  Thinking of other adventure stories, I think of Disney’s National Treasure and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Mummy, Laura Croft: Tomb Raider, and The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (among the others). These movies are all entertaining as well, but there is something that sets Indiana Jones easily above the rest.

So, shall we take an adventure to discover what makes an adventure story truly mesmerizing?

The Adventure Story

If you ask any of a number of dictionaries, there isn’t really a concrete definition of an adventure story.  Some dictionaries might say “a story about an adventure,” but that’s about as helpful as a Phillips head screwdriver with flat head screws.  Definitions that several dictionaries will give you if you search “adventure story” are:

Story: a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events.

Thriller: a suspenseful adventure story or play or movie. (This is a terrible definition for an “adventure story” because it uses “adventure” in the definition…)

Saga: a narrative telling the adventures of a hero, family, or group of people, often about the people of Iceland.  (My thoughts on Njal’s Saga are a post in themselves…)

So, as you can see… there isn’t a great definition of adventure story.  A “story” can be anything.  A “thriller” can be its own genre of writing and movie (see Alfred Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” if you’re interested).  A “saga” brings to mind the Odyssey or the Iliad… which certainly are adventures, however, they’re not Indiana Jones.

The best “definition” that I can offer for an “adventure story” is:

A high-intensity, fast-paced story that includes dangerous, often physical, action which follows a character and his or her companions, beyond their normal lives, to achieve a goal.

In my humble opinion, Indiana Jones certainly fits the bill.  So, with a much more concrete definition identified, we can proceed.

The Adventures

Raiders of the Lost Ark

To say that the first installment of the Indiana Jones series is a humble beginning is entirely inaccurate.  The first installment is a slam dunk action-packed adventure that includes all parts of our definition of an adventure story.

We have from the get-go a high-intensity, fast-paced, dangerous, and physical story.  To highlight a few examples: Indy is almost flattened by a giant rolling boulder booby trap; he is almost shot and burned to death in a remote Himalayan bar; he is seemingly sealed in a millenniums old chamber (sans the Ark of the Covenant); is almost blown up in a flying wing plane while fighting a giant and saving his beloved Marion; and is almost vaporized(?) by the Ark of the Covenant itself.  There are many, many more instances in just this one movie, but you should watch it for yourself.

Indy is not alone on his adventure!  He has his good friends Marion, Marcus, Sallah, and others to help him on his way.  Marcus and Sallah often serve as comic relief characters, which also make the movies very funny (especially in The Last Crusade) but, in Raiders, Marion is key.

While we learn that Indy hasn’t seen Marion for a while, and they didn’t leave each other on the greatest of terms, she becomes, perhaps, the most beloved “Jones girls” of the series.  Marion herself has a wide array of abilities, especially her ability to drink anyone under the table.  She can be both damsel in distress as well as capable helper, but most significantly loved by all.

If you haven’t seen the movies, and haven’t caught on, the goal for the first movie is to discover the lost Ark of the Covenant and keep it from the Nazis.  As Amy Farrah Fowler reveals in an episode of The Big Bang Theory, the Nazis would have found the Ark (and died) whether Indiana Jones was involved or not, however, as many have said, sometimes the journey is as enjoyable as the destination.  And I think that is one of the best parts of Raiders;  the climactic scene when the Nazis open the Ark is awe-inspiring, but the watcher has a heck of a good time watching Indy fighting the Nazis to get there, especially since Indy is “making it up as he goes.”

The Temple to Doom

One thing that is often missed about The Temple of Doom is that it is a prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Our beloved directors did not want the Nazis to be the antagonist a second time in a row.  This time, however, things was a little more creative.  Our antagonists, providing Indy with many high intensity and physically dangerous action and us with endless entertainment, are the members, both willing and unwilling, of the Thuggee cult.

The Thuggees are an entertaining, dangerous, and exciting creation, but also brought criticism upon the movie.  The Thuggees praised the goddess Kali as a rather demonic destroyer that desired human sacrifices.  Kali is a Hindu goddess, and is a destroyer, but a destroyer of evil forces… things that she does destroy allow for goodness to reign.  Furthermore the movie helped to garner the creation of the PG-13 movie rating.  I would say that that was an appropriate move since not everyone was prepared to see someone have their still beating heart ripped out of their chest and then be lowered into a lava pit as well as several characters being whipped as a punishment and/or torture.

Moving on.

The goal of out dearest Indiana Jones for The Temple of Doom was to recover a mystical stone that helped to protect a village in Northern India.  The people of the village believe that members of the Thuggee cult were responsible for the theft of the stone as well as the kidnapping of all the children from the village.  Village elders believed that Indy, “Jones girls” Willie Scott (surely an homage to the Wilhelm Scream given how much she shrieks in the movie), and sidekick Short Round were sent by Shiva to bring back the stone and the children.  The Sankara stone, Sivalinga, as Indy explains and as is revealed throughout the movie, is one of five and could bring both life and destruction to those possessed them all.  Indy also reveals that the stone would bring fortune and glory if he found any one of them… so off they go to Pankot Palace and a whole lot of trouble.

As I have already said, the Thuggees bring plenty of high-intensity and physical danger to Indy and company.  Most notably through a booby trap that Indy discovers that almost crushes and stabs himself and Short Round to death.  Luckily, they are saved by Willie after she gets over being a diva for a moment and confronts a room full of bugs.  Later, Indy is almost crushed to death again, however this time in a rock crushed while fighting a behemoth of a child chain gang overseer.  Lastly, Indy, Willie, and Short Round come close to their demise in an epic mine cart chase and are almost washed out of the mine in a deluge of water from a storage reservoir.

One of the most interesting things about The Temple of Doom is the mine cart chase itself. Production only had so much space at the location of filming.  The relatively short length of actual track was lit differently each time the carts passed through to create the illusion that it was another section of track.  Furthermore, several scenes were created using stop-motion models.  Watching the movie, you might never notice the difference unless you know what to look for.

The Last Crusade

The Last Crusade tackled perhaps the ultimate adventure: the quest for the Holy Grail.  I think it is important to recognize that while Indy is on yet another adventure, it is also a quest.  The thing about quests is that the hero of the quest often unexpectedly finds more or less than what he or she is actually looking for.  In The Last Crusade, Indy not only finds (and quickly looses) the Holy Grail, but he also heals his relationship with his father.  With the action, comedy, and the deeper story between Indy and his dad make for a very round movie.

It is interesting to recognize that Indiana Jones is largely a flat character. Throughout Raiders of the Lost ark and The Temple of Doom, Indy’s character stays the same: he wins some, he loses some, he get the girl, and he achieves his goal.   While he also does this in The Last Crusade, Indy’s father adds another dimension that the other movies did not have.

The high-intensity, fast-paced, dangerous. and physical action of the movie brings back elements of the previous two, but also adds a certain amount of humor.  Indy’s father, played by the one-and-only Sean Connery, helps to add that humor in the burning castle’s rotating fireplace, in the motorcycle side car, the zeppelin, using his umbrella to disturb a flock of seagulls to crash a plane, and simply in the dynamic between the two characters.  Additionally, the Nazis have returned and the “Jones girl,” Dr. Elsa Schneider,  is one of them… if only Marion were back in the picture…

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not going to say much about The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  While it’s, surprisingly, a little over ten years old, its making and action are just… different from the original three adventures.  It is certainly an interesting movie and brings back the Ark of the Covenant as well as our beloved Marion, however the spirit, shall we say, of the movie is missing.  Perhaps my final words will help flesh out what I mean.

So, Why is Indiana Jones the True Adventurer?

The biggest reason Indiana Jones is the true adventurer is because all the stunts except a very few, actually had to be performed by a human person.  To a certain extent, the danger was real for the actors and stunt doubles.

For example, Harrison Ford and his stunt double were actually dragged behind the truck carrying the Ark of the Covenant.  A trough was dug for the truck to drive over so there would be enough clearance for a person to fit underneath.  Other stunts were not as dangerous, but still physically demanding, like swinging from place to place on a whip, running across train cars, and getting into choreographed fist fights.

Another element that makes the Indiana Jones movies true adventures is the element of magic in each movie.  In Raiders of the Lost Ark, we witness the power of God.  In The Temple of Doom we witness the power of Kali, while misappropriated, and voodoo.  In The Last Crusade we see the power of the Holy Grail.  The element of magic brings a sort of romance to the movies that other adventure movies lack.

So, what do you think?  Is Indiana Jones the true adventurer, or does someone else deserve the title?  Personally, I don’t think anyone can compare!

-Snicket’s Servant

The Romance of Steam

The steam engines and the wonder of the Pennsylvania Railroad were probably what first attracted me to steam engines.  I also have to say that Thomas the Tank Engine also played a hand as well.  From time to time, amid the stress of school and other aspects of life, I find myself on YouTube searching for videos of trains passing by.  I can spend hours looking at old footage of Pennsylvania locomotives high balling down the main line, their piston in a roar as the speed by.  While surfing through these videos, I came across a channel called Distant Signal.  Distant Signal is run by Danny Harmon (or Railfan Danny on Facebook) who lives in central Florida and has numerous fantastic videos of the trains he follows through the area.  From his videos, I have learned a lot about CSX trains and signals and just really like watching the trains pass by.  While I do enjoy watching the trains of today speed by, I begin to thing of the glamour of the steam era and how romantic it must have been to ride in Pullman cars and arrive in ornate stations.  I also begin to wonder why I believe that steam is romantic…

What makes steam romantic?  Is it the breathing of the locomotive?  Is it the majesty of their moving parts?  Is it the grandeur of the stations?  What exactly makes steam tick is different for each person… if their not a diesel fanatic… but these things really stand out to me.

The Romance of the Locomotive

Today, many things seem self-contained.  This both by design and necessity.  The sleek design of today’s products make them attractive as well as, in many cases, safer.  Sometimes the things that we purchase have moving parts that we could get injured in and for that reason are covered.  A significant part of the romance of the locomotive is being able to see its moving parts.  In the 21st century, we don’t often get to see the moving parts of things because of their design, however in the age of steam, moving parts were all over the place on locomotives.

The most significant visible moving parts of steam locomotives are the pistons and coupling rods.  Looking at all the different wheel combinations and their coupling rods has always fascinated me as well as seeing them work.  Perhaps my favorite steam locomotive is the Pennsylvania K4s Pacific.  This steam locomotive was the Pennsylvania

PRR Engine No. 1361

Railroad’s passenger workhorse that most famously pulled the Broadway Limited from New York City to Chicago.  Its six big driving wheels and powerful pistons quickly pulled passenger trains through the Allegheny Mountains to Pittsburgh and on westward.  Its whistle echoed through valleys and across rivers as it claimed its spot in history.

While the moving pistons and coupling rods of steam engines are fascinating, they also posed dangers.  Exposed moving parts were great places for hands to be mangled in and also required much more maintenance than today’s diesels.  Engines low on water ran the risk of exploding among many other dangers that could befall a train on the tracks.  It is, however, this danger that adds to the romance of steam engines.  Only trouble… and danger… is interesting.

 

The Grandeur of a Train Station

If you were to mention train travel or grand old train stations to a passerby, chances are that they would think of Grand Central Station (really Grand Central Terminal) in New York City.  Grand Central Station is a fantastic example of an elaborate, and still used, station of days gone by, however many people don’t know of New York’s other, and lost, grand station… and arguable far grander than Grand Central.

New York’s Pennsylvania Station.  Photo from Wikipedia.

The Pennsylvania Railroad, truly dominating the state and states adjacent, build their grandest station in New York City.  Pennsylvania Station was a beaux-arts masterpiece of midtown Manhattan from 1910 to 1963.  With the ability to accommodate 144 trains per hour on 21 tracks and 11 platforms, by 1935 it had served over 1 billion passengers. Unfortunately, as the demand for passenger train travel declined after WWII, the station began falling into disrepair.  Finally in 1963, demolition began on the grand old building and Madison Square Garden, and several other new buildings, took its place.

The grandeur of New York’s Pennsylvania Station is a fantastic example of the romance of steam.  Today we simply do not have buildings that are as thrilling as those we had before…

The eastern facade of Pennsylvania Station. Photo from Wikipedia.

The main waiting room of Pennsylvania Station. Photo from Wikipedia.

Interior of the Main Concourse of Pennsylvania Station. Photo from Wikipedia.

So, What About the Romance of Steam?

The romance of steam grows out of the breathing of the locomotive, the majesty of a locomotive’s moving parts, and it the grandeur of the stations… but also, perhaps, because these things are no longer here.  No matter who we are, we will always think of and long for that which is no longer here whether it be a grand old train station or the memory of a childhood Christmas.  As William Wordsworth wrote in “Ode: Intimations of Immortality”:

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,

The earth, and every common sight,

To me did seem

Appareled in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.

It is not now as it hath been of yore;-

Turn wheresoe’er I may,

By night or day,

The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

And sometimes, I wonder: Do I have more fun dreaming of what it might have been like?  Or would I have had a greater time being there?  That, I cannot decide.

– Snicket’s Servant