Agatha Christie’s Summer House Welcomes Visitors

Roadtrip!

Actually, it would be more of a canoe trip. A very looooong canoe trip.

Anyhoo, the grande dame of the mystery novel, Agatha Christie, spent her summers from 1938 to 1959 at Greenway, a history-rich manor near Dartmouth in southern England. She gave the home to her daughter and grandson, who donated it to the UK’s National Trust nine years ago.

And this Saturday for the first time ever, Greenway will open its doors to we peons of the reading public. The house has been completely restored to the pristine condition it was in when Christie summered there, and the rooms remain very similar to how they were when she was in residence–filled with books, papers, chocolates, flowers.

(Did someone say chocolate?!?!? What time do they open?!?!?)

Greenway opens its doors at 10:30 Saturday morning (oh, OK), and admission is £7.45. For more information, visit the The National Trust website.

 

Story Source  Yahoo  |  Image Source  BBC

February 24, 2009 | Filed Under Authors, Newsies | 2 Comments 

Lost Tolkein Book to be Published

Oh Jebus, I think I just heard every hobbit fanatic — including my own beloved snarkpanion — simultaneously orgasm.

Yup, that’s right, an obscure manuscript by the Hobbitmeister himself, J.R.R. Tolkein, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in May. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun is a retelling of ancient Norse epics and relates the story of the hero Sigurd, a dragon-slayer, and his wife Gudrun, as they seek vengeance on the Niflungs. Yeah, I’m not sure what that means either.

The entire text is in verse, and Tolkein’s son, Christopher, will provide an introduction and notes to the book.

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun was penned in the 1920s and 30s while Tolkein was teaching at Oxford. This manuscript was written before The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings trilogy and before the author had achieved international acclaim.

Hey, as long as Viggo Mortensen plays Sigurd in the movie version, that’s all I care about.

 

Story Source  Yahoo, Tolkein Library  |  Image Source  Tolkein Library, The Sword

February 17, 2009 | Filed Under Authors, Newsies | 1 Comment 

Picasso through Words

It’s a little known fact that Picasso — that big bald hunk o’ painterly manflesh (see photo at left; in particular, check out the size of that palette!) – was an aspiring writer as well as one of the greatest painters of all time. In a new exhibit at Duke University, various pieces of written work concerning the artist are being shown alongside his paintings, creating what sounds like a cool-beans new show.

At one time a roommate to poet Max Jacob, as well as a regular fixture in Gertrude Stein’s famed salons, Picasso wrote hundreds of poems, a few plays, and played a role in several books involving illustration and art.

“Picasso and the Allure of Language” is on display at the Yale University Gallery before moving to Duke’s Nasher Museum of Art. The exhibit hosts more than 70 works of art, which encompass most of the 20th century, from 1900, when Picasso was 19, to 1969, when he was 91. Interspersed with the paintings are items from the literary legacy of Stein and Alice B. Toklas: a series of writings (letters, postcards, even an audio reading) about Picasso. Also highlighted is the role literature played as an inspiration to the artist.

“Picasso and the Allure of Language” runs through May 24 at Yale and opens at Duke on August 20.

 

Story Source  Nashua Telegraph via Rare Book News  |  Image Source  The Age

February 12, 2009 | Filed Under Authors, Newsies | 2 Comments 

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      WHAT IS A SNARK?




      The Snark is a creature created by Lewis Carroll in his poem "The Hunting of the Snark". To give a proper description of Snarks, one must look no further than Carroll himself, who summed them up in one word: Unimaginable.

      But this much we do know: some have feathers, some have whiskers. Snarks sleep a lot, yet they are an ambitious lot -- with very little sense of humor. They love bathing-machines and tend to bring them wherever they go; they are also handy for striking a light. Snarks live on a far-off island, a place filled with chasms and crags, and are constantly on the lookout for Snark-hunters. Their mortal enemies are hope, care, thimbles and forks.

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