Literary Houses - nostalgia, fantasy and magical places

I’ve been feeling nostalgic for the fiction of my childhood for a number of reasons over the past couple of months. I found out about the death of Jonathon Crombie, who played undeniable heartthrob Gilbert Blythe in the Anne of Green Gables. I mean yes, he left us nearly a year ago, but I only found out a few weeks ago. Silo cinema screened The Secret Garden, and then The Princess Bride. Plus, taking two postgraduate papers at Summer school alongside work left me exceedingly keen to ignore adult life and delve into something cosier and more magical. Valentine’s Day has probably also had something to do with it – I’ll never again find a love like Tom Sawyer or Samwise Gamgee, after all.

In typical me fashion, I’ve wanted to revisit the literature but I can’t decide. I can’t choose, and what if I find it’s just too junior now and it ruins it for me? I huffed and puffed and requested and returned. Until I found the perfect book. I could not have imagined a better one. I stumbled upon it on a goodreads wander, swooned, and located a copy in the central basement. It’s one of the best basement treasures I have found yet.

Children's Literary Houses is an illustrated guide to famous dwelling’s in children’s fiction. The dwellings’ are taken from such literary delights as The Secret Garden, Little Women, David Copperfield and Alice in Wonderland. The art is gorgeous, and the excerpts are superbly well-chosen. And as if it weren’t already perfect for my current dilemma, it just happens to be written by Lisa Tuttle – one of my favourite science fiction/fantasy/horror writers, prolific from the 1980’s onward – and Rosalind Ashe, who appears to be of the same oeuvre. I infuriatingly cannot credit the beautiful illustrations, which are simply credited as “Copyright Dragon’s World Ltd, 1984”.

Dragon’s World Ltd, though, appear to be an absolute goldmine of fantasy, science fiction and esoteric art publishing out of Surrey during the late 70’s and early 80’s. For fans of Chris Achilleos and Heavy Metal etc, it should be worth investigating. And an added Bonus: Rosalind Ashe, I discovered, published Literary Houses two years prior, and it is just as brilliant.

So if you're looking for a smorgasbord of nostalgia with some beautiful - have a look! 

Happy Birthday Mr Dickens

February 7th is Charles Dickens birthday... or it would have been if he was still alive. And if he was it would have been a rather large celebration as he celebrated his bicentennary - that's 200 years and still going strong.

Today Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870) is still one of the best-loved authors in English Literature. Even Keith Richards is a fan and many people refer to him as the Greatest Novelist of English Literature. The Dictionary of British Literary Characters lists nearly a thousand characters created by him (the exact number is 989). Auckland Libraries can help your explore his world both in print, audio and through the adaptations of his books into films and TV. There are books by him and books about him... over 1,000 of them when I do a search of our catalogue (click this link to see the search results to start your search or narrow it down using the options on the right hand side). Whether you are a child or adult, you can enter Dickensian England and France.

Auckland Libraries are celebrating his birthday with a special event in the Whare Wananga on Level 2 of the Central City Library. Join us between 5.30 and 7.00 pm as we toast the great man (courtesy of Glengarry). Nicholas Reid (reviewer, academic, author, film critic) will propose the toast and will suggest why Dickens has his critics and why he has outlasted them. He will be ably assisted by fellow Dickens fans Iain Sharp and Karen Craig. Be enlightened! Be entertained! Pit your wits against our Dickens quiz!

Authors in the news

A number of articles caught my eye as I was reading the online news this week.

Dickens family seek to overturn writer's dying wish for no memorials (From The Independent)
Author Charles Dickens left strict instructions in his will that he be remembered for his work only. "...no monument memorial or testimonial whatever". Next year will be 140 years since his death and his family are wondering if it's time to change their stance over a memorial of some sort.

Shakespeare goes digital (From Reuters)
"A U.S. and British library plan to reproduce online all 75 editions of William Shakespeare's plays printed in the quarto format before the year 1641.
The Bodleian Library in Oxford and Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC have joined forces to download their collections, building on the work of the British Library which digitized its collection of quarto editions in 2004."

Hutt Valley teacher gets global book deal (From Stuff)
Publishing house Quercus has bought the rights to distribute Bernard Beckett's sci-fi thriller "Genesis" around the world.

Match it For Pratchett! Raising £500,000 for Alzheimer's research (via Boingboing)
Terry Pratchett has a rare form of Alzheimers. He's donated half a million pounds to Alzheimer's research. The "Match it for Pratchett" campaign aims to donate the same and make it an even million. (Okay, technically not this week but still interesting author news. )