Epigraph Philosophy

I love a good epigraph.

A well-chosen, thoughtful epigraph can establish the tone for the book journey you're about to embark on. However many authors spend a lot of time and effort on finding the perfect epigraph only for it to be skimmed over by most readers.

For the reader who does consider the epigraph, its true significance may not become apparent until the end of the book, by which time it has been long forgotten.

It's time to rectify this sad, sad wrong.
It's time to save the epigraph from obscurity!

I'm currently reading one of this year's Miles Franklin shortlisted books, The Last Days of Ava Langdon by Mark O'Flynn. His epigraph is by Oscar Wilde, Letters from Paris, 1900.

The Last Days of Ava Langdon is loosely based on the real life story of Eve Langley, author of The Pea Pickers. She and her sister, famously, defiantly dressed as a young men during the 1920's and travelled around rural Victoria picking peas and hops. She used her memories and experiences of this time to create her book The Pea Pickers.

At some point after this, it is claimed that she began 'equating creativity and artistic freedom with masculinity'. In 1954 she changed her name by deed poll to Oscar Wilde, who she believed was her alter ego. J. L. Thwaite's biography of her was titled The Importance of Being Eve Langley (1989).

The Oscar Wilde connection is, therefore, pretty obvious, but I am yet to understand the reference to miracles. There is a religious element as well as a homage to a Shakespearean quote from Henry V i. i. 67 It must be so; for miracles are ceased;

but the rest is yet to be discovered.

The full quote from Letters to Paris is:

I hope to be in Rome in about 10 days - and this time I really must become a Catholic - though I fear that if I went before the Holy Father with a blossoming rod it would turn at once into an umbrella or something dreadful of that kind. It is absurd to say that the age of miracles is past. It has yet to begun.

It’s been twenty years since Ava Langdon published her much-lauded novel The Apple Pickers, but today could very well be the day her genius is finally recognised again. Armed with a freshly completed manuscript, a yellow cravat and a machete, Ava strides out into the world in the hope of being published – and so the adventure begins. Despite being dismissed as an eccentric – or worse – by the world around her, and battling poverty and age, Ava’s internal world remains vivid; her purpose, clear. 

Author Mark O’Flynn first learned about legendary Blue Mountains writer and recluse Eve Langley when he stumbled across her abandoned hut outside the small town of Leura. Though he moved on to other projects, Langley’s voice stayed with him: ‘Why did she change her name (by deed poll) to Oscar Wilde? Why the romantic preoccupation with her past? So little is known of her final days.’ O’Flynn’s fascination with her life eventually led to the creation of the irrepressible Ava Langdon. 

Rich in wordplay and colourful anecdote, The Last Days of Ava Langdon is an intimate, witty and soulful conjuring of a once-great artist in her final days, which will leave the reader questioning – what passion would sustain you if everything was lost?

Epigraph Philosophy has the potential to become a personal meme. I like taking the time to research these quotes. It has added to my reading pleasure.

Have you come across a particularly meaningful, insightful or startling epigraph in your recent reading?

I'd love to know what it is and why it took your fancy.

Did you connect to it personally?
Did it put you off or lead you into the story?
Did the quote only make sense once you got into the story? Or at the end?
What does a little bit of googling reveal about your epigraph?

If you'd like to write your own #epigraphphilosophy post please add you link in the comments below.
Use <a href="URL">word</a> to make your link hyper.

If this becomes a thing, I would happily consider another name/hashtag, if any of you have a talent for naming memes!

To finish, I leave you with a Montaigne quote,

I quote others only in order the better to express myself.

Epigraph Philosophy

I love a good epigraph.

A well-chosen, thoughtfully considered epigraph can set just the right tone for the book journey you are about to embark on. However so many authors spend much time and effort on finding a fitting epigraph only for it to be skimmed over by most readers.

For the reader who does consider the epigraph, its true significance may not become apparent until the end of the book, by which time it has been long forgotten.

I want to rectify this sad, sad wrong, here today.

I'm currently reading The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry.

Set in Victorian London and an Essex village in the 1890's, and enlivened by the debates on scientific and medical discovery which defined the era, The Essex Serpent has at its heart the story of two extraordinary people who fall for each other, but not in the usual way. 

They are Cora Seaborne and Will Ransome. Cora is a well-to-do London widow who moves to the Essex parish of Aldwinter, and Will is the local vicar. They meet as their village is engulfed by rumours that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming human lives, has returned. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist is enthralled, convinced the beast may be a real undiscovered species. But Will sees his parishioners' agitation as a moral panic, a deviation from true faith. Although they can agree on absolutely nothing, as the seasons turn around them in this quiet corner of England, they find themselves inexorably drawn together and torn apart. 

Told with exquisite grace and intelligence, this novel is most of all a celebration of love, and the many different guises it can take.

Perry begins her tale with an epigraph from Michel de Montaigne, On Friendship.

Straight away I had a personal connect to this quote. It sums up beautifully how Mr Books and I feel about each other (although, apparently, Montaigne himself didn't believe that women were capable of this level of emotion, but that's another story!)

Montaigne's quote also gives me another clue about the romance that is at the centre of this story.

Furthermore, on the blurb for Montaingne's book, On Friendship, it says,

Michel de Montaigne was the originator of the modern essay form; in these diverse pieces he expresses his views on relationships, contemplates the idea that man is no different from any animal, argues that all cultures should be respected, and attempts, by an exploration of himself, to understand the nature of humanity.

Not only the epigraph, but the author of the epigraph, highlight Perry's intentions in The Essex Serpent. In this case, the pertinence of the epigraph is apparent from the beginning.

This post is now beginning to feel rather meme-ish to me.

Have you come across a particularly meaningful, insightful or startling epigraph in your recent reading?

I'd love to know what it is and why it took your fancy.

Did you connect to it personally?
Did it put you off or lead you into the story?
Did the quote only make sense once you got into the story? Or at the end?
What does a little bit of googling reveal about your epigraph?

If you'd like to write your own #epigraphphilosophy post please add you link in the comments below.
Use <a href="URL">word</a> to make your link hyper.

If this becomes a thing, I would happily consider another name/hashtag, if any of you have a talent in naming memes!

To finish, I leave you with another Montaigne quote,

I quote others only in order the better to express myself.

Leap Year Book Challenge 2016

Leap Year babies will tell you how special it is to be born on the 29th February.

To celebrate a once in 4 year event - go to page 29 of the book you're reading right now and copy the first sentence onto your blog or into my comments section. 

Four years ago today I came upon this little book meme doing the rounds on facebook. I decided to re-jig the idea for the 2016 leap year.

I hope you can join me.

My book for the 2016 Leap Year is Little Men by Louisa May Alcott.

My page 29 quote:

The last prank had been to give the hens bread soaked in rum, which made them tipsy and scandalised all the other fowls, for the respectable old biddies went staggering about, pecking and clucking in the most maudlin manner, while the family were convulsed with laughter at their antics, till Daisy took pity on them and shut them up in the hen-house to sleep off their intoxication.

A few views from Halong Bay Vietnam....

"Getting in touch with the beauty of nature makes life much more beautiful, much more real."
You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh

Halong Bay is beautiful, magical and impossible to capture.

There is a majesty in the simplicity of these limestone karsts. It's difficult to accurately capture their scale & depth.

But there is another side to Halong Bay.

The side that is on the brink of bring overdeveloped, exploited and ultimately depleted. The abundance of tourists & boats is overwhelming.

It was hard not to feel guilty at times for being there and being a part of the environmental destruction.

But there were bays and coves where one could feel like you were the only person left on earth (except for the crew on the boat!) The silence was extraordinary - broken only by lapping waves and birdsong. The peace and serenity, though fleeting, were healing in their purity. And their unexpectedness.

Like Venice, one could focus on the rubbish floating around the busier sections of Halong Bay. 

Or like Venice, you could focus on the marvels of the (natural) world.

I chose to focus on the magical beauty of Halong Bay. But the detrimental impact of human beings was never very far from my consciousness or conscience.

I sincerely hope that the Vietnamese government can work out a reasonable and environmentally ethical solution soon to this dilemma. It must be possible to enjoy this world & it's simple beauty without destroying it at the same time.

Books as therapy

Random Quote Time

Angela Mollard from The Sunday Telegraph's Sunday Magazine August 11 2012 gives advice to her young daughter . 

 "Books are great solace when you need a break from your own story."

Joshua Krause "Solace, In Excerpts" (2008)

"Remember when you were little and you loved kaleidoscopes? The tiniest twist, and the pattern would change. Life's like that - but be exhilarated, not cowed. Talk 'til dawn, swim behind waterfalls, kiss. Be brave. Ahead are days of miracle and wonder."

I love how some days you just stumble across the exact thing you need to keep going.

Book Beginnings on Fridays

Although it is strictly speaking, no longer Friday where I live, I figure it is Friday still somewhere in the world!

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

This week I am reading 'Bring Up the Bodies' by Hilary Mantel.

The opening lines (after several pages of cast of characters and family trees) are...

"His children are falling from the sky. He watches from horseback, acres of England stretching behind him; they drop, gilt-winged, each with a blood-filled gaze. Grace Cromwell hovers in thin air. She is silent when she takes her prey, silent as she glides to his fist. But the sounds she makes then, the rustle of feathers and the creak, the sigh and riffle of pinion, the small cluck-cluck from her throat, these are sounds of recognition, intimate, daughterly, almost disapproving. Her breast is gore-streaked and flesh clings to her claws.

Later, Henry will say, 'Your girls flew well today.' The hawk Anne Cromwell bounces on the glove of Rafe Sadler, who rides by the king in easy conversation. They are tired; the sun is declining, and they ride back to Wolf Hall with the reins slack on the necks of their mounts."

Strictly speaking this is a little more than the opening lines!

Bring Up the Bodies is the sequel to Wolf Hall. Wolf Hall finishes as the King and Cromwell ride off to stay with the Seymour family at Wolf Hall for the first time.

I had heard that Bring Up the Bodies was going to be more about Anne Boleyn and Mary, so the opening lines confused me.

Was it a dream sequence? Was Cromwell remembering the deaths of his daughters and his wife from his own death-bed?

Birds? Of course, the cover has a bird of prey on it!

He named his birds of prey after his wife and daughters? Really??

Whats going on?

Ohhhh, they're out hunting....with the King...OMG!! They're still at Wolf Hall!!

This book picks up exactly where Wolf Hall finished - how delightful. I haven't missed a moment - not one single moment '- how wonderful - ahhhhhhhhhhhh  (sigh of relief and pleasure and anticipation.)

The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac

I found this book tucked away in a sale box. The 10 rights of the reader were written on the back cover...and I knew I had to read this book asap.

I read it in one sitting.

I would like to add a few more rights of the reader....

11. The right to highlight, make notes and dog-ear the pages.

12. The right to inscribe your name on the front page.

13. The right to press flowers between the pages.

14. The right not to lend your favourite books out to other people.

15. The right to rant, rave and write about how much you love (or hate) a book.

I'll finish off with a few quotes from Daniel..."A well-chosen book saves you from everything, including yourself."

"When a person we like gives us a book, we look for them at first between the lines - for their tastes, for the reason they thrust it into our hands, for a sign of the bond between us."

"The question isn't about whether I have time to read or not (time that nobody will ever give me, by the way), but whether I'll allow myself the pleasure of being a reader."

Happy reading!

 

Leap Year Day Challenge 2012 Dragonkeeper by Carole Wilkinson

Can we make this go viral?

Leap Year babies will tell you how special it is to be born on the 29th Feb.

To celebrate a once in 4 year event - go to page 29 of the book you're reading right now and copy the first sentence onto your blog or into my comments section. Spread the word.

I'm currently reading Dragonkeeper by Carole Wilkinson. The book was first published in Australia in 2003 and has won numerous awards including The Children's Book Council Book of the Year for Younger Readers, Aurealis Award Winner, Winner 2004 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards.

The 5th book in the series is due for release in May through Walker Books. It will receive a lot of press and hype and I felt it was time to see what all the fuss was about.

As you know, I tend to avoid fantasy books, especially those with dragons and other mythical creatures. Yet I end up loving them when I do finally make myself read them!

This is another example of denying myself a truly wonderful story for too many years simply beacuse I didn't like the look of the fantasy cover!

I was hooked from the first chapter.
It is well written, beautifully imagined and engrossing.

Dragonkeeper is basically a road trip between a young girl, Ping who has been enslaved as a child to an Imperial Dragonkeeper and the dragon Long Danzi. They escape from their joint bondage with a mysterious purple stone and a desire to reach the Ocean.

A wonderful story for 10+ readers

Page 29 quote: "A rasping voice disturbed the peace of the courtyard."

Happy Birthday Charles

1. Thirty years ago, Marseilles lay burning in the sun, one day.

2. NOW, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. 
            
3. London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln's Inn Hall. Implacable November weather. As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth . . .

4. Night is generally my time for walking.
    

5. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .

6. In these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening was closing in. 

7. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
 
8. Marley was dead, to begin with.

9. My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.

10. Among other public buildings in a certain town, which for many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which I will assign no fictitious name, there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small: to wit, a workhouse . . .