#Claire Maurier

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[Note: This poll is a re-do of an older poll, as the original poll received less than 2,000 votes.]

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[fourorfivemovements]

Films Watched in 2023:

51.  Les Quatre Cents Coups/The 400 Blows (1959) - Dir. François Truffaut

[missingchuu]

if my fav fictional characters were real, we would switch positions faster than mathematicians creating new formulas

[imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs]

I already did this but whateve

Hello, tumblr user. Before you is a tumblr post asking you to name a female fictional character. You have unlimited time to tag a female character, NOT a male one.

Begin.

[world-cinema-research]

The 400 Blows/Les Cuatre Cents Coups (1959)

By Cris Nyne

The directorial debut of pioneering French filmmaker, François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, left a lasting imprint on the timeline of international cinema. To know Truffaut’s history before becoming director makes the film even more of a remarkable achievement. His life began as a troubled youth, engaging in petty crimes and was well on his way to a path of self-destruction. It was in his late teenage years when recognized film critic André Bazin would take Truffaut under his wing and give him a job as critic for the film magazine Cahiers du cinéma. During this time, Truffaut would become recognized as a brutal critic of French films. His infamy stretched to Festival de Cannes, where he would be denied accreditation in 1958. The following year in 1959, Truffaut would get his revenge by being crowned Best Director for The 400 Blows at Cannes. This all by the age of 27. Truffaut would continue to turn the film industry on its head and help pave the way for what today is known as French New Wave.

“If the New Wave marks the dividing point between classic and modern cinema (and many think it does), then Truffaut is likely the most beloved of modern directors -- the one whose films resonated with the deepest, richest love of moviemaking.” -Roger Ebert August 8, 1999

The 400 Blows is a semi-autobiographical tale that follows the young star Jean-Pierre Léaud as the mischievous Antoine Doinel. Antoine is humiliated by his teacher, skips school, steals, and smokes cigarettes while contemplating a better life A life away from his father’s failures and his mother’s affairs. Both parents find themselves exhausted of all options for their son (or the lack of attention they care to provide) and send him off to a school for troubled children. From the beginning of the film, his parents seem to have other priorities in filling the hole in their marriage, and Antoine is essentially a victim of having too much unsupervised time on his hands. By the end of the film, Antoine is contemplating his life outside of the observation center for delinquent youth. He makes a dash for it.

Source: Blu-ray.com

“The movie is full of actual incidents from Truffaut’s childhood, including his fabricating his mother’s death as an excuse for truancy. Few movies have been so personal.” -J.Hoberman, The New York Times September 21, 2022

The movie was well received by audiences and critics alike. He won Best Director at Cannes in 1959, as well as a nominee for the Palme d’Or, the highest prize awarded at Cannes. The French regional newspaper Nice-Matin claimed The 400 Blows to be “A Masterpiece”. The chemistry between Léaud and Truffaut was strong. They would go on to make three more feature films with Léaud revising his role as Antoine Doinel, Stolen Kisses (1968), Bed and Board (1970), and Love on the Run (1979). Currently, Rotten Tomatoes lists The 400 Blows with a rating of 94%.

Original Movie Release Poster

The film is in black and white and is shot in a very personal manner. There are lots of close-space encounters that make you feel as if you are squeezing into the room with them. The house that Antoine lives with his mother and father is very small. During one scene as Antoine is sleeping, his mother, Gilberte Doinel (played by Claire Maurier), comes home after a long night and cannot open the door all the way as it is stopped by the mattress that Antoine sleeps on. There are many fun street scenes shot from different angles- subterranean, street-level, and roof tops, that portray Antoine and his friends plotting and scheming around the streets of Paris. There are a few scenes that follow the main character along a stretch of blocks, and I found myself thinking about how smooth the camerawork was.

During its filming and release date, The 400 Blows took the idea of conventional filmmaking and shredded the blueprint. The director was only known as a stubborn critic and the main star of the film was completely unknown. The script was a unique story, one that, for the most part, Truffaut had lived and had made it through to tell the tale of a rebellious and delinquent child on a bad path. A child that by today’s standards would probably be diagnosed with an attention deficit disorder and prescribed medication. What was once an extremely unconventional approach to filmmaking has now become a standard in delivering a storyline. Truffaut’s confidence in leaping from critic to auteur has left a rippling effect that you can still see over 7 decades later.   

[theputterer]

Good Things In 2023

It’s that time of year again! Time to remember all the good things that happened in 2023. I’ve done this since 2017, and highly recommend doing this as a fun way to reflect (and to have something for future reference when you are feeling Down.)

woof ok here we go

PERSONAL

I visited two countries I haven't been to before: the Netherlands and Iceland!

The Netherlands: mostly Amsterdam but did also pop down to The Hague for a day. Did the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum, the Bloemenmarkt, a canal boat tour, the Royal Palace, the Mauritshuis.

Iceland: I was there for less than 48 hours but I saw THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!!! they were subtler than I expected but so cool. also did the Perlan Museum and a Lava Show, which ruled.

Related: I turned 30 this year!

My dear friend Sam came to visit me in Dublin in June! The highlight of her visit was going with her to see Hozier at Malahide Castle.

Speaking of which, Hozier dropped UNREAL UNEARTH which isn't personal, per se, but is very personal to me

My sister visited me in November! We squeezed a lot in her time here, but highlights were Glendalough, the Hill of Tara, and the Galway Christmas Market.

A few aunts went on a trip to Ireland this fall and I joined them for a bit up in Donegal, as well as a day trip to Derry, which I'd not been to before.

Completely fucking forgot about this but I did write a 158k word long ROGUE ONE / FRINGE AU, ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL. it was a real fuckin bitch to finish, let me tell you that

I got really into MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE over the summer (don't ask) and wrote a couple short pieces inspired by the most recent movie, DEAD RECKONING - PART ONE: LADY LAZARUS and WORTHY THE NAME OF SIR KNIGHT.

I jumped back on my bullshit in October and wrote a long, extended epilogue to my BINARY STAR SYSTEMS trilogy: TWO DESERTS. the way the series ended was always correct and good but it was fun to write this extended epilogue focusing on the fallout, the question of what it's like to live past the end of your myth.

Anything bolded below is something I particularly enjoyed and recommend. 

MOVIES

2023 movies I saw and liked:

M3GAN

KNOCK AT THE CABIN

65

BONO AND THE EDGE, A SORT OF HOMECOMING WITH DAVID LETTERMAN

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES

RENFIELD

THREE MUSKETEERS: D'ARTAGNAN

JOHN MULANEY: BABY J

SISU

THE LITTLE MERMAID

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER VERSE

ASTEROID CITY

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING - PART ONE

BARBIE

OPPENHEIMER

PAST LIVES

ELEMENTAL

A HAUNTING IN VENICE

CHEVALIER

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

BOTTOMS

THE ROYAL HOTEL

DREAM SCENARIO

ANATOMY OF A FALL

THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES

EILEEN

NAPOLEON

GODZILLA MINUS ONE

FERRARI

2022 movies I saw and liked:

TAR

THE LOST CITY

WOMEN TALKING

TV

THE LAST OF US

PEAKY BLINDERS

BOOKS

super embarrassing how few books I read this year:

"Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires" by Douglas Rushkoff

"Donegal Folk Tales" by Joe Brennan

"Listen to the Land Speak: A Journey into the Wisdom of What Lies Beneath Us" by Manchan Magan

"Hell Bent" by Leigh Bardugo

"The Book of M" by Peng Shepherd

"The World We Make" by NK Jemisin

"The Echo Wife" by Sarah Gailey

"Daisy Jones and the Six" by Taylor Jenkins Reid

"White Cat, Black Dog: Stories" by Kelly Link

"Yellowface" by RF Kuang

"Ithaca" by Claire North

"Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann

"A Heart That Works" by Rob Delaney

"Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

"The Crying Book" by Heather Christie

"In the Dream House" by Carmen Maria Machado

"Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels, and Crooks" by Patrick Radden Keefe

"Fleabag" by Phoebe Waller-Bridge

"The Hurricane Wars" by Thea Guanzon

OTHER GOOD THINGS

*some of these things are Good as in well-written or well-made, but maybe not Good in topic.

"Eurydice" by Adrienne Su

"What Happens to a School Shooter's Sister?" by Jennifer Gonnerman for The New Yorker. A high school student murders his parents and several students at his school, and his sister is left to pick up the pieces. really powerful story on unconditional love.

"A Friend Died, Her Novel Unfinished. Could I Realize Her Vision?" by Leslie Jamison for The New Yorker. the grief of losing not only a dear friend but her art as well.

"Fuck you, I don't know?"

Werner Herzog pronounces Eeyore.

George Washington's Dream for America, an SNL sketch.

Judi Dench performs Shakespeare.

"Walking Brittany Home" by Devin Faraci for Washington Post. a really beautiful piece on death and love.

This thread on the struggle of trying to be fashionable in Ireland.

"The Return of the Marriage Plot: Why everyone is so eager for men and women to get hitched" by Rebecca Traister for The Cut.

"We Were Never Supposed to See Our Own Faces This Much" by Lola Christina Alao for Dazed Digital. on social media and personal reflection.

sunwoof

this story about Jimmy Buffett I loved

"She Wasn't Able to Get an Abortion. Now She's A Mom. Soon She'll Start Seventh Grade" by Charlotte Alter for Time. the cruelty is the point.

had a pilot named Ken yesterday and he introduced himself by saying his job is plane

"Cillian Murphy might be the star of a massive movie atm but to me he will always be the guy that showed up in the rain to our abortion rights marches"

"The 'Troubling Reverberations' at the End of OPPENHEIMER, Explained" by Bilge Ebiri for Vulture. it's an absolutely devastating ending, but the fact remains: there was no other way to end it.

this obituary for the great Sinéad O'Connor.

Kiké Hernandez returned to the Dodgers!

this behind the scenes video from the filming of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING - PART ONE where Tom Cruise's co-stars watch him drive a motorcycle off a cliff.

"How Christopher Nolan Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI" by Maria Streshinsky for Wired. good interview with Nolan, one of my favorite filmmakers / artists. (anyone who's ever read anything I've written is probably like yes, this is very obvious.)

"The Perils and Promises of Penis-Enlargement Surgery" by Ava Kofman for The New Yorker. an absolutely BONKERS but super important piece!

a new ending to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, lmao

"The Return of Ryan Gosling" by Zach Baron for GQ. really great profile writing going on here!

"LOST Illusions: The Untold Story of the Hit Show's Poisonous Culture" by Maureen Ryan for Vanity Fair. LOST is one of my favorite shows and has been super influential on my work. (again, this is probably very obvious). this piece is devastating in how it reveals the terrible racism and sexism behind the scenes of a show I have loved. important.

Henry Kissinger died this year (GOOD THINGS BABYYY) and this piece by Nick Turse, which came out in May, is a good explainer on why that's such good news: "Kissinger's Killing Fields".

"Talking With 'Swiftie Dads' at a Taylor Swift Concert" by Eileen Cartter for GQ. I thought this was very sweet.

The New York Times had an interactive feature about Connie Chung and her impact on young Chinese-American women, particularly the ones named after her. I love this video of her meeting some of them.

"Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey?" by Ted Chiang for The New Yorker. Chiang is best known as the writer of STORY OF YOUR LIFE which was adapted into ARRIVAL, so it's wise to listen to him when it comes to tech and science.

Loved this speech Mark Hamill gave about Carrie Fisher at her Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony.

Accents white people can still do.

this absolutely incredible slapstick esque unintentional comedy scene.

As always, tagging anyone who’d like to do this!

@magalis @callioope @earnestfeeling @illuminahsti @fortysevenswrites @vaderkat @leaiorganas @garethsedwards @rifle-yes @buffyrat @alittlemomentum @i-am-slain @rogue-rook

[cherryberrytree]

~ Welcome to my blog ~

Hello! It’s nice to meet you and I hope you enjoy your stay [scroll].

[Down here is just the fandoms i’m in, characters and ships I like, and my favorite fanfic]

↓↓

Favorite fanfic: Running on Air by eleventy7

-> Fav Quote(s): “Do you remember when we were eleven? Let’s go back to that…” | “We could go anywhere.” “Anywhere?” “Anywhere.” | “So give me my wand, or give me a timeturner.”

Fandoms ↓

Harry Potter

-> Golden Trio + Marauders

Characters: Harry Potter/Fem!Harry, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, James Potter, Luna Lovegood, Tom Riddle/Voldemort, Lily Evans, Severus Snape, Delphini, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy

Ship(s): Hinny, Drarry, Romione, Rarry|Ronarry, Romionarry, Jily, Prongsfoot, Harmione, NottPott, Deamus, Linny, Huna|Lunarry, Scorbus, Scorose

Supernatural

Characters: Dean Winchester, Castiel, Bobby Singer, Crowley, Charlie Bradbury, Benny Lafitte, Jack Kline, Jody Mills, Claire Novak, Rowena MacLeod

Ship(s): Destiel, Sam/Jessica, Bobby/Jody

Hannibal

Characters: Will Graham, Hannibal Lector, Abagail Hobbs, Bedelia Du Maurier, Alana Bloom, Jack Crowford, Freddie Lounds, Margot Verger, Clarice Starling, Molly Graham

Ship(s): Hannigram

The Boys

Characters: Hughie Campbell, A-Train, Starlight, MM, Frenchie, Black Noir, Billy Butcher, Kimiko Miyashiro, Ashley Barrett, Ryan Butcher, Sister Sage

Ship(s): [X]

Naruto

Characters: Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, Hinata Hyuga, Itachi Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, Madara Uchiha, Obito Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka, Sai, Shikamaru Nara, Gaara, Neji Hyuga, Genma Shiranui, Yamato, Lee

Ship(s): Naruhina, Narusaku, Sasusaku, Sasunaru

[Dividers from @firefly-graphics, they’re great, check them out!]

[beaft]

11 16 17?

11. What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

probably "rebecca", by daphne du maurier. i've been meaning to get to it for literally years and i'm so glad i finally did. "crime and punishment" also counts. and "slaughterhouse-5". (i'm assuming "out for a while" can be stretched to mean "out for literal centuries".)

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

fucking... "house on the cerulean sea". if anyone ever recommends me that book again i'm going to bite them.

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

i wasn't expecting to like "the last house on needless street" as much as i did - i picked it up from the little free library expecting a generic crime thriller, and was blown away by the quality and complexity of the writing. also the novella "small things like these" by claire keegan, which is not my usual kind of thing at all, but absolutely deserved the booker nomination.

books asks

[florbelles]

— OCS & OTHER CHARACTERS.

tagged by @corvosattano​, @nightbloodraelle​, @leviiackrman​, @adelaidedrubman​, @denerims​, @fourlittleseedlings​, @minaharkers​, @strafethesesinners​, @playstationmademe​, @ishwaris​, @shegetsburned​, @aartyom​ & @gwynbleidd​, ty beloveds!!

sending tags on to @unholymilf (>:((), @henbased (>:(((), @belorage, @jendoe, @phillipsgraves, @chuckhansen, @queennymeria, @poetikat, @derelictheretic, @purplehairsecretlair, @strangefable, @arklay, @morvaris, @noonfaerie, @jackiesarch, @risingsh0t, @roberthouses​​, @confidentandgood, @indorilnerevarine, @shellibisshe,  @blissfulalchemist​, @nuclearstorms, @reaperkiller, @steelport, @nokstella, @shallow-gravy, @cybilbennettgf​ (i am sorry i forgot you moved & was like wait where’d she go) & anyone else can @ me xx (for real the brainfog is strong today so if i missed you please take this as a tag anyway)

rules (via @corvosattano​). take this quiz and share 5 (or more! or less! the world is your oyster!) results from the top 50 that you feel really fit your oc(s). if you don’t recognize very many from the top 50, feel free to expand into the top 100.

(actual influences & inspirations that made the list are italicized).

holly golightly (breakfast at tiffany’s)

villanelle (killing eve)

anna karenina (anna karenina)

love quinn (you)

ciri (the witcher)

honorable mentions. audrey horne (twin peaks), mia wallace (pulp fiction), lucifer morningstar (lucifer), cheryl blossom (riverdale), oberyn martell (game of thrones) (awks because of the eye cutting stuff.)

lady macbeth (macbeth)

cersei lannister (game of thrones)

joan holloway (mad men)

serena joy waterford (the handmaid’s tale)

beth harmon (the queen’s gambit)

honorable mentions but they’re increasingly unhinged. nina sayers (black swan), alice cooper (riverdale), leland palmer (twin peaks), the wicked witch of the west (the wizard of oz), the queen (snow white and the seven dwarfs), joe goldberg (you) (?????)

sterling archer (archer) (this was 95%. by the way.)

don draper (mad men)

logan delos (westworld)

jay gatsby (the great gatsby)

roman roy (succession)

honorable mentions but they’re increasingly unhinged. john willoughby (sense and sensibility) (this one probably belongs in the top five but logan & roman were funnier), jaime lannister (game of thrones), neal caffrey (white collar), james bond (tomorrow never dies), count alexei vronsky (anna karenina) (uncomfortable), regina george (mean girls), haley dunphy (modern family), lindsay bluth (arrested development)

davos seaworth & jorah mormont (game of thrones)

friar laurence (romeo and juliet)

charlie strong (peaky blinders)

samwell gamgee (lord of the rings)

honorable mentions. pete martell (twin peaks), little jon (robin hood), ben scott (yellowjackets), jon snow/samwell tarley/brandon stark all tied for some reason (game of thrones), jane eyre (jane eyre)

maeve millay (westworld)

daenerys targaryen (game of thrones)

vi (arcane)

yennefer of vengerberg (the witcher)

mazikeen (lucifer)

honorable mentions. freddie lounds (hannibal), tyler durdan (fight club), fleabag (fleabag), fiona gallagher (shameless), hiram lodge (riverdale) (mija she owns that dam), freddy krueger (a nightmare on elm street), the alien (alien)

dr. bedelia du maurier (hannibal)

shiv roy (succession)

sansa stark (game of thrones)

mel madara (arcane)

rose dewitt bukater (titanic)

honorable mentions. betty draper (mad men), dana scully (the x files), claire standish (the breakfast club), skyler white (breaking bad), lana kane (archer), jackie taylor (yellowjackets), margaery tyrell (game of thrones), betty cooper (riverdale), princess leia (star wars), lucille bluth (arrested development)

[mzannthropy]

Sam Claflin + well developed female characters

I once posted a list of Sam's female-directed films [x], but as @jesstasticvoyage points out, it's also true that a lot of stuff he stars in features well developed female characters (I'm kinda tired of the "strong female character" phrase, so using this one instead). So, let's have a look at them.

The Hunger Games series (dir Francis Lawrence) - still the most obvious example for Sam as a role he's known for, and the purpose of this post. It's safe to say most people know Katniss Everdeen.

Their Finest (dir Lone Scherfig) - Gemma Arterton's character, Catrin, is an aspiring screenwriter hired to work on a script for a film about Dunkirk evacuation--this is a movie about a movie set during WW2. Sam is a fellow writer, in fact he is the one who discovered her. It's funny bc this takes place in 1940s and she gets the job of writing female characters, when even in our times we don't always have that. Worth noting is also Rachael Stirling's Phyl, a minor character but memorable and a lesbian--who doesn't die at the end. It's the straight relationship that gets treated like bury your gays trope this time!

The Nightingale (dir Jennifer Kent) - also known as the film in which Sam plays an absolute monster (you think Billy Dunne is bad, lol). The film centres on young convict Claire (Aisling Franciosi) seeking revenge for the indescribable harm done to her family. Basically, trigger warning for everything.

My Cousin Rachel (dir Roger Michell) - adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel. Sam plays Philip, the narrator, but Rachel is so intriguing, the whole story is named for her. She's played by her namesake, Rachel Weisz. There's also Louise (Holliday Granger), Philip's childhood friend. She's the relatable, girl next door type, but she is smart, in fact I think she is the one with the most braincells. (Also I have a theory about her, I think this version of Louise has a darker side!)

Enola Holmes (dir Harry Bradbeer) - title speaks for itself. Enola's mother is missing and the teenage heroine goes on a quest to find her and thus becomes a detective herself. Sam plays Mycroft, the eldest Holmes sibling, though he's far removed from the original Mycroft Holmes of Arthur Conan Doyle's books. Edith, who runs a teashop, is another notable female character.

Adrift (dir Baltasar Kormakur) - based on a true story of Tami Oldham, an amateur sailor, surviving 41 days adrift on the Pacific Ocean after a hurricane. Sam plays her bf Richard. Shailene Woodley has the role of Tami and is also the film's producer.

Riot Club (dir Lone Scherfig) - okay so what's this doing here, you ask, it's a film about an all-male elite club at Oxford. Yes but that's exactly the point, bc even though it is about an all male club, the female characters are surprisingly well developed. The play this is adapted from, Posh, was written by Laura Wade and the director is also a woman, so maybe it's not so surprising. We have Holliday Granger who plays the gf of one of the boys and Jessica Brown Findlay in the role of the pub landlord's daughter. Holliday's character certainly doesn't take any shit from the posh boys. Even Natalie Dormer in the role of a sex worker has enough self-respect to refuse their deranged requests, despite the amount of money it would earn her. Hence I include it on the list.

Charlie's Angels (dir Elizabeth Banks) - title speaking for itself, yet again. Sam's role is relatively minor.

Book of Love (dir Analeine Cal y Mayor) - a romcom. When Maria, played by Veronica Echegui, translates Henry's (Sam) unsuccessful book from English to Spanish, the book becomes a huge hit in Mexico. Turns out that while translating, she inserted some seriously hot steamy scenes. Sam travels to Mexico for promotion and the two of them now have to work together on the next book. So without Maria, the story would not exist and also, once Henry accepts the situation, he is happy to collaborate with her--and at the end, supports her in her own writing efforts. (If you can get round the premise, it is an enjoyable film.)

Daisy Jones and the Six - mini series based on a book of the same name. We have not one, not two, not three, but four amazing ladies to root for: Daisy, Camila, Karen and Simone. While Sam gives performance of a lifetime as the band's frontman Billy Dunne.

Other Notes:

Honourable mentions are Snow White (Kristen Stewart) in Snow White and the Huntsman, a film I have a definite soft spot for though there's many ways it could have been better. In The Corrupted Sam plays a convict who just got out of prison and reunites with his gf and son. The gf is played by Naomi Ackie. She's wary at first but does allow him back into her life and they get back together and raise their son. Unsure if another one of my faves, Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides apply. Sam's romance with the mermaid Syrena is my absolute favourite of his. She might seem helpless for majority of her screentime, bc she gets captured, turns human on dry land and is unable to walk as she's not used to having legs, Philip (Sam's character) has to carry her. But she was the one who saved him first. And POTC overall is not without good female characters.

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[devoutjunk]

Novel Syllabus 2024

This coming year I think I'm going to be on here more often than I am on twitter or elsewhere, and as part of that, I'm going to start documenting the process of writing my novel more actively. I want to return to/resurrect the momentum and energy I had while writing the first draft and be more intentional about setting aside time to work, even when it's difficult. Below are my writing goals for the coming year as well as my reading list of texts for inspiration, genre/background research, comps, etc. Would welcome any suggestions of texts (any genre/discipline) pertaining to Antigone, death & resurrection, Welsh and Cornish myth and folklore, ecology & environmental crisis, and the Gothic.

Writing Goals

Reach 50k words in draft 2 overall

Finish a draft of Anna's timeline

Finish a draft of Jo's timeline

Polish & submit an excerpt for the Center for Fiction Prize

Reading

* = reread

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & The Apocalyptic

The Memory Theater (Karin Tidbeck)

Who Fears Death (Nnedi Okorafor)

Urth of The New Sun (Gene Wolfe)

Slow River (Nicola Griffith)

Dream Snake (Vonda McIntyre)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (Marlon James)

Notes from the Burning Age (Claire North)

Invisible Cities (Italo Calvino)*

Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)*

The Last Man (Mary Shelley)

The Drowned World (J.G. Ballard)

Strange Beasts of China (Yan Ge, trans. by Jeremy Tiang)

City of Saints and Madmen (Jeff VanderMeer)

Freshwater (Akweke Emezi)

The Glass Hotel (Emily St. John Mandel)

Pattern Master (Octavia Butler)

Sleep Donation (Karen Russell)

How High We Go in the Dark (Sequoia Nagamatsu)

The Magician's Nephew (C.S. Lewis)*

The Golden Compass (Phillip Pullman)*

The Green Witch (Susan Cooper)

The Tombs of Atuan (Ursula K. Le Guin)

Black Sun (Rebecca Roanhorse)

Gideon the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir)

Lives of the Monster Dogs (Kirsten Bakis)

Brian Evenson

Sofia Samatar

Connie Willis

Samuel Delaney

Jo Walton

Tanith Lee

Retellings

A Wild Swan (Michael Cunningham)

Til We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis)

Gingerbread (Helen Oyeyemi)

Circe (Madeline Miller)

The Owl Service (Alan Garner)

Literary Myth-Making, Mystery, and the Gothic

Nights at the Circus (Angela Carter)

Frenchman's Creek (Daphne Du Maurier)

Possession (A.S. Byatt)*

The Game (A.S. Byatt)*

The Essex Serpent (Sarah Perry)

Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)

The Secret History (Donna Tartt)*

The Wild Hunt (Emma Seckel)

King Nyx (Kirsten Bakis)

The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)

The Lottery and Other Stories (Shirley Jackson)

Beloved (Toni Morrison)

The Night Land (William Hope Hodgson)

Interview with a Vampire (Anne Rice)*

Sexing the Cherry (Jeanette Winterson)*

Night Side of the River (Jeanette Winterson)

Bad Heroines (Emily Danforth)

All the Murmuring Bones (A.G. Slatter)

The Path of Thorns (A.G. Slatter)

Gormenghast (Mervyn Peake)

Prose Work, Perspective, and Stream of Consciousness

The Chandelier (Clarice Lispector)

The Waves (Virginia Woolf)*

The Years (Virginia Woolf)

The Intimate Historical Epic / Court Intrigues

Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel)*

Menewood (Nicola Griffith)

Dark Earth (Rebecca Stott)

A Place of Greater Safety (Hilary Mantel)

Research

The Mabinogion (trans. Sioned Davies)

Le Morte D'Arthur (Thomas Malory)

The Collected Brothers Grimm (Phillip Pullman)

Angela Carter's Collected Fairytales

Mythology (Edith Hamilton)

Underland (Robert Macfarlane)

The Wild Places (Robert Macfarlane)

Wildwood (Roger Deakin)

Vanishing Cornwall (Daphne Du Maurier)

Lonely Planet: Guide to Devon & Cornwall

A Traveler's Guide to the End of the World (David Gessner)

The Lost Boys of Montauk (Amanda M. Fairbanks)

A Cyborg Manifesto (Donna J. Harraway)

A Treasury of British Folklore (Dee Dee Chainey)*

The First Last Man: Mary Shelley and the Postapocalyptic Imagination (Eileen M. Hunt)

Antigone's Claim (Judith Butler)

Theories of Desire: Antigone Again (Judith Butler)

Ecology of Fear (Mike Davis)

[fromthewitchwood]

What are your favorite books?✨🥹

This is both a dream ask, but still difficult to answer. I'm limiting myself to one title per author. Wuthering Heights is my all-time favorite, and has been since I was 14ish. My favorite Austen (currently) is Northanger Abbey Wise Children by Angela Carter The Complete Claudine by Colette (I read them all as one, and therefore count them as such) An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel Modern Girls by Jennifer S. Brown Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote The Witches of New York by Ami McKay We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim Dorothy Parker Drank Here by Ellen Meister My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray The Awakening by Kate Chopin Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska Claire DeWitt series -- there are three so far -- by Sara Gran The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Legacy by Susan Kay Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg The list could be far longer, and I've kept my answers to fiction. An honorable mention is due to Anne Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. 💜

[poetlcs]

2023 reading tracker

total: 75/52

sff

a sky beyond the storm - sabaa tahir

enclave - claire g. coleman

a criminal magic - lee kelly (dnf)

the shattered city - lisa maxwell

a feast for crows - george r.r martin

the ballad of songbirds and snakes - suzanne collins

chain of iron - cassandra clare

hell bent - leigh bardugo

chain of thorns - cassandra clare

the bronzed beasts - roshani chokshi

the drowning faith - r.f kuang

how high we go in the dark - sequoia nagamatsu

the jasmine throne - tasha suri

the hunger games - suzanne collins

catching fire - suzanne collins

mockingjay - suzanne collins

a far wilder magic - allison saft

translated

the transmigration of bodies - yuri herrera

portrait of an unknown lady - maria gainza

love in the big city - sang young park

my brilliant friend - elena ferrante

frankenstein in baghdad - ahmed saadawi

la bastarda - trifonia melibea obono

bolla - pajtim statovci

contemporary

you are eating an orange. you are naked - sheung-king

seeing other people - diana reid

the henna wars - adiba jaigirdar

you and me on vacation - emily henry

now that i see you - emma batchelor 

delilah green doesn’t care - ashley herring blake

becoming kirrali lewis - jane harrison

style - chelsea m. cameron

yellowface - rf kuang

the summer i turned pretty - jenny han

it’s not summer without you - jenny han

the charm offensive - alison cochrun

love & virtue - diana reid

the divines - ellie eaton

sincerely, carter - whitney g

crushing - genevieve novak

icebreaker - hannah grace

cleopatra & frankenstein - coco mellors

duck a l’orange for breakfast - karina may

happy place - emily henry

wildfire - hannah grace

i am not your perfect mexican daughter - erika l. sanchez

you don’t have a shot - racquel marie

mystery/thriller

final girls - riley sager

nine liars - maureen johnson

the box in the woods - maureen johnson

a good girls guide to murder - holly jackson

good girl, bad blood - holly jackson

queen of the tiles - hanna alkaf

as good as dead - holly jackson

kill joy - holly jackson

five survive - holly jackson

the dry - jane harper

non-fiction

mirror sydney - vanessa berry

in byrons wake: the turbulent lives of lord byron’s wife and daughter, annabella milbanke and ada lovelace - miranda seymour

the lavender scare: the cold war persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government - david k. johnson

odd girl out: the hidden culture of aggression in girls - rachel simmons

dinosaurs rediscovered - michael j. benton

queer others in victorian gothic - ardel haefele-thomas

alone time: four cities, four seasons and the pleasures of solitude - stephanie rosenbloom

how to break up with fast fashion - lauren bravo

the white album - joan didion

the gene - siddhartha mukherjee

the new hite report: the revolutionary report on female sexuality - shere hite

my body - emily ratajkowski

historical fiction

the mountains sing - nguyen phan que mai

one for the master - dorothy johnson

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow - gabrielle zevin

the christie affair (dnf) - nina de gramont

classics

things fall apart - chinua achebe

northanger abbey - jane austen

jamaica inn - daphne du maurier 

[byneddiedingo]

The Antoine Doinel Cycle

Jean-Pierre Léaud in The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959)

Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Patrick Auffay, Georges Flamant. Screenplay: François Truffaut, Marcel Moussy. Cinematography: Henri Decaë. Film editing: Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte. Music: Jean Constantin. One of the unquestioned great movies, and one of the greatest feature-film directing debuts, The 400 Blows would still resonate with film-lovers even if François Truffaut hadn't gone on to create four sequels tracking the life and loves of his protagonist, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud). There are, in fact, those who think that the last we should have seen of Antoine was the haunting freeze-frame at the end of the film. But Antoine continued to grow up on screen, and perhaps more remarkably, so did Léaud, carving out his own career after his debut as a 13-year-old. (It's hard to think of any American child actors who were able to maintain a film career into adulthood as well as Léaud did. Mickey Rooney? Dean Stockwell? Who else?) Having Truffaut as a mentor certainly helped, but Léaud had an unmistakable gift. He is on screen for virtually all of the 99-minute run time, and provides a gallery of memorable moments: Antoine in the amusement-park centrifuge, Antoine in the police lockup, Antoine on the run -- in cinematographer Henri Decaë's brilliant long tracking shot. And my personal favorite moment: when the psychologist asks Antoine if he's ever had sex. Léaud responds with a beautiful mixture of surprise, amusement, and embarrassment. It's so genuine a response that I have to think it was improvised, that Truffaut surprised Léaud with the question. But even so, Léaud never drops character in his response. This praise of Léaud is not to undervalue the magnificent supporting cast, or the haunting score by Jean Constantin. It's a film in which everything works.

Jean-Pierre Léaud and Marie-France Pisier in Antoine and Colette (François Truffaut, 1962) Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Marie-France Pisier, Rosy Varte, François Darbon, Patrick Auffay, Jean-François Adam. Screenplay: François Truffaut. Cinematography: Raul Coutard. Music: Georges Delerue.  Four years after he made The 400 Blows, Truffaut was asked to contribute to an anthology of short films by directors from various countries to be called Love at Twenty. As he had with the first film, Truffaut drew on his own experience, an infatuation with a girl he had met at the Cinémathèque Française. And since Léaud was available -- he had worked with Julien Duvivier on Boulevard (1960) after completing The 400 Blows -- it made sense for him to play Antoine Doinel again. A narrator tells us that Antoine had been sent to another reform school after escaping from the first, and that this time he had responded well to a psychologist: After leaving school, he has found a job working for the Phillips record company and is living on his own. Then he sees a pretty young woman at a concert of music by Berlioz and falls for her. Colette (Marie-France Pisier) is not much interested in him, but she is evidently flattered by his advances. Her parents like Antoine and encourage him so much that he rents a room across the street from them. (Truffaut had done the same thing during his crush.) But one evening when he comes to dinner at their apartment, a man named Albert (Jean-François Adam) calls on Colette and she leaves Antoine watching TV with her parents. It's a droll little film, scarcely more than an anecdote, and the stable, lovestruck Antoine doesn't seem much like either the rebellious Antoine of the first film or the more scattered Antoine of the later ones in the cycle.

Jean-Pierre Léaud in Stolen Kisses (François Truffaut, 1968) Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claude Jade, Michael Lonsdale, Delphine Seyrig, Michael Lonsdale, Claire Duhamel, Daniel Ceccaldi. Screenplay: François Truffaut, Claude de Givray, Bernard Revon. Cinematography: Denys Clerval. Production design: Claude Pignot. Film editing: Agnès Guillemot. Music: Antoine Duhamel.

The Antoine of Stolen Kisses is in his 20s, but has reverted to the more haphazard ways of his adolescence: He has been kicked out of the army, and now relies on a series of odd jobs to get by. But he has also renewed acquaintance with a young woman he met before going into the army, Christine Darbon (Claude Jade). Like Colette's parents, hers are quite taken with Antoine, and they help him get a job as a night clerk in a hotel. He gets fired from that job after helping a private detective who is spying on an adulterous couple, but the detective helps Antoine get a job with his agency. While working for the detective agency, he has to pose as a clerk in a shoe store, and winds up in a liaison with the store owner's wife, Fabienne (Delphine Seyrig). When that ends badly, he becomes a TV repairman, which brings him back to Christine, with whom he winds up in bed after trying to fix her TV. At the film's end, a strange man who has been following Christine comes up to her and Antoine in the park and declares his love for her. She says he must be crazy, and Antoine, who perhaps recognizes his earlier infatuation with Colette in the man's obsession, murmurs, "He must be." Stolen Kisses is the loosest, funniest entry in the cycle, though it was made at a time when Truffaut was politically preoccupied: The film opens with a shot of the shuttered gates of the Cinémathèque Française, which was shut down in a conflict between its director, Henri Langlois, and culture minister André Malraux. This caused an uproar involving many of the directors of the French New Wave. Some of Antoine's anarchic approach to life may have been inspired by the rebelliousness toward the establishment prevalent in the film community. But it's clear that the idea of a cycle of Antoine Doinel films has been brewing in Truffaut's mind: There is a cameo appearance by Marie-France Pisier as Colette and Jean-François Adam as Albert, now married and the parents of an infant.

Claude Jade and Jean-Pierre Léaud in Bed and Board (François Truffaut, 1970) Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claude Jade, Claire Duhamel, Daniel Ceccaldi, Hiroko Berghauer. : François Truffaut, Claude de Givray, Bernard Revon. Cinematography: Néstor Almendros. Production design: Jean Mandaroux. Film editing: Agnès Guillemot. Music: Antoine Duhamel.  Antoine and Christine have married, and they have settled down in a small apartment. (There's some indication that it's paid for by her parents.) She gives violin lessons and he sells flowers -- carnations, which he dyes, using some environmentally questionable potions. But settling down isn't in Antoine's nature, and when Christine gets pregnant he looks for more lucrative work. He finds a curious sinecure in a company run by an American: Antoine maneuvers model ships by remote control through a mockup of a harbor. ("It gives me time to think," he says.) One day, a Japanese businessman comes to see the demonstration, accompanied by a pretty translator named Kyoko (Hiroko Berghauer), and Antoine is soon involved in an affair with her. Naturally, this precipitates a breakup, though by film's end they have seemingly reconciled. Still, it's obvious that the marriage is not destined to be permanent. They can't even agree on a name for their son: She wants him to be called Ghislain, and he wants to call him Alphonse. Antoine wins out by a trick: He's the one who goes to the registry office to legalize the boy's name. Antoine also spends time writing a novel about his boyhood, to which Christine objects: "I don't like this business of writing about your childhood, dragging your parents through the mud. I don't know much but I do know one thing: If you use art to settle accounts, it's no longer art." Truffaut had his own regrets about the portrait of his parents in The 400 Blows. Less farcical than Stolen Kisses, Bed and Board still has a strong vein of comedy tinged with melancholy.

Claude Jade and Jean-Pierre Léaud in Love on the Run (François Truffaut, 1979) Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Marie-France Pisier, Claude Jade, Dani, Dorothée, Daniel Mesguich, Julien Bertheau. Screenplay: François Truffaut, Marie-France Pisier, Jean Aurel, Suzanne Schiffman. Cinematography: Néstor Almendros. Production design: Jean-Pierre Kohut-Svelko. Film editing: Martine Barraqué. Music: Georges Delerue. Truffaut admitted that he wasn't happy with the final film in the cycle. It's a bit too heavily reliant on flashback clips from the four earlier films, and if it's intended to show that Antoine has finally stabilized now that he's in his 30s and divorced from Christine, it doesn't quite make the case. He has a new girlfriend, Sabine (Dorothée), his novel has been published several years earlier, and he works as a proofreader for a printing house. He's on friendly terms with Christine, and agrees to take their son, Alphonse, to the train station when the boy leaves for a summer music camp. At the station, he runs into Colette, now a defense lawyer, who is on her way to confer with a client -- a man who has murdered his 3-year-old boy. Perhaps a little too coincidentally, Colette is involved with Sabine's brother, Xavier (Daniel Mesguich), and she has bought a copy of Antoine's novel to read on the train. Antoine impulsively boards the train, and sets up a meeting with Colette in the dining car, after which she invites him back to her compartment. All of this sets up a series of revelations: Colette's marriage to Albert broke up after their small daughter was killed by a car. She claims that she supplements her small income as a lawyer by prostituting herself with men she meets on trains. Antoine finally made peace with his mother after her death when he met her old lover, M. Lucien (Julien Bertheau), who persuaded him to visit his mother's grave. (There is a flashback to the scene in The 400 Blows when Antoine, playing hooky, sees his mother kissing a strange man on the street.) Antoine became infatuated with Sabine after hearing a man in a phone booth arguing with a woman on the other end of the line and then tearing up her photograph. Antoine picked up the pieces from the floor, put them together, and after some sleuthing, discovered the woman was Sabine. His marriage to Christine finally broke up after he slept with her friend Liliane (Dani), who he previously had thought was having a lesbian relationship with Christine. And so on. The result of all the flashbacks and revelations is not to round out the Antoine Doinel saga, but to make Love on the Run feel over-contrived.