#St. Louis Shakespeare

[vinca-majors]

As You Like It - Shakespeare in the Park, St. Louis 2024 [x, x, x]

[stastrodome]

Fun Facts. 100% verified.

In City Hall in Saint Louis, Missouri there is a bronze plaque with the lyrics to J-Kwon's Tipsy.

Due to her bossy nature, author Edith Wharton's nickname was "The Warden".

Feeling drained and wanting to turn to something lighter than his Ninth Symphony (the Ode to Joy), Beethoven planned to write a Tenth Symphony called Ode an die Fläddlesuppe (Ode to Pancake Soup).

The phrase "let's circle back to that" is sourced to Shakespeare and Hamlet's response to the accusations of the ghost of Old Hamlet.

In the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame at Temple University in Philadelphia, an entire wing is devoted to Bill Clinton's phrase "it depends on what your definition of "is" is?"

[sunfoxfic]

trying to piece together a dream that moved around a lot is both very fun and very frustrating

[allweknewisdead]

Othello (1951) - Orson Welles

[matthewliberatore]

july 3rd miami marlins vs stl cards

"the cardinals bullpen has been good for a while" i say. "surely they won't blow it again" i say while the baseball gods above strike down apon andre pallante due to my idiocy. for i am a dillusional but passionate fan of past times of baseball

aka our bullpen is so trash that oscar the grouch is living in it, our inability to win a game, and incompetent staff and not being able to take the blame for things is going to cost us the playoffs.

[handeaux]

In Cincinnati, Everybody Who Was Anybody Got The Scoop At Grandpa Hawley’s

The year before he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, the actor John Wilkes Booth was in Cincinnati, performing at Wood’s Theater in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” and “The Taming of the Shrew.” Throughout the run, Booth was a frequent visitor to Grandpa Hawley’s newsstand, just two blocks south at Vine and Fourth. Years later, Hawley told the Cincinnati Post about Booth’s visits [28 April 1903]:

“He was in my store while here and I remember a conversation with him. I do not remember what we talked about in particular, but there was nothing to indicate that he had the least thought of perpetrating the dark crime with which his name is stained.”

By coincidence, James R. “Grandpa” Hawley also had a connection to Lincoln. Hawley first opened his business on Tuesday, 12 February 1861, and watched from the shop door as President-Elect Lincoln, on his way to Washington, was paraded down Vine Street to the Burnet House. Throughout the Civil War, Grandpa Hawley was the place to go for news of the conflict. Hawley told the Times-Star [10 January 1891]:

“That was in the war time, you know, and then the illustrated periodicals monopolized the sale, for in them were pictures of the generals and battles and the printed material dealt with the doings of the army.”

In fact, Hawley’s patrons often included those very generals themselves, picking up the latest weekly to read what was being said about the war. Generals Ulysses Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman famously mapped out the strategy to ensure a Confederate defeat in Parlor A of the Burnet House and gathered a lot of their information from Grandpa Hawley’s newsstand. He told the Post:

“I do not believe I ever saw them in uniform. Grant was not very talkative, but Sherman frequently started a conversation.”

Another regular military visitor to Hawley’s was Philip Henry Sheridan, whose triumph at the Battle of Cedar Creek was memorialized in Thomas Buchanan Read’s poem, “Sheridan’s Ride.” That poem was required reading for generations of American school children and the author, a Cincinnati resident, was also a frequent customer of Grandpa Hawley’s. It is not recorded whether poet and subject ever met at the Vine Street newsstand, but they might well have.

Vice President Andrew Johnson spent so much time at Hawley’s that the news vendor took to calling him “Andy.”

In addition to generals, politicians and poets, Grandpa Hawley’s shop was also a gathering place for the actors who trod the boards at Cincinnati’s theaters throughout the Nineteenth Century. Edwin Forrest was among the first Americans to gain distinction as a Shakespearian star. He frequently performed in Cincinnati and always stopped by to see Hawley, who recalled:

“In my mind I can see him now with his tragedy stride and hear his deep rumbling voice.”

In almost every interview he gave, Hawley mentioned Adelaide Neilson, whose fame as an actress almost equaled her fame as a great beauty.

“Neilson, the actress, has been here many times, and always used to pat the little newsboys on the head and give them an encouraging word.”

Hawley himself was something of a Cincinnati celebrity, mostly because of his enormous beard, which ran from his chin almost to his belt buckle. Most of the Cincinnati papers remarked about the “biblical” dimensions of his whiskers, rivaled only by those of Vine Street saloonist Andy Gilligan.

Many folks stopped by just to chat with Hawley, who was an especially entertaining raconteur, but most came for the news. In those pre-electric days, when “the media” meant print publications, Grandpa Hawley moved a lot of paper. He told the Times-Star that New York daily newspapers sold the most in his shop, followed by dailies from Chicago, St. Louis and Louisville. Among the weeklies, Harper’s and Leslie’s ran neck-and-neck, followed by the London Illustrated News. Some readers were quite dedicated to their favorite publication:

“One lady used to walk down from Walnut Hills every week to get the New York Ledger, because it would not be delivered to her until the morning following its arrival here. One day a Walnut Hills man who was a regular customer of mine asked me if I knew why he always took two copies of the New York Ledger. I told him I supposed he got one for a neighbor, but he said it was because he had two daughters and they were always squabbling about which should read it first, until, to keep peace in the family, he decided to give both a chance.”

Those were the days when multiple magazines appealed to every specialized interest. Hawley sold dozens of sports magazines, humor magazines, fashion magazines, science magazines and literary journals of contemporary thought like Atlantic Monthly and the North American Review – both of which are still published today. He carried most of the major periodicals published in German and French.

After 40 years in business, Grandpa Hawley found himself evicted from his landmark shop to make way for the construction of the Ingalls Building, the first reinforced concrete skyscraper in the world. Railroad magnate Melville E. Ingalls spent so much effort convincing city officials to allow him to build his revolutionary building that he gave little thought to the businesses he displaced.

Grandpa Hawley ended up relocating to the nearby Emery Arcade on the other side of Vine, but years of generosity caught up with him and bankruptcy was a real possibility. According to the Post:

“Everybody’s word goes with ‘Grandpa’ Hawley and were his customers so disposed they could carry away in overcoat pockets or under their arms several times as much as they paid for.”

At this dark moment, Hawley’s theatrical friends, accumulated over the decades, sprang into action and staged a benefit extravaganza for him at the Grand Opera House on 1 May 1903, raising more than $650 and saving the old man’s finances. It was a short-lived victory. Not quite a year later, Grandpa Hawley was dead. As he was laid to rest in Covington’s Linden Grove Cemetery, the Post [20 February 1904] eulogized:

“’Grandpa’ Hawley did not have an enemy in the world. For a lifetime he jogged along in an even, quiet way. He was honest and fair. He was never too busy to clasp hands warmly and talk entertainingly. He possessed a smile that was born of the natural kindness in his soul.”

[srbachchan]

DAY 5518

Jalsa, Mumbai                Mar 26/27,  2023              Sun/Mon 8:58 AM

Birthday  EF - Rameshwar Vyankatrao Chavan ..  Ef Ratna Monday, 27 March .. wishes for the birthday from the Ef family ..🚩❤️

🪔 .. March 27 .. birthday of Ef Aditi Ved .. Ef Rameshwar Vyankatrao Chavan .. and Ef Ratna - the St Louis Girl .. wishes to all and the prayers for good health and happiness .. love .. ❤️❤️❤️🌿

.. and .. March 27 .. be World Theater Day ..

And a picture of a 21 me  .. from Shakespeare's play OTHELLO adapted translated in Hindi, in the same graph as that of the bard, but in the style of Babuji’s writings .. a unique rendition, never done before .. by Babuji .. and directed by  Gopal Kaul ..

Play was performed in the year 1963 .. in the IFACS Theater in Delhi ..  did this play just after my Senior Cambridge exams of Class 10 .. in Sherwood ..

Maa ji performed in it .. as did I .. Pandit ji came for the inaugural performance .. Babuji in the picture as well standing next to Maa ji in costume .. after the curtain call ..

And the work continues .. the Sunday blessings of the well wishers .. my love affection and gratitude .. they still come .. me in homemade sling and the grey 

tulsi ke saye mein .. तुलसी के  साये में 

for the moment this .. more shall follow soon .. 

Amitabh Bachchan

ps  .. a patch of grey behind the hair ; ‘no time to get the nature fair .. but now that resumption does invite , shall attend to it and make it bright  !!

the breathing done in the ‘yaam’ for now ; off to work, in defiance somehow ; the Ef renders, this is beyond allow ; but work I must , to them I bow  !!!

there is a flood of well wishers here, but space and limits do not allow ..

so shall be posting another Blog , patience please, doing it now  !!❤️

[thatchronicfeeling]

It has come to my attention that it's Period Drama Appreciation Week 2023. I love period dramas and grew up watching them. They have been a formative part of my life and I'm now too disabled to watch video. Even gifs are too difficult for my brain to process. It is also Bi Visibility Week and I'm posting this on Bisexual Visibility Day. Since I can't safely post a pile of gifs, here is a list celebrating actors/characters/moments from period dramas that have been significant to my bisexuality. [Yes, this is a big list. I am missing out on watching and re-watching A Lot of awesome period dramas and I hate it. This list is helping me reclaim a bit of joy. Also I've probably forgotten some favourites and may update this.]

Lori Petty in A League of Their Own

Jodhi May in any period drama

Mary Wickes in any period drama

Freddy Honeychurch in A Room with a View

Anne Hathaway playing cricket in that rust-coloured dress in Becoming Jane

Esther Summerson (disabled heroine!) & Allan Woodcourt in Bleak House

the freshly-painted yellow cabin door swinging shut with the names 'Calam & Katie' painted on it in Calamity Jane

the sequence where Doris Day sings 'Secret Love' in Calamity Jane

Michelle in Derry Girls (and James too, a wee bit)

George Eliot & Lenore in Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party

the moment where Emma and Mr Knightley start dancing together and it feels like you're inside the music in Emma

Polly Waker's haircut in The Enchanted April

Matthias Schoenaerts in Far From the Madding Crowd

Idgie & Ruth in Fried Green Tomatoes

Suranne Jones in Gentleman Jack

recognising Marian Lister as a bisexual who hasn't realised it yet in Gentleman Jack

Mary Agnes McNue in Godless

Bel & Freddie in The Hour

June Allyson leaping over a hedge (or is it a fence?) as Jo March in Little Women

the Patricia Rozema adaptation of Mansfield Park

the whole sequence where Judy Garland strides onto the neighbours' porch to sock The Boy Next Door in the jaw in Meet Me in St Louis

Katie the cook in Meet Me in St Louis

the moment where Benedick braces his arm against a doorframe in a desperate panic to stop Beatrice from going to eat Claudio's heart in the marketplace in Much Ado About Nothing

Denzel Washington in Much Ado About Nothing

Mr Thornton's hands (ok, and also his face) in North & South

tomboy Doris Day in On Moonlight Bay

Valentine in Parade's End

all of Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Papi in Pose

Lizzy Bennet declaring that she would never marry someone she did not love in Pride & Prejudice

Mr Darcy diving into a pond in Pride & Prejudice

both Angel and Joanne in Rent (the 2008 broadway version)

Martha the maid in The Secret Garden

Lelia Walker in Self-Made

swashbuckling Margaret Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility

the dance sequences in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

the whole Thomas Kent situation in Shakespeare in Love

Maria (when she is not a nun) in The Sound of Music

Kitty Butler onstage in Tipping the Velvet

Annie and Janette and Jacques and Linh in Treme

Audra McDonald and Anne Hathaway and Raúl Esparza in that promotional photo for Twelfth Night

Julie Andrews and her male co-star singing a version of 'Home on the Range' with the line 'and the deer and the antelope are gay' in Victor/Victoria

Justine Waddell in Wives & Daughters

[archinform]

Rosehill Mausoleum, Chicago

The mausoleum features a rotunda with relief panels of the four seasons by Leon Hermant, sculptor

Rosehill Masoleum. Source: Rosehill Cemetery, Dignity Memorial

Background:

Rosehill Cemetery, in northwest Chicago, is the city's largest and oldest cemetery, dating back to 1859, and contains at least 200,000 grave sites in a 350-acre garden setting.

Dedicated in 1914, the cemetery's Rosehill Mausoleum was designed by architect Sidney Lovell, who is interred within. The interior is almost entirely of marble, with the floors composed of Italian Carrara marble. Several later additions would be made to the building; there were six additions made after 1913, and a final one in 1975.

Leon Hermant (1866–1936) was an American sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture. Hermant was born in France, educated in Europe and came to America in 1904 to work on the French Pavilion at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri.

For most of his career he was based in Chicago, working mostly in the American midwest, and frequently with a partner Carl Beil.

From 1904, when they met in St. Louis, until 1927, Hermant and Beil were partners at their Sculpture Studio at 21 East Pearson Street in Chicago.  Leon was the Artist, Carl, the "Executioner."  Hermant continued his art after Beil's death in 1927, receiving a major commission for the Indiana State Library in 1934. Hermant exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1920s, and would complete many sculptures throughout the U.S. [Chicago Sculpture in the Loop]

In 1928 Hermant was awarded the Légion d'honneur by the French government for his Louis Pasteur Monument in Grant Park, Chicago.

Pasteur Monument, Grant Park, Chicago

In the 1929 Fourth Addition to Rosehill Mausoleum, a marble rotunda features relief panels of the four seasons executed by Hermant, placed between engaged marble columns. Each panel contains a brief quote below, appropriate to the season. Leon Hermant's signature appears on the bottom right of only one panel, Winter.

The yellowish lighting within the rotunda is so dim that photography is difficult, and one strains to appreciate the quality of the sculptures. I'd admired these panels before, but it was thanks to some thorough research by Jim Craig of Under Every Tombstone that I was alerted to their sculptor's identity.

Leon Hermant, 1866-1936 Source: Under Every Tombstone

Construction News, February 22, 1913, pp. 6-7. Click to view larger

See detail of ad below:

Photos from my recent visit to Rosehill Mausoleum, July 19, 2024:

Rosehill Mausoleum, corridor leading to the rotunda

Rotunda east side, Winter (left), Spring (right)

Rotunda west side, Summer (left), Autumn (right)

The south of the rotunda is occupied by the elegant Rawson family crypt. The north opens to a corridor leading to other areas of the mausoleum.

The Four Seasons

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Inscriptions at the base of the four panels:

SPRING

Hail bounteous May, that dost inspire

Mirth, and youth and warm desire

Hill and dale dost boast thy blessing

This we salute thee with our early song

and welcome and wishe thee long.

                                          Milton.

SUMMER

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

…So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

                                             Shakespeare

AUTUMN

There is no death! The stars go down

To rise upon some other shore.

And bright in heaven's jeweled crown

They shine for evermore.

…For all the universe is life…

There are no dead."

                                       Maeterlink

WINTER

When once our heavenly souls shall climb

Then all earthly grossness quit.

Attired with stars we shall forever sit

Triumphing over death and change and thee

O time!

                                       -Milton-

Detail of Autumn

Signature of Leon Hermant Sc. [sculptor] on the Winter panel

A sculpture inside a family crypt [not attributed to Hermant, but I liked it]

Plan of main level of Rosehill Mausoleum; yellow circle indicates location of the four seasons rotunda.

Beil and Hermant created the relief sculptures above the mausoleum's main entrance (see below).

The mansions of the silent, by Booth, A.L. Published in: Fine arts journal, 1916.

Leon Hermant's other works in Chicago include:

Former Illinois Athletic Club, now SAIC MacLean Center; 12th floor frieze (1908); Zeus presiding over athletic contests.

William Shakespeare, (1915) Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Louis Pasteur Monument, (1928) Grant Park, Chicago

City Hall and Cook County Building, (1911), Chicago

Radisson Chicago Hotel [Medinah Athletic Club] Reliefs, (1929), Chicago; According to an article in the Chicago Tribune from Sept 16, 1928 entitled “Building art inspires panels,” “The friezes were designed by George Unger, in collaboration with Walter Ahlschlager, and carved by Leon Hermant."

One North Lasalle Street (1930), Vitzthum and Burns architects, Chicago

via Prabook site

SOURCES/ LINKS:

Léon Hermant, Wikipedia

Sidney Lovell, Wikipedia

"The Mansions of the Silent," by Anne Lisle Booth, Fine Arts Journal, Vol. 34, No. 6 (Jun. - Jul., 1916), pp. 265-274

"Rosehill Cemetery Mausoleum," Construction News, February 22, 1913, pp. 6-7.

[mybleedingboy]

free recordings of shakespeare plays

in alphabetical order for convenience (but pls use CTRL+F) disclaimer: i have not watched all of these.

all's well that ends well to julius caesar (part 1, here)

king john to the winter's tale (part 2, coming tomorrow maybe idk)

*login with public library card or university, italicized are audio recordings, ! means I don't want the video to get taken down so I didn't add it but search it up and you'll find a good production on a specific website...

All's Well That Ends Well

Shakespeare by the Sea (2013)

UC Davis Playing Shakespeare (2010)

BBC Television Shakespeare* or (1981)

Plainfield Little Theatre (2016)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Antony and Cleopatra !

Royal Shakespeare Company (1974)

Unbound Theatre (2019)

Shakespeare & Company (2018)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Greatest Audio Books (2013)

As You Like It

movie adapted by JM Barrie and Robert Cullen (1936)

The Public Theater of MN (2013)

Rice University (2019)

Oxford Theatre Guild (2020)

Shakespeare & Company (2014)

Battle Ground High School Drama Club (2017)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Greatest Audio Books (2015)

BBC Shakespeare Plays* (1978)

Comedy of Errors

Steam-Punk Performance (2014)

Shakespeare by the Sea (2019)

Shakespeare in the Park NZ (2007)

Coronado Playhouse (2021)

Highland Arts Theatre (2021)

Theatre Company of Saugus, pt. 2 (2023)

Shakespeare Network (2020)

Greatest Audio Books (2013)

BBC Movie* (1984)

Coriolanus !

Brussels Shakespeare Society (2017)

Movie (1964)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Cymbeline

Shakespeare by the Sea (2016)

Shakespeare & Company (2012)

Movie* (1984)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Hamlet ! (hint: Moriarty)

adapted and dir. Laurence Olivier (1948)

Abrahamse & Meyer Production (2015)

Bob Jones University (2020)

Broadway Production (1964)

starr. Maxine Peake (2015)

BLC Theatre (2013)

Hamlet as a Rock Opera (2007)

Radio Drama (2018?)

Studio Album star. 1964 Broadway cast (1964)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

BBC Shakespeare Plays* (1980)

Royal Shakespeare Company* (2013)

Wooster Group Re-making* (?) (2012)

Henry IV, Part I

English Shakespeare Company (1990)

Brussels Shakespeare Society (adapted I and II, 2017)

TVO (1990)

Shakespeare & Company (2017)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Oregon Shakespeare Festival (1950)

Oakshot Press (2017)

BBC Shakespeare Plays* (1984)

H4* (Henry IV parts I and II in futuristic Los Angeles, 2012)

Henry IV, Part II

English Shakespeare Company (1990)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Oakshot Press (2017)

BBC Shakespeare Plays* (1984)

Henry V

Laurence Olivier (1944)

English Shakespeare Company (1990)

Barn Theatre (2020?)

St. Louis Shakespeare,pt. 2 (2011)

ASC Theatre Company (2022)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

AudioBookBuzz (2018)

BBC Shakespeare Plays* (1979)

Henry VI, Part I

Royal Shakespeare Company (parts I, II, and III, 1956)

English Shakespeare Company (1990)

Shakespeare by the Sea (2021)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

BBC Shakespeare Plays* (1984)

Henry VI, Part II

English Shakespeare Company (1990)

ASC Theatre Camp (2020)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Oregon Shakespeare Festival (1954)

BBC Shakespeare Plays* (1984)

Henry VI, Part III

English Shakespeare Company (1990?)

Whitman College (1992)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Oregon Shakespeare Festival (1955)

(BBC Shakespeare Plays* (1984)

Henry VIII

Shakespeare Happy Hours (online, 2020)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Oregon Shakespeare Festival (1957)

BBC Shakespeare Plays* (1984)

Julius Caesar !

starr. Gielgud, dir. Stuart Burge (1970)

Festival Series (1960)

Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival (2016)

Shakespeare at Winedale (2018)

Acting for a Cause (2022)

Shakespeare Network (1998)

Greatest AudioBooks (2013)

dir. Gregory Doran* (2012)

[livingasaghost]

okay @permanentreverie did this in honor of book lovers day (aug 9) so here i am being obnoxious and sorting my favorite books based on genres bc i'm procrastinating editing

put it under read more because i'm annoying and this is longer than i thought it'd be ahjflksd

classics:

les miserables by victor hugo

1984 by george orwell

a midsummer night's dream by william shakespeare

hamlet by william shakespeare

the crucible by arthur miller

the great gatsby by f scott fitzgerald

contemporary romances:

red white and royal blue by casey mcquiston

with you forever by chloe liese

everything for you by chloe liese

beach read by emily henry

happy place by emily henry

a very merry bromance by lyssa kay adams

crazy stupid bromance by lyssa kay adams

love, theoretically by ali hazelwood

the love hypothesis by ali hazelwood

not in love by ali hazelwood

let's talk about love by claire kann

roomies by christina lauren

the hating game by sally thorne

fantasy:

tower of dawn by sarah j maas

kingdom of ash by sarah j maas

a court of mist and fury by sarah j maas

a court of silver flames by sarah j maas

the starless sea by erin morgenstern

a storm of swords by george r.r. martin

a feast for crows by george r.r. martin

wizard's first rule by terry goodkind

temple of the winds by terry goodkind

prince's gambit by c.s. pacat

kings rising by c.s. pacat

a discovery of witches by deborah harkness

jade legacy by fonda lee

the dragon republic by r.f. kuang

babel by r.f. kuang

every heart a doorway by seanan mcguire

the magician's nephew by c.s. lewis

priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon

strange the dreamer by laini taylor

sci-fi:

the host by stephenie meyer

nona the ninth by tamsyn muir

graphic novels / comics:

monstress by marjorie liu & sana takeda

check please by ngozi ukazu

the boy the mole the fox and the horse by charlie mackesy

heartstopper by alice oseman

lore olympus by rachel smythe

fence by c.s. pacat & johanna the mad

heart of gold by eliot baum & viv tanner

the prince & the dressmaker by jen wang

historical fiction:

cloud cuckoo land by anthony doerr

the book thief by markus zusak

literary fiction:

evenings & weekends by oisín mckenna

henry henry by allen bratton

a little life by hanya yanagihara

piranesi by suzanna clarke

malibu rising by taylor jenkins reid

if we were villains by m.l. rio

the invisible life of addie larue by v.e. schwab

real life by brandon taylor

s by doug dorst

horror:

house of leaves by mark z danielewski

imaginary friend by stephen chbosky

night film by marisha pessl

don't let the forest in by c.g. drews

middle grade:

magyk by angie sage

a kind of spark by elle mcnicoll

sir callie and the champions of helston by esme symes-smith

holes by louis sachar

the mighty heart of sunny st james by ashley herring blake

new adult:

loveless by alice oseman

obsidian by jennifer l armentrout

masters of death by olivie blake

alone with you in the ether by olivie blake

angelfall by susan ee

the sunshine court by nora sakavic

the king's men by nora sakavic

vicious by v.e. schwab

queenie by candice carty-williams

hell bent by leigh bardugo

nonfiction:

into the wild by john krakauer

it was vulgar and it was beautiful by jack lowery

the last lecture by randy pausch

what i want to talk about by pete wharmby

furiously happy by jenny lawson

ace by angela chen

blood sweat and chrome by kyle buchanan

refusing compulsory sexuality by sherronda j brown

the great divorce by c.s. lewis

the cancer journals by audre lorde

the dark interval by rilke

inverse cowgirl by alicia roth weigel

translated works:

the memory police by yōko ogawa

vita nostra by marina dyachenko

the strange library by haruki murakami

young adult:

the mask falling by samantha shannon

check & mate by ali hazelwood

i was born for this by alice oseman

the hunger games by suzanne collins

just listen by sarah dessen

ignite me by tahereh mafi

the unexpected everything by morgan matson

save the date by morgan matson

tash hearts tolstoy by kathryn ormsbee

neverworld wake by marisha pessl

the spirit bares its teeth by andrew joseph white

compound fracture by andrew joseph white

the wicked king by holly black

short story collections:

the tangleroot palace by marjorie liu

what is not your is not yours by helen oyeyemi

the late americans by brandon taylor

filthy animals by brandon taylor

seven empty houses by samanta schweblin

[noelcollection]

Gothic Literature

As All Hallow’s Eve approaches with much anticipation of costumes, candies, and candles; we are reminded of strange tales that float from ear to ear as the sun sets earlier and the moon rises sooner. Some of the most popular works of literature created the genre of gothic literature, Stoker's Dracula, Shelly’s Frankenstein, and Walpole’s Castle of Otranto.

Horace Walpole’s novel The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story, first published in 1764, is considered to be the first gothic work in literature. The mention of gothic literature brings up images of foggy moors, castle ruins, dark romances, and flocks of black birds. This is due to the major contributors of the gothic literary canon from the early Victorian period from both the United Kingdom and America; Charles Dickens, the Bronte sisters, Edgar Allen Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The gothic literary canon has continued to expand with the works of Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Annie Rice. There is a modern gothic canon that houses authors such as Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Dame Daphne du Maruier. Beyond the illustrations of vampires, night sisters, and dangerous tinctures, what creates a gothic novel? 

There are three main elements that are needed for a gothic novel: an environment of fear, supernatural events, and an intrusion of the past on the present. This differs from traditional fairy tales because the main theme is the present being haunted by the past or past event. The character’s environment contains physical reminders of the past by utilizing dark but picturesque scenery with melodramatic narratives. The central environment can be castle ruins, ancient houses, or encircling forests which all contain some terrible secret. An example of this is Poe’s short story “Fall of the House of Usher.” There are several earlier novels that set the foundation for early gothic literature that were published in the late 1700s. The featured novel The Castle of Otranto by Walpole in 1764; along with other works like Ann Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho, (1794), Matthew Lewis’s The Monk (1796), and Charles Brockden Brown’s American tale Wieland (1798). In the case of Walpole’s novel which is considered to be the first gothic novel, the subtitle “a Gothic story” was applied to the second edition.

This is likely due to the setting of the novel being in a haunted castle which is said to be inspired by a nightmare that Walpole had while sleeping in his own gothic revival style home, called Strawberry Hill House, in London. Horace Walople was taken with medieval history. The novel itself deals with a castle lord named Manfred and his family and opens with an ominous wedding. The sickly son of Manfred, Conrad is meant to be marrying princess Isabella but is crushed to death by a large helmet that falls from above him. This event is tied to an ancient prophecy:

“that the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it”

The story follows through a series of events that feels reminiscence of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as Manfred attempts to leave his current wife for his son’s betrothed is fear that the prophecy means the end of his family’s line. The full prophecy comes to play out when Manfred mistakenly kills his daughter, Matilda, and a giant ghostly apparition appears to announce that the prophecy has been fulfilled after Matilda’s death and the former peasant Theodore is revealed to be the true prince of Otranto. Manfred repents for his actions and retires to religion alongside his wife, Hippolita.

While much of the story is dramatic, it was well received after its original publication. The portions being featured from the 1800’s edition of Walpole novel with the full title: The Castle of Otranto, A Story. Translated by William Marshal, Gent. From the Original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto, Canon of the Church of St. Nicholas at Otranto. The title was meant to give the reader’s the impression that the story was much older by seeming that it was found manuscript written in Naples in 1529, to better enforce this notion Walpole chose an archaic style of writing for the novel. The edition in the James Smith Noel Collection also has a frontispiece which is featured with this post.

Walpole, H. (1800). Jeffery's edition of the Castle of Otranto: A Gothic story. Jeffery. https://bit.ly/3rMxwNw

[clairelsonao3]

OC Name Meanings Tag

Thanks to @starlit-hopes-and-dreams (post here) and @mysticstarlightduck (post here) for this one that I've been looking forward to for weeks! I'm a total name nerd and am obsessed with name meanings as well as new, trendy, odd, and/or obscure names (too bad many of these started out as generic placeholders!)

For obvious reasons, though, I can't help but wish you'd waited a bit longer to tag me in this. 🤣 But, here goes.

Some very minor spoilers here for Ch. 16 onward.

Louisa is German for "famous warrior," a surprisingly strong name, but, then again, this is a girl who has a way of surprising people with her strength. It's also one of the many, many girls' names I've had a crush on for years, and one of the many I probably won't ever use for my own (eventual) child. So I gave it to my fictional child instead. 🥹🥹

I established in an earlier tag game that she was named after both her maternal and paternal grandfathers (Louis and Daniel). So for the rest of her name, we have Danielle (Hebrew: "God is my judge," and Phillips (Greek: "horse-lover") (and literally the first surname that popped into my head as a placeholder, and I'm very annoyed because it's so common. Oh, well.)

Maeve is interesting. She should have a Luxembourgish name, but she's not one for convention. So the name is actually Irish, for "she who rules" and Maeve, a lover of fantasy stories, chose it herself after the mythological warrior queen. It's also a variant of Mab, Shakespeare's Queen of the Fairies, made famous in Mercutio's soliloquy from Romeo and Juliet. Conveniently, we haven't gotten around to learning her surname yet.

Erica is Norse for "eternal ruler," and Muller is German for "miller." Another name that started as basically a placeholder, but I've come around to it.

Milagros (Spanish: "miracles") who, in a plot point of sorts, named herself, has the full name of María de los Milagros de Ulloa y de la Torre-Giralt-Muller, chosen to honor an obscure Spanish astronomer who discovered Ulloa's ring aka the fog bow: Antonio de Ulloa (and hyphenated with Muller, obviously, for her wife). Interestingly, María de los Milagros is one of many Marian titles, meaning it's a Catholic name commonly used in Latin America referring to the Virgin Mary aka "Our Lady of the Miracles," though knowing Milagros, that's definitely not why she chose it.

Keith (Scottish: "wood") and Corey (Irish: "from the hollow") have the dubious honor of being the two most bland, generic, white-bread male names I could think of at the moment I created the characters. 🤣 Killeen is Irish and a variant of O Cillin, referring to St. Killian, the patron saint of rheumatism. But actually, it was just stolen from a friend of a friend; it seemed rare enough that no one would be offended when I used it for the worst character in the story. 🤣

And in case anyone remembers or cares that Lou's mom's name is Zoe, it's Greek for "life."

Jacob is of course a variant of James (Hebrew: "supplanter"), and I lazily stole Wallach from old-timey Western actor Eli Wallach, who was best known for playing the bad guy in The Magnificent Seven. But I mostly chose the surname, again, because I'd never heard it anywhere else, so, less chance of offending anyone. And before I knew he was going to be German. Luckily the name IS German, from valche, meaning "foreigner from a Romance country, usually Italy." Yeah, I'm confused too.

Resi/Tresa are German variations of Theresa (Greek: "late summer.") Hahn is also German, meaning "conceited, flamboyant, or sexually active." Really.

Felix (Latin: "happy") and Arlo (multiple origins, all relating to "hill") were chosen because they're two currently trendy baby names that I hate, hate, hate. (No offense to anyone who named their kid that, lol). And their surnames, which were only mentioned once and I'm not bothering to look up the meaning of, were chosen because they're two prominent family names on the island where I live, as kind of an in-joke.

Lemaya: As far as I can tell, it's made up (but not by me!) Maya has a ton of different meanings in various languages, the most common being Sanskrit, "illusion or magic."

Obadiah: (Hebrew: "servant of God"). I'll leave that there.

And that's pretty much everybody -- oh, wait. I'm missing someone? Imagine that. 😅

Okay. I'll tell you what. Because this is a post about names and I'm feeling cute, I'll leave you with a couple of hints: his first name is of Hebrew origin and was chosen for both sound and meaning.

I'll try gently tagging the following:

@romanceandshenanigans @janec23 @lucylyricism Would love to find out where your OCs' names came from!

[shakespearenews]

ESTEBAN: Excuse me, I’m sorry, we’re also not queering Shakespeare. Shakespeare came to us queer as fuck. Okay?

ESCO: I’m just going off the text right now, like: oh, Feste is two-spirited. It takes a special human being to be able to move through this type of world. This cannot be someone that holds onto what society says is right. I cannot play Feste if I think that there’s only one way that’s right. That’s Malvolio! Who you are and what you would…

ESTEBAN: …are out of my welkin.

ESCO: I see you. Be you, boo. You are trying to survive. I’m trying to survive. And I see the survivalist in you. Do you, boo. You’re safe with me.

---

ESCO: I want to say, growing up as a Black person, there were no Shakespeare books being thrown in front of me. And also with dyslexia, words are horrifying, terrifying. But if you have the right people around you, and the people who can see that you’re capable, and then also go, “Hey, would you like to join?” I’m very thankful for those people for giving me the opportunity, because I now want to pass on to other people that if you have the opportunity, and you feel safe enough, I think it’s a place to try—a place that should be explored. What they don’t know is that it’s for our people. It’s for the artists. It’s really for the artists. Some people have tried to make it so high and mighty and uppity. It’s not. It’s literally for the artists that are still trying to speak in code. Definitely do Shakespeare if you can. Which I would never have thought I would ever say, so it has to go on record.

ESTEBAN: I feel an aversion to Shakespeare in the way it’s practiced in this country, which is to be put as a museum piece up on a pedestal, up on a shelf. Also, even though there are some companies that have the word “American” in their name, whenever they do Shakespeare, they have to (puts on an affected British accent) put on a British lilt, and lift up the language so that it sounds “better.” So we already have this still like conquistador-able idea of what colonialism looks like, and we try and make it like people don’t see what they’re doing with Shakespeare when they’re doing that.

[sporadicarbitergardener]

1928-2014

By Dr. Kelly A. Spring | 2017; Updated December 2021 by Mariana Brandman, NWHM Predoctoral Fellow in Women’s History, 2020-2022

Poet, dancer, singer, activist, and scholar Maya Angelou was a world-famous author. She was best known for her unique and pioneering autobiographical writing style.

On April 4, 1928, Marguerite Ann Johnson, known to the world as Maya Angelou, was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Due to her parents’ tumultuous marriage and subsequent divorce, Angelou went to live with her paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas at an early age. Her older brother, Bailey, gave Angelou her nickname “Maya.”

Returning to her mother’s care briefly at the age of seven, Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. He was later jailed and then killed when released from jail. Believing that her confession of the trauma had a hand in the man’s death, Angelou became mute for six years. During her mutism and into her teens, she again lived with her grandmother in Arkansas.

Angelou’s interest in the written word and the English language was evident from an early age. Throughout her childhood, she wrote essays, poetry, and kept a journal. When she returned to Arkansas, she took an interest in poetry and memorized works by Shakespeare and Poe.

Prior to the start of World War II, Angelou moved back in with her mother, who at this time was living in Oakland, California. She attended George Washington High School and took dance and drama courses at the California Labor School.

When war broke out, Angelou applied to join the Women’s Army Corps. However, her application was rejected because of her involvement in the California Labor School, which was said to have Communist ties. Determined to gain employment, despite being only 15 years old, she decided to apply for the position of a streetcar conductor. Many men had left their jobs to join the services, enabling women to fill them. However, Angelou was barred from applying at first because of her race. But she was undeterred. Every day for three weeks, she requested a job application, but was denied. Finally, the company relented and handed her an application. Because she was under the legal working age, she wrote that she was 19. She was accepted for the position and became the first African American woman to work as a streetcar conductor in San Francisco. Angelou was employed for a semester but then decided to return to school. She graduated from Mission High School in the summer of 1944 and soon after gave birth to her only child, Clyde Bailey (Guy) Johnson.

After graduation, Angelou undertook a series of odd jobs to support herself and her son. In 1949, she married Tosh Angelos, an electrician in the US Navy. She adopted a form of his surname and kept it throughout her life, though the marriage ended in divorce in 1952.

Angelou was also noted for her talents as a singer and dancer, particularly in the calypso and cabaret styles. In the 1950s, she performed professionally in the US, Europe, and northern Africa, and sold albums of her recordings.

In 1950, African American writers in New York City formed the Harlem Writers Guild to nurture and support the publication of Black authors. Angelou joined the Guild in 1959. She also became active in the Civil Rights Movement and served as the northern coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a prominent African American advocacy organization

In 1969, Angelou published I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an autobiography of her early life. Her tale of personal strength amid childhood trauma and racism resonated with readers and was nominated for the National Book Award. Many schools sought to ban the book for its frank depiction of sexual abuse, but it is credited with helping other abuse survivors tell their stories. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has been translated into numerous languages and has sold over a million copies worldwide. Angelou eventually published six more autobiographies, culminating in 2013’s Mom & Me & Mom.  

She wrote numerous poetry volumes, such as the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Just Give me a Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), as well as several essay collections. She also recorded spoken albums of her poetry, including “On the Pulse of the Morning,” for which she won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album. The poem was originally written for and delivered at President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. She also won a Grammy in 1995, and again in 2002, for her spoken albums of poetry.

Angelou carried out a wide variety of activities on stage and screen as a writer, actor, director, and producer. In 1972, she became the first African American woman to have her screen play turned into a film with the production of Georgia, Georgia. Angelou earned a Tony nomination in 1973 for her supporting role in Jerome Kitty’s play Look Away, and portrayed Kunta Kinte’s grandmother in the television miniseries Roots in 1977.

She was recognized by many organizations both nationally and internationally for her contributions to literature. In 1981, Wake Forest University offered Angelou the Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. President Clinton awarded Angelou the National Medal of Arts in 2000. In 2012, she was a member of the inaugural class inducted into the Wake Forest University Writers Hall of Fame. The following year, she received the National Book Foundation’s Literarian Award for outstanding service to the American literary community. Angelou also gave many commencement speeches and was awarded more than 30 honorary degrees in her lifetime.

Angelou died on May 28, 2014. Several memorials were held in her honor, including ones at Wake Forest University and Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. To honor her legacy, the US Postal Service issued a stamp with her likeness on it in 2015. (The US Postal Service mistakenly included a quote on the stamp that has long been associated with Angelou but was actually first written by Joan Walsh Anglund.) 

In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. It was a fitting recognition for Angelou’s remarkable and inspiring career in the arts.

This woman was a woman of rape, abuse , and even a victim of racism. She stayed writing in her life as life went on and she did not ask other people to suffer either was well she was a woman of many gift. A big wake up for womens rights and also a good reflection on what is wrong with today's society. People use religion, marriage, laws and even age to determine what is and isn't rape and that is the sick culture all women have to endure. It is never a woman's fault. It happened to me recently and now I am diving back into my music arts. Even research as well . Getting different domains for different topics as well while putting my story out there . It is scary to put it out there because there are so many different things that make writing scary/

[rebeccasteventaylor]

Bless me, for I am going into my indepth, rambling analytic rewatch of Episode 6..:

Rather nice to see Gabriel being Aziraphale’s assistant as he very competently sets up a trap, explains things to Nina and Maggie and faces down Shax. It’s rather sexy.

Shop is full of electric candles and fire extinguishers. I don’t know if this is down to Crowley or Aziraphale but between them they’re doing everything to make sure this bookshop never burns again.

Considering how traumatic Crowley’s last visit to heaven was, he’s enjoying this rather too much!

You go Maggie! Argue with the demon! That you don’t seem that surprised about for some reason…

Maggie had brothers? Not has? Had? Past tense?

Aziraphale is very good at this coolly heroic thing. It’s very sexy. I wish Crowley could see this.

Did Aziraphale, by opening that portal, make it possible for the Metatron to come to Earth?

Muriel is so lonely. No wonder she’s imprinted on Aziraphale and Crowley.

So Crowley, when an Angel, was high enough to get access to confidential records. What else did he learn? When Aziraphale told him about the 6000 year thing, did he go and look?

There’s so much pain on Aziraphale’s face when he talks about the book shop fire. But he wasn’t there when it happened, so all that pain comes from his memory of Crowley’s pain when telling him. Imagine a late night conversation when it’s all over. And Aziraphale asks exactly what happened to the bookshop. And Crowley tells him everything - including running into a burning bookshop to find Aziraphale. And the next morning the shop is full of electric candles and fire extinguishers (sorry, quick digression into fanfic thoughts there)

Aziraphale doesn’t really seem bothered about being described as Crowley’s emotional support Angel. But the irony of Gabriel/Jim being puzzled by Shax shaming Aziraphale over eating and sushi when the last person to do that was Gabriel.

Well now it makes sense that Gabriel is quite happy to be cast down to hell.

Aw, Crowley giving Muriel a little companionable shoulder punch!

Isn’t that halo thing from the film script?

What damage did Aziraphale do to himself when he removed the halo?

Crowley just assumes that Muriel is coming back with him. He has to invite Saraqael specifically.

Ok, in Gabriel’s box is stored two lost Shakespeare plays (Goldiggers 1589 and Robin Hoode) mentioned in the novel Good Omens. Also some kind of loan agreement in 1913 with the postmaster of New Cumnock, or rather his late estate. New Cumnock is a town in Scotland and there really was a postmaster called John Gibson. I’ve no idea why Aziraphale has a loan agreement with his estate though.

The fly going into Gabriel’s eye is disgusting.

So it seems the whole Ineffable Bureaucracy thing does start in canon as it started in fanon - the little conversation about how difficult Aziraphale and Crowley just made their jobs at the airfield.

The more Gabriel talks to Beelzebub, the less of a dickhead he is. And he didn’t know what music was until Beelzebub told him.

The songs on the jukebox are Mull of Kintyre, Dignity from Deacon Blue, Daddy’s Gone by Glasvegas, Letter from America by the Proclaimers, Shang a Lang by Bay City Rollers, News from Heaven by Runrig and Obladi Oblada. The film in the background is Spirit of St Louis. The song chosen (before it changes) is Letter from America - where Warlock is now, i presume.

Right, if you be been following my ‘S3 is based on Powell/Pressburger film A Matter of Life and Death’ theory, there’s more proof here - in The Resurrections pub in their last meeting, there are ‘Pressburger’ advertisements on the wall all around.

Oh god, Gabriel’s face when he sees Beelzebub - such love. (I can’t believe we got canon Ineffable Bureaucracy!)

Gabriel and Beelzebub finding something that mattered more than choosing sides, in Aziraphale’s bookshop, in front of Aziraphale! And he grasps Crowley’s shoulder and yet in ten minutes he’s talking about sides again and WHAT THE HELL DID THE METATRON DO TO HIM.

Oh, Crowley grinning at his Angel taking charge.

Muriel has been absorbed in a book all this time. She hasn’t noticed a things

Oh, the way Aziraphale looks at Crowley when he mentions Alpha Centauri. There’s guilt there.

Aziraphale watching Beelzebub and Gabriel in love and clearly thinking that angels and demons can be in love, and then looking lovingly at Crowley and if Crowley had kissed him then he would have melted into his arms.

Aziraphale resits the Metratron at first. I’m not sure if there’s anything in the coffee but buying it for him is an act of kindness. It’s classic coercive control - when they expect cruelty, lead with kindness. I bet Nina’s Lindsay was just like that at first.

And the Metatron glares at Crowley as the one person who could possibly break his control of Aziraphale.

Oh, Crowley planning is time and breakfast at the Ritz.

Crowley given Muriel Crow Road and tidying up the bookshop and the romantic music is playing and he’s expecting a happy ending to all this!

Oh. Nina calls Maggie Angel! And it’s Nina and Maggie pointing out that Aziraphale and Crowley don’t ever talk about they really think.

Aziraphale acts excited but deep in his heart of hearts he knows Crowley won’t like this.

The Metatron is recruiting Aziraphale because he knows if he left Aziraphale on Earth with Crowley they’d fight whatever plans he has. And he tempts Aziraphale with the one thing that would work - redemption for Crowley. He’d never have to see Crowley dragged down to hell for punishment. He’d never have to see the angels erase Crowley from the book of life. The Metatron is offering the one thing Aziraphale wants - Crowley’s safety. Even if it costs Aziraphale everything.

And Aziraphale still cannot get rid of the idea that Heaven is the good guys. He didn’t see Gabriel’s trial. He didn’t see his own trial. He hasn’t seen all the things Crowley has, and what he did see, they’ve convinced him is his own fault, not theres. Think about those people who keep going back to an abusive home, because they think home is where they should be and if it’s wrong, it’s their fault, not home’s.

I can’t bear Crowley’s crying! It breaks my heart.

‘Nothing lasts forever’ I bet thats what the Metatron said to Aziraphale. This all feels like the abusive family dragging him back with the ‘it’ll be different this time’ and ‘we’ll listen to you this time’ and ‘you don’t want to break up the family do you?’ line. Poor, abused Aziraphale. He was so close to getting away.

‘No nightingales’ No happy ending. No ‘us’.

Aziraphale does sink into the kiss for a moment. There’s a moment where he grasps Crowley. Crowley almost breaks the Metatron’s programming.

But that ‘I forgive you’ is nasty. He spits it out as if Crowley is vile. I don’t think Aziraphale means it; but he’s so torn between the life he thought he wanted and the life with Crowley and he’s taking it out on the only person he’s allowed to be angry with - Crowley.

You know the fact that there is a kiss, that Crowley wanted to kiss and Aziraphale responded for a moment, makes me think we’ll get a more loving, gentler kiss inS3

Aziraphale touching the lips still tingling with Crowley’s kiss, taking in the last touch from him, and then deciding that’s it,he’s made his choice and if Crowley has rejected him, he’ll go back to heaven where they want him and be a good Angel. (I still can’t believe we got a kiss)

‘Anything you need to take with you’ and he looks out of the window to Crowley.

The Bentley plays ‘A Nightingale Sang’ because the Bentley ships and wants to remind Crowley he loves Aziraphale. There can be nightingales again.

The closer Aziraphale gets to heaven the less human he is, the more like the other angels he is.

Fuck me me that’s heartbreaking