The Vintner’s Luck by Elizabeth Knox is one of the great works of the imagination in New Zealand literature. Set in 19th century Burgundy, at the heart of the novel is the love between winemaker Sobran Jodeau and the angel Xas. It’s an utterly sumptuous read and there are TWO exciting pieces of news to report:
The sequel The Angel’s Cut is out now. Sexy angel Xas is back, and this time the setting is old Hollywood, 1929. Get your hold on a library copy, buy one, whatever it takes. And if you’ve read it already, let us know what you think.
And the NZ Film Commission has just released a trailer for the upcoming movie version of The Vintner’s Luck. The movie retains NZ roots - it’s directed by Niki Caro and stars Keisha Castle-Hughes as Celeste. It looks to have a coolly lush style -and Gaspard Ulliel as Xas looks startlingly handsome.
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I’ve just finished the second Gone novel by Michael Grant, entitled Hunger. And I can now say that I do totally agree with the VOYA review quoted on the back “If Stephen King has written Lord of the Flies, it might have been a little like this”.
It’s a creepy series so far, and given that Michael Grant (who is married to K.A. Applegate – of Animorphs fame) has written the third book in the series called Lies and has stated publicly that the forth has a working title of Plague, it looks set to get a whole lot more creepy. Apparently it is going to be a six book series.
You can check out the official word on Michael Grant on the Harper Collins site. However, I preferred to read the blog entitled Stupid Blog name, where Michael Grant has been blogging about this series, and other things that interest him, along with a whole bunch of other YA authors. Back to the books …
The gist in the first book, Gone, is that one day everyone over the age of fourteen disappears, in many cases the adults literally disappear in front of their kids. They simply cease to exist. Left behind is a group of confused and lost kids, from babies through to fouteen year olds. Upset, sacred and perplexed, those left behind have to work out what they are supposed to do now.
Throw in some kids with supernatural power, throw in a stranger or two to the area, throw in a nuclear power plant, throw in an increasing lack of food, throw in babies and pre-schoolers. It’s a volatile and emotional situation, and it’s damned intriguing to read about what happens to this disparate group of kids over the coming weeks after the disappearance of normality.
The second book, Hunger : a Gone novel, delves into the reality of no food, no adults, a growing number of bullies, separation of the community into those who have powers and those who don’t, creepy things lurking in the night, animals morphing into new creatures, packs of coyotes roaming the land. The second book rocks in at 590 pages. There’s rumours of movie options, so I would say, grab a copy of the first book now to keep up with the series and be prepared to be more than a a little creeped out.
It’s a well-known fact that fashionistas love winter – more layers than a Sara Lee pastry mean more scope with exciting texture and colour combinations and luckily this month’s a) freezing and b) sees two gloriously fashionable books model-strutting to a bookshelf near you.
Forties fashion: from siren suits to the new look is one such and flicking through there are some terrific examples of that oh-so-retro-chic period. True, it was probably not that much fun to live through (at the height of rationing New Zealand women were allowed a measley two pairs of stockings per annum- gah!). At the rate I go through mine I’d be bare legged by February.
Fantastically illustrated there are pictures of Betty Grable-esque bikini pin-up posers, the military influence, V for Victory, buttons and aprons and Hawaiian prints. For those interested in seeing something similar in the flesh (or should that be cloth?) The Airforce Museum has a free exhibition entitled Fashion at War: New Zealand style in World War 2. For a taste of what’s on offer check out their gallery.
Like I give a frock : fashion forecasts and meaningless misguidance might have been designed specifically to appeal to moi. Implied bad language, punning and pointed fashion-based bon mots. Upon sighting this book on the shelf I was irresistably drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The imaginary author “Michi” is sardonic, scathing and oh-so-sane (when did it become okay to wear a tracksuit to the supermarket? Answer – it didn’t). Very sharp and very funny with whimsical, painted illustrations that are a delight to behold. For those who can’t stand the tyranny of the reserve list some relief can be got from the website (which has fast become my new favourite thing) but do try and get your hands on the book which, with its pink fabric cover and little ribbon bookmark is a lovely thing in and of itself.
Montana Poetry Day is a celebration of all things poetic – scribble, read, recite … It’s also the day on which the winner of the poetry category of this year’s Montana New Zealand Book Awards will be announced.
Local events listed on the Montana Poetry Day site:
A Poetic Pause and Wall of Words
12.30 – 1.30 pm, Friday 24th July 2009
Canterbury University Bookshop, University Drive, Ilam, Christchurch
I am not built for Goth-dom, but Nick Cave is my man. Australia’s coolest export has just published his second novel The Death of Bunny Munro (which even has a tres cool web site - sign up and you can win a bunny suit!). He also recently rocked at Glastonbury, and in keeping with his contrary cool offered a shout out to Farrah Fawcett instead of MJ.
Why Nick? Like my previous pick Stephen Fry he has layers and layers to his genius – having written novels, a play, movie script ( the brutal Aussie Western The Proposition) and soundtracks, and a poetic sensibility so potent his lyrics have been published in book form.
Cave is intrigued and fascinated by the muse, and the creative process, giving a series of talks on The Secret Life of the Love Song. He has been through the junkie tormented artist stage, and now treats the creative process more like going to the office (a recent exhibition in Melbourne explored this ‘work’ element).
He’s a storyteller with a distinctive vein of Southern Gothic – deep, dark, bloody, biblical - but peppered with a dry wit and laconic romance that is endlessly appealing. He’s been making music for more than 30 years, but his creativity is undimmed – his latest musical venture Grinderman is ballsily bluesily good.
He’s collaborated with Kylie Minogue, he’s been a cheerleader for Leonard Cohen, he’s rocked an awesome Zapata style moustache. Nick rules.
If you haven’t discovered Patrick Ness and his first book for young adults, The Knife of Never Letting Go, you are seriously missing out! It was published last year and went on to win the Guardian Children’s Book Prize (2008), and it has to be one of the best pieces of science fiction written for young adults. Unlike so many of the books written for young adults it is a very original story with a plot that races along and strong, believable characters. Set in a world much like our own, Todd lives in a community devoid of females and dominated by cruel men whose thoughts can be heard by everyone in a constant, overwhelming, never-ending Noise. There is no privacy and there are no secrets. However, just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd unexpectedly stumbles upon a spot of complete silence, which is impossible. Prentisstown has been lying to him and so to save himself, he has to run. The pace never lets up from beginning to end and there are lots of twists and turns to keep the reader interested, including one heart-rending scene. It’s one of those books that ends on a cliff-hanger and so I couldn’t wait until the next book was released.
The sequel, The Ask and the Answer has just been released and Patrick Ness has done it again! We are immediately taken right back to where we last saw the characters, in the fantastic, frightening world of New World. The pace races along and we see the characters develop in the challenging situations in which they find themselves.
We have just received The Ask and the Answer, but if you haven’t read The Knife of Never Letting you should read this first. If you’re waiting for your copy of The Ask and the Answer, Patrick Ness has written a short story set before the story of The Knife of Never Letting Go that you can download for free.
It’s amazing what you can discover when you’re browsing the library shelves. Last week I discovered a series of CDs in the Centre for the Child at Central Library called Rockabye Baby. Each of the CDs features lullaby renditions of songs by rock groups including U2, Coldplay, Nirvana, Queen and The Beatles.
The songs are arranged and performed by various musicians who use the glockenspiel, vibraphone, melloton, guitar and piano to transform some of the world’s best rock songs into soothing lullabies. You’re probably wondering how this is possible, especially with some of the songs that have been chosen, but they actually sound amazing and are really pleasant to listen to.
These CDs are perfect for those parents that want some soothing music for their babies, but who don’t want to be driven crazy.
Sort of. Dominic West who plays Jimmy McNulty in The Wire (The. Best. TV. Series. Ever) is undertaking a new project reading from classic books including Pride and Prejudice.
He loves the writing of Jane Austen, especially the scene in Pride and Prejudice where Fitzwilliam Darcy declares his most ardent love:
I thought it was such incredible writing. So muscular, so layered … the sophistication of the language … the psychological insights into the characters … Elizabeth Bennet is just so clever and brave and witty and funny and great.
Just when you think McNulty couldn’t be cooler (apparently he was at Glastonbury recently eating a giant cornish pastie and getting ‘big ups’ all over the show) … he takes it to the supercool wall!
And he’s not alone – actors Greg Wise and Dan Stevens also feature in Carte Noire Readers - “For a more seductive coffee break, watch The Carte Noire Readers read your favourite literary love scenes”. Why ever not!
The New Zealand International Film Festival starts on July 30 giving Christchurch movie fans of all persuasions two weeks of fantastic film going. I was lucky go to the festival launch where the feature film was the documentary The September Issue.
Don’t miss this – you don’t need to be a fashionista to appreciate this behind the scenes look at the making of 2007 September issue of American Vogue. This is traditionally the fashion bible of the year with literally hundreds of pages. A whole fashion design and retail industry waits with bated breath to see what has been decreed by Anna Wintour (a.k.a Nuclear Wintour) the famously intimidating editor who was supposedly the inspiration for Meryl Streep’s performance in The Devil Wears Prada. The other leading player in the documentary is the former model Grace Coddington who is the creative editor of American Vogue. The dynamic between these two women is worth seeing.
Anna famously hides behind dark glasses and a poker face and sometimes only the most subtle flicker on her face or slight change of body language gives you a clue as to what she is thinking. Needless to say her employees are highly tuned to watch for these signs. Anna does reveal – either deliberately or unwittingly a bit about herself. The intimidating personna is definitely how she keeps herself at the top of the tree – defying the world to question her judgement – but how much it is genuinely her or how much she has changed and come to be the persona she created I don’t know. Anyway a great night out at the movies.
The Vintner’s Luck by Elizabeth Knox is one of the great works of the imagination in New Zealand literature. Set in 19th century Burgundy, at the heart of the novel is the love between winemaker Sobran Jodeau and the angel Xas. It’s an utterly sumptuous read and there are TWO exciting pieces of news to report:
Montana Poetry Day
It’s amazing what you can discover when you’re browsing the library shelves. Last week I discovered a series of CDs in the Centre for the Child at Central Library called 
