Wednesday is my day to group-blog at the Black Gate website. My first entry is here, in which I babble incoherently about Morlock, unicorns, and my obscure feelings of dread when I think about Austin Tappan Wright. Feel free to comment there or here… or just tiptoe quietly away.
[edited to add]
There’s a burst of activity going on at the Black Gate site, with content being added on a more-than-daily-basis, and the new design includes RSS feeds. For those who want to keep track via LiveJournal there’s an account already set up: blackgatefeed.
Aha! I must check it out. I’ve noticed a lot of activity there recently. Must be something in the air!
I think this is part of John and Howard’s mad plan to raise the profile of the magazine.
Anyway, if it means getting more of Ryan’s reviews it’s a good thing.
I’ve subscribed to the BG RSS on my iGoogle homepage, along with RBE, and a bunch of authors from RotS. It is sooooooo easy to keep up with things these days.
On to Morlock…
If a site doesn’t have an RSS feed I can’t usually follow it these days–there are a lot of tubes out there on this interweb thing.
Austin Tappan Wright!
Islandia recently came to mind after many years. I wondered why. It’s because you were thinking of him. I actually read the whole thing. Once. Long, long ago.
Now must go to our neighborhood’s Catholic Church and help cook for all the people they are going to feed tomorrow. So many many many hurting people. Any of us can be one of them any time in these times.
Love, C.
“Islandia recently came to mind after many years. I wondered why. It’s because you were thinking of him. I actually read the whole thing. Once. Long, long ago.”
Cause and effect. That’s science!
I do have some problems with the book but they’re the problems endemic to any utopia not one’s own.
“Now must go to our neighborhood’s Catholic Church and help cook for all the people they are going to feed tomorrow. So many many many hurting people. Any of us can be one of them any time in these times.”
It is a tough time, getting tougher. Catholic Charities was one of the places that kept me alive when I was living on the street (almost 30 years ago now, but one doesn’t forget) so I appreciate what you’re doing on a personal level.
Good first entry James, all of you guys are going to be a tough act to follow when my day roles around.
As for unicorns — I’ve yet to read Peter Beagle acclaimed book, anyone know how he handled the cliche?
I do recall a rather gruesome use of the unicorn in ‘The Once and Future King,’ where a seemingly banal fairy tale turned ugly. It’s been a decade since I’ve read it though — could be completely imaginary!
Thanks! But I’m looking forward to your posts; I always like reading your slant on things.
Re Beagle: I think he did pretty well in “The Last Unicorn”. He may outclever himself sometimes, but the unicorn herself is handled very impressively, and there are other cool parts of the book, too, like Schmendrick the inept magician or the scenes in Mommy Fortuna’s Midnight Carnival. (The movie of 1980s vintage looked as if it had mylittleponied the source material without mercy, so I didn’t bother with it.)
“I do recall a rather gruesome use of the unicorn in ‘The Once and Future King,’ where a seemingly banal fairy tale turned ugly.”
Yes! That horrible slaughter of the unicorn by Morgause’s children. (But it’s meant to be horrible; I’m not knocking it.)
All this talk of unicorns has reminded me of the unicorn hunt in Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SotV:TLoSGatGK?) with Sean Connery and Miles O’Keeffe.
“Well, that tasted…magical.”
–Jeff Stehman
Don’t think I’ve seen this one. Is it any good?
The movie, I mean. I can try the unicorn-burgers-on-a-stick the next time I’m at the State Fair…
Mmmm…deep fried unicorn…
No, not any good, and a rather bad twist on the Green Knight, in my opinion. It does have some intentionally funny bits, though, including the unicorn hunt. To paraphrase:
SG: [spotting a unicorn] Come on! Food! [grabs crossbow]
Squire: We’re going to eat a unicorn? How will it taste?
SG: It’ll taste magical!
[chase ends in them corning the unicorn, but as SG raises his crossbow, the unicorn fades away]
Squire: Well, that tasted…magical.
–Jeff Stehman
Sort of like the guy who bit a clown but didn’t like it because it tasted funny.