Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: writers

  • GREAT WRITERS & THE CATS WHO OWNED THEM

    GREAT WRITERS & THE CATS WHO OWNED THEM

    Who could resist such a wonderful title as Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them! The author suggests that cats and writers have bonded together for comfort, companionship, inspiration and possibly warmth, for many generations. She has also included fun features showing cats in libraries, bookshops and hotels. Some of the authors mentioned here are Horace Walpole, Alexander Dumas, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Doris Lessing.

    Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them begins with a story set in the ninth century when an Irish Monk neglected his work of writing Holy Words and instead wrote a poem to his beloved white cat. Susannah then goes on to describe the qualities which make cats such special animals. She notes that they are soft, provide an alarm clock for feeding, and are intelligent and inscrutable, but wrapped in a soft package. “Dame Edith Sitwell prized the fact that her cats never said anything foolish.”

    Some of the extraordinary facts we learn about the relationships in this book begin with Dr Johnson’s cat. He fed “Hodge” with oysters!

    In the 1760’s a small book was published in London. It was titled “The life and adventures of a cat.” The author, William Guthrie wrote about a male cat named Tom. To this day male cats are known as Tom Cats. The Tom and Jerry cartoons were said to have been inspired from this story. Mark Twain was quoted as saying,” If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.”

    Daffy the third was with Lucy Montgomery as she wrote the story, “Ann of Green Gables.” She had always been a lonely child, growing up in a strict home with cats her constant companions. Cats seemed to bring Lucy peace and tranquillity and a sense of connectedness that was essential for her wellbeing.

    There are so many fascinating stories in this book, but also historical references showing how cats were not always well treated. They were often burned with their “witch” owners. Today, cats have a place in many homes and thankfully their treatment is usually wonderful.

  • The Lost Princess: Women Writers and the History of Classic Fairy Tales

    The Lost Princess: Women Writers and the History of Classic Fairy Tales

    Most of our population has grown up with Fairy Tales. Many children and adults have viewed the Disney version of Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast. In all cultures there are stories, tales which have been passed down the generations.

    The Australian Indigenous people had tales that showed landmarks if you were lost and the location of water. Their Dreaming also shows ways to live and punishments if rules are broken.

    Anne Duggan has produced a reference book for scholars in which she has left no stone unturned in locating the source of many of our most famous Fairy Tales. Imagine the surprise when she discovered that it wasn’t the likes of Hans Christian Andersen, or the brothers Grimm, or Perault who initiated these tales. Their history goes back to much earlier times.

    Women writers in France used to congregate in various Salons where they shared stories and ideas, they had collected from women story tellers. This was happening from the 1400’s onwards. Values and morals were vastly different in those days.

    “Excavating History,” to create The Lost Princess: women Writers and the History of Classic Fairytales has led Anne to some remarkable origins and aspects of some Fairy Tales. We accept a Cinderella who patiently puts up with drudgery and abuse and is rewarded in the end with the prince’s hand and heart. But in earlier versions of this tale, Cinderella was merciless to her stepmother and not very forgiving of her stepsisters. There is plenty of blood shed and revenge in these tales with this not so meek character.

    Anne Duggan has looked at tales from many countries and has spared no detail to bring us the truth. Women from the beginning have been the story tellers and these early women remain unacknowledged until now.

  • On John Marsden: Writers on Writers

    On John Marsden: Writers on Writers

    I keep coming back to John Marsden. What makes him so fascinating to me is that he approaches writing for young adults with a whole philosophy of what it means to be a teenager – a philosophy that’s embedded in the two schools he runs, but also in his early experiences with mental illness and hospitalisation. His perspective raises interesting questions about YA fiction – how much darkness is allowed, before you are considered a “bad influence”?”  Alice Pung.

    How does one go about reviewing such a wonderful look at John Marsden through the eyes and personal experience of Alice Pung, herself an award winning author, and be able to make some sort of coherent sense of the review, is the question.  A possible answer may well be to say, the immense respect a man such as John Marsden has earned over his career as a teacher and author, is something very special, particularly when it comes from fellow authors.

    In her writing Pung has the wonderful ability to make the reader feel as if she is there with you,  having a one on one conversation, talking about a subject that is dear to her heart, a subject she wants you to understand and share.

    As she talks about John Marsden and the influence he has had, not just on her writing but on her young life as a school girl of 14 years, a time when she discovered his work as a set piece required for year 9 studies, the true beauty and passion of her writing becomes apparent.

    Discovering that there really was far more to life than she had so far experienced, growing up as the child of Cambodian immigrants in Australia during the 1980-2000’s, was in part due to this man and his wonderful stories aimed at her generation, her age group, treating teens people preparing to enter the real world of hard knocks and not always nice outcomes.

    She begins her reflections in the form of a letter to John Marsden, letting him know when she first became aware of him as a real person, which was the day her friends Mum crashed her car into his. Until that time Marsden was an author of fantastic books, a man who was unreal to year 9 students; some mystical, magical person who wrote wonderful words, that became books, to enthral and enrich.

    That she later became to know him as a friend and mentor simply adds to the richness of the writing, which is absolutely, deliciously, enjoyable.

    Not a large book, nor a heavy read, it is one that can be read in a few hours, enjoyed and then returned to once again, to soak up the all the little bits that go to making a rich, lovingly told story, about a man who is to be admired, respected, and his works, which will be enjoyed by many more generations.

    Alice Pung on John Marsden is one book in the series of Writers on Writers, where six leading writers, each offer a reflection on another Australian writer who has inspired them in their work, which make up a light and enjoyable series which is to be applauded, as it offers a fresh take on the rich literary history which is a treasure trove of uniquely Australian stories and history.