The Emperor of the Moon

This was an ok play from the 1600's about two men who use a doctor to try to gain his niece and daughters as spouses. They do this by pretending to be the emperor of the moon since the doctor is obsessed with space. I was hoping the ending would be more amusing. It was kind of a let down. I've read two other plays by Aphra Behn including The Rover and I liked them more. Aphra Behn was cool though because she was a woman who made her living by writing and that was unheard of at the time. I bought a collection of her plays years ago and I have one more to go.

When Wendy Grew up

This was a scene added to the play Peter Pan. In it Peter visits Wendy and discovers that she has become an adult. He becomes friends with her daughter. I bought a collection of J.M. Barrie's plays and this was included. It's only a couple of pages. It was cute. I've been going through J.M. Barrie's other literary works and Peter Pan is definitely his masterpiece.

Elizabeth and her German Garden

This is about a woman who spends the novel rambling about her garden. She doesn't garden herself though. She has gardeners although they don't always live up to her vision. She calls her husband "the man of wrath." He doesn't care for the garden. It wasn't the most exciting read. It was published in 1898 so it's pretty old fashioned. I liked the movie Enchanted April when I was a kid which the author also wrote. I think that's going to be a better read.

The Ice Palace

Tarjei Vesaas is a Norwegian treasure. I read The Birds earlier this year and decided to revisit The Ice Palace, his most famous novel. Two girls just start becoming friends. Unn nearly tells Siss a secret and runs away into the cold. Siss spends the novel denying the fact that her friend is likely dead. The town gives up long before she does. There are great moments showing her rage about this. In one scene a new student is about to sit in Unn's old space. Siss yells at the new girl eventually getting the whole class to agree with her. Later on Siss goes to The Ice Palace itself. The weather is more than atmosphere here. It's a captivating character in itself. Vesaas was nominated a few times for the Nobel prize. I don't see why he didn't win. Less worthy writers have won. I will be investigating more of his works.

The Drifting Classroom volume 3

I read the first two volumes five years ago but I was able to catch up quickly. This is an anime about a classroom that drifts into a scary future. In this volume the kids have resorted to murder and even cannibalism. Sho is able to talk to his mom in the hope that they all will go back. I think the kids in this book are pretty smart. I said this in another entry if it would be me I would be a goner. This was a pretty good conclusion to the series. The ending surprised me. It wasn't what I expected.

Our Town

At first I didn't get the appeal of this day as it seemed another standard representation of small town life and love. Then in the final act it turned avant garde as the dead characters of the town talked about what made life and that town so meaningful. The team behind The Fantasticks worked on a musical of this for years only to have Wilder's nephew say they couldn't do it after all. I think they would have made one of their best. I need to watch the movie.

The Admirable Crichton

This was a cute play by J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. A rich family is stranded on a desert island. Their butler becomes the leader and the one who saves the day. He even wins the love of one of the girls Mary. But will everything will be the same when they come back home? This was later made into a movie in the 1950s which I have to watch. Yes Peter Pan was J.M. Barrie's masterpiece but it's fun reading what else the writer had to say. 3/5

Rock Crystal

It's curious NYRB (New York Review Books) has put this out twice. They put Rock Crystal out as a novella alone. I guess once NYRB realized how great of a writer Stifter was they decided to release the whole short story collection it came from Motley Stones. One edition is translated by Marianne Moore, a poet I like, so if you're a fan of hers then it's worth investigating. This is about two children who visit their grandparents during winter but get lost in the snow on the way home. Soon there's a search party. It's a perfect book to read during December. There's something enchanting about it.

The Motley Stones

This is an interesting collection from NYRB. They had already released one of the short stories "Rock Crystal" on its own as novella. It's here but with a different translation. That's one of my favorite short stories so I'm going to review it next week as an entry itself. What is here in The Motely Stones is pretty good. I already read "Limestone" about a priest which was ok. I felt the same way about the story Rock Milk too. I liked the beginning of "Rock Milk" when you meet the family more than the war elements that came later. "Granite" is pretty good. It's about two children who survive a plague and how they meet later in adulthood. Then there's "Cat-Silver" about a wild girl who becomes friends with a family and eventually saves one of them from a fire. I really like the Austrian writer Adalbert Stifter. His work is still being translated today which is all very nice but he should be just as recognized as the people he influenced like Nietzsche and Thomas Mann. He had a vivid imagination. He's apparently has a following in Germany but not to the USA for some reason.

The House of the Spirits

This was made into a 1990s movie with Meryl Streep. I have no desire to see the movie as its not the way I imagined the Latin American novel to be. It's over 400 pages. I read it in a short time. It's about the Trueba family. You meet the clairoyvant Clara and her husband Esteban. He's an aggressive man and she doesn't return his love. There's their daughter Bianca who has a forbidden romance with a musician. There's Bianca's daughter Alba who falls for a revolutionary named Miguel. Esteban's bastard son is the one who almost brings about the destruction of the family. It's a pretty impressive debut and remains Allende's most famous book. This isn't light reading as it contains a few taboo topics. The magical realism of the book is pretty cool as it makes the book almost otherworldly. I am interested in reading Isabel Allende's other books.

The Bus Driver who wanted to be God

I read The Nimrod Flipout recently and thought it was good. I remember really liking The Bus Driver who wanted to be God which I read twenty years ago. It stills hold up. The best story is Kneller's Happy Campers which is a love story about the afterlife of people who have committed suicide. It later became the movie Wristcutters which was how I found out about Etgar. I really liked The Bus Driver who wanted to be God too about a uptight bus driver being gracious one day. I liked Good Intentions which was about a do gooder and a a hitman. Korbi's Girl was also worth reading. It's about the consequences of a teenaged boy stealing another's girlfriend. Etgar Keret has an original voice and I'm going to read even more from him.

Weaveworld

I got involved in this right from the start but it ran out of steam towards the last fifty pages. It's around 600 pages though so that's not bad. It's about a hidden world inside a carpet. It changes the lives of Cal and Suzanna, two humans who try to save the world within it from three bad guys Immacolata, Hobart, and Shadwell. I noticed that this and Abarat had a religious figure as a bad guy. That can't be a coincidence. It took me a while to read it. It's too bad Clive didn't do a movie of this. Clive Barker always has a vivid imagination. This is not for young adults like Abarat but the good guy characters are more likable than any of the characters in The Hellbound Heart. This is why I wish Goodreads had half star ratings. I would give it 3.5 but I rounded it up to 4.

No Flying in the House

This was a really enchanting children's book from the 1970s. Betty Brock just wrote two books this and the amazing out of print The Shades which I have already reviewed. I wonder why she didn't write more. This is about a girl who discovers she's a fairy and a dog named Gloria who looks after her. This book is about more than just magic. It is about friendship and family. It's cute and it has a good message. It's pretty short too and inexpensive.

The Nimrod Flip Out

I read The Bus Driver who wanted to be God and other stories in my twenties after watching the movie Wristcutters which was based on a short story in the book. I loved them both. In fact I need to reread the book. I decided to try another short story collection by Etgar Keret. This is definitely not for children. I'm not a fan of most adult books nowadays since I don't like to read profanity and so forth. But I have to admit this was done well. Most of the stories are only a few pages. My favorite was easily about the faithful dog who keeps dying and comes back to its master. It was macabre and sweet. I also liked the story about the talking fish. Etgar Keret is one of Israel's most famous writers. If you want something offbeat Etgar fits the bill.

When Five Years Pass

This was a later play by Lorca. It's about a man who has been turned down by a girl he waited five years for. The play is experimental. The last act was kind of hard to follow. This isn't his best play. It wasn't made in his lifetime. I think a viewing of it would be more recommended than just reading it.

The Infernal Machine

In The Infernal Machine Cocteau takes on Oedipus Rex. It's the classic story of a man getting an oracle that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus tries the whole play to refute it. At the end as everything takes a tragic turn he can't deny it any more. Cocteau does a pretty good job. I prefer Cocteau's more original works like The Holy Terrors and Les Parents Terribles. Nevertheless, the man was a genius.

Orpheus

After watching Hadestown I decided to revisit Jean Cocteau Orpheus. This time I decided to read his play which the movie was loosely based on. The play was just ok. It's astonishing how much better the movie was. It was more poetic and memorable. I think that Cocteau just became a better writer in time. He wrote the play in the 1920s and the movie was made in 1950. I watched it as a kid. It was my introduction to mythology.

Victoria

This was a lovely novella. An author is in love with a girl named Victoria. Unfortunately her parents want her to marry for money. For a while he is engaged to a younger woman whose life he saved. However, Victoria is really the one for him despite the bad treatment she gives him. Sadly the book ends on a tragic note. This book seems like it's really simple but it speaks volumes more than more complicated works. I think it's one of Hamsun's best. This is my third time reading it over twenty five years.

Bruges-La-Morte

Bruges-La-Morte is about a desperate widower who falls for a dancer who looks like his deceased wife. But she's nothing like his past wife. She's nasty and brings the downfall of him. Even his help leaves and is mortified. This short novel packed a punch. Apparently it was one of the first books to have photographs along with it. I'll have to read more from this author.

The Street of Crocodiles

This is a classic Polish novella. I found it hard to follow so I'm going to reread it and give more of a update some time coming up. The Brothers Quay did a short based on it so it's worth looking over again.