The Weight of Words

The Weight of Words: new fiction inspired by images by Dave McKean.  248 pages

I am a huge fan of Dave McKean's art, so when I saw this book was being published, I kept my eye on when it would be available. McKean's art is bizarre, beautiful, provocative, and I could see that his creations could inspire all kinds of stories. This anthology does something that I think many anthologies don't quite pull off: there's a story here for many kinds of readers.  Each story is inspired by an individual painting, so it's a collaborative effort where words and pictures illuminate each other. I found I would frequently be in the middle of a story, only to flip back to the image at the beginning and consider how the art and the story connected to each other.

While I didn't love all of the stories, I really enjoyed some of them.  The first one, "Belladonna Nights" by Alastair Reynolds, is a haunting science fiction story. Another one I really liked was by Joe Hill titled, "All I Care About is You." Overall, I found most of the stories were interesting and stayed in my mind, which isn't something I can say about many anthologies (where I might like 2 stories out of 10).  There are two stories here by Neil Gaiman, a frequent creative collaborator with McKean, so that was an extra treat.

The one thing I wish I could change about this book would be to make the illustrations in full color. They are printed in two colors, which is a nice sepia tone and is fine . . . but some of these images would be absolutely fantastic if they were full color.   See below for what I mean:

image from this book

One of McKean's other works

St. Louis Noir

St. Louis Noir edited by Scott Phillips 240  pages

This is the latest installment of Akashic Noir’s Midwest series, following Chicago, the Twin Cities and Kansas City. In total, the Akashic Noir Series has about 75 titles, set around the world.

This particular collection has 14 entries, 13 dark, short stories and one poetic interlude. I recognized six of the authors for a variety of reasons. John Lutz and Scott Phillips are nationally recognized for their work: Lutz for “Single White Female” and Phillips for “The Ice Harvest.” Poet Michael Castro is the City of St. Louis’ Poet Laureate and locally famous before he was awarded the position. Jedidiah Ayres I’ve heard of from writer Joe Schwartz, and L. J. Smith I know from the local writing scene. Calvin Wilson is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

It was fun reading stories that take is familiar landmarks. The book is broken into four section, much like the metropolitan area itself: the City, the County, and Across the River (Illinois). The poetic interlude speaks to the large network of creative talent that call St. Louis home.

Phillips did a bang-up job with his Introduction: “High and Low Culture.” That describes St. Louis to a tee, past and present.

The collection gets off to strong start with the first story, “Abandoned Places” by S. L. Coney. In this story, after Ian’s father disappears, most assume he’s dead. But Ian isn’t so sure. He follows his stepmother one night and discovers that his father is held prisoner. There is some wonderfully vivid imagery especially involving the slitting of a throat. Without giving anything away (I hope), that one sentence that stood out among the rest was: “The skin gaped on either side, of that opening, giving (deleted to prevent a spoiler detail) a second smile.” This always gives me the shivers.

While “Abandoned Places” was my favorite, my least favorite was “Deserted Cities of the Heart,” by Paul D. Marks. It was rather existential, really didn’t have a plot and mostly seemed to center around loner Daniel Hayden lying under the Gateway Arch.

The rest of the authors cover the bases; it’s all here: a 1950s story about racism that also has no plot, a mentally unstable African-American man after a tour in Vietnam, slackers, femme fatales, divorces, death, missing children, skinheads, ending with a twist, convicts and drugs and drug dealers.

All in all, except for the first story, I felt that all the others were just okay. St. Louis Noir receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Belloc

Belloc: A Biographical Anthology by Hilaire Belloc, edited by Herbert van Thal, 379 pages

This anthology collects snippets from only a few of the over 150 books Hilaire Belloc wrote during his eventful life.  The selection includes memoirs, fiction, history, biography, political commentary, and poetry, all the varied outpouring of Belloc's restless wit.  As a "biographical anthology", the book is arranged chronologically, and the editor has included notes before many of the entries containing biographic and bibliographic information.  The book does not omit some of Belloc's more controversial writings - a passage is included from The Jews as well as a letter from a trip to North Africa that is, at minimum, remarkably callous.

The greatest pleasure is Belloc's consistency - whether haranguing the rich, remembering a sailing trip through perilous waters, or discussing the character of Charles I, Belloc is always unmistakably Belloc.  To read him is to listen to an expert conversationalist talking late into the night, seasoning his anecdotes with good humor and unforgettable observations, and if the line between fancy and fact is often indistinct, that is only another part of his charm.

The Dark Tower graphic novel series

Stephen King’s Dark Tower series by Peter David, 928 pages

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King is considered one of his best works but can be daunting to start reading. It currently sits at 8 books with over four thousand pages. Still it is a series I kept saying I would eventually read. Luckily for me it then started coming out in graphic novel form. But I couldn’t see picking up the first of five books and reading it only to have to wait for the next one to come out so again I skipped over it. Eventually it faded from memory until I saw it on a book truck waiting to be shelved. Some quick checking indicated that not only had all of the Dark Tower graphic novels made it out, but so had all the graphic novels for Dark Tower: Gunslinger. I could wait no more and finally took the plunge.

The Dark Tower graphic novels are actually a prequel to the Dark Tower novel series. They are based off various memories the lead character Roland has in the novels. I know this only be the various letters in the beginning of the books from the editor Ralph Macchio that not only give some information about the books but also character development and storyline placement.

The graphic novel series is written as if told by a storyteller providing us of the legend that is Roland. It starts off in Gilead where he was born and his training to be a gunslinger. Gunslingers are sort of like the nights of old, protecting people from the evil of the world. From there it quickly branches out into the challenges he must face to prove his worth. From love and loss to hardships, murder and death it has everything. Just giving the list of titles in the Dark Tower series tells the story; Gunslinger Born, Long Road Home, Treachery, Fall of Gilead, and finally Battle of Jericho Hill.

This set of graphic novels are wonderfully written and a thrill to read. Not just because of the story but the art that goes with them. The panels are in full color and have such powerful imagery they will stick with you long after you have stopped reading. I had initially wanted to read these to avoid the bigger novels but now I feel more compelled than ever to start reading them. 
 
 
 

Explorer 1 and Explorer 2

Explorer 1: The Mystery Boxes, Edited by Kazu Kibuishi, 126 pages
Explorer 2: The Lost Islands, Edited by Kazu Kibuishi, 126 pages

Kara just blogged about Kazu Kibuishi’s Flight anthology series (see below), but that’s not his only excellent set of themed anthologies!  Kibuishi is something of a graphic novel anthology wunderkind – his Flight anthologies are targeted at a teen/adult audience, and his Explorer anthologies are similar, but are meant for late elementary/middle grade readers.
 

The short stories in Explorer 1: The Mystery Boxes each revolve around a mysterious box.  In many of the stories, the box contains something magical: a golem, a spirit, or treasure.  In other stories, the box holds an alien, or is actually a time-traveling spaceship.

In Explorer 2: The Lost Islands each story takes place on or near an island.  Of course, none of these are ordinary islands; one is inhabited by hard-working anthropomorphic rabbits, while another has been newly formed by an active underwater volcano.

Perhaps the greatest strength of Kibuishi’s anthologies is the variety of stories they contain.  Each author interprets the anthology’s theme in a unique and unexpected way.  The artwork is consistently great and practically every reader is sure to find at least one story they’ll enjoy.

Flight: Volume 1

Flight: Volume 1 edited by Kazu Kibuishi, 208 pages

Published in 2004, this graphic anthology is the first of eight Flight volumes. The volume brings together 22 short stories that all somehow involve some definition of "flight," from airplanes to angel wings to the flying trapeze to taking a leap of faith.

The collection is intensely visual, and by that I mean that the art is at the forefront, sometimes to the detriment of the story being told. For example, "Dummy Brother" by Jacob McGraw-Mickelson is flat-out gorgeous, with a collage style that blends old maps with sketches. But the story itself is scrawled around the outer edges of each page, making it hard to read; simply put, I was much more interested in viewing the compelling images than twisting the book around to read the accompanying story.

On the other hand, my favorite of the stories is an untitled entry from Phil Craven that centers on a penguin dreaming of flight. This one is completely wordless, yet Craven's cartoony style evokes so much whimsy, joy, and wonder that the story feels complete; words, I think, would have ruined it.

While there were a few entries that I could have lived without, on the whole, this was an excellent volume. I'll definitely be seeking out the remainder of the series.