Storytelling on a virtual platform: “The Ratcatcher”– Roald Dahl

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As part of our ongoing story reading sessions, we read Roald Dahl‘s “The Ratcatcher” today. In the past we had an opportunity to read Dahl’s “The Land Lady,” “The Man From The South,” “The Hitchhiker,” “Lamb to the Slaughter,” & “Only This” and members did look forward to reading this story.

The story has a very thin plot but Dahl makes it absorbing through his exceptional narrative skills employed in this case to evoke in children a feeling of fascination and mild horror. Among the members of our group, Dahl is popular and favourite. I have seen children exchanging books written by Dahl for reading among themselves. The idea of reading stories outside of the usual children stuff of Dahl is to reinforce the thought among them that Dahl has a body of work which is extended and worthy of their reading pursuits beyond the usual popular ones they normally come across.

Overall a good session taking our story count to 94.

Anne Millicent’s biography of Gustave Dore

Anne Millicent‘s brief but comprehensive biography of the French artist Gustave Dore‘ was a treat to read. It gave a good insight into the artist, his times, personality and the range of his work. His illustrations of Edgar Allan Poe‘s poem “The Raven” and Samuel Taylor Coleridge‘s “The Rime of Ancient Mariner” have not only given me an opportunity to revist the poems but also gave me a rich body of imagery which is different and definitely superior to the imagery I formed in my mind during my initial encounter.

His extraordinary illustrations and the backdrop in which they came into being as described by Anne Millicent have also opened up an interest to understand some important works in world literature like Milton‘s “Paradise Lost,” Tennyson‘s “Idylls of the Kings,” La Fontaine‘s “Fables,” “The Works of Rabelais,” Perrault‘s “Fairy Tales,” Cervantes‘s “Don Quixote,” Dante‘s “Divine Comedy“, Erich Raspe‘s “The Adventures of Baron Munchaussen” in a way that is deeper than what my current understanding of them is today.

Literary themes and tropes from “The Bible” are so often encountered in Western writing, that a deeper grasp of them has become an important aid in enriching the reading experience (e.g. “The Rise of Lazarus” is a constant theme in Sci-Fi, Jonah & the whale is there to see in Melville‘s “Moby Dick” etc.) and it is in illustrating “The Bible” that some of the best work of Dore’ comes to the forefront. Equally good is his work on London City of his time.

I have had multiple experiences of reading a book first and then going out to look for its visualizations in drawing/painting/cinematic forms…. but here is the first time that the reverse is taking place. And I am reasonably certain that will be an enriching experience.

Storytelling on a virtual platform: “The Nightingale and the Rose” – Oscar Wilde

As part of our ongoing story reading sessions we read Oscar Wilde‘s “The Nightingale and the Rose.”

One unstated rule in our story reading sessions is to refrain from definitive moralization on anything. I believe there are other avenues for it. But one thing we certainly do in our sessions is to expose members of our group to paradoxical ethical situations and let them mull over. In this framework, this story of Wilde will fit the bill quite well for it deals with an interesting question of “nature of love” and how it gets seen by various folks involved in a given situation.

A nightingale sacrifices its life blood and in the end its life itself to produce and gift a student an unseasonal red rose which the student needs to offer it to his girl friend as a condition for her to dance with him in an upcoming ball… and the girl rejects the rose for the flimsiest of the reason that it does not match with the colour of her dress. Wilde covers this complex theme in 5 short pages in a way which very few can do.

The story I felt left a mark on the group.

If my own growth as a reader is any indicator, the memory of a story and the feelings it evoked has been an important variable in sustaining the habit of reading till date. The greater the diversity of these feelings at a young age the better the chances of deepening the habit of reading.

And that is all that we are trying to achieve for this group of ours.

Gustave Dore’s Illustrations for Coleridge’s “The Rime Of Ancient Mariner”

Gustave Dore‘s illustrations of Samuel Taylor Coleridge‘s “The Rime of Ancient Mariner” are worth spending time on. Combine the illustrations with the poem and it becomes doubly haunting….. Remember those famous lines of the throat parched Mariner….

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

….and the heartwarming message on love and prayer…..

Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.

The one with the Albatross being shot and the one with the Albatross & the Mariner are my favourites…..

Storytelling on a virtual platform: “The Happy Prince” – Oscar Wilde

As part of our ongoing story reading sessions, we read today Oscar Wilde‘s all time classic “The Happy Prince.”

I think world over this story gets covered in some grade or the other in schools for its cross cultural appeal lies in the simplicity with which human values like empathy, selflessness and kindness get portrayed. Members of our group are familiar with the stories of Wilde for we covered his other popular stories like “The Selfish Giant” and “The Model Millionaire” in our previous sessions. This story was definitely another good addition to the entire repertory of stories we covered till date.

I also took the opportunity to let children know Wilde’s other famous works like “The Picture Of Dorian Gray” & “The Ballad of Reading Goal.”

Overall, a very good and enjoyable session.

Illustrations of Gustave Dore’ for Poe’s “The Raven”

I had first come across a reference to the French born artist Gustave Dore in Kipling’s brilliantly descriptive short story ” THE CITY OF DREADFUL NIGHT’…. Kipling is describing a part of Lahore City of his times in the night of stifling and still summer heat…

“Dore might have drawn it! Zola could describe it—this spectacle of sleeping thousands in the moonlight and in the shadow of the Moon. The roof-tops are crammed with men, women, and children; and the air is full of undistinguishable noises. They are restless in the City of Dreadful Night; and small wonder. The marvel is that they can even breathe. If you gaze intently at the multitude, you can see that they are almost as uneasy as a daylight crowd; but the tumult is subdued. Everywhere, in the strong light, you can watch the sleepers turning to and fro; shifting their beds and again resettling them. In the pit-like court-yards of the houses there is the same movement.”

Came to know today that Dore illustrated some of the greatest literary works like Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” Cervantes’s “Don Quixote,” Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King,” “Bible,” London City and Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem “The Raven”…. Took time out to reread the poem and also spend some time seeing these wonderful wood engraved sketches.. wish I get an opportunity to see the originals in the various museums where they are displayed.Here are some paintings from the book…. the detailing is extraordinary…

The Best of Robert Bloch – A Collection of 20 Stories

Managed to read “The Best of Robert Bloch” – a collection of 20 of his stories over the weekend. Bloch is a fine story teller with fine imagination resulting in unusual plots which fuse reality with the imaginary. One can feel the styles of Ballard, Bradbury, Matheson and Clarke come together in his stories and despite that his style stands uniquely his own.

Imagination is said to be hallmark of an accomplished writer and Bloch demonstrates his depth in imagination through the extensive diversity of his plots which mingle horror, fantasy, science fiction, adventure, romance and history quite well. To this, Bloch quite often adds philosophy and thoughts on society tinged with doses of humour making it a rich and enduring concoction of entertainment. As a reader I look first and foremost for entertainment followed by edification – on both these counts Bloch comes out in flying colours.

Stories like Enoch, The Hungry House, The Man Who Collected Poe, The Past Master, I Like Blondes, Sleeping Beauty, The World Timer, The Hell-bound Train, How Like a God, The Movie People, The Oracle and Learning Maze have been great entertainers and joy to read.

Storytelling on a virtual platform: “The Crowd” – Ray Bradbury

As part of our ongoing story reading sessions we read “The Crowd” by Ray Bradbury. This is the 20th story of Bradbury in the 90 odd stories we read till date. Every time I tell myself not to allow a Bradbury bias in the choice and every time I over rule my own dictum given the quality of his stories.

“The Crowd” is a spooky take about the existence of a bunch of location specific ghosts that gather round victims of man made accidents (motor collisions, bomb explosions, wars etc.) to decide whether a victim should survive or die – and act accordingly. The fun part of the story is that one of the survivor victims realizes this pattern and is about to report it but is not allowed to proceed by the same set of ghosts which get him involved in a fatal car accident. Eventually he too ends up among the ghosts doing what the ghosts have been doing all along.

Ray builds the story nicely to a point of epiphany and when it dawned on the members of our group where the story was taking them they were all smiles and full of mild wonderment.

Hope to do more such stories by other writers going forward.

Storytelling on a virtual platform: “The Awakening”- Arthur C Clarke & “The One Who Waits” – Ray Bradbury

As part of our ongoing story reading sessions we had the opportunity to read the following 2 stories today:

1. The Awakening – Arthur C Clarke

2. The One Who Waits – Ray Bradbury

It was double joy to dish out stories by two great masters.

I have a special affinity for this story of Clarke because it was the first of his stories I read and fell in love with the way he wraps up in 2 pages the failure of human species to survive against insects in the gigantic glacial tides of evolution. Every time I read this story I cannot but marvel at the imaginative quality of the plot and how precisely and effortlessly Clarke tells an extremely entertaining story.

On the other hand, Ray’s story is set on Mars where a nameless, formless being which has been waiting for 10,000 years patiently enjoys the complete decimation of a visiting team of astronauts from Earth by possessing them and while doing so relives a range of human sensations. Ray brings a kind of spookiness to the narrative which is extraordinary but absolutely enjoyable.

Members of our group enjoyed themselves and felt both stories were equally good in their own ways.

This session marks our 90th story.

This Crowded Earth – Robert Bloch

Robert Bloch revisits the Malthusian dystopia of excess population in his novella “This Crowded Earth“. What I really like about reading dystopian fiction is that irrespective of whether a stated situation arises or not, the manifestations of reverberations of such situations affecting the functioning of society make for very thought provoking sociological reading. Viewed in this way, dystopian fiction e.g Animal Farm and 1984 by Geroge Orwell, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood all contribute to enrich our literary landscape. Bloch writes with a control that is of a high order.

Sunday well spent….