If you’ve got time during Matariki and garlic planting settle down somewhere warm with a book from the Tauranga City Library. This month we include a review of a graphic book – the story is told in simple line drawings and text as well as a variety of beautiful non-fiction books and absorbing fiction.
WE WON’T SEE AUSCHWITZ written and illustated by Jeremie Dres and translated by Edward Gauvin Self Made Hero, England 2012 (first published in French in 2011 by Editions Cambourakis as Nous N’irons Pas Voir Auschwitz) At the back of this graphic novel is “Her Name was Tema” She was the grandmother of two young French men. This is a wonderful story of people in search of where their family originated. “Our grandmother recounted her Warsaw childhood so well that after more than a hundred years, we seem to remember it ourselves…” “Our grandmother was the link across several generations. A link between the war and today ..she knew how to re-create the fear she experienced in occupied Paris…” This story is not what you think it will be. I didn’t put it down until I had finished it. It’s compelling because of it’s perspective not its subject. “Auschwitz: five years of annihilation for more than a thousand years of life and history of the Jewish people of Poland. A trauma still so real it threatens to make us forget everything else. It’s the everything else I went looking for.”
SHOETOPIA CONTEMPORARY FOOTWEAR Sue Huey & Kathryn Kenny Laurence King Publishing Ltd London 2014
I adore shoes – not just shoes to wear but shoes to collect – representative of other eras ad lifestyles. $8. bought a pair of Rayne black satin evening shoes with black satin ribbons threaded through diamante ribbon holders. No I don’t wear them. I bought them to look at for their craftsmanship, design and artisan object value.
Page 35, “Catering for the woman who has everything but wants more, the Jimmy Choo label has become synonymous with luxury and power.” The shoes in this book are expensive works of adornment; like big houses,expensive cars and overt jewellery. They’re like a Picasso or a Goldie.
You might consider them obscene when even the UK is acknowleding it cannot meet its poverty remediation targets . But redband wearing rural woman that I am I can turn these pages and enjoy and appreciate the design and evident craftsmanship. What is evident is that many of the designers included in this book have formal arts, design or architecture backgrounds. There are direct style references to established artists and design patterns. The designs and images range from the almost ridiculous to the almost matronly styles of Chie Mihara – “her shoes combine a unique blend of comfort and style ..” There’s a vintage style stackheeled brogue in embossed crocodile that I should be wearing with my jeans. Whether I’d wear the Charlotte Olympia exotic works of art shown in this book is debatable but I’d certainly put “Bananas is my Business” on display as a an art object. Do look through this book it’s design refreshing.
- Amish Abstractions
AMISH ABSTRACTIONS QUILTS FROM THE COLLECTION OF FAITH AND STEPHEN BROWN Essays by Janneken Smucker, Robert Shaw and Joe CunninghamExhibition Catalogue of the Fine Arts Musem of San Fransico, Pommegranate Communications Inc, 2009
This beautifully presented book is the catalogue of an exhibition of seemingly abstract and modern quilts created by various American Amish communities. It seems bizarre that the quilts are the creative work of people who are noted for eschewing display and modernity. It’s even more odd that the designs and patterns predate the “abstract” movement of later American painters. The essays are very easy to read and provide an insight into the creativity expressed within these communities. This catalogue is outstandingly enjoyable and educative. It also has the advantage of being able to be read, left and returned to. This is not a book for “quilters” its a gem for anyone interested in creativity and design.
THE SEA DETECTIVE Mark Douglas Hume Sandstone Press Ltd, Great Britain 2011
This is the first story of Caladh McGill the PhD Student of Flotsam & Jestsam Investigations. The knowledge and understanding of currents and tides and the analysis of individual levels of flotation and movement can identify the source of pollution and debris including “human debris”. The are several closely woven themes – global warming, people trafficking, child sexual exploitation and contemporary enslavement. These issues are interwoven with political behaviours, police politics and McGill’s personal search for knowledge of his family history. This was an eye opening read where who is good and who is bad and who is greedy and exploitative moves and changes page by page. A fascinating and very readable read.
TAURANGA CITY LIBRARIES BOOK CLUBS MEET:
3rd Wednesday of every month of 2014 at the Tauranga City Library
10.30am to 11.30am and 5.30pm to 6.30pm
Papamoa Library Book Club meets:
3rd Wednesday of every month of 2014 at Papamoa Library
10.00am
16 July topic: Caribbean Novels, food, travel, history, memoir and DVDs
FRIENDS OF THE TAURANGA CITY LIBRARIES
Any one can join the Friends. Annual membership is $10. and members received six issues of Bookline, the Friends newsletter. Monthly meetings with guest speakers. Friends are volunteers who link the general public and library management; support library initiatives and raise money for special library projects. Contact: President Barbara Murray barianre@enternet.co.nz Phone 07 579 5378 Secretary Barbara Moore barbara.m@xtra.co.nz Phone 07 575 6823
THE ARTIST
I AM THE HUMAN BEING
Reality is tearing me apart
I am laughing
I am crying
I am disturbed
Choking, confused
With words, ideas, images
I am dancing
I am screaming
I lack respect
I lack discipline
I lack decency
I lack basic human concern
I lack this
I lack that
Experience has stained my soul black
I am the addict
Constantly searching for a fix
I am the beggar
Asking for generous donation
I am the lost son
Never to be found
The problem child
The hopeless lover
The self-destructive fool
You will never understand me
You will never know that I exist
You will want to watch me burn
You will try to run
Lock me up and shower me with pills
Label me insane
You will never feel my pain
The reptiles crawling through my brain
I AM THE ARTIST
I can tear reality apart
I can make you laugh
I can make you cry
I can disturb you
Choke you, confuse you
With words, Ideas, images
I can make you dance
I can make you scream
I AM THE ARTIST
Dreamer of impossible dreams
Apprentice of the pen
Wielder of the paintbrush
Worshipper of the guitar
Shaman of the microphone
The eyes behind the camera
The fingers on the keyboard
I AM THE ARTIST
Constantly consuming
Joy
Light
Beauty
&
Endless Inspiration
————— X —————-
By
Archaeo
021-053-3548
TAURANGA WRITER’S GROUP:
Sunday afternoon and I join in on the Tauranga Writer’s Group workshop where Lorraine Steele of LighthousePR Book Publicity and Promotion is sharing publishing and promotion information. The room is crowded. Lots of information and lots of questions from both published writers and those still seeking that holy grail. www.lighthousepr.co.nz
