cloudmonkey

DREAMS
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IDEAS

Monday, December 23, 2002

O Hamster Tree

I just finished reading Abarat the new young-adult novel by Clive Barker. It's my favorite Clive Barker since his previous young-adult novel The Thief of Always. To me, Barker's two young-adult novels have a bit more focus, tighter plotting, and even a more mythic quality than his other novels. His latest novel is set in the Abarat, an edgier Oz, a vast archipelago consisting of an island for every hour in the day plus the mysterious Island of the Twenty-fifth Hour. The "Dorothy" of the story is Candy Quackenbush of Chickentown, Minnesota, who travels to the Abarat via an impossible harbor in the middle of the Minnesota grasslands. Like Dorothy, Candy acquires some very strange allies and one great enemy, the Lord Carrion of Midnight Island.

My favorite bit is the song that a creature called a Sea-Skipper teaches Candy. It's sung to the tune of O Christmas Tree.

O woe is me!
O woe is me!
I used to have a Hamster Tree!
But it was eaten by a newt,
And now I have no cuddly fruit!
O woe is me!
O woe is me!
I used to have a Hamster Treeee!

"Cuddly fruit" is such a great phrase. I'll never be able to hear O Christmas Tree again without thinking of these lyrics.

One more thing: the illustrations in this book are wonderful. Barker worked four years, creating paintings to illuminate Abarat and its sequels. Over one hundred of them are included in this first volume of The Books of Abarat. I can hardly wait for the next one.

Discuss

Tuesday, December 03, 2002

Interview with Mark Frauenfelder

Check out this interview with Mark Frauenfelder, founder of my favorite blog Boing Boing.

Here's what Mark had to say about Boing Boing.

I've always been attracted to stuff that's quirky and outré. I'm also especially interested in American culture between World War I and WWII. To me, that era represents a high point in art, architecture, design, and music. Of course, there was a lot of backward thinking at that time as well (racism, sexism) so it wasn't all-good.

I'm also interested in underground comics, oddball human-interest stories, weird consumer products, and individuals who come up with ways to beat the system.

The other three BoingBoing bloggers share my taste to a degree, but they have their own specialties. Cory Doctorow posts a lot of stuff about First Amendment and copyright issues. He's also obsessed with the Disney Corporation. David Pescovitz is interested in cutting edge science, robotics, and dadaism. Xeni Jardin is the most eclectic of the bunch and comes up with a lot of great surprises.

Discuss