Breakfast with Pandora

This is gorgeous

Take a look at this video and tell me in the comments, honestly now, if you saw this video as a commercial on TV or on the Internet, would you think it came from a self-publisher?

 

For those who can't click on the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUN_3AoyMcs 

And yet it does. UK imprint JJ Books is the property of one John Jackson, the 82-year old "chairman of a solicitor's firm" (chief partner in a law firm, for us in the States), according to his publicist Jonathan Knott. 

Having available a lifetime of earnings as an attorney, plus connections and friendships, must open a lot of doors in self-publishing.

• How much did it cost to have this video made? This isn't your average YouTuber on his webcam.
• The illustrator is superbly talented. I hope she did not come cheaply. 
• The blurbs have name recognition ("Times" of London, no doubt).
• Creating the book as an "app" for the iPad must have also cost.  

I love that there are beautiful children in the video enjoying the book almost as a toy rather than just as a book. A paper book doesn't read to you, doesn't have animation, doesn't have buttons to push. This is very appealing.

To be published on February 28 of this year, "Tales for Great Grandchilren"  is a free download, and one story is included. Each additional story costs 99 cents, and there are a total of 13 stories in the collection.

John Jackson clearly has a leg up on most of us in terms of resources. Will this book, "Tales for Great Grandchildren," be a sales success? Does John Jackson, who has accomplished so much in his life already, need for it to be a sales success? What is his goal?

In self- and e-publishing the goal may not be to make a million dollars and become a famous author. It may be simply to do what you want to do.

J.A. Konrath, self-publishing superstar, says the key to making money in self- and e-publishing is to have a lot of things to buy at a small cost. He was a traditionally published author with a large back list, and he makes tons because his old books sell well online. It reminds me of that once-popular get-rich-quick scheme of taking out tiny ads in magazines that say, "Best chili recipe ever, $2.95" and your address. If you have enough different recipes in enough magazines, you will eventually get 10,000 people to send away for your recipe. and make something like $20,000 from a piece of paper.

Such an approach to e-books is not conducive to high quality literature, but to each his own.

A beloved teacher of mine who is also an acclaimed novelist once said that she could not handle the tyranny of having to write books solely for money. The income she got from writing was always a supplement to her family income; she did not produce work frequently enough for it to be a breadwinner's share.

Self- and e-publishing allows everyone-- those after the big gold strikes, and those panning a small stake upstream-- to take writing and publishing at their own speed, and to invest in marketing at whatever level is comfortable. John Jackson's beautiful marketing video may not translate into big sales, but it is what he wanted to do and he went for it. That's gorgeous stuff.

Netflix Follies: "The Bicycle Thief" (gli spoiglieri)

On a Friday night in America, what most of us reach for is a little escapism: some car crashes, maybe some romance, aliens, werewolves, happy endings. Especially now, with the world's wounds gaping wider with earthquakes and political upheaval and the wearying recession.

Movie still found here.

In my household, it's a bit different. After a long, grueling work week, we clicked on the "Foreign" Netflix tab. And we came up with "The Bicycle Thief," a classic of Italian neorealism from 1948. Netflix suggested I would give it 5 stars, and indeed, the Data Mining Demons do not lie.

We made the choice partly because son was the only remaining child at home this particular Friday night, and he likes and doesn't get much in the way of Foreign. Really dedicated readers may remember my post on this topic some years ago about another classic, this one Swedish.

I will probably do some spoilers (in fake Italian, "gli spoiglieri") from this point on, so scurry off now, you ones who don't want it spoiled.

"The Bicycle Thief" is about a man who's trying to provide for his family in post-World War II Italy. That country's economy is shattered, and many are out of work. Antonio is young and good-hearted, and he has a good wife, Maria, and good son, Bruno. You're rooting for them from the very beginning. When Antonio gets a job putting up posters around the city of Rome, all seems well. The one catch: he has to use a bicycle to get around town. If he doesn't have one, he can't keep the job.

It's not difficult to figure out what happens on the first day of work: the bike is stolen. Antonio has one day off, Sunday, to try to find it. Otherwise it's unemployment again, and the family is on the brink, with Bruno and a new baby to raise as well.

So most of the action of the film revolves around this one problem, and how it might be solved. As another blogger has pointed out, the film magnifies the problem into something that is greater than it should be-- thinking about this realistically, there are so many bicycles in Rome, you'd think Antonio would be able to borrow one till his first paycheck came in.

But I was caught up in the all-or-nothing nature of the film, which takes on the pathos of something much greater and more momentous, like a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy. It's in the back of your mind from the beginning that the only way out is for Antonio to make his own theft. I mean, this film is full to the gills with bicycles. Couldn't someone spare just one? But as sure as Italian men are devastatingly handsome, you know Antonio is going to have to go the same route as the thief he's pursuing.

What takes this simple story to its 5-star heights? Bruno, of course. This 8-year old kid spends the day of searching with his dad, and personifies hope. He has an unshakable confidence in his father, even as it becomes clear there's no way, no how they're going to recover this two-wheeler. The performance of this youngster is unforgettable.

Indeed, Bruno is the salvation of the film, because stories, whether Italian or American, and especially ones that don't end happily, need to have some kind of hope anchoring them. As Antonio and Bruno march into the future, you don't know what's going to happen to them. But Bruno's love-- and compassion-- for his father is intact. You see that as he looks up at Antonio, who is barely holding it together, and takes his hand. In Post-World War II Italy, you have to grow up fast.

It's said that we turn to tragedies in order to comfort ourselves with the notion that even if our lives are sad, someone else's is much sadder. I don't think that was the case this time for me. This time, I just felt for the two characters almost as if I knew them, and I wished them well. Maybe that's the point of "realism," to tell an almost documentary story about ordinary people and yet to make it seem as grand as Sophocles.

I pray for the world, and hope not to lose my compassion. It is wonderful to know, amidst the wrack and ruin of our world, that human beings can make such beautiful art.

 

This still found at this blog.

The Aeneid Meme: Casting your favorite Roman epic

(This is a meme, so consider yourself tagged [this means you, Michael Leddy]-- and skip to the bottom if you want to avoid the preliminaries.)

Image: The Roman national epic in Victorian art.

An eon ago, before that Troy thing with Brad Pitt, there was a made-for-TV Hallmark Hall of Fame mini-series that dramatized the Odyssey.

Remember it? The one with Armand Assante as Odysseus, Bernadette Peters as Circe, Vanessa Williams as Calypso, and Greta Scacchi as Penelope? Anyone? Anyone?

Turns out that was back in 1997. Goodness, how time flies.

Back then, mythology geek that I was, and much younger and more idealistic, I decided to have an ancient Greek mythology neighborhood experience with it.

I invited everyone on our cul-de-sac to come see it on our TV, but with a twist: I determined to take the TV outdoors, sit it on a box on the street, and spread out blankets on the grassy slope of our lawn. My scheme was to recreate the ancient Greek practice of outdoor entertainment, making a kind of electronic Theater of Dionysus.

Idea guy that I was, I didn't care how I was going to acquire and spool 50 feet of extension cord and cable out to where the TV was to be perched. But we finally managed it, with much long-suffering from then-spouse, and some neighbors consented to indulge my fantasy.

It was a great scheme, but the experience was a bust. The movie was long, full of commercials, and stupid. Assante was a stiff, and they messed up a great story that was already a screenplay almost as it had been originally written. Plus, at the end of the 3 hours or whatever, we were only halfway through the two-day Event.

My neighbors politely declined my invitation to come back the next night. They were already mosquito-bitten enough, and had earned several cups of sugar and other favors in plenty.

Several years later, with Troy, big Hollywood messed up the Iliad. Now there is only one great ancient epic to go: the Aeneid.

The Aeneid is a downer, so they will have to do a lot of fixing of it if they want to make it palatable to American audiences. But it is also the national epic of Rome, which gives it a great hook.

Aeneas, the national hero of Rome, is your basic Trojan hero minding his own business during the Trojan War, when the Greeks use the Trojan Horse to penetrate his city and destroy it.

Conflict. Violence. Screaming. Fire. Think Troy, but without that confusing ankle thing.

Aeneas has to flee, though he'd rather die fighting. Much to his chagrin, the gods have designated him as the father of the Roman people.

Aeneas and his ragtag band of followers-- an idea stolen from Battlestar Galactica-- go on a long mission to find their new home. Along the way, Queen Dido pops up as a love interest for Aeneas. Another tragedy ensues, as it is impossible for her and Aeneas to be together. Dido ends up with a white flag upon her door.

Finally Aeneas and company come to Italy, where more conflict awaits Aeneas, and a villain-- the Italian superstar warrior Turnus. In the poem, this ends tragically as well, since Turnus ends up not being such a bad guy after all. But Hollywood can get him a Black Stetson and everything will be fine.

Now, with all this going on, there's got to be about 12 optioned screenplays going around So Cal waiting for the right investors.

So let's get a jump on the competition. Who do you want to see in the prime roles of this blockbuster epic? 

Aeneas... the reluctant hero... a family man, a single father, good with a sword when he has to be, but much more interested in peace.

Dido... exotic Carthaginian queen... a widow forced into the executive position by the death of her husband... a great leader, noble city-builder who falls tragically for a man she can never have.

Turnus... young Italian hothead... angry at this newcomer who has stolen his bride-to-be, Lavinia, because of some cockeyed prophecy...  monstrously talented at the art of war, but young-- so young...

Supporting characters:

Anchises... Aeneas' father... an inspiration to Aeneas, and a source of great sorrow... he dies before the proto-Romans come to Italy, but Aeneas meets him in the underworld, where he tells his son about the coming greatness of Rome...

Ascanius/Iulus... Aeneas' son... a cute little kid who grows up throughout the years of the story... by the end, he is a young man himself...

Lavinia... the daughter of King Latinus, the intended of Turnus, who is given to Aeneas after a prophecy tells Latinus that she should be wed to a stranger who comes from overseas... She should be pretty and young, but keep in mind she has no lines...

The Olympians... How do we handle them... yes, they are characters in the epic, especially the jealous Juno, who holds a vicious grudge against the Trojans...

Have at it! Tell the world who you'd like in these roles. And add other roles from the story (e.g., Anna, the lady standing in the painting above) as you see fit.

In a world...

The lesson of Enkidu

Over at Hugo Schwyzer, where feminism now, today is the main event, a post on the ramifications of a study that says "college-aged women did sixteen hours more work" per week than their male counterparts. Apparently college boys are playing a lot of video games, and co-eds are making sure civilization doesn't crumble.

From Hugo's perspective, the crisis of this study has to do with women working too hard, trying to be perfect. But there is another angle. I have posted before on the evolution of male roles, and I do believe that boys and men are going through one of the most difficult psycho-social moments in the history of the species-- at least in middle-class America. I can't speak for other cultures and classes.

Here's the situation: since about 1960, men have been expected to cede an increasing amount of power to women. And, contrary to history and tradition, they have been expected to do it willingly.

Through this process, and with a lot of fits and starts, women have acquired an easily measurable amount of public power, in the form of jobs, choices, laws, rights, and expectations. It has been a revolution.

What have men gotten in return for giving up power? A lot of not easily measurable things. A more humane way of life. The opportunity to share more fully in the raising of children and managing of a household. More mutuality in marriages.

Men traditionally do not value these things. We value power, competition, and the ability to hoard, consume, and destroy resources. We have allowed women to civilize us to an extent, because there is something in us that values that. (As one woman once said on a radio broadcast encouraging guys to contribute money to a woman-oriented cause, "C'mon guys. You like us. We're soft, squishy, and we smell nice.") Many of us do, however, remain tempted to go cross-eyed on occasion.

So the fact that young men are losing themselves in aggressive, competitive, destructive video games while attempting to ignore responsibility and pretend that society doesn't exist-- well, it doesn't surprise me.

And truthfully, this has been going on for a long time. The civilization of guys is a primeval thing, and it is a present-day, present-moment thing. The wonderful story of Enkidu is a great example of that.

Enkidu is a supporting character in the ancient (4,000 year old) epic of Gilgamesh, a story which was first told around 2000 BC and went through several versions through more than a millennium of transmission. The epic, according to Professor Tsvi Abusch, combines "the power and tragedy of the Iliad with the wanderings and marvels of the Odyssey."

Enkidu, master of animals.

Enkidu is the best friend of Gilgamesh, the hero of the epic, and the one who goes through all the power, tragedy, wanderings and marvels. Enkidu shares some of that excitement, but his most interesting moment is his introduction:

The whole of his body was hairy and his (uncut) locks were like a woman's or the hair of a goddess of grain. Moreover, he knew nothing of settled fields or human beings and was clothed (in skins) like a deity of flocks.

In other words, he was playing video games in his pajamas all day.

That's not quite true: Enkidu was also actively an enemy of civilization, disrupting the hunting of animals. Trappers were put out; this wild man was destroying their livelihood.

The solution? Gilgamesh, who was king at the time decreed that a prostitute go out to Enkidu and attract him. Enkidu liked the prostitute and stayed with her "for six days and seven nights."

Thereafter, the animals that had been his friends shunned him, and he became a protector of shepherds from lions and wolves. Later, he went to see Gilgamesh, wrestled with him, was defeated by him, and the two became great friends.

The prostitute began the enculturation (some say "humanization") of Enkidu by introducing him to some of the best things about civilization. Then, importantly, Enkidu finished his maturation by intimate contact with a powerful, civilized man.

For modern-day Enkidus, there are a lot of women interested in civilizing or at least spending six days and seven nights with them. But you see where that has got us. Lots of Enkidus playing video games and enjoying themselves in other ways.

I think the key is the contact with a strong, responsible man, someone guys can look up to. Not many of those good men are out there or have ever been out there. Now, in the brave new world of equality, mutuality, and less opportunity to die early in war, they are even more valuable.

My son has had the great advantage of contact with lots of responsible men (besides me) who are fun to be around, in the form of coaches, teachers, pastors, youth leaders, and friends of mine. I try to do the same by my friends' sons, and this year I'll be advising a bunch of teenage hero boys who are facing the great challenge of these transformative days. With God's help, I'll do okay. I'll keep you posted on developments.

Blogging Norse mythology: Troy and Asgard

I'm branching out in my mythology reading, and here's my first post on Norse mythology.

Photo: Greece, sky and sea, 2007.

Right off the bat in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, a famous Icelandic account of Norse mythology, we get this passage:

Near the middle of the world, a building and a living hall were constructed... The place was named Troy and is found in the region we call Turkey. It was built much larger than others and in many ways with greater skill; neither cost nor the resources of the country we spared. There were twelve kingdoms with one high king, and to each kingdom belonged many groups who paid tribute. In the city there were twelve main chieftains. These rulers were superior in all human attributes to the other people who had preceded them in the world.

One of the kings was named Munon or Mennon. He was married to Troan, the daughter of Priam, the chief king. They had a son who was named Tror, the one we call Thor... By the time he was twelve years old, he had acquired his full strength. Then he was able to lift from the ground ten bearskins, all in a pile... In the northern part of the world he came across the prophetess Sibyl, whom we call Sif, and he married her... [Thor had sons and grandsons, ending with] Voden, the one we call Odin, an excellent man because of his wisdom and because he had every kind of accomplishment.

Being a true newbie in Norse mythology, I was surprised at a few things:

a) Thor, the Norse god of thunder, starts off as a human grandson of Priam, the legendary king of Troy whose city was destroyed by the Greeks in Greek mythology.

b) The author latches on to Troy and its people as the greatest in the world, rather than Athens or Rome, both of which got bigger and had a lot more popularity in ancient times.

c) Odin is a great-great-umpty-great grandson of Thor. I was under the impression that Odin was older than Thor, or at least, being Norse gods, they were of the same age.

Next, Odin, who has the gift of prophecy, finds out he will be great in the northern part of the world, and so he decides to set off from Troy with a large group of people:

So, too, they took with them many precious things. Wherever they went on their travels, tales fo their splendour were told, making them seem more like gods than men. They journeyed without stopping until they had reached the north, where they entered the region now called Saxland. There Odin settled down for a long time, taking possession of much of the land.

All translations from Jesse L. Byock, buy the book here

These people came to be called Aesir, because they were Asians, and their city was called Asgard, or Asia Yard.

It's possible Snorri was interested in a migration of people from Asia to another land because he was familiar with a very famous story that was still popular in the Middle Ages (when Snorri wrote), also about a people who migrated from Troy to somewhere else.

Anyone care to comment on who that was? I'll put the answer in the comments anyway in due time.

Branching out: blogging other mythologies

Recently I had a request from a reader to consider Hindu mythology in relation to Greek. I demurred, saying that I'd had a brief encounter with it in graduate school and found it difficult and elusive.

I think mythologists should stick with what they know, especially if they are concerned they'll put a foot in their mouth about what they don't. But it's true that learning new stuff is a fun activity.

Photo: Maybe Greece isn't the "omphalos" (navel) of the universe after all.

Over Christmas I acquired Jesse Byock's Penguin translation of The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson (nice long review here). I figured I would probably give it to son to read, as I've never been much interested in Norse mythology, despite its use by a favorite author of mine, J.R.R. Tolkien, as a source for his Lord of the Rings.

But the other day I read the introduction and was intrigued by this sentence:

Even though the Edda relies heavily on native traditions, a good argument can be made that it also shows awareness of two Latin literary genres of the Middle Ages: writings about mythology and about language and poetics.

Byock doesn't spell out what "mythology" constitutes nor does he go beyond saying that the author of the Edda "knew at least something of the ideas current in the general Latin learning of the Middle Ages", but he does seem to leave open the question whether the Prose Edda borrowed something from classical Greek mythology. Always a contentious issue to figure out where stories have come from, sometimes a very large political issue.

Me? I'm just interested to know how and where there is an "awareness" of "mythology" in the Prose Edda.

So I'll be reading the work in the next week or so and blogging about it as the spirit moves. What is your experience with Norse mythology? Do you remember that Marvel comics superhero from the Norse pantheon? A Mighty Marvel No-Prize for the first commenter with the answer.

And if a copy of a book about Hindu myth comes into my hands, I guess I'll take a look at that, too.

Photo: Thor, comic character from Norse mythology mentioned above, identified by MoominLight.