url change

formerly: futuresfading
now: abookishnotion

Change is good.

click to enlarge

Ophelia, by British artist Sir John Everett Millais.

This oil-on-canvas painting depicts the character Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet singing whilst floating down the river before she drowns. This seen is described by Queen Gertrude in Act IV, Scene VII of the classic play:

Queen. There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream.
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men’s fingers call them;
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clamb’ring to hang, an envious silver broke,
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide,
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up;
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes,
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element. But long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.

The Mermaid

A mermaid found a swimming lad,
Picked him for her own,
Pressed her body to his body,
Laughed; and plunging down
Forgot in cruel happiness
That even lovers drown.

W.B. Yeats

Unexpected Hiatus

So, I've been MIA on this blog for a bit. A lot has been happening and this blog was put on the back burner.

I plan on returning it to it's former glory, though. I'm goingo to post more regularly and get back to writing reviews.

I'm currently reading A Thousand Pardons, by Jonathan Dee. Looking forward to writing a review for you all!

Review| The Cranes Dance, by Meg Howry

Full Title: The Cranes Dance
Author: Meg Howrey
Genre: Fiction/Contemporary
Publisher: Vintage (Random House)
Publication Date: May 15, 2012
My Copy: Advance reader copy via Goodreads First Reads

The Cranes Dance, by Meg Howrey, follows the life of ballerina Kate Crane. She takes us through an especially rough patch in her family life that coincides with the career boost she may just need.

Kates sister, Gwen, is the superior dancer. Everyone knows this: Kate is a soloist, but Gwen is a principle dancer. But when Gwen’s neurosis get to be too much to handle, Kate calls up her dad to take her away. While Gwen is getting treatment, Kate injures herself but dances what has to be her best season yet. She snags lead roles, but her dependence on painkillers might be clouding her world.

Kate’s voice was instantly likeable for me. She is witty and funny. She addresses her audience directly, and is quite blunt and honest in her opinions. She is a very self aware and strong female lead. Her dancer lifestyle isn’t entirely relatable to me, but I felt I understood her regardless. Her emotions and thoughts are very well described.

Overall, this novel was interesting and engaging. I was never bored with it. I always wanted to read just a bit more before putting it down. Because of this, I finished it in one sitting. It’s a very quick read, but very good as well. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone, dancer or not.

See (and like!) this review on: Amazon | Goodreads | Librarything | Shelfari

Life of Pi Footage!

Yann Martel's Life of Pi is being made into a movie, coming November 21, 2012. Here is a little sneak-peak footage. Looking forward to a full trailer. And, of course, the movie.

How to Kill a Living Thing

Neglect it
Criticize it to its face
Say how it kills the light
Traps all the rubbish
Bores you with its green

Continually
Harden your heart
Then
Cut it down close
To the root as possible

Forget it
For a week or a month
Return with an axe
Split it with one blow
Insert a stone

To keep the wound wide open.

—Eibhlín Nic Eochaidh