Stuff I’m Rereading Right Now!

 I seem to have missed  Beethoven’s birthday this year - December 16. A pity, because it’s his 250th birthday. Beethoven has given me a lot of joy over the years, and not only the glorious “Ode To Joy”. 

That takes me back to Peanuts comics, which I discovered in Grade 6 at primary school, where my class had a temporary teacher, Mr Kaufman(I remember his comfortable Scottish accent). Mr Kaufman told us about Peanuts, which was in the newspapers at the time, and I went off to read them. What joy! Poor Charlie Brown, who never succeeded and who yearned to speak to “the little red-haired girl” while Peppermint Patty adored him from afar! Snoopy the beagle, who played every role he fancied, from a World War 1 fighter pilot to a bestselling novelist. Linus, with his security blanket. And Schroeder, who played amazingly complex music on his toy piano, and was a passionate fan of Ludwig van Beethoven, whose birthday he celebrated every year...

Beethoven made an appearance in a novel I have just reread, Desiree by Annemarie Selinko. Desiree Clary was Napoleon’s first fiancée, till he dumped her for Josephine, who was better for his career. She later married one of his Marshals, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte and they ended up on the throne of Sweden, at the invitation of the Swedish Parliament. The novel is written in the form of a diary, kept by the heroine from the age of fourteen. At one point in the novel, while her husband is a governor in Germany, they receive a visit from Beethoven, who is on his way to a treatment for his deafness. They get to hear the Third Symphony, which he has just written. 

I bought a copy of The Dark Fantastic: Race And The Imagination From Harry Potter To The Hunger Gmes  by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, which won a prize at the World Fantasy Convention. It’s a rather academic tome, but the theme fascinated me. However, when reading the bit about The Hunger Games, I found there was a lot I had forgotten since I last read it, so I opened my ebook of the trilogy and started rereading. So far I have read up to about halfway through Catching Fire, the second novel in the trilogy. I’m finding it as powerful - and as painful - as the first time. I think I must be one of the few who liked Mockingjay, the final volume, but we’ll see how I go with it this time when I get there. I don’t think I can bring myself to read the prequel, The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, which is about President Snow as a teenager. 

More recently, I have downloaded John M Ford’s The Dragon Waiting, which I loved when I first read it, and am still enjoying on my reread. It is now back in print, after going out of print on his death, along with his other books. There was some quirk of his will that kept everything out of print, but now it’s back, with permission of his family. 

If you are a fan of Richard III, this is definitely one to read. It’s set in an alternative universe, in which Julian the Apostate, a Roman Emperor who dumped Christianity to return to paganism, is known as Julian the Wise; he succeeded. The European Renaissance era is pretty much as we know it, but everyone can worship as they please and Christianity is just another minor sect. Byzantium, on the other hand, is still strong, maybe too strong. In England, Lancaster and York have fought their wars, but Edward IV worships Apollo and his young brother Richard is a Mithraist. Four people come to help, one of whom is a vampire, turned by a woman in Egypt. It’s just something you can catch like VD, and there are ways to handle it. 

If you are a Richard fan, you will love the ending!

I’ve also begun a reread of The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, and just started a reread of Johnston McCulley’s The Mark Of Zorro. You can find them both for free on Project Gutenberg. Fun fact: Zorro was inspired by the Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro inspired Batman. Not convinced? Think about it - all three feature a playboy hero who acts like a simpering fool, while doing deeds of daring. And Bob Kane admitted Batman was inspired by Zorro. If you see the silent version of Zorro, you will see him ride his horse into a room beneath the house opening on the garden. Bat cave, anyone? 

Some years ago, Isabel Allende was commissioned to write a novel about the beginnings of Zorro, with the simple title Zorro. It was great fun, and covered Diego Vega’s childhood and early youth, before he becomes Zorro, but he bases his costume on that of pirate Jean Lafitte. There was a scene in it where his home features a huge chandelier and you just know that he is going to swing from it some day.

I’m not sure if it’s in print any more, but it’s worth chasing up, even second hand. 

I’m listening to an audiobook of The Hobbit, which I have read many times, because the reader is Rob Inglis, who also reads The Lord Of The Rings. I can’t think of anybody better for either novel. He used to do a one man show of The Hobbit, which intrigued me enough to find his audiobook.

I’m rereading quite a few books, all at once, for the comfort. Sometimes you just don’t want to read something new late at night, in bed. You want the comfort of something familiar before dozing off. 

Well, I do. What about you?