Spellbinder by Helen Stringer

Goodreads: Spellbinder

Series: Spellbinder #1

Published: 2009

Source: Purchased

Summary: The gift to see ghosts runs in twelve-year-old Belladonna Johnson’s family, but she never appreciated it until the day the ghosts disappear.  Knowing only that she has to find someone called the Spellbinder, Belladonna and her friend Steve will travel to the Other World and face down a formidable foe in the hopes of preventing the spirits of the dead from vanishing forever.

Review: Armed with a unique premise and a sympathetic heroine, Stringer presents an adventure sure to keep readers flipping pages long after bedtime.  A generous helping of cryptic messages and secret explorations keeps the plot moving along while references to myth and history give the story a enough to ground it in the real world.  Stringer makes it seem quite plausible that readers can encounter dragons and their treasure on the corner, or a passageway to another world in an old, forgotten building.

The subject of the story may initially seem macabre, but the book manages to present seeing ghosts as quite a normal event.  Belladonna interacts with them as she would living people, treating them with respect and developing friendships with them.  Her gift proves especially useful as she can interact with her parents, victims of a fatal car crash.  Readers who dislike scary stories (such as myself) or who feel uncomfortable spending time with books that have an unhealthy fascination with death should therefore not fear to pick up Spellbinder.  Talking with ghosts proves simply a springboard for an otherwise not untypical fantasy adventure.

Though readers will recognize elements of standard fantasy plots—an ancient evil awakened, an alchemist with more to him than meets the eye—Stringer adds enough action and mystery to keep the story moving along.  The main characters, Belladonna and Steve, also help as their normality makes them relatable and their intelligence and good humor makes them likeable. 

The other characters, unfortunately, could use a little more originality.  The majority of the book seems populated by women, most of them strong personalities who command respect through their coldness or severity.  For awhile, it seemed as if I were reading about various projections of the same character.  Belladonna proves that females can be strong without trying to be intimidating or without adopting a sarcastic attitude; why don’t more of the adult characters follow her lead?

The lack of diversified femininity was the one flaw that stuck out to while reading.  Otherwise, I found myself completely engrossed by the mystery and magic of Spellbinder.  It ends conclusively enough that I will feel satisfied if I never find the sequel; however, I would like to enter Belladonna’s unique world sometime again.  

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1 by Naoko Takeuchi

Translated by William Flanagan

Goodreads: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 1

Series: Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon Renewal Edition #1

Published: 1992

Source: Gift

Summary: Usagi Tsukino lives the life of a normal fourteen-year-old until the day a talking cat named Luna informs her that her true identity is Sailor Moon, a guardian whose mission is to find the Legendary Silver Crystal and the long-lost Moon Princess.  Fighting evil is not easy, however, and Sailor Moon will need to find all the allies she can.

Review: Years ago I watched the anime Sailor Moon and loved it, although now I realize it is sometimes rather cheesy.  Thus, I found myself opening the manga with a sense of nostalgia.  Reading manga is still rather new to me (my first foray into manga was Habemus Papam!), but immediately I found myself transported back into a magical world where girls have the power to save the day--and usually do it in style.

Now that I have the chance the revisit the series, it seems clear to me that the characters are its real strength.  Takeuchi takes care to present each of the sailor scouts as normal girls who have interests, flaws, and talents with which readers can relate.  They portray different types of femininity, but the series never presents one as superior to the other.  Athletic girls, bookish girls, pretty girls, and girls who just like to eat sweets and sleep in--they're all valuable and they all have something to contribute.  Together, they're simply unstoppable.

A really good story needs good presentation, however, and the manga does not disappoint.  It is filled with gorgeous illustrations and I would stop to savor a particularly stunning panel or sometimes flip back just to admire some really great artwork.  The plot is episodic enough that it wants to keep drawing readers through the action (really, I had no idea the anime added so many extra episodes--Sailor Moon meets three of the scouts just in the first volume), so I think it's notable I would sometimes stop.  The translation is sometimes a little funny as characters say things in a more casual or more stilted way than I would have imagined the situation would warrant.  However, it never jarred me out of the story.

I'm not sure the manga has reignited my old love for Sailor Moon, but I'm interested enough that I hope I can continue through the series.  The anime diverges in some places from the manga, so I'm looking forward to discovering the author's original story.

Looking for...A Book on Tolkien

The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Glyer debunks the myth of the solitary writer by demonstrating that the Inklings, a literary group that included Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield and others, exerted more influence on each other's work than previously thought.  Glyer approaches her argument systematically, first defining types of influence and then demonstrating how members of the Inklings practiced each.  Her work challenges the idea that artists must work in isolation in order to achieve greatness.


J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey

Shippey examines the ways in which language shaped Tolkien's Middle-earth and helped Tolkien create a new mythology.  He also explores historical, political, and religious influences on Tolkien's work, focusing in particular on the nature of evil in Tolkien's worldview.  A must-read for any fan of the professor.


The Philosophy of Tolkien by Peter Kreeft

Kreeft explores the ways in which Tolkien's Catholicism provides the philosophical underpinning of Middle-earth through a question-and-answer format.  Each of Kreeft's questions receives a three-fold answer: a quote from one of Tolkien's works exemplifying his philosophy, a quote from Tolkien's letters expanding upon it, and a quote from C. S. Lewis clarifying it.  An easy and accessible book, perfect for lengthy reading or for browsing.

 

Preparing for Tolkien Reading Day

Since 2003, the Tolkien Society has hosted Tolkien Reading Day on March 25 as a way to encourage readers to celebrate, discover, and enjoy (what else?) J. R. R. Tolkien's books. Why March 25?  The Tolkien Society explains that this is the date of the Fall of Sauron.  However, as a devout Catholic, Tolkien would have associated this date with the Annunciation, thus making an explicit connection between Mary's Fiat and the downfall of evil.  This year's theme is Tolkien's Landscapes.  So, on Monday, be sure to pick up a book by Tolkien and, if you write a review, feel free to link it in the comments!

Movie Review: Brother Sun, Sister Moon

Date: 1972
Director: Franco Zeffirelli

Summary: Francis returns to his home of Assisi after contracting a fever in the army.  He experiences a religious conversion that inspires him to reject the lavish lifestyle of his family and attempt to draw closer to God through nature and poverty.    His newfound joy attracts many of the city's youth to him, but the powerful of Assisi resent the rebuke to their materialism and vow to stop Francis at any cost.

Review: Brother Sun, Sister Moon is a cinematic masterpiece that attempts to transfer to the viewers some of the quiet joy St. Francis experienced through God's presence in nature.  Gorgeous photography, sweeping scenes of fields of flowers and snowy mountains, moments of silence and moments of song all combine to present the story of St. Francis with a beauty so powerful that it can touch hearts even if some find it a little hokey.

I admit that when the film began, I did not react favorably.  Some factors such as costuming or even the soundtrack may prove jarring to a more modern audience.  We are, after all, accustomed to art that makes us forget it is art and invites us to live within its story line.  Here, however, the gaudy outfits never let viewers forget their nature as costumes and the soundtrack seems like it belongs on a flashback to the 60s CD.  Initially I had expected the type of music St. Francis might have heard, but clearly Zeffirelli's concerns lie less in maintaining historical accuracy than in using art to make a statement about his culture: the music draws parallels between St. Francis's love of nature and the environmental movement of the 60s.

I might have accepted these issues, but the portrayal of St. Francis also surprised me.  I have always imagined St. Francis as a fearless man of action, a man whose deciveness and passion shocked a nation.  This is after, all the man who tore off his clothes before the bishop and the town in order to announce his desire to live in poverty for the glory of the Lord.  Zeffirelli's interpretation, however, shows a quieter, more introspective man.  Perhaps he wanted audiences to feel like the inhabitants of Assisi.  Perhaps he wanted audiences to question, like the characters, whether St. Francis wasn't quite simply made.  Ultimately, however,  I think some of the problems I had with the portrayal lies in the impossibility of expressing or illustrating the presence of God.

Every saint movie I have ever seen relies on silence to convey the presence of God within a person.  And why not?  God's presence is ineffable. However, when I think on the people in my life in whom I have distinctly felt the presence of God,  I don't recall them serenely staring off into the distance smiling to themselves or looking past me when I talk because they're just so in love with the Lord they can't see me.  I think that when a person is in tune with God, they become more present to those around them--not less so.  Thus, I had trouble accepting a portrayal of St. Francis in which he ignored people when they spoke to him.  I accepted him only when I saw the camaraderie he had with his brothers and the service he extended to the poor and afflicted.  St. Francis only became real when he connected with the world around him.

The heart of the film lies in that--lies in the presence of St. Francis in Italy.  He was a real man who walked on real soil and managed to transform the way people understood religion and spirituality.  He continues to inspire countless people today.  And why?  Because if an ordinary man like him could do something so extraordinary, it means that all of us have the potential to become saints.  Brother Sun, Sister Moon shines brightest when it shows St. Francis looking into the eyes of the people around him and reminding them that God desires them.

Dante's Daughter by Kimberley Heuston

Goodreads: Dante’s Daughter

Series: None

Published: 2004

Source: Library

Summary: Antonia Alighieri’s world turns upside down when the Black Guelfs invade Florence and force her family into exile.  Separated from her mother and her brothers, Antonia travels with her father, the famous poet Dante, through Italy and France.  The people she meets and the places she experiences will help her find her own place in the world and give her the courage to follow her dreams.

Review: Heuston paints a vivid picture of pre-Renaissance Italy, taking the few known facts about Antonia’s life and transforming them into a story sure to inspire readers and warm their hearts.  Though she writes about the daughter of a man who will one day be recognized as one of the world’s greatest poets, Heuston does not allow Dante—or the political forces surrounding him—to overshadow her protagonist.  Anotonia has her own life, her own needs, and her own vision.  Her navigation through adolescence and young adulthood in a male-dominated world will resonate with readers long after they close the book.

Since historians know so little about Dante’s family, Heuston had a liberal amount of poetic license with which to work while writing Dante’s Daughter.  My limited understanding of Dante suggests, however, that Heuston stayed remarkably true to those facts even while she used them to make assumptions about the way in which events may have unfolded.  Thus, Heuston utilizes speculations about an unhappy marriage between Dante and his wife Gemma (in part due to his poetry about another woman—Beatrice) to create a fully three-dimensional woman who feels hurt by her husband’s emotional betrayal yet still provides for her family and their interests.  The dynamic between them drives a lot of the story and provides for some interesting speculations about the how a man so preoccupied by intellectual pursuits may have related to others.

Dante springs to life as a complex man who loves his family, but whose idealism and divine inspiration sometimes cause him to neglect the worldly sorts of tasks that might keep them fed and clothed.  Antonia loves her father in return and craves his affection and protection, but finds that he has difficulty relating to her.  In part, the book suggests, Dante lived too much on his own to understand the needs of others, especially children.  However, Dante does not only experience difficulty in speaking to Antonia simply because she is a child, but also because she is a woman.  She, like him, possesses a quick wit and a keen sensitivity for beauty, but she lacks his education.  There exists between them a fundamental inability to communicate because Dante thinks in terms of the great poets and philosophers who came before him—and Antonia does not yet know them all.

Dante’s attitude toward his family—particularly his wife and daughter—thus serves as a springboard for reflections on gender roles.  As the daughter of a great poet, Antonia will learn Latin, hear the stories from Virgil, and even learn to paint.  However, she remains a woman, and society expects her not to create great art like her father, but to make a home and care for a family.  She does not deny this calling, or even its validity (Antonia’s aunt in fact provides a lively defense of the occupation of women in her society, asserting that men can accomplish so much intellectual work only because the woman take care of their practical needs).  However, she does recognize her need to find her own calling, rather than to follow the path laid out for her by others.

Heuston’s nuanced and varied depiction of woman is completely refreshing.  She presents a wide spectrum of strong women, from Antonia’s aunt who loves being a wife and mother to the Beguines, a group of lay Christian women who lived apart from men and could earn their own livelihood.  All of these women have different gifts and different strengths; Heuston does not assert the primacy of one vocation over another, but illustrates the various ways women can serve God and others.  Antonia ultimately takes the best from all these women, forging her own destiny where she can love freely and be true to herself.

Dante's Daughter possesses a rare beauty, bringing to life a fascinating woman who chose to accept her struggles and use them to make herself stronger.  This book will leave readers feeling refreshed and inspired.

C. S. Lewis Read-Along at Pages Unbound

Check out the C. S. Lewis Read-Along taking place during the month of February at book blog Pages Unbound.  You can read any book by or about C. S. Lewis during February and your review will be added to the Master List.  Other fun posts so far have included discussion posts, a cover poll, and a personality quiz.