#litrec

[witchstone]

what novels should i absolutely read to improve my prose? i have already read anais nin and margaret atwood and am intrigued by angela carter and other authors you post.

it’s been so long since i’ve read properly, but i’ll see what i can rustle up!

definitely go for angela carter, she’s very rich in symbolism and has a striking way with words. the tumblr favourites are usually good for a browse, your secret history, anne carson and the like. i’d also say try out jeanette winterson’s work, especially the stone gods! (i kissed her and forgot death)

anyone else have any recommendations?

[witchstone]

hey, i see you post a lot about mythology, so i'd like to ask you for recommending me some books about (greek) mythology if it's not a bother for you. thank you! x

Hello! It’s most definitely not an issue, I’m always happy to help out with book recommendations x

With Greek mythology, I’ve found that it’s better to almost completely bypass any contemporary material written that describes ‘each myth’ — there are so many different variations that have evolved over the centuries, and most of these tend to take one variant of the tale and turn it into something very superficial.

Metamorphoses was the first that I read; it collects both Greek and Roman myths. It is, as mentioned, not strictly Greek since it was written by the Roman Ovid and completed in 8 AD. It’s important to note that he is a quite violent misogynist, and this manifests itself in his retellings.

The Homeric Hymns is a collection of hymns dedicated to the various gods, most of which date back to the archaic and classical periods. I’ve only read a handful, however.

Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod are some of the oldest pieces of literature from Greece. Theogony describes the genealogy of the gods, Works and Days describes how one ought to live and advice that gives valuable insight into the beliefs held in his time and prominent myths. I was averse to reading Works and Days, but it proved to be more insightful that Theogony.

Though I said to bypass contemporary literature, The Penguin Book of Classical Myths is a good book to have at hand.

The plays are not to be overlooked since the myths have evolved; Prometheus Bound, The Bacchae etc. I’ve read but a handful, so I can’t give a more specific list. The Iliad and The Odyssey are essential.

If it’s theory surrounding the myths that you’re after, I won’t be able to help much; most of what I’ve learnt was during lectures (I pulled up all my material from last year and apparently my lecturers did not care for referencing?) and getting dragged into the wormhole that is jstor. Since it’s such a vast area, I’d recommend getting stuck into Goodreads and finding books on the topics that interest you, and then seeing if any of your local libraries have them. (If not, then by more…illicit means. Which I do not endorse at all. Definitely not.)

I hope this helps! I’m sorry that I could not help more on the theory front x

edit A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong, while not exclusively about Greek mythology, definitely provides valuable insight!

[witchstone]

Hi! Can I get your opinion on Russian literature? (Esp. what would be considered classics) -thanks x

I’ve actually read very little Russian literature, I’m afraid.

From what I have read, it leans towards the bleak, and complex in terms of human nature, actions and consequences. In what I’ve read, despite those descriptions, the works tend to be full of life — but not in the same way that one would expect in English literature, where ‘full of life’ implies that life is good, the people are happy. Rather it is rich in such way that I’m struggling to find the words to string together in English to describe it.

The authors to look out for are Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Vladimir Nabokov. Notable poets are Alexander Pushkin, Anna Akhmatova, and Marina Tsvetaeva. The works that are considered to be the Russian classics that I myself have read include Anna Karenina, Notes from the Underground, and Lolita, as well as sparsely read the poetry of Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva. Classic works that I haven’t read are War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, any of Nabokov’s other works, and Pushkin.

[witchstone]

Do you have book recommendations for an introduction to art history?

okay, so i should mention straight off that the majority of my art history education is mostly actually based more on visual culture theory, rather than on the history side of things. i’ve barely read any whole books on the subject, choosing rather to read select chapters or articles given to us by our lecturers, but nonetheless, this is what i could come up with off the top of my head:

ways of seeing by john berger (also a tv series, and considered to by one of the basic foundations of art theory)

art through the ages by helen gardner (i actually have not read this, but everyone seems to swear by it, and from what i understand it gives a good overview of the history of art. if it proves to be useless in the education front, it could at least serve as a viable weapon in case of home invasions)

isms: understanding art by steven little

the nude by kenneth clark (an overview of representations of the nude from antiquity to the modern period. i’ve read it in its entirety and while it is certainly informative, it is best to read it with a critical mind)

on ugliness and on beauty by umberto eco are also both reputable quite good, though i’ve yet to give them a proper read

thames and hudson publishers have books published on almost every facet of art history; i have books ranging from general overviews of western art from the renaissance to impressionism, to art of the byzantine era, to roman architecture. more often than not i imagine you could find a copy of some area from your local second-hand book shop.

that’s all i can think of off of the top of my head — i’ll be able to put together a more comprehensive and informative list when i get back to university later in july, but i hope this helps in the meantime!

[witchstone]

Do you have something like a 'feel good book'? A book that you come back to when you want to feel happier? :)

If I had to choose just one book, that title would go to Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It’s an outlandish, eccentric and very unorthodox tale about the biblical apocalypse that will have you weeping from laughter. Another would be Fish Notes and Star Songs by Diane Hofmeyr, which was the book I adored most in my childhood. I also tend to go back and read some old young adult favourites: The Raven Cycle, Daughter of Smoke and Bone etc

[witchstone]

You know when some movies start slow and then speed up through it all, keep speeding up so and so until you crash into a climax, and then it relents for some minutes to give the story an ending? I kinda missed that in The Stone Gods. I felt like it took my ages to read the last pages when all I wanted was to crash against that big climax that'd join all the pieces and would make the story close its circle. That's the flaw I saw. The rest's fantastic. The whole book's a poem. A fav for sure 👌

I’m so so so glad you loved it!!

But I agree, I feel like the ending is very much a case of not with a bang, but with a whimper. I’d have liked a climax too, something that the frenzy of the last few chapters would lead to, but at the same time I think it might have been intentional? Taking account into how very microscopic the book makes you feel, simply someone caught up in the 65 million years of it all, the cycle of birth and rebirth, maybe Billie and Spike simply just slipping away to be reborn, the whimper of the dying earth was all part of Winterson’s intention. 

[witchstone]

(What was the jaytim au fic? I've read a couple magic realism fics like that before and I would always love to read another one.)

It’s The Witch Ladder series by heartslogos! I thoroughly recommend it, it’s 63k words of complete bliss — there are also quite a few other magical realism types that they’ve written, but just not part of that particular series. I’d recommend pretty much anything else they’ve written tbh, I made my way through a good deal of their works during the holidays and very rarely came up disappointed, even with the ones that I normally wouldn’t have read.

[witchstone]

I know you didn't directly rec it but you talked about the stone gods at some point here in tumblr and I started reading it like three days ago and I'm liking it so much, so thank you 👏♡

This made me so happy, I’m so glad you decided to go ahead and try it!! It really is a fantastic book, if a bit odd at times, and probably not to everyone’s taste, especially by the last of the stories — hopefully you still like it as much by the time you’ve finished x