Poor Things

Book cover of Poor Things which shows a father figure with two children, on a background image of ocean and cogs.

This time of year sees the start of the big annual film awards ceremonies, such as the British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, and of course later on the Oscars.

One of this year’s most hotly tipped and also controversial films is Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos, which is based on the novel of the same name by Scottish author Alasdair Gray. The narrative is controversial to some because one of the threads of the book follows the young main protagonist, Bella’s, sexual awakening. Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer, to give it its full title, won both the Whitbread Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1992. The book is a pastiche of a Victorian melodrama, and weaves in elements of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus , Lewis Carroll, Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov and Arthur Conan Doyle. However, Gray’s totally unique voice ensures that the book is very much his own creation, much more than a combination of its inspirations. It is surreal, has strong gothic horror elements, is often bizarrely funny, and is also disturbing and uncomfortable in places.

Alasdair Gray was a widely celebrated artist, before Poor Things he wrote his landmark literary masterwork Lanark in 1981. Lanark is a complex, multi-layered, book in four chapters that mixes fantasy, science fiction and reality; looking simultaneously at Scotland’s past and future. It is often regarded as the most influential Scottish novel of the 20th century. Alasdair Gray wrote many other novels and essays before his death in 2019; his books have been compared to writers like Italo Calvino, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, and George Orwell. On his death, the Guardian said he was “the father figure of the renaissance in Scottish literature and art.” His works are often heavily illustrated, with distinctive graphic designs from Alasdair himself, and the designs from Poor Things (the novel) have clearly influenced the visual design of the Yorgos Lanthimos film. Another unusual aspect of his literary output is that his books often include a mixture of fonts and typefaces, created by Alasdair himself!

Below is a small selection of Alasdair Gray’s novels and short stories, all available at Wellington City Libraries.

Poor things : episodes from the early life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish public health officer / Gray, Alasdair
“Godwin Baxter’s scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realised when he finds the drowned body of the beautiful Bella, who he brings back to life in a Frankenstein-esque feat. But his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless’s jealous love for his creation . . .But what does Bella think? This story of true love and scientific daring whirls the reader from the private operating-theatres of late-Victorian Glasgow through aristocratic casinos, low-life Alexandria and a Parisian bordello, reaching an interrupted climax in a Scottish church.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

Lanark : a life in four books / Gray, Alasdair
“40th anniversary commemorative hardback edition of the modern classic, introduced by William Boyd” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

 

Ten tales tall & true : social realism, sexual comedy, science fiction, and satire / Gray, Alasdair
“An original and brilliantly eccentric collection of stories from the author of Lanark and Poor Things ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

Unlikely stories, mostly / Gray, Alasdair
“The first short story collection from the irreplaceable Alasdair Gray, sublimely decorated throughout” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

 

A history maker / Gray, Alasdair
“”Set in Scotland’s Ettrick Forest of the twenty-third century, A History Maker tells a rollicking tale of border warfare, military and erotic. Superbly muscled Wat Dryhope, son of the Ettrick chief, is unhappy about his clan’s violent and permissive lifestyle. Only when challenged by the fearfully seductive Delilah Puddock and her plot to restore the competitive exploitation of human resources does he learn to embrace the women and traditional values he truly loves.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The ends of our tethers : 13 sorry stories / Gray, Alasdair
“The Ends of Our Tethers is vintage Gray – experimental, mischievous, wide-ranging but also subtly connected. And as always the work is hall-marked with his engaging prose style, dry wit and fecund imagination.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Cormac McCarthy, a leading literary figure, has passed

The American author Cormac McCarthy passed recently. He was widely recognised as one of the finest writers of his generation. He wrote twelve novels, five screenplays, two plays, and short stories. His body of work was widely acclaimed both in his home country and internationally, with his 2006 apocalyptical novel The Road “simultaneously harrowing, bleak, powerful and humane” winning both the Pulitzer Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. One reviewer even described it as the best book on parenting ever written! Just before his death and sixteen years after his previous novel, he released two novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris, almost back-to-back. Both are superb examples of his writing. Many of his works were adapted for the screen such as No Country for Old Men which won four Oscars. All the Pretty Horses, Child of God and The Road were also made into notable movies.

It is very difficult to pigeonhole his whole body of work, but he did write books that can in places be described as southern gothic, post-modern westerns, and sometimes with overt apocalyptical overtones. His books are superbly written using sparse attribution and punctuation and often employ graphic descriptions of violence.

He was also a member of American Philosophical Society and even wrote a paper on the nature of human unconscious and the origin of language. He kept his political opinions private, and his books can be interpreted in many ways. One hint as to his political leanings was his secret plan to reintroduce wolves into southern Arizona. He was a deeply private writer who rarely gave interviews or attended public events.

No country for old men / McCarthy, Cormac
“A harrowing novel set in the American West, now an Academy Award winning film starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

 

 

All the pretty horses / McCarthy, Cormac
“John Grady Cole is the last bewildered survivor of long generations of Texas ranchers. Finding himself cut off from the only life he has ever wanted, he sets out for Mexico with his friend Lacey Rawlins. Befriending a third boy on the way, they find a country beyond their imagining: barren and beautiful, rugged yet cruelly civilized; a place where dreams are paid for in blood. “All the Pretty Horses” is an acknowledged masterpiece and a grand love story: a novel about childhood passing, along with innocence and a vanished American age. Steeped in the wisdom that comes only from loss, it is a magnificent parable of responsibility, revenge and survival.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Child of God / McCarthy, Cormac
“‘McCarthy is a master stylist, perhaps without equal in American letters’ Village Voice” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

 

The road / McCarthy, Cormac
“Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, The Road tells the story of a father and son as they journey across a post-apocalyptic landscape that has destroyed most of civilization.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

 

The passenger / McCarthy, Cormac
“Pass Christian, Mississippi, 1980: It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips up the jacket of his wet suit and plunges from a Coast Guard tender into darkness. His dive light illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight bag, the plane’s black box, and the tenth passenger. But how? A collateral witness to machinations that can only bring him harm, Western is shadowed in body and spirit–by men with badges; by the ghost of his father, an inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima; and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

Stella Maris / McCarthy, Cormac
“Black River Falls, Wisconsin, 1972: Alicia Western, twenty years old, with forty thousand dollars in a plastic bag, admits herself to the hospital. A doctoral candidate in mathematics at the University of Chicago, Alicia has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and she does not want to talk about her brother, Bobby. Instead, she contemplates the nature of madness, the human insistence on one common experience of the world; she recalls a childhood where, by the age of seven, her own grandmother feared for her; she surveys the intersection of physics and philosophy; and she introduces her cohorts, her chimeras, the hallucinations that only she can see.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available as an eBook.

Blood meridian, or, The evening redness in the West / McCarthy, Cormac
“Based on incidents that took place in the southwestern United States and Mexico around 1850, this novel chronicles the crimes of a band of desperados, with a particular focus on one, “the kid,” a boy of fourteen.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

Suttree / McCarthy, Cormac
“‘Suttree contains a humour that is Faulknerian in its gentle wryness, and a freakish imaginative flair reminiscent of Flannery O’Connor’ Times Literary Supplement” (Adapted from Catalogue)

“Whenever someone creates something with all of their heart, then that creation is given a soul:” our selection of Studio Ghibli films.

Studio Ghibli Flowers GIF
“Whenever someone creates something with all of their heart, then that creation is given a soul.”

The Baron, ‘The Cat Returns’ Studio Ghibli (2002).

Occasionally a film will lift itself from being a cinematic experience to being a work of art.
Studio Ghibli however has established itself as a studio that creates exquisite cinematic artworks time after time, whilst also making sure that the films are hugely enjoyable, entertaining and, when required, profound.

Founded in 1985 Studio Ghibli is widely recognised as one of the finest animation studios on the planet. Nominated for Academy awards for best animated feature on no less than five occasions and winner in 2001 for Spirited Away. The studio’s stylistic influences range from romantic Victorian steam punk, Ukiyo-e woodblock printing to traditional Japanese brush work and fantasy art. Likewise the subjects and themes range from adaptations of literary works, traditional mythology to studio penned original works and historical inspired works.

After their 1986 film Valley of the Wind was cut to ribbons in the U.S., Studio Ghibli refused to release their works in the West. And it was only after a no-edit distribution deal with Disney that this changed. Indeed, when one studio executive suggested edits the studio reportedly sent them a Samurai sword with a note that only said ‘no cuts’.

We have all the beautiful, lyrical, exciting, funny, and mysterious Studio Ghibli films in our collections.
Below is just a small selection.

Howl’s moving castle
“Sophie, an average teenage girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by handsome but mysterious wizard named Howl. After this chance meeting she is turned into a 90-year old woman by the vain and conniving Witch of the Waste. Embarking on an incredible adventure to lift the curse, she finds refuge in Howl’s magical moving castle where she becomes acquainted with Markl, Howl’s apprentice, and a hot-headed fire demon named Calcifer. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

My neighbor Totoro
“Deep inside a tree trunk, two children discover a fascinating new world inhabited by Totoros, amazing, charming creatures who become their friends.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

Ponyo
“A young boy named Sosuke rescues a goldfish named Ponyo, and they embark on a fantastic journey of friendship before Ponyo’s father forces her to return to the sea. Ponyo’s desire to be human upsets the balance of nature and only Ponyo’s mother, a beautiful sea goddess, can restore nature’s balance and make Ponyo’s dreams come true.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Spirited away
“Spirited away is a wondrous fantasy about a young girl named Chihiro who discovers a secret world of strange spirits, creatures and sorcery. When her parents are mysteriously transformed, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free herself and return her family to the outside world.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Arrietty
“In a secret world hidden beneath the floorboards, little people called Borrowers live quietly among us. But when tenacious and tiny Arrietty is discovered by Shawn, a human boy, their secret and forbidden friendship blossoms into an extraordinary adventure.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

Porco Rosso
“Slouching towards middle age, Porco Rosso makes his living by flying about in his red bi-plane and fighting sky bandits who prey on cruise ships sailing the Adriatic. When he’s not engaging in dog fights, this pilot lives on a deserted island retreat. Porco was once a strappling young man, but after his entire squardron was wiped out, he is mysteriously transformed into a pig. Then he is defeated in a dogfight against a dashing American rival, who has been hired by the dastardly bandits. With his plane damaged, he finds a repair hanger near Milan where a local woman fixes his plane.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Grave of the fireflies
“Orphaned Seita and his four-year-old sister struggle to survive in the Japanese countryside after a World War II bombing; the helplessness and indifference of their countrymen is more painful than the enemy raids.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

 

The collected works of Hayao Miyazaki.
“Featuring the collected works of legendary director Hayao Miyazaki. One of the founding members of Studio Ghibli, this limited edition box set collect’s all of Miyazaki’s full length feature films. Includes Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), Porco Rosso (1992), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008) and The Wind Rises (2013). ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Studio Ghibli : the films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata / Odell, Colin
“The animations of Japan’s Studio Ghibli are amongst the highest regarded in the movie industry. This book examines all their major works and explores the cultural and thematic threads that bind these films together.” (Catalogue)