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The Dream Weavers
The Dream Weavers
Barbara Erskine | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Dream Weavers is an historical fiction novel, with one foot in Saxon Mercia and the other in modern day Hereford. There’s a touch of the supernatural as well - all the better to see the past with. And I loved reading it.
Simon is writing a book of Anglo-Saxon history, and starts to hear a woman calling a name outside his rented cottage. When he goes out to look, no one is there.
The cottage owner brings in her local spiritual advisor, Bea, who hopes to put the ghost outside to rest. This is only the beginning.
The timelines alternate between King Offa’s daughter, Eadburh, and Bea’s life in Hereford with her husband who is a priest at the cathedral.
I honestly didn’t think I’d enjoy this - but I really did! It uses religion without being overly religious, and the same goes for the more Pagan elements. It was a a really interesting, highly readable book. I haven’t read much about the history around King Offa’s time, so I enjoyed the opportunity to do that. It was a book that was difficult to put down - except that was done for me, as I read a stave a day on The Pigeonhole! It’s a big book, but it really didn’t feel that way. It sent me off on little internet searches as well - namely Anchorites, and what types of dogs Anglo-Saxons kept as pets (and whether they did or not!). I like a book that interests me enough to read around it!
This is definitely one for the historical fiction fans, especially those that like a bit of the magical element as well. I loved reading it!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole, and to HarperCollins for giving me access via NetGalley for an honest review.
  
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Brian Eno recommended Farid El Atrache by Farid El Atrache in Music (curated)

 
Farid El Atrache by Farid El Atrache
Farid El Atrache by Farid El Atrache
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I think the idea is happening upon something without any clue as to what context it comes from. That has been the important thing to me. What do they think about this? Is this pop music to them? Is it religious? One very good example for me was I was in Ibiza listening to North African radio stations and this Arabic song came on and I thought: ""Fuck, I've never heard anything like that."" I had a cassette recorder in this little ghetto blaster so I managed to record a little bit of it, but I couldn't figure out what the name of the artist was or anything, so again I just used to walk into record shops where they sold Arabic records and I would sing this song, but I never found it like that. Then I was in Egypt about 12 years later and I was in a market, and there was a guy selling loads of cassettes so I sang this song to him, and in the meantime I'd changed all of the lyrics, which were in Arabic, into English. In fact, the lyrics I've since found out are ""hebeena, hebeena"", but I was singing it as ""heaviness, heaviness"". So I sung this whole song in English to him with this Arabic melody and he was cracking up. He called all his mates over from the other local stalls and was getting me to do it again. So I sang it again and then asked him, ""What is this song?"" and he said that it was Farid El Atrache. He picked out this cassette and that was the song, I'd finally found it. So to have that experience is almost impossible now."

Source
  
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
1928 | Biography, Drama, History
6
8.4 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
This was another first for me. Previous to watching this silent “masterpiece” Dreyer was a name I had only read in film history essays and when anyone writing for Sight and Sound wants to look clever. As a stepping stone to what could be achieved it is of course a valuable historic document. As a film to be enjoyed almost 100 years later, it is all but unwatchable at 110 minutes. There is perhaps a half hour’s worth of story and images, merely extended and repeated to an excruciating degree. It’s not that it is silent, or has very strange religious overtones that don’t resonate now in the same way they once might – because it is very beautiful and remarkable in small sections – it is that a monotony of accusation, followed by denial, followed by crying, followed by spiritual revelation is all there is to it. And it goes on and on and on until you really could not care less.

The story of Joan of Arc is extraordinary, but this is not the story of Joan of Arc, it is her passion only, as in her trial and execution. The close ups of Maria Falconetti as the eponymous saint are all you can really take away from it in the end. Her odd beauty and commitment to the role do leave a lasting impression, but the two dimensional fire and brimstone evil of her accusers is just too much, even comic, to behold and believe in 2021. For study purposes, seeing where certain techniques and shot ideas had their Genesis, for example, it is of great interest. As a film to watch and enjoy it has sadly outlived its worth. When you consider Fritz Lang’s M was only 3 years later, it all comes into context.