Fill Up Your Eyes: Books

Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

30 May 2012

Dylan Thomas

If you like words and the sounds of words and the unusual combinations of words then Dylan Thomas fits the bill. He did not Go Gentle into That Good Night but raged through his life leaving a body of work that includes poems, screenplays, short stories and longer poems for radio - he called these 'plays for voices' such as Under Milk Wood.

The Outing is my favourite short story. I love the descriptions of the characters, the humour and the combination of sounds which mean that if you read it out loud you just can't help but use a Welsh accent.

He had a complicated love life and smoked and drank excessively. He lived in England, in London for a time, and spent time in America, but he is best known for living at The Boathouse in Laugharne, which is now preserved as a museum.

The links here take you to, firstly, Philip Madoc reading The Outing in two parts.

Richard Burton Reading from the start of Under Milk Wood.

And finally Thomas himself reading A Child's Christmas in Wales.

28 May 2012

Maps

Along with the other wonderful manuscripts in the British Library, the maps are fabulous. With an interest in geography I have always loved pouring over maps and want to have a huge map table in my own library which would have a huge books of maps open on a different page every day.

At a recent exhibition at The British Library we discovered the maps used by Crusaders and those used by pilgrims to show them how to get to a particular place - Jerusalem of Rome for example, which just show the highlights of the route. A brilliant idea and one which it would be marvellous to replicate on our trip round the world.

But all maps are fascinating with their amazing place names. They certainly give you a way of seeing the world in different representations.

Illuminated Manuscripts

If I won the lottery or if someone really wanted to buy me the best present ever, it would be an illuminated manuscript. I love how much care and attention has gone into making every page a work of art. You can just stare at each picture and see more and more. I am in awe of how these books have been produced whether they are religious documents, Books of Hours, Guides for kings and princes, or histories of the world.

And the best place to see them is The British Library in London. Their website lets you view books and pages as well as giving the background and history of each of the books. Look it up here.