Katya Reimann, Writer & Artist
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--Katya Reimann, 2022--

Katya has been telling stories, building worlds, and creating the art to go with them for most of her life.  
 
The content of these pages reflect her diverse interests over time

T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone

12/10/2019

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“I can see that you spoke in ignorance, and I bitterly regret that I should have been so petty as to take offence where none was intended.”
― T.H. White, The Sword in the Stone
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It is not uncommon, among a certain type of readers of a certain age, to proclaim this book as, if not a favorite read... a seminal influence.

It certainly was for me. I owned it as a young person. Initially, it was a stubbornly avoided book with what I considered to be... an uninspiring cover. As a consequence, I would not pick it up. But when, finally,  I did--it's really not too much to say, "delight and wonder awaited." 
​
The Sword in the Stone is, just as another enamored reader says, "an enchanted retelling of the childhood of King Arthur of England. The book's magical adventures, talking animals, and questing knights provide life lessons that foreshadow the rule of the most legendary king of all time." Yes. Enchanted--or enchanting--is definitely the word!
And yet--circa 2010, I was dismayed to find that it was one of the few books that I found impossible to share with my children.

One of my friends gave them a copy for a very early birthday. I didn't like that cover either. But I did think... they would grown into reading it. It sat and waited on the shelf.  And then, yes... my voracious readers gave it a try--and they set it down again.  Nope.
​It took me some time to understand exactly why.

​The edition that I owned as a child was not a particularly good edition. Which is to say, it was not a particularly good 
version of the text. Seymourebel, in a nice blog post, gives a more well-researched overview than I can put together in this quick jaunt of a Tuesday morning post. There are at least three variant texts, owing to squeamishness on the part of White's publishers in the UK and in the United States, and White's own changing views on warfare subsequent to his experiences of WWII.

But there was one thing that my edition did have that many don't. And that was--T.H. White's personal illustrations of the text.
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Katya's childhood edition
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No one will ever claim that White was a master draftsman.  But the drawings are less dispensable than the modern publisher must believe. Certainly there are drawings that are cute, and add to the book's tone (especially for a young reader). There are humorous sketches of King Pellinore, anthropomorphized dishes washing themselves in a bucket--as if at a public bathhouse--along with the various animals that the Wart (future King Arthur) and his tutor Merlyn encounter on their adventures. But the drawings also included political references (a brutal giant appears, adorned with a swastika and the soviet hammer and sickle), and, more importantly, in early chapters they are directly referenced in the text. Merlyn tries to teach his charge about the confusions of living with "second sight" by having the Wart draw on a piece of paper--while looking only in a mirror. There is a one way that these drawings can be laid out properly on a modern typeset page--and clearly the paperback edition of TSitS I am reading from (which follows the beloved 1938 version of the text) didn't bother to set it up that way.  I had to crop together pictures from two pages to demonstrate how badly Wart manages it.
This is a book I have reached for through decades. In the 1990s, at least, the publishers honored White's inventive play. Perhaps King Pellinore and the playful dishes were gone, but the M (which should have been a W) and this delightful page were included, in which Merlyn attempts to conjure up his own pointed wizard's hat, and ends up shrieking, in an sulky passion, "This is an anachronism! That's what it is, a beastly anachronism!"

Modern publishers evidently know better, eliminating the intertextual illustrations (and the expense of producing them).

But what remains?

A book... which has been stripped not only of its humor, but of its capacity to be comprehended.

So--what this post is saying: I fear that ​The Sword in the Stone is lost to us as readers.
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It's a small tragedy, but a real one. I imagine a few decades hence, and some future publisher thinking, "Hey, how about a classic edition of that old book The Sword in the Stone? You know the one that old Disney cartoon is based on? It's just come out of copyright, so we can put it out real cheap!" So--away they go, and pulp and print a bunch of paper--into a poor version of a text that has become increasingly unintelligible, all illustrations stripped out. "Why did Great-Auntie Katya say she loved this book so much?" some future kid will wonder.

Reader-of-the-Future--it wasn't the same book.
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Frances Carpenter, Distinguished Folklorist

11/6/2019

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​Frances Carpenter Bibliography

  • Carpenter, Frank, & Carpenter, Frances. The Food We Eat: Journey Club Travels. New York: American Book Co., 1925.
  • Carpenter, Frank, & Carpenter, Frances. The Clothes We Wear: Journey Club Travels. New York: American Book Co., 1926.
  • Carpenter, Frank, & Carpenter, Frances. The Houses We Live In: Journey Club Travels. New York: American Book Co., 1928.

  • Carpenter, Frances. Ourselves & Our City: Journey Club Travels. New York: American Book Co., 1928
  • Carpenter, Frances. The Ways We Travel: Journey Club Travels. New York: American Book Co., 1929
  • Carpenter, Frances. Tales of a Basque Grandmother, ill. Pedro Garmendia. New York: Junior Literary guild/Lippincott, 1930.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Our Little Friends of Eskimo Land: Papik & Natsek, ill. Curtiss Sprague. New York: American Book Co., 1931.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Tales of a Russian Grandmother. NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co. Inc, 1933.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Our Little Friends of the Arabian Desert: Adi & Hamda, ill. Curtiss Sprague. New York: American Book Co., 1934.
  • Carpenter, Frances, Our Little Friends of the Netherlands: Dirk & Dientje. New York: American Book Co., 1935.
  • Carpenter, Frances, Our Little Friends of Norway: Ola & Marit. New York: American Book Co., 1936.
  • Carpenter, Frances, Our Little Friends of China: Ah Hu and Ying Hwa, ill. Curtiss Sprague. New York: American Book Co., 1937.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Tales of a Chinese Grandmother, ill. Malthe Hasselriis. NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co. Inc, 1937.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Our Little Neighbors at Work & Play: Here, There, Then & Now. New York: American Book Co., 1939.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Tales of a Swiss Grandmother, ill. E. Bieler. Doubleday, Doran & Co. Inc, New York, 1940.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Our Little Friends of Switzerland: Hansli & Heidi, ill. Curtiss Sprague. New York: American Book Co., 1941.
  • Carpenter, Frances.  Our South American Neighbors. New York: American Book Co., 1942.​
  • Carpenter, Frances. The Pacific: Its Lands & Peoples. New York: American Book Co., 1944.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Our Neighbors Near & Far. New York: American Book Co., 1946.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Canada & Her Northern Neighbors, New York: American Book Co. , 1946.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Tales of a Korean Grandmother: 32 Traditional Tales from China. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co. Inc, 1947.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Children of Our World. New York: American Book Co., 1949.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Caribbean Lands: Mexico, Central America, & the West Indies. New York: American Book Co., 1950.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Wonder Tales of Horses & Heroes, ill. William D. Hayes. Garden City: New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1952.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Wonder Tales of Dogs and Cats, ill. Ezra Jack Keats. Garden City: New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1955.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Children of Our World. New York: American Book Co., 1956.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Our Homes & Our Neighbors. New York: American Book Co., 1956.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Pocahontas & Her World, ill. Langdon Hihn. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1957.
  • Carpenter, Frances, in Best in Children's Books, Volume 24. Nelson Doubleday, 1959.  
  • Carpenter, Frances. Wonder Tales of Seas & Ships, ill. Peter Spier. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1959.
  • ed. Frances Carpenter. Carp's Washington. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1960,
  • Carpenter, Frances. The Elephant’s Bathtub: Wonder Tales From The Far East., ill. Hans Guggenheim. Garden City: New York: Doubleday & Co. Inc., 1962.
  • Carpenter, Frances. African Wonder Tales, ill. Joseph Escourido. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1963.
  • Carpenter, Frances. The Mouse Palace, ill. Adrienne Adams. McGraw-Hill Book Co. 1964.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Holiday in Washington, ill. George Fulton. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1966.
  • Carpenter, Frances. The Story of East Africa. Wichita, Kan.: McCormick-Mathers Pub. Co., 1967.
  • Carpenter, Frances. The Story of Korea. Cincinnati: McCormick-Mathers Pub. Co., 1969.​
  • Carpenter, Frances. South American Wonder Tales, ill. Ralph Creasman. Chicago: Follett, 1969.
  • Carpenter, Frances. People from the Sky; Ainu Tales from Northern Japan, ill. Betty Fraser. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1972.
  • Carpenter, Frances. Spooks and Scoundrels - SRA Pilot Library IIb Book 14. 1976.​
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Snihurónka

10/19/2018

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Snihurónka is the Ukrainian Snow Maiden, companion to Did Moróz, Grandfather Frost.

Moróz has been identified with
Morozko, the pre-Christian pan-Slavic personification of the snow (an animistic spirit, god, or demon, depending on your perspective), but it is widely accepted that his companion, Snihurónka, dates back only to the 19th century, and Alexander Afanasyev's 1869 ""The Poetic Outlook of Slavs about Nature."

I have yet to resolve to my own satisfaction why this should be. Afanasyev is, effectively, the Russian equivalent of the Grimm brothers, and his folktale collection techniques, where "he never tried to give any definitive version of a folktale: so, if he gathered 7 versions of one folk type, he edited them all,"* is considered to have been intellectually sophisticated and ahead of its time. Why Snihurónka should be relegated as Afanasyev's personal invention, rather than one among many folk figures that he collected--I have not seen the scholarship that tells me this is anything other than bias against the story--the Moróz figure, in other cultures, does not have a female companion.

Very little is known definitively about Slavic mythology, but one thing that is known is that the Slavic pantheon was full of unusual gender assignments, gods who are variously represented as female or male in different times and locations, and god-pairs with male and female partners. So--why not Did Moróz and Snihurónka?

The archetypal nature of the icy grandfather, ceding way to his more delicate grand-daughter--who melts away in spring, cycling back to repeat out of the depths of each winter... it feels to me that something deeper (and older) is at work here than a late Imperial Russian fantasy.
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Marie Bashkirtseff: the journal of a young artist, 1860-1884

4/25/2017

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I'm reading the "New and Revised" edition of 1919. My understanding is that there's a good, more recent, complete e-edition out (from Fonthill Press), an edition which restores all the "rampantly expurgated and cleansed" bits that her mother took out before allowing the work's publication.

Oh yes. Given the mischief I've read already on the page, I'm definitely intrigued to dip into Fonthill's unexpurgated bits, but... I'm also curious about the text that became a bestseller in Europe in 1887 (three years after Bashkirtseff's death)--the text, evidently, that held a beloved place of pride on the shelves of many a young educated woman of a certain class in the years before and after WWI.
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Thus far, the book has lived up to my expectations. So far, Marie is 16 years old, and I have moved only a little on from her early entries as a precocious 13 year old. But what an odd privilege, to read the words of this petted young woman, as she rackets around some fine estates in Italy and France:
[May—in Nice]
Paris—At last I have found what I longed for without knowing what it was! Life, that is Paris! Paris, that is life.... Nice—I regard Nice as an exile....

[September—in Paris]
Here there is neither morning nor evening. In the morning they are sweeping; in the evening the innumerable lights irritate my nerves... While at Nice one is comfortable! It is as if one were in a nest surrounded by mountains, not too high or too bare... I love Nice. Nice is my country...
Something tells me that both Nice and Paris must have been nice... in 1873, when Marie was living there.

Marie is known best these days for her journal, which she herself predicted... and somewhat for her paintings. She did some very fine paintings--not enough of which are on the internet (as of 2017). Here's hoping that will be rectified in the next couple of years.  I very much like these portraits.
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Dersu Uzala

4/3/2012

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Cover Picture: Dersu the Trapper by V.K. Arsenieve
I've just finished reading Dersu the Trapper, by V.K. Arseniev.

It's an extraordinary book.  A 'classic,' in Russia, but... really a classic by any measure.  Akira Kurasawa was inspired by this book to make his Oscar-winning movie Dersu Uzala, (1975), George Lukas was inspired by the syntax Arseniev puts in Dersu's mouth to create his character Yoda.  The recent bestseller Tiger, (2010) by John Valliant, (also a lovely book) clearly takes its inspiration from Arseniev.

There's a wonderful page up by Chad Garcia, titled "Watching Dersu Uzala," which describes Kurasawa's relationship to the material.  Kurasawa's movie was the first complete work he produced after a suicide attempt.  I'd say--go have a read.  No need for me to crib those thoughts again here, when Chad has already written them so finely.

But... I will admit, my first reaction on reading the text... it was gratitude that I did not find the material to be "dated."  I love Dersu's story so much that I'd bought extra copies for several friends.  I knew I would love it--but what a pleasure to read those first paragraphs, those first pages, and know that my 'share'--it was going to be a good one.

The narrative is a factual account of Arseniev's three surveying trips in the coastal area north of Vladivostok--but the story is so much larger.  Friendship, the slow terrible impact of one culture upon another, the slow terrible impact of human culture upon nature...  

How can one expect this book, written by a man who was born the son of a serf?  From what source does such human sensitivity arise?

"Sometimes it happens that the mountain and forest have such a cheerful and attractive appearance that one would be glad to linger there for ever.  In others mountains seem surly and wild.  It is a strange thing that such impressions are not purely personal and subjective, but were felt by all the men in the detachment... In that spot there was an oppressive feeling in the air, something unhappy and painful, and the sensation of gloom and ill-omen was felt by us all."

This book--when I read a book like this... what I want to do is... slink away, close the door to my study, and start writing.  The charge I feel, reading the descriptions, the sentences; the feeling that courses through me, knowing that I am learning something new, yet something so connected to so much of what I have thought before.

So much about reading is that spark, that sense that one has made an acquaintance of a book at a  time and place where the connection one has with one's reading... can be so strong.

I'm so grateful to have met this book and to have been able to read it in this way.  And such a strong book--in this case I know my feelings are not mine alone.

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    These ones are maintained by long-time personal friends.

    William Reimann
    is a consummate artist.  There are so many images to enjoy on this site.  His carved wooden long-leaf red pine Rhinoceros (which he made for me when I was ~11 years old)  is a personal favorite.

    Starless River
    Is the U.K. based caving gear store run by serious hard-ass Tony Seddon. This link goes to the 'caves' section of the store's site--complete with alarming portrait photo of Tony ("After 7 days underground and 700m prussiking").

    The Oxford University 
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    Maintained by Steve Roberts, a guy who is extraordinary in so many ways, I'll just limit myself here to saying "Steve is a man who knows about motors."

    Bensozia
    John Bedell is an archaeologist, historian, and father of five living in Maryland. His blog is a fascinating grab-bag of historical, artistic, and political materials.  This entry about work and leisure gives a good example of his voice.

    Earthsign Studios
    This is Liz Manicatide (now Liz LaManche), principal at Emphasis Creative's personal art & graphics site.  I love Liz's work, panache, and aerial artistry, which leads me to-

    Flying Squirrel Consortium
    Phil Servita's site, and the place to go for custom fabricated circus equipment (either freestanding or fixed point), and aerial classes, if you happen to live in the area.

    Paul Nordberg
    Paul's site is... unique, authentic, & expressive, and pretty much exactly what I think of when I think of a website as an artform.

    Metro Bikes Trails Guide
    (St. Paul, MN)
    "Reviews and Reports on over 70 bicycle paths in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area!"
    Maintained by the tireless Seamus Flynn, and a great little site for those local to the Twin Cities area.

    Green Ivy
    I enjoy the Ukrainian/Russian artisanship on this website.

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    What's That Bug?
    The title says it all.  A useful site for both the non-bug-phobic & the consummate bug-phobe.

    Margaret & Helen
    Best Friends for Sixty Years and Counting…

    Raging Grannies
    I'm not a grandmother (or raging!), but I appreciate this site.  Especially the fact-checking part.
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