Beautiful Wild Rose Girl by B. Magnolia

     B. Magnolia is a modern day teller of fairy tales.  His fairy tale Beautiful Wild Rose Girl is a strange and thought-provoking story about a young girl who lives alone in a swamp.  All day long she hears the frogs croak.  This is what she hears them croaking: 

      TroOonk! TroOonk!  TroOonk!

       What a stupid Ugly girl!

    This young girl hears them all night and she believes them. 

   To make a living the girl picks roses from a field of wild roses.  These roses are so wild that no one can pick them because of their terrible thorns. Nevertheless, out of pity for the lonely girl, they let her pick  and sell them to the village people.

     The village people believe that she must be someone very special indeed if she can pick roses from such a dangerous field.  The men of the village consider her very beautiful and come up to her, calling her Beautiful Wild Rose Girl and ask her to marry them.

   She does not listen to them because she thinks that they must be mistaken.  She believes what the frogs say about her.  The men assume that she will not marry her because she is so beautiful and only the roses must be good enough for her.

      There’s a definite moral as well as an acute observation of human psychology in the story. 

  It doesn’t matter how others perceive us but how we perceive ourselves.  The girl allowed the frogs to determine the picture of herself to the point where she can’t listen to anyone else.  Her rejection of others results in them misperceiving who she really is.  They conclude that she thinks she’s better than everyone else instead of understanding that when people reject others it’s because they have first rejected themselves.

   Another interesting aspect of the book is its construction.   The illustrations are pen and ink by Jamila Kepba, a local artist in San Francisco.  There are three versions of the book.  One is paperback but the other two are made out of handmade paper in the style of Japanese art.  The publishers have committed to bring back the art of the handmade book that is affordable.  Visit Maganolia's web site for more information.

I received a free copy of this book by the author.

     

On Kindle for .99

 For more information:
www.mysticworldpress.com

  

    

   

   

Book Review for J.R.R. Tolkien by Mark Horne

J.R.R. Tolkien by Mark Horne is the second delightful book I've read in the Christian Encounters series published by Thomas Nelson Publishers.  Horne gives a highly readable and interesting account of one of the most important authors of the twentieth century: J.R.R. Tolkien.

Combining a chronology of the events of Tolkien's life with his writing endeavors plus his relationships with friends, Horne weaves a colorful tapestry of an author whose books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have impacted many readers, not only fantasy readers but those of us who love folk lore and fairy tales.

Horne describes Tolkien's impeccable attention to detail; how he not only wrote these epic fantasy sagas but also spent years writing chronologies, family trees and whole generations of sagas to give a legend to each of the characters in his Rings books.

Tolkien was fascinated with Norse and Icelandic mythology and his own world of Rings, Elves and Hobbits were inspired by these ancient sagas. While at school and later as professor of literary languages at Oxford, he formed literary groups such as the Kolbitars (coal biters) and later, the Inklings (whose membership also included C.S. Lewis) where the members learned Old Norse and other medieval Germanic languages and read folk lore and mythologies from Norway and Iceland out loud to each other in the original languages.

His relationship with his wife is an interesting and romantic one. They fell in love as teenagers and were devoted to each other for their entire lives, which were long. His own upbringing was hard in that his parents died while he was still a child. His conversion to Catholicism is largely due to his extended family rejecting him and being raised and cared for by a Catholic priest.

Horne includes an interesting caveat by listing the high percentage of famous creative people in the area of fine arts who lost one or more parents due to death or abandonment while they were still young.

Another interesting aspect is Tolkien's relationship with C.S. Lewis. Lewis was an atheist when they first met and Horne relates details of their friendship that I was not aware of that was instrumental in leading Lewis to Christianity as well as additional information that reveals how human their friendship was.

Like other friendships there were conflicts. For instance Tolkien seemed to get promoted in the University at each opportunity that arose while C.S. Lewis was repeatedly passed over for professorships (which finally led him to taking an appointment at Cambridge).  On the other hand, Lewis wrote far more rapidly and his works were received and published with greater enthusiasm and alacrity than Tolkien's originally were.

Another interesting note is that while Lewis was a devoted and enthusiastic supporter of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy and did what he could to promote the books, Tolkien did not care for Lewis' use of Greek mythological characters in his Narnia Chronicles.

These conflicts led to a gradual falling apart of their friendship that Tolkien later came to regret at Lewis' untimely death.

Tolkien ended his years devoted to caring for his wife, so much so that he never finished his book of chronological backgrounds and sagas of his Ring characters. This book, The Simarillian was later edited and put into book form by his son, Christopher.

Tolkien finally succumbed to a bleeding ulcer a couple of years after his wife's death. On their tombstones, according to his instructions, the names “Beren” (on his) and “Luthien” (on hers) are engraved.

In short, I highly recommend this book (and all the biographies in this book series).

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson book publishers in exchange for my honest review.   

If you buy these books please do so through the links provided so I may receive a percentage.  Thanks!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

What book must I read before I die?  Anything by Tolstoy or Dostoevsky!




In celebration of St. Patrick's day I am going to review one of my favorite genres of literature (as if I needed an excuse): Celtic folklore.


Finn McCoul:  The Legendary Irish Folk Hero by Brian Gleeson; illustrated by Peter de Seve

First is Finn McCoul. There are many varying stories about this legendary giant who supposedly helped make the Causeway between Ireland and Scotland but my favorite is a children's picture book that depicts Finn as loveable if a bit bumbling but, thanks to a clever wife, makes out all right in the end. This story, retold by Brian Gleeson and illustrated by Peter de Seve, is my favorite version. The illustrations are so dramatic and humorous. In this particular retelling, we have the origins of Finn- rejected by his father but saved by his grandmother who raises him in secret. He grows up to be a famous giant hero but he has one fear: an even bigger giant CuCullen. CuCullen has whipped every other giant except Finn. The reason for this being that Finn has the power to foresee the future when he chews on his thumb. This has enabled him to know when CuCullen was coming and escape.

Finally, Finn realizes there has to be a show down. He rushes home and laments his dilemma to his wife, the beautiful Oonagh. Oonagh calms Finn and tells him to leave everything to her. The rest of the story is how Oonagh, with Finn's cooperation, out wit the dreaded CuCullen in such a way that they never have to fear him again. I've read this story countless times to my music students and we've even put the story to music by inserting a simple poem refrain (created by the kids) to be sung at various intervals throughout the narration of the story.














The following books are a part of a huge collection of Celtic fairy tales and lore that I've accumulated over the years. Most of my books are out of print so I've only selected a few that might still be attainable.



Irish Fairy Tales and Legends by Una Leavy and Susan Field

I bought this book mainly for the beautiful illustrations that are rich in color and detail. A lot of gold, blue and red is used inspired, perhaps, by Medieval paintings. This book is a collection of ten stories including How Cuchulainn got His Name; The Magic Shoes; the Children of Lir, and The Giant's Causeway. Leavy gives background descriptions of each story in the back of the book and also a pronunciation guide since, frankly, none of the names sound like they are spelled.















Irish Fairy Tales by Jeremiah Curtin

This is a non illustrated collection that includes stories more about the supernatural and their dealings with ordinary folk rather than about legendary people. Stories include: John Connors and the Fairies; The Cattle Jobber of Awnascawil; The Midwife of Listowel; Daniel Crowley and the Ghosts, and Tom Connors and the Dead Girl -to name a few.















The Story of the Irish Race by Seumas MacManus

Seumas MacManus originally wrote this book, with the help of several Irish scholars in 1921. The book I have is a revised edition. MacManus gives a chronology of all the peoples who came to Ireland, conquered only to became absorbed by succeeding conquerors until we arrive at the Irish race as we know it today. I found this book particularly interesting for the descriptions of the different tribes and nations such as the Firbolg, Tuatha De Danaan, Milesians, Picts, of course, the Gallic tribes and later even the Danes who all contributed their culture and genes to the people of Eire.

This book also includes many famous legends and fairy tales as well as invasions of Britain ,stories about the Saints, Education and Irish Missionaries who went abroad. MacManus delves into customs and social mores of ancient Ireland and describes this history of Ireland from ancient times up to the 20th century. The book is written in a way that is fluid and interesting as if he were retelling a fairy tale even when he's recounting history.
















Finally, I must leave you with a poem by one of my favorite Irish poets, William Butler Yeats.

Born in Dublin in 1865, Yeats grew up in the turbulent times of Irish resistance to English rule. As an adult he became actively involved in the struggle for Irish independence. His real contribution to Ireland, however, was his poetry which won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1923. He is Ireland's greatest poet and many believe that no other modern English or American poet can match his vision and versatility. (From the Introduction of William Butler Yeats: Selected Poems)



The following is one of his earlier poems:



The Fiddler of Dooney



When I play on my fiddle in Dooney

Folk dance like a wave of the sea,

My cousin is priest in Kilvarnet,

My brother in Moharabuiee.



I passed my brother and cousin:

They read in their books of prayer;

I read in my book of song

I bought at the Sligo fair.



When we come at the end of time,

To Peter sitting in state,

He will smile on the three old spirits,

But call me first through the gate;



For the good are always the merry,

Save by an evil chance,

And the merry love the fiddle

And the merry love to dance:



And when the folk there spy me,

They will all come up to me,

With “Here is the fiddler of Dooney!”

And dance like a wave of the sea.