WRP 10: Australia

World Reading Project, Book #10

Australia

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, by Andrew Barton "Banjo"  Paterson, 1895

Clay read these poems and suggested this book to me for good reason; I mean, look at that cover. It's in the public domain, so you can read it for free on Gutenberg.org! This is the first book of poetry I've picked for my project. Banjo Paterson's most famous work is the bush ballad "Waltzing Matilda". He wrote lots of poetry about the outback, sheep shearing, cattle drovers, and lots and lots of horses. I enjoyed this book because there were so many poems about good trustworthy horse friends, and a love of the land. It's clear that Banjo really had an affection for horses. Here's a snippet of the title poem, describing the game horse who saves the day and runs down the escaped colt of a famous racehorse:

And one was there, a stripling on a small and weedy beast,

He was something like a racehorse undersized,

With a touch of Timor pony — three parts thoroughbred at least —

And such as are by mountain horsemen prized.

There was courage in his quick impatient tread;

He was hard and tough and wiry — just the sort that won't say die —

And the proud and lofty carriage of his head.

And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye,

Halloweeeeen outgoing!

Mummy monster mail art swap:

Joined a October/Halloween washi tape swap. These are the ones I'm sending:

 Zombie mail art swap, back and front:

Halloween mail galore!

Outgoing Halloween mail:

Made from a book jacket given away by a library:

I wrote a quote from Macbeth that's hard to read in the photo: "Eye of newt and toe of frog... wool of bat and tongue of dog... for a charm of powerful trouble, like a hell-broth boil and bubble!"

A homemade card, a piece from a medical dictionary, and a printed out movie poster. 

For a werewolf swap- I was happy with the werewolf and moon I drew and matched it with another old movie poster.

Dancing monsters go into the post box!

I think this is the creepiest Halloween mail I've made yet this year!

WRP 9: Sweden

World Reading Project, Book #9

Sweden

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson, 2005

This was the first of the books I've chosen because they made a big splash in the US. I think in the future I will avoid this strategy as they have not been my favorites. Honestly I was surprised that this became such a crazy seller because the first half (?!) of the story is really boring. Way too much financial crap at the beginning. Also, what's up with the stupid descriptions of exactly what kind of computers everybody has? It feels very dated, but I bet I would have hated that even if I'd read it when it first came out. Another thing that feels dated are the repeated description of Lisbeth's clothes and tattoos; it seems very "ooh, look how weird she is" in a stupid old man sort of way. But once the story got rolling it was very enthralling and hard to put down. The sexual assault and violence was sickening. That's about all I have to say.

Incoming Mail

Incoming mail! I believe these are all the letters I haven't responded to yet.
Every one is a delight to receive in my mailbox!

WRP 8: Croatia

World Reading Project, Book #8

Croatia

Adios, Cowboy, by Olja Savičević, 2016

This book was not exactly my cup of tea because of the style. The author is also a poet and the writing has the greater need for interpretation that I associate with poetry. The first part of the book is told from the perspective of Dada, the main character, and it's a bit all over the place. I couldn't tell if certain sections were in the present or if they were flashbacks. And the dialogue was not always clear. But it was engaging enough to continue. The content of this book was also rather dark.

Dada has come home to Split to help take care of her mom and also to investigate her brother's suicide. He had gotten involved with some unsavory characters and she's sort of trying to figure out if he had become violent/bad like them. The title, Adios Cowboy, comes from the fact that a lot of westerns were shot in Croatia. Dada's brother adored westerns and at the end of the book there's a surreal scene on the set of a new movie being filmed. There's also an Iroquois family that lives in town, I'm assuming who immigrated there to work in the movies. Before I understood that it was rather confusing. Dada talks about playing "cowboys and indians" as a child and it was hard to tell if the Iroquois family was actually Iroquois or if it was part of the make believe. The reviews on the back of the book said that this was a funny book, and I don't really agree. But it was interesting.

I guess I said the writing wasn't really my cup of tea, but I did love these two quotes: 

"There’s a storm out at sea and perhaps all the houses and trees in the town will be destroyed, perhaps a real catastrophe will occur, something important and elemental, that will spin me round like a forceful slap, but not even that would shake me out of my inability to turn something round in myself, to make a quite small movement, like breathing, without collapsing."

"She listens to the underground shifting beneath the surface of the soil- down there nothing has changed. Under the earth there is abundant life and death: tubers and bulbs turn into humus and a mole scratches its crisp crust, ants grind grains of red soil into friable granules, and in the deeper layers fat white worms munch the hearts of the dead, an underground stream bursts its way through the clay; in the dense saturated darkness silver and gold veins explode, minerals crackle, mandrake roots scream, while dead occupiers rearrange their bones. Everything that falls onto the earth becomes nourishment, which someone on the underside of the pavement reheats, melts, and sucks up through little straws. If you don’t believe this, ask yourself where all those fruits and large or small animal corpses, which no one collects or buries, disappear. And if you still don’t believe it- leave a dead dog in a field and in sixty days you will find only a dry tail. That’s why Maria listens and never lies on the earth for long."

Outgoing Mail

Some more outgoing mail:

Collage postcard for swapbot

mail art envelope with flat surprise for swap bot

Handmade postcard for swapbot swap

So excited for this whole series of movie monsters!!! The first swap is for Bride of Frankenstein mailart! I think the Bride I drew looks very Marie Antoinette-ish.