It’s time for another one of these posts. Mosty, Catherynne M. Valente is responsible for this because I have been looking for a copy of the book she recommended and simply couldn’t find one. My way through the labyrinth that is the internetwebs has not only led me to success but come across two other titles that caught my interest.
SUSAN COOPER – SEAWARD (August 2013)
Now this book has been published in 1983 so you may wonder what the hell is wrong with me for listing it here. But, as far as my research has shown, there is no ebook version of it yet and the paper versions are very hard to get and mostly way above my price range. But my friend Goodreads informed me that not only will it be published again (with a cover that is much less 80ies), but there will also be an ebook version. Hurrah! And because Cat Valente squeed (very successfully) about this little novel on the SF Squeecast, I now cannot wait to get my hands on it.
His name is West. Her name is Cally. They speak different languages and come from different countries thousands of miles apart, but they do not know that. What they do know are the tragedies that took their parents, then wrenched the two of them out of reality, into a strange and perilous world through which they must travel together, knowing only that they must reach the sea. Together West and Cally embark upon a strange and sometimes terrifying quest, learning to survive and to love and, at last, the real secret of their journey.
S. M. WHEELER – SEA CHANGE (June 2013)
I know neither the author nor have I heard anything about the book but the cover made me look at the blurb and the blurb had some buzz words that made me go “Oooh, I want this!”
The unhappy child of two powerful parents who despise each other, young Lilly turns to the ocean to find solace, which she finds in the form of the eloquent and intelligent sea monster Octavius, a kraken. In Octavius’ many arms, Lilly learns of friendship, loyalty, and family. When Octavius, forbidden by Lilly to harm humans, is captured by seafaring traders and sold to a circus, Lilly becomes his only hope for salvation. Desperate to find him, she strikes a bargain with a witch that carries a shocking price.
TED NAIFEH, ADRIANNE AMBROSE, CORY GODBEY – JIM HENSON’S LABYRINTH (April 2013)
Here’s a confession. I am a huge Labyrinth fangirl. I have watched this movie over and over, the last time only a month ago, and it is still as magical, and immersive as it was the first time. When i was little, I wanted to be Sarah. I would be friends with Hoggle and Ludo, I would run from the cleaners, be entranced by Jareth (and his supertight tights) and wear that awesome dress to the masque. You can imagine my excitement when I found out about this:
Archaia and The Jim Henson Company are proud to present an original prequel to Jim Henson’s classic fantasy film. Labyrinth is one of Jim Henson’s most beloved works, with a built-in audience of millions of fans worldwide. Years before Sarah entered the labyrinth, a young boy named Jareth faced his own incredible journey in a desperate attempt to rescue his true love from the clutches of the wicked and beautiful Goblin Queen. This graphic novel is produced under the complete supervision of Lisa Henson, the daughter of the late Jim Henson and CEO of the Jim Henson Company.
That’s it for today. The Susan Cooper and the Labyrinth sequel are extremely high on my wishlist, with Sea Change being a random pick. I may change my mind on buying the latter (the library is always an option and I’m in no hurry) but I’ll be damned if the other two aren’t on my shelf (or Kobo) on the day of publication.
You are definitely a kindred spirit, Labyrinth is one of my favorite films and has the distinction of being the movie I’ve watched the most times. I think I have most of it memorized by now but that doesn’t keep it from being special each time I watch it. Henson had a habit of capturing magic, but he did that in spades with Labyrinth.
You’d think the movie would be dated by now, what with the puppets and all. But I believe it hasn’t lost any of its magic. I tried to get my boyfriend to do the “You remind me of the babe” dialogue but all I got was blank stares. Thanks to the internet, I don’t feel like quite such a weirdo now.
A couple of years ago I tracked down a copy of the novelization and read it on my vacation. I had wanted to read it for years to see if it revealed anything more about the story and now I cannot recall if it did or not.
Too many stories read since then.
I love the Muppets. I think it is nothing short of magic how the puppeteers can make them come alive. I believe they imbue them with such life that people forget they are puppets. I’ve heard interviewers say things along those lines when they have interviewed Kermit, et al in the past, that they soon forget there is a puppeteer there and they start interacting directly with the puppet. I think Farscape is successful too in merging puppets and live action into a story that makes you soon forget there are puppets at all.
One of the many reasons I like Labyrinth is that I think there are multiple layers of story going on. The one I gravitate towards the strongest is that idea of growing up and leaving childish things behind. I think there is an exquisite melancholy attached to that idea of growing up and moving on from the things that meant so much to one in childhood. Later in our adult lives we can re-embrace those things but that doesn’t seem like a normal thing to do during the teenage years and I think the film captures that brilliantly.
There is also so much there about story. More than once I’ve paused the video, and later DVD, (and later blu ray) to gaze at all the items in her room, the visual cues from which the imaginative story is taken. I love seeing these quickly passed over images of the things that Sarah would draw inspiration from in this adventure she goes on.
I also like that it is one of those stories where the viewer is allowed to believe that she just dreamed it all or that it all was real. I’m an ‘it all was real’ type of person just because I have a tendency to want to embrace the magic, if that makes sense.
Sorry for the long comment. Labyrinth and Mirrormask are two films that I could talk about (and have) for a long, long time.
Don’t be sorry. You just put into words everything I feel about Labyrinth. I did the same thing to my video cassette (creating those lines that come up when you rewind and pause the tape too many times).
And you’re right. As a kid, I may have loved it for the adventure story it tells. Then I discovered the puppets and books in Sarah’s room that turn out to be reality in the Labyrinth. And I love the growing-up theme. Sarah’s face when she wears that beautiful ball gown and dances with Jareth in a very grown-up fashion is still my favorite scene.
Mirrormask is also a great movie although I found the visuals a bit too weird at times.
It is very easy to get carried away about the things I am passionate about, as I’m sure you can relate to from personal experience.
I have been a big fan of Dave McKean’s art for a long time so I really enjoyed the visuals, but I was pretty much expecting them to be that way going in. They don’t have the same tactile look as Labyrinth or as stop-motion animation does and I do think that takes away from the experience in that one aspect. I wrote a longing gushing post about the film here:
http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/mirrormask-2
You are under no obligation to read it, just thought I’d save you from another long comment by not repeating all of that over here.
Back to Labyrinth, the music is a huge part of the draw for me too. I wasn’t a fan of David Bowie before the movie…more accurately I was very aware of who David Bowie was but hadn’t listened to any of his music. Because of Labyrinth I appreciated him so much more and have grown to really like his stuff and respect his place in the history of music. The soundtrack is one I can listen to over and over again, the music fits the movie so well.