my favorite book

I was quite excited about some new titles that came into the shop this week. The world that never was by Alex Butterworth is a book I’ve been waiting on for AGES and charts the various anarchist groups that were bombing around Europe in the late eighteenth century. These agent provocateurs who dreamed of a utopian Europe free of class division would end up stoking a vision of the world riddled with conspiracy theories that would have a harrowing impact on the twentieth century.

Another welcome arrival is belching out the devil by English comedian Mark Thomas. On the surface this is a humorous take on the ascent and consolidation of the coca cola brand, but Thomas goes further and exposes some brutal facts behind the world famous soft drink company. He investigates claims of child labour abuses, the murder of union leaders in Columbia and the toxic contaminations of wells in India, asking us to consider the impact of globalization and the West’s drive for consumer goods on the poor. Read this book and you may want to take your shot of vodka without the black stuff in future.

But I digress. After Spending months carefully deliberating and researching, I decided to ignore all that and take five minutes to find my favorite book in the store. There was no real contest. It’s a book I give to my friends as presents (good friends I mean, everyone else gets a $20 gift voucher). In my opinion Hamlet by William Shakespeare is the best book in the shop. An obvious choice I guess, but this is the Danish prince like you’ve never seen him before.

Nicki Greenburg is a Melbourne artist who’s given Hamlet the inkblot treatment. She’s drawn a graphic novel interpretation of Shakespeare’s famous play and has perhaps created the most stunning rendition of the play I’ve ever read (and I’ve read a lot of the bard). As a person who can’t draw a convincing stick figure, it’s hard to muster the words to describe the artwork, so if my review sounds slightly pat then forgive me, so here goes. The play is literally staged, with the background presented as a theatre and the inkblot characters as actors playing the action, including a backstage where a disturbing love triangle is played out between the actors. The inkblot actors are simple creations, all black blobs with faces; a whimsical style that will be familiar to manga fans. Given the sparse backdrop and simplified artwork, it’s remarkable just how much energy Greenburg has brought to each scene. When Hamlet confronts his mother with accusations of incest and corruption, he explodes into black streaks of rage, racing in pieces all over the page. The background colours and shapes shift to reflect the dark mood of the play. In essence, this is an energetic, loving representation of Shakespeare’s great work, perfect for young readers and hardcore readers alike.

I suppose the only way to appreciate the work is to come to Domain books, your favorite independent bookshop, and take a look for yourself. See you soon.

and the award goes to…

Well, the Oscars came and went without any major upsets, though my dreams of seeing Ryan Maloney (toadfish from neighbours) being nominated for a best actor award appear to be fading fast. All the windy acceptance speeches were windily made, the honorary Oscar given to somebody you’ve never heard of (Eli Wallach anyone) and Natalie Portman looked terrific whatever dress she wore that definitely wasn’t Christian Dior. Anyone watching on Oscar night could tell you it takes a long time to thank everybody who helped make the films, and boy do they take that time. Strange then that the books that inspired the films seemed to get no recognition whatsoever.

Well, it’s time to change that, as Domain books celebrates the books that made the movies possible.

True Grit – Of all the books on this list, True Grit was the one that caught me most by surprise. I can’t say I’d ever heard of neither the novel, nor its author Charlie Portis for that matter, though it appears to have been in print constantly for more than 50 years and until its recent outing on the silver screen was considered something of a cult classic. The story of retired US Marshall Cogburn, hired by a 14 year old girl to bring her father’s murderer to justice, will feel familiar to anyone who’s interested in the old western movies and books. If you’re a fan of Cormac McCarthey and John Wayne then this is the novel for you.

The Social network – Long before the social network picked up the award for best film at the Oscars, many of us were on facebook avoiding work, playing Pac-man and inventing new religions for our profiles. Who knew that behind all this procrastinating lay a Harvard student named Mark Zuckerburg, the nerd entrepreneur who would revolutionize social media and make plenty of enemies along the way? Well, Ben Mezrich did, and his book The Accidental Billionaires was the inspiration for the Aaron Sorkin screenplay that bagged the best film Oscar in 2011. It’s not surprising the book was picked up by Sorkin. Mezrich spotted the potential of the facebook story and has written it as a dramatic narrative rather than dryly relaying the key events. A reviewer in Time Out Magazine noted The Accidental Billionaire ‘has the dramatic narrative of a Hollywood thriller’. Even if you’ve seen the film, the book offers a fast paced, interesting story independent of the film.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – …It’s about a wizard.

Alice in Wonderland – Surely Alice is a girl who sorely needs anymore attention. The mad hatter and the March hair, the white rabbit and the queen of hearts are all familiar figures rich in symbolism and have thoroughly permeated our everyday language. Everybody’s read Alice right? Mostly. But more and more parents are avoiding her charms, worried that the length of the novel is too much for children believed to be unable to muster the concentration to read it. Sadly, other classics such as Wind in the Willows and Treasure Island have fallen to the wayside in favour of faster paced, shorter children’s stories. I’m sure Alice will do fine in the future and don’t be surprised if this isn’t the last time she graces the silver screen.

127 hours – This began life as a book called Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aaron Ralston, which you have admit is a better title than the more dour choice made for the movie (The book was rereleased with the title 127 Hours in time for the film release). 127 Hours recounts the experience of Ralston, an outdoor adventurer who found himself in a life or death situation in Blue John canyon, Utah, after his arm became stuck under a boulder. Five days later, after failing to extricate himself, he took the decision to remove his arm. This story certainly has a grizzly aspect to it. Ralston however has seen another side to his situation, choosing to use his experience as a parable for the challenges of life (an angle director Danny Boyle sided with when directing the film). I suppose the major reason to read this book is to see if you agree with Ralston’s final assessment.

The lost thing – Last of all is The Lost Thing, which picked up the Oscar for best short animation. Be proud Australia because Shaun Tan is the Perth artist responsible for both writing and drawing the children’s book. It’s the first Australian win in this category since Melbourne’s own Adam Elliot took the gold statue for Harvey Krumpet (available on DVD).

Not a bad year for books to movies. Let’s hope for a good crop next year and cross your fingers for Ryan Maloney (the Aussie Marlon Brando)

A Tiny Bit Marvellous!

A Tiny Bit Marvellous

by Dawn French, PB $32.95

 

World renown comedienne Dawn French has finally blessed us with her debut fiction novel and it most certainly does not disappoint!!!

After the success of her autobiography, ‘Dear Fatty’, French has put together a wonderfully witty and warm book about the Battle family and the struggles that they and no doubt every family face on a daily basis.

It is told mainly from the viewpoint’s of the mother, daughter and son but the father, grandma and dog also feature. Although the mother (Mo) is a child psychologist, she cannot seem to have so much as a conversation with her daughter (Dora) without it turning into a yelling match…sound familiar?

On a recent talk show, Dawn spoke of interviewing mother/daughter teams to get real insight into the complex nature of that bond and having a daughter of her own means that each voice is absolutely spot on and completely recognisable.

French’s distinctive, playful voice is evident and all issues ranging from homosexuality to infidelity are dealt with in a very candid manner, leaving you so very connected to the characters and clamouring for her next book!

by Sal

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

Well, 5 months and 1 week later here I am again! It is with utmost pleasure that I report that as the new owner of Domain Books things are running as smoothly as I could have hoped! I am so thrilled, and grateful to my wonderful regular customers that continue to support the store and have adjusted beautifully to the two new faces.

This is the most exciting time of year in retail, with the best of the best starting to arrive in store. I have just received a beautiful range of classic toys, Paddington, Peter Rabbit, Very Hungry Caterpillar et al. As for books they are arriving hard and fast. Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Philip Adams, Bernhard Schlink and Bruce Guthrie are the standouts so far for the grown-ups. For the kids we have new books by Lauren Kate, Leigh Hobbs, Graeme Base and Michael Grant. The cookbook section is positively burgeoning with newies from Karen Martini, Jamie Oliver and Heston Blumenthal.

We are so looking forward to the lead-up to Christmas here. By now you will have probably met both Sally and Stephen. I am especially grateful to them for their help while I have been finding my feet in running the shop by myself.  We will be starting a proper Loyalty System in the not too distant future, so stay tuned. And starting in the new year there will be various store promotions that we will keep you up to date with. Thanks again for baring with me, and I hope to see you in the very near future.

Cathy

Change of Owners!

Hello folks

This is just a short message to say that Dick and Heather are no longer in charge of Domainbooks!

We would like to thank all our customers for your patronage, purchases and conversations.  We’re sorry to be moving on after nearly 11 yrs but we want to do things differently, closer to home.  We’ll concentrate on our other shop in the northern suburbs.

We’ve enjoyed operating Domainbooks [with thanks to Elizabeth Ridge, who created it!] for the last decade and it’s been a major part of our lives.  Cathy Durack, well known to shop regulars, will be running the shop from now on.  I’m sure she’ll look after you well as she has been, in various roles over the last few years.  So the shop will be there to delight our customers for many years to come

Thanks and goodbye.

Dick and Heather.

James May’s Toy Stories

Recently shown on SBS, the ever charming James May’s terrific TV series is all about toys. With his inner child clearly alive and well, each of the six episodes focuses on a favourite toy from James’ childhood. It’s a trip down memory lane as plasticine, Scalextric, Meccano, Lego, Hornby trains and Airfix are all featured. But this is not just a history lesson, James takes these classic toys to a whole new level. In order to make the toys even bigger and better than he remembers them, he  literally super-sizes them. Our personal favourite is the Lego house, which is a full sized and fully equipped home that James is able to spend the night in, albeit using more colour than is usual. Another highlight is the plasticine garden, shown at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the famous garden show in London. Every ridiculous project involves huge numbers of people, everyone from professional engineers and architects to the general public, and the series is well worth watching just to see what hundreds of people, heads down, making thousands of plasticine flowers looks like!

James May’s Toy Stories, available now on DVD, $29.95.

Sunday’s Kitchen

This beautiful book tells the story of Sunday Reed and her kitchen at Heide. Two of the most influential art benefactors in Australia, John and Sunday Reed, after settling in 1935 on a run-down dairy farm, turned their home into a creative haven for artists like Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan, Joy Hester and Charles Blackman. With the Heide artists some of the most significant and well known Australian artists, this title provides a behind-the-scenes look at their life and food. Filled with images of the home, the people, the art and featuring recipes from Sunday’s personal collection, this book provides the most interesting look at Heide yet.

Sunday’s Kitchen: Food & living at Heide by Lesley Harding & Kendrah Morgan, foreword by Stephanie Alexander (HB $50) is available instore now.