February 2023 Recommended Reading and Viewing

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Happy February, everyone! The snow's finally caught up with us, but the days are getting longer, so not everything is bleak. This month, both my recommendations come from postwar England in 1946 and are highly regarded but don't get the attention they should from the average person. If you don't know them already, I'm glad to bring them to your attention.

Reading: Titus Groan (1946) by Mervyn Peake

This novel - the first in a surreal sequence left ultimately incomplete by the author's early mental decline and subsequent death - earned high praise from literary critics but may have been too early to catch on with a society shaken by World War II. Set in a sprawling yet sparsely populated city-size castle called Gormenghast, the story begins with the birth of a male heir to the ruling Earl, but the action instead follows the rest of the eccentric family and their servants, subject to a life dominated by endless, tedious rituals whose importance has been entirely forgotten; meanwhile, one servant - a kitchen boy of significant cunning and danger - manipulates his way up the chain of hierarchy to a greater position of power. Told in a rich Gothic style with the eye of an artist (Peake was a professional painter and illustrator), it's a special kind of fantasy that has rarely been imitated, at least in comparison with its contemporaries, and may not appeal to everyone, but it still should be experienced just to see what art is capable of.

Trade: https://www.amazon.com/Titus-Groan-Mervyn-Peake/dp/1585679070/
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Titus-Groan-Gormenghast-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B07MW9PQ88



Viewing: A Matter of Life and Death (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946)

Regarded as one of the greatest British films ever made by one of the best pair of collaborative directors in the business, this melding of fantasy and romance is a lavish production perfectly suited for the postwar period. An RAF airman survives being shot down and finds love with an American radio operator, only to find that he was scheduled for death by higher powers but escaped simply due to his provided heavenly escort missing him in the English fog; unaware that he may be suffering from a serious brain injury but having found new meaning in life, he appeals his sentence, leading to a tribunal in the afterlife - made up of people from all walks of life and periods of time - to consider whether to grant him additional time on Earth. Spectacularly designed and excellently cast, this is a wonderful example of the possibilities of the filmgoing experience as a serious artform in itself, thankfully restored to its full glory for the Criterion Collection.

DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Matter-Life-Death-Criterion-Collection/dp/B07C7JGL78/
Blu-Ray: https://www.amazon.com/Matter-Death-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B07CH6415W/


Have a Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that the winter will be as enjoyable as it can be.