At 10:10 AM 12/8/99 -0500, you wrote:

>From: “Duane Spurlock” <dua_____@_____.com>
>
>Howdy All!
>
>It’s great that Indiana University Press has — with the publication of the
>expanded RW and the Omnibus — brought back into print a number of Mr.
>Hoban’s out-of-print works and some newer work previously unavailable in the
>U.S. Actually, it’s great for Mr. Hoban’s followers — those who already are
>familiar with his work and know his brilliance. Those readers will seek out
>these books and ask for them at their booksellers.

 

I was quite surprised a week ago when I ran across one copy of the Omnibus
at Barnes and Noble. Needless to say, my new book budget is now in a
shambles. <G>

As a result, I now have two copies of The LION of Boaz-Jachin, TURTLE
DIARY, and PILGRERMANN. If anyone is looking for a copy of these, let me
know. I also have an extra copy of RIDDLEY WALKER.

I suspect that the one copy of the OMNIBUS was the result of a special
order which the customer either never returned for or rejected upon seeing
it. B&N has never struck me as a place that carries works that aren’t
proven best sellers.

The OMNIBUS is expensive, but I haven’t a copy of MR. RINYO-CCLACTON’S
OFFER, nor have I read any of his other works, aside from five of his earl
ier adult novels: RW, TURTLE DIARY, PILERMANN, MD, and KLEINZEIT.

I guess I still need FREMDER and now ANGELA’S GROTTO.

-=Fred=-

The seashore temple…
Incoming rollers flow in time
To the holy flute.
– Buson –

email: fre_____@_____.com

Hi folks, 3 things:1) Best wishes for a Happy New Year to you all, and here’s hoping the
clevverness doesn’t bite us all on the bum. ; )

1A) (Speaking of which, I caught some of TBS’s Christmas day “Planet of the
Apes” marathon (I kid you not) and noticed that there are a lot of Riddley
resonances in the PoA saga. Ultimately, it’s all about the clevverness,
isn’t it?

2) apologies to any of you whom I owe personal correspondence, answers to
questions, etc. I’ll try to get caught up in January!

3) I got the following info from ONElist and thought I’d pass it on FYI:

>
>Hello,
>
>The ONElist web site will be off-line Thursday, December 30, 1999, from
>8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Pacific Time. We will be performing routine maintenance
>during that time.
>
>Email delivery will not be affected; all messages will be delivered
>normally during this time.
>
>Please feel free to notify subscribers of your communities.
>
>
>
>The ONElist Team

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“It is a curse having the epic temperament in an overcrowded
age devoted to snappy bits!” –J.R.R. Tolkien, _Letters_
Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll

> 1A) (Speaking of which, I caught some of TBS’s Christmas day “Planet of the
> Apes” marathon (I kid you not) and noticed that there are a lot of Riddley
> resonances in the PoA saga. Ultimately, it’s all about the clevverness,
> isn’t it?

 

I had noticed that; don’t know what their thinking these days, but maybe
next christmas we can get a big john boorman fest with Deliverance,
Excalibur and Zardoz 🙂 TBS does seem to have a pretty good humor about
these sorts of things.

Chris (who still hasn’t gotten to Rinyo-clacton yet)

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!Finished THE MOUSE AND HIS CHILD over the holidays. Taking a step back, so
to speak, after reading LION and KLEINZEIT, the narrative style is a bit of
a change. A very interesting story, because so very different from the two
novels that follow it.

And reading this story adds to the resonance in the clock-winding anecdotes
that appear in KLEINZEIT and MEDUSA.

— Duane

Happy, Hobanic new year everyone…here’s another maintenance message from
ONElist, not that it’s likely to be a problem here given the low traffic
here lately. I did notice that there’s a review on Salon this week of three
new books that all focus on Vermeer–one of which is actually titled “Girl
With a Pearl Earring.” The books all seem to be focused on territory Russ
has already made his own…check it out.http://www.salon.com/books/review/2000/01/10/chevalier_weber_vreeland/index.html

Dave

>Date: 11 Jan 2000 02:37:15 -0000
>From: adm_____@_____.com
>Reply-to: one_____@_____.com
>Subject: [onelist_moderators] Friday evening maintenance
>
>From: adm_____@_____.com
>
>Dear ONElist Moderator,
>
>In order to continue to provide you with the best service possible,
>the ONElist Web site will be off-line for routine maintenance from
>Friday, January 14th at 6:00 p.m. until Saturday, January 15th at 6:00
>a.m., Pacific Standard Time.
>
>All emails posted during that time will not be processed until
>Saturday, January 15th at 6:00 a.m., Pacific Standard Time. Due to the
>backlog which will occur, some email will not be delivered until later
>that morning, probably no later than 8:00 a.m.
>
>We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please inform your
>subscribers of this scheduled downtime.
>
>Thank you,
>
>The ONElist Team
>
>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>
>Independent contractors: Find your next project gig through JobSwarm!
> You can even make money by referring friends.
><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/jobswarm2 “>Click Here</a>
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll

Wow, just finished this one a couple days ago. I liked this one quite a
bit, but have mixed feelings about the ending. Can anyone shed any light
on this. Not that I need everything explained but it seems most of this
book is unexplained. On one level I would like to think that Rinyo never
really inteneded to kill him but instead just wanted to force Jonathan
into a position where he was perceiving reality in a whole new way, but
there is no really knowing. Anyway, I was left wondering if anyone had
more insight into this than I do. The whole background on Rinyo seems to
be worth a story in of itself, and in some ways Rinyo’s death seems
terribly tragic, but I don’t think I can explain those feelings.Anyone?

Chris

HELLO ALL!
Finished TURTLE DIARY last night.A slightly darker book than I’d assumed from only seeing the film, but–as
with the movie–the characters of William and Neara do have a brighter
internal life after returning the turtles than before. Even if they aren’t
aware of it.

Which makes me wonder just how reliable we should consider Mr. Hoban’s
first-person narrators. Are their perceptions of their worlds really that
accurate? Certainly their perceptions are colored by what befalls them. But
there may be subtleties I’ve been missing by relying on the narrators to
tell the Truth instead of just their truth. I don’t think this is a concern
so much in the novels before TURTLE DIARY. But the reliability of the
narrator may be an issue for those first-person tales following TD.

By the way, I liked the scene where Neara and George hear the cab driver
sitting in his taxi playing dixieland jazz on his trumpet. I wonder if this
is the same driver who appears in THE MARZIPAN PIG? But I don’t recall what
the latter driver was playing.

Best — Duane Spurlock

HAPPY NEW YEAR!Finished reading TURTLE DIARY last night. I find it quite interesting that
Mr. Hoban changes his styles of writing so greatly from KLEINZEIT — sort of
telegraphic, spare, anthropomorphic — to TURTLE DIARY — more “traditional”
sort of narrative, few fantastic elements — to the completely different
RIDDLEY WALKER.

Are there any interviews or articles that touch on this skipping from style
to style?

— Duane Spurlock

[WARNING HOBANITES: Don’t read this posting if you’re about to read ‘Mr
Rinyo-Clacton’s Offer’ for the first time. I’d hate to spoil it for anyone.]Hi Chris,

Funny, I’ve just re-read this one, too – I’m still waiting for ‘Angelica’s
Grotto’ to enter the country! The first time I read it, I thought it was a
reasonably straightforward (hah! I ought to say, as straightforward as
anything else RH has written…) Faustian pact. I was wrong. Could it be
that R-C is different things to different people (just like a real geezer,
in fact) – their own ‘private Satan’ if you like? Which would explain the
lonely Katerina’s manifestation of him as the son born of her Auschwitz
torturer (“the past doesn’t die”) and the hysterically rampant heterosexual
Jonathan’s ironically homosexual seducer.
I agree that much is unexplained, but isn’t that always the way. It’s only
right that there be more questions than answers. Perceiving reality in a
different way is always crucial in RH’s work. For me R-H is that spectre
that lurks in everyone’s mind – fears that are the result of vanity, the
horrors of the past that you cannot shake off and the abstraction that is
everyone’s own death. Serafina and Jonathan may, in the end, be pronounced
‘HIV negative’, but by then their death is already in them – indeed,
Jonathan’s life at least is dimmed by it, like the Kakemono of Kwashin Koji.

The ‘weakening’ or ‘softening’ of R-C coincides, too, you’ll notice with
Jonathan feeling better about things (particularly his relationship with
Serafina – could it be that R-H is also his loneliness speaking through
him).

Just some not-very-well-put thoughts – judging by your recent contributions,
I’m sure you’ll have progressed further with your ideas on the book than I
have here. While you’re reading, it all seems so clear – and then you try to
describe it…

Anyway, Happy 21st (Century, that is) to all my fellow Hobanites across the
world and let’s all combine our voices to put up a hearty cheer to Mr Voll
for his extraordinary efforts to create a real, live, happening online
community for the Greatest Living Novelist – a writer once only to be found
in the Picador paperback rack or mentioned once every two years in four
lines of the book review pages of a ‘quality’ newspaper. Hip-hip-hooray
Dave! The Kraken for President. Or something.

Regards,
Chris Bell

_____________________

Chris Bell
7P Cintra
3 Whitaker Place
Auckland 1001
New Zealand
chr_____@_____.nz

_____________________

>Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 22:10:07 -0600 (CST)
> From: ULTIMATE CHRISMOON <cam_____@_____.net>
>Subject: Rinyo-Clacton
>
>Wow, just finished this one a couple days ago. I liked this one quite a
>bit, but have mixed feelings about the ending. Can anyone shed any light
>on this. Not that I need everything explained but it seems most of this
>book is unexplained. On one level I would like to think that Rinyo never
>really inteneded to kill him but instead just wanted to force Jonathan
>into a position where he was perceiving reality in a whole new way, but
>there is no really knowing. Anyway, I was left wondering if anyone had
>more insight into this than I do. The whole background on Rinyo seems to
>be worth a story in of itself, and in some ways Rinyo’s death seems
>terribly tragic, but I don’t think I can explain those feelings.
>
>Anyone?
>
>Chris<

I bet there are lots of hobanites out there like me: I read these emails
avidly, am always stimulated and intrigued by them, form lots of immediate
replies and questions in my mind, but usually just can’t quite find the time to
go public. I second the motion for a HIP-HIP-HOORAY! to Dave. Everybody
else–chime in, and let’s let him know how appreciated he is!Hoban’s birthday is coming up in early February (Garrison Keeler mentioned it
last year on his Writer’s Almanac); anybody know exactly when?

Re: reality perception: RH uses the term “reality consensus,” meaning the set
of “facts” on which most of us agree, but which is clearly subject to change,
more like a fad than like anything firmly seated on the Ultimate Ground of
Being. All of our individual realities are wildly subjective in ways we never
recognize until it’s brought to our attention. Then we suddenly see deeper
connections and, so often for me, previously unsuspected vast gulfs of
separation. I think “truth” will always be spelled with a little “t,” in
pencil, even. Hoban opens mind-doors for me, and even if I don’t want to go in
(the particular common pre-occupations of AG and Mr. RCO being a good example) I
always enjoy looking through, and I always come away more alive.

the_____@_____.com on 01/13/2000 05:13:16 AM

Please respond to the_____@_____.com

To: the_____@_____.com

cc: (bcc: Richard Hoos/VUMC/Vanderbilt)

Subject: [the-kraken] Digest Number 72

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For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh

————————————————————————

There is 1 message in this issue.

Topics in today’s digest:

1. Rinyo-Clacton
From: “Chris Bell” <chr_____@_____.nz>

[WARNING HOBANITES: Don’t read this posting if you’re about to read ‘Mr
Rinyo-Clacton’s Offer’ for the first time. I’d hate to spoil it for anyone.]Hi Chris,

Funny, I’ve just re-read this one, too – I’m still waiting for ‘Angelica’s
Grotto’ to enter the country! The first time I read it, I thought it was a
reasonably straightforward (hah! I ought to say, as straightforward as
anything else RH has written…) Faustian pact. I was wrong. Could it be
that R-C is different things to different people (just like a real geezer,
in fact) – their own ‘private Satan’ if you like? Which would explain the
lonely Katerina’s manifestation of him as the son born of her Auschwitz
torturer (“the past doesn’t die”) and the hysterically rampant heterosexual
Jonathan’s ironically homosexual seducer.
I agree that much is unexplained, but isn’t that always the way. It’s only
right that there be more questions than answers. Perceiving reality in a
different way is always crucial in RH’s work. For me R-H is that spectre
that lurks in everyone’s mind – fears that are the result of vanity, the
horrors of the past that you cannot shake off and the abstraction that is
everyone’s own death. Serafina and Jonathan may, in the end, be pronounced
‘HIV negative’, but by then their death is already in them – indeed,
Jonathan’s life at least is dimmed by it, like the Kakemono of Kwashin Koji.

The ‘weakening’ or ‘softening’ of R-C coincides, too, you’ll notice with
Jonathan feeling better about things (particularly his relationship with
Serafina – could it be that R-H is also his loneliness speaking through
him).

Just some not-very-well-put thoughts – judging by your recent contributions,
I’m sure you’ll have progressed further with your ideas on the book than I
have here. While you’re reading, it all seems so clear – and then you try to
describe it…

Anyway, Happy 21st (Century, that is) to all my fellow Hobanites across the
world and let’s all combine our voices to put up a hearty cheer to Mr Voll
for his extraordinary efforts to create a real, live, happening online
community for the Greatest Living Novelist – a writer once only to be found
in the Picador paperback rack or mentioned once every two years in four
lines of the book review pages of a ‘quality’ newspaper. Hip-hip-hooray
Dave! The Kraken for President. Or something.

Regards,
Chris Bell

_____________________

Chris Bell
7P Cintra
3 Whitaker Place
Auckland 1001
New Zealand
chr_____@_____.nz

_____________________

>Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 22:10:07 -0600 (CST)
> From: ULTIMATE CHRISMOON <cam_____@_____.net>
>Subject: Rinyo-Clacton
>
>Wow, just finished this one a couple days ago. I liked this one quite a
>bit, but have mixed feelings about the ending. Can anyone shed any light
>on this. Not that I need everything explained but it seems most of this
>book is unexplained. On one level I would like to think that Rinyo never
>really inteneded to kill him but instead just wanted to force Jonathan
>into a position where he was perceiving reality in a whole new way, but
>there is no really knowing. Anyway, I was left wondering if anyone had
>more insight into this than I do. The whole background on Rinyo seems to
>be worth a story in of itself, and in some ways Rinyo’s death seems
>terribly tragic, but I don’t think I can explain those feelings.
>
>Anyone?
>
>Chris<

for Dave Awl and for Mr. Hoban, and also for Chris Moon, who has sent me
a treasure, the video of *The Mouse and His Child.* Yes, especially to
Day Voll — I’ve been meaning, like Richard, to do this for a long
time. Since I do my email stuff at work I don’t get into that relaxed
and contemplative state from which I’d be more likely to post to the
list (a school library?! not hardly). Plus, I also have a hang-up
about feeling I ought to have something deep and worthwhile to say. But
recently I engaged in a short flurry of correspondence with one of the
list members, and realized there that once I’d broken the ice here,
maybe I could just jump in every now and then.
BTW, Richard, and others who maybe weren’t online with this stuff last
year, not only is Mr. Hoban’s birthday coming up, but last year Dave
orchestrated a wonderful group birthday card (online) to Mr. Hoban. So
let’s do something this year. I’ve been getting worried lately that Mr.
Hoban and also William Steig are getting older (not THAT old, I know…)
and that we ought to collectively appreciate them and pray for their
longevity.
Another INF/TP, occasionally E, I am a Hobanophile. Briefly: my first
remembered Hoban experience was “Bread and Jam for Frances,” in the
early ’80s, when my kindergarten son and his buddy listened to the book
on tape (one of those Scholastic deals) every single day for a year, it
seems. Here and there we’d read another Frances book, and I knew that
this guy was a genius of language and psychology.
*Turtle Diary* popped in there somewhere, and I liked it, but I don’t
think I read it as thoughtfully as I would and will now. The next great
experience was discovering *The Mouse and His Child* in library school,
about 1992. My friend Mary, an artist trying to become a children’s
librarian, was very taken with Manny Rat. We sat one sunny summer
Sunday on the shores of Jordan Lake, near Raleigh, NC, studying and
watching a damselfly emerge from a pupa, feeling blessed with this
epiphany and thinking of Miss Midge.
The a year or so ago something hit me — maybe finding *Kleinzeit* in a
secondhand bookstore. There’s been no looking back since. I read mush
more slowly and recursively now than I used to, and rather than hurrying
to read all of RH’s books I am savoring them. Riddley Walker had
haunted me for years, dancing around the edges of my consciousness, the
first page daring me to get involved. Then last spring I dove into RW
and came up changed.
I don’t need to give you all the details of my experience; this has
gone on long enough for a first time posting. Just one last note:
My son-in-law and father of my 3-year old grandson asked if I could
search for something he remembered from his childhood (he’s 25): Emmett
Otter’s Jugband Christmas — the vid3eo, not the book. I got it from
Amazon and we watched it last night. I was, of course, worried that it
might not do justice to Hoban, though knowing it was Jim Henson made it
more hopeful. I want to report to you that this is a superb film,
combining the geniuses of RH and Lillian Hoban (the otter puppets are
faithful to her drawing line) and Jim Henson and Frank Oz and Paul
Williams, who wrote the terrific songs. I highly recommend this movie.
Enough for now. And thank you again, and again, and again….
D’Eyvol —– Jane Hyde
—
Jane Hyde, Librarian 828-684-6232
St. Dunstan Library jhy_____@_____.org
Christ School
500 Christ School Rd.
Arden, NC 28704When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food
and clothes. — Erasmus

Just a note to second what Richard said in his post! My thoughts exactly
in regards to the pleasure I get from reading everyone elses thoughtful
posts
(and my own lack of response) – likewise in my appreciation for Dave’s work
on the site and the list. Keep up the good stuff everyone! One of these
days
I’ll sit down and……..

Just got my copy of ‘A Russell Hoban Omnibus’ from Borders. I ordered it
about three weeks later, but it arrived before ‘Angelica’s Grotto’, which
still hasn’t come in.I must say that I don’t care much for the cover, which looks rather like one
of those cheap 1970s Readers Digest compendiums of novels by Alistair
McLean, but it is printed on really nice, glossy stock, has a great photo of
RH (taken by Gundula) on the back and is worth it for the 1.5 page preface
and the crits on the back of the dust jacket! I already have the lion’s
share of this material (in fact, everything except ‘Manny Rat: A Fragment’,
so at NZ$84 (slightly reduced due to a dust jacket torn in transit), for me
it is really only worth having as a completist’s luxury. Still, it _is_ a
good opportunity to re-read ‘Pilgermann’ yet again…

Anyway, looking forward to the – hopefully imminent – arrival of ‘Grotto’.

Glad to see I’ve started a ‘Mexican wave’ of approval for Mr Awl. 😉

Chris (the down-under one)

Correction to my message of last Friday: If I read MUSH at all, I read
it very quickly. But I read real writing (like Hoban’s) MUCH more
slowly than I used to.
Isn’t February 4 Hoban Day? Will someone send compiled greetings
again? We could email Mr. Hoban separately, but this might be a
violation of his privacy. What do people think?
P.S. Does anyone who has seen the Emmet Otter video know who the
singers were?
—
Jane Hyde, Librarian 828-684-6232
St. Dunstan Library jhy_____@_____.org
Christ School
500 Christ School Rd.
Arden, NC 28704When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food
and clothes. — Erasmus

I agree, the cover is not very good on the omnibus, looks to me like a
cook book or something. If the idea was to make a volume that looks
professional, I don’t think they so much achieved it as to make a volume
that simply looks rather dull. Since I didn’t think this was much of an
issue, I havn’t commented on it, but for whatever reason I guess I’d have
to say my taste in book covers/layout must be substantially different than
Indiana University.

> From: “Chris Bell” <chr_____@_____.nz>
>
> [WARNING HOBANITES: Don’t read this posting if you’re about to read ‘Mr
> Rinyo-Clacton’s Offer’ for the first time. I’d hate to spoil it for anyone.]

 

This still holds true…

>
> Hi Chris,
>
> Funny, I’ve just re-read this one, too – I’m still waiting for ‘Angelica’s
> Grotto’ to enter the country! The first time I read it, I thought it was a
> reasonably straightforward (hah! I ought to say, as straightforward as
> anything else RH has written…) Faustian pact. I was wrong. Could it be
> that R-C is different things to different people (just like a real geezer,
> in fact) – their own ‘private Satan’ if you like? Which would explain the
> lonely Katerina’s manifestation of him as the son born of her Auschwitz
> torturer (“the past doesn’t die”) and the hysterically rampant heterosexual
> Jonathan’s ironically homosexual seducer.

 

I definitely think there are two perspectives on Rinyo-Clacton and I found
them coming in and out of focus while I read the book like competing wave
and particle theories. I think it is possible to read R-C as a
mystery-like story which never really resolves itself but has real and
tangible explanations. It is also possible to read it as you have
explained above in which R-C is more of a spiritual or magical
manifestation. I doubt either interpretation is right since when the book
is done I am left mostly with a lot of questions thought content that
Jonathan is only kicked by Serafina in her sleep.

> I agree that much is unexplained, but isn’t that always the way. It’s only
> right that there be more questions than answers. Perceiving reality in a
> different way is always crucial in RH’s work. For me R-H is that spectre
> that lurks in everyone’s mind – fears that are the result of vanity, the
> horrors of the past that you cannot shake off and the abstraction that is
> everyone’s own death. Serafina and Jonathan may, in the end, be pronounced
> ‘HIV negative’, but by then their death is already in them – indeed,
> Jonathan’s life at least is dimmed by it, like the Kakemono of Kwashin Koji.
>
> The ‘weakening’ or ‘softening’ of R-C coincides, too, you’ll notice with
> Jonathan feeling better about things (particularly his relationship with
> Serafina – could it be that R-H is also his loneliness speaking through
> him).
>

 

Well this is what I am wondering about–not so much specific answers but
how others felt about the book. Does R-C’s weakening and death seem only
a symbolic defeat of Jonathan’s death, or is there more? For myself it
seemed there was something tragic in this ending and I can’t put my finger
on it. I find myself wanting to know what R-C would have had to say to
Jonathan before his death. Admittedly, I love ambiguity, but wonder if
there isn’t something I’ve missed.

> Just some not-very-well-put thoughts – judging by your recent contributions,
> I’m sure you’ll have progressed further with your ideas on the book than I
> have here. While you’re reading, it all seems so clear – and then you try to
> describe it…
>

Probably not…I have found that all of Hoban’s writings from the 90’s
have left me pleasently confused–great books but one is well aware that
Hoban has blasted off not just into the stratosphere but well beyond that
into his own unique (and sometimes unapproachable) orbit. Although it may
be hard to convince people of this by happenings alone, I find Pilgermann
a far more -normal- book than say even R-C or Angelica’s Grotto. That may
sound odd, but with things like Riddley Walker, Pilgermann and Medusa, as
strange as those books are, I knew where Hoban was coming from. Now days,
Hoban could be in the next room but I’m sure his mind would be…well
about where Akeley’s mind ends up in Lovecraft’s ‘Whisperer in the
darkness’ (which is to say, in a metal tube on the other side of the
universe *laughs*).

Chris

On Tue, 18 Jan 2000, jhyde wrote:

> Isn’t February 4 Hoban Day? Will someone send compiled greetings
> again? We could email Mr. Hoban separately, but this might be a
> violation of his privacy. What do people think?

 

Eh? I didn’t know about Hoban day. Why don’t we just get him a an
electronic card on one of these internet sites–maybe something with Kong
on it?–and have the address be from the list, or list everyone’s e-mail
who is on it?

Chris

First off, thanks to everyone for saying all the nice things about me. I’m
still all blushy.Yes, Feb. 4 is Mr. Hoban’s birthday. The “birthday messages from around the
world” thing we did last year was fun and Russ got a big kick out of it,
but I agree that it would be fun to think of something different to do this
year. With as many creative minds as we have on the list it seems like we
ought to be able to come up with something.

Maybe we could pass the virtual hat, and send him some appropriate gift
from Amazon or someplace like that? The card could list the names of
everyone who decides to kick in for it, and then folks could send donations
to whomever places the order. Converting currencies could be a problem, but
maybe folks with different currencies than the order-placer could send
barter items instead. Like..um…boxes of tea or something. <he pauses here
to scratch his head for a while and gaze off into the distance, as if
forgetting the others were present.>

Other ideas?

Also, we once we get down to specifics, we might want to organize a
side-list for those who are participating, just in case you-know-who
happens to be looking in on the list archives. Would be a shame to blow the
surprise.

Dave

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll

All fabulous ideas, Dave, but we have little time in which to act…Someone geographically close to RH might be the best person to ‘make the
order’, if we can decide on a gift. Chris’ Kong Kard idea is also good –
kind of kitsch but funny and I get the feeling it might be appreciated.

Anyway, as usual, I’m enthusiastic about the ideas but sadly lacking in
creative suggestions…

Ideas from Amazon.com: a Borges omnibus, perhaps… It would be awesome if
the Kraken could buy him something that turned up on the doorstep on the
day. An ‘operagram’ for instance…

I’ll give the matter some more high-quality thought over the next few days.

Chris

____________________________________________________________________________

>
>Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 15:30:29 -0600
> From: Day Voll <day_____@_____.com>
>Subject: A Birthday for You-Know-Who
>
>First off, thanks to everyone for saying all the nice things about me. I’m
>still all blushy.
>
>Yes, Feb. 4 is Mr. Hoban’s birthday. The “birthday messages from around the
>world” thing we did last year was fun and Russ got a big kick out of it,
>but I agree that it would be fun to think of something different to do this
>year. With as many creative minds as we have on the list it seems like we
>ought to be able to come up with something.
>
>Maybe we could pass the virtual hat, and send him some appropriate gift
>from Amazon or someplace like that? The card could list the names of
>everyone who decides to kick in for it, and then folks could send donations
>to whomever places the order. Converting currencies could be a problem, but
>maybe folks with different currencies than the order-placer could send
>barter items instead. Like..um…boxes of tea or something. <he pauses here
>to scratch his head for a while and gaze off into the distance, as if
>forgetting the others were present.>
>
>Other ideas?
>
>Also, we once we get down to specifics, we might want to organize a
>side-list for those who are participating, just in case you-know-who
>happens to be looking in on the list archives. Would be a shame to blow the
>surprise.
>
>Dave
>
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll<

How about a year’s pass for any travel on the London Underground??.Kerry Power

—–Original Message—–
From: Chris Bell <chr_____@_____.nz>
To: the_____@_____.com <the_____@_____.com>
Date: Saturday, January 22, 2000 10:23 PM
Subject: [the-kraken] Re: A birthday for you-know-who

 

>From: “Chris Bell” <chr_____@_____.nz>
>
>All fabulous ideas, Dave, but we have little time in which to act…
>
>Someone geographically close to RH might be the best person to ‘make the
>order’, if we can decide on a gift. Chris’ Kong Kard idea is also good –
>kind of kitsch but funny and I get the feeling it might be appreciated.
>
>Anyway, as usual, I’m enthusiastic about the ideas but sadly lacking in
>creative suggestions…
>
>Ideas from Amazon.com: a Borges omnibus, perhaps… It would be awesome if
>the Kraken could buy him something that turned up on the doorstep on the
>day. An ‘operagram’ for instance…
>
>I’ll give the matter some more high-quality thought over the next few days.
>
>Chris
>
>___________________________________________________________________________

_

>>
>>Message: 4
>> Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 15:30:29 -0600
>> From: Day Voll <day_____@_____.com>
>>Subject: A Birthday for You-Know-Who
>>
>>First off, thanks to everyone for saying all the nice things about me. I’m
>>still all blushy.
>>
>>Yes, Feb. 4 is Mr. Hoban’s birthday. The “birthday messages from around

the

>>world” thing we did last year was fun and Russ got a big kick out of it,
>>but I agree that it would be fun to think of something different to do

this

>>year. With as many creative minds as we have on the list it seems like we
>>ought to be able to come up with something.
>>
>>Maybe we could pass the virtual hat, and send him some appropriate gift
>>from Amazon or someplace like that? The card could list the names of
>>everyone who decides to kick in for it, and then folks could send

donations

>>to whomever places the order. Converting currencies could be a problem,

but

>>maybe folks with different currencies than the order-placer could send
>>barter items instead. Like..um…boxes of tea or something. <he pauses

here

>>to scratch his head for a while and gaze off into the distance, as if
>>forgetting the others were present.>
>>
>>Other ideas?
>>
>>Also, we once we get down to specifics, we might want to organize a
>>side-list for those who are participating, just in case you-know-who
>>happens to be looking in on the list archives. Would be a shame to blow

the

>>surprise.
>>
>>Dave
>>
>>
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll<
>
>
>
>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>
>Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests!
>Sign up for eLerts at:
><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/elerts1 “>Click Here</a>
>
>————————————————————————
>
>—————————————————
>The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh
>

In response to the suggestions so far…How about a season ticket to the Zoological Gardens?

I think Mr. Hoban will also be amused if we somehow let him
know all the suggestions that are made for a birthday present.

More seriously — and I realise this would require the employ
of a list member in the London area — is there any artistic
endeavour requiring sponsors to which we could contribute
in Mr. Hoban’s name? If such a contribution caused his name
to appear on a list or brass plate or something, it would be
even better.

Sandra Smith

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

re travelcard: nice idea, but I think Mr Hoban is old enough to qualify for
free travel in London. Can’t say I’ve had any brainwaves, however.theo

>From: “Kerry Martin Power” <kan_____@_____.com>
>
>How about a year’s pass for any travel on the London Underground??.
>
>Kerry Power
>
>
>—–Original Message—–
>From: Chris Bell <chr_____@_____.nz>
>To: the_____@_____.com <the_____@_____.com>
>Date: Saturday, January 22, 2000 10:23 PM
>Subject: [the-kraken] Re: A birthday for you-know-who
>
>
>>From: “Chris Bell” <chr_____@_____.nz>
>>
>>All fabulous ideas, Dave, but we have little time in which to act…
>>
>>Someone geographically close to RH might be the best person to ‘make the
>>order’, if we can decide on a gift. Chris’ Kong Kard idea is also good –
>>kind of kitsch but funny and I get the feeling it might be appreciated.
>>
>>Anyway, as usual, I’m enthusiastic about the ideas but sadly lacking in
>>creative suggestions…
>>
>>Ideas from Amazon.com: a Borges omnibus, perhaps… It would be awesome if
>>the Kraken could buy him something that turned up on the doorstep on the
>>day. An ‘operagram’ for instance…
>>
>>I’ll give the matter some more high-quality thought over the next few days.
>>
>>Chris
>>
>>___________________________________________________________________________
>_
>>>
>>>Message: 4
>>> Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 15:30:29 -0600
>>> From: Day Voll <day_____@_____.com>
>>>Subject: A Birthday for You-Know-Who
>>>
>>>First off, thanks to everyone for saying all the nice things about me. I’m
>>>still all blushy.
>>>
>>>Yes, Feb. 4 is Mr. Hoban’s birthday. The “birthday messages from around
>the
>>>world” thing we did last year was fun and Russ got a big kick out of it,
>>>but I agree that it would be fun to think of something different to do
>this
>>>year. With as many creative minds as we have on the list it seems like we
>>>ought to be able to come up with something.
>>>
>>>Maybe we could pass the virtual hat, and send him some appropriate gift
>>>from Amazon or someplace like that? The card could list the names of
>>>everyone who decides to kick in for it, and then folks could send
>donations
>>>to whomever places the order. Converting currencies could be a problem,
>but
>>>maybe folks with different currencies than the order-placer could send
>>>barter items instead. Like..um…boxes of tea or something. <he pauses
>here
>>>to scratch his head for a while and gaze off into the distance, as if
>>>forgetting the others were present.>
>>>
>>>Other ideas?
>>>
>>>Also, we once we get down to specifics, we might want to organize a
>>>side-list for those who are participating, just in case you-know-who
>>>happens to be looking in on the list archives. Would be a shame to blow
>the
>>>surprise.
>>>
>>>Dave
>>>
>>>
>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll<
>>
>>
>>
>>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>>
>>Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests!
>>Sign up for eLerts at:
>><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/elerts1 “>Click Here</a>
>>
>>————————————————————————
>>
>>—————————————————
>>The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
>>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh
>>
>
>
>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>
>Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests!
>Sign up for eLerts at:
><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/elerts1 “>Click Here</a>
>
>————————————————————————
>
>—————————————————
>The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh

Russ likes scotch. How about buying him a good bottle?alida

At 10:22 PM 1/22/00 +0000, you wrote:

>From: mal_____@_____.uk (malekin)
>
>re travelcard: nice idea, but I think Mr Hoban is old enough to qualify for
>free travel in London. Can’t say I’ve had any brainwaves, however.
>
>theo
>
>>From: “Kerry Martin Power” <kan_____@_____.com>
>>
>>How about a year’s pass for any travel on the London Underground??.
>>
>>Kerry Power
>>
>>
>>—–Original Message—–
>>From: Chris Bell <chr_____@_____.nz>
>>To: the_____@_____.com <the_____@_____.com>
>>Date: Saturday, January 22, 2000 10:23 PM
>>Subject: [the-kraken] Re: A birthday for you-know-who
>>
>>
>>>From: “Chris Bell” <chr_____@_____.nz>
>>>
>>>All fabulous ideas, Dave, but we have little time in which to act…
>>>
>>>Someone geographically close to RH might be the best person to ‘make the
>>>order’, if we can decide on a gift. Chris’ Kong Kard idea is also good –
>>>kind of kitsch but funny and I get the feeling it might be appreciated.
>>>
>>>Anyway, as usual, I’m enthusiastic about the ideas but sadly lacking in
>>>creative suggestions…
>>>
>>>Ideas from Amazon.com: a Borges omnibus, perhaps… It would be awesome if
>>>the Kraken could buy him something that turned up on the doorstep on the
>>>day. An ‘operagram’ for instance…
>>>
>>>I’ll give the matter some more high-quality thought over the next few days.
>>>
>>>Chris
>>>
>>>___________________________________________________________________________
>>_
>>>>
>>>>Message: 4
>>>> Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 15:30:29 -0600
>>>> From: Day Voll <day_____@_____.com>
>>>>Subject: A Birthday for You-Know-Who
>>>>
>>>>First off, thanks to everyone for saying all the nice things about me. I’m
>>>>still all blushy.
>>>>
>>>>Yes, Feb. 4 is Mr. Hoban’s birthday. The “birthday messages from around
>>the
>>>>world” thing we did last year was fun and Russ got a big kick out of it,
>>>>but I agree that it would be fun to think of something different to do
>>this
>>>>year. With as many creative minds as we have on the list it seems like we
>>>>ought to be able to come up with something.
>>>>
>>>>Maybe we could pass the virtual hat, and send him some appropriate gift
>>>>from Amazon or someplace like that? The card could list the names of
>>>>everyone who decides to kick in for it, and then folks could send
>>donations
>>>>to whomever places the order. Converting currencies could be a problem,
>>but
>>>>maybe folks with different currencies than the order-placer could send
>>>>barter items instead. Like..um…boxes of tea or something. <he pauses
>>here
>>>>to scratch his head for a while and gaze off into the distance, as if
>>>>forgetting the others were present.>
>>>>
>>>>Other ideas?
>>>>
>>>>Also, we once we get down to specifics, we might want to organize a
>>>>side-list for those who are participating, just in case you-know-who
>>>>happens to be looking in on the list archives. Would be a shame to blow
>>the
>>>>surprise.
>>>>
>>>>Dave
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll<
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>>>
>>>Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests!
>>>Sign up for eLerts at:
>>><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/elerts1 “>Click Here</a>
>>>
>>>————————————————————————
>>>
>>>—————————————————
>>>The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
>>>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>>>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh
>>>
>>
>>
>>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>>
>>Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests!
>>Sign up for eLerts at:
>><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/elerts1 “>Click Here</a>
>>
>>————————————————————————
>>
>>—————————————————
>>The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
>>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh
>
>
>
>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>
>Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests!
>Sign up for eLerts at:
><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/elerts1 “>Click Here</a>
>
>————————————————————————
>
>—————————————————
>The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh

 

Alida Allison
Associate Professor
Director, Children’s Literature Circle
Dept. of English and Comparative Literature
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Dr.
San Diego, CA 92182-8140
(619) 594-6385, office phone
(619) 594-5443, department phone
(619) 594-4998, FAX

CHECK OUT THE CHILDREN’S LITERATURE PROGRAM WEB SITE AND BOOK REVIEW SERVICE:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/english/childlit

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT CURRENT CHILDREN’S LITERATURE COURSES:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/english/engl.html

I’d be happy to take on the project of buying a decent bottle of scotch for the birthday man. If we think that’s appropriate. And I certainly do.Diana Slickman
Usually in the background, coming to the fore
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Chrysanthemum growers –
you are the slaves
of chrysanthemums!
— Yosa Buson

—–Original Message—–
From: the_____@_____.com [SMTP:the_____@_____.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 4:39 AM
To: the_____@_____.com
Subject: [the-kraken] Digest Number 78

————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-

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—————————————————
The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh
————————————————————————

There is 1 message in this issue.

Topics in today’s digest:

1. Re: Re: A birthday for you-know-who
From: Alida Allison <all_____@_____.edu>

Russ likes scotch. How about buying him a good bottle?alida

At 10:22 PM 1/22/00 +0000, you wrote:

>From: mal_____@_____.uk (malekin)
>
>re travelcard: nice idea, but I think Mr Hoban is old enough to qualify for
>free travel in London. Can’t say I’ve had any brainwaves, however.
>
>theo
>
>>From: “Kerry Martin Power” <kan_____@_____.com>
>>
>>How about a year’s pass for any travel on the London Underground??.
>>
>>Kerry Power
>>
>>
>>—–Original Message—–
>>From: Chris Bell <chr_____@_____.nz>
>>To: the_____@_____.com <the_____@_____.com>
>>Date: Saturday, January 22, 2000 10:23 PM
>>Subject: [the-kraken] Re: A birthday for you-know-who
>>
>>
>>>From: “Chris Bell” <chr_____@_____.nz>
>>>
>>>All fabulous ideas, Dave, but we have little time in which to act…
>>>
>>>Someone geographically close to RH might be the best person to ‘make the
>>>order’, if we can decide on a gift. Chris’ Kong Kard idea is also good –
>>>kind of kitsch but funny and I get the feeling it might be appreciated.
>>>
>>>Anyway, as usual, I’m enthusiastic about the ideas but sadly lacking in
>>>creative suggestions…
>>>
>>>Ideas from Amazon.com: a Borges omnibus, perhaps… It would be awesome if
>>>the Kraken could buy him something that turned up on the doorstep on the
>>>day. An ‘operagram’ for instance…
>>>
>>>I’ll give the matter some more high-quality thought over the next few days.
>>>
>>>Chris
>>>
>>>___________________________________________________________________________
>>_
>>>>
>>>>Message: 4
>>>> Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 15:30:29 -0600
>>>> From: Day Voll <day_____@_____.com>
>>>>Subject: A Birthday for You-Know-Who
>>>>
>>>>First off, thanks to everyone for saying all the nice things about me. I’m
>>>>still all blushy.
>>>>
>>>>Yes, Feb. 4 is Mr. Hoban’s birthday. The “birthday messages from around
>>the
>>>>world” thing we did last year was fun and Russ got a big kick out of it,
>>>>but I agree that it would be fun to think of something different to do
>>this
>>>>year. With as many creative minds as we have on the list it seems like we
>>>>ought to be able to come up with something.
>>>>
>>>>Maybe we could pass the virtual hat, and send him some appropriate gift
>>>>from Amazon or someplace like that? The card could list the names of
>>>>everyone who decides to kick in for it, and then folks could send
>>donations
>>>>to whomever places the order. Converting currencies could be a problem,
>>but
>>>>maybe folks with different currencies than the order-placer could send
>>>>barter items instead. Like..um…boxes of tea or something. <he pauses
>>here
>>>>to scratch his head for a while and gaze off into the distance, as if
>>>>forgetting the others were present.>
>>>>
>>>>Other ideas?
>>>>
>>>>Also, we once we get down to specifics, we might want to organize a
>>>>side-list for those who are participating, just in case you-know-who
>>>>happens to be looking in on the list archives. Would be a shame to blow
>>the
>>>>surprise.
>>>>
>>>>Dave
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll<
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>>>
>>>Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests!
>>>Sign up for eLerts at:
>>><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/elerts1 “>Click Here</a>
>>>
>>>————————————————————————
>>>
>>>—————————————————
>>>The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
>>>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>>>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh
>>>
>>
>>
>>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>>
>>Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests!
>>Sign up for eLerts at:
>><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/elerts1 “>Click Here</a>
>>
>>————————————————————————
>>
>>—————————————————
>>The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
>>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh
>
>
>
>————————— ONElist Sponsor —————————-
>
>Get great offers on top-notch products that match your interests!
>Sign up for eLerts at:
><a href=” http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/elerts1 “>Click Here</a>
>
>————————————————————————
>
>—————————————————
>The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh

 

Alida Allison
Associate Professor
Director, Children’s Literature Circle
Dept. of English and Comparative Literature
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Dr.
San Diego, CA 92182-8140
(619) 594-6385, office phone
(619) 594-5443, department phone
(619) 594-4998, FAX

CHECK OUT THE CHILDREN’S LITERATURE PROGRAM WEB SITE AND BOOK REVIEW SERVICE:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/english/childlit

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT CURRENT CHILDREN’S LITERATURE COURSES:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/english/engl.html

Hello Krakenites,
ist there any graphic designer among us? Wouldn’t it be fun to design a t-shirt with either Hoban-related themes (yellow, paper, orheus etc.)
or with pictures from his fans? Similar to the I’m your fan tribute for Leonard Cohen. But I know that there’s not very much time left…
It shouldn’t be a problem to find the pictures and photographs. This would have some kind of personal touch. What do you think?Another Idea: short, spoken birthday wishes from around the world in different languages burned to an audio CD.
Or just some kind of soundscape: Everybody could record same background sound whereever he/she is living…
Best,
Olaf

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

HI ALL!
Has anyone on the list read any novels by Graham Joyce? When reading the
jacket copy, he sounds kind of “out-there” in the way that Mr. Hoban’s work
sometimes strikes me. On the other hand, Joyce’s work also sounds a bit
darker and perhaps a bit more sensationalistic than that of Mr. Hoban.There’s an article about Joyce’s work at the e-zine Salon. HEre’s a link:

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2000/01/21/joyce/index.html

best — Duane

By the way . . .The e-zine Salon also ran an article back in 1997 called “Save These Books”
that included Mr. Hoban’s MEDUSA FREQUENCY.

The entire article may be found at this URL:

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/1997/12/cov_04feature.html

<<- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The Medusa Frequency
By Russell Hoban. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987.

BY LAURA MILLER | Herman Orff, an obscure London novelist reduced to writing
comic books, decides to get his brain zapped with a hot-wired EEG device in
the hope that it will jump start his third novel. Soon he’s carrying on an
intermittent conversation with the head of Orpheus, as well as the legendary
sea beast the Kraken, which communicates with him via the green
phosphorescent letters on the screen of his Apple II. This slender book
about love, art, loss and delusion, by the author of “Riddley Walker” and
“Turtle Diary” (both also out of print), deftly combines a stubborn,
self-deprecatingly British sense of humor with a mythic undertow of
surreptitious power; the first time I read it, I wept through the conclusion
without quite understanding why. The fantastic strain in Hoban’s work seems
to have kept his reputation on the windy side of full literary legitimacy.
Only “Riddley Walker” made much of a splash in America, largely because it
was written in an invented, post-apocalyptic dialect that could hardly fail
to impress. As a result, frustratingly few readers know that Hoban is also a
wondrous stylist, one who wields the earthy, brambly, resonant beauty of the
English language in a way that’s positively Shakespearean.

>>

 

In reading this review and the line “…decides to get his brain zapped with
a hot-wired EEG device in the hope that it will jump start his third
novel…” I’m reminded of a scene in RIDDLEY WALKER that I read last night,
when Eusa puts on an iron hat and plugs it into a machine he contrives as
his “2nd head” to hold the many numbers he’s thinking. Ah, so many links
among Mr. Hoban’s works.

Hmm. Also makes me wonder if he ever investigated Wilhelm Reich’s Orgone
Machine.

— Duane

I think it’s a GREAT idea! I’ll chip in somehow.
—
Jane Hyde, Librarian 828-684-6232
St. Dunstan Library jhy_____@_____.org
Christ School
500 Christ School Rd.
Arden, NC 28704When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food
and clothes. — Erasmus

Don’t know much about history, don’t know much biology.
But I do know quite a lot about Scotch whisky and the suggestion of a good bottle of Scotch sounds like winner to me.
My suggestion is that it be a bottle of The Macallan, generally acceptedto be the finest Scotch that money can buy. I prefer the 15 year old variety.
When i get a little money I buy books, and if I have a little left over I buy The Macallan.
Chris Hannan

Olaf Schneider suggested 

>Or just some kind of soundscape: Everybody could record same background
>sound whereever he/she is living…

 

Really like this idea. Sort of audio Void … Just looked in my little Zen
book and saw the heading “No Bottom”. Perhaps not such a Hoban idea then.

The o

>Best,
>Olaf
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
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>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh

OK,I have here in my hand a list of those top ten birthday presents. Well –
three of them, anyway.

1. The Scotch: While I can see/taste _much_ merit in the idea of a bottle of
Lagavulin, Laphroaig or Caol Ila, in view of Russ’ health, this might not go
down too well (especially with Gundula…). There’s also the practicalities
of getting the money together and the bottle to him. How about I drink it
instead? Only kidding.

2. The t-shirt: Great idea, Olaf (I’ve been wondering what had happened to
you!). But isn’t this something we Krakenites should really be wearing?

3. The audio CD of birthday wishes or background noises: Also a great idea,
Olaf, although I somehow doubt we’ll have time to get the contributions
together in time.

Sorry to seem so negative. I really ought to end on a positive note: I think
we need a deciding voice on the matter of what the present should be and the
despatching of it. Then all we need is to get all the Krakenites to agree to
contribute an amount of their choosing – and that should be easy… right?

Over to you Dave, or Olaf.

Chris

I have here in my hand a list of those top ten birthday presents. Well –
three of them, anyway.1. The Scotch: While I can see/taste _much_ merit in the idea of a bottle of
Lagavulin, Laphroaig or Caol Ila, in view of Russ’ health, this might not go
down too well (especially with Gundula…). There’s also the practicalities
of getting the money together and the bottle to him. How about I drink it
instead? Only kidding.

2. The t-shirt: Great idea, Olaf (I’ve been wondering what had happened to
you!). But isn’t this something we Krakenites should really be wearing?

3. The audio CD of birthday wishes or background noises: Also a great idea,
Olaf, although I somehow doubt we’ll have time to get the contributions
together in time.

HI Chris, thanks for you comments!
I’m still alive, I tell you more in the future. About the t-shirt: Definitely this is something for the krakenites, too. But I think it’ll be a great pleasure for Russ to know that we’re wearing this shirt. I think he would pin iton the wall, which might look quite nice. I think this task is very much work, I could contribute to this with a lot of pics, but I don’t have the equipment to do a final and good quality print (before the t-shirt print).
The audio CD with birthday wishes is my personal favourite (background noises included, kids, traffic …). I could do this CD, which means that all krakenites could record a (max.) 30 second wav-file (with the built in audio recorder)and send it to me in a definite time, with the words of the message written down. I fear that this might crash my email system, so I’ll would have to do some preparations to cope with this.
What do you krakennites think about it?
I would also take part in buying the bottle though I share some of the health sorrows of Chris (lookup Angelicas Grotto for this…) I wonder what Dave thinks about this?
Best,
Olaf

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Well, it’s been really fun reading everyone’s creative ideas…I was right
in thinking that when The Kraken put its collective noggins together, we
could come up with some fun ideas. But as others have pointed out, time is
growing very short so we need to settle on something and act fast.Of the ideas suggested so far, I like them all in theory. But: given Russ’
health difficulties, I don’t think he gets around quite so much as he used
to, so travel and activity-related stuff should probably be ruled out. I
really liked Olaf’s T-shirt and recording ideas, but we’ve only got ten
days to deliver at this point, so the time factor is probably prohibitive
of anything like that. (I think the T-shirt idea is something fun we could
pursue separately of the birthday, if we want…and the recording idea if
we want to pursue it, could always be tied in to some other occasion.)

So, in the meantime, I think Alida’s idea of the bottle of scotch is a good
one and seems to have garnered some enthusiasm on the list. My only concern
about that is that given his various health conditions, Russ might be under
doctor’s orders to avoid booze. But then I thought, well, the symbolism of
the bottle would still be appreciated, and if nothing else I bet Gundel
would help him polish it off. And then I remembered that when Olaf and I
had dinner with the Hobans last June, we had schapps afterwards and I don’t
think Russ abstained. (Olaf, do you remember one way or another–did Russ
partake?)

If we ratify the bottle-of-scotch idea, that’s convenient because the
ever-resourceful Diana Slickman has already kindly volunteered to do the
ordering. Diana happens to be a neighbor (and co-worker of sorts) of mine,
so I can vouch that she is the greatest living expert on Scotch for oh,
easily seven or eight blocks. I think we can trust her to do a very nice
job with the selection (and give fair consideration to Chris Hannan’s
suggestion).

That leads us to the question: will it be possible for the Chicago-based
Diana to buy a bottle and get it to Russ by the 4th? I think it might help
if we could find an online UK vendor to order from, by credit card…I’m
sure something like that must exist. If not, we may need to enlist the help
of someone in the UK area. I’ll huddle up with Diana and we’ll see what we
can figure out.

We’ll also need to figure out a system for folks to “chip in” on the
bottle, and notify Diana to include their names on the card. I think this
is Diana’s call, so let us know what you’d prefer. (And let us know if you
want help figuring it out.)

Whew! I suppose all of that is basically a proposal, subject to the
affirmation of the list at large. What do you all think–can we proceed
with this plan or does anyone see any major problem with it?

Dave

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll

Hmm, my previous message crossed in the mail with Chris and Olaf’s…I see
that you guys are worrying about the health issue with the scotch, too. Now
I’m not sure what to think…depending on what Olaf does or doesn’t
remember about the schnapps I mentioned from last June. Well, if we decide
against the scotch, maybe a book or recording from Amazon UK is the way to
go.Other opinions?

Dave

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll

HI ALL!
I haven’t contributed to the birthday thread, but I’ve followed its
progress. Having no particular idea that feels just right to me, I’ll simply
go along with whatever the crowd does.As a follow up to my Graham Joyce question of yesterday, I have another
question.

Awhile back, folks on the list posted lists of their favorite writers. As
expected, these lists ran the stylistic and genre gamut.

As I’m always interested in trying new writers, I pose this exercise: If
someone were to ask you, “I liked that Hoban book I read. What other writers
should I try that might give me a similar experience?” who would you give in
your answer?

Off the top of my head, I’d probably say John Hawkes. Most likely the
earlier novels, particularly THE CANNIBAL, THE BEETLE LEG, THE LIME TWIG and
TRAVESTY. From the later novels, definitely WHISTLEJACKET.

Like Mr. Hoban, Mr. Hawkes was an American who wrote with a European or an
International sensibility and was informed by a sense of the mythic.

Other suggestions?
— Duane

I’m for the Scotch — it’s elegant and relatively simple. I’ll send
some $$ to any one of you guys…. Even if he’s not supposed to imbibe,
the symbolic value is good, and he can share it, etc. Can someone in
the UK do it??? I really think we should do something. Last year’s
“card” was a lot of fun, and he replied to each of us, so I assume he
liked it. I vote for the Scotch. Thanks to all of you for being
involved. Sorry I’m babbling — it’s school. — JLH
—
Jane Hyde, Librarian 828-684-6232
St. Dunstan Library jhy_____@_____.org
Christ School
500 Christ School Rd.
Arden, NC 28704When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food
and clothes. — Erasmus

I sort of like ALL these ideas; nothing seems quite worthy, y’know? And I
certainly have nothing to propose that would conveniently replace any of them.
Count me in on a purchase and/or sound-byte.

Yes, yes, everyone likes the Macallan. And I’m one of them. But “the finest Scotch that money can buy”? We could have a long and serious discussion about that.That said (and this: give me an Islay any day!) the Macallan is an excellent gift, and, in my view, a most healthful and life-affirming beverage. Doctors! What do they know? On the other hand, we do want to give a gift that keeps on giving, and not one that sits on a shelf, taunting the recipient with its forbidden pleasures. So, if we think that it would be both appreciated and imbibable, I’ll make it happen and we’ll figure out how people can chip in later.

Is this a go?

I wish we had time (and for some of us, the means – I don’t think I have a built in mic on my computer) to implement Olaf’s soundscape idea, because I love it. Maybe Valentine’s Day?

With credit card in hand,
Slick
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Chrysanthemum growers –
you are the slaves
of chrysanthemums!
— Yosa Buson

—–Original Message—–
From: the_____@_____.com [SMTP:the_____@_____.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2000 5:01 AM
To: the_____@_____.com
Subject: [the-kraken] Digest Number 80

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The Kraken: The Russell Hoban Mailing List
For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh
————————————————————————

There are 7 messages in this issue.

Topics in today’s digest:

1. Graham Joyce
From: “Duane Spurlock” <dua_____@_____.com>
2. Speaking of Salon.com . . . .
From: “Duane Spurlock” <dua_____@_____.com>
3. Re: Digest Number 78
From: jhyde <jhy_____@_____.org>
4. whisky
From: buh_____@_____.es
5. Re: A Birthday for You-Know-Who
From: mal_____@_____.uk (malekin)
6. Return of the son of A Birthday for You-Know-Who
From: “Chris Bell” <chr_____@_____.nz>
7. Re: Return of the son of A Birthday for You-Know-Who
From: Olaf Schneider <osc_____@_____.de>

HI ALL!
Has anyone on the list read any novels by Graham Joyce? When reading the
jacket copy, he sounds kind of “out-there” in the way that Mr. Hoban’s work
sometimes strikes me. On the other hand, Joyce’s work also sounds a bit
darker and perhaps a bit more sensationalistic than that of Mr. Hoban.There’s an article about Joyce’s work at the e-zine Salon. HEre’s a link:

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2000/01/21/joyce/index.html

best — Duane

By the way . . .The e-zine Salon also ran an article back in 1997 called “Save These Books”
that included Mr. Hoban’s MEDUSA FREQUENCY.

The entire article may be found at this URL:

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/1997/12/cov_04feature.html

<<- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The Medusa Frequency
By Russell Hoban. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987.

BY LAURA MILLER | Herman Orff, an obscure London novelist reduced to writing
comic books, decides to get his brain zapped with a hot-wired EEG device in
the hope that it will jump start his third novel. Soon he’s carrying on an
intermittent conversation with the head of Orpheus, as well as the legendary
sea beast the Kraken, which communicates with him via the green
phosphorescent letters on the screen of his Apple II. This slender book
about love, art, loss and delusion, by the author of “Riddley Walker” and
“Turtle Diary” (both also out of print), deftly combines a stubborn,
self-deprecatingly British sense of humor with a mythic undertow of
surreptitious power; the first time I read it, I wept through the conclusion
without quite understanding why. The fantastic strain in Hoban’s work seems
to have kept his reputation on the windy side of full literary legitimacy.
Only “Riddley Walker” made much of a splash in America, largely because it
was written in an invented, post-apocalyptic dialect that could hardly fail
to impress. As a result, frustratingly few readers know that Hoban is also a
wondrous stylist, one who wields the earthy, brambly, resonant beauty of the
English language in a way that’s positively Shakespearean.

>>

 

In reading this review and the line “…decides to get his brain zapped with
a hot-wired EEG device in the hope that it will jump start his third
novel…” I’m reminded of a scene in RIDDLEY WALKER that I read last night,
when Eusa puts on an iron hat and plugs it into a machine he contrives as
his “2nd head” to hold the many numbers he’s thinking. Ah, so many links
among Mr. Hoban’s works.

Hmm. Also makes me wonder if he ever investigated Wilhelm Reich’s Orgone
Machine.

— Duane

I think it’s a GREAT idea! I’ll chip in somehow.
—
Jane Hyde, Librarian 828-684-6232
St. Dunstan Library jhy_____@_____.org
Christ School
500 Christ School Rd.
Arden, NC 28704When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food
and clothes. — Erasmus

Don’t know much about history, don’t know much biology.
But I do know quite a lot about Scotch whisky and the suggestion of a good bottle of Scotch sounds like winner to me.
My suggestion is that it be a bottle of The Macallan, generally acceptedto be the finest Scotch that money can buy. I prefer the 15 year old variety.
When i get a little money I buy books, and if I have a little left over I buy The Macallan.
Chris Hannan

Olaf Schneider suggested 

>Or just some kind of soundscape: Everybody could record same background
>sound whereever he/she is living…

 

Really like this idea. Sort of audio Void … Just looked in my little Zen
book and saw the heading “No Bottom”. Perhaps not such a Hoban idea then.

The o

>Best,
>Olaf
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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>For help contact Dave Awl – day_____@_____.com
>http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll/rh

OK,I have here in my hand a list of those top ten birthday presents. Well –
three of them, anyway.

1. The Scotch: While I can see/taste _much_ merit in the idea of a bottle of
Lagavulin, Laphroaig or Caol Ila, in view of Russ’ health, this might not go
down too well (especially with Gundula…). There’s also the practicalities
of getting the money together and the bottle to him. How about I drink it
instead? Only kidding.

2. The t-shirt: Great idea, Olaf (I’ve been wondering what had happened to
you!). But isn’t this something we Krakenites should really be wearing?

3. The audio CD of birthday wishes or background noises: Also a great idea,
Olaf, although I somehow doubt we’ll have time to get the contributions
together in time.

Sorry to seem so negative. I really ought to end on a positive note: I think
we need a deciding voice on the matter of what the present should be and the
despatching of it. Then all we need is to get all the Krakenites to agree to
contribute an amount of their choosing – and that should be easy… right?

Over to you Dave, or Olaf.

Chris

I have here in my hand a list of those top ten birthday presents. Well –
three of them, anyway.1. The Scotch: While I can see/taste _much_ merit in the idea of a bottle of
Lagavulin, Laphroaig or Caol Ila, in view of Russ’ health, this might not go
down too well (especially with Gundula…). There’s also the practicalities
of getting the money together and the bottle to him. How about I drink it
instead? Only kidding.

2. The t-shirt: Great idea, Olaf (I’ve been wondering what had happened to
you!). But isn’t this something we Krakenites should really be wearing?

3. The audio CD of birthday wishes or background noises: Also a great idea,
Olaf, although I somehow doubt we’ll have time to get the contributions
together in time.

HI Chris, thanks for you comments!
I’m still alive, I tell you more in the future. About the t-shirt: Definitely this is something for the krakenites, too. But I think it’ll be a great pleasure for Russ to know that we’re wearing this shirt. I think he would pin iton the wall, which might look quite nice. I think this task is very much work, I could contribute to this with a lot of pics, but I don’t have the equipment to do a final and good quality print (before the t-shirt print).
The audio CD with birthday wishes is my personal favourite (background noises included, kids, traffic …). I could do this CD, which means that all krakenites could record a (max.) 30 second wav-file (with the built in audio recorder)and send it to me in a definite time, with the words of the message written down. I fear that this might crash my email system, so I’ll would have to do some preparations to cope with this.
What do you krakennites think about it?
I would also take part in buying the bottle though I share some of the health sorrows of Chris (lookup Angelicas Grotto for this…) I wonder what Dave thinks about this?
Best,
Olaf

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I think we should go ahead with the Scotch plan. It seems to be the most
feasible and timely idea, and one way or another I think Russ will
appreciate it. So I’m going to go ahead and work with Diana to get the
bottle ordered and delivered. I’ve found an online merchant in the UK that
I think will fill our needs–they will send a giftwrapped bottle with
message included. If we order in the next few days, they should be able to
deliver on time.So: if you want to be included in the birthday message, please send a
message to Diana–by direct email rather than over the list (and cc: me) as
soon as possible. Address your message to both of the following addresses:

sli_____@_____.com, and
day_____@_____.com

and make the subject line something obvious like INCLUDE ME IN THE BIRTHDAY
BOTTLE.

We’ll sort out how folks can actually chip in for the bottle once we know
the final cost.

Hope this is okay with everyone.

And I do think, independently of this, we should pursue Olaf’s great
T-shirt and recording ideas. Perhaps they could be timed to coincide with
Mr. H’s next book release.

Dave

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ocelot Factory: http://www.suba.com/~dayvoll

Hello Krakenites,
I agree with Dave and Diana according to the scotch. I’ll rememeber Mr. Hoban drinking schnaps when we visited him. I think his nutrition in general is very healthy (thanks Gundel) but I think he likes alcohol and drinks it at special opportunities – this would be one. My vote – go ahead, I’m definitely part of it.
Best,
OlafI think we should go ahead with the Scotch plan. It seems to be the most
feasible and timely idea, and one way or another I think Russ will
appreciate it. So I’m going to go ahead and work with Diana to get the
bottle ordered and delivered. I’ve found an online merchant in the UK that
I think will fill our needs–they will send a giftwrapped bottle with
message included. If we order in the next few days, they should be able to
deliver on time.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

unsubscribe______________________________________________________
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Even though I’m a bourbon drinker, I like the Scotch idee. Let me know how
and when to chip in.Speaking of “But “the finest Scotch that money can buy”? We could have a
long and serious discussion about that,” as Diana did, as well as mentioning
how a high-priced bottle can sit on the shelf a long time . . .

A few years ago I read in Wine Spectator or some such magazine about a
Scotch collector. Bottles and bottles of exotic stuff he’d gotten for
exorbitant prices. A sip here and there from various bottles over the years.
His liquid treasure.

He commissioned modernist/post-modernist architect Michael Graves to design
and build a cabinet for his Scotch. The thing looked amazing. Glass and wood
and veneers in Graves’ signature style using lots of circles, squares,
triangles, spheres, etc. It was a very architecturally-styled piece of
furniture. As I recall, this single cabinet cost somewhere in the
neighborhood of $15,000.

Yep, that feller treasured his Scotch.
— Duane