Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Dan Hallett (via Dan's blog)

Inspirations: Eyes Without a Face by Georges Franju

Below is an edited version of the infamous scene from Georges Franju's poetic horror film Eyes Without a Face (1960), in which plastic surgeon Doctor Genessier removes a woman's face to replace that of his disfigured daughter. You don't actually see that much, and the special effects are not convincing today, but nonetheless not recommended for the squeamish. 

The cover of the Criterion DVD release of this film (left) is a typical example of the inspired approach to design used by this company, who always pay careful attention to the packaging and presentation of their releases. The film is an obvious reference for the character of Cuckoo in Five Wounds, although in fact I did not see it until after I had conceived of the character. My favourite scene in Eyes Without a Face is not the one excerpted in the clip above, but rather the subsequent montage that shows the transplanted face rotting as the recipient rejects the skin graft (which is also apropos to the themes of Five Wounds, but to the character of Crow rather than that of Cuckoo). Unfortunately I couldn't find that clip online. Bonus inspiration points for the fact that a character is eaten by dogs in the film's finale.

Interview with Zoe Sadokierski

A nice interview with Zoe (the designer of Five Wounds) about her work on two recent short-story anthologies has been posted at Allen & Unwin's Tumblr. Here's an excerpt:

The initial direction was clear in terms of what kind of mood needed to be communicated, but initially we were going to use another illustrator whose work was much more linear in style. It was a collaborative process to get to the rich, layered illustrations these covers ended up with. Designers call this the ‘rebriefing’ process; over the course of a project, you need to keep re-looking at the brief and reassessing how to keep all parties (publishing, marketing, sales, the authors) happy. Sometimes this means stopping, reflecting, and changing tack.

Venice, 2001; Cambridge, 2001; Sydney, 2009

Terry Gilliam explains his animation techniques

Fantastic archival footage of Gilliam.

Interview with Art Spiegelman

Style is a capitalist invention. It’s a trademark. It’s very useful in the world of commerce to have a good trademark, but it wasn’t my first concern. I got restless…

[Found at Austin Kleon's Tumblr.]

Sydney, 2009; Sydney, 2009

Sydney, 2008; Sydney, 2008

Five Wounds: Review at 'The Spectator Book Blog'

There is a nice review of Five Wounds over at The Spectator Book Blog, by Isabel Sutton, which describes the book as an 'engrossing and original fantasy'. Here's an extract:

To my amazement, I began to lose my scepticism and turn the pages with a genuine care for the characters’ fates. I squirmed at the gruesome deaths and held my breath as the hero and heroine made their getaway; by the end I was greedy to know what happens, fully absorbed in the throes of the story. My progress was checked, however, when the ending arrived. There wasn’t one pat conclusion, but two. In a final act of literary guile, the book pushes you back to consider how – as well as what – you are reading.

Dan's Blog

Meanwhile, over at Dan's blog, he has been discussing the influences on his illustrations for Five Wounds, thus: Piranesi, Blake, Hogarth M. C. Escher, Chris Ware Francisco Goya, Umberto Eco

Inspirations: The Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers

I hate purity
I hate goodness
I don't want virtue to exist anywhere
I want everyone corrupt.

Guest Post at Spike Magazine

Spike Magazine in the UK have now published a guest post I wrote for them on the design of Five Wounds. Below is an extract:

Imagine that the appearance of a book is part of the story it tells, as if it was an artefact created by the imaginary civilisation it describes. Book design becomes an aspect of what the science-fiction community calls ‘world-building’, and as such it applies the principle of ‘Show, don’t tell’ to the surface of the page itself. My fantasy novel Five Wounds uses design in exactly this way.

Thanks to Jason Weaver of Spike for arranging this.

Some Further Comments at 'Shelf Abuse'

I somehow missed some further remarks on Five Wounds by Carl Doherty of the 'Shelf Abuse' site, who concludes:

I couldn’t recommend Five Wounds: An Illuminated Novel more. An accomplished, multifaceted work that follows the twisted fates of five sympathetic freaks in what is essentially an alternate-history Venice, its synthesis of words and images is effective enough to change anyone’s preconceptions about them thar picture books.

See here for a more detailed review by Carl. I also wrote a guest post for 'Shelf Abuse' on the influence of comic books on Five Wounds.

Inspirations: Zabriskie Point by Michelangelo Antonioni

The rest of the film is very badly dated (and is therefore not worth explaining here), but this final sequence, seen in isolation, is perhaps the best music video of all time, even though Pink Floyd's 'Come in Number 51, Your Time is Up' doesn't actually start until about two minutes in. That's okay, because the preceding section is taken up by multiple camera views of an actual exploding house (you would make the most of that footage too, if you had blown up an actual house).

The title chapter of Pistols! Treason! Murder! could be seen as a homage to this sequence.

Inspirations: The Night of the Hunter by Charles Laughton (1955)

Charles Laughton's film The Night of the Hunter (1955) has thematic concerns in common with another of my inspirations: Ray Bradbury's novel Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962).





To fully appreciate the second clip above, you have to know from the outset that Mitchum is the villain, from whom Lillian Gish is protecting the orphaned children sheltering in her house by means of the shotgun cradled across her lap. Laughton represents the conflict between these two characters (or rather, archetypes, who are defined in part by their opposed notions of God) by having them harmonise with each other while singing the same hymn, which they obviously understand in radically different ways. It is a brilliantly counter-intuitive dramatic strategy.

Simon Callow's book on The Night of the Hunter is an excellent introduction to this unique film, the only one directed by Laughton. On the film's tone and aesthetic, Callow explains (pp. 43-44):

From the beginning, Laughton had been insistent on conveying to all his collaborators the essential fairytale-like quality of the story. Everything, he told [art director Hilyard] Brown, should be seen from the boy's point of view. He accordingly designed the sets 'from the position that only children see certain things.' .... There was little pretence that a real world was being filmed, the shapely lines and symbolic details creating a highly stylised environment in which expressive power was achieved by painterly or sculptural means ....

On Mitchum as the villainous Preacher, Callow has this to say (pp. 65-66):

The performance is almost two-dimensional; both the actor and the character seem to be giving conscious performances, which lends a highly original dimension. At the risk of introducing an over-used and devalued tag, this is a Brechtian performance in the technical sense of the word - it is a demonstration of a certain kind of behaviour which promotes an analytical and critical attitude from the audience. .... Character becomes a kind of conjuring trick: the fascination comes from watching the way in which Preacher works his effects. The more naked the contradictions, the more chilling the effect.

Truffaut's initial review described the film as being like 'a horrifying news item retold by small children.' All of this recalls to me the following comment by Will Self on the worlds created in the fiction of Roald Dahl (quotation from The Guardian, 17 October 2009):

[T]here are big white spaces in Dahl-world where any realistic detailing might well be shaded in by a lesser writer; and again, in common with [Quentin] Blake’s vision, Dahl-world is at once lurid and curiously ill-defined. The passions are strong and clear – fear, hatred, avarice, love, greed (especially for sugar) – but they are played out against a backdrop that is only wonkily apprehended.

Dahl mimicked to perfection a believable child’s-eye view, that, looking up from below, sees the adult realm as foreshortened, and adult foibles as grossly elongated.

IT'S A HARD WORLD FOR LITTLE THINGS.

Inspirations: Townes Van Zandt

YOU FEEL LIKE MUDD, YOU'LL END UP GOLD.

Bernard Caleo on Montage in Comics

Check out the video above from Readings Bookshop in Melbourne, hosted by Oz comics impresario Bernard Caleo, who is talking about montage in film and comics (some - maybe all - of the featured art is by Michael Camilleri, who also appears). The first of a series of events on comics run by Bernard for Readings.

Inspirations: Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders

NIEN.

Guest Post at The Spectator Book Blog

I have a guest post up at The Spectator book blog, which is about the influence of the King James Bible (published 400 years ago this month) on the design of Five Wounds. 

Here's an extract: 

 The modern paperback is not a natural object. The advent of e-books has made this painfully obvious. In the current state of confusion as to what a book is or should be, it might be an opportune moment to review the sacred prehistory of the novel. Five Wounds reaffirms the relevance of the King James Bible to modern storytelling, but it also draws on medieval traditions that were erased in 1611, just as the novel erased its own sacred origins.

Five Wounds: Discussion at 'Caustic Cover Critic'

James Morrison of the book design blog Caustic Cover Critic (he is also the publisher of Whisky Priest Books) has posted a short discussion of Five Wounds, including some photos of page layouts. Have a look!

Five Wounds: Review at 'Shelf Abuse'

Following on from my guest post at the Shelf Abuse site, Carl Doherty has posted a review of Five Wounds there. A quotation is below:

Five Wounds' story would stand proud in any format, but the combination of Walker’s rich cityscape and Hallett’s spidery imagery results in something beyond a conventional book with superfluous pictures. Text and imagery feed off one another like Siamese twins, to the extent that it’s difficult to imagine either element surviving if separated.

The Influence of Comic Books on Five Wounds

A short article I wrote on this topic has now been posted at the Shelf Abuse site. Thanks to Carl Doherty for arranging this. An extract is below:

Long decried as reductive and simplistic, comic books are actually, as Douglas Wolk has recently suggested, a vehicle peculiarly suited to allegory: that is, to the representation of abstract ideas through narrative. Wolk argues that superhero comics in particular ‘provide bold metaphors for discussing ideas or reifying abstractions into narrative fiction. They’re the closest thing that exists right now to the “novel of ideas.”’ (Wolk, Reading Comics, p. 92) All superhero characters and plots are, in some sense, allegorical, but this in no way detracts from their integrity as stories.

Release of Five Wounds!

Five Wounds is released today in the UK. The official US release will follow shortly, although it is already available to buy in both countries (links are on the right). It is published by Allen & Unwin. Five Wounds is fantasy noir, and is presented in a unique 'illuminated' format with many original illustrations created by Dan Hallett (see the video below for more information on the format). 

Here is the publisher's synopsis of the story:  

In a cruel and arbitrary world, where disturbing lapses in logic are commonplace, five orphans must face their traumatic origins. Gabriella is a crippled angel, haunted by her inability to interpret prophecies. Cur is the rabid leader of a sect of dogs, desperate to escape his inheritance. Cuckoo is a gambler with a wax face determined to find a fixed identity before his luck runs out. Magpie is a thief in search of the perfect photographic subject, but terrified of going blind. Crow is a leper trying to distil the essence of death as an antidote to dying. 

Each of them is deformed; each has a special ability; each is connected to all of the others. And each gets exactly what they deserve. Or do they? 

Here are some quotations about the book:  

In a world of increasing vacuity and self-concern, this beautiful illustrated edition of Five Wounds is like a medication - a mystical, elegant treatise on empathy that is at once also a novel and an anti-novel. It’s a turning-point book, but one that can live on a coffee-table like a beating heart. I’ve seen nothing so rare, curious and beautiful in a long time. – DBC Pierre, author of Vernon God Little and Lights Out in Wonderland 

If I say this fable is peculiar, it’s a compliment. Not so much steampunk as, what? Canalpunk? This elaborate macabre book plays games, runs riddles, leaps in flights of fancy and dives down chasms of nightmare with Tarot, murder, jokes, and angels thrown in for good measure. The illustrations are Goya meets comic-book, the text is Perfume and Pan’s Labyrinth, Gogol, Calvino and Casanova’s memoirs of Venice all in one. Extraordinary. – Kate Holden, author of In My Skin and The Romantic  

The template suggests an old-fashioned children’s classic: handsome proportions, elegant print, fancy chapter headings, centre plates on shiny paper. But a virus has gotten in there: the illustrations are nightmarish and hermetic, calling on the Tarot, Escher, psychotic heraldry, and the text here and there is scribbled through, the nice fonts mocked by scrawled block capitals. And the story likewise takes the blackness that underpins traditional fairytales and brings it front and centre. .... [T]he book takes you places, and the illustrations are wonderful. - Owen Richardson, review in The Age 

Think back to your first trip with Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, or how it felt to enter the Matrix after Neo takes the red pill. Five Wounds: An Illuminated Novel takes you down a similarly twisting path and leaves you pondering the journey well afterwards. .... a thought-provoking and beautifully presented work. - Aliese Millington, review in Transnational Literature 

The five senses are a common theme in Five Wounds and it seems fitting then, that it appeals to the senses in such detail. I have literally tried everything short of licking the book. The hardcover, thoughtful selection of paper stock and red ribbon page-marker makes the book seem like an artefact; it is a privilege to hold it. .... The scribblings peppered through out the book add to its mystery. I feel as if I am reading a diary, a draft, a spell book; something personal that was not meant for the eyes of others. .... [They] lend the book a desperate sense of urgency. - Dave Drayton, review at Vibewire 

Here is a video interview (courtesy of the Wheeler Centre) about the unique format of Five Wounds:

I'll be posting some additional discussion about Five Wounds here over the next couple of months. I'll also be doing some guest posts on other blogs and sites, which I'll link to from here.

Let Us Burn the Gondolas: Venice as a Modern City in 'Rethinking History'

My photoessay entitled 'Let Us Burn the Gondolas: Venice as a Modern City' has just been published in the Routledge journal Rethinking History, with which I have a long-standing relationship. It is part of an issue (vol, 15, no. 1, 2011) edited by James Goodman on 'History as creative writing', which includes contributions in various formats (including poetry) by historians and writers such as Martha Hodes and Gregory Downs. There is additional discussion and more photographs from the project on this blog. Buying articles from academic journals is always prohibitively expensive for individuals, but if you have any kind of university affiliation, try accessing it through your library, who may have an online subscription to Rethinking History.

Video about the production of 'Tree of Codes' by Jonathan Safran Foer

More information from the publisher, Visual Editions.

Appearance at 'Penguin Plays Rough' Night in Newtown this Saturday

This Saturday I shall be giving a short reading as part of the 'Penguin Plays Rough' night, which is a regular feature of Newtown's cultural life. Below is the notice by organiser Pip Smith from the PPR site:

Saturday April 9 8pm

Behold! The next PPR is at hand! I know it’s been longer than a month, but what with irritating book hiccups, I’ve been shackled to my laptop and unable to service your live fiction needs as regularly as I’d like to. But, after a hearty meal of spinach and liver, I have been able to burst free of my chains just in time to deliver you the most diverse sample of short stories this side of the 1970s. Check this out for diversity:

Miles Merrill: is the Artistic Director/ Creator/ CEO/ reigning monarch/king shit/ Godfather of The Australian Poetry Slam. He’s also a spoken-word artist in his own right and has opened for Saul Williams, wrote and co-directed a show in the Sydney Festival and performed solo at the Sydney Opera House. He’s the real deal, so be sure to see him in the flesh.

Jonathan Walker: is not only an expert on Venetian spies and diplomats (Cambridge University certified), but he is also the author of an “illuminated novel”, Five Wounds (see his website for details: www.jonathanwalkervenice.com). Jonathan will be reading from his novel, accompanied by projected illuminations.

Mark Sutton: Sydney University Story Club regular, one time liquor store employee, and current crossword compiler for ladies gossip magazines, Mark Sutton is very funny. I have witnessed his hilariousness, and it is indeed both wry and giggle-worthy.

Megan Garret-Jones: is a performance artist who has collaborated with Team Mess, and is one of the coordinators of Monthly Friend. She has performed her works at the Melbourne Fringe Festival and the Red Rattler. She once read a story about an octopus at Penguin Plays Rough. I remember, because there is a photo of her on our website with her hand perched on her head in the way an octopus might.

Ramon Glazov: not only has an excellent name, but is also the author of a very particular and Kafka-esque (yes, I just used that adjective) story that I STILL remember (even though I read it years ago) from the Cutwater Anthology. He’s going to read a story called “A Dispatch from the Golden Triangle” about a gambling town in Burma. Can’t get much more far-reaching than that, my peoples.

See you on Saturday. I am going to bake something edible you all can eat, too. God knows what yet, but it will be a tasty surprise.

The event will be held at the usual venue, which is at 4 Lackey Street, St Peters; time 8-10.30ish. I believe that there is a cover charge of $5 to enter, and that there will also be open mic readings in between the programmed entries listed above. Sounds like good value to me!

2010 Aurealis Awards Shortlist

Five Wounds is one of the shortlisted titles in the 'Best Illustrated Book / Graphic Novel' category in the 2010 Aurealis Awards for Australian Speculative Fiction. The other shortlisted candidates for this category include Nicki Greenberg and Justin Randall (fellow guests on 3CR's The Comic Spot). Good luck to all the other authors shortlisted for all the various categories, some of whom I met recently at the Worldcon in Melbourne or the Sydney Freecon.

Five Wounds: Review at 'Literary Minded'

A very nice review by guest writer Lyndon Riggall at Literary Minded. An excerpt is below:

The story itself is a beautifully written and illustrated journey, but for me what made the novel truly ‘illuminated’ was the way in which the book refused to settle. Five Wounds is no summer beach distraction, it’s an intensely involved reading experience. .... For me the journey of reading the book was one of active problem-solving and code-breaking, and not only is this no bad thing; judging by the novel’s curious annotations, edits, and conflicting final chapters, I think it is also absolutely the intention of its authors.

Podcast of session on 'Modern Dystopia' at the Melbourne Writers Festival

Back in August, I appeared with DBC Pierre at the Melbourne Writers Festival in a discussion on 'Modern Dystopia'. This session was recorded by Radio National, and an edited version was broadcast on Monday 17 January as part of their 'Best of the fests' programming. The discussion moderator was Justin Clemens. 

UPDATE: You can now download a podcast of the programme. I have also uploaded the relevant section of the audio below. 

SECOND UPDATE: There is now further discussion of the ideas raised in our discussion here.

  

N.B. I am actually talking about Five Wounds in the session, even though the presenter mentions Pistols! Treason! Murder! in the introduction.