Ten of the best mirrors in literature
Source: John Mullan @ guardian.co.uk
Richard II, by William Shakespeare A weak king but a consummate drama queen, Richard II sends for a looking glass when he finds himself about to be deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke. “Give me the glass, and therein will I read. / No deeper wrinkles yet?” Pronouncing his regal glory “brittle”, he smashes the mirror on the ground, “For there it is, crack’d in a hundred shivers.”
“Snow White”, by the Brothers Grimm Those famous lines addressed by the evil, vain queen to her magic mirror were originally in German: “Spieglein, Spieglein, an der Wand / Wer ist die Schönste im ganzen Land?” “You are,” is always the mirror’s answer, until one day the mirror tells her that her beauty has been surpassed by that of her step-daughter, Snow White . . .
“The Lady of Shalott”, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson The eponymous lady is condemned to watch the world indirectly, via a mirror that exhibits to her the shifting scenes of Camelot. “A curse is on her” if she look directly from her casement. But then Sir Lancelot rides by, and she cannot resist a gander. Oh dear. “The mirror crack’d from side to side; / ‘The curse is come upon me,’ cried / The Lady of Shalott.”
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Russia’s Answer to Anne Rice: Lena Meydan’s Vampire Epic Will Rock Your Literary World
Source:bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com
It’s been a good year for translated Russian fantasy sagas being released in the States. Alexey Pehov’s decidedly Tolkienesque Shadow Prowler – the first volume of his Chronicles of Siala trilogy – was translated into English (by Andrew Bromfield) and released in North America in February. A bestseller in Russia when it was originally published way back in 2002, nothing was lost in translation here – for me, it was reminiscent of reading a classic adventure fantasy from Fritz Leiber or Michael Moorcock. It was a solid, traditional fantasy revolving around a legendary master thief (named Shadow Harold) who is plucked from the streets of the city of Avendoom and forcibly commissioned by the King of Valiostr to help save the kingdom from the dark forces of the Nameless One.
All Harold has to do is travel across a sprawling realm, into the perilous Forests of Zagraba, and retrieve the Rainbow Horn (a magical artifact that is the only object that can neutralize the Nameless One’s power), which happens to be buried deep in Hrad Spein (aka Palaces of Bone) – ancient, haunted catacombs that have been the burial grounds for ogres, orcs, elves, and human heroes:
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What do you think of today’s book news?
I agree that at least 5 of those mirrors would make my top ten list- any you think that have been ommitted?
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