Books I Read in March 2022

 “If he be Mr. Hyde,” he had thought, “I shall be Mr. Seek.” — Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 

I read six books this month. Five paperbacks and one on Kindle.

On Tyranny: Twenty Lesson from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder (2017)

This book by historian Timothy Snyder consists of lessons from the 20th century on how to defend democracy against authoritarianism and fascism. I found the lessons insightful and worthwhile. It motivated me to read more about European history, specifically about Russia and Ukraine, as well as fiction by Russian and Ukrainian authors. I wrote a full review in my previous blog post here: 

We Learn by Writing: On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

American Primitive by Mary Oliver (1983)

Out of the little poetry I’ve read so far, Mary Oliver is my favorite. Most of the poems in American Primitive are about nature, animals, and the passing of seasons. Oliver won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for this volume.

The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror edited by Stephen Jones (2021)

This is a collection of folk horror, a subgenre of horror which often, but not always, has elements of folklore. Other elements usually included are rural settings, isolation, the power of nature, and local beliefs. Overall, this is a good mix of old and newer stories. As with most anthologies I liked some stories more than others. 

Favorite stories:

Jenny Greenteeth by Alison Littlewood

The Offering by Michael Marshall Smith 

Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner 

Gravedirt Mouth by Maura McHugh

Wyfa Medj by Storm Constantine 

The Gypsies in the Wood by Kim Newman 

The last story “The Gypsies of the Wood” by Kim Newman was a little different from the others, and not just because it’s a novella instead of a short story. 

A member of a group called the Diogenes Club is called in to investigate mysterious happenings in a village. In this story the Diogenes Club is a secret wing of the British government which investigates supernatural threats. It’s based on the gentlemen’s club of the same name which first appeared in the Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.” 

While this story has elements of folk horror, it also has elements of fantasy, mystery, and adventure. I like the writing style a lot. Every character is interesting, and the dialogue is sharp, witty, with a touch of humor once in a while. It made for a real page turner. I’ll be seeking out more of Kim Newman’s work. 

Frantic by Noel Calef (1958)

This is a French crime noir novel from 1956.  A man commits what he believes is the perfect crime but then gets trapped in an elevator. After an exciting beginning. things slow down a little as various groups of people are introduced. Then the story picks up as events begin to unfold and start coming together. The chapters are short and move from character to character. The story is moody, and things go from dark to darker. I thought the ending was very well done. I grew to care for a secondary character that I had absolutely no interest in when first introduced. 

I like that Black Gat Books used the original cover art by Mitchell Hooks and that Hooks incorporated his signature into the art as graffiti on the wall. You can see his name just under the figure’s elbow. 

The book was adapted into the 1961 French crime film Elevator to the Gallows using the book’s original title. 

Carmilla by Joseph Le Fanu (1872)

This gothic novella about a vampire was written 26 years before Dracula. The story is narrated by Laura, a young woman who lives in a large manor with her father and a few servants. Nearby is a deserted village and the ruins of a castle. 

After a carriage accident, a mysterious young woman named Carmilla stays at the manor to recover. Then strange things begin happening. Laura finds herself attracted to Carmilla but she is repulsed as well. The story is eerie, atmospheric, and it moves along quickly. 

The edition I read was edited by Carmen Maria Machado. It includes an introduction by her as well as footnotes. I’m glad I read the introduction after reading the novella, as it goes over the story in detail and includes a lot of fascinating information about its origins. 

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

This classic gothic novella has been on my to-read list for a long time. Dr. Jekyll’s association with sinister Edward Hyde leads to the hunt for a killer in fog shrouded London. Even knowing the final revelation, it made for an interesting and entertaining read. 

I have mixed feelings about the writing style. While there were some great lines I thought some parts were too wordy. That didn’t stop me from enjoying the story though. It’s an excellent exploration of duality and the struggle between good and evil. 

On to April. 

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

“Fascists rejected reason in the name of will, denying objective truth in favor of a glorious myth articulated by leaders who claimed to give voice to the people.”

— Timothy Snyder, from his introduction.

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by historian Timothy Snyder consists of lessons on how to defend democracy against authoritarianism and fascism. To make his point in each lesson, the author uses events from European history to identify conditions that enabled democracies to transform into dictatorships. 

Examples of some lessons are “Defend institutions,” “Believe in truth,” “Investigate,” and “Learn from peers in other countries.” 

Some of the events that the author touches upon include the Great Terror of the Soviet Union, also known as the Great Purge, Hitler’s rise to power, events that led up to the Holocaust of European Jews by Nazi Germany, Germany’s invasion of Poland, and Britain fighting back against Germany in WWII. 

Considering what is happening in Ukraine currently, some of the more recent events that are touched upon seem even more important now, Putin’s rise to power and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014. It puts helpful perspective on the events of today.

I found the lessons insightful and worthwhile. The following are quotes that stood out to me.

On Hitler’s rise to power:

“The mistake is to assume that rulers who came to power through institutions cannot change or destroy those very institutions — even though that is exactly what they have announced.” 

On democracies becoming a one-party state:

“Some of the Germans who voted for the Nazi Party in 1932 no doubt understood that this might be the last meaningfully free election for some time, but most did not.” 

“No doubt the Russians who voted in 1990 did not think that this would be the last free and fair election in their country’s history, which (thus far) it has been.”

On being wary of paramilitaries:

“The SS began as an organization outside the law, became an organization that transcended the law, and ended up as an organization that undid the law.”

On the media and thinking of your own way of speaking:

“Staring at screens is perhaps unavoidable, but the two-dimensional world makes little sense unless we can draw upon a mental armory that we have developed somewhere else. When we repeat the same words and phrases that appear in daily media, we accept the absence of a larger framework. To have a framework requires more concepts, and having more concepts requires reading.” 

On believing in the truth:

“You submit to tyranny when you renounce the difference between what you want to hear and what is actually the case.”

“Fascists despised the small truths of daily existence, loved slogans that resonated like a new religion, and preferred creative myths to history or journalism.”

On figuring things out for yourself:

“It is your ability to discern facts that makes you an individual, and our collective trust in common knowledge that makes us a society. The individual who investigates is also the citizen who builds. The leader who dislikes the investigators is a potential tyrant.”

“Journalists are not perfect, any more than people in other vocations are perfect. But the work of people who adhere to journalistic ethics is of a different quality than the work of those who do not.” 

On the difference between being a patriot and being a nationalist:

“A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and tells us that we are the best.”

“A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well — and wishing that it would do better.”

“A nationalist will say that “it can’t happen here,” which is the first step toward disaster. A patriot says that it could happen here, but that we will stop it.”

If I have any criticism, it’s that the author could have gone into greater depth regarding some of the historical events. For example, he doesn’t talk about the degree of coercion that people were subjected to in some of the events he uses as examples. 

On the other hand, I think this book is a good introduction and overview of authoritarianism in the 20th century. It's short but it does a good job of provoking the reader to think more deeply about some of the major issues that we face today. It’s motivated me to read more about European history, specifically about Russia and Ukraine, as well as fiction by Russian and Ukrainian authors.

Which brings me to one piece of advice that the author gives that I think is one of the most important: 

Read books.

Seven Things I Learned from Andrew Stanton’s TED Talk: The Clues to a Great Story

 “We all love stories. We are born for them. Stories affirm who we are. We all want affirmations that our lives have meaning. And nothing does a greater affirmation than when we connect through stories.” — Andrew Stanton

Andrew Stanton (A Bug’s Life, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, WALL-E) is an animator, storyboard artist, film director, and screenwriter. I recently watched his 2012 TED Talk, The Clues to a Great Story. I haven’t watched that many TED Talks, but the ones that I have watched have all been informative. One of the things that I find interesting about them is that speakers are limited to a maximum of eighteen minutes. 

Although he talks about writing screenplays, his advice applies to writing stories in general. Here are seven things I learned from Andrew Stanton’s presentation. 

 

One: “Storytelling is joke telling.”

He opens his talk with a joke, gets a laugh from the audience, and then says, “Storytelling is joke telling.” After listening to his explanation, I have to agree. 

“It’s knowing your punchline, your ending, knowing that everything you’re saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular goal…” 

 

I think that’s why when it comes to writing stories, rewriting and editing is so important, to make sure that everything leads to your goal. That’s challenging at first. You may not be sure of your goal when you begin writing or what you think is the goal changes as you make new discoveries as you write. 

Two: “Make me care” is the greatest story commandment. 

Another good point. If the audience doesn’t care, they'll lose interest in the story. But how to make the audience care? First, he points out the importance of the opening of a story. He explains that the opening of a story should make a promise that the story will lead somewhere worth the audience’s time. But then how to keep the audience engaged? 

 

Three: Make your audience work for their meal.

“…the audience actually wants to work for their meal. They just don't want to know that they’re doing that. That’s your job as a storyteller, is to hide the fact that you’re making them work for their meal.”

He calls it the Unifying Theory of 2 + 2. He says don’t give your audience four, give them two plus two.

“The elements you provide and the order that you plan them in is crucial to whether you succeed or fail to engage the audience.”

He adds that this isn’t a magic formula and that there are many ways to accomplish this. I realize that all my favorite books and movies do this in one way or another. 

Four: “Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty.”

This is a quote by British playwright William Archer that Mr. Stanton came across. Mr. Stanton explains that in a good story the audience not only wants to know what will happen next in the short term, but also how the story will conclude in the long term. This can be done by creating honest conflict that creates doubt in the audience’s mind about the outcome. 

Mr. Stanton came across the quote as he was researching screenwriting. This was after he had already written Toy Story and A Bug’s Life. I was impressed with the fact that even after writing two successful screenplays he was still motivated to learn more about writing. He says “...I wanted to become much better at it and learn anything I could.”

Five: "The best stories infuse wonder."

I agreed with this right away but also wondered how writers can infuse wonder in their stories. I think part of the answer lies in this next part.

Six: “Use what you know.”

I’ve come across this advice many times as “write what you know.” I think Mr. Stanton has the best explanation of what that actually means:

“Use what you know. Draw from it. It doesn’t always mean plot or fact. It means capturing a truth from your experiencing it, expressing values you personally feel, deep down in your core.”

Seven: “Storytelling has guidelines, not hard and fast rules.”

I really agree with this. Just learning or memorizing rules isn’t enough. As in learning a language, learning about rules is important, but it's just the first step. Next is writing regularly so you can practice, experiment, and discover what works and what doesn’t. His presentation motivated me to keep doing that.

In Conclusion 

There are a few other lessons in his presentation, but these are the ones that stood out to me. He covers a lot of ground in his eighteen minutes, and he does it in an entertaining way. If you're interested in storytelling, it’s really worth watch. Here's a link to the presentation.

Andrew Stanton: The clues to a great story | TED Talk