Brave New World

I promise not to make a habit of this. Others have devoted themselves to posting vintage paperback covers, Pop Sensation, for example.

This is one of my favorite covers, by Charles Binger. I have a framed blow-up of it on the wall here in my office at home, done for a "classics" display at the library. Binger has used the "keyhole" technique popular in paperback covers of the '40's. I had cherished this cover as a find, but I see that it is all over the 'Net, even roundly mocked at BoingBoing.

I don't care, I like it. It says, "stop the world, I want to get off!" We see a new Adam and Eve, sans fig leaves, escaping, not cast out from, the "soulless Eden". Will they be missed?

I don't suppose the word dystopia had yet been coined. It is a potent and ancient image. Escape or exile? From Ur of the Chaldees, The Old World, the Concrete Jungle, Suburbia, Cyberspace?

And return, to what? To a naked, undistracted, painful, ethical, courageous existence in the sight of an inscrutable God.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

The Bible and the Liturgy

I've actually been reading The Bible and the Liturgy, by biblical theologian Jean Danielou, S.J., for several months, and finished it tonight. It has been my reading for my weekly hour at Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Tuesday nights.

Readers of the works of Scott Hahn, a biblical scholar and a convert to the Catholic Church who has brought many into the fullness of the faith, may not know that this work is something of a touchstone for him, being about typologies of the Tanakh, (which Christians call the Old Testament), and how they are woven into the accounts of the New Testament and the major feast-days of the Church, particularly Easter and Pentecost. Hahn has amplified Danielou's insights to produce a number of books on subjects like the Book of Revelation and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Before this I had worked my way through Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth, another brilliant work of biblical theology. I have found over the years that this is my preferred method of Bible study: not to work my way doggedly through a book of the Bible, but rather to read a scholarly work about the Bible with references all through the Bible, keeping my Bible close at hand.

Red Alert

1958. "SAC ATTACK! Every minute of every hour of every day, there are American bombers in the air, loaded with H-bombs, ready to fly into action at the mere spark of the right radio signal. These are the planes and men of the Strategic Air Command."

Three Harbours

Sea stories have always been a very minor sub-genre of men's adventure fiction in the United States, where the cowboy, the soldier, the private detective, and even the policeman are much more popular as pulp heroes than the sea captain. Think of the great sea novels by American authors: Moby Dick, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Caine Mutiny, Mister Roberts. Think of the popular affection for pirates. We, (native American white folks), are essentially a nation of mutineers.

Nautical fiction is only really popular in the Northeast, with its historical links to England, to whaling, to merchant shipping, and to that sport of the rich, yachting. The recent enthusiasm for pirates has not been accompanied by the appearance of pirate fiction, (with the notable exception of Neal Stephenson's massive Baroque Cycle), being apparently only cinema, video game and festival based.

F. Van Wyck Mason is good example. A Boston blue blood and Harvard educated, he wrote serial pulp "intrigue" fiction before breaking out with Three Harbours, a sprawling historical novel, in 1938. A sequel to Three Harbours, The Stars on the Sea, was a top-ten bestseller in 1940. This cover is from a 1952 paperback edition, and it promises more than the book actually delivers in the way of "good parts".

I can't make out what is going on here. The tankards and counter in the background suggest that they are in a tavern, he holding her possessively aloft, to her obvious delight. But what is that brown, striped cloth at the bottom? And where are her legs? Are they, in fact, in bed, fully clothed?

Hardworking Library

A little over two weeks into the new school year, I have a couple of impressions to offer.

Gone, mostly, are the rambunctious, disrespectful teens after school that we have gotten used to in previous years. We've always prepared ourselves for battle to protect the atmosphere of the library for those who come to actually use the library, but the really rotten apples, the gangster wannabes with their grilles and their sagging pants, have become scarce. The sheriff's deputy has especially remarked upon it. He offered today that it might be because of the change in school hours. I wonder whether there is more to it. I think that our President has provided an example for everyone to see, that not only is success more than the selfish pursuit of luxury and wealth, but that it is cool to be smart. That to refuse to learn, for fear of "acting white", is for losers. "Brothers should pull up their pants", says the man.

With the job market what it is, I am also seeing signs of increasing numbers of people studying harder in school and returning to school to qualify for better jobs. The demand for test preparation guides for high school advanced placement courses, for college entrance exams, for professional certification, and for post-graduate studies is at a high. I've never, until now, I think, seen every single book for the GRE checked out. The library offers online test preparation for most of these examinations through Learning Express. I always follow up a test prep book request, whether we have it on the shelf or not, with a demo of Learning Express, and often they will choose it instead.

There is a serious, focused mood among our users, and among the staff as well. Reduced staff due to budget cuts has all of us working harder, sharing tasks that were not ours a couple of years ago, and, unfortunately, letting important but less critical aspects of librarianship slide for now. All of us who remain are rowing together for all we are worth, keeping the ship afloat. The need for library services has never been greater.

Atlas Shrugged

Having levered 1300 leased copies, mostly bestsellers, out of the library and back to Baker & Taylor, (UPS showed up on Wednesday as I was leaving), I breathed a sigh of relief and turned my attention to clearing my desk.

Digging down through layers of sediment, I found articles on Port Leon and St. Marks from The Florida Historical Quarterly, which I had retrieved for SE's husband, who led an expedition last spring on the coast. I gave them to SE for our vertical files.

There were problem volumes from two sets of collected works, one by Washington Irving and one by Henry James, both sets dating from the 1920's, and with title records so rudimentary that titles within them could not be found. A search for The Golden Bowl, for example, would not reveal that The Novels and Works of Henry James included that work. Our head of acquisitions, LB, had directed my attention to these two sets.

Irving is a cheap edition, with several volumes in poor condition. We have every title in the set in newer editions with the exception of The Life of Oliver Goldsmith. The only title by Irving I ever get requests for is Tales of the Alhambra. So I discarded it.

James, on the other hand, is a nice edition, on rag paper, though the spines are faded. Spoke to C. in Collection Management, and he will see about overlaying the record with more complete information, so that patrons can find titles in the set.

There are other sets of collected works in the 800's that merit similar treatment, Thackery and The Great Books come to mind, Harvard Classics too.

Will I actually clear my desk, down to the wood? Stay tuned.

Huddled Masses, Wretched Refuse

It is shocking to me, when I see the parade of humanity that streams through our doors when we open in the morning: a legion of the unwashed and unemployed, wanting only to connect online. They might be kings in cyberspace, Napoleons in rags.

I had seen them, a family of four country folk, mother, father, son and wife, (edit: or maybe daughter, I think now, 2nd edit: fiancé, says the son), passing the time at the tables, as though they had nowhere else to go. Modern Okies fetched up at the library. Yesterday the younger woman complained of stomach pains, slumped on the carpet near the reference desk. We called for an ambulance. They were back today, she sleeping on the concrete bench on the second floor landing.

Blogging Reference: Saturday, August 29

The long summer hiatus is over. The children are back in school. The college students are back in town.

10:00 Open. Working with M. today. Let's see how this goes. Don't think I'm up to putting everything down today.

Completed summer Baker & Taylor lease book returns this week. 47 cartons are ready for pick-up down in the garage. Taking a final look at the inventory list to mark off titles to keep.

Check out large print copy of Web of Dreams by V.C. Andrews to mending. Loose pages.

PC for Sorrell.

D. calls, can get money for cash drawer. Get money.

D. calls again. A's called in sick, needs us to cover her lunch at 12:30 at Media desk.

10:20 11 PC's in use.

Results for Texas Lottery Mega Millions drawing on 4/28/09. His ticket has not a single match. Interesting, jackpot was 181 million, but payout was only 55+ million.

Korean woman wants to apply for English tutor, but no one in Literacy office. Give brochure, tell her come back on Monday.

PC for Daniel.

Set woman up with microfilm.

Man liked Kurlansky's Salt: A World History, Cod: a Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, and The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, wants recommendation. Likes history, but it must "read good". Suggest Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea or Sea of Glory. He takes Sea of Glory.

Rain Gods, by James Lee Burke in large print. Place hold.

Microfilm help.

Where is printer?

11:25

Where is PC 62?

Help w screen resolution size.

Man returns ILL, The "I Love Lucy" Book. Check in & put on ILL returns shelf in workroom.

11:40 Still 3 PC's open.

Man wants library address. Takes our business card.

11:43 PC's full.

Young couple: how to get card, where are State Archives?

4 sorority girls ask where the typewriters are. Return & ask for help. Have never used typewriters before.

12:05 Lunch. Barbecue sandwich & Pepsi, To Command a King's Ship, in the gazebo in the park. Bolitho and his men capture a Malay pirate schooner. Aaaarrr...

1:09 L., our intern, is here. M. has gone to relieve D.

Boy wants Wet Ones hand towel.

Woman thinks she's getting error message with State of Florida job search, but it's simply advising her that she must have cookies enabled to submit an application. She did not see that her query had produced no results.

How can she print online resume w/o web page trimmings? Help find in-page print command, & she's good.

PC for Day.

1:20 Make round. Straighten new books. Study areas are busy, but quiet. Straighten magazine reading area. All's well.

Staple remover.

Phone: The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C to 2000 A.D. by Chancellor Williams. Can hold 24 hrs. What she needs to get card.

Scooter Man shows up, old guy who kids me about letting him "test-drive" my Vespa. He once had a 1959 Lambretta 250cc. Gets me to show him pictures of different scooters on the computer, (he doesn't want to try using a computer himself).

2:34 Quiet.

Where are Space Travel, Bermuda Triangle, Star Trek books? Take to shelves.

Work on B&T inventory.

Wants Iran picture book for Hospice patient. End up doing ILL.

Paper for printers.

PC's for several people.

Where are math books?

Paper for copier.

Help using photocopier to make coloring sheets of Mickey Mouse.

PC for Savannah.

Man has late materials, story about camping trip. Send to circulation.

Can he have oceanography mag from rack? Yes.

PC for Jennifer.

Today's paper.

4:02

Scooter Man: What is the Doctrine of Balaam in Revelation 2:14?

APA Publication Manual. Needs 6th ed. Copies avail. at branches. Place hold.

4:30 First closing announcement.

Her browser's frozen.

PC for Aslaf.

She says copier gave her Canadian quarter in change. Hmmm... Give her the nickel she needs for last copy anyway.

Phone: number for Sheriff's Dept.

Phone: directions to library.

When open tomorrow morn? 1 pm, (makes face). Thought we closed at 6 today.

Phone: have MS Word to borrow and install? No, sorry, try OpenOffice. Can save as Word.

Rastaman w knitted Rasta-colored cap needs book on writing essay. Take to shelf.

5 min. to closing.

The Grapes of Wrath revisited

I recently mentioned The Grapes of Wrath in my post, Poor Folks Online. From Oklahoma to California, the Guardian's Chris McGreal re-traces the route of Steinbeck's epic depression era novel.

On Being Spoiled by Patrick O'Brian

Having read the twenty Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian in the last five months, I was in a comfortable, nautical groove. I thought I might stay there with the novels of Alexander Kent, (the pen name of Douglas Reeman for his late 18th - early 19th century wooden ship series featuring Richard Bolitho).

After reading a couple, I don't think I will continue with them. I miss O'Brian's encyclopedic erudition and psychological depth. More than once, Reeman has described a tropical coast as "a mass of rotting vegetation". O'Brian would name the species of trees and shrubs to be seen. Reeman imagines "red birds". O'Brian would name the birds.

There is no question that Reeman knows his ships. He gives a much grittier account of the life on the lower decks, and his seamen are a good deal less content than Aubrey's jolly crews. But on the whole, the Bolitho series does not rise above the level of "men's adventure" fiction. Too often, the action is driven by "bad guys". The characters are very roughly sketched. Bolitho seems to have no inner life apart from his role as a ship's captain.

And he seems anachronistic to me. I doubt whether many British naval officers would, in the 1780's, have been so opposed to flogging and slavery. Aubrey, 20 years later, dislikes flogging, but accepts slavery as a fact of life.

(8/27/09) Reading on through Command a King's Ship, I feel I may have been too harsh here. Perhaps it is not really fair to make O'Brian a yardstick to measure other authors of nautical fiction. I will let you know when I find a work that matches the power of Desolation Island, IMO O'Brian's best.