Your Search Results

      • The Arts

        Hell Unlimited

        Where Shakespeare Met Goethe

        by Joanne Maria McNally

        In short, incisive scenes this novella explores the role of theatre, film, dreams and nightmares in and beyond life in a situation of sadistic imprisonment, and explores the way the inevitable and dramatic unfolding of their oppressors’ horrific plans impact upon the lives of three individuals (who are also artists) and their friendship. The novella has a contemporary feel due to the framing of it in the present and in the form of a talk to an audience.   It opens with the main character, an elderly famous actor known only as Carl, reciting Shakespeare to the walls of a dilapidated barrack. His much younger friend, an acclaimed photographer and cameraman known only as Carl’s friend, and a new arrival to the camp, breaks the illusion of Carl’s apparent spell of madness with ‘his rescue’ of Carl by reciting some lines from Carl’s earlier portrayal of Goethe’s Mephistopheles on the stages in Prague, and by reminding him of their shared friendship and companionship before the terror was unleashed. Simultaneously, the backdrop of evil, and Faust’s pact with the devil is brought immediately into sharp focus, and is omnipresent in various forms throughout as the protagonists struggle with their sense of theatre and reality before and since life in the camp and their own use of illusion, illicit theatrical performances and dreams as a self-preservation strategy during their imprisonment.   Lines from Shakespeare and Goethe’s ‘Faust’ are interspersed with the characters’ own reflections and interactions and lift the characters to a higher plain, and beyond the immediate brutal circumstances and oppression. The slow-moving opening gives way to an ever-increasing momentum as external circumstances plunge the two main protagonists into situations which force them to the edge of humanity.   The work sounds very interesting indeed Patrick Spottiswode, Director, Globe Education The novella also exists as a play (updated by the author between 2011- 2013).

      • The natural world, country life & pets

        Great Salt Lake

        An Anthology

        by Gary Topping

        Probably Utah's most widely recognized topographical feature, the Great Salt Lake is possibly also the state's least appreciated and understood one. While visitors often feel compelled to take a closer look at it and even test its salinity by dipping a finger or a toe, many native Utahns and tourists never take the time to explore the lake more extensively or to learn about its many facets. Awaiting those who do so is the discovery of just how fascinating a place the lake is. As Gary Topping points out in his introduction, Great Salt Lake "sounds like someone's literary fantasy: a vast interior sea bordered by marshes and dotted with islands that support thousands of shore birds of a great variety of species, yet flanked on other sides by an immense salt waste that forbids human habitation... Great Salt Lake remains one of the world's most remarkable geological phenomena, a place of beauty, drama, and complexity to challenge the most ambitious curiosity and imagination." To encourage a deeper knowledge and understanding of this unique body of water, Topping has assembled some of the best historical and contemporary writing on Great Salt Lake. The authors include historical figures such as Osborne Russell, Jedediah Smith, John C. Frémont, Howard Stansbury, and, less known, Alfred Lambourne, a turn-of-the-century artist and western Thoreau who sought solitude and contemplation by building a house on remote Gunnison Island. Also included are selections from more recent writing about the lake, among them pieces by well-known historians Dale Morgan and Brigham Madsen and other essays that look at the varied ways, recreational and economic, that people have used or sought to use the lake. The subjects of the collected pieces range from fantastic stories people tell about this odd inland sea to attempts they have made to exploit it for commercial value; from exploration and emigration to recreation and resorts; from the lake's prehistory to its future, as development and population growth near its shores create conflicting demands and pressures.

      • Photographs: collections
        January 2012

        Beneath Cold Seas

        by David Hall

        In Beneath Cold Seas, author and photographer David Hall takes us into the underwater world of the Pacific Coast from California to Alaska, home to the most diverse and spectacular marine life of any temperate or cold-water ecosystem on the planet. From the tiny, candy-stripe shrimp, giant Pacific octopus, ghost-like hooded nudibranchs, and migrating sockeye salmon to the world's largest sea lions, Hall's stunning photographs and lively text reveal many fascinating species interrelationships and rarely observed animal behaviors. An innovative approach to over/underwater photography places the marine life of the Pacific Northwest in familiar context with hauntingly beautiful images that will surprise even experienced divers and delight the rest of us. An introduction by Sarika Cullis-Suzuki focuses on the conservation issues facing this rich yet vulnerable ecosystem.

      Subscribe to our

      newsletter