Littlepear通信は61号までが紙版であった。けれども、時代の流れに乗ってみようかと掲示板を始めたり、ブログを始めたりして、そのネット上で通信を書けばよいと思っていた。が、実際はかなり困難を極めることになる。というのも、ネットは誰の目にもさらされるものであるからである。気軽に友人らが読むには構わないが、あまりにも人の目につくのもどうかと思われる内容もあるからである。そして、メモ代わりに書くという作業も人の目に触れる場合には、勝手なひとりよがりとして判断されかねないとも限らず、なかなかネット上に書くことも出来なかった。紙版通信をつけていたころは、号数を重ねたいばかりに色々と勉強もしたのだが、ネットではなかなか腰もあがらず(太ったとかいうのは置いておいて)勉強もさぼりがちになり、これはいかんと思った次第。そこで2007年はこちらの休止状態にしているブログにアップしていこうと考えたのである。もちろん、紙版状態と同じ公開度合いであるから、保護パスワードを設定し、限られた人にしか見せないというようにする。そして、コメント欄ももしかしたらあるかもしれないが
(ここのブログは使いにくい)基本的にコメントは受け付けないことにする。もし、コメントを求めたい内容の場合は「ことわざ掲示板」へアップをするので、その際はご意見、ご指導賜りたい。
さて、再開62号はいきなり私的メモ号だ。今回は、気になる児童文学作家ラッセル・ホーバン。家にある英米児童文学の本を見ても出ていなかったので、とりあえずウィキペディアで出てきたことを貼っておく。随時、新情報はここに取り上げることにする。
ラッセル・ホーバン Russell Hoban 1925-
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Hoban
Russell Hoban in 2005Russell Conwell Hoban (born February 4, 1925) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magic realism, poetry, and children's books. He lives in England.
BiographyHoban was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of two Jewish Ukrainian immigrants. He was named after Russell Conwell.
After briefly attending Temple University, he enlisted in the Army at age 18 and served in the Philippines and Italy as a radio operator during World War II. During his military service, he married his first wife, Lillian Hoban (née Aberman), who later illustrated many of his books.
Hoban then worked as an illustrator (painting several covers for TIME, Sports Illustrated, and The Saturday Evening Post) and an advertising copywriter—occupations which several of his characters later shared—before writing and illustrating his first children's book, What Does It Do and How Does It Work. He wrote exclusively for children for the next decade, and was best known for his series of short books starring Frances, a temperamental badger child. The Mouse and His Child, a dark philosophical tale for older children, appeared in 1967 and was Hoban's first full-length novel.
In 1969, Hoban, his wife, and their four children travelled to London, intending to stay only a short time. The marriage dissolved, and while the rest of the family returned to the United States, Hoban remained in London and has resided there ever since. All of his adult novels except Riddley Walker, Pilgermann and Fremder are set in whole or part in contemporary London.
Hoban now lives with his second wife, Gundula Ahl; they have three children, one of who is the composer Wieland Hoban, to whom Riddley Walker is dedicated. Wieland has set one of his father's texts in his piece Night Roads (1998-99).
Themes and genres
Hoban is often described as a fantasy writer; only two of his novels, Turtle Diary and The Bat Tattoo, are entirely devoid of supernatural elements. However, the fantasy elements are usually presented as only moderately surprising developments in an otherwise realistic contemporary story, i.e. magic realism. Exceptions include Kleinzeit (a comic fantasy whose characters include Death, Hospital, and Underground), Riddley Walker (generally considered science fiction because of its futuristic though primitive setting), Pilgermann (a historical novel about the Crusades), and Fremder (a more recognisably science-fiction novel).
Many of his novels could also be considered romances, following the development of a relationship between two characters who often take turns as narrators, bonding over some common obsession or artistic interest.
There is frequent repetition of the same images and themes in different contexts: for instance, many of Hoban's works refer to lions, Orpheus, Eurydice, Persephone, Vermeer, severed heads, heart disease, flickering, Odilon Redon, and King Kong.
Works
Adult novelsThe Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz (1973), ISBN 0-8128-1624-2
Kleinzeit (1974), ISBN 0-670-41458-1
Turtle Diary (1975), ISBN 0-394-40199-9
Riddley Walker (1980), ISBN 0-671-42147-6
Pilgermann (1983), ISBN 0-671-45968-6
The Medusa Frequency (1987), ISBN 0-87113-165-X
Fremder (1996), ISBN 0-224-04370-6
Mr. Rinyo-Clacton's Offer (1998), ISBN 0-224-05121-0
Angelica's Grotto (1999), ISBN 0-7475-4611-8
Amaryllis Night and Day (2001), ISBN 0-7475-5285-1
The Bat Tattoo (2002), ISBN 0-7475-6022-6
Her Name Was Lola (2003), ISBN 0-7475-7024-8
Come Dance with Me (2005), ISBN 0-7475-7452-9
Linger Awhile (2006), ISBN 0-7475-7984-9
Selected children's books"Frances the Badger" series: Bedtime for Frances, Bread and Jam for Frances, etc. (1960-1970)
The Mouse and His Child (1968, republished 1990), ISBN 0-06-022378-2 (also filmed)
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1971, republished 1992), ISBN 0-89966-951-4 (also televised)
Egg Thoughts and Other Frances Songs (1972) (poetry), ISBN 0-06-022331-6
How Tom Beat Captain Najork and his Hired Sportsmen (1974), ISBN 0-224-00999-0
A Near Thing for Captain Najork (1975), ISBN 0-224-01197-9
La Corona and the Tin Frog (1979), ISBN 0-224-01397-1
The Marzipan Pig (1986), ISBN 0-224-01687-3
The Trokeville Way (1996), ISBN 0-224-04631-4
The Last of the Wallendas (1997) (poetry), ISBN 0-340-66766-4
Other works
The Carrier Frequency (1984) (stage play)
Deadsy and the Sexo-Chanjo and Door (1989, 1990) (text and narration for animated films by David Anderson)
The Second Mrs. Kong (1994) (libretto for opera composed by Harrison Birtwistle)
The Moment under The Moment (1992) (stories, a libretto, essays and sketches)
〜〜〜以上貼り付け〜〜〜
ラッセル・ホーバンといえば、日本では『おやすみなさいフランシス』の絵本が人気で色々とシリーズも出ているようだ。私はこの作品を父から教わった。そして、先日我が家の息子の棚にある絵本にもラッセル・ホーバンの詩が載っているのを見、これはちょっと調べてみようかと思ったのである。その詩について、またフランシスの書誌情報については次号で紹介。おおしょうかい。(相変わらず寒いオヤジギャグ。。。)つづく

0