Monthly Literature Challenge

[InesF]

On 5/4/2023 at 10:25 PM, essayfaire said:

At one point I wanted to re-read Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War.  Supposedly multiple copies were available.  When I looked in what I thought was the appropriate section of the library, juvenile fiction, and couldn't find any I asked the librarian for help.  They had one stashed with adult fiction, another in YA-- it's all the same book!

Haha, that's like the requirement for IG-Nobel Price: First laugh, then think. 😄🤫

It seems to be an error at first, but is, finally, a sign of high quality writing. Another sign of high quality may be the ban by the Library Association while critique is majorly positive.

Thanks for mentioning, @essayfaire.

[essayfaire]

10 hours ago, InesF said:

Haha, that's like the requirement for IG-Nobel Price: First laugh, then think. 😄🤫

It seems to be an error at first, but is, finally, a sign of high quality writing. Another sign of high quality may be the ban by the Library Association while critique is majorly positive.

Thanks for mentioning, @essayfaire.

😊

[InesF]

Monthly Literature Challenge for June

 

The ink set for June consists of four inks in somehow fitting fountain pens:

Lamy Crystal Rhodonite + P.Edelstein Star Ruby (1+1) in Montblanc Princess Grace

Dominant Industry Periwinkle Blue in Faber-Castell Ambition Pearwood

deAtramentis Aubergine in Visconti Giardino dell Eden

Monteverde Yosemite Green + deAtramentis BlackGreen (2+1) in Visconti vanGogh Irises

 

All the inks and the fountain pens do follow the theme of this month’s literature challenge quite well.

I guess, you may be able to name the book in question without needing to read the sample text. I promise, this will be the last of the more easy Challenges. July will be hard, August cruel and September may remain unsolved, I guess. ;)

 

Here are writing samples of all four inks with their pens:

 

And here is the Literature Challenge writing sample (with the Visconti Giardino pen for scale) with the A3 page first and a bit better readable A4 below:

 

 

The author is:

Spoiler

Frances Hodgson Burnett

There is next to no variety among the few online available scans of handwritten documents: she used either dark black or grey ink and/or pencil.

As I didn’t like to include black ink in each month’s set, it became an unwritten rule for me to use a dark ink and declare it as „close to the historic model‟. For June it is deAtramentis Aubergine.

 

 

The book is:

Spoiler

The Secret Garden

The garden and flowers and trees and roses (Rhodonite is called „the rose stone‟) theme is more than obvious in the June set. Not much more to explain here.

There is a Diamine ink called Iris which was my first choice for the Visconti pen. The ink is purple while vanGogh painted the irises in blue – so it did not fit good enough.

I also bought Diamine Pansy which is a doppelgänger of deAtramentis Aubergine in colour and in sheen. Again, the Diamine ink didn’t work with the Visconti pen, so I had to use „something else‟, in this case it is the much wetter deAtramentis Aubergine. For internal use, we may call it Pansy – you may not be able to see a difference on paper.

I do own a Cross Botanica fountain pen, a perfect match, but it started to leak and now requires some maintenance (the converter, maybe). I will use it later this year. However, the FC Ambition Pearwood is an excellent replacement.

This time I didn’t download the ebook from one of the Gutenberg sites as I own a hardcover version gifted to me for birthday 2020. The book is something special due to the illustrations by Minalima. The images are not the usual stills, they are moveable by paper sliders or wheels to change the subjects appearance. I included one of them in two (of possible 6) positions. I love this book so that it was a must since I first thought about the Literature Challenge in August 2022.

 

I hope you have fun while participating in the Monthly Challenge. You are invited to continue by completing the last paragraph of the writing sample or tell your story about when you read this book first time or to make a drawing which fits the theme. Do as you like but do it in pen and ink, if possible!

 

Have fun, enjoy June!

Summer is coming

[inkstainedruth]

Not recognizing the text at all, but have read other works by the author (I LOVED The Lost Prince and A Little Princess growing up).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[InesF]

Thank you @inkstainedruth for participating!

I also read two of her books, the one in question and The Little Lord Fauntleroy - first time both in the translated versions, of course.

[Misfit]

I have the same Visconti van Gogh Irises. Did you have your nib ground to a stub?

[LizEF]

@InesF, forgive me for not responding sooner... I've been a wee bit distracted - amazing how much of one's time is demanded by a tiny ball of fur.  Actually I never read this book or even saw the movie (TV show?), so recognition was out of the question. The colors, drawing, and writing are lovely, though!

[InesF]

On 6/3/2023 at 11:28 AM, Misfit said:

I have the same Visconti van Gogh Irises. Did you have your nib ground to a stub?

The van Gogh Irises had a M nib and the Giardino a F nib. Both did not write well out of their boxes. To make the best out of the bad purchase I ground the M to a stub and polished it. It still is not perfect, it has some drag and a bit unsteady flow with some inks (such as the Diamine Iris). The Giardino dell Eden had a small bump at the tip of the left tine and didn't write at all. So I ground the bump away and needed to polish it thoroughly. It still has some drag but is usable. I think I will give both these pens away after June.

[InesF]

On 6/3/2023 at 3:50 PM, LizEF said:

@InesF, forgive me for not responding sooner... I've been a wee bit distracted - amazing how much of one's time is demanded by a tiny ball of fur.  Actually I never read this book or even saw the movie (TV show?), so recognition was out of the question. The colors, drawing, and writing are lovely, though!

You are welcome @LizEF.

Don't worry. To tell it in a phrase: "your comment is never to early, it is never to late, it always arrives at the right time!"

Claw is a cute little kitty and deserves the time spent to feel as and to become a family member. 😇

[essayfaire]

@InesFI missed it this month.  I'm sorry.  You did a lovely job, as always.  Beautiful and apt. Thank you.

[InesF]

Thank you @essayfaire, you are welcome!

[InesF]

Monthly Literature Challenge for July

 

June 30^th and the ink set for July is ready and in use for some hours! It is composed from four inks in fitting fountain pens:

Robert Oster Chocolate in Lamy 200 Black Amber stub

Robert Oster Bronze in Waterman Perspective F

Pelikan Edelstein Rose Quartz Mix* in Diplomat Aero** stub

J. Herbin Bleu Austral in Kaweco Liliput F

 

*) the mix consists of P.Edelstein Rose Quartz + Star Ruby + R.Oster Tempest Sky = 5 + 1.5 + 1; it gives the Rose ink a bit more saturation and making it useable for every day writing while keeping the hue.

**) the Diplomat Aero makes now a second appearance in July after I had to remove it during the first few days in April. So I did bend but didn’t break my own rules about keeping at least one pen for a second month: July is the Aero’s second chance.

 

All the fountain pens do follow the theme of this month’s literature challenge quite well, all the inks fit good to their pens and make a harmonic four-colour set (one of the better compositions of 2023). I bought the two Robert Oster inks expecting a perfect fit and was not disappointed. With Chocolate I found the first brown ink I like and Bronze is of similar excitement as R&K Alt Goldgrün is. These two are complemented with the pale pink and with the beautiful (but slowly drying) Bleu Austral for a perfect set.

 

Here are writing samples of all four inks with their pens:

 

Here is a mini-Mandala I did as an add-on:

 

And here is the Literature Challenge writing sample (with the Waterman Perspective for scale):

 

 

The author is:

Spoiler

H. G. Wells

There is little variety among the few online available scans of handwritten documents: he used either black, brownish-grey (sepia?) or some medium blue ink. Black is a no-go for the rest of the season, therefore Chocolate and Bleu Austral are the two inks to represent the author.

 

 

The book is:

Spoiler

The War of the Worlds

After reading the novel during my early twenties (in the German translation, of course) I had some distinctive imagination about what happened there. Many years later I saw two movie versions. I was surprised about the visual interpretation of the British movie and was impressed about the emotional deepness of the Steven Spielberg version. Both movies captured the hopeless situation of people who are at the mercy of the aliens quite well.

My interpretation of the desperate onslaught of humans against overpowered, metallic alien spaceships is in the use of fountain pens which bodies are made entirely of robust, almost indestructible metal, such as steel, brass or aluminium.

 

 

I hope you have fun while participating in the Monthly Challenge. You are invited and encouraged to complete the first and/or write the next paragraph of the book. As well, you may tell your impressions when you read this book first or which of the four (or five?) movie versions you have seen.

 

Have fun, enjoy July!

Summer has arrived.

 

PS: I will be offline and off-grid during most of July and may reply with significant delay. August Challenge will arrive late for the same reason.

[inkstainedruth]

I'll admit that I cheated and looked up the quote and author.

But thank you for using Edelstein Rose Quartz (even as a mix) because that is I think the first actual written exemplar of it that I've seen and that gives me a good idea as to the color.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

RO Bronze - my favorite murky ink!   #2 ink of all time, I think.

 

56 minutes ago, InesF said:

Here is a mini-Mandala...

Beautiful!

 

56 minutes ago, InesF said:

And here is the Literature Challenge writing sample...

I'm envious of how consistent your writing is!  I really should make an effort in this department, but alas, something else always seems more important...

 

58 minutes ago, InesF said:

I will be offline and off-grid during most of July...

Along with the rest of Austria!  (It's such a strange thing to Americans - we don't shut down for anything - which, frankly, is sad.)

 

Wonderful challenge.  After reading the text, I had a notion, but have never read the book, so I cheated.   Your challenge was well done!

[essayfaire]

Thank you, @InesF.  Pilot Metro with Yama Budo;

 

[Misfit]

Not something I’ve read. I, too, really liked your mandala. How did you decide on the colors?

[InesF]

17 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I'll admit that I cheated and looked up the quote and author.

But thank you for using Edelstein Rose Quartz (even as a mix) because that is I think the first actual written exemplar of it that I've seen and that gives me a good idea as to the color.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Hi @inkstainedruth, you are welcome.

Be careful with photos and scans of Rose Quartz! It contains a fluorescent dye and changes colour depending on the light source*. Under indoor neutral white desk light the original looks pale pink with a soft or light purple undertone and has a tendency to shade more intense purple. In sunlight there is no purple and the pink becomes vibrant, reminds me on Lamy Rhodonite.

 

Some of the purple is lost with my mix and the overall intensity is increased.

 

*) that's the reason the ink in the bottle looks almost green when put on a dark underground and illuminated from the top (or from behind). On white underground it is pink.  

[InesF]

17 hours ago, LizEF said:

RO Bronze - my favorite murky ink!   #2 ink of all time, I think.

Haha! Bronze is on the way up my list, has already reached top 10.  

 

17 hours ago, LizEF said:

Beautiful!

Thank you, @LizEF, you are always welcome!

 

17 hours ago, LizEF said:

I really should make an effort in this department, but alas, something else always seems more important...

Wouldn't life be boring if you always have enough time to immediately do anything that comes in your mind ... 

 

17 hours ago, LizEF said:

Along with the rest of Austria! 

Yes, yes, yes! But there is now still a minority of Austrian people watching telephones that never ring - and those people disappear into the wild in August! 

[InesF]

10 hours ago, essayfaire said:

Pilot Metro with Yama Budo;

Thank you @essayfairefor participating in full Co-Razy-Mode! Well done! 👍

[LizEF]

3 minutes ago, InesF said:

Wouldn't life be boring if you always have enough time to immediately do anything that comes in your mind ... 

Yes.  I think that might be the definition of boring - having more time than ideas.

 

3 minutes ago, InesF said:

Yes, yes, yes! But there is now still a minority of Austrian people watching telephones that never ring - and those people disappear into the wild in August! 

We (the US) could learn something from this tradition, IMO.