(no subject)

[sebastienne]

Hay-on-Wye.

I'd never been before.

Tripping around in a daze, not-quite-able-to-believe-it, the books everywhere, everywhere I turned..

And then, next to "Oscars Bistro" (the grammar? upsets me less than it makes me think "Blakes 7"..) and opposite "The Bowie Gallery", a strange serendipity, a window full of Doctor Who books. A sort of utopia-within-a-utopia, heaven-within-paradise, and the cause of my impending bankruptcy. The number of beautiful-looking, interesting-looking books, that have been left behind for now (because I currently have only £53.62 to my name) are too many to list.

My purchases?

"The Gallifrey Chronicles", an 8th Doctor Adventure, which appeared from the blurb to be "we torture 8th extra-cruelly - for your pleasure".

A gorgeous edition of Salomé with all the Beardsley illustrations, plus a bit of Beardsley Victoriana-porn tacked into the end.

"British Science Fiction Television - a Hitchhiker's Guide" - This pioneering book argues that British science fiction television - all too often derided for the quality of its special effects - deserves to be taken seriously. I was sold by the picture of Arthur Dent on the spine, completely besotted by the entire chapter on Blake's 7, enchanted by the fact that individual episodes of The Tomorrow People are listed in the index. Written by a bunch of academics who seem to be having a ball - wherever they're going, I want to go with them.

And, most charmingly of all, something that I have already, in the two hours since its purchase, read from cover-to-cover, and am infatuated with and intoxicated by - Doctor Who, Endgame, the first volume of 8th Doctor comic strips as published in the Doctor Who Magazine.

In this volume, I have met two new companions, and fallen immediately in love with both: Izzy, a queer sci-fi fan with hair identical to mine c.2005.. and Fey Truscott-Sade, a perfect amalgamation of everything I love between 1880 and 1940, made female. She is a kick-ass androgynous Brideshead Holmes-Wilde posh queer cross-dressing cheekboned secret agent.. oh just look at her!



And neither of them is fawningly in love with the Doctor, or irritatingly ankle-twisty; Izzy is out for all the adventure she can grab from her time with the Doctor, happy when he gets arrested for murder because she knows that means it's time for fun. And obviously Fey can hold her own (and me, any time she likes..).

I'm here because my parents are thinking of moving to this part of the country. All I can say is, if they're anywhere near Hay-on-Wye, they don't need to worry about whether or not I'll come to visit them!

In other news, Hereford cathedral is very pretty. I don't know that I think that god is anywhere but people's minds, but if he's anywhere, I'd hazard a guess that he would be found there.

Comments

DWM comic strips

[crouchinglynx.livejournal.com]

I've been rationing myself to one issue a day with these - partly to convince myself I'm getting my money's worth, but also (considering I didn't pay anything to read calliope85's copies of the 8th strips) because I want to experience the cliffhangers like the DWM readers had to. The "WTF?" at the end of "Final Chapter" was especially worth dragging out.

[opportunemoment.livejournal.com]

Have you heard about this on BBC7 on Bank Holiday Monday?
Down and Safe: A celebration of Blakes 7, with Mitch Benn (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d417y)

Heee, Fay looks awesome.

[necaris.livejournal.com]

I've heard things about this Hay-on-Wye place. I've heard that bibliophiles are likely to melt from joy there. I take it all these rumors are true?

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

Hey, did I ever point you in the direction of Liberation: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Blake's 7 (http://www.cuttingsarchive.org.uk/telos/culttv/liberation/main.htm)? Declaration of interest: the authors are friends of mine (if you're into B7 fandom, they may also be friends of yours, of course), and there's a very small entry on me :-)

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

No, I hadn't - thanks very much for drawing it to my attention!

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

True beyond my wildest dreams. From bookshops so overflowing that they are surrounded by outdoor shelves with honesty boxes, full of paperbacks for 30p, a random jumble where there could be anything - to shops with huge sections devoted to the obscurest topics, at practically RRP, but you'd never find them elsewhere.

[threadbarewolf.livejournal.com]

Moving to HoW!? *jealouses*