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May 23, 2013, 2:06pm




The Lewis Carroll Forum :: HIS WORK :: The Hunting of the Snark :: What is a Boojum?
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johntufail
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #30 on Jun 2, 2008, 3:31pm »

Thanks for carrying out that exercise Bettyboop. In eturn can I recommend an excellent noel that deals with the Schredinger paradox and many world interpretation in a delightful and ey readable manner. It's called 'Mobius Dick' written by Andrew Crumey and is available as a Picador'

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JT
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peterws
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #31 on Jun 3, 2008, 3:53am »

John,

With respect, it's always dangerous to comment emphatically about something you've not seen or read! "Boojum!" is not a theatrical adaptation of The Hunting of the Snark, an amusing collage of music and dance, or a dramatisation of the text but an exploration of Carroll's life through some of his characters and ideas. Snark provides an overall structure - with the Boojum probably being the dreaded realisation that Dodgson's passions were all nonsense. The creators like to think it is more than a mere entertainment - and we remain greatly disappointed that it has never been given the serious analysis and discussion which we think it deserves. Maybe the Boojum turned out to be a Snark ...

Peter Wesley-Smith
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johntufail
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #32 on Jun 3, 2008, 5:45am »

Dear Peter,

I stand corrected and wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments. I had no intention of sounding 'emphatic' intending only to pass on third party comments about something I admitted to not having seen.

I would certainly like the opportunity gie Boojum the 'serious analysis' that you feel it deserves. In the meantime I shall refrain from passing on any third party comments!

Regards

JT

ps, if you would like to contact me off-line...??
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peterws
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #33 on Jun 3, 2008, 8:48am »

John, I'll contact you off-line as you suggest. In the meantime, and for others who may be interested, here are some relevant urls:

Boojum! home page:
http://www.shoalhaven.net.au/~mwsmith/boojum!.html

more information:
http://www.shoalhaven.net.au/~mwsmith/boojum!extras.html

Boojum! libretto, Act 1:
http://www.shoalhaven.net.au/~mwsmith/booscript1.html

Boojum! libretto, Act 2:
http://www.shoalhaven.net.au/~mwsmith/booscript2.html

information about a Boojum! teacher resource kit:
http://www.amcoz.com.au/publications/itemdetail.asp?id=34

buy the Boojum! double CD:
http://www.amcoz.com.au/publications/itemorder.asp?id=79

PWS
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Jules
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #34 on Jun 3, 2008, 12:40pm »

Wow, the premise sounds really interesting! Has it been staged in the UK? Any chance of it being on Broadway? :)
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peterws
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #35 on Jun 3, 2008, 1:32pm »

It's had several productions in Australia, and two in the US (La Jolla and Pasadena), but none in the UK (in some respects its natural home) despite various efforts to promote it there. It's probably best performed by a large choir, which rules it out for Broadway!
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johntufail
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #36 on Jun 3, 2008, 5:46pm »

Nothing in New Zealand Peter? I ask because, as you're probably aware, there has been a lot of Carrollian activity going on there recently, especially around the Snark. I'd have thought there would be quite an attraction for a production such as yours.

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JT
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Jules
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #37 on Jun 5, 2008, 4:06am »


Jun 3, 2008, 1:32pm, peterws wrote:
It's had several productions in Australia, and two in the US (La Jolla and Pasadena), but none in the UK (in some respects its natural home) despite various efforts to promote it there. It's probably best performed by a large choir, which rules it out for Broadway!


Tha Pasadena Playhouse? Cool! Is it just choral, i got the feleing it was sort of operatic.

BTW I can't get your links to work!
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dough42
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #38 on Jun 5, 2008, 6:53pm »

Jules, You need to ensure that the entire link transfers into your browser. If not, copy and paste it in.
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peterws
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #39 on Jun 6, 2008, 3:09am »

Jules, the Pasadena production was twelve or thirteen years ago and I wasn't there, but I'm told that the venue was the Neighbourhood Church - which doesn't sound quite as cool as the Playhouse. It's a choral work with soloists, probably best semi-staged and described as a musical, though it really seems to fall between the two stools of musical and opera. No choral society worth its salt can afford not to take it on, in the creators' opinion, and of course it ought to be presented at annual general meetings of any LC society worthy of the name ...
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Jules
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #40 on Jun 14, 2008, 5:34am »


Jun 6, 2008, 3:09am, peterws wrote:
Jules, the Pasadena production was twelve or thirteen years ago and I wasn't there, but I'm told that the venue was the Neighbourhood Church - which doesn't sound quite as cool as the Playhouse. It's a choral work with soloists, probably best semi-staged and described as a musical, though it really seems to fall between the two stools of musical and opera. No choral society worth its salt can afford not to take it on, in the creators' opinion, and of course it ought to be presented at annual general meetings of any LC society worthy of the name ...


Have you thought of offering it for performance at Christ Church?
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peterws
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #41 on Jun 15, 2008, 9:31am »

Jules,

I thought I answered this yesterday but now can't find my reply. I'll risk the embarrassment of providing two similar responses thus:

Many years ago I was in touch with a choral person at Oxford, perhaps at Ch Ch, but there wasn't much interest. I suspect it's a general law that no original work will ever be performed without some immediate personal contact. (Incidentally, Boojum! was written before Karoline's contribution to the topic and I would want to revise the text before the musical were performed again. Also incidentally, the music was composed by Martin Wesley-Smith. He gave a paper on it at the Carroll conference in Cardiff 1998.)
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knaveofarts
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #42 on Feb 27, 2009, 3:13pm »

Re: Reply #14. Although Ex 33.20 seems to be based on Ex 10.28, your idea of the Boojum as the reader would be a good way to interpret Ex 33.20. Anyone who wishes to get close to God is risking serious mental illness, based on becoming aware of oneself for what one really is. One might propose, to the contrary, that this is becoming completely sane because of the sudden and precipitous (8.4-5) stripping away of ones personal illusions. Who wants to suffer from that malady? The Baker seems to have been somewhat mentally ill to begin with (1.8-13; 8.3-7), and perhaps what was left of his rather fragile identity was disintegrated. One wonders if mental illness is a placebo for sanity, which is the real threat to one's identity? Perhaps the Snark, who contested with the Baker in his dreams, and from whom the Baker received a few sparks of self-awareness (3.13) was an angel from the Boojum.
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GoetzKluge
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #43 on Nov 30, 2010, 7:00pm »


May 19, 2008, 4:00pm, johntufail wrote:
... There is a darkly spiritual element to the Snark - as evidenced by Holiday's wonderfully evocative and mythic final illustration, with the tree of life symbolism, the simulacre of the damned and the Baker's ethereal presence. ...

An example for the darkly spiritual element can be seen here:
[image]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonnetmaker/4484159905/


Above you see the back cover of The Hunting of the Snark and a painting, which was quite inspiring to Henry Holiday. The painting also shows Father Time. You also will find him again on the front cover.

Goetz
 
 
2012-02-04: This image is a bit too complicated. Therefore I posted a new comparison.
 
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Goetz Kluge
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 Re: What is a Boojum?
« Reply #44 on Feb 4, 2012, 5:54pm »


[image]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonnetmaker/6818523809/


[left]: Henry Holiday's backcover illustration (1876) to Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark.

[right]: Allegorical English School painting (ca. 1610) of Queen Elizabeth I at Old Age with allegory of Death and Father Time.
Changes: (1) Redrawn without color. (2) Segment below the red line is displayed in mirror view. (3) Increased contrast and brightness of Father Time.
http://www.corsham-court.co.uk/Pictures/Commentary.html:
"This portrait of Elizabeth I illustrates the difficulties she encountered during her troubled reign. For example, conflict between Protestants and Catholics was rife and the re-drafting of the Book of Common Prayer (held in her left hand) was a sensitive issue of the time."

[inset]: The inset shows a mirror view of the Bellman's face (from the front cover of The Hunting of the Snark).
 

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