Léonie Léonie Léonie

Guestbook Archive

Items through September 8, 1998
For recent items, see the main Guestbook page

(Sphinx photo is by Mr. Hoban's sister Tana)


Received September 8 1998:
Hi, and wow! A Russell Hoban page! I don't go surfing around much, as I try to work, but now and again I just have to have a treat. So I looked, and there you were. Thanks -- I'm a great fan, especially of The Mouse and His Child. I also think Ursula LeGuin is a genius, and I'm going to look at her page now. No great message -- just thanks.
Jane Hyde, Arden, North Carolina, USA


Received August 12 1998:
I was loaned a copy of Riddley Walker and was so immersed that I had trouble understanding the english language for a while. My mind was moving in elliptical word-loops, running in tandem with the book.

I have since recovered, as you can see.

Later, alligator.
Sarah Walker, USA


Received August 5 1998:
Hi Dave, I teach lit at San Diego State Univ and I also like Russell Hoban very much. Great to see your page. I'm editing a book right now of essays, Russell Hoban/Forty Years: Essays on His Writings for Children--academic stuff but with scholars from around the world. I use The Mouse and His Child and Riddley Walker in my classes all the time--and The Marzipan Pig and The Sea-Thing Child. Best wishes on your page--it's really cool.
sincerely,
alida allison, USA


Received August 3 1998:
I first read The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz when I was an American ex-pat living near London. One rainy afternoon I decided to spend some time at the British Museum; bypassing the usual star attractions, I wandered into the section devoted to Assyria, and found myself in a narrow passageway lined with bas-relief sculptures of a lion hunt that had been excavated from the palace of Ashurbanipal. I sat down on a bench to consider them ... and found myself looking directly at a relief of a lion biting the wheel of a chariot.

It was yer basic epiphany. I was sitting at an interstice of fiction and reality! I think I actually shouted. On my way out I picked up the museum's monograph on Assyrian sculpture because it included that lion, and I still have it 15 years later. That I also once lived in Lansdale is surely the basis for a granfalloon.

Thank you so much for creating this website. I hope you continue to maintain it, and I hope that it continues to be visited by Mr. Hoban.

All the best -- Sandra Smith (Asteroid Lil), Lakeland, Florida USA asterlil@sprynet.com


Received June 24 1998:
I first encountered Russell Hoban's work in the movie version of The Mouse and His Child when I was very young. It always upset me (but fascinated me, especially The Last Visible Dog), and I could never quite figure out why. Even watching it relatively recently, it still affected me in the same way. There is a strange, rather intangible sadness about the book. It never seemed to me to be a story for kids. I discovered Hoban's other books later, and he is still one of my favorite authors. Anyway, great page! Nicely organized, and chock-full of good quotations. I was looking for a page just like this one--it's rare that someone does such a thorough page on a person or topic, but you have! Keep up the good work,
Vicky, USA vole@worldnet.att.net http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/8238


Received June 22 1998:
Man, you put the "U Sell Hoban" back in Russell Hoban. I'm a newcomer, but you make him sound awfully good. I've read through a bit of the site, and I'm a-coming back later. Thanks for the tip. Does this mean you already know about Donald Barthelme, my current fave? My friend has a good site for his stuff at www.jessamyn.com.
Putting the "Ho Burns A Sell" back in Russell Hoban,
Ari Frede, USA


Received June 22 1998:
Hello, Dave! I enjoy the site--very well done, loaded with links, and excellent writing. It prompted me to forward it on to a few people, and also to visit your personal home page...I look forward to scouring for Russell Hoban books--I have added his titles to my Books & Authors list. I have heard of Riddley Walker, and already had that on my list. Take care, please.
Craig Easly, USA


Received June 21 1998:
Thanks - great site and a super intro to Mr Hoban.
Cheers - Gay Sweeney, Wellington, New Zealand


Received June 17 1998:
Hello Dave, what a pleasure - a new Site for Russell Hoban enthusiastics. I appreciate your site very much. I always wondered why there is so little information on Hoban available in the internet. But now...
Best wishes for your site,
Olaf Schneider, Germany oschneid@post.uni-bielefeld.de


Received June 14 1998:
Dear Mr. Awl, Chris Bell sent me an E-mail the other day in which he gave a glowing account of your work in relation to The Head of Orpheus - an official Russell Hoban reference page. I must admit a lack of education with regard to Russell Hoban but hope to rectify matters soon. As a writer myself (currently trying to place my second recently completed manuscript of a novel), I know how important writing is in one's life, so wish you every success with your latest venture. Chris really enthuses about your work and it is nice that writers can help each other by networking in this way. My own, albeit humble efforts, can be seen on http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/NutmegIsland.
All the best
Hazel A. Speed


Received June 10 1998:
Beautifully done, Dave! It is both a wonderful and aggravating thing that there are still so many Hoban books out there to be read, and which seem inaccessible. I mean, I still haven't read all the Frances books yet, much less some those so enticingly described and reviewed here. Thanks for bringing them to our attention and for waving the scent of them around so that we may try to track them down.
The source of my own soup,
Diana Slickman, USA Diana_Slickman@gbop.org


Received June 9 1998:
Well Dave, you did it. I've had only a brief chance to take an amble around 'The Head of Orpheus'. Thanks for all your hard work. As anyone who has spent hours on the search engines looking for The Greatest Living Novelist on the Internet in vain will know, this site is long overdue. I'm assuming that anyone who is reading this is already a Hoban 'convert' - or will now be on their way to becoming one. We should all join Dave in doing our best to make this the most interesting, provocative and atmospheric site on the web; in short, one that goes at least some way towards doing justice to the writer whose Body of Work is among the finest there is in the English language. I'm sure Dave (and the Head of Orpheus) will have open ears to all the constructive suggestions and creative contributions you can make. May the Head of Orpheus swim and swim.
Regards, Chris Bell, New Zealand http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/chrisbell1

"...There is a mystery that even God cannot fathom, nor can he give the law of it on two stone tablets. He cannot speak what there are no words for; he needs divers to dive into it; he needs wrestlers to wrestle with it, singers to sing it, lovers to love it. He cannot deal with it alone, he must find helpers, and for this does he blind some and maim others."

RUSSELL HOBAN, 'Pilgermann'.

(He needs people to write web-pages for him, too.)


Received June 9 1998:
Your site is wonderful! I just spent a half hour on it! I'm going to read more of his books now. The site is obviously a labor of love...
--Corbin Collins, USA corbin@sirius.com


Back to The Head of Orpheus: a Russell Hoban Reference Page (home page).