DiaryINDEX｜past｜will
| 2004年11月22日(月) | 白鳥の声 |
日曜日に見た白鳥さんです。
ほかの人がパンをかもや白鳥にやっているのを最初は眺めているだけでしたが、
子供はやはり自分もやりたくなりました。
それから、ぽっぽ屋というのの、なんだろう、お菓子というかパンのようなのが
なかなか美味しかった。
白鳥の泣き声というのは、結構素っ頓狂なものなんですね。皇居のお堀では１，２羽しか見たことがなくて、今回のように沢山ではなかったので、複数の白鳥が
ハイテンション（？）になって鳴き叫びあう様子は知りませんでした。
わんこもその白鳥たちの雄たけび(メスも鳴いているのか）には驚いた様子で、
じっと目や耳を凝らして注目していました。犬の視力はそれ程よくないと聞いた
けれど。
紅葉も少し終わりかけでしたが、きれいでした。
本日は私、金魚の水槽の浄水器の掃除をしました。この手のことは今までやろうと思っていても主人にしてもらっていたことが多かったので、私がしたのは近来まれに見る快挙なんです。主人もこれをされたからって俺の仕事を取るなと怒ることはないと思うんですよね。だって本当に詰まって水が流通しなくなって金魚が水面に上がってパクパクし始めたんだもの。そこまでならないとせんのか私は。
Diana Wynne Jones - Biography
Books by Diana Wynne Jones
Read Interview
Diana Wynne Jones was born in August 1934 in London, where she had a chaotic and unsettled childhood against the background of World War II. The family moved around a lot, finally settling in rural Essex. As children, Diana and her two sisters were deprived of a good, steady supply of books by a father, 'who could beat Scrooge in a meanness contest'. So, armed with a vivid imagination and an insatiable quest for good books to read, she decided that she would have to write them herself.
"However, I was extremely dyslexic," says Diana, "so when I told my parents I wanted to be a writer, they just laughed." In spite of this, between the ages of twelve and fourteen, the young writer completed two epic tales scrawled in a total of twenty copy books. This taught her from an early age the invaluable lesson of how to finish a book.
Her higher education began in 1953 when she went up to St Anne's College Oxford, and attended lectures by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein. It was here she met her husband, John A Burrow, who is Professor of English at Bristol University. They married in 1956 and have three sons.
She has written both children's books and plays (mostly performed at the London Arts Theatre) and her first book was published in 1973. Since then she has written over 40 books. Her enviably fertile mind has allowed her to write prolifically, even when her three boys were small, and quite a handful! When writing, she is totally absorbed in the book and on one never-to-be-forgotten occasion, her sons returned from school ravenous to find she had shoved a pair of muddy shoes in the oven for their tea! She says, "I am an inspirational writer. I forget meals and write with ever-increasing speed."
Diana Wynne Jones first conjured up the enigmatic and embroidered dressing-gowned enchanter Chrestomanci in 1977. The adventures in his magical worlds - for, as every budding sorcerer knows - there are many series of parallel worlds - continue to enthral readers all over the world.
Charmed Life, the first book in the Chrestomanci series, won the 1977 Guardian Award for Children's Books. Diana was runner-up for the Children's Book Award in 1981, and was twice runner-up for the Carnegie Medal. In 1999, she won two major fantasy awards: the children's section of the Mythopeic Award in the USA, and the Karl Edward Wagner Award in the UK - which is awarded by the British Fantasy Society to individuals or organizations who have made a significant impact on fantasy. JK Rowling was runner-up on both occasions.
Meeting Diana you wouldn't be surprised to find she has second sight. You'd think it quite natural that she should be a writer of fantasy, a connoisseur of witchcraft, a creator of parallel worlds. For her, magic isn't something that floats about unrooted in human nature. "Things we are accustomed to regard as myth or fairy story are very much present in people's lives." She says, "Nice people behave like wicked stepmothers. Every day."
This biography was last updated in Jul 2003. Unless otherwise stated it was provided by the author's publisher or publicist.
ハウルの動く城のアニメを見たいと息子が言うのですが、私も見たいのですが、
悪くないけれど宮崎アニメであれば戦争についての視点にもっと望まれるものがあると友人が評していたので、もしかすると期待しすぎて見ない方がいいかなと思っておりました。
たまたまネットで書籍のコーナーを眺めていたところ、このお話はダイアナウィンジョーンズという第二次大戦を経験している英国の女流児童物語作家の著した物語が元になっているのかもしれないなということで、この作家について検索したのが上記の英文です。
ちょっとはりぽたシリーズのローリング女史に雰囲気が似ている方かしら？と
想像しました。
原作がこの方の物語だとすると、宮崎駿さんのアニメハウルの動く城の内容は英国女性の感性の世界なのかな。
今日は息子の担任の先生と個人面談でした。私少し心臓が強くなりつつあるみたいという気がふとしました。
