The Checkout Counter #12
October 2023
The Disenchantment, Celia Bell
Tale of the Three Jewels, 1995
The Return of Martin Guerre, 1982
Film
- Polite Society, 2023
Comedy, action, drama. A teenager who dreams of becoming a movie stuntwoman plans a wedding heist to save her older sister from marriage. - Tale of the Three Jewels (حكايات الجواهر ثلاث), 1995
Drama. A dreamlike story of a boy who falls in love with a girl and the fairytales she weaves amidst conflict in Gaza. - The Return of Martin Guerre (Le Retour de Martin Guerre), 1982
History, drama. A man returns to his village and family after nearly a decade away. Based on a true imposture case in 16th century France. - The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin), 2022
Drama. A quiet, neglected girl stays with relatives for the summer. - The Pied Piper (Krysař), 1986
Animation, fantasy. The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, told in an austere stop motion animation style.
Books
- The Disenchantment, Celia Bellthis book has fucking possessed me. i can't pinpoint exactly why, but i'm sure the history and the characters being so realized is a large part of it. it's like a murder mystery that unfolds in reverse: we follow the perpetrators as they attempt to cover up the crime, the various people who become involved by circumstance, and the paranoid police lieutenant desperate to solve the case.
reviewers on goodreads and storygraph have left this unfinished because they found it a slog to get through—i devoured the story within a few days. of course, i like detailed descriptions of historical painting methods and many paragraphs of characters second-guessing themselves; this might not be for everyone. but i'll recommend the book to everyone anyway, because it released just several months ago with practically no fanfare—and from a debut author!
Historical fiction. Follows the love affair of two noblewomen, a lady's maid who keeps their secret, and a portrait painter who all fall under suspicion during a widespread panic in 17th century Paris over murder, fortune telling, and poison. - The Library Book, Susan Orlean
Nonfiction. Recounts the burning of the Los Angeles Public Library in 1986, melding personal anecdote, history, and investigation.
Short fiction
- 638 Cobalt Road: Or, The Alienated Labourer’s Resentment, Ave Wiseman
- When Death Comes, I Will Follow, Val Wise
Comic
Articles & essays
- Post Everything, Samiha Meem
- Prui (and the Concept of "Minimal Cheating"), Bernard De Koven
- No Human Being Can Exist, Saree Makdisi
Around the web
- URL Poetry Club
Poetry made of website URLs