April's Amazing Adventures in Fiction

[Hypnos164]

Finished The Separation ... I didn't feel that the second half of the book really delivered - overall a little disapointing.

Probably starting Turn Coat (new Dresden) later today..

 

[j d worthington]

Once again, I'll have to use the word "finally", given that my reading time of late has been so blasted sparse....

Finally, have had a chance to finish Balzac's Droll Stories... an odd mixture, that, by no means all of them to my taste; yet in toto the collection bears Balzac's trademark ability to create a very complex, very human set of characters and situations, and I came away from it feeling enriched by the experience. By turns scatological, vulgar, lewd, crude, wistful, humorous, bawdy, hilarious, thoughtful, touching, sad, uplifting, and poignant, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys great literature in the larger sense... but I would recommend taking them only a few at a time (unless you find some of the bawdier things to your taste), as some of the themes here can become a bit much taken in concentration.

As I've said before, the more I read of the man's work, the more I become impressed; not so much with his style -- which can sometimes be rather slipshod (something reflected in the translations, but which I've also seen referred to even by those who've read him in the original), but by his vision and his insight into human beings and their motivations. He manages -- damned if I know how -- to be gigantic without being ponderous; and that's something I don't often encounter....

Am now in the midst of reading S. T. Joshi's A Subtler Magick: The Writings and Philosophy of H. P. Lovecraft; an expanded and revised version of his earlier Starmont Reader's Guide to HPL -- so much so that, for nearly all intents and purposes, it's a new book; and, as with just about everything he has written on the subject, both interesting, thought-provoking, and challenging....

 

[Lobolover]

Well, have ventured into Meyrink's "The Green face" myself .

 

[j d worthington]

Well, have ventured into Meyrink's "The Green face" myself .

Will be interested in hearing what you think of that one; Meyrink is up on the reading list in the next few months, so I may have to take a look at it, as well....

 

[Lobolover]

Havent gotten further then a few pages, not even where I was when I read it in german . I have that and his colection "Master Leonhard and others" and the two novels "Vaplurgis Nacht" and "The white Dominican", and I plan to lend me some "Golem" after that . I tried to read one colection of his earlier, but it was a compilation and it felt more like popular news sensation/articles on theosophism, though I plan to lend myself that as well and read at least a few of those .

Also did read "N" and "The great return" by Machen . To the first, well, why the deuce is it called "N" anyway ? And for the second one - it would hold up more if the mystery went all throughout the thing, and wouldn't stop in the lesser half , and then would turn into an elaborate explanation .

 

[elvet]

I've done House of Chains, the most confusing and least satisfying of the Malazan books so far (IMHO). However Midnight Tides is really good. Anyone else see a little Locke and Jean in Tehol and Bugg ? (I suppose it should be the other way around since MT preceeds the Gentlemen Bastards.)

 

[ratsy]

Finished reading "Rides a Dread Legion" ...it was a good read if not a little too short for my taste...he could have combined this book with the next to make one book...but still good

Started reading "The Runelords" by David Farland and I am very impressed so far. A lot better read than I was expecting.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

I finished The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory. I enjoyed it. Not quite as good as The Other Boleyn Girl or The Boleyn Inheritance, but still really good.

Now I'm on to The Pluto Files by Neil Degrasse Tyson. Synopsis from Amazon:

From Pluto's 1930 discovery to the emotional reaction worldwide to its demotion from planetary status, astrophysicist deGrasse Tyson offers a lighthearted look at the planet. Astronomical calculations predicted the presence of a mysterious and distant Planet X decades before Clyde Tombaugh spotted it in 1930. But Pluto's rock and ice composition, backward rotation and problematic orbit raised suspicions. As the question of Pluto's nature was being debated by scientists, the newly constructed Rose Center for Earth and Space at the Hayden Planetarium quietly but definitively relegated Pluto to the icy realm of Kuiper Belt Objects (cold, distant leftovers from the solar system's formation), raising a firestorm. Astronomers discussed and argued and finally created an official definition of what makes a planet. This account presents the medicine of hard science with a sugarcoating of lightness and humor.

 

[soulsinging]

Just finished 'Last Wish' by Sapkowski. It was good, though I'm not a huge short story fan so the format wasn't exactly my style. Still, I look forward to reading the actual series of novels.

Now I think I'm going to have a go at Abercrombie... I've heard so much about the guy, it's time I see what all the fuss is about!

 

[SpaceShip]

Just finished Heretic by Bernard Cornwell - a ripping good read. Only had two thirds of the book to go by yesterday lunchtime and sat and read till 10.15pm to finish it. Couldn't put it down.

 

[Connavar]

Swag by Elmore Leonard

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Finished The Pluto Files and now I'm on to Contact by Carl Sagan.

 

[soulsinging]

I lied earlier... I intended to start Abercrombie's First Law trilogy, but I got sidetracked reading the first two books of the Preacher graphic novel series... they were excellent! I'm going to try to hold out on reading more of them until I at least get abercrombie done now.

 

[Omphalos]

I'm about half-way through China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh. Excellent for a first book. I started Martin Amis' Time's Arrow over the weekend too but did not get too far.

 

[GOLLUM]

I lied earlier... I intended to start Abercrombie's First Law trilogy, but I got sidetracked reading the first two books of the Preacher graphic novel series... they were excellent! I'm going to try to hold out on reading more of them until I at least get abercrombie done now.

I've got the entire Preacher set, they're one of the classics for sure, so be warned they are addictive...

Abercrombie's Frist Law trilogy for a debut is one of the best I've come across in recent years.

 

[j d worthington]

Finished Joshi's A Subtler Magick. There wasn't a great deal of new information there, given the amount of Lovecraftian criticism I've read over the years, and I take issue with some of his points now and then, but a good solid overview nonetheless. The final chapter is perhaps the best single response to various criticisms of Lovecraft's work I've seen, and much of what he says here could also apply (in general principle) to critical appraisal of many another writer to boot....

And now will be moving on to a collection of tales by Théophile Gautier, titled simply The Works of Théophile Gautier (one of those wonderfully odd compilations holding six volumes in one), and which begins with "One of Cleopatra's Nights"....

 

[Lobolover]

When you do finish that , J.D., could you tell us which ones are worth while ?

 

[j d worthington]

When you do finish that , J.D., could you tell us which ones are worth while ?

I'll start by recommending the story mentioned. Though the latter part of it is a (very odd) tale of love, with a rather somber take on the Romantic fascination with love and death, the earlier portions of the tale are tremendously powerful; quite eerie, in fact, and very richly textured. I can definitely see the influence of this tale on Lovecraft's "Under the Pyramids", and perhaps, in some light touches, on other works....

 

[Lobolover]

Okay, will do, I once started reading that a while ago, and stoped .

 

[HoopyFrood]

Background to Danger - Eric Ambler