February's Fortuitous Following Of Fabulous Fiction

[Ian Whates]

Currently absolutely engrossed in Roger Zelazny's collection, The Doors of his Face, the Lamps of his Mouth. It contains some of the best imaginative fiction I've ever read, especially This Mortal Mountain, Museum Piece, not to mention the title story. Zelazny has a poet's sensibilities for a turn of phrase and uses it sparingly enough throughout his narratives to engender a deal of trust between himself and his reader - he trusts you to enter into the spirit of his work and you trust him to deliver. The spirit of his work is such that he always delivers.

A wonderful collection really, recommended to all.

I'll echo J-Sun's comments. Zelazny is one of the finest exponents of the short story that genre fiction has ever produced. If this is his first collection you've read, I envy you, because there are many fabulous stories you've yet to discover...

 

[bluespider100]

Don't get me wrong, Red Mars is probably one of the best Science Fiction books I have read. Ever. Green Mars is still well written and an excellent story 'realistically' looking at the development of Mars, it's just slower with a lot more detail going into the terraforming process.

I'm now getting used to reading the book, and now I'm enjoying it.

 

[Connavar]

The Strange Crime of John Boulnois (Penguin Mini Modern Classics) by G. K Chesterton

A book with two short stories, the story in the title and The Blue Cross.

I had no idea what kind of writer Chesterton was except knowing vaguely a he wrote an early detective series about a priest,that his name had a classic rep.

The first story i ever read of G.K Chesterton was just fabulous! It had such wit,awesome different humor,quality characters,fine prose,language. A stronger literary ability than expected.

 

[GOLLUM]

The first story i ever read of G.K Chesterton was just fabulous! It had such wit,awesome different humor,quality characters,fine prose,language. A stronger literary ability than expected.

Chesterton is one of the greatest Englsih authors of the 20th Century. You will definitely want to get a copy of The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, Conn. It's arguably Chesterton's greatest work and one of the finest books I've ever read....

 

[Connavar]

Chesterton is one of the greatest Englsih authors of the 20th Century. You will definitely want to get a copy of The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, Conn. It's arguably Chesterton's greatest work and one of the finest books I've ever read....

I could see in his writing, how he described things landscape,people that his literary aiblity was not regular classic writer level. Also nice was his wit, i was smiling like a fool through the whole story

Good to know of his writing finally and not just know his name. If i didnt have so many unread books i would gotten a novel or another collection.

For me a huge detective,crime fan its always extra pleasure to read writers in the genre with high literary ability. From Poe to Hammett and to others.

 

[GOLLUM]

For me a huge detective,crime fan its always extra pleasure to read writers in the genre with high literary ability. From Poe to Hammett and to others.

Good to hear. Just be sure to get a copy of Man Who Was Thursday. His only work that I've seen described as being SF in nature is Napoleon Of Nottinghill. I have a copy of that too but I'm yet to read it. Enjoy....

 

[Connavar]

Good to hear. Just be sure to get a copy of Man Who Was Thursday. His only work that I've seen described as being SF in nature is Napoleon Of Nottinghill. I have a copy of that too but I'm yet to read it. Enjoy....

Napoleon book sound alot of fun as SF and sly humour wise as i hear of the reviews. The Man Who was Thursday sound too good. Surreal detective and physological thriller ? He cant get interesting than that to me

I hear he is called "prince of paradox" and i understand why he is everything but you think he is.

Good to see he has more than Father Brown series that are appealing to read.

 

[Hypnos164]

It took 22 days (due to work, guests and other interruptions) but I finally finished all 2,000+ pages of Peter F Hamilton's Void trilogy.

An impressively epic novel in three parts; though I felt the middle book was a little bogged down by too many “Waterwalker” chapters.

Looking for something short, direct and single threaded next I think before diving into another epic read – a Parker or Garrett novel would be an ideal change of pace

 

[nomadman]

Finished Lord of Light on the weekend which makes it three SF Masterworks in a month now. Absolutely excellent, one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read, dense, multilayered, thoughtful, exciting and ambitious. A real revelation after the somewhat disappointing Amber series.

Read a few of Kuttner's Elak tales last night. The first, The Spawn of Dagon, is a fun if slight little tale, with echoes of Howard's Rogues in the House if it were written by Leiber and Leigh Brackett. The second, Beyond the Phoenix, starts out well but quickly devolves into a series of bizarre scenes and phantasmagoric images. There's a little too much going on here to be supported by the short story format, and many of the supporting characters are almost completely shunted off to the sidelines resulting in an unsatisfying, if ambitious, tale.

 

[Overread]

It took 22 days (due to work, guests and other interruptions) but I finally finished all 2,000+ pages of Peter F Hamilton's Void trilogy.

I've still to face that one - made it through Nights Dawn and his other series (the one before Void Trilogy) - just not worked up the energy to face the Void yet

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Chesterton is a treat; as someone who is opposed to nearly every political and philosophical stance he ever took, and deeply aware that everything he wrote was a polemic in defense of these beliefs, I nevertheless consider his body of work as among the richest and most enduringly valuable of his era.

I am making very slow progress though Michael Frayn's thought-provoking The Human Touch, which I am alternating with Iain Pear's Stone's Fall

 

[J-Sun]

I'm currently reading Banks' Consider Phlebas which, despite a malodorous scene fairly early on, was doing great but is rapidly losing me. Hopefully it'll start killing off characters more slowly and be less nauseating soon. And fix a few other problems, as well.

Quoting myself. Finished. I'm not sure what to make of it or how much I can say here of a non-spoilery nature for those that haven't read it. It was either one of the best things I've read or it wasn't very good. Definitely brilliant in places and flawed in others. Yet, despite that, the one thing certain is that it's not mediocre. But let's put it this way - I have Excession laying around and, while not ready to get into it yet, I look forward to doing so sometime. I guess that means I liked CP.

 

[GOLLUM]

I hear he is called "prince of paradox" and i understand why he is everything but you think he is.

JD beat me to the punch....

Chetserton, it would be fair to say, held an often deliberate minority view on a range of topics and as my book agent says "not an overly likeable individual" BUT most readers seem to tolerate his personal side due to his often superb dexterity of the English Language and obvious genius.

I'll be suprised if you do not enjoy Man Who Was Thursday.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I imagine Chesterton could be great fun as a person; he was supposedly very gregarious and witty. Gaiman evokes his persona well in the character of Gilbert in Sandman.

 

[Tansy]

About half way through The Wise Man's Fear atm and loving it, its kept me up till 6am but I need to sleep now

 

[woodsman]

I imagine Chesterton could be great fun as a person; he was supposedly very gregarious and witty. Gaiman evokes his persona well in the character of Gilbert in Sandman.

This is the impression I always had as well. How I would have loved to see him and Shaw together; playing monopoly or some such and arguing about anything and everything

 

[GOLLUM]

I imagine Chesterton could be great fun as a person; he was supposedly very gregarious and witty. Gaiman evokes his persona well in the character of Gilbert in Sandman.

OH never mind imagine, by all accounts this is a substantiated musing on your part. I'm just not sure if that would be enough for me to enjoy his company for sustained periods given his contrary views on various subjects. Perhaps that is a less than worldly viewpoint to adopt but I suspect I would never feel entirely comfortable in his presence. My 2C anyway...

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I do see where you're coming from Gollum, and that's probably why woodsman's suggestion is especially charming.

 

[GOLLUM]

Oh I found myself smiling when I read Woodsman comment too. Anyway, I don't have anything further to really add to the matter except to encourage everyone here to try out some Chesterton for themselves. There's certainly no disputing his brilliance with language.

In fact speaking of brilliant practitioners of language, I'm currently reading Hrabal's novella Too Loud A Solitude and the collected short fiction of Robert Walser, both undeniable greats of European literature IMO.

 

[HareBrain]

There's certainly no disputing his brilliance with language.

Not disputing that, but I certainly remember finding the ending of The Man Who was Thursday very unsatisfactory as the climax of a novel. Like being hit in the face with a philosophical brick, over and over. (Or at least that's my impression several years on -- it might well be unfair and I might revise it on a re-read.)