April's Amazing Adventures and Articles

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Jayaprakash Satyamurthy said:
I've finished The Woman In Black by Susan Hill, a very effective and well-written ghost story in the traditional mould, although little more than a genre exercise in the end.
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Hey that was one of the books I was going to include in my initial review batch but for recent events you'll no doubt note in my PM to you...:rolleyes:

I agree though that it does read as something of an exercise in pastiche that also happens to be very well written. I gave it 8.5 stars from memory. What you may not know is that WIB has also been very sucessfully staged and is still ongoing I think, which given the storyline and atmospherics Hill is able to infuse into the text is not unsurprising. In fact I think I may have even sent you a note regarding this book in the past.
 
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy said:
How is he a good political writer? He sets up strawman arguments which he then demolishes with ease and he loads the bases to favour his own chosen ideas and characters. He was a good storyteller at his best, but not particularly subtle or complex in the way he engages with his later political or social ideas in his novels.

I've finished The Woman In Black by Susan Hill, a very effective and well-written ghost story in the traditional mould, although little more than a genre exercise in the end. Also read Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood, a funny and poignant account of his time spent working on a film with a Viennese director who proves to be an unforgettable character, a true 'tragic Punch'.
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It depends on how you like his storytelling, he uses very much different ideologies in effecient ways in his best sf novels. Moon is a Harsh mistress for example. Starship Troopers was more like you say strawman arguments and alot of political speeches,preaching. I liked that one mostly for military life,story.

His own chosen ideas ? Thats what 100% of writers does even the most original ones.

Im not one of those that think you cant enjoy a story just because you dont agree with the authors political ideas in the novel.
 
Just finished reading Invasive Procedure by OSC, it's my first time reading a book related to the field of medicine by OSC and it was a wonderful read, there was no unnecessary gap and was thrilling to say the least. now on to Debatable Space by Philip Palmer. Hope this one won't disappoint me, my first book written by Palmer.
 
In my trek through Charles Stross' series, The Merchant Princes, I've reached and finished Book Five, The Revolution Business.

I'll start with the ending: while not exactly a cliffhanger (in the sense that the book didn't end halfway through an event as some earlier volumes did), I feel worse about being left waiting for the next book than before, mostly because I don't have, or have access to, Book Six. :(

And I do want to read on. The author has come up with an excellent conceit and populated it with interesting characters. And it isn't as if the reader really knows who to root for: the "bad" characters are not necessarily doing things because they're evil (though there are a few black-hearted folk about), and the good guys don't always have the purest motives: they have to deal with the hands they're given. Yes, there are a number of sides, and the reader will want the best for the protagonist, Miriam/Helga, but even her closest associates have their own agendas.


An enjoyable read, but if you want to read this series, don't start anywhere but Book I.
 
Connavar said:
Im not one of those that think you cant enjoy a story just because you dont agree with the authors political ideas in the novel.
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The thing is, the latter novels are pretty hard-going unless you're prepared to look with some favour on every idea Heinlein promotes, good bad or ugly, because story per se tends to take backseat in works like The Number Of The Beast and To Sail Beyond The Sunset. I'd say the more overtly political his writing became, the less value it had as storytelling.

Gollum: I see that The Woman In Black had an excellent stage run and indeed it struck me that it would make a good movie; however, as compared to something like Turn Of The Screw, or that other James' ghost stories (which it alludes to) it falls short in its ability to conceive of the truly awesome, wouldn't you say?
 
Finished "Thorns" by Robert Silverberg and on to "Trouble with Lychen" by John Wyndham.
 
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy said:
The thing is, the latter novels are pretty hard-going unless you're prepared to look with some favour on every idea Heinlein promotes, good bad or ugly, because story per se tends to take backseat in works like The Number Of The Beast and To Sail Beyond The Sunset. I'd say the more overtly political his writing became, the less value it had as storytelling.
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I havent got there in my RAH reading yet im reading in publication order wise. Why read the latter works that dont get as much credit when there is RAH in his prime stories to read.
 
I dropped Debatable Space by Palmers, is it just me or I'm the only one who thinks that they way the novel was written is just unbearable.. anyway now reading O Pioneer! by Frederik Pohl.
 
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy said:
Gollum: I see that The Woman In Black had an excellent stage run and indeed it struck me that it would make a good movie; however, as compared to something like Turn Of The Screw, or that other James' ghost stories (which it alludes to) it falls short in its ability to conceive of the truly awesome, wouldn't you say?
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Yes I would agree with that assesment and I was annoyed to find out that it had been staged in Melbourne some while back as I would have liked to have seen that.

It certainly never really reaches WOW status or profound moments in the way all time classic stories can whether they be of a supernatural nature or not but for what it is it is so well written it deserves to be given a fairly high rating and is a short novel I would be happy to recommend to just about anyone....:)

The other James story you may be referring to is "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad".
 
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I read a conventional story called The Art of Racing In the Rain by Garth Stein. It was hilarious in parts, and heart breaking in others. Overall a fantastic read that I highly recommend.

Now I'm halfway through Feed by Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire). It has so far been a brilliant take on the zombie genre. Which I am very partial to :)
 
Jayaprakash Satyamurthy said:
Gollum: I see that The Woman In Black had an excellent stage run and indeed it struck me that it would make a good movie; however, as compared to something like Turn Of The Screw, or that other James' ghost stories (which it alludes to) it falls short in its ability to conceive of the truly awesome, wouldn't you say?
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I saw the stage version of WIB. Apart from a couple of creepy moments, the production's only tactic to scare the audience was loud screaming by various members of the cast. Subtle it was not, and the story was about as pastichey as it gets. I found the whole thing very disappointing, but if someone standing up suddenly on stage and shrieking at ear-hurting volume is your thing, I'd recommend it.
 
I hate the SF novels i have at home, they take too much brain energy,effort to read. Right now i want to read fast paced stories while i dont have much time to read. Way off from my usual two books a week pace and more like slow readers i use smile at because they only have time for one book in a month hehe :)

Im reading A Man Called Spade by Dashiell Hammett. First of 3 Sam Spade short stories.
 
Finished The Black Ice Score by Richard Stark; great as usual

Reading Feast of Fools by Rachel Cain (kindle) currently

I have 11 days off after Thursday so I'm planning to dive into some of the huge books requiring lots of concentration that have built up, starting with The Crippled God

(I might try and get to EasterCon for at least 1 day as it's being held pretty close this year)
 
soulsinging said:
Count of Monte Cristo- Alexander Dumas
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How are you liking this so far? I really enjoyed it, and am always curious what others think.

I'm currently doing a reread of A Clash of Kings by GRRM. I'm hoping I can finish the series before A Dance with Dragons is scheduled to come out.
 
Lady of Winterfell said:
I'm currently doing a reread of A Clash of Kings by GRRM. I'm hoping I can finish the series before A Dance with Dragons is scheduled to come out.
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I doubt if there is much danger of that occuring....;)

Q:How many more books are there supposed to be in the series?
 
GOLLUM said:
I doubt if there is much danger of that occuring....;)

Q:How many more books are there supposed to be in the series?
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Good point. :)

Supposedly 3 more. And the next one, A Dance with Dragons, should be coming out July 12th. Of course, there have been dates released before that have come and gone, but apparently this date can be relied upon.

But I should be able to finish my reread before then; at least that is my goal.
 
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