July's Jesuitical Journeyings Through Literary Juxtapositions

[Carolyn Hill]

In July, I read the following:

The Devil's Children (Peter Dickenson)
Heartsease (Peter Dickenson)
The Weathermonger (Peter Dickenson)
The Stone Giant (James P. Blaylock)
Midnight in Death (J.D. Robb)
The Red Wolf Conspiracy (Robert V.S. Redick)
The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
Heartless (Gail Carriger)
Pale Demon (Kim Harrison)
The Neon Graveyard (Vicki Pettersson)
Glasshouse (Charles Stross)
Hunt the Moon (Karen Chance)
All Seated on the Ground (Connie Willis)
Inside Job (Connie Willis)
Sight of Proteus (Charles Sheffield)

Glasshouse is the first book by Charles Stross that I've read. Man, he's inventive! I'm going to look for others of his to read.

The Red Wolf Conspiracy and The Hunger Games also impressed me. I've purchased the second two in the Red Wolf series and may look for the other two Hunger Game books in the library.

I'm usually a huge fan of Charles Sheffield, but Sight of Proteus wasn't up to his normally excellent standards. It felt a bit hollow somehow.

 

[D_Davis]

Yes; it's an elegant novel in its way; and certainly much more thoughtful than I think most people were expecting. It has certainly remained a fairly popular work through the years, especially the various editions with the Boris Artzybasheff illustrations. (I once had a copy of the first edition, which included these. They were particularly fitting to the feel of the novel. I wonder what ever happened to that volume....?) In this one, at least, Finney proved he could write a work of true genius, however quirky.

I'd definitely like to track down an illustrated version. Any more info on that?

The conversation between the man and the sea serpent is one of the most interesting things I've ever read. Not sure what it all means, but still....actually, that can be said for the entire book. It's an enigma, and has constantly haunted my mind since I began reading it. I think that's the best way to describe the entire book - haunting.

 

[j d worthington]

Any more info? Well....

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006D9YFI/?tag=brite-21#_

It would appear the Bison edition contains the original illustrations, though I'd do a little more research to be sure. I'm seeing hardcover editions for as low as $19.50, so they're going for a reasonable price, anyway....

 

[D_Davis]

Any more info? Well....

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006D9YFI/?tag=brite-21#_

It would appear the Bison edition contains the original illustrations, though I'd do a little more research to be sure. I'm seeing hardcover editions for as low as $19.50, so they're going for a reasonable price, anyway....

Cool, thanks.

 

[j d worthington]

You're quite welcome. My own reading is still going rather slowly for the moment, but I'm managing to dip into Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce now and again. The most recent was "Moxon's Master", which is actually much more subtle in various ways than I recalled it being....

 

[D_Davis]

The Circus of Dr. Lao, by Charles G. Finney

The Circus of Dr. Lao is a haunting, bizarre and enigmatic literary experience completely unlike anything I've ever read. I loved every single page of this strange tale, but I'll be damned if I know what it's all about.

Finney works wonders with words, and crafts a story revolving around a weird little traveling circus arriving in the small, po-dunk Arizona town of Abalone. Abalone is populated by all manner of people, and as the circus parades around the town before properly opening, Finney details the population's perception of the strange creatures on display. There is the thing that is either a man or a bear, a golden ass, a satyr, an sea-serpent, a green leaf-colored dog, and all kinds of seemingly-real monsters.

But they can't be real. Can they? They must be fakes. Right?

There are many, many layers to The Circus of Dr. Lao, and as each is peeled away Finney simply introduces more oddities and questions. The story itself deals with sexual deviancy, occult worship, the power of suggestion, the fear of otherness, and the self-discovery of truth, and sometimes we don't like what we learn.

And what's more, the weirdest part of the book is found in the appendix (coming right after one of the most incredibly befuddling endings I've ever experienced), entitled: The Catalogue (an explanation of the obvious which must be read to be appreciated). In this mysterious addendum, Finney describes every character that appears in the book, and many that don't, sub-divided into sections including sex and archetype, animal and deity and so on.

This novel has haunted me for a week, and I doubt it will leave the corners of mind any time soon. It is, indeed, like many have said, a masterpiece of fantasy. It is rare to read something truly different and unique, but Finney's The Circus of Dr. Lao is such a thing, and it is simply a treasure to be cherished.

 

[Vertigo]

I have to say D that you have got me well and truly interested in this book; it's not the sort of stuff I usually read (far more SF than fantasy or weird) but it just sounds so bizarre I really want to give it a go. However I'm not sure I can justify more book purchases whilst I have so many unread books already Just have to go on my wish list for now!

 

[D_Davis]

I have to say D that you have got me well and truly interested in this book; it's not the sort of stuff I usually read (far more SF than fantasy or weird) but it just sounds so bizarre I really want to give it a go. However I'm not sure I can justify more book purchases whilst I have so many unread books already Just have to go on my wish list for now!

Glad I could pique your interest. It's a book worthy of your time, I think.

 

[Vertigo]

Only problem is that I dropped out of reading for... well, let's just say a very long time so my TBR is big... very big and my wish list is even bigger

 

[D_Davis]

Only problem is that I dropped out of reading for... well, let's just say a very long time so my TBR is big... very big and my wish list is even bigger

My TBR "pile" is about 250 volumes deep.

 

[Vertigo]

That's about the same as mine but my wish list is a lot bigger!

 

[D_Davis]

That's about the same as mine but my wish list is a lot bigger!

I hear that.

 

[Rodders]

On to Veteran by Gavin Smith.

 

[D_Davis]

Reading The Planet Buyer, by Cordwainer Smith. Really good so far. Very interesting.

 

[antiloquax]

Been away for a week. I have read the first 2 volumes of the Bitterbynde trilogy. Enjoying them very much - especially the way Dart-Thornton weaves traditional fairy-tales into her story. Excellent!
As a little break before reading the third volume, I am reading "By His Bootstraps" by Heinlein.
a

 

[J-Sun]

Reading The Planet Buyer, by Cordwainer Smith. Really good so far. Very interesting.

You may well know this but, if not, there's a sequel (The Underpeople) but both of those are split (and possibly cut or otherwise messed with - not sure) from the original single novel which was eventually published as Norstrilia so, if you like The Planet Buyer, you might want to get that.

 

[D_Davis]

You may well know this but, if not, there's a sequel (The Underpeople) but both of those are split (and possibly cut or otherwise messed with - not sure) from the original single novel which was eventually published as Norstrilia so, if you like The Planet Buyer, you might want to get that.

Already got it.

I recently picked up both, along with The Space Lords, in a lot of vintage Pyramid SF books.

 

[antiloquax]

Oh, I have also been listening to audiobooks of "The Invisible Man" and "She". I remember being quite surprised by "The Invisible Man" when I first read it. Griffin is such an unlikeable character. I wonder how often before this there had been a book with such a clear "anti-hero". Wells doesn't make it clear whether Griffin was always so anti-social or if becoming invisible made him like that. In some ways the Paul Verhoeven film "The Hollow Man" addresses this idea. Being invisible DOES seem to make "Sebastian Caine" thoroughly insane.
Haven't finished listening to "She" yet! BTW I do not count this as "reading" the books - I don't add them to my (painstakingly maintained) reading log.
Speaking of which, what do people think about Art Garfunkel's reading log? Call me cynical, but ... isn't it just too good to be true?
ant

 

[J-Sun]

Already got it.

I recently picked up both, along with The Space Lords, in a lot of vintage Pyramid SF books.

Good deal!

 

[GOLLUM]

Been away for a week. I have read the first 2 volumes of the Bitterbynde trilogy. Enjoying them very much - especially the way Dart-Thornton weaves traditional fairy-tales into her story. Excellent!

Glad to see you enjoying Cecilla's work...

Currently reading two near complete short story collections.

The first is that of Russian Isaac Babel, generally regarded as one of the world's finest and most unusual writers of the last century invested as his stories are with a mixture of world cultures combined with a visceral poetic style. Babel's use of prose can at times be astonishing and central to his effectiveness as a writer is very much his descriptive treatment of opposites, his ability to juxtapose multiple images on the page to equal effect that leads to an intense cojoining of words where the resultant effect rather than the words themselves becomes the centrepice of the writing.

The second author is the American Wallace Stegner, one of the central writers of the American West. Stegner died some years ago but not before contributing to his art for more than five decades, so needless to say this short story collection is substantial in size. Some of the characteristics of Stegner's stories are that of the importance of place, history, a central moral, relationships, a positivity towards the human spirit, realism and a distinctive knack for metaphor comparable to some of literature's best exponents...one often feels as if one is right there, rooted in the story itself. I don't know how well Stegner is known in his native US? ....but I basically came across him in the guise of a beautifully produced penguin black classic edition.