July's Joyous Jousting at Stories and other generally non-Journalistic offerings

[GOLLUM]

A bit of a convoluted heading this time but you know what I mean...

So..what have you all begun reading in the month of July?

I'm currently engrossed in a collection of short stories by the Frenchman Prospero Merimee whose main claim to fame is Carmen but he clearly penned several other fine examples of the short story.

 

[Vertigo]

Read Leigh Brackett's The Big Jump which was great action packed pulp sf adventure but let down by some sloppy writing early on (random head hopping, dialogue clearly attributed to the wrong person etc.). Also much of the motivation and execution (particularly early on) was rather implausible. So rather mixed feeling on that one.

Also read the first part of Roberto Bolano's 2666 but... I'm not too sure how I feel on that one and need to think a little more on it.

(actually that was really June's reading but never mind I did finish The Big Jump after midnight last night).

Incidentally, Gollum, I notice that May's reading thread is still stickied.

 

[GOLLUM]

Yep I assumed you meant June's thread. which I've just unstuck and No...you're not keeping me up...perish the thought....

..and now I am shutting the PC down.

Ciao.

 

[Nerds_feather]

Also read the first part of Roberto Bolano's 2666 but... I'm not too sure how I feel on that one and need to think a little more on it.

jump into part 2!!!!

 

[Nerds_feather]

for me, i just started The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham. pretty good so far.

 

[Lord Soth]

Finished House of Chains by Erikson, now onto a mini break (of the Malazan series re-read) and have started Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregellis. So far, great premise but not as engaging as hoped...

 

[Spade]

Across the Universe by Beth Revis. Some light reading involving some teenagers, a generational ship, and a mystery or two!

 

[Grunkins]

Started Iain M Banks' Inversions last night. He's the man.

 

[Vertigo]

Started Iain M Banks' Inversions last night. He's the man.

He certainly is! Though that's not one of my favourites.

I am planning a complete Culture re-read one of these days and, strangely, I'm quite looking forward to re-reading this one, as I think (hope) it may have just been because it was so different to what I'd expected when I bought it. Knowing what to expect I'm hoping I'll enjoy it fully next time.

 

[Grunkins]

He certainly is! Though that's not one of my favourites.

I am planning a complete Culture re-read one of these days and, strangely, I'm quite looking forward to re-reading this one, as I think (hope) it may have just been because it was so different to what I'd expected when I bought it. Knowing what to expect I'm hoping I'll enjoy it fully next time.

Had I been expecting a book more typical of his Culture series I would probably be disappointed, but I went into knowing it's essentially a fantasy book.

I'm also looking forward to a reread (though I still have Matter and Surface Detail to go). I'm excited to have another run through Consider Phlebas knowing what I do about the series and the Culture in general.

Banks has quickly become one of my favorite authors, something I really didn't expect.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Finished the Chapbook 'The Eyes of Water' by Alison Littlewood, Review

And will start and no doubt take forever to finish, Quantum Leap : Obsessions by Carol Davis

At least it ties in with the Boxset I'm watching....

 

[Vertigo]

Had I been expecting a book more typical of his Culture series I would probably be disappointed, but I went into knowing it's essentially a fantasy book.

I'm also looking forward to a reread (though I still have Matter and Surface Detail to go). I'm excited to have another run through Consider Phlebas knowing what I do about the series and the Culture in general.

Banks has quickly become one of my favorite authors, something I really didn't expect.

Exactly the same for me except I only have Surface Detail to read. Not quite sure why I haven't got around to it yet

 

[dask]

Finished this:

In General includes essays on Thurber, Nietzsche, Joyce, and other aspects of literature/publishing. In Particular are book reviews, all from the mid forties, covering different arenas like the American Esthetic, The English Esthetic, War-Torn World, Biography and History, Russian Affairs, Affairs in General, Poetry, and Fiction. Most authors (and titles) I never heard of, a few I have such as Alfred Einstein, Will Durant and Hodding Carter (from the Carter Administration maybe?), and one book I actually read, Durant's CAESAR AND CHRIST. Several caught my interest on barbed hooks, but TWELVE STORIES by Danish author Steen Steensen Blicher dug too deep to be removed without surgery. No idea who he is (er, was, he lived from 1782-1848) but sounds worth checking out.

Francis Hackett is an extremely smart writer, astute but maybe a little too epigrammatic. I can appreciate not wanting to spoon feed his audience but a crumb or two would be nice. You have to be on your tippy-toes with this guy, not unlike watching a Kubrick movie. It was interesting to compare his extremely negative view of Nietzsche with Clifton Fadiman's glowing praise. Suppose I'll have to read him for myself. (Did I really just say that)

 

[J-Sun]

It was interesting to compare his extremely negative view of Nietzsche with Clifton Fadiman's glowing praise. Suppose I'll have to read him for myself. (Did I really just say that)

Make sure you get Kaufmann and/or Hollingdale translations and save The Will to Power for last, or at least late. Though they only present brief selections from the early, more "aphoristic" books and nothing much if anything from Untimely Meditations, you can get the bulk of core stuff in just two volumes if you can track down The Viking Portable Nietzsche and the Modern Library edition of Basic Writings of Nietzsche.

 

[dask]

Make sure you get Kaufmann and/or Hollingdale translations and save The Will to Power for last, or at least late. Though they only present brief selections from the early, more "aphoristic" books and nothing much if anything from Untimely Meditations, you can get the bulk of core stuff in just two volumes if you can track down The Viking Portable Nietzsche and the Modern Library edition of Basic Writings of Nietzsche.

Thanks for the suggestions. It helps narrow it down. Kaufmann? Is that Walter Kaufmann? I've got one of his books somewhere.

 

[J-Sun]

Thanks for the suggestions. It helps narrow it down. Kaufmann? Is that Walter Kaufmann? I've got one of his books somewhere.

Very welcome and, yep, that's the one. He's done a lot of good books in addition to the translations - I definitely don't always agree, but he's always interesting. The ones I know of are a biography on Nietzsche, sort of grandiosely titled Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist, an intro to Hegel, Hegel: Texts and Commentary, and then Tragedy and Philosophy, From Shakespeare to Existentialism, and one he edited called Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Is it any of those?

 

[purple_kathryn]

Been on a bit of Hiatus for a while

but now reading Fire by Kristin Cashore

 

[SiobhanT]

I just finished the last of the Dalemark Chronicles by Diana Wynne Jones, now I'm reading Giants of the Frost by Kim Wilkins, it's explicitly a love story, so not really my usual cup of tea, but also the main character is a meterologist, which is really cool, and I do love Norse mythology, so this should be a nice bit of light reading.

 

[Grunkins]

Starting my first Robin Hobb book today. Assassin's Apprentice has been sitting in my TBR for a long time. I've heard good things about it.

 

[dask]

Very welcome and, yep, that's the one. He's done a lot of good books in addition to the translations - I definitely don't always agree, but he's always interesting. The ones I know of are a biography on Nietzsche, sort of grandiosely titled Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist, an intro to Hegel, Hegel: Texts and Commentary, and then Tragedy and Philosophy, From Shakespeare to Existentialism, and one he edited called Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Is it any of those?

Yes, the last one: