March 2019: Reading Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
Roger Zelazny: "Jack of Shadows"
I really enjoyed this, though I thought the first half (for me, reminiscent of Gaiman's Sandman) better than the second. A re-read, but found I'd remembered almost nothing of it.
 
A sad farewell to Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. Once exciting and brilliant, now just very very clever and rather tedious.

By way of contrast, I remembered I'd bought a lovely Folio Society edition of The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliffe a while ago and had never read it. So far, so excellent.
 
A sad farewell to Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. Once exciting and brilliant, now just very very clever and rather tedious.

I've got to say, if I had to think of a fictional book that would be the opposite of the fun, light Lost World-type adventure you were seeking in the other thread, Eco would be a pretty strong choice!
 
I've got to say, if I had to think of a fictional book that would be the opposite of the fun, light Lost World-type adventure you were seeking in the other thread, Eco would be a pretty strong choice!

Yeah, I think that thread was a reaction to it when I got about 80% through! (I skimmed the last part for completeness.) Eagle of the Ninth is more like it though.
 
I read Foucault's Pendulum years ago and thought it started well but dragged interminably towards the end.
 
By way of contrast, I remembered I'd bought a lovely Folio Society edition of The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliffe a while ago and had never read it. So far, so excellent
Brilliant, I read it as a schoolboy and bought it (charity shop!) only last year following my viewing the film
 
Brilliant, I read it as a schoolboy and bought it (charity shop!) only last year following my viewing the film

Was it a recently made TV film? I saw part of it, and I wondered if it was of this book, but when I started reading, it didn't seem familiar.
 
A sad farewell to Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. Once exciting and brilliant, now just very very clever and rather tedious.

By way of contrast, I remembered I'd bought a lovely Folio Society edition of The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliffe a while ago and had never read it. So far, so excellent.

Couldn't get into Baudolino for probably the reasons mentioned. Would love to know what you think of Eagle of the Ninth, as that's on my wishlist. :)
 
I finally finished that gigantic book of short stories from around the world. Next up: Coming Apart: An Informal History of America in the 1960's by William L. O'Neill (1971). That's pretty darn early for a "history," but it should be interesting.
 
Finished The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick. Now looking forward to this.
50610
 
Last edited:
Finished reading Picts, Gaels, Scots by Sally Foster, about the archaeology & history of the Picts. Fairly interesting, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it was really about an Iron Age British culture that the Romans had simply termed "Picts" for convenience, creating thousands of years of misunderstanding.

Also read Octavia Butler's short story Blood Child. OMG, that's a science fiction story I'll not forget! Quite brilliant in the premise and telling.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top