November 2019 reading thread

[Av Demeisen]

I am rereading Matt(hew) Hughes' One More Kill, one of my favourite novels of 2018.

 

[Toby Frost]

Thank you @Teresa Edgerton ! I consider that high praise! I did wonder if it would be "your sort of thing" - I thought it might be close but not close enough, which is sometimes worse than something being entirely different, if that makes any sense at all. Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

 

[tobl]

m r forbes war eternal is just to... farfetched? i don't know, it just doesn't connect. i have another series to try from him but not very hopeful

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I’m sticking with things criminal, and now turning my attention to The Tremor of Forgery, by Patricia Highsmith. I’ve heard good things about this. Greene said it was her finest book, and The Times named her the greatest crime writer of all time, back in the day.

Speaking of which, I have started her collection Chillers (1990), which brings together a dozen stories, dating from 1960 to 1985, which were adapted for television under the same title. We watched the series a while ago, so bought the collection. Despite the title, and the fact that most of the tales deal with murder and mayhem, a couple of the stories don't really fit into that category, such as the one dealing with a fellow who has two girlfriends and is trying to hide them from each other.

 

[Bick]

As it happens, I just finished the Highsmith, Victoria. I enjoyed it a good deal, though it wasn’t quite what I expected. It was a non-genre novel about character and morality. Not a lot happens to be honest. I enjoyed the Tunisian locale and it was very well written. I thought Highsmith wrote crime/detective novels, but perhaps I got that wrong - unless this is untypical?

 

[Danny McG]

I think Highsmith peaked with Edith's Diary (1977) ....it really overwhelms you with the slow descent into madness aided by twentieth century mores

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

As it happens, I just finished the Highsmith, Victoria. I enjoyed it a good deal, though it wasn’t quite what I expected. It was a non-genre novel about character and morality. Not a lot happens to be honest. I enjoyed the Tunisian locale and it was very well written. I thought Highsmith wrote crime/detective novels, but perhaps I got that wrong - unless this is untypical?

Highsmith's books are not your usual whodunits, to be sure, although most of them fall into the category of suspense. (A notable exception is the lesbian romance novel The Price of Salt AKA Carol.) In the few of her novels I have read, people seem to fall into dangerous situations through sheer chance and/or through their own character flaws. There are deaths, usually, some of them murder, some of them suicide, some of them accidental. There is often shared guilt between a killer and someone who is not a killer but might have been.

 

[Bick]

Yes, the guilt theme certainly sounds right, that was a clear tenet of the novel. There wasn’t much suspense or indeed any definite death (there’s a probable death) and there’s certainly no mystery. I can see why Graham Greene liked it though - he could have written it. It’s a nice enough non-genre story though. I’d say it peters out at the end however, as it concludes rather weakly, more a sigh than a bang.

 

[Bick]

[QUOTE="Victoria Silverwolf”] (A notable exception is the lesbian romance novel The Price of Salt AKA Carol.)
[/QUOTE]
Was Highsmith a lesbian? Just curious, as there’s a gay man in Tremor also, and he’s drawn in a very accepting way (for the time).

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Was Highsmith a lesbian? Just curious, as there’s a gay man in Tremor also, and he’s drawn in a very accepting way (for the time).

Yes, for the most part, although, like with many people, her sexuality was complicated. One biographer of hers that I heard on the radio said that she liked having sex with women, but didn't like women.

Much more information about this aspect of a very complex personality here:

Patricia Highsmith - Wikipedia

 

[Bick]

Now moving to a Jack McDevitt novel: The Engines of God. This the first Priscilla Hutchins book I believe.

 

[Bick]

Yes, for the most part, although, like with many people, her sexuality was complicated. One biographer of hers that I heard on the radio said that she liked having sex with women, but didn't like women.

Much more information about this aspect of a very complex personality here:

Patricia Highsmith - Wikipedia

That’s interesting - a complex person, for sure. The sexuality in Tremor of Forgery is very nicely done - treated well in a rounded and even handed manner, by an author who obviously had some interesting thoughts about sexuality, yet doesn’t let those predilections and opinions overshadow her story.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm currently reading The Reckoning, by John Grisham. It's the first book from my book group, it starts at a cracking pace, hopefully it will keep it up.

 

[tobl]

so, i liked m r forbes divine series.. the rest not so much. tried 2 syfy series and didn't take. tried jamie sawyer artifact series... also no. lets see what else i can find

 

[The Big Peat]

Just finished The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg, which is a pretty whacked out road trip about 4 80s American college boys who learn about a cult that claims to teach people how to live forever, but the catch is - 4 people apply, 2 live forever, providing 1 of the others is murdered and the other commits suicide. It's engrossing to read because of how deep inside their voices he goes but the actual story itself is very simple; felt somewhat nonplussed at the end but looking back, it's cool.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I quite liked that novel. To my way of thinking, the Silverberg of the late 1960's to the early 1970's, or so, was the best writer of fantastic fiction around.

 

[Danny McG]

DNF take back plenty by Colin Greenland, I realised a few chapters into it that I'd already read it, only about 18 months ago!

Now I'm trying Supernova Era by Liu Cixin..... All the adults are dying but under 13 year olds will survive and thrive.
Adults try desperately to pass on knowledge and guidance, however the younglings soon realise they don't have to follow instructions (no spoilers, that's from the blurb)

 

[hitmouse]

DNF take back plenty by Colin Greenland, I realised a few chapters into it that I'd already read it, only about 18 months ago!

Now I'm trying Supernova Era by Liu Cixin..... All the adults are dying but under 13 year olds will survive and thrive.
Adults try desperately to pass on knowledge and guidance, however the younglings soon realise they don't have to follow instructions (no spoilers, that's from the blurb)

Started rereading TBP, so that I can (probably) go on to the sequels. 5 or 6 chapters in. I had completely forgotten the story. Apart from a hilariously bad sex scene, which I suspect dates the book, quite enjoying it.

 

[The Big Peat]

I quite liked that novel. To my way of thinking, the Silverberg of the late 1960's to the early 1970's, or so, was the best writer of fantastic fiction around.

I'd only read his retelling of Gilgamesh before but between that and this, I'm going to make a more concerted attempt to find his books. Very good at writing strong voices.

 

[Paul_C]

I finished Neptune's Brood and on the whole found it very enjoyable, nice to read a story where almost all of the "cast" are female and I reckon it's probably my favourite of the Stross books I've read so far.

Next up is The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson.

Can't say The House on the Borderland did much for me, though it started off ok - I'm now reading This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal-El Mohtar and Max Gladstone, which is a lot more fun.