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Whoa You Guys
Feb. 22nd, 2011 11:57 amTwo people have generously gifted me with paid time on this account, so I feel obligated to GET ON THOSE POLLS. Thank you so much to both of you!
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
21. The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (Re-read). As I noted in talking about A Wizard of Earthsea, I failed to get much out of the Earthsea books when I read them as a young adult. In the case of this, the second book, reading it now was pretty much like reading it the first time--I have some memory of the maps and illustrations, but pretty much none of the story. What struck me as I was finishing it up was how much it reads like a story about battling and surviving depression; I have some small discomfort with Ged's role as Tenar's deliverer from her dark and joyless existence, but I was also very moved by her transformation and her move into the light. I'm beginning to think that I was a particularly shallow and clueless adolescent (and if I told you what I was reading and re-reading during that period you'd probably agree), since I know how big these books were and are for so many people at that age.
Books 11-20.
21. The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (Re-read). As I noted in talking about A Wizard of Earthsea, I failed to get much out of the Earthsea books when I read them as a young adult. In the case of this, the second book, reading it now was pretty much like reading it the first time--I have some memory of the maps and illustrations, but pretty much none of the story. What struck me as I was finishing it up was how much it reads like a story about battling and surviving depression; I have some small discomfort with Ged's role as Tenar's deliverer from her dark and joyless existence, but I was also very moved by her transformation and her move into the light. I'm beginning to think that I was a particularly shallow and clueless adolescent (and if I told you what I was reading and re-reading during that period you'd probably agree), since I know how big these books were and are for so many people at that age.
Tiny Announcement/Apology
Feb. 22nd, 2011 11:24 amI had hoped to start posting more of those wacky polls, but sadly that's not going to happen; I'm having to let my paid account expire due to being broke. Instead I'll, I don't know, finish writing this novel or something.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić.
17. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.
18. A Game for the Living by Patricia Highsmith.
19. Alcestis by Katharine Beutner.
20. Tomb of the Fathers: A Lydia Duluth Adventure by Eleanor Arnason. Yay for more Arnason! This novella is a planetary romance almost in the vein of an Edgar Rice Burroughs hidden/alien world story, but with all the subversion you'd expect from Arnason; flipped/complicated gender roles, Marx-and-Engels-quoting aliens, and extra-dry humor. I think my favorite part of the Lydia Duluth stories are the benevolent AI overlords. No one calls them that, but essentially that's what they are; since they weren't invented by humans (or any of the other alien races that are still around) they are endlessly curious about living beings, but they're also manipulative and at times clueless to the point of callousness, all while being scrupulously polite.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić.
17. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.
18. A Game for the Living by Patricia Highsmith.
19. Alcestis by Katharine Beutner.
20. Tomb of the Fathers: A Lydia Duluth Adventure by Eleanor Arnason. Yay for more Arnason! This novella is a planetary romance almost in the vein of an Edgar Rice Burroughs hidden/alien world story, but with all the subversion you'd expect from Arnason; flipped/complicated gender roles, Marx-and-Engels-quoting aliens, and extra-dry humor. I think my favorite part of the Lydia Duluth stories are the benevolent AI overlords. No one calls them that, but essentially that's what they are; since they weren't invented by humans (or any of the other alien races that are still around) they are endlessly curious about living beings, but they're also manipulative and at times clueless to the point of callousness, all while being scrupulously polite.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić.
17. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.
18. A Game for the Living by Patricia Highsmith.
19. Alcestis by Katharine Beutner. Alcestis, you might recall--though to be honest, I didn't--was the wife of King Admetus, who volunteered to take his place in death, descended to Hades, and was brought back by Heracles. Beutner takes the story and uses it to illuminate the lives of Greek women, something we don't read much of in the myths. Alcestis's life--everything, from her domestic activities to her sexuality--is bounded by first her father's house, then her husband's; it's only in her death that her life becomes unstructured and self-determined. (It's more complicated than that, but I don't want to give too much away, here.) Beutner's handling of the Greek gods is remarkable for its matter-of-factness; Alcestis is the granddaughter of Poseidon, and Apollo, Hermes, Hades and Persephone all appear here, manipulating mortals but manipulated in turn by the Fates and their own passions. The novel has a strong start, exploring Alcestis's relationships with her sisters and the other women in her life, since her own mother died in childbirth. It's the chronicle of the time in the underworld that makes the novel work, though. Although at times this section feels too unstructured (deliberately so, I think--see above about Alcestis's limits in life), it's there that she discovers who she is and what she wants. Self-knowledge has its tragic side, of course, but again that's something I don't want to give away. A welcome feminist perspective on the Greek tradition.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić.
17. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.
18. A Game for the Living by Patricia Highsmith.
19. Alcestis by Katharine Beutner. Alcestis, you might recall--though to be honest, I didn't--was the wife of King Admetus, who volunteered to take his place in death, descended to Hades, and was brought back by Heracles. Beutner takes the story and uses it to illuminate the lives of Greek women, something we don't read much of in the myths. Alcestis's life--everything, from her domestic activities to her sexuality--is bounded by first her father's house, then her husband's; it's only in her death that her life becomes unstructured and self-determined. (It's more complicated than that, but I don't want to give too much away, here.) Beutner's handling of the Greek gods is remarkable for its matter-of-factness; Alcestis is the granddaughter of Poseidon, and Apollo, Hermes, Hades and Persephone all appear here, manipulating mortals but manipulated in turn by the Fates and their own passions. The novel has a strong start, exploring Alcestis's relationships with her sisters and the other women in her life, since her own mother died in childbirth. It's the chronicle of the time in the underworld that makes the novel work, though. Although at times this section feels too unstructured (deliberately so, I think--see above about Alcestis's limits in life), it's there that she discovers who she is and what she wants. Self-knowledge has its tragic side, of course, but again that's something I don't want to give away. A welcome feminist perspective on the Greek tradition.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić.
17. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.
18. A Game for the Living by Patricia Highsmith. This book starts with a murder, but it's not really a mystery novel and it's not a crime story; it's mostly a psychological novel about the contrasting reactions to the murder by the victim's two lovers. Mexican painter Lelia is murdered and mutilated, and friends and semi-rivals Theodore--a wealthy German expatriate--and Ramón--a furniture-maker and devout Catholic--have very different reactions. Theodore is bewildered and determined to find answers; Ramón is consumed by guilt for his occasional fights with Lelia. Highsmith spends the entire novel bouncing the two men and their worldviews off of each other. In the process much is revealed about Ramón's character, but less about Theodore's; on the other hand, Ramón becomes a bit of a caricature of a religious thinker, while Theodore is the calm and rational atheist. It's something like Strangers On a Train in that it's really about the collision of two men, but the two men don't feel quite equally balanced, here. It's still an impressively plotted and crafted piece of work, but as a character study I don't think it quite does what it sets out to do.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić.
17. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.
18. A Game for the Living by Patricia Highsmith. This book starts with a murder, but it's not really a mystery novel and it's not a crime story; it's mostly a psychological novel about the contrasting reactions to the murder by the victim's two lovers. Mexican painter Lelia is murdered and mutilated, and friends and semi-rivals Theodore--a wealthy German expatriate--and Ramón--a furniture-maker and devout Catholic--have very different reactions. Theodore is bewildered and determined to find answers; Ramón is consumed by guilt for his occasional fights with Lelia. Highsmith spends the entire novel bouncing the two men and their worldviews off of each other. In the process much is revealed about Ramón's character, but less about Theodore's; on the other hand, Ramón becomes a bit of a caricature of a religious thinker, while Theodore is the calm and rational atheist. It's something like Strangers On a Train in that it's really about the collision of two men, but the two men don't feel quite equally balanced, here. It's still an impressively plotted and crafted piece of work, but as a character study I don't think it quite does what it sets out to do.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić.
17. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. This book has been praised all over the place, and it recently won the Printz Award. I like Paolo's short stories very much, and I like Paolo. But for reasons I can't entirely put my finger on, this book left me pretty cold. I admire some things about it; the world-building, the dark-but-not-bleak tone of it, the overall lean and efficient storytelling. I think that part of my issue is that I was never really hooked into the characters to care much about them; I also have the nagging feeling that the story was perhaps a little too aerodynamic and controlled for my taste. And I do think it's a matter of taste, here. My reaction to Ship Breaker reminds me very much of my reaction to books like The Golden Compass, A Princess of Roumania, and The Knife of Never Letting Go--all highly praised, award-winning books much loved by people whose opinions I respect, all of which I disliked. I'm not certain what the common thread there is, or even if there is one; but for now I have to conclude that the issue is mine. And like I said, I like Paolo's stuff generally, so I won't hesitate to pick up another book of his--this one's just a miss for me.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić.
17. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. This book has been praised all over the place, and it recently won the Printz Award. I like Paolo's short stories very much, and I like Paolo. But for reasons I can't entirely put my finger on, this book left me pretty cold. I admire some things about it; the world-building, the dark-but-not-bleak tone of it, the overall lean and efficient storytelling. I think that part of my issue is that I was never really hooked into the characters to care much about them; I also have the nagging feeling that the story was perhaps a little too aerodynamic and controlled for my taste. And I do think it's a matter of taste, here. My reaction to Ship Breaker reminds me very much of my reaction to books like The Golden Compass, A Princess of Roumania, and The Knife of Never Letting Go--all highly praised, award-winning books much loved by people whose opinions I respect, all of which I disliked. I'm not certain what the common thread there is, or even if there is one; but for now I have to conclude that the issue is mine. And like I said, I like Paolo's stuff generally, so I won't hesitate to pick up another book of his--this one's just a miss for me.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić. Last year when I was reading The Challengers of the Unknown, I was for some reason particularly intrigued by the "honorary" female Challenger June Robbins/Walker, who is initially introduced as a robotics expert. I mused over the idea of writing some kind of Challengers proposal that would spotlight her, but I realized that I don't actually know much about robots. Anyway, that proposal may or may not happen, but this book--by the co-director of USC's Robotics Research Lab--strikes me a pretty great intro to the subject for just about anybody. It's written for anyone from elementary school to university students, and people like me who just want a grasp of the fundamentals. Matarić covers the basic challenges and common approaches to them well, and provides some illustrative examples, although there are times, when she discusses more conceptual problems, that the examples were lacking and I missed them badly. Overall, though, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the topic, and probably particularly to youngish kids who are scientifically inclined; I'm planning to loan my copy to one such kid.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.
16. The Robotics Primer by Maja J. Matarić. Last year when I was reading The Challengers of the Unknown, I was for some reason particularly intrigued by the "honorary" female Challenger June Robbins/Walker, who is initially introduced as a robotics expert. I mused over the idea of writing some kind of Challengers proposal that would spotlight her, but I realized that I don't actually know much about robots. Anyway, that proposal may or may not happen, but this book--by the co-director of USC's Robotics Research Lab--strikes me a pretty great intro to the subject for just about anybody. It's written for anyone from elementary school to university students, and people like me who just want a grasp of the fundamentals. Matarić covers the basic challenges and common approaches to them well, and provides some illustrative examples, although there are times, when she discusses more conceptual problems, that the examples were lacking and I missed them badly. Overall, though, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the topic, and probably particularly to youngish kids who are scientifically inclined; I'm planning to loan my copy to one such kid.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Re-read). Possibly you have heard of this one. I have to confess something--I read the Earthsea books (the original trilogy, anyway, which was all that was out at the time) back in junior high and didn't really imprint on them. I knew there was something there, but I was a bit befuddled; at that time what I wanted from fantasy was pretty much swords and--actually, that probably covers it. (Well, and axes, which were somehow even cooler than swords, which was why dwarves were the greatest thing ever. Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu! But I digress.) So I think when I came across this book I was befuddled; I mean (and remember, this is my 13-year-old self talking here) OK, he indirectly slays a few of the young dragons, but he defeats the big one by talking to it? And the big villain is his own death or something? I just didn't get it, then. Reading it now, I want to put half the book into a file of memorable quotes and demand that it be required reading for ethics courses. Now I get it, or at least much of it. If I read it in another 25 years I'm sure I'll get even more.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason.
15. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (Re-read). Possibly you have heard of this one. I have to confess something--I read the Earthsea books (the original trilogy, anyway, which was all that was out at the time) back in junior high and didn't really imprint on them. I knew there was something there, but I was a bit befuddled; at that time what I wanted from fantasy was pretty much swords and--actually, that probably covers it. (Well, and axes, which were somehow even cooler than swords, which was why dwarves were the greatest thing ever. Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu! But I digress.) So I think when I came across this book I was befuddled; I mean (and remember, this is my 13-year-old self talking here) OK, he indirectly slays a few of the young dragons, but he defeats the big one by talking to it? And the big villain is his own death or something? I just didn't get it, then. Reading it now, I want to put half the book into a file of memorable quotes and demand that it be required reading for ethics courses. Now I get it, or at least much of it. If I read it in another 25 years I'm sure I'll get even more.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason. This is the sort of book that I hesitate to describe much at all, because part of the pleasure of it is the way it opens and you're not sure, at first, whether it's fiction or memoir, set in present day or some alternate future. So I think that I will not say much more than that, except that there's a particular enjoyment in reading it that comes from being an upper Midwesterner and knowing something of the history of Minnesota and the Great Plains--an enjoyment apart from the simple fact of this being Arnason, who can be simultaneously laconic and evocative. Witness this paragraph:
The title work is technically a novella, I think, so just in case anyone was thinking about award nominations and that sort of thing. It's accompanied by an essay based on Arnason's Guest-of-Honor speech from WisCon 28, and an interview with her conducted by Terry Bisson.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi.
14. Mammoths of the Great Plains by Eleanor Arnason. This is the sort of book that I hesitate to describe much at all, because part of the pleasure of it is the way it opens and you're not sure, at first, whether it's fiction or memoir, set in present day or some alternate future. So I think that I will not say much more than that, except that there's a particular enjoyment in reading it that comes from being an upper Midwesterner and knowing something of the history of Minnesota and the Great Plains--an enjoyment apart from the simple fact of this being Arnason, who can be simultaneously laconic and evocative. Witness this paragraph:
She sat silent for a while, her bony hands folded in her lap and her bright blue eyes gazing right through the living room wall, it seemed to me, into the west river distance. There was no one in my life like her then, and I have never found a replacement for her.
The title work is technically a novella, I think, so just in case anyone was thinking about award nominations and that sort of thing. It's accompanied by an essay based on Arnason's Guest-of-Honor speech from WisCon 28, and an interview with her conducted by Terry Bisson.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi. Amazon link this time because this book is hard to find; I had to order my copy used from the UK, and had honestly forgotten about it by the time it arrived. The author also wrote an account of the Lebanese Civil War that was published a few years before this book; I haven't been able to find anything about her fate since these books were written, but she is (or was) half-Palestinian and half-Lebanese, and at the time of the Israeli "Operation Peace for Galilee"--which this book centers on--she was living in West Beirut, having gone through a divorce and an affair with a married man. The book chronicles her struggles to live a normal life amid the falling bombs and the various armies and factions surrounding the city; she tries to keep her two daughters safe and happy, deals with a lack of water and electricity, and bears witness to some horrifying violence, primarily from the constant aerial bombardments designed to drive the PLO and its allies from the city. Not a great deal of political and historical context is provided (though, to be fair, I'm not sure that a straight-line narrative of that period is even possible), and the names of the various power players in the region are thrown around in a way that's rather confusing 30 years down the line and thousands of miles away, but my purpose in reading the book was mostly to get a feel for everyday life during the siege, and this does that.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan.
13. Surviving the Siege of Beirut: A Personal Account by Lina Mikdadi. Amazon link this time because this book is hard to find; I had to order my copy used from the UK, and had honestly forgotten about it by the time it arrived. The author also wrote an account of the Lebanese Civil War that was published a few years before this book; I haven't been able to find anything about her fate since these books were written, but she is (or was) half-Palestinian and half-Lebanese, and at the time of the Israeli "Operation Peace for Galilee"--which this book centers on--she was living in West Beirut, having gone through a divorce and an affair with a married man. The book chronicles her struggles to live a normal life amid the falling bombs and the various armies and factions surrounding the city; she tries to keep her two daughters safe and happy, deals with a lack of water and electricity, and bears witness to some horrifying violence, primarily from the constant aerial bombardments designed to drive the PLO and its allies from the city. Not a great deal of political and historical context is provided (though, to be fair, I'm not sure that a straight-line narrative of that period is even possible), and the names of the various power players in the region are thrown around in a way that's rather confusing 30 years down the line and thousands of miles away, but my purpose in reading the book was mostly to get a feel for everyday life during the siege, and this does that.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan. Highsmith's lone pseudonymous novel (though she worked uncredited as a comic book writer for a while before her career as a novelist took off) just happens to be the first lesbian love story to be published with a happy ending. This is surprising only because where the Ripley books and Strangers On a Train (all I've read so far of her stuff) are extremely dark and often quite cynical about love relationships; and yet this is one of the better romance novels I've read. (Admittedly, I haven't read that many.) The relationship between Therese and Carol is awkward, euphoric, tentative, and utterly believable; it's not so much about surrendering to passion--although Therese, certainly, is at first overwhelmed--as it is about negotiating the realities of an adult relationship. In part this is because the people in that relationship happen to be two women in the 1950s, and the social and especially legal consequences of them being together are very real; what's most upsetting about the novel is how little has actually changed in the 60 years since it was written. Another excellent book; this has been a good year of reading so far, knock wood.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron.
12. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith writing as Claire Morgan. Highsmith's lone pseudonymous novel (though she worked uncredited as a comic book writer for a while before her career as a novelist took off) just happens to be the first lesbian love story to be published with a happy ending. This is surprising only because where the Ripley books and Strangers On a Train (all I've read so far of her stuff) are extremely dark and often quite cynical about love relationships; and yet this is one of the better romance novels I've read. (Admittedly, I haven't read that many.) The relationship between Therese and Carol is awkward, euphoric, tentative, and utterly believable; it's not so much about surrendering to passion--although Therese, certainly, is at first overwhelmed--as it is about negotiating the realities of an adult relationship. In part this is because the people in that relationship happen to be two women in the 1950s, and the social and especially legal consequences of them being together are very real; what's most upsetting about the novel is how little has actually changed in the 60 years since it was written. Another excellent book; this has been a good year of reading so far, knock wood.
Books 1-10.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron. I've always enjoyed Laird's noirish horror stories; many of the stories in this collection are stories I'd previously read in F&SF or in the Datlow/Windling/Link/Grant Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthologies. Presented together, a consistency of vision emerges; Barron's horror is of the dark secrets underlying reality, yes, but it's the rational--science, in many cases--rather than the irrational that leads there. Certain elements and characters recur, central to one story and peripheral to others. Also, his characters tend to cope with their encounters with the ineffable by drinking, a lot. A couple of my favorite stories here are ones I'd read before, like "Old Virginia" and "Bulldozer"; the latter has one of the best openings I've ever read. The title story has a nicely circular structure, but my favorite story in the collection is probably "Hallucigenia"; it's a story in which the main character does all the sensible things that characters in bad horror stories never do, trying to find out what's happening in legal and logical ways, and yet there's a feeling of inexorability about the story--like Lovecraft's characters, Barron's can never escape unscathed from their encounters with the beyond. I actually like Barron's stuff better than I like Lovecraft's, though, so that may not be the best comparison.
11. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron. I've always enjoyed Laird's noirish horror stories; many of the stories in this collection are stories I'd previously read in F&SF or in the Datlow/Windling/Link/Grant Year's Best Fantasy and Horror anthologies. Presented together, a consistency of vision emerges; Barron's horror is of the dark secrets underlying reality, yes, but it's the rational--science, in many cases--rather than the irrational that leads there. Certain elements and characters recur, central to one story and peripheral to others. Also, his characters tend to cope with their encounters with the ineffable by drinking, a lot. A couple of my favorite stories here are ones I'd read before, like "Old Virginia" and "Bulldozer"; the latter has one of the best openings I've ever read. The title story has a nicely circular structure, but my favorite story in the collection is probably "Hallucigenia"; it's a story in which the main character does all the sensible things that characters in bad horror stories never do, trying to find out what's happening in legal and logical ways, and yet there's a feeling of inexorability about the story--like Lovecraft's characters, Barron's can never escape unscathed from their encounters with the beyond. I actually like Barron's stuff better than I like Lovecraft's, though, so that may not be the best comparison.
1. Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution In Music by Marisa Meltzer.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost.
7. Cap Wigington: An Architectural Legacy in Ice and Stone by David Vassar Taylor and Paul Clifford Larson.
8. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss.
9. The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin.
10. Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf. Because I am ignorant of Woolf, I thought this was going to be fiction; it is, instead, a polemic on feminism and education. I hasten to add that it is a witty (at times scathing), clear-headed, and well-reasoned polemic, and it has the immediate effect of making me want to read more Woolf.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost.
7. Cap Wigington: An Architectural Legacy in Ice and Stone by David Vassar Taylor and Paul Clifford Larson.
8. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss.
9. The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin.
10. Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf. Because I am ignorant of Woolf, I thought this was going to be fiction; it is, instead, a polemic on feminism and education. I hasten to add that it is a witty (at times scathing), clear-headed, and well-reasoned polemic, and it has the immediate effect of making me want to read more Woolf.
The John Schwartz School of Film Review
Jan. 25th, 2011 10:29 amMy dad's reaction to movies is usually pretty noncommittal. In part this is because Mom often picks the movies they see, in part because he just isn't that big into them; it's something to do now that he's retired and has evenings to fill. (Possibly another part of it is that he occasionally dozes through parts of what he sees.) So while we don't always agree, we rarely strongly disagree. There is one review from him, though, that pretty much guarantees that I will love a film. That's when he and Mom see a movie and Dad later reports:
"That was the worst fucking movie I've ever seen."
So far he's said this about "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Pan's Labyrinth," and now "Black Swan." I guess I have to see that last, now.
"That was the worst fucking movie I've ever seen."
So far he's said this about "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Pan's Labyrinth," and now "Black Swan." I guess I have to see that last, now.
1. Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution In Music by Marisa Meltzer.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost.
7. Cap Wigington: An Architectural Legacy in Ice and Stone by David Vassar Taylor and Paul Clifford Larson.
8. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss.
9. The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin. This is the last of the Hainish/Ekumen books so far, unless The Eye of the Heron falls in the same universe, but Le Guin herself doesn't seem sure of that. It's also the one I've read that comments most directly on our world and our time. The Earth that Sutty, an Ekumen Observer, comes from is one that's been torn to pieces by religious violence; she finds an echo of that on Aka, where the Corporation State has done its best to wipe out history, literature, and all the traditional ways from before contact with the Ekumen. At the novel's start Sutty is so broken down by personal heartbreak and the impossibility of doing her job in a place where culture is forbidden that I found her difficult to like; but as she discovers the hidden layers of the Telling on her journey outside the capital city, she herself begins to open and to change. This is simultaneously a gentle and powerful book, leisurely paced, where the action is in interaction and education--possibly it's the sort of book that only Le Guin can get away with, but that's only because she makes it work.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost.
7. Cap Wigington: An Architectural Legacy in Ice and Stone by David Vassar Taylor and Paul Clifford Larson.
8. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss.
9. The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin. This is the last of the Hainish/Ekumen books so far, unless The Eye of the Heron falls in the same universe, but Le Guin herself doesn't seem sure of that. It's also the one I've read that comments most directly on our world and our time. The Earth that Sutty, an Ekumen Observer, comes from is one that's been torn to pieces by religious violence; she finds an echo of that on Aka, where the Corporation State has done its best to wipe out history, literature, and all the traditional ways from before contact with the Ekumen. At the novel's start Sutty is so broken down by personal heartbreak and the impossibility of doing her job in a place where culture is forbidden that I found her difficult to like; but as she discovers the hidden layers of the Telling on her journey outside the capital city, she herself begins to open and to change. This is simultaneously a gentle and powerful book, leisurely paced, where the action is in interaction and education--possibly it's the sort of book that only Le Guin can get away with, but that's only because she makes it work.
2011 Reading #8: The Hearts of Horses
Jan. 19th, 2011 08:03 am1. Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution In Music by Marisa Meltzer.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost.
7. Cap Wigington: An Architectural Legacy in Ice and Stone by David Vassar Taylor and Paul Clifford Larson.
8. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss. You guys, you have to read this. This is my first Molly Gloss book, though I've been hearing her name for several years and had the pleasure of workshopping with her a couple of years ago. And this book--I often see it said of books that the reader didn't want it to end, but that's rarely my experience; it was here. I have to believe that anyone would love this book, but in particular I would think that it would immediately become a favorite of any woman who loves or has loved horses. Even if you're not much into horses, though, the landscape and characters here are drawn with such intelligence, compassion, and humor that I can't imagine anyone not connecting with them, especially Martha Lessen, the tall, shy horsewoman/horse-whisperer at the center of it. Oh, I loved it.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost.
7. Cap Wigington: An Architectural Legacy in Ice and Stone by David Vassar Taylor and Paul Clifford Larson.
8. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss. You guys, you have to read this. This is my first Molly Gloss book, though I've been hearing her name for several years and had the pleasure of workshopping with her a couple of years ago. And this book--I often see it said of books that the reader didn't want it to end, but that's rarely my experience; it was here. I have to believe that anyone would love this book, but in particular I would think that it would immediately become a favorite of any woman who loves or has loved horses. Even if you're not much into horses, though, the landscape and characters here are drawn with such intelligence, compassion, and humor that I can't imagine anyone not connecting with them, especially Martha Lessen, the tall, shy horsewoman/horse-whisperer at the center of it. Oh, I loved it.
2011 Reading #7: Cap Wigington
Jan. 18th, 2011 11:54 am1. Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution In Music by Marisa Meltzer.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost.
7. Cap Wigington: An Architectural Legacy in Ice and Stone by David Vassar Taylor and Paul Clifford Larson. A short biography of the African-American architect and draftsman whose public work can be seen all around Saint Paul--the water tower at Highland Park, for instance, and the 5th Street facade of the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. This is much more of a professional biography than a personal one, although there is a chapter detailing Wigington's involvement with the Urban League and other organizations, and a brief discussion of his family life. Because of that there's not much of a personality to hook into here; but I know that there are a few buildings around town that I'll be taking a closer look at after reading this.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost.
7. Cap Wigington: An Architectural Legacy in Ice and Stone by David Vassar Taylor and Paul Clifford Larson. A short biography of the African-American architect and draftsman whose public work can be seen all around Saint Paul--the water tower at Highland Park, for instance, and the 5th Street facade of the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. This is much more of a professional biography than a personal one, although there is a chapter detailing Wigington's involvement with the Urban League and other organizations, and a brief discussion of his family life. Because of that there's not much of a personality to hook into here; but I know that there are a few buildings around town that I'll be taking a closer look at after reading this.
1. Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution In Music by Marisa Meltzer.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost. As soon as I finished Shadowbridge about a week ago I knew I couldn't talk about it until I'd read Lord Tophet; I don't know if the two were originally intended to be one book or not, but to me the story feels like one literary entity. It's an impressive one, too; this is a story about stories and storytellers, and as Frost's characters travel through the world-spanning bridges of the title, they are constantly telling, hearing, stepping into, spilling, and tracking story everywhere. Some of this may seem at first peripheral to the main action, but the profusion of tales point towards an ending--not "the" ending, because Frost wisely leaves some things unresolved. The books that tend to linger with me, I've found, are those that end by satisfying some possibilities while leaving others unexplored. Shadowbridge is that sort of a creation, one that celebrates story by inviting the reader to finish--or better, continue--the story themselves. These books deserve to be classics.
2. The Patriot Witch (Book One of the Traitor to the Crown trilogy) by C.C. Finlay.
3. Power Girl: A New Beginning and Power Girl: Aliens and Apes by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner.
4. Strangers On a Train by Patricia Highsmith.
5 and 6. Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet by Gregory Frost. As soon as I finished Shadowbridge about a week ago I knew I couldn't talk about it until I'd read Lord Tophet; I don't know if the two were originally intended to be one book or not, but to me the story feels like one literary entity. It's an impressive one, too; this is a story about stories and storytellers, and as Frost's characters travel through the world-spanning bridges of the title, they are constantly telling, hearing, stepping into, spilling, and tracking story everywhere. Some of this may seem at first peripheral to the main action, but the profusion of tales point towards an ending--not "the" ending, because Frost wisely leaves some things unresolved. The books that tend to linger with me, I've found, are those that end by satisfying some possibilities while leaving others unexplored. Shadowbridge is that sort of a creation, one that celebrates story by inviting the reader to finish--or better, continue--the story themselves. These books deserve to be classics.
