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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 17, 2020 16:46:04 GMT -5
Flashman on the March by George MacDonald FraserI will say that this is possibly an episode where Fraser's colonialism sticks out more than usual and his history is more one-sided than the norm. One such moment I remember bothering me was in Flashman and the Dragon: I think it was actually in the notes rather than in the narrative itself, but basically Fraser defended the destruction of the Summer Palace deliberately inflicted by England and France as a punishment for some act of "treachery" by the Chinese government against the European powers. I was reminded of it in the news a few weeks ago when Trump threatened to target Iranian historical monuments. I read the Flashman books when I was in my late teens and early 20s, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than a few such passages in the series that I didn't notice at the time. I haven't read the last 2 or 3 yet, though, including on the March. I don't recall that, but it wouldn't surprise me. Fraser was a pretty unrepentant colonialist so it's certainly something that you have to deal with. It's less a problem when that's coming out of the mouth of a 19th Century British soldier than when you're getting it in the author's notes.
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Post by berkley on Jan 17, 2020 19:41:48 GMT -5
One such moment I remember bothering me was in Flashman and the Dragon: I think it was actually in the notes rather than in the narrative itself, but basically Fraser defended the destruction of the Summer Palace deliberately inflicted by England and France as a punishment for some act of "treachery" by the Chinese government against the European powers. I was reminded of it in the news a few weeks ago when Trump threatened to target Iranian historical monuments. I read the Flashman books when I was in my late teens and early 20s, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than a few such passages in the series that I didn't notice at the time. I haven't read the last 2 or 3 yet, though, including on the March. I don't recall that, but it wouldn't surprise me. Fraser was a pretty unrepentant colonialist so it's certainly something that you have to deal with. It's less a problem when that's coming out of the mouth of a 19th Century British soldier than when you're getting it in the author's notes. Maybe that's why that particular one sticks out in my memory: any others I might have come across I could have written off as the opinions of a character in the story, but in the notes Fraser made it clear he thought the Brits and the French did the right thing.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,411
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Post by Confessor on Jan 17, 2020 22:07:05 GMT -5
The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley. I mentioned a little while back in this thread that I fancied reading The Devil Rides Out, and got some good advice about Dennis Wheatley as an author from berkley. Well, I got myself a nice late '50s paperback copy from eBay (I'm a sucker for a vintage paperback) and took the plunge. After an initially slow start, with the first chapter in particular featuring some quite stiff and lumpen writing, The Devil Rides Out grabbed me around chapter 2 or 3 and didn't let go until the end. Part of the reason why this book is such a page-turner is because Wheatley has a penchant for ending each chapter with a shocking revelation or cliff-hanger, which makes you desperate to read on. It's a rather sensationalist tactic, but by golly it works! There were a number of times, while reading the book at night, that I would think to myself, "I'll just finish this chapter and then go to sleep", but the cliff-hanger would be so gripping that I just had to stay up and read on. I liked the book's central characters of Duke de Richleau, Rex van Ryn, and Simon Aaron very much, while the fiendish black magician Mocata is a gloriously sinister and very credible threat to our heroes and the world at large. I was surprised to find that The Devil Rides Out is actually the second novel to feature de Richleau and his friends ( The Forbidden Territory precedes it). In fact, Wheatley wrote a total of 11 novels featuring the Duke between 1933 and 1970, and I'm definitely thinking of seeking some of the others out. The dialogue Wheatley writes for his heroes, and the obligatory love interest, Tanith, is pretty good, and his protagonists are surprisingly well-rounded for what is, after all, just a sensationalist occult adventure novel. I have, in my time, dabbled in the occult a little and have certainly read my fair share of books on the subject (some of which are actually referenced in The Devil Rides Out) – not that I'm an expert on the matter, you understand. But from what I do know, Wheatley certainly seems to have done his homework regarding Black Magic and Satanism. So much so, in fact, that the book features a disclaimer from the author reassuring the reader that he himself is not an occultist or Devil worshipper. Unfortunately, Wheatley does feel the need to explain the minutia of the various esoteric rituals that are performed, via de Richleau's dialogue, and that does slow the narrative down at times. As you might expect from a novel written by a member of the British upper-classes in the 1930s, there's a liberal sprinkling of casual racism, xenophobia, and imperialism throughout The Devil Rides Out. Personally, I can accept such things as very much a product of their time and Wheatley's class, but your mileage may vary. On the plus side, I did thoroughly enjoy the stiff upper-lipped Britishness of it all – our heroes, when they're not battling against Devil worshippers and the forces of darkness, are all fabulously wealthy, live in huge houses, drink expensive wines, dress immaculately, and careen around the quiet English roads in sporty, open-topped luxury cars. Nice work if you can get it! I think my main criticism of the book would have to be that the ending felt like a bit of an anticlimax. I was on the edge of my seat for so much of this novel that, when it ended and you find out that Mocata is defeated by the pure power of a mother's love, and that the last half a dozen chapters were all a magic-induced dream anyway, it was a bit of a disappointment. I would've definitely preferred to see Mocata slain by our heroes, either with magic or just a well-aimed revolver shot. Neveretheless, I did enjoy this book a whole lot and was sad when it ended. It's a cracking adventure tale, with several riveting set pieces, including a very spooky visit to an occultist's deserted house, a thrilling high-speed car chase through the Wiltshire countryside, and our heroes locked in a chilling battle against the forces of evil from within a protective pentagram. So yeah, overall, I'm definitely glad I read this one.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 17, 2020 23:01:10 GMT -5
That's an AWESOME cover!
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Post by Duragizer on Jan 18, 2020 21:00:47 GMT -5
The Writings of Jonathan SwiftI've long wanted to read Gulliver's Travels, but man, am I having a difficult time getting into it. It's not Swift's writing style per se, but his fondness for capitalizing common nouns which rankles. I suppose that was the style at the time, but I can't for the life of me understand why the publisher chose to retain this archaic convention. I can't immerse myself in the text.
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Post by berkley on Jan 19, 2020 0:51:27 GMT -5
The Writings of Jonathan SwiftI've long wanted to read Gulliver's Travels, but man, am I having a difficult time getting into it. It's not Swift's writing style per se, but his fondness for capitalizing common nouns which rankles. I suppose that was the style at the time, but I can't for the life of me understand why the publisher chose to retain this archaic convention. I can't immerse myself in the text. The capitalisations never bother me but I'm always thrown off by the long s, which looks to our eyes today like an f, as seen below in the word "several":
The wiki page has a better example, a title page to Paradise Lost - or, as it looks to me, "Paradife Loft".
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Post by berkley on Jan 19, 2020 1:04:46 GMT -5
The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley. I mentioned a little while back in this thread that I fancied reading The Devil Rides Out, and got some good advice about Dennis Wheatley as an author from berkley . Well, I got myself a nice late '50s paperback copy from eBay (I'm a sucker for a vintage paperback) and took the plunge. After an initially slow start, with the first chapter in particular featuring some quite stiff and lumpen writing, The Devil Rides Out grabbed me around chapter 2 or 3 and didn't let go until the end. Part of the reason why this book is such a page-turner is because Wheatley has a penchant for ending each chapter with a shocking revelation or cliff-hanger, which makes you desperate to read on. It's a rather sensationalist tactic, but by golly it works! There were a number of times, while reading the book at night, that I would think to myself, "I'll just finish this chapter and then go to sleep", but the cliff-hanger would be so gripping that I just had to stay up and read on. I liked the book's central characters of Duke de Richleau, Rex van Ryn, and Simon Aaron very much, while the fiendish black magician Mocata is a gloriously sinister and very credible threat to our heroes and the world at large. I was surprised to find that The Devil Rides Out is actually the second novel to feature de Richleau and his friends ( The Forbidden Territory precedes it). In fact, Wheatley wrote a total of 11 novels featuring the Duke between 1933 and 1970, and I'm definitely thinking of seeking some of the others out. The dialogue Wheatley writes for his heroes, and the obligatory love interest, Tanith, is pretty good, and his protagonists are surprisingly well-rounded for what is, after all, just a sensationalist occult adventure novel. I have, in my time, dabbled in the occult a little and have certainly read my fair share of books on the subject (some of which are actually referenced in The Devil Rides Out) – not that I'm an expert on the matter, you understand. But from what I do know, Wheatley certainly seems to have done his homework regarding Black Magic and Satanism. So much so, in fact, that the book features a disclaimer from the author reassuring the reader that he himself is not an occultist or Devil worshipper. Unfortunately, Wheatley does feel the need to explain the minutia of the various esoteric rituals that are performed, via de Richleau's dialogue, and that does slow the narrative down at times. As you might expect from a novel written by a member of the British upper-classes in the 1930s, there's a liberal sprinkling of casual racism, xenophobia, and imperialism throughout The Devil Rides Out. Personally, I can accept such things as very much a product of their time and Wheatley's class, but your mileage may vary. On the plus side, I did thoroughly enjoy the stiff upper-lipped Britishness of it all – our heroes, when they're not battling against Devil worshippers and the forces of darkness, are all fabulously wealthy, live in huge houses, drink expensive wines, dress immaculately, and careen around the quiet English roads in sporty, open-topped luxury cars. Nice work if you can get it! I think my main criticism of the book would have to be that the ending felt like a bit of an anticlimax. I was on the edge of my seat for so much of this novel that, when it ended and you find out that Mocata is defeated by the pure power of a mother's love, and that the last half a dozen chapters were all a magic-induced dream anyway, it was a bit of a disappointment. I would've definitely preferred to see Mocata slain by our heroes, either with magic or just a well-aimed revolver shot. Neveretheless, I did enjoy this book a whole lot and was sad when it ended. It's a cracking adventure tale, with several riveting set pieces, including a very spooky visit to an occultist's deserted house, a thrilling high-speed car chase through the Wiltshire countryside, and our heroes locked in a chilling battle against the forces of evil from within a protective pentagram. So yeah, overall, I'm definitely glad I read this one.
I'm a big fan of Wheatley in general, read a lot of his stuff in my younger days. I remember having a bit of the same feeling you describe regarding the dream-sequence, but looking back, is it really so different to Doctor Strange's "other-dimensional" adventures in his astral body? I'm curious to see how I'll react when I re-read it, which I am sure to do one of these days.
If I remember, the preceding Richleau novel, Forbidden Territory, is more of a straight, anti-communist political thriller, good, but no spooky stuff. But the sequel, To the Devil a Daughter, was great entertainment in the supernatural vein. Another first rate supernatural piece of his was the short story, The Black Magician, about Aleister Crowley (which I read in the Peter Haining anthology, The Satanists).
My other favourite Wheatleys were the Gregory Sallust WWII spy novels, which I re-read around ten years ago and found held up very well.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 21, 2020 9:20:14 GMT -5
Saga of Lost Earths Emil Petaja Calling this book a 'saga' is a bit much... I don't think you can have a saga in 120 pages! The main action is pretty standard far for the time... we are shown a sanitized world were everyone is happy because psychiatrist rule it and breed/medicate out all aggression and conflict. The main character is the exception, or course, and is asked to go on a quest to stop an possible alien invasion.. but is it aliens, or the gods from the Kalevala come back? I'm not at all familiar with Finnish folklore, so that was fun to see, but otherwise pretty basic story. The writing is rather choppy and there were a couple times i found myself looking back to make sure i didn't miss something.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 21, 2020 9:55:52 GMT -5
The Eyre Affair by Jasper FfordeOkay...first, full disclosure. I've never read Jane Eyre. I was supposed to read it for British Lit class (I think...maybe it was Wuthering Heights I was supposed to read. It was 35 years ago and I can't quite remember). But I faked my way through it. I'd done well enough with Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, whatever Shakespeare was part of that class and I knew I'd kill whatever Dickens we had to read that I wasn't going to spend time on Jane Eyre. I say this simply to point out that you can enjoy this book immensely with no more background in Jane Eyre than you can get by cultural osmosis. The novel follows the first chronicled adventure of our heroine, Thursday Next (get used to punny names), who is an agent for SpecOps-27, the LiteraTec (literary detectives) of the English government. This all takes place in a very alternate reality where the Crimean war is still being fought (and has been for over a hundred years), Wales is a People's Republic, genetically re-engineered dodo's are common pets, temporal anomalies can occur at random on the A1, and people take their literature and art very very seriously. It's all very oddly charming and if you're a fan of Christopher Moore, Robert Rankin, Tom Holt and the like you should definitely enjoy it. The plot revolves around the theft of the original manuscript of Jane Eyre. That alone would be a heinous deed in this literature obsessed world, but the stakes are much higher because Thursday's Uncle Mycroft has created a portal that allows for entry into the world of literature, which puts the very existence of Jane and her entire world at risk. Fforde has created a compelling and well-rounded protagonist in Thursday Next and a deliciously weird and different world for her to do her important work. It's just as fun this second time around. And no, I don't feel compelled to read Jane Eyre. And you can't make me.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jan 21, 2020 13:00:51 GMT -5
I just finished King Solomon's Mines, which I read about 10 years ago, and am now reading Ivanhoe, which I read about 25 years ago.
I read Gulliver's Travels some years back and don't recall seeing the capitalization of nouns that Duragizer is referring to but it could just be that it didn't bother me so I don't remember it. I definitley haven't seen the s's that look like f's that berkley mentioned, though.I guess I have a newer edition.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 21, 2020 17:22:24 GMT -5
The Writings of Jonathan SwiftI've long wanted to read Gulliver's Travels, but man, am I having a difficult time getting into it. It's not Swift's writing style per se, but his fondness for capitalizing common nouns which rankles. I suppose that was the style at the time, but I can't for the life of me understand why the publisher chose to retain this archaic convention. I can't immerse myself in the text. Plenty of versions in a more contemporary typography are easily available. Don't let a few capitals get in the way of a superb satire, especially the journey to the land of the Houyhnhnms. It's easy to find on-line. Here's one site of several: literatureproject.com/gulliver-travel/
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Post by Duragizer on Jan 21, 2020 23:45:46 GMT -5
The Writings of Jonathan SwiftI've long wanted to read Gulliver's Travels, but man, am I having a difficult time getting into it. It's not Swift's writing style per se, but his fondness for capitalizing common nouns which rankles. I suppose that was the style at the time, but I can't for the life of me understand why the publisher chose to retain this archaic convention. I can't immerse myself in the text. Plenty of versions in a more contemporary typography are easily available. Don't let a few capitals get in the way of a superb satire, especially the journey to the land of the Houyhnhnms. It's easy to find on-line. Here's one site of several: literatureproject.com/gulliver-travel/I have an even harder time reading books off a screen. I think I'll just soldier on through it.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 22, 2020 3:48:46 GMT -5
Plenty of versions in a more contemporary typography are easily available. Don't let a few capitals get in the way of a superb satire, especially the journey to the land of the Houyhnhnms. It's easy to find on-line. Here's one site of several: literatureproject.com/gulliver-travel/I have an even harder time reading books off a screen. I think I'll just soldier on through it. Plenty of others in print, too, though. Library, used book store, etc. Good luck!
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Post by berkley on Jan 22, 2020 4:53:25 GMT -5
I love the ebb and flow of Swift's sentences - actually, I think it's characteristic of that period of English prose in general but of course he was one of the masters. You can modernise the spelling, the capitalisations, etc but the actual arrangements of the words (and of course the vocabulary, but that's less important to what I'm talking about) is very different, not only to modern prose but to the Victorians and other intervening periods. There's a rhythm to his writing that allows for long sentences, arguments to be built patiently and logically without losing their force - quite the opposite, in fact: I find, after reading a lot of 18th-century stuff, our contemporary prose feels kind of flat and tasteless.
The difference can sometimes come across even in translations - read some of Rousseau's essays in English and you're just carried along by the fire and energy of his writing, in a way that I don't think any 20th-21st century prose could do without sounding forced and over-contrived. Rousseau was later than Swift, of course, but much closer to his era and sensibilities than we are.
If you end up enjoying Swift's style you'll want to go on and read A Tale of a Tub and other things. Apart from Swift, a couple other bits of early 18th-century English prose writing that are favourites of mine: the Penguin selection of Addison and Steele, and Alexander Pope's introduction to his translation of the Iliad.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 23, 2020 15:37:41 GMT -5
Pick-Up by Charles WillefordWell that was a ride. Pick-Up, Willeford's second published novel, is not your standard paperback original. There's definitely a noir feel here. Our protagonist, Harry, is definitely down on his luck. Harry is working as a counterman at a small diner and spends his night swilling gin. He's a barely functional alcoholic, but still functional. It doesn't get any better when he meets Helen who is young, pretty, from a fairly well off family and a completely non-functional alcoholic. The two drink through all of Helen's money and then find that Harry isn't capable of working because when he's at work Helen is out in the streets doing anything she can for alcohol. There are suicide attempts, there's a crime, there's a descent into the lowest depths. Noir stuff. But Willeford is also giving us a more comprehensive look at these terribly broken people than we get from the average noir original. And while he doesn't look at what makes them tick he makes us want to think about it. What actually bothered me about the book is that there are two twists toward the end (the second takes place on the last page of the book). And they don't work for me. The last twist, in particular, makes the earlier twist almost impossible to believe given the time period of the book. And I'm not saying they come completely out of the blue. Upon further review and reflection both were foreshadowed at least a bit. But the final twist just doesn't work. The system didn't work (and largely still doesn't) in a way for that twist to make sense. That didn't ruin the book. There's a ton to like here. Willeford is clearly showing us people with serious addictions and serious mental health issues that aren't being adequately addressed by the characters or the world. While the main characters aren't particularly likable you find yourself hoping Harry will get some help because he's clearly capable of more. Of course he won't. And his talent is ultimately going to be washed away in gin and diner grease.
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