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Post by MWGallaher on Feb 1, 2023 7:07:57 GMT -5
Just finished my fifth read of Mark Z. Danielewski's The Familiar Volume 1: One Rainy Day in May, and once again, it had me in tears, it had me laughing out loud, it had me gaping in astonishment at the unprecedented effects the author achieved using layout of words on the page to control the reading pace, to convey more than simple straight text could ever do via color, font, voice, and format, it had me philosophizing over the high concepts lurking under the surface narrative. I almost never re-read a book, especially not an 800+ page book, but this and the other four volumes are as close to genuine magic as I have ever experienced in my life. One of the more well-worn premises in this series is the idea of reality/history being subtly altered after the fact--the Mandela Effect--but these books manage to convey that through the most mind-blowing method I've ever had the delight of experiencing: every time I read it, I come across events that I could almost swear didn't happen the previous time I read it, as if the books were being re-written in small ways while they were sitting on my shelf between readings. I think MZD is accomplishing this because the story is so dense that some elements are inevitably forgotten, but also because the events become clearer after the reader has already been exposed to later developments in the story, but don't sink in the first time around. But then there are some that seem completely straightforward and unambiguous that I think "Wait, I would have remembered that from the last time I read it, wouldn't I?" It's a challenging work, written in nine (plus) very distinctive voices, an intricately intertwined narrative in which each chapter picks up immediately following the previous one, time-coded for your convenience. Each volume includes an ancient history short story, a related/unrelated short story, an animal story, two serial installments, two pages of graphic narrative, in addition to the primary story about nine (main) characters and a mysterious cat, an invention that can receive scenes from the past, the criminal drug trade, high-tech conspiracy, murder investigations, the Armenian genocide, but primarily, it's about an epileptic girl who's one of the most unforgettable fictional characters I've ever read. Like all of Danielewski's works, there is a high likelihood that "This is not for you." But man, oh man, it's for me. I've long been meaning to try Danielewski but with me it'll probably be House of Leaves first, since I already have a copy of that one. Good to hear this recommendation for one of his other books though, that encourages me to keep looking forward to reading something of his. Have you read the rest of the Familiar series (if that's the right word for it), or however much he's published so far?
Yes, I've read all five volumes and all of his other work. The Familiar and House of Leaves are among the very few books that make me "gush". HoL is probably the better starting point, and it's an entirely different sort of literary accomplishment in that it literally, physically puts the reader into a parallel of the predicament that the main character (at least from one perspective) is in. It's liminal spaces and found footage in literary form, another astonishing piece of art. When you do tackle it--and you absolutely should try, at least!--my advice is to read all the footnotes when you reach them. If you don't, you rob yourself of the essential experience of the work. Some of them you can safely skim, but if you do, at least skim all the way to the end. HoL is also the only book I've read where the index--the freaking index!--is worth reading in its entirety! Amazing... |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 1, 2023 16:07:58 GMT -5
 The Other Side of Silence by Philip KerrBernie Gunther is back for an eleventh outing. It's 1956 and Bernie is the concierge at a very nice hotel on the French Riviera. He spends most of his free time playing bridge and drinking alone. His job and his bridge-playing help him come to the attention of W. Somerset Maugham, who needs help with a blackmail problem. As is usual in Gunther's life, roads tend to lead back to Nazi Germany and are definitely not as they seem to be. And there's inevitably a woman who may or may not be good for Bernie. This one started slow, but I ended up liking it a fair bit. There were only two relatively short flash-backs to Nazi Germany. Not that I mind that setting, but it's good to see Gunther's later life as well. I also wasn't that familiar with a lot of the background in the book, which is always a plus. I knew little about Maugham besides his name. And, at the risk of spoilers, the Cambridge Five came in to the story. While I was familiar with Kim Philby, I didn't really know much about the rest. Ultimately, not the best of the series, but a solid entry. |
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Post by berkley on Feb 1, 2023 18:21:33 GMT -5
The Other Side of Silence by Philip KerrBernie Gunther is back for an eleventh outing. It's 1956 and Bernie is the concierge at a very nice hotel on the French Riviera. He spends most of his free time playing bridge and drinking alone. His job and his bridge-playing help him come to the attention of W. Somerset Maugham, who needs help with a blackmail problem. As is usual in Gunther's life, roads tend to lead back to Nazi Germany and are definitely not as they seem to be. And there's inevitably a woman who may or may not be good for Bernie. This one started slow, but I ended up liking it a fair bit. There were only two relatively short flash-backs to Nazi Germany. Not that I mind that setting, but it's good to see Gunther's later life as well. I also wasn't that familiar with a lot of the background in the book, which is always a plus. I knew little about Maugham besides his name. And, at the risk of spoilers, the Cambridge Five came in to the story. While I was familiar with Kim Philby, I didn't really know much about the rest. Ultimately, not the best of the series, but a solid entry.
I don't know a lot about the Cambridge Five either, but for some reason it's Burgess who always comes across to me as the most interesting of them as a character or personality (not necessarily a very likeable one, mind you), although I imagine that Philby was the most important.
I've read only two Somerset Maugham novels, The Magician (which I believe he didn't think highly of himself but I liked it both as an entertaining horror novel and for its fictional representation of Aleister Crowley, the Magician of the title); and The Razor's Edge, which is of course one of his most famous and has been made into a film more than once. I can recommend both of those, plus his spy stories, which are a must-read for anyone interested in the genre and its history. If you've ever read the Bond story Quantum of Solace, I think that might have been Fleming's attempt at a Somerset Maugham-type of piece.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Somerset Maugham, in particular the novels The Moon and Sixpence (the one based on the life of Gauguin) and Cakes and Ale, and the rest of his short stories. But I'm putting them off for now until I get back into more early 20th century stuff in general, hopefully sometime later this year or early 2024.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 1, 2023 18:43:23 GMT -5
The Other Side of Silence by Philip KerrBernie Gunther is back for an eleventh outing. It's 1956 and Bernie is the concierge at a very nice hotel on the French Riviera. He spends most of his free time playing bridge and drinking alone. His job and his bridge-playing help him come to the attention of W. Somerset Maugham, who needs help with a blackmail problem. As is usual in Gunther's life, roads tend to lead back to Nazi Germany and are definitely not as they seem to be. And there's inevitably a woman who may or may not be good for Bernie. This one started slow, but I ended up liking it a fair bit. There were only two relatively short flash-backs to Nazi Germany. Not that I mind that setting, but it's good to see Gunther's later life as well. I also wasn't that familiar with a lot of the background in the book, which is always a plus. I knew little about Maugham besides his name. And, at the risk of spoilers, the Cambridge Five came in to the story. While I was familiar with Kim Philby, I didn't really know much about the rest. Ultimately, not the best of the series, but a solid entry.
I don't know a lot about the Cambridge Five either, but for some reason it's Burgess who always comes across to me as the most interesting of them as a character or personality (not necessarily a very likeable one, mind you), although I imagine that Philby was the most important.
I've read only two Somerset Maugham novels, The Magician (which I believe he didn't think highly of himself but I liked it both as an entertaining horror novel and for its fictional representation of Aleister Crowley, the Magician of the title); and The Razor's Edge, which is of course one of his most famous and has been made into a film more than once. I can recommend both of those, plus his spy stories, which are a must-read for anyone interested in the genre and its history. If you've ever read the Bond story Quantum of Solace, I think that might have been Fleming's attempt at a Somerset Maugham-type of piece.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Somerset Maugham, in particular the novels The Moon and Sixpence (the one based on the life of Gauguin) and Cakes and Ale, and the rest of his short stories. But I'm putting them off for now until I get back into more early 20th century stuff in general, hopefully sometime later this year or early 2024.
I didn't realize that Maugham worked for British Intelligence a few times, running a stable of spies in Russia during WWI and also working in various capacities during WWII. Interesting stuff. |
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Post by berkley on Feb 1, 2023 19:21:55 GMT -5
I don't know a lot about the Cambridge Five either, but for some reason it's Burgess who always comes across to me as the most interesting of them as a character or personality (not necessarily a very likeable one, mind you), although I imagine that Philby was the most important.
I've read only two Somerset Maugham novels, The Magician (which I believe he didn't think highly of himself but I liked it both as an entertaining horror novel and for its fictional representation of Aleister Crowley, the Magician of the title); and The Razor's Edge, which is of course one of his most famous and has been made into a film more than once. I can recommend both of those, plus his spy stories, which are a must-read for anyone interested in the genre and its history. If you've ever read the Bond story Quantum of Solace, I think that might have been Fleming's attempt at a Somerset Maugham-type of piece.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Somerset Maugham, in particular the novels The Moon and Sixpence (the one based on the life of Gauguin) and Cakes and Ale, and the rest of his short stories. But I'm putting them off for now until I get back into more early 20th century stuff in general, hopefully sometime later this year or early 2024.
I didn't realize that Maugham worked for British Intelligence a few times, running a stable of spies in Russia during WWI and also working in various capacities during WWII. Interesting stuff.
Yes, some of the Ashenden stories - not all of them, but one or two - definitely make you wonder if they might have been based directly on personal experience; and some of the others feel like they might have been inspired byt things he'd heard about, if not participated in himself.
Talking about espionage fiction - have you ever read Harlot's Ghost? If you're going to read one Norman Mailer novel I'd say make it that one. It covers some of the history of the early CIA, up to the Kennedy assassination - all in fictional form, of course. I thought it was really well written and totally fascinating.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 2, 2023 4:50:17 GMT -5
(...)
I've read only two Somerset Maugham novels, The Magician (which I believe he didn't think highly of himself but I liked it both as an entertaining horror novel and for its fictional representation of Aleister Crowley, the Magician of the title); and The Razor's Edge, which is of course one of his most famous and has been made into a film more than once. I can recommend both of those, plus his spy stories, which are a must-read for anyone interested in the genre and its history. If you've ever read the Bond story Quantum of Solace, I think that might have been Fleming's attempt at a Somerset Maugham-type of piece.
(...)
Not that I'm any sort of expert on Maugham, but my impression is that Of Human Bondage is his best known and most lauded novel (it's also the only book of his that I've read). |
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Post by berkley on Feb 2, 2023 11:45:55 GMT -5
(...)
I've read only two Somerset Maugham novels, The Magician (which I believe he didn't think highly of himself but I liked it both as an entertaining horror novel and for its fictional representation of Aleister Crowley, the Magician of the title); and The Razor's Edge, which is of course one of his most famous and has been made into a film more than once. I can recommend both of those, plus his spy stories, which are a must-read for anyone interested in the genre and its history. If you've ever read the Bond story Quantum of Solace, I think that might have been Fleming's attempt at a Somerset Maugham-type of piece.
(...)
Not that I'm any sort of expert on Maugham, but my impression is that Of Human Bondage is his best known and most lauded novel (it's also the only book of his that I've read).
Yes, that's my impression as well. I haven't read it yet myself and it isn't at the top of my list of Maugham's books that I want to read but I do plan to get to it some day. How did you like it?
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 2, 2023 14:18:40 GMT -5
Yes, that's my impression as well. I haven't read it yet myself and it isn't at the top of my list of Maugham's books that I want to read but I do plan to get to it some day. How did you like it?
It's very good, well worth reading. But it's a bit of a monster (600-700 pages depending on which edition you pick up). |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2023 1:50:36 GMT -5
Continuing to read my way through the early Star Trek novels, this time with Spock, Messiah by Theodore Cogswell and Charles A. Spano Jr.  This one didn't quite do it for me. Despite being in the title and having the plot revolve around him, Spock didn't appear "on screen" until the final couple of chapters, which isn't bad in and of itself, except the writers didn't really appear to know what to do with the other crew members while they were on stage and their characterizations of them were one-not, shallow, and slightly off. The only thing they seemed to be interested in exploring much at all was their own pet character, Ensign George, who was essentially a wanton sexpot of a character because of a malfunction of a MacGuffin gadget that tied he to the personality of a native of the planet the story took place on, and every major plot twist or hook seemed to revolve around her acting like a seductress or an exotic dancer and noting how out of character it was for the prim and proper buttoned up ensign. I almost gave up on this one a few times, and honestly probably should have. It was fairly cringy all the way through. -M |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 8, 2023 8:37:33 GMT -5
Akata WomanNnedi Okorafor, 2022  The third – but I hope not the last (although it very well may be) – installment in the Akata books (also called the Nsibidi series). I’ve reviewed the first two upthread; this one is set about a year after the preceding book, Akata Warrior. As the main character, Sunny Nwazue, and her best friends, Chichi, Orlu and Sasha, move into their late teens, they begin to experience some changes, each advancing to their next developmental phase as magical ‘Leopard People’ – which usually have physical manifestations (e.g., they make the air or ground around them vibrate, odd tattoo-like marks appear on their bodies, etc.). Also, and more importantly, a loose end from the preceding book sends them all on another adventure/ordeal: they have to recover an artifact that belongs to an immensely powerful god-like being called Udide, which manifests itself as a giant spider, in return for a favor she did for them previously. Their search takes them to unimaginable other realms and worlds. Another very thoroughly enjoyable book, as I’ve come to expect from Okorafor’s YA books in particular. A nice touch in this one is that she uses a setting, the possibly other-dimensional jungle world called Ginen, which appears in two her earliest YA novels, Zahrah the Windseeker and The Shadow Speaker.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 8, 2023 14:06:33 GMT -5
 Clovenhoof by Heide Goody and Iain GrantDue to overcrowding and slow-processing there has been a push from above to modernize Hell. While things did get better, it didn't happen fast enough, so it was determined that Lucifer was redundant. He's been relocated to Earth in the guise of Jeremy Clovenhoof. Now the former Morning Star and the Ruler of Hell has to figure out how to deal with the humans that live in the other flats in his building. This was suggested to me because I frequently read the likes of Robert Rankin, Tom Holt, and A. Lee Martinez. And it was free on Kindle, so the price was certainly right. And it was a fairly enjoyable read. The premise isn't breathtakingly original, but it did well with the premise. The ending, which I dreaded was going to be predictable (and something I've seen a number of times by better writers) didn't end up the way it hinted, which was nice. The villains of the story were definitely telegraphed, but that was okay. My major complaint is that the book is terribly episodic. Yes, there's an over-arching plot and it does proceed. But there are also a series of episodes and many of the major plot-points of those episodes get quickly, almost forgotten. In a way it feels a bit like the old SF fix-up novels that took a bunch of semi-connected short stories and made them into a novel. But it really was a pretty enjoyable read. And it was definitely well worth the cost. I did find this passage to be absolutely hilarious. "He had decided that if he ever returned to his old job he would create a special level of hell, an enormous inescapable shop of attractive but useless and overpriced items that the damned would wander for eternity in the cold delusion that this was what they wanted. And then Nerys had taken him to IKEA and Clovenhoof realised the humans had once again beaten him to it." |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 10, 2023 8:05:48 GMT -5
Catfish: My life in Baseball
by Jim Hunter
I grabbed this a while back at a library book sale.... not a guy I'm particular interested in, but I thought it might have some interesting stuff about contracts and the birth of free agency... nope.
Lots about arm trouble (yawn!) and a bit about more about the A's great teams that wasn't in the Charles Finley book that was pretty good.
Overall, I think I like books about a theme or a season than biographies.. they just meander too much. This one was also alot of humble bragging that got old real fast.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2023 9:58:16 GMT -5
 Finished the second volume in the Sword and Sorceress series edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The highlights were once again the stories by Charles Saunders and Charles de Lint, just like in volume 1, but there were many enjoyable stories in this one, but a few clunkers. -M |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 12, 2023 14:14:59 GMT -5
Finished the second volume in the Sword and Sorceress series edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The highlights were once again the stories by Charles Saunders and Charles de Lint, just like in volume 1, but there were many enjoyable stories in this one, but a few clunkers. (...) I've found that whenever there's a Saunders story in an anthology, it's usually the best one. The two stories of his in these collections, "Gimmile's Song" and "Shimenege's Mask," were later collected in Dossouye, which also contains his other stories featuring that character that had previously appeared in other anthologies or magazines:
(great cover, too) He followed that up with an entirely new - and excellent - novel, Dossouye: The Dancers of Mulukau: |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 13, 2023 17:58:50 GMT -5
StardustNeil Gaiman, 1999  This is the non-illustrated version of this book (so no lovely art by Charles Vess), but I still enjoyed it. For those who may not have read it/are unfamiliar: the initial setting is the small English village of Wall, called so because there is, in fact, a large wall at its periphery with one opening that’s strictly guarded, because beyond is the land of Faerie. Once a year, a fair is held, when the people of the village are allowed to enter a meadow just on the other side and buy wares and otherwise socialize with the denizens of that mysterious realm. About 18 years before the main events of this book (it all takes place in the middle part of the 19th century), at one such fair, a secretive intimate encounter between a young man from Wall and a beautiful elf-like girl, apparently a servant of an old hag selling glassware, produces the story’s main protagonist, Tristan Thorne. He’s raised in Wall, but when he makes a rash promise to the village beauty that he will bring back a falling star that both of them see one night, he ends up going an amazing journey into Faerie. This is a thoroughly enjoyable fairy tale for adults, at turns funny, sad, even a bit horrifying at a few moments, but always delightful.
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