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defrogSomehow I’m getting the reading done. To wit:
Nightmares And Geezenstacks by Fredric Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fredric Brown was an influential and prolific SF/pulp mystery writer who wrote flash fiction before flash fiction was cool. His specialty was short short stories that ran under two pages and featured a twist ending. He was very good at it, and this collection of short stories from 1961 is solid evidence of that, even though the last ten stories are actually more of a standard length.
Anyway, the stories here are Brown’s usual mix of pulp SF, mystery and horror – sometimes humorous, sometimes horrifying, sometimes groan inducing. Some may grouse that the stories are too short for decent character development, but I didn't find that to be a problem – Brown was pretty good at writing just the right amount of info to let the audience fill in the blanks without detracting from the story, and letting the dialogue and action define the characters – it’s a masterclass in writing economy.
As you would expect, some stories work better than others, but there are very few duds here. The average stories are still worthwhile, and the great ones really pack a punch. It’s weird how so much of Brown’s stuff is out of print, given his reputation, but I’ll be on the lookout for more of his books – and I’ll probably be rereading two of his novels that I still have copies of. I’d tell you which ones, but that would ruin the suspense, wouldn't it?
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this somewhere in the late 1990s – mainly because of Neil Gaiman, whose Sandman comics I loved. At this stage I had tried Pratchett before when the first Discworld novel came out and didn't really get into it, though not to the point that his involvement with this book was a dealbreaker, obviously. Anyway, I remember liking it (and it did convince me to try Pratchett again later).
So, with the TV series now online and getting rave reviews, I thought it would be good to re-read it. Also, I was an agnostic when I read it, and now that I’m not an agnostic, I thought it would be fun to see what I thought of it now (especially with some Christians so upset with the TV version that they’re not really sure which streaming service it’s on).
To get the latter bit out of the way first: I’m fine with it. Good Omens is to Christian theology what Star Wars is to science – i.e. neither theology nor science were consulted in any meaningful way, but the resulting stories are good fun that never claimed to be serious representations of either theology or science anyway, so that's alright.
And indeed, Good Omens is good fun. As Armageddon comedies go (and being a fan of Robert Rankin, I’ve read a bunch of ‘em), it’s got a sharp satirical edge, and I like the idea of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley trying to stop Armageddon simply because they rather like Earth and humans. I also like the idea of what would happen if the Antichrist had free will like the rest of us. And the Four Horsemen upgrades are brilliant. A few comedy bits didn’t work for me (the children’s magic show scene comes to mind), but overall it’s about as good as I remembered it.
Fairway To Hell by Carl Hiaasen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m not a big fan of golf or sports books in general, but I do generally like Carl Hiaasen’s novels, and this has a nice hook to it – Hiaasen’s account of how he took up golf after giving it up as a young man 30 years ago, and lived to tell the tale.
Not to put too fine a point on it, Hiaasen was a terrible golfer in his youth, and turns out to no better in middle age, and the more he tries to improve his game – especially now that he has the money to invest in all kinds of alleged game-improving gear, courses and brain supplements – the worse he seems to get. The book is based on his diary of golf misadventures, with a lot of commentary about the golf industry, its impact on the ecology (of course) and how – unless you happen to be named Tiger Woods – the game is ostensibly designed to drive you insane. The book builds up to Hiaasen’s first-ever tournament play and whether he can improve his game enough to at least not embarrass himself.
Like his novels (or the ones I’ve read, anyway), Fairway to Hell is accessible and generally funny, and makes me glad I never took up the game beyond mini-golf as a kid. I also learned a lot about golf, of course, so there’s that. I’d also like to say I would read a lot more sports books if they were written like this one. (I’ve heard Alice Cooper’s golf book (Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock 'n' Roller's 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict) is pretty good – I’ll probably read that one day, albeit more for the Coop than the golf.)
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Caddyshacked,
This is dF
Nightmares And Geezenstacks by Fredric BrownMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fredric Brown was an influential and prolific SF/pulp mystery writer who wrote flash fiction before flash fiction was cool. His specialty was short short stories that ran under two pages and featured a twist ending. He was very good at it, and this collection of short stories from 1961 is solid evidence of that, even though the last ten stories are actually more of a standard length.
Anyway, the stories here are Brown’s usual mix of pulp SF, mystery and horror – sometimes humorous, sometimes horrifying, sometimes groan inducing. Some may grouse that the stories are too short for decent character development, but I didn't find that to be a problem – Brown was pretty good at writing just the right amount of info to let the audience fill in the blanks without detracting from the story, and letting the dialogue and action define the characters – it’s a masterclass in writing economy.
As you would expect, some stories work better than others, but there are very few duds here. The average stories are still worthwhile, and the great ones really pack a punch. It’s weird how so much of Brown’s stuff is out of print, given his reputation, but I’ll be on the lookout for more of his books – and I’ll probably be rereading two of his novels that I still have copies of. I’d tell you which ones, but that would ruin the suspense, wouldn't it?
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry PratchettMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this somewhere in the late 1990s – mainly because of Neil Gaiman, whose Sandman comics I loved. At this stage I had tried Pratchett before when the first Discworld novel came out and didn't really get into it, though not to the point that his involvement with this book was a dealbreaker, obviously. Anyway, I remember liking it (and it did convince me to try Pratchett again later).
So, with the TV series now online and getting rave reviews, I thought it would be good to re-read it. Also, I was an agnostic when I read it, and now that I’m not an agnostic, I thought it would be fun to see what I thought of it now (especially with some Christians so upset with the TV version that they’re not really sure which streaming service it’s on).
To get the latter bit out of the way first: I’m fine with it. Good Omens is to Christian theology what Star Wars is to science – i.e. neither theology nor science were consulted in any meaningful way, but the resulting stories are good fun that never claimed to be serious representations of either theology or science anyway, so that's alright.
And indeed, Good Omens is good fun. As Armageddon comedies go (and being a fan of Robert Rankin, I’ve read a bunch of ‘em), it’s got a sharp satirical edge, and I like the idea of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley trying to stop Armageddon simply because they rather like Earth and humans. I also like the idea of what would happen if the Antichrist had free will like the rest of us. And the Four Horsemen upgrades are brilliant. A few comedy bits didn’t work for me (the children’s magic show scene comes to mind), but overall it’s about as good as I remembered it.
Fairway To Hell by Carl HiaasenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m not a big fan of golf or sports books in general, but I do generally like Carl Hiaasen’s novels, and this has a nice hook to it – Hiaasen’s account of how he took up golf after giving it up as a young man 30 years ago, and lived to tell the tale.
Not to put too fine a point on it, Hiaasen was a terrible golfer in his youth, and turns out to no better in middle age, and the more he tries to improve his game – especially now that he has the money to invest in all kinds of alleged game-improving gear, courses and brain supplements – the worse he seems to get. The book is based on his diary of golf misadventures, with a lot of commentary about the golf industry, its impact on the ecology (of course) and how – unless you happen to be named Tiger Woods – the game is ostensibly designed to drive you insane. The book builds up to Hiaasen’s first-ever tournament play and whether he can improve his game enough to at least not embarrass himself.
Like his novels (or the ones I’ve read, anyway), Fairway to Hell is accessible and generally funny, and makes me glad I never took up the game beyond mini-golf as a kid. I also learned a lot about golf, of course, so there’s that. I’d also like to say I would read a lot more sports books if they were written like this one. (I’ve heard Alice Cooper’s golf book (Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock 'n' Roller's 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict) is pretty good – I’ll probably read that one day, albeit more for the Coop than the golf.)
View all my reviews
Caddyshacked,
This is dF
