I’M READING AS FAST AS I CAN: APRIL 2010 EDITION

[defrog]

Hey kids! Book reports for free on the Internet! Impress yr friends!

JUST FINISHED

Daughter Of Hounds by Caitlin R. Kiernan
This was my first time reading Kiernan's novels, but will also probably be my last. The premise of subterranean ghouls living in New England kidnapping children and raising them as changelings sounded promising, but the basic twin narratives of an eight-year-old girl with unexplained powers and an adult changling named Soldier acting as a sort of hitwoman for the ghouls are dense and convoluted. It doesn’t help that Kiernan writes thick prose with tedious detail and repetitive dialogue (to include key characters always talking in irritating riddles and never bothering to explain what's going on to other characters who really could benefit from at least being told the basics, fer Chrissakes). She also uses flashbacks throughout the entire book to fill in the backstory that, to me, distracts from the main story. Also, Soldier is overdone as a hyper-badass who hates everyone because it's badass. A lot of people dig Kiernan, but I think she’s not for me.

JUST STARTED

A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Never read Burroughs (seriously), but of course I’ve seen most of the movies made from his work. Given my recent interest in Mars via my own writing – and remembering that I used to see the John Carter books in Waldenbooks all the time as a kid – I thought this was a good place to start.

RECENT TITLES

Books vs Cigarettes by George Orwell
Part of Penguin’s Great Ideas series, this is a short collection of essays from Orwell mostly written in 1946, with topics ranging from the title essay of how much people spend on cigarettes vs books, to working in a second-hand bookshop, the life of a book reviewer and the class-based cruelty of the British private school system in which, essentially, money counts for everything. The standouts are essays on the Paris healthcare system for poor people (nasty) and the loss of intellectual liberty at the hands of respecting orthodoxy, both of which are worth the price of admission and still relevant even in the 21st Century.

The Last Colony by John Scalzi
The third volume in the Old Man’s War trilogy, which takes a different tack in taking the two main characters from the first two books and assigning to take charge of a new colony – only to find out that they haven’t been told everything about the nature of their assignment. It’s good that this time out, war takes a back seat to the hazards and politics of running a colony, and the intrigue of various parties with their own agendas, and Scalzi is as breezy as always.

Love All The People: Letters, Lyrics and Routines by Bill Hicks
Purportedly a collection of Hicks’ writing and some interviews, this is mostly a transcript of routines (many from his comedy albums and DVDs), which isn’t as good as it sounds for a couple of reasons: (1) a lot of the jokes are repeated as Hicks evolved them over time, and (2) it’s not the words that make him funny so much as how he tells it. As for letters and lyrics, there’s not much of either, apart from the letter he wrote regarding the infamous Letterman incident. All up, it’s a lazy collection and doen’t add much to Hicks’ legend that you can’t already find on the Internet.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Finally, after years of everyone telling me how hilarious David Sedaris is – and eleven years after my best friend recommended this specific book (which I took seriously since she doesn’t read a whole lot of books) – I’ve taken the plunge. And, well ... okay, a lot of it is pretty funny, and his observations about his family and himself are almost too close for comfort. Still, there’s something about his general tone – “Everyone is an idiot, and that goes double for me” – that puts me off a little. Maybe he’s too good at it. Or maybe I have trouble believing one family could produce that many hilarious anecdotes. Anyway, it may be awhile before I read him again.

Shatterday by Harlan Ellison
I’ve read a number of Ellison’s short stories over the years, but this is the first actual bound collection of his I’ve picked up. The stories are loosely bound by the theme of “mortal dreads” and come with liner notes by Ellison. Some are better than others, but the better ones show why Ellison is a master of the short weird/horror tale. Good stuff. Especially the one about the Earth taken over by sex aliens. God, I wish I’d written that.

Stop doing that,

This is dF

Comments

[bedsitter23.livejournal.com]

Let me know how Burroughs ends up. I worked with a guy who thought he was the best action writer ever. I picked up a book, and didn't really get into it. So, I figure he's not for me, but be interested in what you think.

[sauces.livejournal.com]

No question he did well with the page-turner, but I wonder about the idea that the "action" was what was excellent.

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

40 pages into it, I'm starting to wonder the same thing, though I am trying to keep in mind this was written 98 years ago.

[jreynolds.livejournal.com]

The first John Carter o/Mars book is a bit...eh. Kinda tedious. The second one is where it starts getting good.

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

You'll be hearing the results in the next edition for sure.

[jasonfranks.livejournal.com]

I have a Kiernan novel somewhere in my book case, but I've never made much of an attempt to read it (I have read some of her comics).

I also happen to be reading the Hicks book right now, on a sideburner, and I agree 100% with your assessment. I've heard all fo the routines before and they're better when he speaks them.

-- JF

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

I've read some of her comics work as well, which is why I picked this up (as well as my attempt to try and get more female writers on my shelf), seeing as how several of my favorite comics writers have turned out good work in prose (namely Gaiman, Mike Carey and Warren Ellis). I'm still on the fence about Mark Millar's books (including his Thraxas books). Lonely Werewolf Girl looks tempting, though.

[jreynolds.livejournal.com]

Kiernan's better at short stories, in my opinion. The collection, 'To Charles Fort, With Love' is pretty damn awesome. Short, quiet horror stories with only one or two clunkers in the bunch. "The Road of Pins", for instance, is a great werewolf story without a werewolf in sight.

That said, I share your opinion of 'Daughter of Hounds'.

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

Good tip. I'll keep that in mind. Cheers.