The play is at the end of Shadow.Quote:
Originally Posted by monolith94
The letter he gets is from [], and he runs off to the caves.
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The play is at the end of Shadow.Quote:
Originally Posted by monolith94
The letter he gets is from [], and he runs off to the caves.
Really starting to like Jonas. Hope he sticks around for awhile. Don't say anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by monolith94
I'm sick today, and I plan on finishing Claw.
Speaking of fantasy, I'm thinking of starting up the Wizard of Oz series this year, after I finish the big book that I've just started (Lord Byron's Don Juan). Huge series, right?
OK Monolith - I'm sure I was totally confusing you. I didn't know there was, like, a real play at the end of Claw. The play I was talking about was the brief little thing that Severian performed with Dr. Talos at the end of Shadow. I'm about to start the REAL play now.
Answer solved! Yeah, that was confusing me.
Finished the Wolfe book. It is excellent. A shining example of literary fantasy.
I'll get to the 2nd part after a little break into the realms of my all time favorite book.
A reread is in order of Michael Cisco's The Divinity Student. Started it again this morning, and instantly fell back in love with the most bizarre, surreal, phantasmagorical and masterful thing I've ever read.
The Divinity Student...
Oh this book. So, so good. So unlike anything else I've ever read. Truly a remarkable and magical book.
Reading this again has instantly rekindled my love for Cisco's bizarre tale. I'm enjoying it as much, but on a different level. While the first time through left me feeling a greater sense of wonder, as I was totally lost in the surreal surroundings of San Veneficio, the second read-through is allowing me to gleam more of the plot, because I have an understanding of the book's strange nature.
What'd you think of Typhon?
Recently started rereading A Game of Thrones this weekend, because I had a lot of hours in the car and wanted something nice and fun. It's good, but painful because it makes me want to read the upcoming installment soooo bad.
Heh, I just realized that despite being probably only 200 some pages away from the ending, I've put finishing 'Salem's Lot on the backburner. And yet, I still remember everything that's happened so far, and I have an idea of how the last half will turn out, maybe. Donno really, but its still an awesome book currently.
Plus I have the last two books of the Dark Tower to finish. My problem is that after I quickly sped through the first five books in roughly two years, I'm burned out on the series. Then there's the problem in that I have never finished a seven book long series. Which is the main reason why I gave up on reading the Harry Potter books after the first one.
Relating to the King discussion earlier: I happened to be in a lobby where there were some old hardcover mainstream novels, King's Cell included. I picked it up out of curiosity from the discussion earlier, and what can I say? It was just gross. Really gross and cheesy. Sorry guys, I think I'll be putting him off for a little longer yet.
I know I've read one or two "scary" King novels, but I'm just not a fan of the genre, and can't really remember anything about them.
However, in early high school I was totally into his fantasy novel The Eyes of the Dragon. I'd have to read it again to see if it's any good.
Almost done with my reread of The Divinity Student. I think this will be the second book that I end up reading on a yearly basis (the other being Einstein's Dreams), and perhaps I'll read it more than once a year. It is just that good. The language Cisco uses is is captivating; he weaves words together in a way that creates a dream-like tapestry of richly complex description complete with sights, smells, tastes, end evocative emotion. I've never read anything like this book, and I doubt there really is anything like it in terms of narrative and prose. It would be easy to say that it is Lovecraftian in nature, or perhaps conjuring authors like Ligotti, Wolfe, Bierce, Chambers, Hodgeson, Machen et al., but to do so would be a great disservice to Cisco's unique voice and vision.
My second read of The Divinity Student....
And I loved it just as much as my first, but for different reasons. The wow-factor of this novella's bizarre and surreal nature wasn't as hard-hitting, but I picked up on more nuance and subtleties. Cisco has truly written a remarkable and powerful tale in this - it's a magical book that completely envelopes my senses. A one of a kind.
Hey, Davis, did you ever finish the Charlie Huston Joe Pitt series? I thought the ending was pretty good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winston*
Yes, that was a great series.
I have not yet. Something I should do this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winston*
Try some of his older material. I have a feeling that King, like too many writers who have been operating for a long time, has perhaps run out of ideas. On the other hand, I've heard good things about Cell.Quote:
Originally Posted by monolith94
He hasn't at all. However, like any prolific artist, he is bound to have some misses and some hits, and I don't expect him to be everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I think his newest, Under the Dome, is his best single novel. I also really enjoyed Cell.Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMan
just finished rider haggard's she. all things considered, it's a surprisingly good novel, worthy of its classic status.
Going to read some Richard Matheson.
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Very interesting, very dated.Quote:
Originally Posted by lovejuice
Started this last night. Don't think I'll finish it. I can't get into the writing style at all. It's so dry. Also, one of the first chapters is like a 12 page action scene - ugh. I can't stand extended action sequences in books. Nothing bores me more.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Davis
Hah! I just finished it tonight. Only took me a year and a half.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Davis
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Teatro Grottesco, at its best, is a tremendously satisfying read, full of atmospheric passages that dizzy with their unusual, varied situations. Just as "Purity" prepares us for a real world invaded by the bizarre, "The Town Manager" plants readers into an unknown town, in an unknown land, with an unknown main character. Just as the warped nostalgia of "Gas Station Carnivals" settles, "The Bungalow House" head-trips its Lovecraftian protagonist. What emerges throughout is twofold. First, an almost palpable disregard for traditional story and character building. Second, a complete emphasis on the vague, the undefinable, the nightmarish as revealed through hints and forebodings. Less a series of stories than a sequence of tableaux that rebound off one another, Teatro Grottesco occasionally risks involvement, its pervasive oddity so completely bereft of any type of familiarity that might anchor us. Overall, though, Teatro Grottesco triumphs, revealing a confident author whose views of life are equally discomfiting and enrapturing.
A-
Cool - glad you liked it.
I reread a few of these stories recently, and my favorite is still "The Red Tower," followed closely by "Our Temporary Supervisor." I love Ligotti's bizarre view of the workplace. He makes the simple act of going to work scary as hell.
Tales of the Dying Earth - Jack Vance
Reading this now. Thought it was going to be more SF, but it is definitely more of a fantasy set in the distant future. Kind of like the opposite of Star Wars.
After two stories read, I can clearly see the influence this had on Gary Gygax and, subsequently, Dungeons & Dragons - for good and bad (the term Vancian Magic was coined from this to define the magic system Vance created, the one used in games like D&D). These stories read like side-bar lore tales from a campaign setting book, with about as much character depth and narrative meat. I hope they all add up to something more, though.