It's February and we're still reading

More than halfways into Kafka on the Shore (Murakami) and it's been pleasant reading so far. The tale is nowhere as ambitious or brilliant in individual sequences as Hard-boiled Wonderland or Wind-up Bird Chronicles but it's moving steadily enough and keeps me turning the pages in reasonable anticipation.
 
Reading T.H. White - the once and future king, Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness, Mary Shelley - frankenstein... oh, and Little Women for about the millionth time lol. I love it. It's a sad but true fact.
 
Had a little time out from fantasy and am returning to it with Wolfe's Book of the New Sun-strong stuff, not into it as much as the Wizard Knight yet though.
 
ladyflorange said:
Reading ...Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness, Mary Shelley - frankenstein...
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Ah both of them are excellent books on the whole. Heart of Darkness has some terrific dark humor.
 
Had to surrender on Kafka's The Castle. The meaninglessness of it all is too astounding. Not a bad book, just overwhelming. Being supposed to write a paper on modernization of bureaucracy at the same time certainly doesn't help...

Now I've returned to my roots: Science Fiction. Reading More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon.

Heart of Darkness - ooh, yeah, that one is great!
 
ravenus said:
Ah both of them are excellent books on the whole. Heart of Darkness has some terrific dark humor.
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Yeah so I'm told.. Finding Heart of Darkness a little difficult at the moment, but maybe that's just because I'm reading it in a huge anthology with tiny print!:p And I'm reading Frankenstein for the second time. I love it :)
 
Finished The Children of the Company. Now I'm reading Cross Bones, by Kathy Reichs. After two science fiction/fantasy books in a row, I figured that a murder mystery with archaeological and religious overtones would be an interesting diversion.
 
I just read A Doll's House by Ibsen. It was well-written and very even-handed in its treatment of Torvald, keeping away from the temptation to make him an ogre or such, but also suffered from relying too much on Nora's epiphany and ensuing oscar speech. I suppose it does show a nice shift in temperament on Nora's part, and would probably come-across better with performers, but on paper it's a tiny bit ham-fisted.

However a re-read would probably change my mind. All up, very good.
 
I'm currently reading The Light Ages by Ian R Macleod - an urban fantasy/alternate history, where the magical substance aether was discovered in the late 17th century, and it's the main form of energy in the world. But it's also, ironically, hindered progress, and the guilds have a monopoly on its use. It's very well written, and the comparisons made to Mieville are well founded.
 
Finished Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs. Good mystery. Reichs takes the same conceit that Dan Brown worked with in "that book":p, the belief that Jesus did not die on the cross but survived and maybe even married and had children, and goes at it from a couple of different perspectives and with a markedly more skeptical eye. Then she adds in a bit of larceny, throws in a few murders - or are they? - mixes in Middle Eastern archaeology and some ultra-Orthodox Jews who look at the excavation of human remains with about the same tolerance as certain elements in the Muslim world have shown in the recent to-do over some political cartoons - which is to say, no tolerance whatsover. If you like mysteries at all - read this book.

Now, I've picked up Grievous Angel, a biography of Gram Parsons that I started a couple of weeks ago as bedtime reading and have now put at the top of the list because it is due at the library next week. It's an interesting book so far.
 
Finished wth Murakami's Kafka on the shore, which was quite a decent read on the whole, not IMO in the same league as classics like Wind-up Bird Chronicles and Hard-boiled Wonderland but thankfully also not a dead-end like Dance Dance Dance.

Thinking back though, it has some of Murakami's worst plot ideas. The sexual elements, especially the Oedipus complex thing, struck me as clumsily wrought on the whole. That sort of an idea is dangerous unless you have some really solid emotional approach to it, which in this case Murakami didn't have. My other criticism is that the Kafka's dilemma with respect to the 'ghost town' is created and resolved in a rather pat manner, not befitting Murakami's intelligence.
 
Currently reading Riddle Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip and really quite enjoying it so far. McKilip is certainly a talented writer, especially her ability to evoke poetic prose. Only just finishing off Book 1 in this 3 volume collection by Masterworks. I plan to check out Forgotten Beasts Of Eld by same author next.

Also delving into the other Masterwork Clark Ashton Smirth's collected works Emperor Of Dreams. Have read some of CAS before esp. Tales Of Zothique but really enjoying his entire collection.

Also getting through Madeliene Howard's Hidden Stars and I am enjoying the story so far. Madeleine is certainly good at being able to craft a story. Hopefully once I'm done I'll be able to contribute further to her subforum here.

Also reading John Marco's Sword Of Angels. Large book, 900 plus pages. Not bad but I still prefer his original Tyrants and Kings trilogy.

Enjoying dipping periodically still into the collected short stories of HG Wells. Amazing array of stories really, selected by Ursala K. Le Guin.

I have Iron Dragons Daughter on the shelf now but that will have to be a March read...
 
I'm so impressed with people that can have multiple books on the go. I need to focus on one story at a time. One concession I do make now is putting aside a book that doesn't grab me. There was a time when I would stubbornly read through to the end anything I had started, even if it ended up being tedious.
I'm presently halfway through Queen of Darkness (the last book in the Black Jewels trilogy). I basically inhaled the first 2. I would call this fantasy 'light' . There's not much to chew on , so to speak, but it is an enjoyable plotline (especially from a feminine perspective :), and I can't wait for the bad guys to get their due. I must say it did take me a few chapters into the first book to actually sort out that the 3 worlds were all one in the same.
 
Just finished Grievous Angel, mentioned above. Sad, sad book. But all too common a story among the musicians of time in which Gram Parsons was active. I picked the book up at the library mostly because I didn't know anything about him past the fact that he died too young, and the spectacular thing his friends did for him after he passed, which has assumed legendary proportions. The book has spurred me to look around on the 'net for his lyrics, and now I'm going to have to familiarize myself with his music.

Still trying to decide what I'll read next.
 
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