I'm reading Middlemarch and I have been for a few weeks. It's very great, but it's a kind of mellow greatness and I don't feel like reading more than a couple dozen pages a day. It's something to savor, I guess, and why not? I won't read it again for a while. I'm reading Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton in the meanwhile, because it's short and Middlemarch is too long to read alone. I haven't read anything by Chesterton but his writing is so sharp you could cut yourself on it. If I'm lucky I'll read something better someday. I'm trying to work out this whole religion thing--it's kind of tricky (apparently), but at least Chesterton is completely right about everything, so there's a start.
Really? Middlemarch took a week or so of my time, but I'm utterly lost as to why it's still in print. I've rarely been so bored.
Because it's good, I guess; I don't know. It's a detailed study of provincial life, it's thematically interesting, the characters are complex and interesting...if people like that sort of thing at all, some of them will probably like Middlemarch. It makes you think about things. It's not very exciting though. And premarital counseling would have averted everybody's problems.
Finally finished The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. It wasn't that I didn't like it, quite the opposite. I wanted to savor it and even then, I sped through the last hundred or so pages tonight and I've never been more in awe. I wouldn't say Sanderson is my favorite author, but he sure as hell knows what he's doing.
Finished three more books. The Republic of Pirates, Colin Woodard. A fairly comprehensive account of the most infamous pirates terrorizing the high seas during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It (thankfully) wasn’t a dry read, and it definitely increased my knowledge of piracy during that era. That said, it wasn’t as gripping as a great biography. Rating: 3.5 stars. The Lonesome Gods, Louis L’amour. A Southern California western that, on the whole, I enjoyed. I have a few hangups with its plot — specifically in the second half — but the story’s better qualities, such as L’amour’s desert mythology and romanticism, by and large made up for those. Rating: 4 stars. The Stars My Destination (originally Tiger! Tiger!), Alfred Bester. This short novel packs quite a profound punch. If I would have had less problems with Bester’s characterizations and his disorienting pacing, this might have been an all-time great read. Rating: 4 stars.
My son loves Louis L'Amour westerns. A few years back, I was in a second hand store in an obscure part of the state. In a box were piles of LL paperbacks. I bought them all for a quarter apiece and took them to my son who went on a reading frenzy.
Just finished reading The Trespasser by Tana French. Not one of her stronger mysteries, but still well told. I have one other book of hers on my shelf to read, but I've got a few others ahead of it. I'm also working my way through The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett.
I've read a coupe many years ago. Very entertaining writer. More historically accurate than the films of his day.
I read a book of his short stories once. Not to my taste, but between each story he would offer a short factual bit of trivia about cowboys and cowboy life. One thing I learned was the reason cowboy boots are shaped the way they are. The horse they rode were not exactly tame by modern dude-ranch standards, so the pointed toe was to easily find and slip into a stirrup while the horse wasn't cooperating, and the relatively narrow waist on the boot, as well as the high heel, allowed it to "lock into" the stirrup once the foot was firmly pushed home. Roping boots, on the other hand, have low heels because no one wants to try to wrestle a cow to the ground while prancing around in the dirt like RuPaul...
I guess L'Amore was my introduction to historical fiction. One I remember was called Sitka and the story took place in that town when it was the Russian territorial capital of Alaska.
Finished Wheel of Time, Book 2. Parts of it had me laughing out loud (The Great Game in particular). I'm impressed by Jordan's range between pleasant and brutal content. A particular pet peeve of mine is the word 'angrily' which he unfortunately used a few times... oh well, I can forgive the adverbs. He also walked the knife's edge when it came to pacing, but managed to not falter. The love triangles (pentagons?) are already tiresome, but you've got to have that conflict, right? Great stuff overall. Started Brandon Sanderson's Elantris. I know he's good but I could not get into his other books. The plot is compelling and succinct so far, and the characters are quite well thought out. It was really nice to stop and think, hm, yeah, that guy's competence really does match his position.
I'm halfway through Jennifer Wortman's short story collection, This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love., which I picked up a few months ago at one of her AWP conference readings, and it's absolutely stunning! There are 13 stories, all exploring different aspects of love, lust, and passion, and positively exploding with energy. She has a particular gift for creating striking images, like the one that opens the first story, "Love You. Bye." And here's the very definition of an in medias res opening, from one of the greatest flash fiction stories I've ever read, "The Men I Love": Enough raving. I have more stories to read. I highly recommend that you read them, too.
Wow. Elantris was quite well done. I think I want to do a post-mortem on it, break down the beats. And some claim it is far from Sanderson's best work. My only complaint was a few bits of prose that featured repetitive sentence structure. I can forgive the ending's avalanche of abrupt plot twists because they are satisfying regardless. I've got to see if he's written any other single book stories. I'm not planning on starting a series of his for years yet, a decade even. Too much else to read. Either going to finally read The White Rose to top off Cook's trilogy (I'm not going into the following books) or just hop into Wheel of Time book 3 next.
I was very lukewarm on Elantris when I read it. The corrupted magical city premise was appealing and nicely explored, but I was underwhelmed, and at times annoyed, by two of the three POV characters (the younger two). On the other hand, Cook’s first three books in his Black Company series is probably my favorite “official” high fantasy trilogy.
Still reading World Without End by Ken Follett. I like it very much, but at times it seems like Book Without End. I've paused occasionally to read other things before returning to it.
I read a few of those but found them a little too high fantasy for my taste. His Garrett, P.I. series on the other hand are some of my favorites, which, although technically "high fantasy" kind of blur the lines.
I just finished Ariadne by Jennifer Saint. Meh. It had its moments, but it isn't one I'm keeping to read again.
The Namesake — something I was suggested to read here actually. Very different from what I usually read, but surprisingly interesting, especially with the "skimming style" in its pace, if you can call it that. I wonder if there is a more technical term.
