November, 2022 Reading: “November at its best—with a sort of delightful menace in the air.” Anne Bosworth Greene
DiscussionsLiterary Snobs
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1CliffBurns
Starting off November with a relatively light read, Peyton Marshall's GOODHOUSE.
Near future tale of social engineering--got a lot of glowing blurbs but the author was in the Iowa Writers Workshop so I'm guessing a few of them are from helpful, well-meaning instructors.
Good so far, but not outstanding.
Near future tale of social engineering--got a lot of glowing blurbs but the author was in the Iowa Writers Workshop so I'm guessing a few of them are from helpful, well-meaning instructors.
Good so far, but not outstanding.
2BookConcierge
Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
Digital audiobook narrated by Johanna Ward
4****
Miss Fanny Price is taken in by her rich relation, Sir Thomas Bertram, and his wife as an act of charity. Her family is poor and with seven children, resources are simply stretched too thin. Fanny is a quiet, sensible, obedient little thing, and grows into a quiet, sensible, graceful young woman. Her two cousins, Sir Thomas’s daughters Maria and Julia treat her well, but are far more interested in their own prospects. And there are several eligible, if not completely suitable, young men in the neighborhood.
Ah, but I love spending time with Austen. Fanny is perhaps the ideal heroine, and reportedly Austen’s own favorite among her heroines. She is intelligent and thoughtful, pretty and graceful, keeps her own counsel, is modest and principled, and still has a loving heart.
A couple of the gentlemen in the area seem interested in Fanny – she is very pretty, after all, and Sir Thomas is bound to leave her some money. But Fanny would rather be alone than marry a man she cannot love and respect.
There is a certain predictable pattern to Austen’s novels, and this one is no exception. Our heroine will remain true to herself, and love will triumph.
Johanna Ward does a marvelous job of narrating the audiobook. She brings Austen’s witty dialogue to life.
3Cecrow
>2 BookConcierge:, just picked up a copy of that (and Persuasion) at our library's book sale last week, looking forward to it.
4mejix
Finished The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson a couple of days ago. Another Young Adult novel picked up by mistake. It had the ingredients for a good yarn but it was just okayish.
Started My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley. An unpretentious little memoir about life with an Alsatian dog. "One of the greatest books ever written by anybody in the world" according to Truman Capote's blurb. Made me chuckle.
Started My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley. An unpretentious little memoir about life with an Alsatian dog. "One of the greatest books ever written by anybody in the world" according to Truman Capote's blurb. Made me chuckle.
5iansales
Reading roundup.
Foreigner, CJ Cherryh - the first of, to date, a 21-book series, and which I read back in 1995, but never got further than the second book of the series. I thought it time I tried again, so I plan to reread the first two and then continue on. It's pretty much Lost in Space meets Imperial Chinese-inspired aliens, although the difference here is that the humans can't run any further and are forced to reach an accommodation with the aliens. Two hundred years later, a power play among the aliens kicks off and the human representative at the alien court is caught in the middle of it all. This is Cherryh so it's all solid stuff, with a plot that moves on well-oiled rails, and enough differences from the aliens' inspirations to give everything an invented flavour. Not sure how she managed to keep it going for 20 books, but I guess I'll find out...
Far from the Light of Heaven, Tade Thompson - I thought Thompson's Clarke Award-winning Rosewater was far too busy, and was a good example of why debut novels don't belong on award shortlists. This one is much better. He's still thrown in more than the story really needs, but at least the various elements don't trip over each other. The plot is essentially a locked-room murder mystery in space. A starship containing 1000 settlers in deep sleep arrives at its destination, and the sole crewmember discovers 31 of them have been murdered and dismembered. The actual solution to the crime is a bit weak, but Thompson manages his tech well, his characters are sympathetic and well-drawn, and if it all feels a bit rushed in places it's probably because the murder investigation feels drawn out. Worth reading.
The Year of Our War, Steph Swainston - another reread; I first read this back in 2011, but never bothered reading anything else by her. I recently picked up a copy of the omnibus edition of her first three novels so I could give her another go. And second time around... I found myself liking the same things about The Year of Our War and disliking the same things. The setting is cool, and the concept of sword & sorcery Avengers (ie, superheroes) is pretty neat. But the text is littered with anachronisms and I can't decide if they're an artistic choice or laziness on the author's part. They read like the latter... except that wouldn't make sense. The book is also unevenly structured, but that's less of an issue as it's a fast-paced read. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Chapterhouse: Dune, Frank Herbert - his last Dune novel, and likely the middle book of a trilogy... which was completed, with two novels, by Brian Herbert & Kevin J Anderson. Their Dune novels are appalling and their two sequels are no better, but I've always though they ended the series pretty much how Herbert intended. They haven't done as well as he would have done, obviously, but I don't think they bent his vision completely out of shape. Of course, the estate should have picked a good writer, given them Herbert's notes, and published the results. But then, Dune is a commercial property and has been for decades so perhaps badly-written commercial prose is more appropriate. And props to Herbert Jr & Anderson for keeping the property going until we finally got a movie version that did the series justice.
The Art of Space Travel and Other Stories, Nina Allan - a thick collection from one of the UK's more interesting genre writers. Allan has a fine eye for detail, and there's some serious research in some of these stories, but occasionally I get thrown out of a story by something that's just plain wrong. Happily, I saw none of that in this collection. Some of the stories are perhaps a little longer than they needed to be, closer to novella than short story, but Allan is really good at describing places and setting stories in them which are slightly off-kilter. Recommended.
A Time of Changes, Robert Silverberg - I read this many years ago and always remembered it as being pretty good. The story is framed as a testament by a man wanted by the authorities. It takes place on an alien world settled generations before by humans. The harshness of the conditions has resulted in a semi-religious society in which people do not refer to themselves using first-person pronouns. The narrator is forced out from his home country when his brother ascends to the throne, bounces around various places, before stumbling across a drug which creates a psychic connection between people who have taken the drug. And suddenly he wants to talk about himself. It's not a concept that stands up to much scrutiny, nor is it helped by the story being resolutely typical of 1970s US sf. It's an idea that needs a different approach to really work, and Silverberg didn't bother even though he was more than capable - I mean, have you read Son of Man? Disappointing.
ETA: have now written a longer piece on Chapterhouse: Dune - see here: https://medium.com/p/chapterhouse-dune-frank-herbert-d29fabbc402c
Foreigner, CJ Cherryh - the first of, to date, a 21-book series, and which I read back in 1995, but never got further than the second book of the series. I thought it time I tried again, so I plan to reread the first two and then continue on. It's pretty much Lost in Space meets Imperial Chinese-inspired aliens, although the difference here is that the humans can't run any further and are forced to reach an accommodation with the aliens. Two hundred years later, a power play among the aliens kicks off and the human representative at the alien court is caught in the middle of it all. This is Cherryh so it's all solid stuff, with a plot that moves on well-oiled rails, and enough differences from the aliens' inspirations to give everything an invented flavour. Not sure how she managed to keep it going for 20 books, but I guess I'll find out...
Far from the Light of Heaven, Tade Thompson - I thought Thompson's Clarke Award-winning Rosewater was far too busy, and was a good example of why debut novels don't belong on award shortlists. This one is much better. He's still thrown in more than the story really needs, but at least the various elements don't trip over each other. The plot is essentially a locked-room murder mystery in space. A starship containing 1000 settlers in deep sleep arrives at its destination, and the sole crewmember discovers 31 of them have been murdered and dismembered. The actual solution to the crime is a bit weak, but Thompson manages his tech well, his characters are sympathetic and well-drawn, and if it all feels a bit rushed in places it's probably because the murder investigation feels drawn out. Worth reading.
The Year of Our War, Steph Swainston - another reread; I first read this back in 2011, but never bothered reading anything else by her. I recently picked up a copy of the omnibus edition of her first three novels so I could give her another go. And second time around... I found myself liking the same things about The Year of Our War and disliking the same things. The setting is cool, and the concept of sword & sorcery Avengers (ie, superheroes) is pretty neat. But the text is littered with anachronisms and I can't decide if they're an artistic choice or laziness on the author's part. They read like the latter... except that wouldn't make sense. The book is also unevenly structured, but that's less of an issue as it's a fast-paced read. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
Chapterhouse: Dune, Frank Herbert - his last Dune novel, and likely the middle book of a trilogy... which was completed, with two novels, by Brian Herbert & Kevin J Anderson. Their Dune novels are appalling and their two sequels are no better, but I've always though they ended the series pretty much how Herbert intended. They haven't done as well as he would have done, obviously, but I don't think they bent his vision completely out of shape. Of course, the estate should have picked a good writer, given them Herbert's notes, and published the results. But then, Dune is a commercial property and has been for decades so perhaps badly-written commercial prose is more appropriate. And props to Herbert Jr & Anderson for keeping the property going until we finally got a movie version that did the series justice.
The Art of Space Travel and Other Stories, Nina Allan - a thick collection from one of the UK's more interesting genre writers. Allan has a fine eye for detail, and there's some serious research in some of these stories, but occasionally I get thrown out of a story by something that's just plain wrong. Happily, I saw none of that in this collection. Some of the stories are perhaps a little longer than they needed to be, closer to novella than short story, but Allan is really good at describing places and setting stories in them which are slightly off-kilter. Recommended.
A Time of Changes, Robert Silverberg - I read this many years ago and always remembered it as being pretty good. The story is framed as a testament by a man wanted by the authorities. It takes place on an alien world settled generations before by humans. The harshness of the conditions has resulted in a semi-religious society in which people do not refer to themselves using first-person pronouns. The narrator is forced out from his home country when his brother ascends to the throne, bounces around various places, before stumbling across a drug which creates a psychic connection between people who have taken the drug. And suddenly he wants to talk about himself. It's not a concept that stands up to much scrutiny, nor is it helped by the story being resolutely typical of 1970s US sf. It's an idea that needs a different approach to really work, and Silverberg didn't bother even though he was more than capable - I mean, have you read Son of Man? Disappointing.
ETA: have now written a longer piece on Chapterhouse: Dune - see here: https://medium.com/p/chapterhouse-dune-frank-herbert-d29fabbc402c
6RobertDay
>5 iansales: And yet I recollect starting my last job and realising that I'd fit in well when I overheard the chief systems architect explaining the plot of this really cool novel he was reading to one of his colleagues, and it was A Time of Changes! And the guy was 26 going on 46 in terms of the sf he was fond of.
In other news, I'm reading Iain Banks' Raw Spirit (a Novacon acquisition) and realising that this is the closest we're ever going to get to a Banks autobiography. I'd previously thought that this might have to be shelved with my Scottish books, but it definitely belongs with the novels. All that and he namechecked two people I count as friends.
In other news, I'm reading Iain Banks' Raw Spirit (a Novacon acquisition) and realising that this is the closest we're ever going to get to a Banks autobiography. I'd previously thought that this might have to be shelved with my Scottish books, but it definitely belongs with the novels. All that and he namechecked two people I count as friends.
7CliffBurns
Two more books this month:
YELLOW BIRDS by Kevin Powers
21 LESSONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY by Yuval Noah Harari
The former is a fictionalized version of the author's deployment in Iraq--a celebrated novel, but I found the language too flowery and elaborate for my liking. I prefer the author's followup novel, A SHOUT IN THE RUINS.
The latter is an important book, Harari taking us on a tour of a new future where the merger of infotech and bioware creates a new class of humanity, another rung on the ladder of hierarchy. "Change" is the operative word, technology swiftly transforming the marketplace, people forced to retrain and switch jobs every ten years. A future that will challenge our species and test the limits of democracy and personal liberty. Highly recommended.
YELLOW BIRDS by Kevin Powers
21 LESSONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY by Yuval Noah Harari
The former is a fictionalized version of the author's deployment in Iraq--a celebrated novel, but I found the language too flowery and elaborate for my liking. I prefer the author's followup novel, A SHOUT IN THE RUINS.
The latter is an important book, Harari taking us on a tour of a new future where the merger of infotech and bioware creates a new class of humanity, another rung on the ladder of hierarchy. "Change" is the operative word, technology swiftly transforming the marketplace, people forced to retrain and switch jobs every ten years. A future that will challenge our species and test the limits of democracy and personal liberty. Highly recommended.
8CliffBurns
SELECTED POEMS OF MARIANNE MOORE by, you guessed it, Marianne Moore.
It's not often that a major poet utterly fails to connect with me, but Moore was that rare exception.
The only poem in this compilation that really moved me was "What Are Years?"--the rest left me cold.
Maybe I'll revisit her work in a decade or so, see if my perspective changes.
Until then, I remain unimpressed.
It's not often that a major poet utterly fails to connect with me, but Moore was that rare exception.
The only poem in this compilation that really moved me was "What Are Years?"--the rest left me cold.
Maybe I'll revisit her work in a decade or so, see if my perspective changes.
Until then, I remain unimpressed.
9CliffBurns
MY DIRTY CALIFORNIA, by Jason Mosberg.
Has all the fixings of a limited Netflix series, starring a host of soon-to-be somebodys.
A sort of interesting premise, greatly diminished by a formulaic execution.
Hint: the author writes for TV.
It shows.
Has all the fixings of a limited Netflix series, starring a host of soon-to-be somebodys.
A sort of interesting premise, greatly diminished by a formulaic execution.
Hint: the author writes for TV.
It shows.
10CliffBurns
THE SHORTEST HISTORY OF WAR by Gwynne Dyer.
Succinct overview of our lengthy history of killing each other for territory or resources.
Dyer knows his stuff and this book is a good primer for alien species seeking to comprehend our twisted psyche.
Succinct overview of our lengthy history of killing each other for territory or resources.
Dyer knows his stuff and this book is a good primer for alien species seeking to comprehend our twisted psyche.
11Cecrow
>5 iansales:, I never thought about having to thank Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson keeping Dune sufficiently in the public eye that it could have been an influential factor on a studio bet to do another cinematic treatment for the original novel. Shiver~! Let's instead say it would have happened in any case, given length of time since the failed 80s version and the director's passion for the project.
12iansales
>11 Cecrow: don't forget the TV miniseries version, which also did badly. Perhaps sooner or later there would have been another film, but having a load of bestselling novels to the property's name no doubt helped.
13CliffBurns
IF THE RIVER WAS WHISKEY, short stories by T.C. Boyle.
Published back in the 1990s but still relevant and enjoyable. What I like about Boyle's characters is that none of them are heroic or above reproach. He knows these people intimately and loves them, but he doesn't excuse their behavior.
Recommended.
Published back in the 1990s but still relevant and enjoyable. What I like about Boyle's characters is that none of them are heroic or above reproach. He knows these people intimately and loves them, but he doesn't excuse their behavior.
Recommended.
14BookConcierge
>13 CliffBurns: I've had this book on my tbr for a LONG time. Thanks for the nudge to take a look again.
15CliffBurns
THE EMPIRE OF NECESSITY by Greg Grandin.
I enjoyed his book FORDLANDIA and this one is nearly good, detailing a famous slave rebellion that was the inspiration for Herman Melville's BENITO CERENO.
No Amistad-like happy ending this time--a grim read but when dealing with any aspect of slavery that, of course, is completely understandable.
I enjoyed his book FORDLANDIA and this one is nearly good, detailing a famous slave rebellion that was the inspiration for Herman Melville's BENITO CERENO.
No Amistad-like happy ending this time--a grim read but when dealing with any aspect of slavery that, of course, is completely understandable.
