Jul
27
More on books.
July 27, 2008 |
So I’ve been cleaning and rearranging and going through lots of books, which has unearthed some I should have thought of before but hadn’t. So here’s another list of links, this time with a little bit of commentary.
Barry Hughart, Bridge of Birds
Barry Hughart, Eight Skilled Gentlemen
He wrote a third, The Story of the Stone, which I have not been able to get my hands on. They’re quite good, fantasy set in ancient China; the writing is clever but not too clever, the ride is enjoyable but has a heart. And they can get seriously unnerving at times, which I happen to like.
James Alan Gardner, Expendable
James Alan Gardner, Hunted
James Alan Gardner, Ascending
James Alan Gardner, Vigilant
James Alan Gardner, Radiant
James Alan Gardner, Trapped
James Alan Gardner, Commitment Hour
James Alan Gardner, Gravity Wells
All sci-fi but really, really well done. Soft SF so there’s aliens and such but the books are very human, which I like. There’s a lot of contemplation of morality and humanity and where thinking beings fit into things, but throughout everything he stays light-hearted enough that it’s never a chore to read. The last, Gravity Wells, is his short stories, which are usually pretty accessible and fun; one of them is available on his site, here.
David Mitchell, Number9Dream
I like this better than either Ghostwritten or Cloud Atlas by him, although I understand Cloud Atlas received a lot of approving press (as I recall I found it gimmicky and full of unfleshy tropes). This is, according to me anyway, stronger than those two, although he isn’t really my favorite author.
Robertson Davies, Fifth Business
Robertson Davies, The Manticore
Robertson Davies, World of Wonders
(Or, as one book.)
Robertson Davies makes me really happy; unfortunately, this is the only full trilogy of his that I’ve read (but I have read it three or four times through). I don’t exactly know how to describe his writing except that it is exact and eerie and very true. He has a way with characters. I like him a lot.
M John Harrison, Viriconium
This deserves a little explanation, I feel. I received it as a Christmas present during my last year at Carver, from one of my classmates with whom I’d never had a particularly good relationship. It was only in our last two years there that we could have a conversation without sniping at each other. Normally I try to just avoid people who I don’t get along with, but I genuinely liked this guy, and he was in my lit class, so it wasn’t that simple. Our last Christmas there I got presents for everyone in our class and I tried to make sure they were decent ones. I wasn’t really expecting anything back from people, but Matt gave me this and I gave him this, which he totally flipped over. And I ended up really liking Viriconium as well as being really touched, so it was a good Christmas all over. It’s in the vein of China Mieville’s stuff, weird sort of steampunky, surreal fantasy-sci-fi, lots of bizarre imagery. As I recall it starts doing fourth-wall-breaking things like the world starts breaking down because the characters become aware of the writer, or something. I haven’t re-read it in a year or so.
Nancy Farmer, The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
This is one of my best-loved books from childhood (along with Calvin and Hobbes, which I’m re-reading again). Actually, I loved anything Nancy Farmer had to offer, but this was always my favorite; preternaturally sensitive detectives in a futuristic Zimbabwe? Awesome. Plus it’s a really quick and rewarding read.
I am about halfway through Oscar Wao and really loving it; the stack of books next to my bed which I have to read is growing precipitously, though. We’ll see how things go.
Edit: Why have I lost my blogroll? Hmm.
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