Teh Books.
Jun. 21st, 2010 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imbecamiel *hugs all around* Thanks for the welcome back, mellyn-nin. I missed you all!
As I said earlier, the trip was fun, though mostly uneventful. (Aside from all the tornado stuff that last night... but anyhow.) With it being rainy and cool so much of the time, we ended up doing more indoor stuff than usual. Since my brother absolutely loves card games, he insisted that we needed to learn two new ones: rook, and whist. Heh heh, I don't actually hate card games in general, but... by the end of the trip, I was thoroughly sick of both. Eric gets very bored when it's rainy. ;) Still, it is rather fun to actually understand whist - if only because I can now actually comprehend certain passages of the Horatio Hornblower books. *g*
Otherwise, not a whole lot to speak of, aside from the reading. Though I do wonder - are bears actually that much more plentiful now, or is it just co-incidence? Because we've been seeing far more of them the last few years than we ever did in the past. Hmm.
In no particular order, then... Comments on the books. These are more my impressions and opinions than actual descriptions or reviews, so - if you want any details on one you haven't read, just ask. :)
Lord Brocktree and Eulalia (by Brian Jacques) - I like. ^.^ I find the Redwall books so much more fun when I read just one or two a year - after the first few, they tend to feel rather repetitive. But I do love them. One of many forms of "comfort food" reading. *g* These were no exceptions. Both are heavily focused on the badgers and hares, which is a definite advantage, as those tend to be my favorites of the Redwall creatures. Aside from that fact, the first one was fun, but relatively unremarkable. The second (which is the one I haven't quite finished yet) I'm liking better, because the storyline has a more original feel than the last few books I've read by him - in part, I think, because it's less travel based. Any rate, they both get the thumbs up.
Longshot (by Dick Francis) - Oh I just loved this. It particularly got my attention for a number of reasons, even aside from the fact that it was well written. Among others, the fact that the main character was an author was fun, and wilderness survival has fascinated me as long as I can remember, so I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of it. The main character was also just generally so likable and believable - he provoked a number of interesting midnight conversations between Nef and me (because, of course, once I finished it I told her she needed to read it too). Will definitely be checking out more books by him. Yay for a new (to me *g*) mystery author!
The Princess and Curdie(by George MacDonald) - I'm not even sure how long it's been since I last read the first book, The Princess and the Goblins. Probably eight, at least? This was my first time reading the sequel, and I enjoyed it so much. Reading it was not only fun in itself, but it brought back so many details of the first book, even down to where I was sitting, and what I thought about it the first time I read it.... *happy sigh*
Larklight, Starcross, and Mothstorm (by Philip Reeve) - Ha! These are awesome. Utterly silly. And space spiders, giant moths, those creepy puppet machines, and... top hats? Who could resist villains like that? The narrative style is what really makes them, though. Too. Funny. But I would never suggest that we read these books as a family. I just don't think my brother would be capable of taking the necessary, "abandon all science and the logic of what you know about the way things work and just enjoy the ride" approach necessary to enjoying this sort of thing. Far more so that most sci-fi stories, that is. *g*
Once Upon a More Enlightened Time (James Finn Garner) - I've read some things by him before - fairy tales humorously re-written to be as absolutely politically correct as possible. This was really the one book I read that I was rather "meh" about, overall. Some of his stuff is hysterical, others... not so much. *shrugs* Still pretty fun.
The Long Drift (by Sam Brown) - Mmhmm, another good one. There were some bits near the beginning that came close to putting me off, wondering if the whole book was going to be like that, but I'm glad I kept on. Okay, I admit it, I think I'm in danger of becoming a definite fan of the Western genre as well. And here I thought that was one type of book that just didn't particularly appeal to me.... *g* And, as an aside, this trip has done so much to restore my faith in the first person POV as a valid and enjoyable way to write a story. I mean, yes, of course I knew it could be done well, but so much more often I see it done terribly, and it gets to the point where I cringe when I see that something is written in first person. So reading all these just excellently written books done in first person is a great relief indeed. :)
Watership Down (by Richard Adams) - Oh, I loved it. Wonderful, wonderful story, and with an attention to detail that made it seem so real. Just... the sensory detail, the thought put into the way rabbits would perceive the world, the rabbit mythology, the rabbit language.... I found the way he used the rabbit language really neat - using enough words to give a distinct flavor of it, while keeping them few enough that it didn't get confusing, and explaining things along the way in the context of the story, so that by the end he could just throw in a sentence in the rabbit language without any translation - and you can understand it. I kept thinking as I read it that this was just the sort of book that I would have adored when I was younger. Not that I didn't now, mind you, but back then my very favorite books were animal books, and I tended to like best the ones that were detailed and realistic (relatively speaking - tending more toward this end than, say, the heavily-anthropomorphized Redwall books). So yes... this was awesome.
Corona (by Greg Bear) - Star Trek. Naturally, must bring one of them along. ^.^ This was good, a fun read. For some reason, it struck me even more than most Star Trek books as reading very much like printed fanfiction... Not in a bad way, I just kinda got that feel from the plot. There's generally something slightly different, somehow, about the pacing and focus of even very well crafted fanfiction story from a typical printed book. Often those very differences are what actually makes for good fanfiction... But anyhow. Shall have to write rambly essay on the differences (rather than specifically superiority of one over the other) between fanfiction and regular fiction another time.
Scaramouche (by Rafael Sabatini) - Oh, this was a fun one, lots of twists and turns. A hero somewhat reminiscent of Eugenides at times, and also often bringing to mind the Scarlet Pimpernel, in great part because of the early-revolutionary France setting. Would definitely recommend it. ^.^>
Carry on, Jeeves and Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves(by P.G. Wodehouse) - How can I have not read P.G. Wodehouse before? Srsly. Love. Oh yes, we will definitely be reading Jeeves and Wooster books as a family. How do I know this? Because Nef decided to read Carry on, Jeeves after I did. And then she gave it to Eric, because it was rainy and he was bored. And then, before Eric could finish it, Dad saw it sitting on the table and started reading it. (You would think that there was a shortage of books there, but I assure you that was not the case.) Not only did Dad like it, but he and Eric literally ended up wrestling over who got to read it, and then attempting to hide it from each other.... *gigglefit* Yeah, if you knew my brother you'd know that this just does not happen. He's not much of a one for reading. So yes, I will be getting more so that we can all read them together. ;D
Fahrenheit 451 (by Ray Bradbury) - Wow. So good. Somehow it was a very different sort of book from what I was expecting. Not better or worse, I just - for some reason anticipated a different style? But anyway, I liked it very much. I was especially intrigued by his point that, yes, the books are important - but it's not books alone that are the key, just having or reading books couldn't change things. The really important thing is the thoughts that they convey, and that ability to provoke thought in others. It wasn't just the written word that was missing, but the ability to reason, and wonder, and care. Really powerful, and particularly thought-provoking in light of some recent articles I've read, about how the internet and all this exposure to technology is actually re-wiring people's brains, changing the way that they think, and affecting their ability to focus on any one thing, or read and absorb any depth of information, as opposed to skipping from thing to thing as it catches interest... Mmm. I certainly don't think the internet or modern technology are evil by any means - I enjoy them very much indeed. But... they can make it very easy to lose perspective, sometimes.
So there 'tis. ^.^
Hehe, purely out of curiosity, I did a quick count-up of the number of pages I read, and it comes up to something over 4300 pages. Not that that means a whole lot, of course, with books of varying sizes and prints and all, but... yeah. I am very happy now. So much wonderful reading....
And I'm actually almost caught up on all the post-trip behindness! (Which, yes, is not a word, but I don't care. ;P) Mostly just fun stuff left to reply to, now. :D
But not tonight, because Nef wants to go to bed, and is objecting to the lights being on. She refuses to believe me when I tell her that sleep is overrated. Pfft. Little sisters. <3
EDIT: *headdesk* Sorry for all the random formatting, here. I have no idea what LJ is doing to it, it's just being... weird. And I can't seem to get it all fixed. Meh.
As I said earlier, the trip was fun, though mostly uneventful. (Aside from all the tornado stuff that last night... but anyhow.) With it being rainy and cool so much of the time, we ended up doing more indoor stuff than usual. Since my brother absolutely loves card games, he insisted that we needed to learn two new ones: rook, and whist. Heh heh, I don't actually hate card games in general, but... by the end of the trip, I was thoroughly sick of both. Eric gets very bored when it's rainy. ;) Still, it is rather fun to actually understand whist - if only because I can now actually comprehend certain passages of the Horatio Hornblower books. *g*
Otherwise, not a whole lot to speak of, aside from the reading. Though I do wonder - are bears actually that much more plentiful now, or is it just co-incidence? Because we've been seeing far more of them the last few years than we ever did in the past. Hmm.
In no particular order, then... Comments on the books. These are more my impressions and opinions than actual descriptions or reviews, so - if you want any details on one you haven't read, just ask. :)
Lord Brocktree and Eulalia (by Brian Jacques) - I like. ^.^ I find the Redwall books so much more fun when I read just one or two a year - after the first few, they tend to feel rather repetitive. But I do love them. One of many forms of "comfort food" reading. *g* These were no exceptions. Both are heavily focused on the badgers and hares, which is a definite advantage, as those tend to be my favorites of the Redwall creatures. Aside from that fact, the first one was fun, but relatively unremarkable. The second (which is the one I haven't quite finished yet) I'm liking better, because the storyline has a more original feel than the last few books I've read by him - in part, I think, because it's less travel based. Any rate, they both get the thumbs up.
Longshot (by Dick Francis) - Oh I just loved this. It particularly got my attention for a number of reasons, even aside from the fact that it was well written. Among others, the fact that the main character was an author was fun, and wilderness survival has fascinated me as long as I can remember, so I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of it. The main character was also just generally so likable and believable - he provoked a number of interesting midnight conversations between Nef and me (because, of course, once I finished it I told her she needed to read it too). Will definitely be checking out more books by him. Yay for a new (to me *g*) mystery author!
The Princess and Curdie(by George MacDonald) - I'm not even sure how long it's been since I last read the first book, The Princess and the Goblins. Probably eight, at least? This was my first time reading the sequel, and I enjoyed it so much. Reading it was not only fun in itself, but it brought back so many details of the first book, even down to where I was sitting, and what I thought about it the first time I read it.... *happy sigh*
Larklight, Starcross, and Mothstorm (by Philip Reeve) - Ha! These are awesome. Utterly silly. And space spiders, giant moths, those creepy puppet machines, and... top hats? Who could resist villains like that? The narrative style is what really makes them, though. Too. Funny. But I would never suggest that we read these books as a family. I just don't think my brother would be capable of taking the necessary, "abandon all science and the logic of what you know about the way things work and just enjoy the ride" approach necessary to enjoying this sort of thing. Far more so that most sci-fi stories, that is. *g*
Once Upon a More Enlightened Time (James Finn Garner) - I've read some things by him before - fairy tales humorously re-written to be as absolutely politically correct as possible. This was really the one book I read that I was rather "meh" about, overall. Some of his stuff is hysterical, others... not so much. *shrugs* Still pretty fun.
The Long Drift (by Sam Brown) - Mmhmm, another good one. There were some bits near the beginning that came close to putting me off, wondering if the whole book was going to be like that, but I'm glad I kept on. Okay, I admit it, I think I'm in danger of becoming a definite fan of the Western genre as well. And here I thought that was one type of book that just didn't particularly appeal to me.... *g* And, as an aside, this trip has done so much to restore my faith in the first person POV as a valid and enjoyable way to write a story. I mean, yes, of course I knew it could be done well, but so much more often I see it done terribly, and it gets to the point where I cringe when I see that something is written in first person. So reading all these just excellently written books done in first person is a great relief indeed. :)
Watership Down (by Richard Adams) - Oh, I loved it. Wonderful, wonderful story, and with an attention to detail that made it seem so real. Just... the sensory detail, the thought put into the way rabbits would perceive the world, the rabbit mythology, the rabbit language.... I found the way he used the rabbit language really neat - using enough words to give a distinct flavor of it, while keeping them few enough that it didn't get confusing, and explaining things along the way in the context of the story, so that by the end he could just throw in a sentence in the rabbit language without any translation - and you can understand it. I kept thinking as I read it that this was just the sort of book that I would have adored when I was younger. Not that I didn't now, mind you, but back then my very favorite books were animal books, and I tended to like best the ones that were detailed and realistic (relatively speaking - tending more toward this end than, say, the heavily-anthropomorphized Redwall books). So yes... this was awesome.
Corona (by Greg Bear) - Star Trek. Naturally, must bring one of them along. ^.^ This was good, a fun read. For some reason, it struck me even more than most Star Trek books as reading very much like printed fanfiction... Not in a bad way, I just kinda got that feel from the plot. There's generally something slightly different, somehow, about the pacing and focus of even very well crafted fanfiction story from a typical printed book. Often those very differences are what actually makes for good fanfiction... But anyhow. Shall have to write rambly essay on the differences (rather than specifically superiority of one over the other) between fanfiction and regular fiction another time.
Scaramouche (by Rafael Sabatini) - Oh, this was a fun one, lots of twists and turns. A hero somewhat reminiscent of Eugenides at times, and also often bringing to mind the Scarlet Pimpernel, in great part because of the early-revolutionary France setting. Would definitely recommend it. ^.^>
Carry on, Jeeves and Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves(by P.G. Wodehouse) - How can I have not read P.G. Wodehouse before? Srsly. Love. Oh yes, we will definitely be reading Jeeves and Wooster books as a family. How do I know this? Because Nef decided to read Carry on, Jeeves after I did. And then she gave it to Eric, because it was rainy and he was bored. And then, before Eric could finish it, Dad saw it sitting on the table and started reading it. (You would think that there was a shortage of books there, but I assure you that was not the case.) Not only did Dad like it, but he and Eric literally ended up wrestling over who got to read it, and then attempting to hide it from each other.... *gigglefit* Yeah, if you knew my brother you'd know that this just does not happen. He's not much of a one for reading. So yes, I will be getting more so that we can all read them together. ;D
Fahrenheit 451 (by Ray Bradbury) - Wow. So good. Somehow it was a very different sort of book from what I was expecting. Not better or worse, I just - for some reason anticipated a different style? But anyway, I liked it very much. I was especially intrigued by his point that, yes, the books are important - but it's not books alone that are the key, just having or reading books couldn't change things. The really important thing is the thoughts that they convey, and that ability to provoke thought in others. It wasn't just the written word that was missing, but the ability to reason, and wonder, and care. Really powerful, and particularly thought-provoking in light of some recent articles I've read, about how the internet and all this exposure to technology is actually re-wiring people's brains, changing the way that they think, and affecting their ability to focus on any one thing, or read and absorb any depth of information, as opposed to skipping from thing to thing as it catches interest... Mmm. I certainly don't think the internet or modern technology are evil by any means - I enjoy them very much indeed. But... they can make it very easy to lose perspective, sometimes.
So there 'tis. ^.^
Hehe, purely out of curiosity, I did a quick count-up of the number of pages I read, and it comes up to something over 4300 pages. Not that that means a whole lot, of course, with books of varying sizes and prints and all, but... yeah. I am very happy now. So much wonderful reading....
And I'm actually almost caught up on all the post-trip behindness! (Which, yes, is not a word, but I don't care. ;P) Mostly just fun stuff left to reply to, now. :D
But not tonight, because Nef wants to go to bed, and is objecting to the lights being on. She refuses to believe me when I tell her that sleep is overrated. Pfft. Little sisters. <3
EDIT: *headdesk* Sorry for all the random formatting, here. I have no idea what LJ is doing to it, it's just being... weird. And I can't seem to get it all fixed. Meh.
