tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post8610261726877916723..comments2024-03-29T06:16:21.012+08:00Comments on Monsters and Manuals: Books Read in 2021, RankedUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-61414413742024837942021-12-02T05:48:29.071+08:002021-12-02T05:48:29.071+08:00I just find it very hard to get into Mieville'...I just find it very hard to get into Mieville's fiction because the characters always seem like mouthpieces or cyphers rather than real people. What I liked about The Scar and Iron Council was the sheer scale and ambition of his imagination. Iron Council also just has some really good writing. noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-78199519809358758872021-12-02T01:13:10.527+08:002021-12-02T01:13:10.527+08:00Really appreciate this post, and will soon be jump...Really appreciate this post, and will soon be jumping all over the Turganev. Goodreads tells me that I have read 88 books so far this year, I only wish I were able to give them the sort of insightful critical analysis that you do, rather than resorting to hyperbole, as I mostly do.dansumptionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06403248887250857638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-78512752510624766232021-12-01T23:32:11.416+08:002021-12-01T23:32:11.416+08:00Perdido Street Station read to me like an inferior...Perdido Street Station read to me like an inferior M John Harrison pastiche.dansumptionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06403248887250857638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-5154438190342427602021-12-01T23:15:23.660+08:002021-12-01T23:15:23.660+08:00I listened to the audiobook of the Russian Revolut...I listened to the audiobook of the Russian Revolution thing. It was pretty detailed, but I couldn't help but feel I'd rather it had been written by an historian.dansumptionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06403248887250857638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-33105111429384671382021-11-27T16:07:44.080+08:002021-11-27T16:07:44.080+08:00I love MR James and have read alll his stories - I...I love MR James and have read alll his stories - I did write a post about him a long time ago (https://monstersandmanuals.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-jamesian-and-lovecraftian.html). I agree that he deserves more attention.<br /><br />I know Russell Kirk wrote fiction and I've heard that it's good. But it's hard to track down even on the secondary market.<br /><br />Anyway, yeah, read Vance. I'd say Lyonesse is the best starting point, followed by the Demon Princes books or the Planet of Adventure ones. The Cugel stories are great too.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-27671092019996600302021-11-27T07:15:39.615+08:002021-11-27T07:15:39.615+08:00I think I'm finally going to have to give Vanc...I think I'm finally going to have to give Vance a chance. I don't know why but for a long time I've kind of lumped him in with Moorcock and Wolfe as one of those heady but unreadable scifi/fantasy authors.<br /><br />I recently watched one of the old made for TV versions of Turn of the Screw and agree that years of horror baggage, make it difficult to sit through.<br /><br />Speaking of ghost stories, do you have any thoughts on the stories of M. R. James? I only ask because I never hear his works discussed in ORS circles. The word "ghosts" doesn't do the supernatural entities in his stories justice: they are more like demons or elementals or something.<br /><br />Russell Kirk has an anthology of ghost stories 'Ancestral Shadows' that I've been meaning to get around to reading.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11583217398067521538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-6057678299466031252021-11-27T05:16:31.654+08:002021-11-27T05:16:31.654+08:00Don't get me wrong - I do like a lot of Lovecr...Don't get me wrong - I do like a lot of Lovecraft stories. But I don't think that even at his best he ever really manages to write the kind of marvellous prose you get in e.g. Blackwood's "The Man Who the Trees Loves" or Machen's "The White People". <br /><br />The contrast between Lovecraft and MR James is interesting. James really had a stereotypical posh Victorian/Edwardian English academic's abhorrence of physical contact and it really comes through in his stories. A lot of them revolve around an absolute terror of just being <i>touched</i>. HP Lovecraft didn't seem to have this. With him the fear is of being <i>driven insane</i>.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-17246359034302625432021-11-27T05:11:43.801+08:002021-11-27T05:11:43.801+08:00Sounds good!Sounds good!noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-66735812190301418412021-11-26T08:24:47.287+08:002021-11-26T08:24:47.287+08:00Yeah, it looks like he's moving back to politi...Yeah, it looks like he's moving back to political writing: his next book (due out in May 2022) is a reading of The Communist Manifesto. Which is fine: it's just interesting to me to see how someone so influential from 2000-2011 just completely vanishes from the conversation.Rob Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17791752557408134270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-91754293242599236022021-11-26T05:55:47.670+08:002021-11-26T05:55:47.670+08:00I disagree, of course— I think Lovecraft was a goo...I disagree, of course— I think Lovecraft was a good writer and pretty original. But apart from that, I think the major thing that separates Lovecraft from Blackwood (and to a lesser extent from Machen and James) is that his horrors are so PHYSICAL. Blackwood mostly envisioned some fairly abstract spiritual entities and phenomena, and Machen and James did have some slimy creepiness but only occasionally in the climaxes. Lovecraft on the contrast almost always envisions some kind of literal physical monster, some tentacled thing (yeah I know Machen did too, but not as much!!), some GORE— the kind of thing that apparently made James dismiss what he read of Lovecraft as being in poor taste! ;) But that “everything is essentially materialist” worldview is, IMHO, one of Lovecraft’s notable features compared to these other folks.<br /><br />Dunsany… ahhhh, Dunsany is his own thing!! And I do agree Lovecraft never equaled Dunsany, though he made his own unique hybrid of Dunsanian pastiches.Jason & Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08382538007150266805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-86063839616009710362021-11-26T01:37:24.304+08:002021-11-26T01:37:24.304+08:00I'm the wrong fellow to ask; haven't read ...I'm the wrong fellow to ask; haven't read anything beyond the Bas-Lag stuff.Solomon VKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11763252777153908412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-3945316782552353402021-11-25T21:30:15.468+08:002021-11-25T21:30:15.468+08:00All the four Richard Evans' books about the Th...All the four Richard Evans' books about the Third Reich are great. Read the other two ASAP.Daniel Oliveirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10390093666908725672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-48201631329597199772021-11-25T21:15:56.787+08:002021-11-25T21:15:56.787+08:00Can I just make a plug for The Terra Ignota four b...Can I just make a plug for The Terra Ignota four book series by Ada Palmer. Just finished all four back to back. If a future earth well thought out with great plotting that relies heavily on philosophy of the Enlightenment while tackling both theodicy and the Fermi paradox doesn’t intrigue you then it might not be for you :)GK Hieberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00964928985436189101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-31946239399460488532021-11-25T19:51:59.871+08:002021-11-25T19:51:59.871+08:00I didn't like Perdido Street Station. The Scar...I didn't like Perdido Street Station. The Scar and Iron Council are a lot better. <br /><br />Blackwood is a mixed bag. There's a lot of pretty bog-standard pulp involved, but there are plenty of diamonds in the rough, like with Machen.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-78740076938824013092021-11-25T19:50:40.448+08:002021-11-25T19:50:40.448+08:00It just reads like very hastily rehashed notes fro...It just reads like very hastily rehashed notes from the seminar series on which the book is based. Very sloppy and half-baked.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-31041896122829650092021-11-25T19:07:38.761+08:002021-11-25T19:07:38.761+08:00A stalwart list, I will be using at least some of ...A stalwart list, I will be using at least some of these on my next trips to the online store.<br /><br />Melvielle's Perdido Street Station had segments that might be brilliant but the sheer length of the work makes one beg for an editor. Refreshing to see a review of Blackwood. I contemplated diving into him as part of an overal Weird Fiction dive but an unsuccesfull foray into Arthur Machen (with The White People exempted) turned me in other directions. <br />PrinceofNothingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-84451913938487037772021-11-25T18:53:00.544+08:002021-11-25T18:53:00.544+08:00Oh damn, I really liked "the landscape of his...Oh damn, I really liked "the landscape of history" by Gaddis. I never read "on grand strategy", what makes it bad in your opinion?wivrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00480440847984887892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-54420505985122259472021-11-25T16:02:00.839+08:002021-11-25T16:02:00.839+08:00I think he might just have run out of ideas?I think he might just have run out of ideas?noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-72320239275717643152021-11-25T16:01:33.613+08:002021-11-25T16:01:33.613+08:00Yeah, it’s in Ecce and Old Earth. That hadn’t occu...Yeah, it’s in Ecce and Old Earth. That hadn’t occurred to me before but you’re right, there is an echo there.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-54164779288838874282021-11-25T15:59:36.920+08:002021-11-25T15:59:36.920+08:00I recall Miéville did a history of the Russian Rev...I recall Miéville did a history of the Russian Revolution to coincide with the centenary, which indicates something of a change of course. <br />The BBC did their adaptation of The City and the City a few years ago - indicative, in its way, of Miéville's work becoming quite thoroughly well known by institutions. Perhaps he hopes to defy this fate!Solomon VKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11763252777153908412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-66030629376827787772021-11-25T15:47:28.379+08:002021-11-25T15:47:28.379+08:00Glad to see you read the Alastor books - I think t...Glad to see you read the Alastor books - I think they are some of Vance's best works - strange cultures and I really like how things are left a little unresolved at the end of each of them. In some ways I'd like to see a version of Hussade made into a game (maybe on the Blood Bowl model) but I like that the action is left up to your imagination. Interesting that you read Turn of the Screw if I remember correctly either Throy or Ecce and Old Earth has a long sequence that seems pretty inspired by that work.ligehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05866236293322652977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-29011295145334348312021-11-25T15:43:33.352+08:002021-11-25T15:43:33.352+08:00Even Embassytown was a disappointment, I thought, ...Even Embassytown was a disappointment, I thought, but at least it was a proper attempt at writing a novel. New Paris is the work of somebody who isn’t even trying.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-46210830302765964802021-11-25T15:42:23.100+08:002021-11-25T15:42:23.100+08:00Yeah, I concur. All of the writers you mentioned w...Yeah, I concur. All of the writers you mentioned wrote some flawed stuff, but their higher quality output really is of great literary merit. I don’t think any of Lovecraft’s writing can really be put in that category.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-40555634713573209602021-11-25T06:24:11.256+08:002021-11-25T06:24:11.256+08:00I was brainstorming an updated version of my "...I was brainstorming an updated version of my "Contemporary Fantasy Literature" course, and I realized that I would almost certainly have to leave Miéville off the reading list--he's done nothing of note since Embassytown in 2011 and Railsea in 2012 and almost nothing fictional since the short stories and novellas came out in 2015/2016. He's just totally vanished from the scene and the conversation.Rob Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17791752557408134270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-91188171077773046482021-11-25T05:43:22.141+08:002021-11-25T05:43:22.141+08:00"Blackwood reveals himself to be more than ju..."Blackwood reveals himself to be more than just a pulp writer, but a lyrical and expressive prose stylist with far more interesting ideas than, for example, HP Lovecraft."<br /><br />I used to love Lovecraft, but then I decided to read Lovecraft's four favorite authors: Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, M. R. James, and Arthur Machen. "Oh, so this is the sort of thing Lovecraft was trying to write, but mostly failed."<br /><br />Lovecraft himself thought the same way. He disliked all of his own stories except two: "The Music of Erich Zann" (which he deemed merely "not bad") and "The Colour out of Space" (which he deemed mediocre).Geoffrey McKinneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00042661843714609025noreply@blogger.com