Books read, July 2011
Aug. 1st, 2011 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swan_towerA lot of short things, a lot of re-reads; it was about all I had the brain-power for. But it adds up to a reasonably respectable-looking list.
The Merlin Conspiracy, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Warlock at the Wheel, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Sense and Sensibility, adapted by Nancy Butler and Sonny Liew. Comic-book adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. Not entirely successful; it depends way too much on captions to explain stuff, and (naturally) the dialogue bubbles tend to the extremely wordy side. But I'll say this for it: I felt like it told the story about as completely as the film adaptation I've seen did (the one with Alan Rickman et al). That's pretty good, for something this length. (I haven't read the original novel -- I know; I know -- so that's the only metric I have.)
Charmed Life, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Conrad's Fate, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 2, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 3, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 4, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 5, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 6, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 7, CLAMP. The Parallelsfic exchange reminded me that I'd started a re-read of this manga series a while ago, so I went back to it. Tokyo Babylon is urban fantasy in a way that not many urban fantastists try to achieve: it spiritualizes the way the city (in this case, Tokyo) chews people up and spits the bones back out again. It isn't happy, as that description might suggest; it's extra not happy once you get into the character-level metaplot. But the individual stories resolve . . . not hopefully, I guess, but well. The episodes basically all concern Subaru using magic to lay ghosts to rest, and his empathy and patience are kind of beautiful.
Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan. Discussed elsewhere.
Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett. So I started reading Sourcery twice and kept getting distracted from it; the beginning just didn't hook me. I'm sure it's a perfectly fine book and I'll go back to it someday, but for now, I said "screw it" and went ahead to the book with Granny Weatherwax and Shakespeare and other such fabulous things. This is probably my favorite Discworld so far, simply because I want to copy down into my quotes notebook entire paragraphs of Granny Weatherwax thinking about theatre and words and art and truth.
Pride and Prejudice, adapted by Nancy Butler and Hugo Petrus. Another comic-book adaptation; this one was written before Sense and Sensibility, but I read it second. I found it the less successful of the two, but that may be because I know the source better. The intro talks about how Butler knew she'd be pilloried if she changed around Austen's story too much; me, I wish she had, to make it work better within the medium. Then she might have avoided the heavy reliance on captions and two-panel scenes and all the rest. (On the other hand, it could be a stellar case study in why a faithful adaptation is not necessarily a good one. If that sort of thing is useful to you.)
Witch Week, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Ovid, David Wishart. I nearly bounced off this on the first page because the first-century Roman narrator called the woman who came to hire him a "tough cookie." But it ended up being a nicely intricate (and well-researched) historical mystery -- "mystery" of the political sort, rather than the evidence-and-prosecution sort; it revolves around Emperor Tiberius' refusal to let Ovid's ashes be returned to Rome -- so if you aren't turned off by mythological and historical allusions rubbing shoulders with hard-boiled detective tropes, I do recommend this one. And there's more in the series, too.
The Magicians of Caprona, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jules Verne. I don't think I've ever read any Verne before, though I know of his work pretty thoroughly. This made for a fascinating read, in that you're 40% of the way through the book before they even start her descent; everything prior to that is a) discovery of the notion and b) the logistics of getting from Germany to an obscure mountain in Iceland. And then at that, they don't even make it all the way to the center of the earth! But it reminded me a lot of the Golden Age SF that came later, with its scientist-heroes and unabashed willingness to spend pages on the discussion of scientific theories.
His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik. Re-read, because I needed to get my brain into nineteenth-century-dragon gear early in the month, and then didn't finish it until the month was nearly over. It remains a very fun read, especially if you're fond of Patrick O'Brian and his ilk; the blending of the Napoleonic Wars (and the British naval mindset therein) with dragons is just cool.
Traveling for a chunk of this month, so I expect the next list will be shorter.
The Merlin Conspiracy, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Warlock at the Wheel, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Sense and Sensibility, adapted by Nancy Butler and Sonny Liew. Comic-book adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. Not entirely successful; it depends way too much on captions to explain stuff, and (naturally) the dialogue bubbles tend to the extremely wordy side. But I'll say this for it: I felt like it told the story about as completely as the film adaptation I've seen did (the one with Alan Rickman et al). That's pretty good, for something this length. (I haven't read the original novel -- I know; I know -- so that's the only metric I have.)
Charmed Life, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Conrad's Fate, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 2, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 3, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 4, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 5, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 6, CLAMP.
Tokyo Babylon, vol. 7, CLAMP. The Parallelsfic exchange reminded me that I'd started a re-read of this manga series a while ago, so I went back to it. Tokyo Babylon is urban fantasy in a way that not many urban fantastists try to achieve: it spiritualizes the way the city (in this case, Tokyo) chews people up and spits the bones back out again. It isn't happy, as that description might suggest; it's extra not happy once you get into the character-level metaplot. But the individual stories resolve . . . not hopefully, I guess, but well. The episodes basically all concern Subaru using magic to lay ghosts to rest, and his empathy and patience are kind of beautiful.
Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan. Discussed elsewhere.
Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett. So I started reading Sourcery twice and kept getting distracted from it; the beginning just didn't hook me. I'm sure it's a perfectly fine book and I'll go back to it someday, but for now, I said "screw it" and went ahead to the book with Granny Weatherwax and Shakespeare and other such fabulous things. This is probably my favorite Discworld so far, simply because I want to copy down into my quotes notebook entire paragraphs of Granny Weatherwax thinking about theatre and words and art and truth.
Pride and Prejudice, adapted by Nancy Butler and Hugo Petrus. Another comic-book adaptation; this one was written before Sense and Sensibility, but I read it second. I found it the less successful of the two, but that may be because I know the source better. The intro talks about how Butler knew she'd be pilloried if she changed around Austen's story too much; me, I wish she had, to make it work better within the medium. Then she might have avoided the heavy reliance on captions and two-panel scenes and all the rest. (On the other hand, it could be a stellar case study in why a faithful adaptation is not necessarily a good one. If that sort of thing is useful to you.)
Witch Week, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Ovid, David Wishart. I nearly bounced off this on the first page because the first-century Roman narrator called the woman who came to hire him a "tough cookie." But it ended up being a nicely intricate (and well-researched) historical mystery -- "mystery" of the political sort, rather than the evidence-and-prosecution sort; it revolves around Emperor Tiberius' refusal to let Ovid's ashes be returned to Rome -- so if you aren't turned off by mythological and historical allusions rubbing shoulders with hard-boiled detective tropes, I do recommend this one. And there's more in the series, too.
The Magicians of Caprona, Diana Wynne Jones. Discussed elsewhere.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jules Verne. I don't think I've ever read any Verne before, though I know of his work pretty thoroughly. This made for a fascinating read, in that you're 40% of the way through the book before they even start her descent; everything prior to that is a) discovery of the notion and b) the logistics of getting from Germany to an obscure mountain in Iceland. And then at that, they don't even make it all the way to the center of the earth! But it reminded me a lot of the Golden Age SF that came later, with its scientist-heroes and unabashed willingness to spend pages on the discussion of scientific theories.
His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik. Re-read, because I needed to get my brain into nineteenth-century-dragon gear early in the month, and then didn't finish it until the month was nearly over. It remains a very fun read, especially if you're fond of Patrick O'Brian and his ilk; the blending of the Napoleonic Wars (and the British naval mindset therein) with dragons is just cool.
Traveling for a chunk of this month, so I expect the next list will be shorter.
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If you liked the Verne...
Date: 2011-08-02 09:40 am (UTC)Also, 20,000 Leagues might have some interesting background for your dragon naturalist books, the protag being a marine biologist/naturalist if I remember correctly. At least it's fairly informative about the mentality.
Shorter version: I love 20,000 Leagues, recommend it highly, and for a Verne book is surprisingly emotional and possibly heart-breaking.
Feallorma
Date: 2011-08-02 11:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 01:06 pm (UTC)This would probably have been a deal-breaker for me. I found myself cringing just at reading your description.
My favorite Verne is actually Around the World in Eighty Days, which I remember being a breathtaking and straightforward (in a good way) adventure and travel yarn, with an unexpected and retroactively obvious twist at the end. I was especially amused because Verne presents his protags travel through the American West, including my home state, with the same wonder and exoticism as he presents the Far East.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 02:10 pm (UTC)Re: If you liked the Verne...
Date: 2011-08-02 08:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 08:40 pm (UTC)