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The first day of the year has been grey and wet, wild and windy and started to get dark before it ever seemed to have been light. Also our house was quiet. Too quiet. I found myself unable to settle to anything so began fiddling about on Twitter.
Twitter is a dangerous thing.
For I came across a tweet referring to the 2014 Horror Reading Challenge, and despite telling myself that after my best reading year since beginning this blog I was only going to read on a whim and/or for pleasure in 2014, I find myself drawn to this challenge. It runs from today until 31 December and I’m signing up for Running Scared, which means reading between one and five books.
This sneaked up on me unawares so I haven’t made a book list. First thoughts are that this is a good forum in which to have another go at Joe Hill (so far a 1-1 draw), dip into the various short story collections I have on my Kindle app, and also gives me the excuse to re-read Carrie (an idea I’ve been toying with for ages.)
Let’s see how that all works out.
So it’s September tomorrow and that means the start of one of my favourite blogging event’s, Carl’s RIP VIII and the opportunity to read scary and thrilling stuff along with lots of other members of the book blogging community.
As is traditional I have pulled together a book list out of which I hope to be able to meet Peril the Second, where I need to read four books that fit the description of perilous. I’d love to be able to read them all, but we’ll see how that goes.
My list is (in no particular order):
- London Falling by Paul Cornell
- NOS4R2 by Joe Hill
- Horowitz Horror by Anthony Horowitz
- Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood by Christopher Fowler
- The Night Eternal by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
- Nocturnes by John Connolly
- Through Dead Eyes by Chris Priestley
- Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough
- Drood by Dan Simmons
- The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates
A pretty good selection I think, and I’m looking forward to all of them.
I may also take part in Peril on the Screen but no real plans on what that might involve, though it is really about time I re-watched one of my Desert Island Films, Son of Frankenstein with *sigh* Basil Rathbone.
The world (including me) mostly knows George RR Martin for the Song of Ice and Fire sequence that is the basis of the Game of Thrones TV series. I will admit to being a fan of the series but I’ve never read any of the cycle that underpins it, though the Book God and a couple of friends keep on telling me that I should. And I may very well do in the future but for now, and as my last read for Once Upon a Time VII, I decided to pick up an earlier volume that the Book God also recommended.
Fevre Dream is fairly high concept: vampires on riverboats. It tells the story of Abner Marsh, a steamboat captain who has fallen on hard times and is approached my a very distinctive person in the form of Joshua York who funds the building of the boat that will be known as the Fevre Dream, one of the finest of its kind ever to be built. But it becomes clear that Joshua is not only not what he appears but that he has a mission which brings them both face to face with others of Joshua’s kind who do not share his views, and a mighty struggle is inevitable.
I enjoyed this very much, and not just because vampires are my supernatural monster of choice. There is a verve and swagger and romance in the telling of the story which makes this more than vampires on a boat. A love of the ships and the lifestyle and the river really shines through, and the growing respect and friendship between two men who couldn’t be further apart adds a great deal to what could have been, in other hands, a bit of a potboiler. It also has a quite wonderfully aristocratic villain who makes a worthy opponent.
This would have been a brilliant Hammer film.
The conclusion was rather lovely and very satisfying, and I’m glad that my participation in this year’s challenge ended on such a high note.
About The Great Gatsby:
The Great Gatsby is one of the great love stories of our time. In it the author distilled the essences of glamour and illusion so powerfully that his book has haunted and tantalised generations of readers.
When did I first read this? 1975
What age was I? 13
How may times since then? This is the seventh time that I can be sure of, possibly more
Thoughts about the book:
I was at quite an impressionable age when I read this. I think the reason I first got a copy was the fuss around the release of the film in 1974 starring Robert Redford (I had quite a thing about him at that age having seen Butch Cassidy and The Sting) and Mia Farrow who looked so ethereal on the cover of the film-tie in version which is the first edition I bought. I think I’m on my third copy now having learned not to lend it to people as I don’t get it back (I now buy books that I want people to read rather than part with my precious volumes).
I remember that it had a huge impact on me. I think it was the first really proper adult literary novel that I had read (other than some of the classics like the Brontes and Robinson Crusoe and so forth) and I was amazed that (even though I’m sure I didn’t understand half of it) so much could be captured in a book that was so short. I think I realised that Gatsby’s story was tragic both because what happened to him was unfair and because his own desire to recreate himself and try to recapture a past that never really existed was never going to end well.
As I’ve got older and re-read it I have come to really dislike Daisy for all sorts of reasons (I always hated Tom for being a bully and for setting up the denouement as he did), and realise just what an unreliable narrator Nick is (as a young reader I don’t think I was entirely aware of the concept and took everything Nick said at face value, and of course he is one of the very few people who stick by Gatsby at the end).
I was thrilled to read this again as part of my Big Re-Read project but also in preparation for the new film (which I will review over at Bride of the Screen God shortly) and to find that it has lost none of its power or lyricism. I still think it’s one of the greatest novels ever.
So we beat on, boats against the current , borne back ceaselessly into the past.
This was Part 2 of my Gatsby weekend
John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things is another one of those books that I’ve had for a while but only really paid attention to when Silvery Dude told me that I would enjoy it. I made a start sometime last summer and for some reason couldn’t get on with it; the Silvery One dared to suggest that I might find it difficult to put myself in the mind of the lead character given that I have “never been a 12-year-old boy”, I countered with the fact that I had lost my mother so thought I might have an inkling of what was going on in our hero’s head. Though of course I was much older, but still.
For the lead character is indeed a young boy called David whose mother has died and who has had to watch his father remarry and have a child with his second wife. World War Two is in full flow and David is struggling with what looks like OCD, anger over his loss and feeling left out in his father’s new family (though not because of his stepmother who I rather liked). Like any sensible child he has a love of books but they begin to speak to him at night and start to affect the way he look sat the world.
And then the Crooked Man comes and David crosses over into a dark and dangerous world populated by the myths, folk and fairy tales with which he has become absorbed. Enticed by what appears to be his mother’s voice, he has to make his way through many perils to reach the King of this land and find his way home.
I thought this was a really dark story, which makes sense when you think about what the fairy tales we all know and love were like before they were sanitised for the safe consumption of youngsters. The Huntress in particular is truly dreadful, but it is the Crooked Man himself, who preys on the fears and jealousies of children to get what he wants; truly evil. And I’m not ashamed to say that I cried at the end, sad and lovely all at once.
My edition of the book has a fabulous section at the end which gives background on the tales referenced in the story for those who find that sort of thing interesting – that would be me – and led to a little follow-up reading list:
- From the Beast to the Blonde by Marina Warner
- Nocturnes by John Connolly
- Transformations by Anne Sexton
- The Island of Dr Moreau by HG Wells
David’s story stayed with me for days after I read it. Another potential re-read, and a further read for Once Upon a Time VII.
The Night Circus is one of those books that you just know you are going to adore from page one. I bought this when it first came out in hardback and it hung around on my TBR mountain for no real reason other than I just didn’t get to it. That was, of course, until Silvery Dude got the paperback and started harrying me to read it as he had totally fallen in love with it. So of course I had to pick it up because I (mostly) trust his judgement, not because we read competitively, not at all, whatever gave any of you that idea.
So, the Night Circus (or Cirque des Reves to give it its proper title but not its appropriate punctuation) is a touring sensation in the 1880s, with all the attractions of a normal circus but entirely in black and white and with some very particular elements – tents filled with clouds, an unusual clock and a dedicated group of followers identified by the wearing of red items amongst their black and white clothing. The story is not so much about the circus itself, although it is of course one of the main characters if I can put it that way, but is really about a duel (?) bet (?) wager (?), let’s say contest between two practitioners of magic which is played out through their protégés, Celia (the daughter of one) and Marco (the apprentice of the other). A contest that the participants have no real control over and only slowly come to understand who their opponent is. Opponents are. You know what I mean.
This is just glorious, I devoured it in a couple of sittings over a Bank Holiday and was totally immersed in the world that Erin Morgenstern creates. A remarkable set of characters, a narrative dipping backwards and forwards in time, with a really wonderful and believable love story slap bang in the middle and a very satisfying ending. One of those books that you just wish would keep going and that you miss as soon as you’ve finished it.
I know that I’m probably one of the last people in the universe to have read this, but on the off-chance that you haven’t and that you are someone who enjoys being beguiled, then please do read this. You won’t be sorry.
Another read for Once Upon a Time VII.
It’s so long since I’ve written a book review that I’m bit concerned that I’ve forgotten how but I am on a reading jag at the moment and have already built up a bit of a backlog (13 books and 7 films) with no sign of slowing down the reading/watching process, and I’m determined to catch-up before it all gets out of hand, so apologies in advance if your feeds etc. get swamped over the next week or so. Though some of the reviews may be fairly short given that I am known these days for having a poor remembery and some of this stuff goes back to May.
Let’s start with The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll. This was one of my reads for Carl’s Once Upon a Time challenge which finished on 21 June so well out of date in recording my thoughts. Carroll is one of those authors that I’ve been meaning to try over the years, as other bloggers have recommended. We already had this one in the house as part of the Book God’s Fantasy Masterwork collection so it seemed a good place to start. And it’s a book about books; well, a book about stories and their power and the obsession that readers sometimes develop with particular writers, especially writers that may have influenced during their childhoods.
The main characters in this story are Thomas, a school teacher who decides, along with his equally obsessed and fairly recently acquired girlfriend Saxony, to write a biography of the late and much-loved children’s author Marshall France. Previous attempts had failed under the apparently malign influence of France’s daughter Anna who still lives in her father’s house in the small town of Galen. Thomas and Saxony decide to move there in the hopes of persuading her to help. And that’s when things get weird.
This is one of those books that I wasn’t sure whether I liked or not until I had actually finished it, but it really stayed with me, especially the idea that the magic of writing could seep out into the real world. Elements of the story are really quite disturbing and it’s one of those fantasy novels that almost but not quite slips into horror. After a few months my considered opinion is that this is a really clever, slightly scary and distinctly odd book with a very original take on the imaginary becomes real theme and one that I may very well re-read.
And I’ll never look at bull terriers in quite the same way again.
The first casualty is the Stardust readalong which I talked about here. The first discussion stage has already passed and I haven’t even started the book, and I know there isn’t any way that I’m going to be able to fit in reading the whole thing in the time allowed (lots of weekend commitments) so reluctantly giving up on that one.
The second casualty is the 24 Hour Readathon. I took part in that last April and did really well, raising £400 or so for charity, and if I was taking part again this year I’d want to do something similar, but it just isn’t going to be. So, that one parked in the hopes that I can take part in the October event if the dates work out around my holiday plans.
But some good news; I have already read one book for Carl’s Once Upon a Time Challenge and have a couple of others on my TBR pile so that at least seems to be on track.
Where has the year gone? it seems like New Year was only yesterday and here we are at the end of March, nearly Easter, and it’s time for Carl’s annual Once Upon a Time challenge, now in its seventh year. My record in recent years has been a bit poor but it’s such an interesting area of reading to be diving into that I always want to have a try even though I might not read as much as I would like.
So I’m aiming to take part in the general reading category which doesn’t commit me to any specific number of books. But I have still pulled together a bit of a reading list to help, accessing the Book God’s collection of Fantasy Masterworks:
- The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip – I actually started this for last year’s challenge and found the writing rather to ethereal for my taste, but I’ve decided to have another attempt at finishing the book
- Fevre Dream by George RR Martin – the Book God pushed this in my direction partly because, despite my love for the TV adaptation of Game of Thrones, I’ve never read any of his work and this comes highly recommended
- Peace by Gene Wolfe – shamefully I have also never read (as far as I’m aware) any of Wolfe’s work so really looking forward to this one
- The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson – I had good fun with another of Anderson’s books in an earlier OUAT challenge and this sounds lovely and Norse
- The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll – another author I’ve wanted to read for ages
I’ll also be taking part in the Stardust read-along which I talk about here. So let’s see how I get on. It will be fun, I’m sure.
As part of Carl’s annual Once Upon a Time Challenge (more of which tomorrow) he has delightfully set up a group read of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and although my record on read-alongs (I refer you to the Wolf Hall debacle) I am going to have a go because it is a short and hugely enjoyable (and did I say short?) book.
The schedule for the group read will be:
- April 1-9th: Prologue through the end of Chapter 5.
- April 10th: Discussion over first half (roughly) of the story
- April 10th-16th: Chapter 6 through the Epilogue.
- April 17th: Discussion over the second half of the book and wrap up.
I’m then going to try to watch the film version which I have had for ages but not got around to watching.
Should all be great fun.
Bride of the Book God 