Either I'm losing energy, or it's the cold of the apartment that's slowing me down. Brr! Wait while I turn on a space heater... By the way, sorry I haven't been by your blogs--having computah trouble.
COVERS
I've never read this book (though I read another Le Guin that was excellent)...
Of all the covers out there, the one we own is the one that most makes me want to read it.
not this one...
not this one
not this one...
not this one...
not this one...
not this one...
THIS ONE!
hawk dude - Ta da!
poncy guy - WHAT THE FUCK??
though i admit this one's a close second
LONG BOOKS
I don't know whether to start Game of Thrones, which I bought ages ago. I'm thinking if I want to read about medieval intrigue and murder, in sprawling epic form, with a million characters, I can just read Penman's The Sunne in Splendour about the war of the roses. That is, read about the real thing. It's 800 trade sized pages, but at least it finishes, unlike Martin's still ongoing saga. I've written to ask the friend who recommended Penman, and is also reading Martin.
I hadn't considered bringing Penman because of the hugeosity, but I could bring it as my traveling day book.
SHORT STORIES
I don't read them enough, but when I do I enjoy them. Sci Fi is the best genre for short stories. Mysteries and romances need time to develop; but unlike SF movies that are just action flicks, SF books are about exploring ideas, and an interesting idea can be expressed quite economically in short story form.
When I was discovering sci fi I bought an unprepossessing book of short stories by an author I hadn't heard of, but who was lauded by all the big names. Avram Davidson became my fave ss writer--such weird little stories, and I never know how they're going to end.
You can read or download his story The Golem here. It's barely 5 pages and perfect.
“When you learn who—or, rather, what—I am, the flesh will melt from your bones in terror.” He bared porcelain teeth.
“Never mind about my bones!” the old woman cried. “You’ve got a lot of nerve talking about my bones!”
BOOKMARKS
Most of the bookmarks I've come across are bus transfers, napkins, bits of paper. But here are the more substantial ones, including a bookmark from Hatchard's in London (where the Georgette Heyer ladies would get their books!)
BOOK SMELL
When I come across old books, or ones that were my grandfather's, I smell them. (There's a second hand store in Nanaimo that should bottle their smell. I highly suspect they've got Eau de Second Hand Books diffusers hidden about.) I came across a set of Dumas that I couldn't remember getting from my Francophone pal Banane. Then I remembered my grandfather was in a French club in university, and sure enough the books smell like his old home. Startlingly so! Mmmmmm...
Tuckered out now, and the dust finally got to me today. But SFF is done. Tomorrow is plays, poetry, fave authors, and cleaning up a Miscellaneous Crap shelf. I would loooove some spring weather so I could throw open winders, but 55 F / 13C doesn't really cut it.
Happy Passover or Easter or belated Equinox or Merry Atheist Spring!
