Latest Gene Wolfe book you read (1-10 scale)

[featherboa]

read in spanish

[featherboa]

did you ever start that?

[fallbacktostone]

hope the fucking john rutherford translation isn't too false

[ibn Horowitz]

i liked the edith grossman translation, but it doesn't get much more false than that

[Honky Kong 64]

i liked the edith grossman translation, but it doesn't get much more false than that

[Honky Kong 64]

He read to you every night...which makes you his little Sancho Panza.

[EEEOOOEEEOOOEEEOOO]

HK called you a pansy, dude.

[Honky Kong 64]

There is nothing inherently pansy with a man reading another man prose by candlelight is there? In fact quite the opposite.

[EEEOOOEEEOOOEEEOOO]

Panza, Pansy.

I'm heading toward the least witty thing you said today thread, catch up with you guys later.

[Honky Kong 64]

Panza, Pansy.

I'm heading toward the least witty thing you said today thread, catch up with you guys later.

[caldwell.the.great]

Joan of Arc: Her Story (Pernoud)
7.5/10

Title and translation sucks, but it's a good biography with tons of information about the circumstances surrounding Joan's life, including the Hundred Year War, French culture, academic and theological attitudes, and even food, which somehow ends up being important. The hardest part is getting started: there's so much going on politically that it's hard to keep up with the different families, dukes, marriages, and etc., and many of them have an effect on Joan's progress.

The narrative progresses in an unusual style, which also makes for difficult reading, but it does have a structure: Pernoud relates everything in a chronology according to when historians became aware of the facts concerning Joan's life; so I got to know her and her fate a little at a time, the same way the rest of the world did.

There's a few appendices at the back that I really appreciate, including a list of the people most important to her quest, trial, and assassination. Frankly, it makes Charles VII look like a giant pussy. For years people assumed Joan's success was due to the talent that surrounded her on the battle field, and that's partly true, but Pernoud's biography makes it clear that she spurred the king on, and that she wouldn't have been surrounded by that talent were it not for her persistence.

I want to read more about her, but if anyone is interested in her person, Pernoud's book is a good, but slightly flawed introduction.

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc (Mark Twain)
9.5/10

I was in love with this book until near the very end, where SLC decides to start going on about patriotism and the sum total of her being. The ending just doesn't fit, seeing how the previous 300 pages were devoted to her virtues, religious life, simplicity, and ex nihilo talents. Beside that flaw, the book is excellent, and Twain does a ridiculously good job of sticking to the history books. He was criticized for making the English look like pitiless murderers, but all the research conducted in the time since writing that book confirms what he found out on his own, which required tedious study of a language he didn't already speak, tons of historical preparation concerning the state of France in the early to mid-15th century, and some comprehension of theology and religious philosophy.

He's nearly as good as Pernoud when it comes to relating facts, and he does it with style to boot, so it's a more enjoyable read. I also liked how angry he was in telling the story; at points he comes out and says what historians have to refrain from saying when discussing English attitudes toward Joan and Charles VII's completely shameful reaction regarding her capture. It's obvious Sam was in love with her on some weird level, and it's cathartic to hear him spit on Cauchon and the royalty when he describes their laziness and lack of courage.

My copy also had an essay by Twain at the end of it, which was a good read; it explains why he was so in love with her, and what he found admirable about her. The last sentence of it reads, "she is easily and by far the most extraordinary person the human race has ever produced." After reading about her so much, I agree.

[Morpheus]

H.P. Lovecraft - Essays: Autobiography, Philosophy & Misc 7/10

I've always found Lovecraft's fiction too verbose to be scary, but I appreciate him for his use of language and his themes. He's equally, if not more, interesting to me as a person than a writer, so I enjoyed this book a lot, seeing as he's so refreshingly straightforward and honest about his worldview (I especially liked the chapters on politics, economics and the New Deal) in these essays. Recommended to the 4 or 5 dozen Lovecraft readers on the board.

That's the only book I've read cover to cover in the last few months.

[The Torsion]

I'm reading William Gibson's Spook Country right now. I read Pattern Recognition a few years ago and it strikes me that this dude is more interested in details than a plot. Oh well, those bomber jackets he designed for Buzz Rickson are super nice. I'm considering buying my dad one for his birthday.

[The Schwartz]

I'm reading William Gibson's Spook Country right now. I read Pattern Recognition a few years ago and it strikes me that this dude is more interested in details than a plot. Oh well, those bomber jackets he designed for Buzz Rickson are super nice. I'm considering buying my dad one for his birthday.

I totally agree with you, his stories are all over the place but the world he creates is so fucking awesome all is forgiven. I liked Pattern Recognition way more than Spook Country though but the way he describes the digital world in the first hundred pages or so is pretty neat.

[The Torsion]

I'll try to finish Spook Country, but it's like a novelized Wired article.

[badgevvrecker]

RE: Gibson, he doesn't really care about plot at all. That's not the point of his work.

totally.

[danox3]

Day by Day : Armageddon - J.L. Bourne 8/10

Zombie apocalypse, written in journal form. Not the most original, but a really fun short read. Typical with the story quality of The New Dead anthology. There are 2 more in the series as well.

[EEEOOOEEEOOOEEEOOO]

Christopher Fyfe - Africanus Horton, 1835-1883: West African Scientist and Patriot 8/10

[ibn Horowitz]

The Good Earth - Pearl S Buck - 7/10
The Stories of John Cheever - 10/10

[Ghost Dad]

9.5- pure edutainment.

[The Torsion]

Dude Those jackets are totally fucking awesome.

They are, and goddamn expensive. RBB told me about this company called Alpha Industries that he ordered a nice jacket from. A lot of the same killer bomber jackets, but not priced like museum pieces.

[badgevvrecker]

god, that was horrific. but hey, vargs a douche too.

[The Torsion]

Gibson's Twitter feed is fucking depressing as hell.

Good part: he's starting to write a new novel.

Bad part: all the rest.

After following it for a few months...everyone in his life = a right bunch of cunts, including his own family. The escapism of the basement...

He's an only child and both of his parents were dead by the time he was eighteen. Does he hate his wife and kids or something?

[badgevvrecker]

probably just lacks empathy all around.

[Chevalier Mal Fet]

Vacation reading rap-up as follows:

I started with some airport classics which I had neglected so long both came off somewhat overrated to me by the time I got to them

Frankenstein Mary Shelley 7/10 - The one thing that always bugs me about classic horror lit is how often the writer feels they have to remind you how terrified you are supposed to be by their story. I noticed this in Dracula, Lovecraft, Poe, etc... and now Shelley too. You do the writin, I'll do the reactin'.

Breakfast of Champions Kurt Vonnegut - 8/10 - This is only the second Vonnegut I read (Player Piano being the other) and will read more but again, years of hype may have thwarted my enjoyment as I had a very "prove your awesomeness" attitude towards this book and can say it delivered about 80% of the time, hence the score.

Your Republic is Calling You Young Ha Kim - 6.5/10 - This is a book about a North Korean spy and his family living in the South for many years, establishing a complicated front and getting the call back after not hearing from anyone in forever. It was actually a good build-up, with great character development and lots of insight into the conflict on a personal/familial level but the ending sort of flattened out with no major action or revelation. I found it at the beach house where I was staying and it was entertaining enough I guess.

The Maharaj and Other Stories 5/10 - picked this up at Powell's as I hadn't read any other White other than the Once and Future King which is my favorite book ever. This is a collection of short stories which kind of reminded me of Hesse's fairy tales (recommended if you haven't read it) but the peaks weren't quite so high and the valleys were a bit too swampy. A few good ones though.