Kevin's Watch

After a brief diversion into some histroical fiction, back to Pratchett with Feet of Clay, and now Jingo.

--A

Finished Nova, on to a re-read of Babel-17. I read both years ago, and am discovering lots of new things.

Nova is a classic.

Loremaster wrote:Nova is a classic.

I know, I just finished it and seriously considered reading it again right away.

I need to reread Nova, Babel-17 was a lot of fun.

Just finished the last of the "Dune" prequels by the son.
What a waste.

"Disciple of the Dog" by R. Scott Bakker.

danlo wrote:I need to reread Nova, Babel-17 was a lot of fun.

Sammy Delaney! Love him. Nova and Babel-17 are two of my most favorite SRD² novels, but I hope you have also read Tales of Neveryon, which might be my favoritest.

Dahlgren is my favourite of his.

Just finishing off The Fifth Elephant.

--A

Avatar wrote:Dahlgren is my favourite of his.

Just finishing off The Fifth Elephant.

--A

huh...also my favorite Delaney, and Fifth Elephant made me laugh out loud more than any of the others.

Dalhgren is awe-inspiring, and worth spending time studying, so in one sense it's my favorite, but it's a lot of work, and I would not routinely offer it up as a 'favorite' reading suggestion. (And if you really want to understand Dahlgren, you need to read The Straits of Messina, which includes the author's own breakdown of the story, including his explanation as to why the book has no beginning nor ending.) SRD²'s Neveryona series, which begins with Tales of Neveryon, is far more accessible, and as momentously enjoyable as Nova and The Ballad of Beta 2. But, alas, apparently no one knows about it. Tales was recently reprinted.

Going Postal.

--A

Avatar wrote:Going Postal.

--A

Calm down, Avatar. Have some coffee

Avatar wrote:Going Postal.

--A

Didn't you read that about 3 months ago?

wayfriend wrote:Dalhgren is awe-inspiring, and worth spending time studying, so in one sense it's my favorite, but it's a lot of work, and I would not routinely offer it up as a 'favorite' reading suggestion. (And if you really want to understand Dahlgren, you need to read The Straits of Messina, which includes the author's own breakdown of the story, including his explanation as to why the book has no beginning nor ending.)

I read Dahlgren about 25 years ago. I'm not sure what was so awe-inspiring. The margin writings made it confusing. Maybe I should look to Straits for a clue.

Edit - The connection with Finnegan's Wake became apparent to me a few years after reading Dhalgren. Although the question remains, why do it this way? Why write a circular novel (or anti-novel)? Finnegan's Wake is art, so I can understand that. But if Delaney was trying to be a Joyce imitator, he doesn't even come close.

Stonemaybe wrote:

Avatar wrote:Going Postal.

Didn't you read that about 3 months ago?

I don't think so. Anyway, onto Making Money now.

WotWE wrote:But if Delaney was trying to be a Joyce imitator, he doesn't even come close.

I dunno...I enjoy Dahlgren a lot more than Finnegan's Wake. And it wasn't so much a work of art, as a joke. Joyce himself said that people would be arguing about Finnegan's Wake for a thousand years. And the works analysing it long ago exceeded every word Joyce ever wrote.

--A

Avatar wrote:

Stonemaybe wrote:

Avatar wrote:Going Postal.

Didn't you read that about 3 months ago?

I don't think so. Anyway, onto Making Money now.

WotWE wrote:But if Delaney was trying to be a Joyce imitator, he doesn't even come close.

I dunno...I enjoy Dahlgren a lot more than Finnegan's Wake. And it wasn't so much a work of art, as a joke. Joyce himself said that people would be arguing about Finnegan's Wake for a thousand years. And the works analysing it long ago exceeded every word Joyce ever wrote.

--A

I'm not looking at this from my subjective liking. I enjoyed the weirdness of Dahlgren, although after a few hundred pages it got a bit old. And I finished reading Dahlgren, whereas I found Finnegan's to be unreadable. On the other hand, I consider Finnegan's to be art. I don't have to like art for it to be art. And I consider Dahlgren to be some kind of cheap knock-off. I just happen to like cheap knock-offs better, but not by much.

Finished Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings.

Due to a number of shortcomings, I felt that it wasn't the great work we were told we'd get, but it's nevertheless a good read.

As far it being the next big thing in the fantasy genre, we'll have to wait and see. Compared to other opening chapters of great sagas, it's a distant last to frontrunners such as The Eye of the World, A Game of Thrones, and Gardens of the Moon.

Check out the blog for the full review.

Cheers,

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Pat,

Hey, I didn't know you posted here too.



I've got System of the World on hold while I hit a bunch of non-fiction resulting from reading Anathem which I loved.

Sanderson always seemed ignorant of the genre he's writing in. He always seems to go over old ground and claim it's groundbreaking.

Oh, and Jack Vance's Lyonnesse: Sultran's Garden.