Current Reading

Just wanted to start this one back up so we can all prove how superior we are to one another by reading stories, not just watching them! Got a lot of good recommendations from the TC version.

Just wrapped up book two of The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley and a few thoughts. First, I picture a fan exchange like this:

Fan: "How do you write women so well?"
MZB: "I think of a man, then I take away reason and accountability."

Second: Guinevere is the worst. Maybe it's that we're entering into a new Gileadan age where Christianity bullies its way into power, but I was firmly on the side of the non-Christians in the book. All the Christian characters are assholes who want to shove their doctrine down everyone's throat, especially Guinevere because, as stated, she's the worst.

Annnnnd third:

Ohhhh. I was wondering why Starz hadn't scooped this up for a follow-up to Outlander - sexy time medieval fantasy! Haha! But yeah...MZB is literally the worst. Did not know any of the heinous shit she did and aided her husband in doing. Realllllly sours the viewpoint of the book, especially with all of those very underage women getting married and pregnant.

So...the book itself is fine. Slowly paced. All the truly exciting stuff happens off page. Lots of 'I want him, but" contradictory feelings.

The author's abuse...ugh. I feel gross.

Doc Happenin wrote:

All the Christian characters are assholes who want to shove their doctrine down everyone's throat

So....pretty true to life, then.

For the last wee while I've had a couple or more books on the go at once - one more challenging thing to read in the morning if I have time during breakfast and a fun bedside table read to send me off to the land of nod.

Recent morning things have been Grapes of Wrath, Devil in a Blue Dress and Jack Vance's Demon Princes. The latest is Lies of Locke Lamorra. Current bedside table read is Iron Hand of Mars, the 4th in Lindsey Davis's Marcus Didius Falco series (historical fiction about a working class detective in AD 70 - basically soft hard-boiled Vespasian era Rome noir).

That last one intrigues me. Good fun?

If you're at all interested in what life might have been like on the streets of Vespasian-era Rome and you enjoy your hard-boiled crime fiction with a wry sense of humour then the Falco series is definitely worth a shot. I call it "soft" hard-boiled because while it's about a working class detective and features plenty of grimy locations, seedy characters and brutal violence, Davis ups the humour quotient and also doesn't get as graphic with the sex scenes as some other hard-boiled authors.

Currently reading Chuck Barris’ Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. The movie is an all-timer for me (I recently showed it to my mom who was born in 1948, and she loved the way Clooney captured the aesthetics of the eras portrayed) and knew I needed to read the source material.

From where I’m at about 50 pages in, I can tell Clooney had a lot to work with and really nailed the depravity of some of Barris’ emotional quirks. The way the guy writes about himself is pretty grim. Lot of self-loathing going on.

Hey Bucho! Turns out that several books of the Falco series are available with an Audible membership. Started Silver Pigs yesterday and must thank you for the recommendation. Great fun. I'm trying to cast it in my head for the eventual BBC series. So far all I have is "Roxane from Cyrano as Sosia".

Doc Happenin wrote:

Hey Bucho! Turns out that several books of the Falco series are available with an Audible membership. Started Silver Pigs yesterday and must thank you for the recommendation. Great fun. I'm trying to cast it in my head for the eventual BBC series. So far all I have is "Roxane from Cyrano as Sosia".

Ha! I often do the same thing with books, but I've never really been able to nail an actor for Falco. I kind of see him in my head as a scruffy Peter Serafinowicz, but Serafinowicz may be a little tall for the job.

About 2/3 of the way though Fahrenheit 451. It's living up to the hype so far!

It is a certified classic for a reason.

Oh, Bucho, I just finished up the third Falco novel. Thanks for putting me onto those. He's quite the character.

Just finished the latest book in the culture wars, Sandra Newman's THE MEN. All the bearers of Y chromosomes disappear and so you know that just incited a firestorm. As with most of these thing. Like THE POWER, it's nit worth the controversy. In fact, the book seems disinterested in its own premise almost from the start. It's less 'here's how the world works now' than 'here's how it makes me feel'. It also attempts to explain its mystery in an obtuse and very unsatisfying manner. It's written okay. A lesser entry in these kind of 'Disappearance Apocalypse' stories.

Doc Happenin wrote:

It is a certified classic for a reason.

Oh, Bucho, I just finished up the third Falco novel. Thanks for putting me onto those. He's quite the character.

Nice! And you're going to overtake me at this rate, I'm about a day from finishing the 4th entry, although to be fair (and I am always fair), I've read the first three a couple of times each.