Book Hauls!

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by knivesout

You're welcome...in fact the Pugmire book arrived yesterday and I began reading it. While it gets to an uneven start, it soon had me quite rapt. Pugmire writes weird fiction from the inside - as if the inhabitants of Dunwich or Arkham had started writing their own tales. Very interesting, and story by story, actually pretty horrific even if the poetic language and air of sensuality make it seem more like a decadent dream or dark fantasy.

Yes, that's how his work struck me originally... almost identically. At first, I wasn't sure I was going to quite like it, nor was I any too certain of the judgment of the various people I'd heard praise it... but he soon won me over, and the cumulative effect of his work is both truly original and very haunting, both in the sense of an odd poignancy and in the horrific sense. Despite his claims to be a full-time writer of Lovecraftian horror and/or the Cthulhu Mythos, Pugmire is a true original, with his own unique worldview and approach, and his own type of eerie atmosphere. As I said before, his work isn't going to be to everyone's taste, but I'd say he's one of the best we've got writing the stuff right now, and I heartily recommend his work be given a try....

I believe I've read stories by Kidd in anthologies - another name to track down. On a similar note, I've heard that Scott Thomas (Jeffrey Thomas' brother) writes pretty good ghost stories cast in a traditional mould.

That's another whose work I'll have to track down....

[GOLLUM]

Today I picked up....

Man in the High Castle - Philip K Dick #73 SF Masterwork series.
Palm of the Hand stories - Yasunari Kawabata *Nobel laureate and author of the masterpiece Snow Country and other fine novels, Kawabata favoured his shorter fiction. Coined by Kawabata as Palm of the Hand stories they are based upon his premise of distilling a story or scene to its minimal elements. This collection contains some 70 stories (about half of what is know to exist in Japanese) including Gleanings From Snow Country, which takes the first half of his novel and condenses its essence into a single sequence/scene. This was in fact the last story he wrote before committing suicide.

Also got/getting....

Songs Of A Dying Earth - The much talked about anthology containing stories written in honour of the great Jack Vance's Dying Earth sequence.
Une Semaine de Bonte - Max Ernst *Major figure of the Dada and Surrealist movement, this silent graphic novel classic was recommended to me by China Mieville.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Kawabata was a very fine writer, my own favourite by him is THE SOUND OF THE MOUNTAIN. BEAUTY AND SADNESS is a very memorable narrative too, rather dark and even gothic. His stories seem to possess an admirable concision, even while they are incredibly vivid and sensitive to the relation between mood and setting. I don't have PALM OF THE HAND STORIES - should look out for it.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by knivesout

I don't have PALM OF THE HAND STORIES - should look out for it.

You most definitely should. Nesacat, who has read of a lot of Kawabata's stuff recently suggested to me that it's possibly his finest work or at least her favourite.

When I post those world lit threads I'll have one for Asian writers. I don't think that enough people are aware of Kawabata or many of the other fine African, Arabian and Latin American writers out there. A point I'm hoping to address somewhat.

EDIT: Yes I've got Sound Of The Mountain. It's very good indeed. Also try Master Of Go.

[Taltos]

Neil Gaiman The Graveyard Book - wanted to wait for paperback, but finally gave in and bought hardcover.
and two experiments as if I didn't have enough to read already (also to be quite honest - I went to shop to fill my SF Masterworks collection )
Peter Brett The Painted Man
Adrian Tchaikovsky Empire in Black and Gold

[Hilarious Joke]

Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch.

[Diggler]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

Today I picked up....

Man in the High Castle - Philip K Dick #73 SF Masterwork series.

This was the first Dick novel I read. Honestly, I just did not understand why it won the Hugo award? For me it was just plain confusing...

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Confusion is one the signs that you are reading a PKD novel...I think High Castle was a fascinating alternative-history and one of his many comments on the shifting nature of reality.

[GOLLUM]

It's also been hailed as Dick's greatest novel and the greatest alternative history novel ever written. Both fairly big calls but until I've read it I can't pass my own judgment on that score.

I'll post my thoughts once I'm done.

[woodsman]

I wouldn't say it's his best novel, not by some way. Then again, there's considerable competition in this category.

As to confusion, that's what PKD is all about. He turns your ideas on their head and hurls convention from the window. It's why I read him, alongside the (often) mind blowing ideas within his texts. Reality? I don't think Dick held with such a concept.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by woodsman

I wouldn't say it's his best novel, not by some way. Then again, there's considerable competition in this category.

Yes well...that isn't what I was saying, just what some critics/reviewers were quoted to say.

Anyway, PKD novels are usually pretty good entertainment value and thought provoking at the same time, a viewpoint I suspect the majority of PKD fans (including myself) would agree with.

Cheerio...

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Originally Posted by woodsman

Reality? I don't think Dick held with such a concept.

Indeed not! Reality was for lesser mortals.

[murphy]

Just arrived at my house:

White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison
Unleashed by John Levitt
First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher

[Rosemary]

The Lair of Bones Book Four of The Runelords by David Farland

It's been a really good series so far!

[Diggler]

Originally Posted by knivesout

Confusion is one the signs that you are reading a PKD novel...I think High Castle was a fascinating alternative-history and one of his many comments on the shifting nature of reality.

hehe... After reading something like 15 PKD novels, I have gotten used to the confusion factor and actually run with it. Maybe I should re-read Man In The High Castle seeing that I am now armed with a greater understanding of his writing