Book Hauls!

[j. d. worthington]

Another Lovecraftian anthology in the mail:

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-But-Dream...3314423&sr=1-1

A very promising little book featuring several of today's best writers in the genre....

[nomadman]

I don't know how much interest this'll be to others on here but whilst vacationing in Japan I picked up the following books:

Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt - report of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who was responsible for the mass deportations of Jews during WW2.
An Organizer's Tale: Speeches by Cesar Chavez - collection of the Mexican American civil rights leader's speeches.
Facundo: or Civilization and Barbarism by Domingo F Sarmiento - chronicle of a famous gaucho (Argentinian cowboy) by the future president of
Dashing Diamond Dick and Other Classic Dime Novels - a selection of five dime novels written at the turn of the century and representative of early American pop culture.

And a few that some may like:

The Beautiful and the Grotesque by Ryunosuke Akutagawa - collection of the Japanese writer's short stories (including the whole of his short novella Kappa). Quite a nice companion piece to the Penguin collection without any overlapping stories that I can see; includes a good selection of his rewritten folktales as well as his more contemporary stories.
Ellery Queen's Japanese Detective Stories - previously published as Ellery Queen's Japanese Golden Dozen, this is a collection of some of Japan's best short crime fiction as compiled by that two-headed scion of the genre Ellery Queen. Whilst I gather that quite a bit of excellent Japanese crime fiction has been written since its publication (1978) it's still considered a very good representation of a genre which is massive in Japan (most of the writers included won an Edogawa Rampo award at some point).

[GOLLUM]

Well nomadman there is at least one person here interested in your reading habits...

I've seen the Eichmann before but was never moved enough to purchase it. The Facundo and Chavez's speeches sound interesting. I have a copy of the Penguin edn of your Dime Store anthology. A good fun read but not a lot more than that. Also have the Akutagawa copy. It's excellent.

The 'Ellery Queen's Japanese Detective Stories' probably interests me the most out of your batch, mainly because I was not aware even of its existence.

Cheers.

[Fried Egg]

I just picked up two second Vonnegut paperbacks for a quid: "Slaughterhouse 5" & "Cat's Cradle". A bargain if you ask me.

[Extollager]

Originally Posted by dask

Never heard of it but it's now on my radar. Many thanks.
Here's some recent acquisitions:


Because I like Russian sf. Mint condition for $1.99.

I have this -- only briefly -- on interlibrary loan. What should I be sure to read?

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by Extollager

I have this -- only briefly -- on interlibrary loan. What should I be sure to read?

I don't know if that question is directed to everyone here or Dask in particular Extollager? ... but as I alluded to previously, I have a copy of that Russian anthology. Of what I've read I've quite liked but I literally started at the beginning and have not covered enough of the specific stories yet to be confident of providing you with a good answer. Perhaps Dask has read further?

What I can say though with a qualifier is that both of what I've read here and based upon works by the following authors independent of this collection that I have read, that you should certainly take note of Andrei Platonov, Yuri Olesha (Pushkin, Turgenev, Gogol, Bulgakov, Tolstoy and Lermontov only if you haven’t already read what is contained in here by them) and Andrei Bely (recall from our recent discussion). Not a complete answer but perhaps it forms a solid starting point?

How long do you have the book for?

[nomadman]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

Well nomadman there is at least one person here interested in your reading habits...

I've seen the Eichmann before but was never moved enough to purchase it. The Facundo and Chavez's speeches sound interesting. I have a copy of the Penguin edn of your Dime Store anthology. A good fun read but not a lot more than that. Also have the Akutagawa copy. It's excellent.

The 'Ellery Queen's Japanese Detective Stories' probably interests me the most out of your batch, mainly because I was not aware even of its existence.

Cheers.

I've read a few of the stories already. Some aren't bad, others are pretty contrived. Like a lot of early translations of Japanese works it's a little stilted in places but generally quite easy to read. It's interesting to see the different motives behind the crimes that might strike us as unusual or even quaint, dishonor, unfaithfulness and so on, and of course the theme of suicide runs through a lot of the tales in various guises. It's probably worth picking up if you've never read any Japanese detective fiction before and are interested in doing so but I wouldn't beg, borrow or steal to get a copy.

The Akutagawa is, of course, excellent, and a very nice book overall.

[thatollie]

King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard

[GOLLUM]

Today I picked up....

Who Fears Death - Nnendi Okorafor *A Nigerian born professor of English at Chicago State University, Nnendi has recently carried off this year's World Fantasy Award in the novel category. I've read and heard nothing but high praise for this dystopian novel which takes place in a post apocalyptic Africa. Blurb: In a far future, post-nuclear-holocaust Africa, genocide plagues one region. The aggressors, the Nuru, have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke. But when the only surviving member of a slain Okeke village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand and instinctively knows that her daughter is different. She names her daughter Onyesonwu, which means "Who Fears Death?" in an ancient African tongue. Reared under the tutelage of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers her magical destiny-to end the genocide of her people. The journey to fulfill her destiny will force her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture-and eventually death itself.

[Rangerton]

A bit late with this one.

As I'm newish to fantasy reading, bought the Belgariad series by David Eddings.

I seem to remember seeing (I think it was here) that it was a good place to start reading fantasy.

Nearly finished the third book, and although I struggled, a little, to like the first book, I'm now really enjoying them.

[JLawrenceDavis]

I've been recommended David Eddings works before but haven't gotten around to checking any of them out. However, I've taken note of this series and will check it out.

[Extollager]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

I don't know if that question is directed to everyone here or Dask in particular Extollager? ... but as I alluded to previously, I have a copy of that Russian anthology. Of what I've read I've quite liked but I literally started at the beginning and have not covered enough of the specific stories yet to be confident of providing you with a good answer. Perhaps Dask has read further?

What I can say though with a qualifier is that both of what I've read here and based upon works by the following authors independent of this collection that I have read, that you should certainly take note of Andrei Platonov, Yuri Olesha (Pushkin, Turgenev, Gogol, Bulgakov, Tolstoy and Lermontov only if you haven’t already read what is contained in here by them) and Andrei Bely (recall from our recent discussion). Not a complete answer but perhaps it forms a solid starting point?

How long do you have the book for?

It's due the 22nd. I would be glad to hear from anyone who said a certain item(s) was not to be missed. Right now, though, I'm actually mostly absorbed by Ian Frazier's On the Rez (i.e. Indian reservation)

and it would take something exceptionally good in the sf or fantasy vein to secure my interest, I think.

Also I have a couple of Philip K. Dick's novels coming on interlibrary loan -- at least I hope I do -- and I'll want to get into E. T. A. Hoffmann's "The Mines at Falun" before too long -- so I am emotionally prepared to return the Russian sf book without reading any of it unless someone says, "No! You really must read X!"

I've decided that Ian Frazier is one of my favorite living authors. This is the fourth book I have read by him.

[Extollager]

Originally Posted by thatollie

King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard

I must have read that about five times by now.

[hopewrites]

Jurassic Park *Free

The History of the Lord of the Rings Box set; The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard The War of the Ring, The End of the Third Age. $10


*so I was looking for jeans in a couple of local thrift stores today and instead came home with books. (who needs cloths anyway right?) the first one I picked up was the box set (and a super cute dress) the next store we went to I only found the one book it was on super sale, $0.33 but when I got inline behind a lady who had an over-cart-full of things she insisted i go before her, and when I realized i had no cash and would have to run my card she pulled out some change and bought the book for me.
mega-mad props to her for being an uber-sweetheart!!

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by Extollager

It's due the 22nd. I would be glad to hear from anyone who said a certain item(s) was not to be missed. Right now, though, I'm actually mostly absorbed by Ian Frazier's On the Rez (i.e. Indian reservation)

and it would take something exceptionally good in the sf or fantasy vein to secure my interest, I think.

Also I have a couple of Philip K. Dick's novels coming on interlibrary loan -- at least I hope I do -- and I'll want to get into E. T. A. Hoffmann's "The Mines at Falun" before too long -- so I am emotionally prepared to return the Russian sf book without reading any of it unless someone says, "No! You really must read X!"

I've decided that Ian Frazier is one of my favorite living authors. This is the fourth book I have read by him.

Ian Frazing ? Is it a novel about Indian Rez life today ?

I have read a great Vertigo comics series Scalped based on South Dakota Indian Rez.

The series focuses on the Oglala Lakota inhabitants of the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in modern-day South Dakota as they grapple with organized crime, rampant poverty and alcoholism, local politics and the preservation of their cultural identity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalped

Rez, mags rate the series to that they see a series that looks Native american issues today in a Rez.