Book Hauls!

[nomadman]

Originally Posted by Randy M.

Deadfall Hotel by Steve Rasnic Tem

Handsome paperback edition. I've just started reading it and it looks intriguing.


Randy M.

This is an author I've long been interested in but haven't really known where to start. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks.

[GOLLUM]

Today I picked up several books...

The Letter Killers Club - Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky *Krzhizhanovsky who wrote the highly satirical and dark 'Memories of the Future' story collection (also published as part of the excellent NYRB classic series and one I did enjoy) now with this translation appears to be furthering his reputation as one of Russia's best writers of the 20th Century. Blurb: The Letter Killers Club is a secret society of self-described “conceivers” who, to preserve the purity of their conceptions, will commit nothing to paper. (What, after all, is your run-of-the-mill scribbler of stories if not an accomplished corruptor of conceptions?) The logic of the club is strict and uncompromising. Every Saturday, members meet in a firelit room filled with empty black bookshelves where they strive to top one another by developing ever unlikelier, ever more perfect conceptions: a rehearsal of Hamlet hijacked by an actor who vanishes with the role; the double life of a merry medieval cleric derailed by a costume change; a machine-run world that imprisons men’s minds while conscripting their bodies; a dead Roman scribe stranded this side of the River Acheron. But in this book set in an ominous Soviet Moscow of the 1920s, the members of the club are strangely mistrustful of one another, while all are under the spell of its despotic President, and there is no telling, in the end, just how lethal the purely conceptual—or, for that matter, letters—may be.

The Shooting Party - Anton Chekhov Penguin Black edn. *Interestingly enough this was Chekhov's only full-length novel, so I'm curious to see how it compares to his shorter and presumably more 'mature' fiction. Blurb: The Shooting Party wraps a story of concealed love and fatal jealousy into a classic murder mystery. When a young woman dies during a shooting party at the country estate of a dissolute count, a magistrate is called to investigate. But suspicion descends upon virtually everyone, for, as we soon learn, the victim was at the center of a tangled web of relationships with her elderly husband, with the lecherous count, and with the magistrate himself. One of Anton Chekhov's earliest experiments in fiction, this short, riveting novel prefigures the mature style he would develop in his magnificent stories and plays

Eugene Grandet & Cousin Bette - Honore de Balzac Penguin Black edn *Two more of the great French writer de Balzac's classic works forming part of his incredible Comidie humaine cycle of novels describing life in post-revolutionary France, probably only comparable with Old Goirot. Blurbs: Poor, plain spinster Bette is compelled to survive on the condescending patronage of her socially superior relatives in Paris: to whose destruction she dedicates herself to. This is a gripping tale of violent jealousy, sexual passion and treachery, and a brilliant portrayal of the grasping, bourgeois society of 1840s Paris. The culmination of the Comidie humaine, Balzac's epic chronicle of his times, it is one of his greatest triumphs as a novelist. In a gloomy house in provincial Saumur lives the miser Grandet with his wife and daughter, Eugenie, whose lives are stifled and overshadowed by his obsession with gold. Guarding his piles of glittering treasures and his only child equally closely, he will let no one near them. But when the arrival of her handsome cousin, Charles, awakens Eugenie's own desires, her passion brings her into a violent collision with her father that results in tragedy for all.

Coinciding with a free exhibition of Persian Art & History at Melbourne's State Library I picked up...

Shahnameh Persian Book of Kings - Aboloqasem Ferdowsi *For those who may not be aware, this Persian EPIC is comparable in its impact to Homer or Shakespeare's body of work in the West or the Mahabharata in Indian culture. Precis: This is the national epic of Iran composed by the poet Ferdowsi between 980 and 1010 AD. It tells the story of ancient Persia, beginning in the mythic time of Creation and continuing forward to the Arab-Islamic invasion in the seventh century. Brilliantly translated into prose and verse (in the naqqali tradition) by the poet and Ferdowsi scholar Dick Davis and magnificently illustrated with miniatures from the greatest Shahnameh manuscripts of the 14th to 17th centuries (in museums and private collections around the world), these stories give English-language readers access to a world of vanished wonders.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam *A classic text I've only now acquired a copy of. Blurb: Revered in eleventh-century Persia as an astronomer, mathematician and philosopher, Omar Khayyam is now known first and foremost for his "Ruba'iyat". The short epigrammatic stanza form allowed poets of his day to express personal feelings, beliefs and doubts with wit and clarity, and Khayyam became one of its most accomplished masters with his touching meditations on the transience of human life and of the natural world. One of the supreme achievements of medieval literature, the reckless romanticism and the pragmatic fatalism in the face of death means these verses continue to hold the imagination of modern readers.

Shah of Shahs - Ryszard Kapuscinzki *Long regarded an important historical literary text on the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran this a work I've been interested in acquiring a copy of for a little while now. Blurb: In Shah of Shahs Kapuscinski brings a mythographer's perspective and a novelist's virtuosity to bear on the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran, one of the most infamous of the United States' client-dictators, who resolved to transform his country into "a second America in a generation," only to be toppled virtually overnight. From his vantage point at the break-up of the old regime, Kapuscinski gives us a compelling history of conspiracy, repression, fanaticism, and revolution.

The Hand of Poetry - Khan & Barks *I own a copy of Rumi's spiritual verse, probably the best known of the Persian poets in the West but picked up this anthology of Persian poetry as it was a handy way to cross sample their best known poets. Precis: This anthology covers five of the most significant mystic poets of Persia ranging from Rumi, to Hafiz, to Sadi to Sanau to Attar with a highly informative lecture transcript preceding each poet's body of work that collectively represents an important contribution to world literature.

Last but not least...Penguin have just released their so-called Text Classics, numbering over 30 classic Australian titles. The following is the one I particularly wanted to get a hold of.

The Mystery of a Hansom Cab - Fergus Hume * I gather this was a mega hit in its day albeit a somewhat lightish read but with enough twists and turns to keep the reader turning the pages. A work that was since been superseded by its many more famous counterparts including the works of Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. Precis: The best selling crime book no less of the 19th Century worldwide selling over 3/4 of a million copies in Hume's lifetime, this classic whodunit is the original blockbuster crime novel. Set in marvelous Melbourne in the late nineteenth century, it tells an intriguing tale of a murder taking place in a Hansom cab where no-one but the driver can be a potential witness..

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by nomadman

Cheers buddy.



The CAS is more or less a best of collection. Like yourself I chose to get it in lieu of the five (now six) book Nightshade series, though I've read all the stories within it before. Nice to have them in one easily readable trade paperback though.

Regarding the Wolfes, I actually already have the Masterworks editions of the series but find these copies from Orb a little easier to read, which is increasingly become an important consideration in my old age.

I have ordered and i waiting for The Long Tomorrow by Brackett in an omnibus with first two Stark books, script of Star Wars film she wrote.

Its funny im also 30 years old soon in may and i have thought you and me had such similar taste in classic,modern genre,mainstream lit, we are almost the same age too

[Randy M.]

Originally Posted by nomadman

This is an author I've long been interested in but haven't really known where to start. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks.

Afraid not. Except for a couple of short stories, this is the first thing I've read by him.

The packaging promises a sort of Ray Bradbury / Edward Gorey experience, and I think the book is evolving towards that. I wasn't sure, with the first chapter whether I was going to like it, the second chapter began to win me over and I'm currently enjoying the third chapter. Tem doesn't write with the exuberance of Bradbury and doesn't exude the charm of Gaiman (a writer who sometimes makes me think of him as a Bradbury [with hints of John Collier] for the 21st century), but rather more plainly (and sometimes more precisely than Bradbury), yet with some spot-on observation of character and locale and enough imaginative kick to pull me in.

So far, the farther I read the more I like it.


Randy M.

[Grunkins]

Picked up our own Anne Lyle's Alchemist of Souls, Kevin Hearne's Tricked, and Iain M Banks The Algebraist.

[dask]

Stopped by Value Village yesterday. Glad I did:

[Hilarious Joke]

The Immortal Prince by Jennifer Fallon

[yaxomoxay]

At Goodwill:
- ” Steal across the stars” by Nancy Kress
- ” The songs of distant earth” by Clarke

[dask]

Found some really nice stuff this past weekend. Only have enough time to post part of them but will try to get to the rest later in the week.

Twenty-five cents at the Salvation army:


Fifty cents at the Salvation Army:


But the prize find is this 1931 hardback published by Blue Ribbon Books:

CREEPS BY NIGHT, "Chills and Thrills Selected by Dashiell Hammett." For all the world this looks like an early anthology of pulp type horror with twenty stories, five of which are copyrighted by Popular Fiction Co. including "The Music Of Erich Zann" by H.P. Lovecraft which suggests, at least to me, Weird Tales or similar mags owned by Popular Fiction represented within. Never knew such a thing existed. I got so excited when I found it I nearly made a silly spectacle of myself hopping around without restraint, you know how it is. Any way, super bargain at $2.99 at Goodwill.

[j. d. worthington]

On Creeps by Night... not that long ago, even a fairly poor condition copy of that would be going for ridiculously high prices. Now it seems to have become a bit easier to come across, though how long that will last is anyone's guess. But yes, it is a find -- I've wanted to get my hands on a copy for quite a while, and my do so soon, with the current prices -- though by no means all of the material (even some of the more important pieces) is from WT or other Popular Publications magazines. Ewers' "The Spider", for instance, was about as far from that as one could get.

At any rate, I envy you your find, and hope you enjoy it... and you had every reason for doing a little jig after coming across this one.....

[nomadman]

Originally Posted by Connavar

I have ordered and i waiting for The Long Tomorrow by Brackett in an omnibus with first two Stark books, script of Star Wars film she wrote.

Its funny im also 30 years old soon in may and i have thought you and me had such similar taste in classic,modern genre,mainstream lit, we are almost the same age too

Happy Birthday, in advance. I know you'll enjoy those Stark volumes. They're absolutely vintage S&S (S&P), very similar to Howard's stuff without being derivative, yet possessing a darker, more melancholic feel of fading civilizations and dying worlds etc. The Ginger Star is a near perfectly paced story and one which I believe I read in about two sittings the first time round.

Have you read any Harold Lamb at all?

Originally Posted by Randy M.

Afraid not. Except for a couple of short stories, this is the first thing I've read by him.

The packaging promises a sort of Ray Bradbury / Edward Gorey experience, and I think the book is evolving towards that. I wasn't sure, with the first chapter whether I was going to like it, the second chapter began to win me over and I'm currently enjoying the third chapter. Tem doesn't write with the exuberance of Bradbury and doesn't exude the charm of Gaiman (a writer who sometimes makes me think of him as a Bradbury [with hints of John Collier] for the 21st century), but rather more plainly (and sometimes more precisely than Bradbury), yet with some spot-on observation of character and locale and enough imaginative kick to pull me in.

So far, the farther I read the more I like it.


Randy M.

Thanks for your thoughts. Tem's often been called something of a hidden gem in the short story field but he doesn't seem to have any absolutely key works that I can see. Might just have to take the plunge.

Originally Posted by dask

Found some really nice stuff this past weekend. Only have enough time to post part of them but will try to get to the rest later in the week.

Twenty-five cents at the Salvation army:

Tros of Samothrace. That's a good bit of fun. Can't say I like the covers much. My copy has a similarly burly looking Tros battling a static posing Roman motif. Frazetta it aint.

[nomadman]

Got three books from the old Forbidden Planet today:

- On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
- The Bible Repairman by Tim Powers: rare, so it says, collection of Powers's short fiction
- The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones: old school sword and sorcery tale by the premier expert on the writings of Harold Lamb. I probably wouldn't have picked this up if I didn't know a bit about Jones's fiction or his contribution to the field, as the cover is, ahem, not the most inviting thing. Very cool reading thus far, recommended to Howard and, of course, Lamb, fans.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by nomadman

Got three books from the old Forbidden Planet today:

- On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
- The Bible Repairman by Tim Powers: rare, so it says, collection of Powers's short fiction
- The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones: old school sword and sorcery tale by the premier expert on the writings of Harold Lamb. I probably wouldn't have picked this up if I didn't know a bit about Jones's fiction or his contribution to the field, as the cover is, ahem, not the most inviting thing. Very cool reading thus far, recommended to Howard and, of course, Lamb, fans.

Interesting pickup.

I have the first 2 having collected all of Powers' fiction to date but was not aware Bible Repairman was that hard to come by? Perhaps it's the edition you have or that collection is now out of print.

I have never heard of Howard Andrew Jones. I stil have to pick up some of Lamb's writings based on previous posts made by you. It would be intersting to know how this author's writing compares to Lamb, Robert E Howard, Leiber etc.., similar, completely different?

Generally I've found forbidden Planet publish some quite good, 'less common' stuff, albeit their production values can be a little light on...

[nomadman]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

Interesting pickup.

I have the first 2 having collected all of Powers' fiction to date but was not aware Bible Repairman was that hard to come by? Perhaps it's the edition you have or that collection is now out of print.

I have never heard of Howard Andrew Jones. I stil have to pick up some of Lamb's writings based on previous posts made by you. It would be intersting to know how this author's writing compares to Lamb, Robert E Howard, Leiber etc.., similar, completely different?

Generally I've found forbidden Planet publish some quite good, 'less common' stuff, albeit their production values can be a little light on...

I wasn't aware that the collection was particularly rare either. But according to the back cover it is!

Jones is more well known as an editor than I writer I believe. He's current managing editor of Black Gate and former editor of Flashing Swords magazine in the mid 2000s. His Dabir and Asim stories, of which The Desert of Souls is a part, are a series of S&S tales set in an alternate version of the medieval Middle East in which magic and the beasts of mythology exist. His works seems to have a more historical flavor than most S&S. The writing is colorful though lean, tending more toward the serious side without totally foregoing humor. The characterization, particularly between the two protagonists, strikes me as knotty and realistic, though I'm only a short way into this particular novel.

Regarding Harold Lamb, I'll admit it, I'm a fanboy. I think he gets far too little attention for the quality of work he produced and on his seminal influences on fantasy and historical fiction as a whole (not to mention his contributions to film and academia...) Reading his works is like unearthing a treasure trove; there's just so much good stuff here, and hardly anyone alive today has ever read it!

I really do recommend you pick up anything you can find by him.

[D_Davis]

Zeke and Ned, by Larry McMurtry
Pretty Boy Floyd, by Larry McMurtry

Both 1st editions, signed.

Horseman, Pass By; by Larry McMurtry

Transreal!, by Rudy Rucker