Long Overdue Book Foo!
Apr. 17th, 2011 12:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6Finished: Wireless, by Charles Stross (short story/novella collections).
Usually, when I buy a collection of short stories by one particular author, even one I've grown to really like, I wind up being pretty disappointed. There's maybe one or two memorable ones, but the rest are forgettable. But, I keep trying, and this time, I hit paydirt. Sure, there were duds, but overall it was one of the better collections I read. Part of this is because although it's a collection of shorter works, many of them are LONG shorter works, novellas really. And some of them were really great, things I'd love to see taken in longer format. In particular, , I loved "Palimpset", a novella about an organization devoted to expanding humanity outward in time, rather than space, using lots of time travel tricks. I'd love to see him go back to the world. Also, "Missile Gap", although it comes very close to one of my own ideas that I want to play with, did it in a different way and made it really cool anyway. In the shorter works, "A Colder War" is an alternate history Lovecraft mashup that I love more than his Laundry works, and his very short "MAXOS" (published originally as a letter to Nature magazine) looks at a reason for why alien civilizations don't tend to last very long.
Where Stross misses, I think, is when he tries for straight comedy. He's a funny guy and some of his normal works make me laugh at points, but when he goes to make a deliberately funny story, like "Trunk and Disorderly", he falls down a bit (and I think I'd like his Laundry stories better if they were a little more serious, like A Colder War).
Also of amusement is how many ways he seems to like including Daleks in his work.
Finished: Rage, by Stephen King (in the Bachman Books) (reread)
My copy of the Bachman Books is old. You can tell this because it still has Rage in it. Newer versions of the Bachman books don't have this story, because King asked to have it pulled from publication.
Because it deals with a teenager shooting some of his teachers and holding his class hostage.
Given similar things actually happened (and there were at least a couple incidents where people specifically claimed to be inspired by the story), it's understandable that he might not want it out there. I think it's a shame though. I think it speaks to certain adolescent fears and urges rather directly, and I don't think we should ban things based on what the most mentally unstable of us might do - they're liable to latch on to something, regardless, whether it's this, or D&D, or evil government conspiracy theories. I mean, sure, when I first read it, I had fantasies of taking my school hostage... not to hurt anybody, but just to shake things up, break everybody out of our predefined roles and groups to sort of force a state where people could talk and I could actually learn about people and express myself (and fantasies of doing things that were dramatically out of character but less violent). I also recognized it as an impossible, silly idea, that should never be attempted, but the yearning was there, and the book helped me feel I wasn't alone anyway, even if my problems weren't anywhere near as deep as the Charlie's. Reading it again it was easy to get swept along again in the feelings of adolescence.
Finished: The Long Walk, by Stephen King (in the Bachman Books) (reread)
My favorite of the Bachman Books. Alternate history with overtones of at least a semi-totalitarian gov't. Every year there's a Long Walk starting in Maine. 100 people are selected nation-wide, volunteers but chosen by lottery. Once it begins, the main rule is you walk. If you drop under 4 miles an hour too often in too short a span, you're shot. No breaks for rest, you walk until you die, or you're the last, the winner. If you win, you get an unbelievable amount of money and virtually any wish you want granted.
The premise is a little silly, but King really makes it work with the relationships that develop on the road, friendships former among people who know that their friends will have to die for them to live, and yet they're occasionally drawn to stick their necks out for each other. It's kind of an endurance run in just reading it, there's a certain monotony in reading about walking and conversation interspersed by the occasional violent death, but it's a pervesely enjoyable monotony.
Finished: Roadwork, by Stephen King (in the Bachman Books)
No, I didn't leave off the 'reread' tag. I've read the Bachman books uncounted number of times, and
although I've started it once or twice, I've always skipped out on Roadwork. But I decided this time, I'd
give it a try.
It's not bad. Not great, either. It doesn't really have any supernatural or SF elements. It's kind of closest to Rage in that, except the 'hook' of 'hostage situation in a school' isn't there. It's the story of one man's slow spiral because he can't cope with change.
It's decent enough for what it is, I guess, an exploration of a man living a life of quiet desperation and knowingly letting his life reach the point of no return. Heck, in some ways perhaps it hits close to home... in many ways my life's kind of in a downward spiral, it's just a much slower (and less violent) one. But I read fiction as an escape. So unless you give me aliens or magic or something along with it, this doesn't really do much for me. It was a pleasant enough read as I went through it, but the story doesn't stick with me.
Finished: The Running Man, by Stephen King (in the Bachman Books) (reread)
If you've seen the Arnold Schwarzenegger (seriously? LJ spellchecks Schwarzenegger?) film, you know the plot... well, not really. Because the movie took a lot of liberties. In the book version, the main character signs up for the contest because he's part of the ultra-poor underclass and his daughter is sick, and he's been blackballed so can't get a decent job. Once he's on the run, he can go anywhere he can get to, not just limited to an arena. In many ways, it's very cinematic on its own, and it could be filmed into a much better movie (there are already so many remakes, and Reality TV is bigger than when the original movie came out, this should be a natural)... anyway, it's not especially deep (although deeper than the movie, there are class warfare and environmental issues that at crop up), but it is enjoyable, probably my second favorite part of the Bachman Books.
Finished: Cell, by Stephen King (reread)
I'm on a bit of a King kick lately, so I decided it was time to reread his latest non-Dark-Tower book (the latest that I've got, that is, I know he's published more), Cell. It's the one about a zombie (sorta) apocalypse kicked off by cell phones. Of course, what makes this one a little different is that the real horror begins when the zombies stop being mindless killers.
It really is a great book, actually, save for King's usual problem with endings... in particular because it sort of revolves around a theory for how it all happened that is a little unrealistic, but also (somewhat spoilery) because King seems to refuse to like actually giving an ENDING, he too often leaves it up to the reader to decide whether the protagonist succeeds or not. Which is, I feel, lazy. Fine once in a while, occasionally it's appropriate, but when you do it as a habit, it's a lazy habit. The reader can create their own ending, yeah... they can create their own beginnings and middles, too. Why we read another person's is to see THEIRS. Anyway, it's a pet peeve of mine, but before the ending anyway, it's quite an engaging little book.
It's also kind of very much a book of its time. I'm not sure it could really work as is, if you set it in 2011, for example. For one thing, texting overpaces actually talking on the cell phone now, and if cell phone networks still work, you'd have survivors using the texting capability to keep organized and keep in touch, maybe even spreading a "don't actually use the phone" message, not to mention all sorts of other mobile devices that have apps. I suppose you could handwave around it by saying fear keeps people away from it, but still, it would kind of be interesting to peek into an alternate world where King had the idea right now instead of then, and see if he could make it work.
Started: The Timeline Wars, by John Barnes (reread)
Started: City of Diamond, by Jane Emerson
Usually, when I buy a collection of short stories by one particular author, even one I've grown to really like, I wind up being pretty disappointed. There's maybe one or two memorable ones, but the rest are forgettable. But, I keep trying, and this time, I hit paydirt. Sure, there were duds, but overall it was one of the better collections I read. Part of this is because although it's a collection of shorter works, many of them are LONG shorter works, novellas really. And some of them were really great, things I'd love to see taken in longer format. In particular, , I loved "Palimpset", a novella about an organization devoted to expanding humanity outward in time, rather than space, using lots of time travel tricks. I'd love to see him go back to the world. Also, "Missile Gap", although it comes very close to one of my own ideas that I want to play with, did it in a different way and made it really cool anyway. In the shorter works, "A Colder War" is an alternate history Lovecraft mashup that I love more than his Laundry works, and his very short "MAXOS" (published originally as a letter to Nature magazine) looks at a reason for why alien civilizations don't tend to last very long.
Where Stross misses, I think, is when he tries for straight comedy. He's a funny guy and some of his normal works make me laugh at points, but when he goes to make a deliberately funny story, like "Trunk and Disorderly", he falls down a bit (and I think I'd like his Laundry stories better if they were a little more serious, like A Colder War).
Also of amusement is how many ways he seems to like including Daleks in his work.
Finished: Rage, by Stephen King (in the Bachman Books) (reread)
My copy of the Bachman Books is old. You can tell this because it still has Rage in it. Newer versions of the Bachman books don't have this story, because King asked to have it pulled from publication.
Because it deals with a teenager shooting some of his teachers and holding his class hostage.
Given similar things actually happened (and there were at least a couple incidents where people specifically claimed to be inspired by the story), it's understandable that he might not want it out there. I think it's a shame though. I think it speaks to certain adolescent fears and urges rather directly, and I don't think we should ban things based on what the most mentally unstable of us might do - they're liable to latch on to something, regardless, whether it's this, or D&D, or evil government conspiracy theories. I mean, sure, when I first read it, I had fantasies of taking my school hostage... not to hurt anybody, but just to shake things up, break everybody out of our predefined roles and groups to sort of force a state where people could talk and I could actually learn about people and express myself (and fantasies of doing things that were dramatically out of character but less violent). I also recognized it as an impossible, silly idea, that should never be attempted, but the yearning was there, and the book helped me feel I wasn't alone anyway, even if my problems weren't anywhere near as deep as the Charlie's. Reading it again it was easy to get swept along again in the feelings of adolescence.
Finished: The Long Walk, by Stephen King (in the Bachman Books) (reread)
My favorite of the Bachman Books. Alternate history with overtones of at least a semi-totalitarian gov't. Every year there's a Long Walk starting in Maine. 100 people are selected nation-wide, volunteers but chosen by lottery. Once it begins, the main rule is you walk. If you drop under 4 miles an hour too often in too short a span, you're shot. No breaks for rest, you walk until you die, or you're the last, the winner. If you win, you get an unbelievable amount of money and virtually any wish you want granted.
The premise is a little silly, but King really makes it work with the relationships that develop on the road, friendships former among people who know that their friends will have to die for them to live, and yet they're occasionally drawn to stick their necks out for each other. It's kind of an endurance run in just reading it, there's a certain monotony in reading about walking and conversation interspersed by the occasional violent death, but it's a pervesely enjoyable monotony.
Finished: Roadwork, by Stephen King (in the Bachman Books)
No, I didn't leave off the 'reread' tag. I've read the Bachman books uncounted number of times, and
although I've started it once or twice, I've always skipped out on Roadwork. But I decided this time, I'd
give it a try.
It's not bad. Not great, either. It doesn't really have any supernatural or SF elements. It's kind of closest to Rage in that, except the 'hook' of 'hostage situation in a school' isn't there. It's the story of one man's slow spiral because he can't cope with change.
It's decent enough for what it is, I guess, an exploration of a man living a life of quiet desperation and knowingly letting his life reach the point of no return. Heck, in some ways perhaps it hits close to home... in many ways my life's kind of in a downward spiral, it's just a much slower (and less violent) one. But I read fiction as an escape. So unless you give me aliens or magic or something along with it, this doesn't really do much for me. It was a pleasant enough read as I went through it, but the story doesn't stick with me.
Finished: The Running Man, by Stephen King (in the Bachman Books) (reread)
If you've seen the Arnold Schwarzenegger (seriously? LJ spellchecks Schwarzenegger?) film, you know the plot... well, not really. Because the movie took a lot of liberties. In the book version, the main character signs up for the contest because he's part of the ultra-poor underclass and his daughter is sick, and he's been blackballed so can't get a decent job. Once he's on the run, he can go anywhere he can get to, not just limited to an arena. In many ways, it's very cinematic on its own, and it could be filmed into a much better movie (there are already so many remakes, and Reality TV is bigger than when the original movie came out, this should be a natural)... anyway, it's not especially deep (although deeper than the movie, there are class warfare and environmental issues that at crop up), but it is enjoyable, probably my second favorite part of the Bachman Books.
Finished: Cell, by Stephen King (reread)
I'm on a bit of a King kick lately, so I decided it was time to reread his latest non-Dark-Tower book (the latest that I've got, that is, I know he's published more), Cell. It's the one about a zombie (sorta) apocalypse kicked off by cell phones. Of course, what makes this one a little different is that the real horror begins when the zombies stop being mindless killers.
It really is a great book, actually, save for King's usual problem with endings... in particular because it sort of revolves around a theory for how it all happened that is a little unrealistic, but also (somewhat spoilery) because King seems to refuse to like actually giving an ENDING, he too often leaves it up to the reader to decide whether the protagonist succeeds or not. Which is, I feel, lazy. Fine once in a while, occasionally it's appropriate, but when you do it as a habit, it's a lazy habit. The reader can create their own ending, yeah... they can create their own beginnings and middles, too. Why we read another person's is to see THEIRS. Anyway, it's a pet peeve of mine, but before the ending anyway, it's quite an engaging little book.
It's also kind of very much a book of its time. I'm not sure it could really work as is, if you set it in 2011, for example. For one thing, texting overpaces actually talking on the cell phone now, and if cell phone networks still work, you'd have survivors using the texting capability to keep organized and keep in touch, maybe even spreading a "don't actually use the phone" message, not to mention all sorts of other mobile devices that have apps. I suppose you could handwave around it by saying fear keeps people away from it, but still, it would kind of be interesting to peek into an alternate world where King had the idea right now instead of then, and see if he could make it work.
Started: The Timeline Wars, by John Barnes (reread)
Started: City of Diamond, by Jane Emerson
