Steve's Bookshelf 2014

[Karsa Orlong]

Yeah, some time towards the end of September

 

Made a start on Harvest by Jim Crace this morning.

[Signor Finzione]

Awesome review of DG! You're so right about the humour - not only does it help relieve some of the bleakness, but it also increases the pathos in lots of places. He really nails it.

[Anna Begins]

 

Made a start on Harvest by Jim Crace this morning.

I went to Amazon and got the sample for this- it sounds good- looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

[Devi]

I love those covers! Amazing. Makes me wish I did digital art again.

[Karsa Orlong]

Awesome review of DG! You're so right about the humour - not only does it help relieve some of the bleakness, but it also increases the pathos in lots of places.

 

Yes, that's very true.  Particularly, I found, with Duiker, Coltaine, Bult and co.

 

 

 

 

I went to Amazon and got the sample for this- it sounds good- looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

 

I've only got about 40 pages left, so should be done with it soon

 

 

I love those covers! Amazing. Makes me wish I did digital art again.

 

Makes me wish I was mad enough to pay £300 for them

[Karsa Orlong]

# 53

 

Harvest by Jim Crace

 

 

 

2013 - Picador ebook - 275 pages

 

 

From Amazon:

 

As late summer steals in and the final pearls of barley are gleaned, a village comes under threat. A trio of outsiders - two men and a dangerously magnetic woman - arrives on the woodland borders triggering a series of events that will see Walter Thirsk's village unmade in just seven days: the harvest blackened by smoke and fear, cruel punishment meted out to the innocent, and allegations of witchcraft.

 

But something even darker is at the heart of Walter's story, and he will be the only man left to tell it . . .

 

 

Thoughts:

 

That blurb makes it all sound quite dark and exciting, doesn't it?  Well, it's not

 

Told in the first person, the story begins when the inhabitants of this unnamed village see smoke from a fire in the nearby forest.  It is just outside the boundaries of their land, and is a sign that strangers have come and are announcing their presence.  At the same time, someone has set fire to the local gentleman's dovecote, a fire which has spread to the manor's barn.  Our narrator, Walter Thirsk, knows who started this second fire and yet he decides not to tell anyone, allowing instead the blame to fall upon the strangers and a lynch mob to go off and confront them whilst he, his hand injured in the fire, stays in the village to help a visitor who, I guess, you could say is a surveyor, mapping out the land, but for what purpose?

 

As Walter observes at one point, if it wasn't for that dovecote the ensuing events might have been very different.  For me, it made Walter quite an unlikeable character.  For the most part he seems only concerned with his own wellbeing, as accusations are thrown around and the prospect of a broken future falls upon the village.  He's an outsider, not born here, and although he has been there now for a decade or more he is still viewed with suspicion, especially as his friendship with the surveyor grows.

 

Again, I'm making it sound perhaps more exciting than it is.  At best, it's interesting, which sounds quite damning, but it's the best I can do   It's a novel of beautiful, crystal clear prose, and yet there's somehow not much in the way of character to it or, for that matter, plot, which is rather thin on the newly ploughed ground.  Due to his injury, Walter is often not present at what could be called the story's main events.  What happens instead is that he spends much of the time giving his theories as to what might have happened.  This would all be fine but for the fact that, ultimately, there are few answers and those that there are are less than surprising.  The only character who seems vaguely likeable is Mr Earle, the surveyor (who the villagers call Mr Quill because he spends his time drawing maps and such).  He seems a gentle and yet brave soul who seems to appreciate the village and its surrounding land perhaps more than the people who have lived there their whole lives.  But it's hard to like Walter from the off when he fails to tell the truth to those who might make a difference.  He comes across as deceitful and cowardly, even when he knows one word from him will relieve much suffering.  The strangers, whilst always lurking in the background, are never front and centre and remain largely faceless.

 

Perhaps that's the point.  It seemed to me to be less about the characters and the story than it is about a sense of saying goodbye to our green and pleasant land.  The wonderful prose weaves its spell as Crace peels back layers of symbolism linking the present day to times past (the fear of change, of strangers at our borders, of growing old without finding a place in the world) and it did - somehow - manage to keep me reading.  Possibly it was due to the hope that it would all be worth it in the end, but the ending when it comes seemed a little too heavy on the symbology and decidedly light on the resolution.

 

Ultimately, I reckon this book might really be for those who enjoy taking their time over a novel - I would imagine they are the ones who might get the most from it.  But you all know that isn't me (even though I read comparatively slowly, for me it's still fast      ).  Had Harvest been longer than its 275 pages, I doubt I would have had the patience to finish it.

 

 

5/10

 

 

[Signor Finzione]

Post-Malazan syndrome strikes again!

 

What're you reading next? Maybe you should try the Empire trilogy.

[Athena]

Great review, Steve! It's a shame you didn't enjoy the book so much though . I hope your next read will be better.

[Karsa Orlong]

What're you reading next? Maybe you should try the Empire trilogy.

 

You really want me to read that in between two of the best fantasy books I've ever read   Only if you want me to hate it

[Anna Begins]

Aw!  That's too bad.  I loved the review though- thanks for not giving away spoilers or even alluding to them- in case I do give it a go (but probably not for awhile now)!

[Karsa Orlong]

You could always give the sample a try, it may be more your kind of thing than it was mine, you never know    

[Timstar]

Good reviews Steve, Harvest doesn't sound great but you got me pretty excited about Deadhouse Gates! Would you say you preferred more on your second and third read?

[Karsa Orlong]

Hard to say, cos I loved it the first time around.  There were definitely a lot of little revelatory things that I picked up upon this time, but whether that was because I genuinely hadn't spotted them on my previous re-read or because I'd just forgotten them in the intervening years, I don't know   I would say it was an easier read third time around than I thought it might be.  I was a little worried beforehand that I'd find it hard work because of how bleak it is and because I knew what was coming, but it flew by.  I was worried that it might not live up to my memories of it, but it actually surpassed them    

[Karsa Orlong]

# 54

 

The Door into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein

 

 

 

1957 - Gollancz ebook - 192 pages

 

 

Thoughts:

 

No blurb for this one, as all of them seem to tell you just about the whole story   Instead, here's the opening:

 

One winter shortly before the Six Weeks War, my tomcat, Petronius the Arbiter, and I lived in an old farmhouse in Connecticut. I doubt if it is there any longer, as it was near the edge of the blast area of the Manhattan near-miss, and those old frame buildings burn like tissue paper. Even if it is still standing it wouldn’t be a desirable rental because of the fall-out, but we liked it then, Pete and I. The lack of plumbing made the rent low and what had been the dining-room had a good north light for my drafting board.

 

The drawback was that the place had eleven doors to the outside.

 

The Door into Summer is the story of Daniel Boone Davis and his cat Pete.  It's 1970 and Dan is 30 years old when he begins to design robotic equipment to render chores insignificant.  Going into business with an old friend and hiring a secretary, they set about making their fortunes.  Pretty soon Dan has fallen for the secretary, Belle, and signed over to her shares in the business as a wedding gift.  Before he knows it Belle and his partner, Miles, have double-crossed him and thrown him out of the company.  Drowning his sorrows, staring at the bottom of a glass, Dan decides to go into cold sleep to escape his bad memories.  'Dream your troubles away' the advertising says and he thinks, why not?

 

Heinlein's style here has a lot of charm about it, particularly in his relationship with Pete.  There's a lot of humour between them.  Any cat lover will see a lot of truths in what goes on.  It's a great way of developing Dan's character, by letting him bounce his thoughts off a cat

 

Of course, there's more to the story than a man and his cat.  The Door into Summer is a really engaging time travel adventure.  Even Dan's present, 1970, was in Heinlein's future when he wrote the story, and the cold sleep takes Dan even further.  What happens on the other side I won't say (unlike the various blurbs I looked at!) because it's a very short, fast moving book and anything beyond what I've already said would likely ruin the surprises in store.  Suffice to say that Heinlein's visions of the future (which is now in our past) are quite amusingly way off target, but it only add to the charm.

 

There was only one aspect of this book that I wasn't entirely at ease with, and that was the relationship between Dan and Miles's stepdaughter Ricky.  It was, in fact, quite icky and, if written today, would probably cause a lot of consternation.  I'll say no more. 

 

Apart from that, this was a good deal of fun.  I've heard a lot of bad things about Heinlein, particularly regarding his politics and attitudes, but there was none of that on show here.  Well, except Icky Ricky . . .

 

 

7/10

 

 

[frankie]

Hard to say, cos I loved it the first time around.  There were definitely a lot of little revelatory things that I picked up upon this time, but whether that was because I genuinely hadn't spotted them on my previous re-read or because I'd just forgotten them in the intervening years, I don't know   I would say it was an easier read third time around than I thought it might be.  I was a little worried beforehand that I'd find it hard work because of how bleak it is and because I knew what was coming, but it flew by.  I was worried that it might not live up to my memories of it, but it actually surpassed them    

 

I'm really happy the book lived up to your expectation and surpassed them, too! Sometimes one wonders if a book might not have been as great as one remembers... And one gets nervous about a re-read... But the real gems deliver time and a time again. This series seems to be one of those for you, most definitely

 

I wonder, how many Steve Tenners there have been this year?

 

Edit: Only four! Not that many... May the rest of the reading year go smooth as a Michael Jacksonian criminal! 

Edited September 4, 2014 by frankie

[Athena]

Great review Steve! I bought several Robert A. Heinlein books recently, so I'm glad you liked this one .

[Anna Begins]

I liked your review... I've only read one Heinlein, this year (thanks, Tim) and enjoyed it, so I'm glad some of his other stuff is good too.  I'd give this one a try.

*Goes to get Kindle Sample*

Edited September 4, 2014 by Anna Begins

[Karsa Orlong]

I'm really happy the book lived up to your expectation and surpassed them, too! Sometimes one wonders if a book might not have been as great as one remembers... And one gets nervous about a re-read... But the real gems deliver time and a time again. This series seems to be one of those for you, most definitely

 

I wonder, how many Steve Tenners there have been this year?

 

Edit: Only four! Not that many... May the rest of the reading year go smooth as a Michael Jacksonian criminal! 

 

Thanks!    Although I prefer the Alien Ant Farm version

 

 

Just ordered a book from Amazon US for the first time in years.  Could've got it over here but it would've had to be either a used copy, or a new copy that was about £10 - £15 more expensive.  It's this hardback:

 

http://outtherebooks.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/story-by-story-thoughts-deep-navigation-by-alastair-reynolds/

 

 

Of course, what's going to happen next is that I'll start to collect all his other books in paperback so that I have the full set, despite having replaced a bunch of them with Kindle versions to try and save some shelf space

[Athena]

Interesting blog! I hope you'll enjoy your new book .

[Anna Begins]

 

Of course, what's going to happen next is that I'll start to collect all his other books in paperback so that I have the full set, despite having replaced a bunch of them with Kindle versions to try and save some shelf space

I too am guilty of this! 

[frankie]

Thanks!    Although I prefer the Alien Ant Farm version

 

 

I love that version!! Not going to get into which one is better, because MJ's Smooth Criminal was one of my most favorite songs as a kid Love them both! (And so funny you should mention the Alien Ant Farm, because just about a month ago I heard the song on the radio, and I'd quite forgotten about it, and it was soooo great to hear it the first time in ages ) (Okay I now have to listen to it again )

 

Edit: I was really just a tiny kid when I was listening to the song... in elementary school. I think. I never knew what MJ was singing, I always sang 'Annie are you walking' And I always wondered why he was asking such a random question.

 

Edit: I always liked the AAF music video, too. They don't seem to take themselves too seriously  

Edited September 7, 2014 by frankie

[Karsa Orlong]

 

Edit: I always liked the AAF music video, too. They don't seem to take themselves too seriously

 

I just love all the MJ references in it - makes me laugh

[frankie]

I just love all the MJ references in it - makes me laugh

 

Hm, I bet I have missed a lot of them

[Karsa Orlong]

# 55

 

The Surgeon's Mate by Patrick O'Brian

 

 

 

1980 - Harper paperback - 360 pages

 

 

From Amazon:

 

Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are ordered home by despatch vessel to bring the news of their latest victory to the government. But Maturin is a marked man for the havoc he has wrought in the French intelligence network in the New World, and the attentions of two privateers soon become menacing. The chase that follows through the fogs and shallows of the Grand Banks is as thrilling, as tense and as unexpected in its culmination as anything Patrick O’Brian has written.

 

 

Thoughts:

 

I'm quite happy and relieved that I didn't read the blurb on the back cover (which I've edited, above) because it pretty much gives away the whole plot, right up to the end.  Why this keeps happening is beyond me, but it seems a very odd way to go.  Who wants to have any book spoiled like that? 

 

Anyway, this is the seventh novel in Patrick O'Brian's 'Aubrey/Maturin' series.  It's becoming apparent to me that these books are almost like a serial.  Each of the past three books has picked up immediately after the events of the previous one - the stories are all individual, but the characters and settings flow from one to the next seamlessly.  So this one begins as Jack Aubrey, Stephen Maturin, and Diana Villiers arrive in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to where they were heading at the end of the rather marvellous The Fortune of War, celebrating a first victory against the American navy.

 

Given orders to return to Britain, Aubrey and Maturin are soon off on another adventure, this time into the Baltic, where Stephen, ship's doctor and spy, is soon up to his neck in more espionage shenanigans.  It's these episodes ashore, I think, that are really keeping the series fresh for me, because they make for a break from the norm and mean that the action on the high seas is that much more exciting when it arrives (which it always does, of course!).

 

This is where I trot out the same old things I've said about the previous books.  I find O'Brian's writing completely immersive.  Once I get into the rhythm of his prose it's almost impossible to break away.  Admittedly this is made more difficult by the length of his chapters and the almost complete omission of section breaks, meaning that finding a point at which to pause is often difficult.  But I guess that's part of the plan: the story sweeps me along and I find that, once I'm in, Aubrey's world comes alive.  The books might as well have been written in the 19th century as the attitudes, looks and speech of the characters seems so perfect.  There are no anachronisms here, nothing to kick you out of the experience at any point.  The detail is amazing but subtle, meaning that there is never anything resembling an info dump (well, not since the first book anyway, when all those nautical terms almost overwhelmed), and the story flows with a wonderful ease as a result.

 

If I was going to have one complaint about this particular entry into the series, it would be that there seemed to me to be a slight dead patch around the middle of the book, when Stephen and Diana end up in Paris for various reasons.  It could be that I was distracted by some work being done in the house, but it seemed to slow the pacing down, although there's no doubt that it worked towards character development.  But I was wrong, because in the final third that 'dead patch' became very relevant indeed, and my concerns were washed away with the tide.  The latter stages of the novel fly by in a cascade of excitement, fear and tension, both at sea and on land, and it was like riding the crest of a wave.  I can't describe it any better than that.  It was fantastic.

 

I'm sort of coming around to agree with that blurb from The Times on the front covers of these books.  Patrick O'Brian may very well be the greatest historical novelist of all time.  At the very least, he's quickly becoming my favourite.  I was close to giving this one a 10 but I'm going to pull it up just short because I just preferred Desolation Island and The Fortune of War a tiny bit more.  Only a fraction in it, though.

 

 

9/10

 

[Timstar]

This series is sounding better and better How many more to go?