The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: 20th - 27th Aug 2013

It seems as though every other post includes a moan about the often bloated length of the books,  so you think I'd have had a giant book boner for a nice, short, tightly-focused 300 pager. I was hoping it would work that way, but it just didn't.

In typical fashion, I haven't got much of a reason why or a list of criticisms to bring to it. I just didn't dig it all that much.

Weak. I know. Hearts in Atlantis is next, but not before I finish Jason Aaron's Scalped and bash through Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man.

Bag of Bones: 1st - 19th Aug 2013

Good. Very good.

I know I keep repeating that these posts aren't meant as literary reviews - even a cursory reading makes that quite evident - but I still get that initial sinking feeling of thinking that's what I should be doing, especially when I buzzed off a book and want to say why. And then it passes when I realise I can write any old bollocks I care to. It's a blog. Who cares?

Right. Bag of Bones. It's a good read. I know that's an inane statement but, at this point, it counts for a lot. When you're reading book after book by the same author it helps maintain momentum, not just for the next book, but half a dozen down the line.  'A good read' also translates as saying it's well written, but I'm not going to claim the critical acumen to back up such a claim. What a fanny.

While it's an overtly supernatural tale, it's the human detail that makes it for me. There are glimmers of goodness (Mattie and her daughter are gorgeous - I'm really looking forward to seeing how the very lovely Melissa George does with the part), it mainly hit me as a study in the depths of shittiness of which we're capable and consistently willing to plumb, both personally and as a community.  A somewhat pessimistic reaction to King's handling of facing his worst fears (losing his wife and writers block) perhaps, but there you go.

This is good King. 

                     

Danse Macabre: 28th Nov 2010 - 13th Aug 2013

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

Nearly three years to read a book.  Once again...hahahahahahaha.

Anyway, Danse Macabre.  I thought it was pretty boss to start with. King's conversational tone is part of what makes his fiction so eminently readable, but - as evidenced by my initial stalling in this reading, and subsequent halting limp through the remainder - it just wasn't enough to keep me enthralled. I eventually got hold of the audiobook version and things looked up. But, as time wore on, I just became less and less interested.

I imagine that most people reading Danse Macabre would find it a great springboard to influential and contemporary works.  Dude knows his stuff. Being in the midst of reading King's full bibliography, though, I can ill afford to add to my "to read" pile (It's actually hurts to so roundly deflect all manner of awesomeness from my life!) so, in the end, it acted more as a increasingly tiresome distraction from the main mission.

That aside, my interest in a deconstruction of the horror genre also waned heavily as things progressed.  I'm not sure how well visceral art lends itself to be disassembled and explained. It takes a lot of the magic out of it (something King puts a lot of importance in as the special ingredient), a little like being shown how an illusion is actually performed. Seeing what's behind the curtain isn't for everyone. Shitty metaphors aside, some people have no problem with appreciating art purely on the technical ability and execution.  I'm less inclined towards this.  Similarly with music. Virtuoso instrumentalists and muso-wankers bore me senseless.

But, I digress.

The length of time it took me to get through it, multiplied by a desire to crack on with other books, sucks a lot of the weight out of my reaction and its worth (especially to me).

Read it if you want an approachable version of how the engine works. If you just like to drive, don't.

Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower V - 18th March - 1st August 2013

How embarrassing. Four and a half months to read a book. In my defence, it's a big book and it isn't very good. Due to the latter, I found it hard to hammer it. And obviously didn't.

The worst thing is probably that I chose to read two of Joe Hill's books instead of charging onward. Don't tell him. Please. Nah, fuck it, you can. I don't think he'd mind too much to know someone really likes his son's work.

So, am I now a massive Dark Tower fan and totally excited by the picture that is developing of this series and its world as underpinning and encapsulating his entire oeuvre (in a fashion, at a stretch and with selective reasoning)? What do you think?

I don't really dig it at all. But I'm happy for him to be doing it. An artist should be doing whatever the fuck he wants, for himself and no one else. Whether I like it, is the least important thing. I'm just glad I'm done with this chapter of it.