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sister_luckSo, I've had some time to read a couple of books.
There was Jasper Fforde's First Among Sequels which I had started in October and then set aside for my downtime. It seems to me to be the weakest of the Thursday Next books - maybe it's because the novelty has worn off, maybe because it's impossible to come up with endless meta-fictional brilliance. That said, the Stupidity Surplus? That was a fun idea. I've enjoyed all the books in the series, but I'm missing an emotional connection. Also, the others were more tightly plotted, I think. But in general, I'm a bit reluctant to critique Jasper Fforde's books because I worry that half the literary references go above my head. But then, First Among Sequels focuses more on the dangers of reality television and falling reading levels - which came off slightly too preachy for me.
Then I went for Charlaine Harris and Dead Until Dark, the first of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Hmm, definitely a fast read, but I found the first person narrative to be fairly restrictive. The style of Harris' prose didn't really grab me - maybe that's because of the narrative voice, maybe it's just not my cup of tea. The television series works better for me, especially as there's no Tara in the book, Lafayette is only glimpsed once or twice and the whole Southern aspect of it, for me at least, comes across much better on television. It's just unremarkable for Sookie, of course, and so there isn't much description.
(No real spoilers in the mini-reviews above.)
I read more, but that's enough for today.
There was Jasper Fforde's First Among Sequels which I had started in October and then set aside for my downtime. It seems to me to be the weakest of the Thursday Next books - maybe it's because the novelty has worn off, maybe because it's impossible to come up with endless meta-fictional brilliance. That said, the Stupidity Surplus? That was a fun idea. I've enjoyed all the books in the series, but I'm missing an emotional connection. Also, the others were more tightly plotted, I think. But in general, I'm a bit reluctant to critique Jasper Fforde's books because I worry that half the literary references go above my head. But then, First Among Sequels focuses more on the dangers of reality television and falling reading levels - which came off slightly too preachy for me.
Then I went for Charlaine Harris and Dead Until Dark, the first of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Hmm, definitely a fast read, but I found the first person narrative to be fairly restrictive. The style of Harris' prose didn't really grab me - maybe that's because of the narrative voice, maybe it's just not my cup of tea. The television series works better for me, especially as there's no Tara in the book, Lafayette is only glimpsed once or twice and the whole Southern aspect of it, for me at least, comes across much better on television. It's just unremarkable for Sookie, of course, and so there isn't much description.
(No real spoilers in the mini-reviews above.)
I read more, but that's enough for today.
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Date: 2008-11-19 07:15 pm (UTC)As for Jasper Fforde, maybe it's because the novelty has worn off, maybe because it's impossible to come up with endless meta-fictional brilliance. I think that's it exactly.
I'm reading a very good book, The Echo Maker by Richard Powers. He's barely known in France, his work just starts being translated in French so I read wonderful reviews of his last novel; I ordered it on Amazon to read it in English. It's brilliant. Now that's a great American author!
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Date: 2008-11-20 11:02 am (UTC)Hm, maybe I'm being a bit unfair to Harris? I was looking for light reading, not for Shakespeare. On the other hand, I've read fanfiction that was emotionally more resounding and stylistically much more interesting and richer.
The Echo Maker sounds interesting. It'll have to wait though: I haven't finished all the books I bought for my downtime - I'm still in the middle of The Terror.