Things here are slow enough that I’m spending a little time bouncing around, and found something quite interesting — the top 100 books of all time, as chosen by 100 writers from 54 countries. The list follows — bolded titles are ones that I’ve actually read (though, admittedly, in some instances I read them as ‘childrens versions’ years ago, and probably should go back and read the actual versions).
Books
I read…a lot. Here’s where I ramble about books and printed media.
Music, books and other real-world fun
Back in the summer of 1991, right after I graduated high school, I took a trip to Germany with the Bartlett High School German Club. While there, I was browsing through a music store and stumbled across a band that sounded interesting — Poems for Laila. I picked up two of their albums, Another Poem for the 20th Century and La Fillette Triste.
Unfortunately, over the years, tapes die — especially well-listened to tapes, as these definitely were. I’d never been able to track down any PfL albums over here in the states, and the times I’d looked into trying to get them as imports, it had either been more expensive than I’d wanted to try, or I hadn’t had a credit card available. This week, however, I stumbled across AudioGalaxy (one of the modern Napster alternatives), and have spent the past day downloading PfL .mp3’s like a madman. Not only have I been able to regain both of the albums I used to own, but I’ve also got the entirety of two more albums (Katamandu and I Shot the Moon), plus much of a few other albums that they’ve released since then. It’s great to finally be able to hear this band again — wonderful, beautiful music. So I’ve been cheezing over that.
I also picked up my next book to read — a compendium of the entire Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. I haven’t read these in ages, and am greatly looking forward to diving back into them again. Should be quite cool.
That’s really about it for now, I suppose. Tomorrow starts the work week again — what fun!
Woohoo?
The Complete Chronicles of Narnia
Well, I just finished all seven books of Narnia. I hadn’t read these in many, many years, and at some point C.S. Lewis decided that he’d rather have the books presented in their chronological order (according to events in Narnia) rather than the order they were written in, so it was in many ways an almost entirely new experience for me.
Incidentally, the preferred order of the books is as follows: The Magician’s Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Horse and his Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treader’, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle.
I had a blast reading these again — though it was a far different experience from when I did when I was younger. I really had no idea there was such strong Christian symbology running throughout the series! It doesn’t really surprise me, as I’m somewhat familiar with some of C.S. Lewis’ other work, it was just something that I hadn’t caught on to when I first read the books. At this point, though TLtWatW is the one that is most known, I think that either THahB or TLB are my favorites in the series — THahB mostly because of its somewhat different take on Aslan, and TLB for coming up with not just a wonderfully fitting end to the entire series, but for its depiction of Aslan’s country and what happens after the end of everything.
Wonderful stuff, and well worth re-reading after all these years.
American Gods
What happens to our gods when we stop believing in them?
Since the dawn of man, we have created gods to explain the universe around us, to worship, and to sacrifice to. As people moved from place to place, their gods came with them, carried along in their thoughts, dreams, and ceremonies. When people started coming to this continent — whether in the cargo holds of slave ships, as settlers immigrating to a new land, or as tribes crossing the ancient land bridges — they brought their gods along, asking for their help as they got started in the new world.
Over time, though, as cultures grew, met, and merged, the old gods found themselves with fewer and fewer believers. Old beliefs and religions became supersitions and stories, as new gods arose in the minds of the people of the new world. Odin and the Norse pantheon, brought here with the Viking explorers; Anasazi who came with the African slaves; even the Hindu god Kali; all found themselves passed by, nearly forgotten, existing only on the few prayers from those who still believed in them.
Meanwhile, the new gods gain in strength, as more and more people worship them, though their worshippers don’t always realize it. Gods of the train, the automobile, the television. Gods of drugs and the internet. New gods, who see the future as their world — and hold those old gods that still scrape by, existing where and how they can, as useless. Relics of ages gone by, doing no more than getting in the way of the future.
And a storm is coming….
Now this is what I was hoping for from Neil Gaiman.
After being less impressed than I hoped after I read Neverwhere, I hedged a bit in the bookstore before deciding to go ahead and pick up American Gods. I’m quite glad I did, though — a much better book than Neverwhere.
Drawing upon mythologies the world over, Gaiman has created a fascinating look at the conflict between old beliefs and new, and the dichtomies created in America when so many cultures and religions come together, clash, mix, and evolve over time. Of Gaiman’s works that I’ve read so far, this is easily my favorite.
Neverwhere
Neverwhere tells the story of Richard Mayhew, a Londoner who stumbles ‘between the cracks’ of the city to discover London Below, a magical (and none-too-friendly) alternate London hidden beneath the streets.
I first discovered Gaiman through the Sandman series of graphic novels, and later his short story ‘Goliath’ that can be found on the Matrix website. I’d also read Good Omens a while ago and greatly enjoyed it, though at the time I didn’t connect Gaiman’s name with anything. He’s got a wonderful eye for the dark and the bizarre, and I’ve found his work quite good so far — but Neverwhere just didn’t quite grab me as much as his other work has.
I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as I was expecting. It was an extremely quick read (I read it in two days, with my only reading time being on the bus to and from work and at lunch), and was a lot lighter than I expected. I believe it was Gaiman’s first novel after his years of work on the Sandman comics, and I’m wondering if that may have affected his writing style as he got used to stretching away from the necessarily sparce narrative employed in comic work. I’m not at all sure, but that was how it felt to me — just a little rushed, as if there were a lot more details there that weren’t being presented. It also wasn’t quite as literary as I’d been hoping — one of the hallmarks of the Sandman series that sets it above so much other comic work in my mind was the great depth and background to it, drawn upon from myths, legends, and stories of cultures throughout the world. Neverwhere, despite being a novel rather than a series of comics, didn’t have that same expansive feel to it.
Still, an enjoyable, if light, read, and I’ll continue to track down the rest of what I can find from Neil Gaiman.
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
First off — wow.
I thought I’d read The Lord of the Rings a long time ago. Now that I’ve just finished reading it, I’m not sure if I ever actually had or not. It may well be that I’d read The Hobbit a long time ago and over the years thought that I’d read the entire LotR series. It could also be that I’d seen the animated version and assumed over the years that I’d also read the book. Now I’m not as sure, as far too much of what I read was entirely unfamiliar to me.
Either way, though, I’ve now read it — and if I hadn’t read it before, it’s a shame it took me this long. It really is as good as people say it is. Not that I ever really doubted that, however, it’s far different to have so many people hold it up as a masterpiece of fantasy, and to be able to actually form that opinion for yourself.
There’s a lot more information and reviews of LotR available on the ‘net (a quick Google search for “tolkien lord of the rings -movie” turns up around 125,000 hits) that are very likely to be much more well-written and in-depth than this little bit of babble is, so I’ll just stick with what I’ve got.
I was promped to pick it up and (re?-)read it after watching Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (which I apparently didn’t post any comments on, though I did mention it a couple times beforehand…). I’ve definitely got a lot more respect for Peter Jackson‘s ability to translate the books to the screen — and I’m really jonesing to see the rest now! Just seven more months until The Two Towers comes out, and nineteen until The Return of the King. Going to be a long wait, that’s for sure….
You are being lied to!
More in my current semi-fascination with conspiracy theories, and which ones might be more true than others — I’m considering picking up You Are Being Lied To.
You Are Being Lied To acts as a battering ram against the distortions, myths, and outright lies that have been shoved down our throats by the government, the media, corporations, organized religion, the scientific establishment, and others who want to keep the truth from us.
If nothing else, it could be an interesting read.
The truth about Asimov
Janet Asimov, in a biography of her late husband Isaac Asimov (It’s Been A Good Life), has revealed that he actually died of AIDS contracted during bypass surgery, but the doctor at the time advised that the information not be disclosed to the public. Interesting.
Sci-Fi themes, then and now
Tonight I popped in the original version of Rollerball. Very cool flick, I’ll post more thoughts on it later on. However, I did find a HTF thread about the recent remake, and one of the members made a really neat post concerning the differences between Sci-Fi themes of the 70’s and today. I didn’t want to lose track of his post, so I’m copying it here.
Spooky…
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.
— H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu