Journal of No. 118

 Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Given how much I enjoyed Klara and the Sun, this was a disappointment. Some good character studies as a cohort comes up in school and then leaves for 'the real world' as alliances and friendships and petty cruelties shift back and forth. But that's about all it is. Maybe that's enough. An additional layer of dystopian horror (to which our protagonists are largely blind) is almost irrelevant.

Miskatonic Missives, by the HPL Historical Society.

I ponied up for the kickstarter for this matched set of volumes exploring 3 letters from HPL to Duane Rimel, Barlow (his future literary executor) and Robert E Howard. They are a sui generis take on presenting the letters, sortofa printed/illustrated attempt at a hypertext. Short stories mentioned by Lovecraft are printed in full or part later in the volume. Covers of magazine. Maps of places visited. Occasional commentary. Glosses. News clippings related to mentioned events. At its best, it's like soaking in 1934, giving more context and color to the world from whence the letters come. Additionally, a fourth volume of loose ephemera includes postcards, bus tickets and other tangible goodies. All the art and presentations throughout have the kind of production values one would expect of the HPLHS.

At the same time there are some minuses; it's a little hard to navigate the book. In principle it's no worse than looking at end notes rather than footnotes, but when some of the 'notes' are complete 20 page short stories, it's very different in practice. Of course, there are always going to be questions about editorial choices, but I think the most egregiously gratuitous one was an idle reference to Bob Howard about fisticuffs being 'linked' to a 1930s brochure for self-defense classes. The brochure was authentic and historical, but it had no earthly connection to either man.

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (père)

Chosen for the work book club, but we maybe should have noticed it runs to 1000 pages. I'm reading it via a free e-book from Project Gutenberg. The translation is very readable, but it doesn't seem to have much verve. I don't know if that's the translation or the work itself. I may slowly push my way further on, but my interest has waned.

The UMBRAL Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry

UMBRAL was (I gather) a journal edited by Steve Rasnic Tem in the 70s and this anthology of poetry that appeared in it was published in 1982.

A lot of it is free verse and flutters past my glazed eyeballs without leaving much impression. One definite exception is Thomas Disch's "On Science Fiction", which seems to balance the warring feelings of "Fans are Slans" and the lack of self-confidence among science fiction fans. Fans are simultaneously better than and inferior to everybody else. A few other good ones, but that Disch poem stand out. And I guess I have good taste -- it won the Rhysling Award in 1981. Most of the poets are unknown to me, but a few (like Disch) are familiar names from science fiction.

Aha, found "On Science Fiction" reprinted here in a collection of Rhysling winners.

Five Strokes to Midnight is a World Fantasy Award nominated anthology of horror/dark fiction stories by five authors: Gary A. Braunbeck & Hank Schwaeble (which duo also edited), Tom Piccirilli, Deborah LeBlanc, and Christopher Golden. Each contributed two or three stories, loosely bound to a theme particular for each author. All pretty good stuff, many with a vein of deep personal emotion -- as a robot, this is not always my thing, but here it is handled generally really well.

The book starts out strong with Piccirilli's "Loss", as some out-of-left-field fantastic elements add some mystery to the regret. Tom's second story seems overlong, but now that he himself is gone, I'll take all the words I can get.

Leblanc's Curses gives us some vivid pictures of backwoods Louisiana - voodoo and worse.

Schwaeble's "Bone Daddy" is an agreeably nasty bit of work -- Lap dances for liches never turn out well.

Golden's Folklore stories take on Lost Miners, Goat Suckers and Ghost Trains. The last of which ends with a satisfying note that helps you close the book without shuddering.

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The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book collects a few of the longer verses Tolkien used in the Lord of the Rings, some related poems not in LotR, and others.

Many of them are rather somber in tone, while others are quite, well, Tom Bombadilly.

"The Mewlips" is delightfully creepy

The Shadows where the Mewlips dwell
Are dark and wet as ink,
And slow and softly rings their bell,
As in the slime you sink.
...

And how can I not love "Cat"?

The fat cat on the mat
   may seem to dream
of nice mice that suffice
   for him, or cream;
but he free, maybe,
   walks in thought
unbowed, proud, where loud
   roared and fought
his kin, lean and slim,
   or deep in den
in the East feasted on beasts
   and tender men.
...

His love of internal rhyme is on full display here, something I often find appealing.

The art by Pauline Baynes is amusing, hearkening to medieval illustrations, but it makes for a good segue into my last little review

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Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons and Dragons

This is a documentary film about the artists behind some of the iconic images of D&D. In many ways, it is exactly as nerdy as it sounds. As a documentary, it's maybe not the best, but there are some neat insights, and plenty of dragons (and dungeons) on display.

Once upon a time, a lot of fantasy art looked like Pauline Baynes work -- somewhat tame. And then Frazetta and Vallejo showed up and went bonkers. D&D artists all wanted to be Frazetta and Boris. And this is their story.

It's interesting to see some of the inside history of how TSR grew, and went from amusing (and sometimes somewhat crudely executed) B&W images done on the cheap, and quickly turned into big colorful professional works. And then (to my eye) it drifted into something very 'corporate'. Alas, I think this final phase has, as the film I think correctly points out, informed a lot of current fantasy art (from novels to film to videogames to everything) making it derivative of a particular TSR corporate look. I mean it's commercial art, so it is what it is. And the stuff I'm nostalgic for was commercial art as well. But that original Players Handbook cover, which is rightly lauded in the documentary, just sets you thinking in exactly the right way to explain the game.

What just happened? Who are these people? What are they doing? Some people are doing this, and other people are doing that, and then there's those people over there --  what is going on? Did the lizard things live here and worship here? What's going to happen when they pop that jewel out? What will they do then?

I know you meant me no harm, and I much admired your impressive bulk and supermodel legs.

Truly, you must have been a Methuselah or Samson of the Arachnidae!

But no Solomon.

Had you kept in your corner, all might have ended well.

But perhaps distressed by a stray droplet, or pungent steam, or the sight of a hominid,

You ventured out across the ceiling,

Dancing jerkily across gossamer threads that threatened to deposit your magnificence upon my head.

And so you met the fate of many sailors, from the companions of Odysseus to the Ty-D-Bol man.

Transported by the gods upon a magic shampoo bottle, and cast into Charybdis.

A slim volume of sinister poetry, probably most famous (among Arkham House collectors, at least) for being printed for Arkham House by Villiers Publications in England. As for the poetry: some good, some bad. Here's my favorite.

Three Sisters

Three lean sisters, of uncertain age,
Lived in a house like a rusty cage.

Amanda embroidered, and fondled her cat,
And went to church in a plum-colored hat.

Theresa baked cookies, and kept a strong box
Of old indiscretions, and babies' locks.

Laura awoke when the house was still
And the moon was round as a quinine pill.

She bloodied her mouth, and gashed her face,
And rode a black hound to the trysting place.


✓book you can finish in a day

Yes, I'm just getting around to Audrey Niffenegger's bestseller of 2003. It took longer to read than the movie to watch, but it was just as meh. There is something hidden in there, noodling ideas of fate and identity, but it remains hinted at rather than explored, making it unsatisfying, particularly on a page/insight ratio basis.

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I also read a slim chapbook of poetry by sc virtes, whom I met at the HPL film fest. the other secret house explores the things (normal and not so normal) that go on in a house when the owners are away (or sometimes there, but asleep). They range in tone from humorous to a bit more thought-provoking. Generally good stuff, and short enough that they don't wear out their welcome before they've gotten the idea across.

The faithless Cherokee obeys;
Rich Senegal her Tribute pays;
And Ganges' Tyrant shakes with Fear,
For Vengeance whispers, 'Clive is near.'

From an Ode in honor of George III, by J. Duncombe (in imitation of Horace)
(spotted in The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English)

Do what we say, give us what we want, or we will thump you.

I got an email order for a copy of the Eldritch Quintuplets. The EQ's were positively mentioned in a review of the HPL FF -- that I didn't even write! -- which I imagine is what brought on this sudden purchase.

If we ignore that present for Dr. Pookie, I made a profit at the fest.

But I guess I need to write more... five or six more film festivals and all my copies of the EQ's will finally be gone.

One of the dead-tree newspapers I walked past on my lunch strut had a headling: "Dieting on a Budget" I was thinking that some enterprising Ethiopian or Bangladeshi could make a lot of money writing a diet book for the current economy. "My people have thousands of years of real-world experience at losing weight during lean financial times. I will unveil our time-honored secrets that will help you lose more while spending less." Maybe a catchy name, like the Marasmus Diet (The Marasmus Diet is a lot more supermodel-esque than, say, the Kwashiorkor Diet).
Anyway... ( two books )