Again and Again
There is a thread on the Veritas-Parit discussion Board about what books people re read if any and if they do not why not. It's like an essay question for any Introduction to composition class. I mentioned a few authors and books in the thread by way of participating in the discussion but of course I saved up the individual titles so I could suggestion them here as part of my Master Plan (to take over the world). As you may have guessed I will now spend some time discussing a few of the books I revisit time and again.
First I am a fan of the omnibus edition. When a publisher decides to combine a number of books in one giant book and either sell it as a monstrously thick paperback or a moderately sized trade paper back, I am a happy man. So you can imagine my pleasure when I found out that stories about Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust have been collected into three books; The Book of Jhereg, The Book of Taltos and The Book of Athyra. Whenever I want a funny non traditional hero (he is an assassin) I look for the story of Vlad Taltos. Whenever my mad scientist develops my flying monkey minions I want em to be like the main characters Jhereg familiars. (No yes -man, flying monkey minions for me, I want smart caustic sarcasm!)
I move on to the swan song that is Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs. I wasn't acquainted with Burroughs works prior to his death in 1997. I was just beginning my personal study of the under currents of literature. By the time the journals were published I had read Junky and a few collections of his shorter works. I bought the journals the day I walked past em in the store. While I don't share the intensity of feelings Burroughs has towards the "war on drugs" I found his last years thoughts to be quite moving. It makes me almost glad he didn't live to see the "war on terror."
Our final stop for the evening is a book I don't currently have on hand anymore. I'm not sure if the Shy has it or if I gave it to someone else. It is one of my favorites and as such I am always trying to get other people to read it. The book is Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint. It is a sort of modern fairy tale about magic in a city setting called Newford. Many of the characters in this book go on to have stories of their own as de Lint continues the chronicles of this city scape that always has little bits of magic coming in through the cracks. It's also a story about loss and how some people work through it. Definitely need to pick up a new copy one of these days.
Taking over the world one book and one mind at a time.
More Laters
First I am a fan of the omnibus edition. When a publisher decides to combine a number of books in one giant book and either sell it as a monstrously thick paperback or a moderately sized trade paper back, I am a happy man. So you can imagine my pleasure when I found out that stories about Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust have been collected into three books; The Book of Jhereg, The Book of Taltos and The Book of Athyra. Whenever I want a funny non traditional hero (he is an assassin) I look for the story of Vlad Taltos. Whenever my mad scientist develops my flying monkey minions I want em to be like the main characters Jhereg familiars. (No yes -man, flying monkey minions for me, I want smart caustic sarcasm!)
I move on to the swan song that is Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs. I wasn't acquainted with Burroughs works prior to his death in 1997. I was just beginning my personal study of the under currents of literature. By the time the journals were published I had read Junky and a few collections of his shorter works. I bought the journals the day I walked past em in the store. While I don't share the intensity of feelings Burroughs has towards the "war on drugs" I found his last years thoughts to be quite moving. It makes me almost glad he didn't live to see the "war on terror."
Our final stop for the evening is a book I don't currently have on hand anymore. I'm not sure if the Shy has it or if I gave it to someone else. It is one of my favorites and as such I am always trying to get other people to read it. The book is Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint. It is a sort of modern fairy tale about magic in a city setting called Newford. Many of the characters in this book go on to have stories of their own as de Lint continues the chronicles of this city scape that always has little bits of magic coming in through the cracks. It's also a story about loss and how some people work through it. Definitely need to pick up a new copy one of these days.
Taking over the world one book and one mind at a time.
More Laters
posted by Rich Rosenthal II at 1:22 AM
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