The new year's new reviews
Jan. 7th, 2014 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHi,
So although I'd started it in the waning days of 2013, it was only in the new year that I managed to reach the end of The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 2 by Mark Twain. I thoroughly enjoyed Volume One which came out a couple of years ago. The only thing that held it back was that it was largely comprised of Twain's early attempts at dictating his autobiography. They were all very entertaining sketches, but once the autobiography proper got started, the book was in the final third. Well...the autobiography was, the book had an extensive set of notes at the back (longer than all of Twain's writing in the book) explaining what Twain was referring to with this or that remark. Volume Two is likewise a cinder block of a book. Mr. Twain's dictations run for about 450 pages, the next 450 pages try to provide context for the first half.
However, the book is extremely readable and I never bothered with flipping to the annotations more than once or twice. As he explained early on in Volume One, his plan is just to talk about whatever he feels like and use the present to illuminate the past. You do feel like you're in his billiard room listening to him hold court (and probably losing your money to him at the game).
As you would expect, the book has a sense of humor and I did laugh out loud in some places, and read choice bits aloud to any companions lucky enough to be sitting near me. The book also touches on more serious events, both in Twain's life and in the world at large. Mr. Twain was also something of an "early adopter" and was always seriously interested in new technical developments like the typewriter, the telephone and the phonograph. I think he'd have a keen appreciation of the Internet, but his stances on copyright and intellectual property would thrust him into some towering flame wars.
At any rate, it's a fascinating look into the man's life and I anxiously await Volume Three.
At a clip, I followed that up with Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day, Exeunt Demon King, and The Death of Me all by Jonathan L. Howard and all short stories connected with Johannes Cabal, cantankerous necromancer. The first two stories appeared in magazines and eventually lead to the book series. The final one is a short piece set between his first and second book. No real knowledge of the books is required and all of them stand alone (and were basically written as such).
Blustery Day sees Cabal face off against the fey inhabitants of his own house when a terrible wind demon is unleashed upon him. Exeunt Demon King is actually something of a Christmas story where Cabal recounts his short time upon the stage trying to track down a ghostly killer. Finally, The Death of Me, like the Dickinson poem, Death kindly stops for Cabal and the two have a most interesting conversation.
A nice set of short, punchy tales. I do prefer Cabal in a longer format since he gets to have more opportunity to be disdainful of the world around him, but I'll take whatever Cabal I can get.
So far, 2014 is starting off with a nice batch of reading. I hope it continues.
later
Tom
So although I'd started it in the waning days of 2013, it was only in the new year that I managed to reach the end of The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 2 by Mark Twain. I thoroughly enjoyed Volume One which came out a couple of years ago. The only thing that held it back was that it was largely comprised of Twain's early attempts at dictating his autobiography. They were all very entertaining sketches, but once the autobiography proper got started, the book was in the final third. Well...the autobiography was, the book had an extensive set of notes at the back (longer than all of Twain's writing in the book) explaining what Twain was referring to with this or that remark. Volume Two is likewise a cinder block of a book. Mr. Twain's dictations run for about 450 pages, the next 450 pages try to provide context for the first half.
However, the book is extremely readable and I never bothered with flipping to the annotations more than once or twice. As he explained early on in Volume One, his plan is just to talk about whatever he feels like and use the present to illuminate the past. You do feel like you're in his billiard room listening to him hold court (and probably losing your money to him at the game).
As you would expect, the book has a sense of humor and I did laugh out loud in some places, and read choice bits aloud to any companions lucky enough to be sitting near me. The book also touches on more serious events, both in Twain's life and in the world at large. Mr. Twain was also something of an "early adopter" and was always seriously interested in new technical developments like the typewriter, the telephone and the phonograph. I think he'd have a keen appreciation of the Internet, but his stances on copyright and intellectual property would thrust him into some towering flame wars.
At any rate, it's a fascinating look into the man's life and I anxiously await Volume Three.
At a clip, I followed that up with Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day, Exeunt Demon King, and The Death of Me all by Jonathan L. Howard and all short stories connected with Johannes Cabal, cantankerous necromancer. The first two stories appeared in magazines and eventually lead to the book series. The final one is a short piece set between his first and second book. No real knowledge of the books is required and all of them stand alone (and were basically written as such).
Blustery Day sees Cabal face off against the fey inhabitants of his own house when a terrible wind demon is unleashed upon him. Exeunt Demon King is actually something of a Christmas story where Cabal recounts his short time upon the stage trying to track down a ghostly killer. Finally, The Death of Me, like the Dickinson poem, Death kindly stops for Cabal and the two have a most interesting conversation.
A nice set of short, punchy tales. I do prefer Cabal in a longer format since he gets to have more opportunity to be disdainful of the world around him, but I'll take whatever Cabal I can get.
So far, 2014 is starting off with a nice batch of reading. I hope it continues.
later
Tom
