|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Apr 27, 2013 21:08:47 GMT
I remember finding DOORWAYS IN THE SAND very entertaining. But LORD OF LIGHT goes on the list. Ah this is interesting. I had terrible trouble with some Zelazny including Lord of Light as I couldn't understand what on earth it was meant to be about until about halfway through but I thought it was me. The Dream Master was another impenetrable one. I do like the first five amber books and his Last Defender of Camelot short story collections, though These comments put me off of reading Lord of Light for half a year, but I finished it today and ended up rather liking it. Even so, I can't believe that anyone seriously thought about building a theme park around the novel.
|
|
|
Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 28, 2013 16:37:57 GMT
Are the GORMENGHAST books on the list yet? (Edit: I see they are.) I just recently had to give up on TITUS GROAN. I was seized by the suspicion that it was all about absurdity for its own sake, something I cannot stand.
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Apr 28, 2013 17:06:45 GMT
I made it through both Titus Groan and Gormenghast many years ago, though I'll confess to skipping some parts (such as the Bright Carver love triangle). If you want to jump to the best part of the first book, I'd suggest reading "Blood at Midnight" and "Gone."
I recently purchased Titus Alone but haven't started reading it yet.
|
|
|
Post by Craig Herbertson on Apr 28, 2013 18:14:05 GMT
If you skipped the bright carver triangle ( a subplot that was the weak point for me too)I'm afraid for the reasons Jojo points out you might as well leave Titus Alone on the shelf.
|
|
|
Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 28, 2013 19:07:02 GMT
Here is a mystery for you: Why are some chapter titles of TITUS GROAN in quotation marks, while others are not?
|
|
|
Post by Craig Herbertson on Apr 29, 2013 6:38:50 GMT
Here is a mystery for you: Why are some chapter titles of TITUS GROAN in quotation marks, while others are not? This is an utterly random guess but Peake was very ill when writing it so they may well distinguish provisional titles or titles the editor made up because the book was incomplete.
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Apr 29, 2013 11:49:44 GMT
Here is a mystery for you: Why are some chapter titles of TITUS GROAN in quotation marks, while others are not? I can't even figure out why he called the first book Titus Groan and the second one Gormenghast. It seems as though it should be the other way around--Titus barely appears at all in the book that bears his name.
|
|
|
Post by ripper on May 4, 2013 17:23:18 GMT
About 12 years ago I began reading Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice. I read about half of the book, but just couldn't finish it. I found it hard-going and it didn't hold my interest enough to justify ploughing through to the end.
|
|
|
Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 4, 2013 18:49:06 GMT
I remember finding INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE extremely compelling; I think I finished it in one sitting. I never managed to finish any of her other novels, though.
|
|
|
Post by ripper on May 6, 2013 12:51:39 GMT
I haven't read anything else by Ann Rice since my abortive attempt at Interview with the Vampire. It just didn't engage my interest enough, though I am aware that I might be in a small minority :-).
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on May 26, 2013 12:25:23 GMT
If you skipped the bright carver triangle ( a subplot that was the weak point for me too)I'm afraid for the reasons Jojo points out you might as well leave Titus Alone on the shelf. I'm now a fourth of the way through Titus Alone, and I can see what you mean. That's what I get for ignoring your advice.
|
|
|
Post by Craig Herbertson on May 27, 2013 14:25:00 GMT
If you skipped the bright carver triangle ( a subplot that was the weak point for me too)I'm afraid for the reasons Jojo points out you might as well leave Titus Alone on the shelf. I'm now a fourth of the way through Titus Alone, and I can see what you mean. That's what I get for ignoring your advice. Many people ignore me to their great advantage...
|
|
|
Post by Dr Strange on Nov 15, 2013 10:28:14 GMT
Gustav Meyrink's The Golem: I've been trying to read it over the last few days but, having reached the half-way mark and realised I haven't the faintest idea what is supposed to be going on, I've given up. Maybe it's a bad translation (the copy I have seems to be from some small press, based in Germany - I think - because it's something-'Verlag'), or maybe it's me, but it is utterly impenetrable. What with all the references to 'Cabala' and 'tarot' symbolism, what it most reminded me of was some of Crowley's, ummm.., 'non-fiction'.
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Nov 21, 2021 16:20:08 GMT
Cauldron and Craig, interesting comments about the Narnia books (I think the posts were from around 2012, and I just spotted them because of the link to the post about some dear chap rewriting The Night Land--precious).
I saw a copy of The Magician's Nephew in a neighborhood book box or "street library" a couple of weeks ago and picked it up to have a flip. The whiff of earnest Churchianity that came off the pages was sufficient to have me quickly shoving it back into the receptacle.
Sometimes you really can't go home again.
H.
|
|
|
Post by PeterC on Nov 21, 2021 18:12:04 GMT
I’m the other way round - any hint of the atheistic soap-box and I’m off like scalded cat.
|
|