InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Better than Confucius"

randomsome1 (randomsome1) wrote,
@ 2009-10-27 02:01:00

Entry tags:

in ur novel eatin ur book

Our Bella got the flu, so we only got half the movie filmed. The rest should go fairly smoothly, though . . . well, as long as Oni continues to behave. He's mis/behaved wonderfully so far, and only managed to eat the toe out of a sock.

Don't ask. Yet. :D

~~

I finished Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book and am pretty sure I'm obligated to make the man cookies at some point. The end is a little sudden, but the writing is high-level for a kids' book and overall is one of the better ones I've read in a while. I recommend it.

~~

I finally finished Chelsea Cain's Heartsick. The book's main murder mystery plot seemed eclipsed by the side(?) plot of the insane yet beautiful female serial killer and the suicidally depressed cop she's Stockholm syndrome'd, tortured, and brainfucked into a scarred, divorced, and drug-addled shadow of his former self. I'd say this is probably because the latter is a pretty new concept, while the mystery/thriller section is overflowing with the former.

Either way--the book got off to a somewhat slow start, but once it started moving (and the WTF-y interplay of Gretchen & Archie actually got going) it was interesting. If anyone wants my ARC that I've been hoarding for the past couple years, let me know.

~~

I started reading Captain Blood, too--what can I say, I wanted something out of the ordinary--and was pleasantly surprised. The main character is a near-radioactive Marty Stu (an Irishman who's the best physician around, was an awesome soldier and is still an awesome fighter, speaks perfectly accented Spanish, is oh-so-physically appealing, plots the best & sneakiest plots to ever be plotted, repeat any of those a few times over, so on and so forth) but the story rolls along really well for its originating time period, and it's written on so much of a higher level than what I've been reading lately that I'm frequently astounded. I'm not mentally tripping on the sentences because the language is archaic, I'm tripping because it's such heavy-duty wording that I as a reader have to pay close attention to in order to properly get the feel and description of things. I still don't expect much from it storyline-wise--I'm willing to bet dollars and donuts that the titular character will break hearts, defeat everyone, find treasure, get the girl, and possibly fart roses by the time it's all over--but I'll probably keep with it for a little while longer. Or at least until I find something else entertaining.

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threeoranges
2009-10-27 08:17 pm UTC (link)

Since you mentioned it, I gave HEARTSICK a go - as you say, the only thing memorable is the Gretchen/Archie interplay, but that at least worked effectively. Might give SWEETHEART a go, when I have time for reading that isn't directly NaNoWriMo-related (I know I say it every year, but maybe THIS is the year...)

And, Sabatini! The only one of his I've read was SCARAMOUCHE (which starts with a line Sabatini had on his gravestone: "He was born with the gift of laughter, and a sense that the world was mad"). Marty-Stu escapes from something, I forget what, and hides in a troupe of strolling players. Though I read it years ago, I seem to remember putting it in the same bracket as Daphne du Maurier's FRENCHMAN's CREEK (i.e. "This ain't great literature, but it's very enjoyable").

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	randomsome1 2009-10-27 08:50 pm UTC (link)
	From what I've gathered on Cain's later books, she focuses more on the Gretchen/Archie trainwreck, which might make them better than Heartsick. I worry, of course, but there's no point in worrying when I can crack the puppies open and give 'em a go. Sweetheart has recently turned up in our bargain bin--I wonder if I can borrow it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

afy
2009-10-28 09:46 pm UTC (link)

Are you me? I was actually thinking about Heartsick today! Hadn't read it, but it's such an incredibly fresh concept---Hannibal with a vagina, Starling with the penis instead of the other way around----that I'm jotting it down on my To-read list.

Interestingly, I heard about through this article on the problems with mystery/crime novels nowadays----http://bitchmagazine.org/post/no-blood-for-book-reviews#comments

We need more originality in that genre, IMO.

As for the new Neil Gaiman book, it looks durn good!

I should hope Bella feels better soon ;)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	randomsome1 2009-10-29 05:09 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, the section's rough. If I pick up one more book with an alternating POV between the (male, sadistic, egotistical, muah-ha-ha-so-evil) killer and the plucky girl detective, I'm gonna throw it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	afy 2009-10-29 11:38 pm UTC (link)
	Agreed! (Reply to this) (Parent)