Recent Reading
Some brief comments on a few books I’ve read recently. More comic reviews soon as I get back into the swing of things.
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, Translated by Jordan Stump (Modern Library): A massive (600+ pages) novel by one of the grandfathers of science fiction. This one deals with a group of Americans who escape being Confederate prisoners in Richmond by stealing a hot air balloon during a fierce storm. They end up marooned on a strange island that seems to have an impossibly large and diverse amount of flora and fauna. For the most part this is a humanistic novel about what man can do with his perseverance, intelligence, and companionship to survive, conquer nature, and build a community. The mystery slowly builds over the course of the novel and is well concealed (and surprising, if I hadn’t learned the solution in the introduction). Verne works in a lot of information on various animals, plants, and sciences throughout. Enjoyable, my first Verne read (probably my last, I just wanted to try one). Excellent modern translation by Stump.
Chronicles Volume 1 by Bob Dylan (Simon and Schuster): I’m a fan of Dylan’s music but haven’t read much else about him (the biography I have is still unread). This autobiography is interesting for a few reasons. Firstly, Dylan avoids all the “major” events that Dylan fans were probably hoping to hear about and instead focuses on a bunch of segments from his life, including his early life before he recorded his first album and the times around a few later albums (New Morning, Oh Mercy). He is a skilled descriptive writer (one wonders how he remembers so many details, did he make them up?) who writes enthusiastically about a number of people, authors, and musicians, who influenced him. These sections are probably the most interesting parts of the book. That and a tantalizing clue that Blood on the Tracks may be based on Chekhov short stories (?). He writes about the trouble he had as the so-called spokesman of the generation and the problems he and his family faced wherever they moved (people would break into their houses).
Playback by Raymond Chandler (1958): Chandler based this novel on a screenplay of the same name which he wrote but was never filmed. I just read a comic based on the screenplay and realized I had never read the novel, so I picked up my Library of America Chandler volume and read this. He reworked the screenplay into his last Phillip Marlowe novel. It’s not one of the best, a rather non-evocative mystery that serves more as an epilogue to the Marlowe character than anything else. He seems to get a happy ending in this one.
I Wish There Was Something I Could Quit by Aaron Cometbus (Last Gasp, 2006): I’ve been reading Aaron’s zine “Cometbus” subsequent volumes for years now. He is one of the great autobiographical writers of our times, covering a underground/punk subculture in a very personal and interesting way. He’s had previous efforts that he labelled as “novels” but were still just long autobiographical stories. In this case, he still seems to be writing autobiography (he is one of the protagonists), but also attempts writing from the point of view of other characters. Unfortunately, I don’t find it very convincing. Whenever he is writing someone other than himself I found the characters weak, a problem when the book really revolves around the characters moreso than the plot (which is really nonexistant). Better to pick up one of his others books.
In the online world, I just finished the Onion A/V Club’s long interview with Alan Moore. It’s mostly about his and Melinda Gebbie’s Lost Girls, but he does mention his in process second novel, Jerusalem, which he claims will still take a few years and end up at 1500 pages. I’m looking forward to it, his first novel, Voice of the Fire, was excellent.
Entries RSS
No comments
Jump to comment form | comments rss [?]