West Bank Story

Just saw this on SBS. Very nice.

The stress of her regard

Just finished reading The Stress of her Regard, by Tim Powers. I've got to say I do really enjoy reading Tim Powers - I've got to get my hands on the rest of them some time (I've read Declare, The Anubis Gates, Drawing of the Dark, and On Stranger Tides). His stuff isn't like anything else out there (that I've read, anyway) - it's pseudo-historical fiction, based around real characters and events, and he then comes up with the secret occult secrets that explain it all. There's a depth to the mythologies and occult lore in his books that is just astonishing, and he comes at the ideas from a completely different angle than anyone else.

Stress is a vampire novel, with Byron, Shelley, and Keats. It tells the story of the last years of Shelley's life through the eyes of Michael Crawford, an English doctor who is haunted by a strange demon/vampire/lamia creature. It was a riveting read, and the mythology that Powers builds is rich and believable. It's certainly one of his better books, and it's another of his that will haunt my thoughts of mythology and religion. Reading Shelley's wikipedia entry is like getting a recap of the story of the book, minus the bits the book states didn't make it into the public record.

Summary: a damn good read. Go out and read all of Tim Powers' stuff, especially the later novels, where he's worked out how to end a story without an anticlimax.

Kids

Today was an amusing day to be a dad.

First was Dante on the train. We were on our way home, and he spotted a young couple near us (Uni students, by the look of them) looking at a book together. Strolled over a little, trying to figure out what it was. Peered over the girl's shoulder, trying to read. The guy seemed to be trying to impress his girl with his culturedness ("Hey, read this, it's great!"). Eventually Dante caught their attention, and they showed him the book (Catch 22). He asked to read it, and they handed it over. He started reading it; they were impressed by his reading prowess - you could see Dante was very much enjoying impressing the young lady. After he handed the book back (we were nearing our station), he told the guy that he looked like Peter Parker. The girl didn't know who that was, but the guy said "Oh yeah, Spiderman". She commented that she didn't really know Spiderman, and the guy said to Dante "Don't worry, she isn't very cool". Dante looked up at her and said "I think you're cool".

The kid is busting moves on Uni students, and leaving their Uni-aged boyfriends in the dust. I fear his charm when he becomes a teenager.

Next was Atty, who had his shots today. I'm told he was a Very Brave Boy, and Didn't Cry Much. When I was bathing his and his sister, he said to her "Look at my shot! Look! But, don't touch it, or you might get a shot too!". Who knew vaccinations were contagious?

And then there was Elora, chattering away to herself. "I'm a girl, I'm a girl, vroom, vroom, vroom".

Thongor Against The Gods

I've wanted to read this for a long time - the sheer blatant unsubtleness of its cover and title made it somewhat legendary in my days of running the Sutekh library back in the day. I never got round to reading it back then, and I'm glad I left it until after I've read most of the good Conan stories (all the Robert E. Howard and Robert Jordan). After all, Conan should rightly be seen as the standard by which all barbarian fiction is to be judged.

In comparison to the barbarian stories of Howard, Thongor felt shallow and pale. The exoticness of the word was painted in broad, blunt strokes, and the characters had little force. Howard's Conan wasn't deeply developed, but he was richly and lovingly (almost lustfully) portrayed. Scarcely a page passed without an evocative description of Conan's powerful musculature rippling in the harsh sunlight as the tiger-like barbarian tensed for battle. In comparison, Lin Carter's Thongor was merely Strong, and his wife Sumia merely Slim and Beautiful.

I don't think I'll be seeking out the rest of Carter's Thongor series in a hurry.

Hippopotamus

Recently finished Hippopotamus, a novel by Stephen Fry. 'twas an amusing read, with Fry's usual dlightful wit suffused throughout. I'm used to his full-on tidal wave of linguistic gymnastics from A Bit of Fry And Laurie, so this novel felt very restrained and calm in comparison. The ending was somewhat underwhelming, but the characters and use of language made the book a worthwhile read. I haven't read any of his other books, and I will keep an eye out for them.

4-year-old language

Atty, to his little sister: "Let's chase our chuthers!"

They proceed to chase each other.

Mockingbird

Have just finished reading Mockingbird, by Walter Tevis.Was a good read, dystopian sci-fi in the style of Fahrenheit 451 or Brave New World. It portrays a world where reading has been forgotten; robots run the world and humans are educated to be stupid and ignorant and purely driven by sensation; and one man learns to read and that has large consequences. It has that feeling of abstraction, of a world without real texture, only really there to serve the message he's trying to get across, a gross exaggeration of a trend he's seeing in the world that he doesn't like. It still ended up being a decent story, with the characters gradually gaining some dimension as the story progresses. Of course, the gaining of dimension was kind of the point of the story; but a bit more texture in the society portrayed would have made it more real.

A worthwhile read.