26Lies and Comparisons with Harlan Ellison
Today is the day of a thousand and one blog posts, it seems. Or at least, three.
Rjurik Davidson, who is the author of the very fine 'Domine' in the most recent Aurealis, read 26lies, and wrote this:
Recently I read Ben Peek's Twenty Six Lies/ One Truth. Yes it's full of bluff and bluster, Peek coming across as a hard-ass, and yes, it's very fucking good. There are moments, in fact, of brilliance, even if the whole sometimes is too single-toned, or perhaps just a little long or perhaps its sheer intensity is tiring. But if you want to understand voice, you can do worse than starting with Peek. He does have a quiet voice that means business, but his voice when writing is not at all quiet. No, at times its something like a controlled Harlan Ellison. A controlled Harlan Ellison! - now that's something to achieve.
Of course, plenty have already written about the book's themes - those of truth and representation, most obviously in writing. It's something I've recently come to realise with this blog of mine, which collects jotted down thoughts and scenes. Sometimes people email me or text me and ask me the oddest things. And I realise that they've been reading my blog, and that it is not a direct representation of my state of mind, nor indeed are the stories all direct representations of the occurences. I select,I compress, I tell stories. Peek does too.
Rju's been comparing me to Ellison for a while now. It never fails to make me laugh, though in a good way. Whatever you've got to say about Ellison the person, he's written some fine fucking fiction.
But mostly, I just find it funny to be compared to other authors.
Anyhow, you know you want to buy the book, so you can get it from Wheatland Press, Agog! Press, and Amazon, where you can buy it with Black Sheep in one of those discount deals that aren't really a discount.
Rjurik Davidson, who is the author of the very fine 'Domine' in the most recent Aurealis, read 26lies, and wrote this:
Recently I read Ben Peek's Twenty Six Lies/ One Truth. Yes it's full of bluff and bluster, Peek coming across as a hard-ass, and yes, it's very fucking good. There are moments, in fact, of brilliance, even if the whole sometimes is too single-toned, or perhaps just a little long or perhaps its sheer intensity is tiring. But if you want to understand voice, you can do worse than starting with Peek. He does have a quiet voice that means business, but his voice when writing is not at all quiet. No, at times its something like a controlled Harlan Ellison. A controlled Harlan Ellison! - now that's something to achieve.
Of course, plenty have already written about the book's themes - those of truth and representation, most obviously in writing. It's something I've recently come to realise with this blog of mine, which collects jotted down thoughts and scenes. Sometimes people email me or text me and ask me the oddest things. And I realise that they've been reading my blog, and that it is not a direct representation of my state of mind, nor indeed are the stories all direct representations of the occurences. I select,I compress, I tell stories. Peek does too.
Rju's been comparing me to Ellison for a while now. It never fails to make me laugh, though in a good way. Whatever you've got to say about Ellison the person, he's written some fine fucking fiction.
But mostly, I just find it funny to be compared to other authors.
Anyhow, you know you want to buy the book, so you can get it from Wheatland Press, Agog! Press, and Amazon, where you can buy it with Black Sheep in one of those discount deals that aren't really a discount.