Communication 101
Dreamt that I got lost mountain climbing in the Alps. Somehow my trusty German Shepherd and I ended up on a steep, snow covered shelf way, waaaaaaaaaaaay up the side of a mountain. The damn dog kept sniffing around near the ledge while I tried to claw my way up to a more secure location. Falling would have meant plummeting to my death. Not. Cool.
Yesterday I went to Costco to get my first pair of eye glasses in six years. I picked out my frames and went up to the counter. The man said, "The frames will be $60 and the lenses will be $110. They'll be scratch resistant, anti-glare, etc etc."
$110 seemed a little steep, but it had been so long since I'd gotten glasses I didn't think anything of it. He rang me up and handed me the receipt - which indicated that frames were $60, lenses were $80, and the anti-glare crap was $30.
Say what now? Oh, way to pull a fast one there, slick rick. Jackass gave me back my $30, and was completely pleasant the entire time. But I have to wonder how many people that little fib has suckered.
This weekend went by like a comet. The bare minimum was accomplished and leisure time was held at a premium. I have a midterm due this week and a desperate need to start my final project. I'll register for summer classes on Thursday and finally, FINALLY, start my IRA. In other news, I've found time to read again.
The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick
The novel opens with Will as a young, carefree, mongrel fey. But when an iron dragon, crippled from war, limps into his village and make Will his lieutenant, things start to change. Reviled for his association with the dragon, Will is cast out of his home and begins a journey takes him to the city of Babel. There he falls in with a confidence trickster, a mysterious little girl, and a beautiful elf who is far above his station.
Dragons is set in the same dark urban landscape of Swanwick's earlier novel The Iron Dragon's Daughter. And while Swanwick writes supernatural fiction, it isn't the usual pulp. He takes old fairy tale tropes and turns them on their head. The fae are amplifications of vice and debauchery. Will, who is part human, often finds himself at odds with thier animalistic nature. Entropy also plays a major role as each flawed character ultimately fuels their own destruction. The major theme of the novel, however, is free will and predestination. Will is "aimed at his fate like an arrow." The question is, what will/can he do once he realizes this?
I really enjoy Swanwick, but his writing is not for everyone. The dialog is vulgar and violent, and his effort to recreate the randomness of real life makes for fractured and sometimes unresolved plot points. Pick him up if you are looking for something out of the ordinary and quite dark.
Yesterday I went to Costco to get my first pair of eye glasses in six years. I picked out my frames and went up to the counter. The man said, "The frames will be $60 and the lenses will be $110. They'll be scratch resistant, anti-glare, etc etc."
$110 seemed a little steep, but it had been so long since I'd gotten glasses I didn't think anything of it. He rang me up and handed me the receipt - which indicated that frames were $60, lenses were $80, and the anti-glare crap was $30.
Say what now? Oh, way to pull a fast one there, slick rick. Jackass gave me back my $30, and was completely pleasant the entire time. But I have to wonder how many people that little fib has suckered.
This weekend went by like a comet. The bare minimum was accomplished and leisure time was held at a premium. I have a midterm due this week and a desperate need to start my final project. I'll register for summer classes on Thursday and finally, FINALLY, start my IRA. In other news, I've found time to read again.
The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick
The novel opens with Will as a young, carefree, mongrel fey. But when an iron dragon, crippled from war, limps into his village and make Will his lieutenant, things start to change. Reviled for his association with the dragon, Will is cast out of his home and begins a journey takes him to the city of Babel. There he falls in with a confidence trickster, a mysterious little girl, and a beautiful elf who is far above his station.
Dragons is set in the same dark urban landscape of Swanwick's earlier novel The Iron Dragon's Daughter. And while Swanwick writes supernatural fiction, it isn't the usual pulp. He takes old fairy tale tropes and turns them on their head. The fae are amplifications of vice and debauchery. Will, who is part human, often finds himself at odds with thier animalistic nature. Entropy also plays a major role as each flawed character ultimately fuels their own destruction. The major theme of the novel, however, is free will and predestination. Will is "aimed at his fate like an arrow." The question is, what will/can he do once he realizes this?
I really enjoy Swanwick, but his writing is not for everyone. The dialog is vulgar and violent, and his effort to recreate the randomness of real life makes for fractured and sometimes unresolved plot points. Pick him up if you are looking for something out of the ordinary and quite dark.