Books 2009
3) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
Another of the 1001 Books, coincidentally instead of deliberately read, because I read it as part of my fascination with the Cambridge Spies Scandal, and the repercussions from that. I'm reading around it, so TTSS fits in there perfectly.
I haven't read any other John le Carré before this, but since finishing TTSS I have bought two more of his, and count myself a fan. I think that I started reading one of his books when I was far too young for it, and discarded it, and from then on decided that I didn't like his books. Later in life, I became interested in tense thrillers, especially ones not set in the US*, and also in spycraft and then in Kim Philby, and yet I kept steering clear of le Carré until I realised that I was basing all this avoidance on a teenage fit of boredom and restlessness.
So yes, I have taken to him (and to George Smiley) like a duck to water, and am halfway through The Honourable Schoolboy now.
4) Mutts III: More Shtuff by Patrick McDonnell
His third collection of the popular strips. I hate the way Mooch the cat lisps, but love the interaction between the him and Earl the dog, and just love the way that McDonnell creates both animals with just a few lines yet manages to catch the shape that they would naturally put themselves in.
5) Camouflage by Joe Haldeman
You know the way that modern authors, blessed with word processors, databases, and spellcheck, often drag a book to twice its optimal length, with the ending stretched so that you could spend two days reading the climax? Haldeman has done the opposite. Five pages from the end, and he's barely set up the climax! It felt rushed, like a deadline or wordcount forced his hand.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed this one, much more than I liked The Accidental Time Machine which I read last year. It's not going to find its way into any lists of Best SF Novels, but it made compulsive reading, and had some delightful details. I particularly liked the way that the changeling would transform into a Great White when too stressed, almost its equivalent of comfort eating, and I liked the way that we were shown this and not told it - Writing 101 and yet weirdly often still forgotten.
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In addition to The Honourable Schoolboy, as mentioned above, I am reading a collection of Alan Bennett's plays, and have been listening to a huge number of audio short stories, as well as radio plays. My pace of reading will be slacking off from now on, though, as my Finnish language classes start up again on Tuesday, and the next Players production gets under way.
* Not saying anything against US fiction per se, just that I'm not very familiar with the history or geography, and so many authors assume that I am
Another of the 1001 Books, coincidentally instead of deliberately read, because I read it as part of my fascination with the Cambridge Spies Scandal, and the repercussions from that. I'm reading around it, so TTSS fits in there perfectly.
I haven't read any other John le Carré before this, but since finishing TTSS I have bought two more of his, and count myself a fan. I think that I started reading one of his books when I was far too young for it, and discarded it, and from then on decided that I didn't like his books. Later in life, I became interested in tense thrillers, especially ones not set in the US*, and also in spycraft and then in Kim Philby, and yet I kept steering clear of le Carré until I realised that I was basing all this avoidance on a teenage fit of boredom and restlessness.
So yes, I have taken to him (and to George Smiley) like a duck to water, and am halfway through The Honourable Schoolboy now.
4) Mutts III: More Shtuff by Patrick McDonnell
His third collection of the popular strips. I hate the way Mooch the cat lisps, but love the interaction between the him and Earl the dog, and just love the way that McDonnell creates both animals with just a few lines yet manages to catch the shape that they would naturally put themselves in.
5) Camouflage by Joe Haldeman
You know the way that modern authors, blessed with word processors, databases, and spellcheck, often drag a book to twice its optimal length, with the ending stretched so that you could spend two days reading the climax? Haldeman has done the opposite. Five pages from the end, and he's barely set up the climax! It felt rushed, like a deadline or wordcount forced his hand.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed this one, much more than I liked The Accidental Time Machine which I read last year. It's not going to find its way into any lists of Best SF Novels, but it made compulsive reading, and had some delightful details. I particularly liked the way that the changeling would transform into a Great White when too stressed, almost its equivalent of comfort eating, and I liked the way that we were shown this and not told it - Writing 101 and yet weirdly often still forgotten.
**********************************
In addition to The Honourable Schoolboy, as mentioned above, I am reading a collection of Alan Bennett's plays, and have been listening to a huge number of audio short stories, as well as radio plays. My pace of reading will be slacking off from now on, though, as my Finnish language classes start up again on Tuesday, and the next Players production gets under way.
* Not saying anything against US fiction per se, just that I'm not very familiar with the history or geography, and so many authors assume that I am