If only William Caxton were alive today
I've decided to make a "To Read" list for 2009.
Comics
I haven't read *that* many comics, but it's an art form I appreciate, and here are a few I'd like to read
Some of The Spirit, by Will Eisner. The recent film has been poorly reviewed and, by all accounts, it's not really of the same cloth as the original, instead coming across as a poor man's Sin City (incidentally, who else on my flist hated Sin City?) I've heard some very interesting things about the original, though, and about Will Eisner's place in the pantheon of cranky old Jews who created the comics world as it stands today (the top comics awards are called the Eisners, for instance). I think Neil Gaiman said "it's as if Orson Welles created Citizen Kane, revolutionised what you could do with cinema, and then carried on making films and raising his game for his entire life, instead of just falling into a creative rut". Or words to that effect.
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. I saw the film last year and loved it, and the comic is sitting on my shelf at home glaring at me.
Y, The Last Man, by someone. Andy recommended this to me, and it sounds pretty interesting. It's about the last man in a world full of women, or something. A pulpy premise, and one that I'd be interested to take a look at.
More of Mike Carey's Lucifer series. I started this series a while ago, and it's got its hook in me. It's a spin-off from Gaiman's Sandman series, following the further exploits of Lucifer, the erstwhile ruler of Hell, after stepping down from his post as ruler of Hell and turning his hand to other matters. I started The Divine Comedy (the fourth volume) on the tube this morning, and it's going rather well thus far.
The Black Dossier, by Alan Moore. I recently found out that there has been a new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book out and knocking around for over a year. This is it. The first two books (the second more than the first, I should say) were bloody brilliant, and I shall look forward to revisiting that crazy little world of Victorian literary shenanigans.
Existing Commitments
These are books that I own but haven't yet read, or books that are part of a series that I'm mid-way through, and that I will blatantly drop everything to read once they are released.
A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth. This one may take me a while to get round to, mainly because it's so intimidatingly huge, but since reading The Golden Gate by the same author (an epic poem about the love lives of a group of Silicon Valley yuppies, basically Friends as written by Homer) I've resolved to get around to it.
Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell. This one is mainly on the strength of Black Swan Green, Mitchell's superlative coming-of-age novel. I enjoyed sections of Cloud Atlas as well (especially the part about the cynical musical genius in the 1920s), but Black Swan Green was, I think, better. Ghostwritten was Mitchell's first novel; let's hope it's as good as his later ones.
With any luck, George RR Martin's A Dance With Dragons will be released AT LONG LAST. This is the latest installment of A Song Of Ice And Fire, his planned 7-book fantasy epic. It'll give me something to devour, and to see what fans on the internet can find to complain about; in many ways, it should be a substitute for there being no proper new series of Doctor Who this year.
Other
Mostly proper books that I'd like to read, but haven't.
The Calligrapher by Edward Docx. Ed told me this was very good, and I believed him.
Atonement, or possibly Enduring Love by Ian McEwan. I haven't read any McEwan, and probably should. I'm unsure which of these to read, though. I have seen the films of both of them, and thought Atonement was excellent and Enduring Love drivel; this may mean that Enduring Love will annoy me because it will remind me of a terrible film, or it may mean that Atonement will fail to live up to the promise of the film. Perhaps I'll read both- who knows?
For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, because I haven't read any Hemingway and I feel I ought to.
Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee, for much the same reason.
On the subject of books, a few words on what I've been reading lately.
I read Watchmen, and am at a loss for superlatives. This is Alan Moore's masterpiece, a dark alternate-reality story of a world in which "costumed vigilantes" are a real phenomenon, and a superhuman (the godlike Doctor Manhattan) really exists. This excels in more ways than I can easily list. The world is superbly realised, with a pantheon of "heroes" (Rorschach, Nite Owl, Ozymandias, the Comedian) who are every bit as iconic and memorable as Superman, Batman and the rest of them. The characterisation is deft, really making the reader care about the faces behind the masks. The potential of the comic book medium are expertly realised; Alan Moore's favourite technique seems to be the juxtaposition of two storylines, with the dialogue from one storyline commenting on the action in another silent story. This is used time and again to great effect, most notably in the comic-within-a-comic, Black Freighter. I also like the idea implied by this, that in a world in which superheroes are real, pirates become the most popular comic book genre.
I finished The Shadow of The Wind this morning, and was pretty unimpressed. The plot is interesting, and there are some very memorable characters and scenes, but it's written in the most unengaging style imaginable. I have no idea how the author achieved this, but I frequently found myself reading the description of an energetic, high-stakes fight, and drifting off to wonder what I would have for dinner. It's a pseudo-19th century Gothic novel, about a young man who becomes obsessed with a mysterious author. There's a beautiful yet aloof blind girl, a disfigured madman bent on burning every copy of the author's novels, a large-nosed fast-talking comic "wise fool" and an evil fascist police inspector, but really, I didn't feel that it added up to much.
And, err, that's about it.
Comics
I haven't read *that* many comics, but it's an art form I appreciate, and here are a few I'd like to read
Some of The Spirit, by Will Eisner. The recent film has been poorly reviewed and, by all accounts, it's not really of the same cloth as the original, instead coming across as a poor man's Sin City (incidentally, who else on my flist hated Sin City?) I've heard some very interesting things about the original, though, and about Will Eisner's place in the pantheon of cranky old Jews who created the comics world as it stands today (the top comics awards are called the Eisners, for instance). I think Neil Gaiman said "it's as if Orson Welles created Citizen Kane, revolutionised what you could do with cinema, and then carried on making films and raising his game for his entire life, instead of just falling into a creative rut". Or words to that effect.
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. I saw the film last year and loved it, and the comic is sitting on my shelf at home glaring at me.
Y, The Last Man, by someone. Andy recommended this to me, and it sounds pretty interesting. It's about the last man in a world full of women, or something. A pulpy premise, and one that I'd be interested to take a look at.
More of Mike Carey's Lucifer series. I started this series a while ago, and it's got its hook in me. It's a spin-off from Gaiman's Sandman series, following the further exploits of Lucifer, the erstwhile ruler of Hell, after stepping down from his post as ruler of Hell and turning his hand to other matters. I started The Divine Comedy (the fourth volume) on the tube this morning, and it's going rather well thus far.
The Black Dossier, by Alan Moore. I recently found out that there has been a new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book out and knocking around for over a year. This is it. The first two books (the second more than the first, I should say) were bloody brilliant, and I shall look forward to revisiting that crazy little world of Victorian literary shenanigans.
Existing Commitments
These are books that I own but haven't yet read, or books that are part of a series that I'm mid-way through, and that I will blatantly drop everything to read once they are released.
A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth. This one may take me a while to get round to, mainly because it's so intimidatingly huge, but since reading The Golden Gate by the same author (an epic poem about the love lives of a group of Silicon Valley yuppies, basically Friends as written by Homer) I've resolved to get around to it.
Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell. This one is mainly on the strength of Black Swan Green, Mitchell's superlative coming-of-age novel. I enjoyed sections of Cloud Atlas as well (especially the part about the cynical musical genius in the 1920s), but Black Swan Green was, I think, better. Ghostwritten was Mitchell's first novel; let's hope it's as good as his later ones.
With any luck, George RR Martin's A Dance With Dragons will be released AT LONG LAST. This is the latest installment of A Song Of Ice And Fire, his planned 7-book fantasy epic. It'll give me something to devour, and to see what fans on the internet can find to complain about; in many ways, it should be a substitute for there being no proper new series of Doctor Who this year.
Other
Mostly proper books that I'd like to read, but haven't.
The Calligrapher by Edward Docx. Ed told me this was very good, and I believed him.
Atonement, or possibly Enduring Love by Ian McEwan. I haven't read any McEwan, and probably should. I'm unsure which of these to read, though. I have seen the films of both of them, and thought Atonement was excellent and Enduring Love drivel; this may mean that Enduring Love will annoy me because it will remind me of a terrible film, or it may mean that Atonement will fail to live up to the promise of the film. Perhaps I'll read both- who knows?
For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, because I haven't read any Hemingway and I feel I ought to.
Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee, for much the same reason.
On the subject of books, a few words on what I've been reading lately.
I read Watchmen, and am at a loss for superlatives. This is Alan Moore's masterpiece, a dark alternate-reality story of a world in which "costumed vigilantes" are a real phenomenon, and a superhuman (the godlike Doctor Manhattan) really exists. This excels in more ways than I can easily list. The world is superbly realised, with a pantheon of "heroes" (Rorschach, Nite Owl, Ozymandias, the Comedian) who are every bit as iconic and memorable as Superman, Batman and the rest of them. The characterisation is deft, really making the reader care about the faces behind the masks. The potential of the comic book medium are expertly realised; Alan Moore's favourite technique seems to be the juxtaposition of two storylines, with the dialogue from one storyline commenting on the action in another silent story. This is used time and again to great effect, most notably in the comic-within-a-comic, Black Freighter. I also like the idea implied by this, that in a world in which superheroes are real, pirates become the most popular comic book genre.
I finished The Shadow of The Wind this morning, and was pretty unimpressed. The plot is interesting, and there are some very memorable characters and scenes, but it's written in the most unengaging style imaginable. I have no idea how the author achieved this, but I frequently found myself reading the description of an energetic, high-stakes fight, and drifting off to wonder what I would have for dinner. It's a pseudo-19th century Gothic novel, about a young man who becomes obsessed with a mysterious author. There's a beautiful yet aloof blind girl, a disfigured madman bent on burning every copy of the author's novels, a large-nosed fast-talking comic "wise fool" and an evil fascist police inspector, but really, I didn't feel that it added up to much.
And, err, that's about it.