Books read in July +2000 pages scanned in the last week
Favorite line of the month:
"Right," he said, putting on gloves, picking out a moustache and a sword and a laser-blaster. "Let's go sell some books."
from
1. "The Right Book" by Cory Doctorow for The Future of the book Web site (2008) [etext] (blind readers should contact me if they want to read this, as the Web site has flash which prevents screen reader users from getting to the story).
My summer project of attempting to read as much horror criticism as possible continues, and there were a couple of favorites this month. Also, in the last week I have scanned more than two thousand pages; over nine hundred of those pages represented a single book which I will be reviewing at a later time.
How long, you may wonder, does it take me to scan nine hundred pages? The answer is three days, scanning a couple of hours in the morning, a couple of hours in the evening, and on and off throughout the day. The book weighs approximately 2 1/2 pounds, but fortunately the book dimensions were standard, so I could scan two pages at a time, which means I only had to life the book a little over 450 times in order to turn the page.
Another question which you may be wondering might be, why not just scan as you go along? My answers are
1. my scanner is set up in the computer room/library, which is not my favorite reading space (that would be the aerye, which is much more cool and quiet, plus offers space for a range of reading sutras);
2. the 900+ book is definitely highly immersive, which means pausing to scan another page is jarring because it interrupts the flow;
3. once a book is scanned, I can port it to my accessible media player, which lets me hit a single button to start/stop reading, though I rarely do this until I hae done one read-through and made appropriate corrections to the scannos.
2. _Rhetorics of Fantasy_ by Farah Mendlesohn (2008) [etext]
A great book for anyone who wants to spend some thought on examining how narrative works and which kinds of narrative one likes or dislikes as a reader. Inspired me to add Todorov to my reading list.
3. _Ancient Images_ by Ramsey Campbell (1989) [scanned myself]
A television editor sets out to discover the secret of an obscure film which led to the death of a friend. Campbell masterfully turns this into a tale about media images and the way they contribute to cultural stereotypes and scapegoats.
4. _Uranian Worlds: A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (Second Ed.)_ Eric Garber and Lyn Paleo (1990) [scanned myself]
Great book on the subject, although for many of the entries the characters or situations mentioned are very tangential. It would be wonderful to see a more recent edition of this book. Also, Samuel R. Delaney's introduction is just great, as he points out that if we want to change the way we write we need to change the way we read.
5. _Nightmare Movies: A Critical Guide to Horror Films_ by Kim Newman (1988) [scanned myself]
Lively discussion of horror films through the late 1980s. Newman watches these films so you don't have to, producing one of the best books on horror films. If you are looking for the good stuff--or the bad stuff--read this book. Newman's criticisms are always relevant without being elitist.
6. Horror, the film reader edited by Mark Jancovich (2002) [scanned myself]
Great introduction to horror film criticism, especially as a significant number of the essays represent feminist film theory (unlike many anthologies of horror criticism, which still tend to be male-dominated. Also, these essays are very readable, making them suitable for undergrads and others not yet familiar with the language of critical theory.
7. "Preflash" by John M. Ford
8. "The Answer Tree" by Steven R. Boyett
from Silver Scream edited by David Schow (1988) [scanned myself]
Two unique horror stories written about film, which is the theme of all of the stories in this collection. I'm fascinated by horror literature's preoccupation with horror film.
9. "The Summer People" by Shirley Jackson from The Dark Descent, edited by David Hartwell [scanned myself]
A spooky story with no ghost, no monster; Jackson creates atmosphere through objects, weather, landscape, and other details which seem completely commonplace until you get tot he end of the story, at which point every individual detail takes on ominous significance.
10. )John the Balladeer_ by Manley Wade Wellman (1988) [etext]
Great collection of stories featuring a wandering Appalachian guitar player. These stories weave together folklore, songs, and weird fiction. I would really like to find more stories like these.
11. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (1967) [Bookshare.org]
One of my favorite children's books, it has running away, hiding out in a museum, and cross-referencing, plus it is a wonderful advertisement for the idea that everyone should have her own eccentric but personal cataloguing system.
12. The Gods in Winter by Patricia Miles (1978) [scanned myself]
Another charming fantasy story, hard to describe without spoilers, but safe to say, very much about elementals.
13. "The Best/Worst Halloween Ever" by Barbara Robinson (2004) [NLS Web braille etext]
"Why do you want to run all over the neighborhood in the dark, and try to keep your costume together, and hang on to your trick-or-treat bag and your flashlight, and then on top of everything else, stay away from the Herdmans? Why?"
Yes," Charlie said, after a second.
"Yes, what?" Mother said.
"All that. Even the Herdmans." He shrugged. "That's what Halloween is supposed to be."
14. One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak (2007) [Bookshare.org]
Bleak story about a young teen runaway and his relationship with the ghost of a classmate who was murdered.
15. "The Mysterious Stranger" by Mark Twain [Project Gutenberg etext]
"Every man is a suffering machine and a happiness machine combined."...Twain's retelling of the Faust myth.
16. _A Dark Night's Dreaming: Contemporary American Horror Fiction_ edited by Tony Magistrale and Michael A. Morrison (1996) [scanned myself]
A collection of essays which grew out of an International Association on the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA) conference but is strangely lifeless, perhaps because I was also reading Kim Newman's writing at the same time.
17. _The Privilege of the Sword_ by Ellen Kushner (2006) [Bookshare.org]
I really loved this book: young woman with a sword, who can resist? Also, I loved the Austen-like dialogue, which is ironic since I really don't like Austen's writing.
18. Grimm Pictures: Fairy Tale Archetypes in Eight Horror and Suspense Films by Walter Rankin 2007
19. "When the Woman Looks" by Linda Williams from Re-vision : essays, in feminist film criticism edited by Mary Ann Doane, Patricia Mellencamp, and Linda Williams (1983) [scanned myself]
More in my project to absorb a wide range of horror criticism.
20. "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death and Vampires" by Garth Nix [etext online]
Amusing paranormal noir short story.
"Right," he said, putting on gloves, picking out a moustache and a sword and a laser-blaster. "Let's go sell some books."
from
1. "The Right Book" by Cory Doctorow for The Future of the book Web site (2008) [etext] (blind readers should contact me if they want to read this, as the Web site has flash which prevents screen reader users from getting to the story).
My summer project of attempting to read as much horror criticism as possible continues, and there were a couple of favorites this month. Also, in the last week I have scanned more than two thousand pages; over nine hundred of those pages represented a single book which I will be reviewing at a later time.
How long, you may wonder, does it take me to scan nine hundred pages? The answer is three days, scanning a couple of hours in the morning, a couple of hours in the evening, and on and off throughout the day. The book weighs approximately 2 1/2 pounds, but fortunately the book dimensions were standard, so I could scan two pages at a time, which means I only had to life the book a little over 450 times in order to turn the page.
Another question which you may be wondering might be, why not just scan as you go along? My answers are
1. my scanner is set up in the computer room/library, which is not my favorite reading space (that would be the aerye, which is much more cool and quiet, plus offers space for a range of reading sutras);
2. the 900+ book is definitely highly immersive, which means pausing to scan another page is jarring because it interrupts the flow;
3. once a book is scanned, I can port it to my accessible media player, which lets me hit a single button to start/stop reading, though I rarely do this until I hae done one read-through and made appropriate corrections to the scannos.
2. _Rhetorics of Fantasy_ by Farah Mendlesohn (2008) [etext]
A great book for anyone who wants to spend some thought on examining how narrative works and which kinds of narrative one likes or dislikes as a reader. Inspired me to add Todorov to my reading list.
3. _Ancient Images_ by Ramsey Campbell (1989) [scanned myself]
A television editor sets out to discover the secret of an obscure film which led to the death of a friend. Campbell masterfully turns this into a tale about media images and the way they contribute to cultural stereotypes and scapegoats.
4. _Uranian Worlds: A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (Second Ed.)_ Eric Garber and Lyn Paleo (1990) [scanned myself]
Great book on the subject, although for many of the entries the characters or situations mentioned are very tangential. It would be wonderful to see a more recent edition of this book. Also, Samuel R. Delaney's introduction is just great, as he points out that if we want to change the way we write we need to change the way we read.
5. _Nightmare Movies: A Critical Guide to Horror Films_ by Kim Newman (1988) [scanned myself]
Lively discussion of horror films through the late 1980s. Newman watches these films so you don't have to, producing one of the best books on horror films. If you are looking for the good stuff--or the bad stuff--read this book. Newman's criticisms are always relevant without being elitist.
6. Horror, the film reader edited by Mark Jancovich (2002) [scanned myself]
Great introduction to horror film criticism, especially as a significant number of the essays represent feminist film theory (unlike many anthologies of horror criticism, which still tend to be male-dominated. Also, these essays are very readable, making them suitable for undergrads and others not yet familiar with the language of critical theory.
7. "Preflash" by John M. Ford
8. "The Answer Tree" by Steven R. Boyett
from Silver Scream edited by David Schow (1988) [scanned myself]
Two unique horror stories written about film, which is the theme of all of the stories in this collection. I'm fascinated by horror literature's preoccupation with horror film.
9. "The Summer People" by Shirley Jackson from The Dark Descent, edited by David Hartwell [scanned myself]
A spooky story with no ghost, no monster; Jackson creates atmosphere through objects, weather, landscape, and other details which seem completely commonplace until you get tot he end of the story, at which point every individual detail takes on ominous significance.
10. )John the Balladeer_ by Manley Wade Wellman (1988) [etext]
Great collection of stories featuring a wandering Appalachian guitar player. These stories weave together folklore, songs, and weird fiction. I would really like to find more stories like these.
11. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (1967) [Bookshare.org]
One of my favorite children's books, it has running away, hiding out in a museum, and cross-referencing, plus it is a wonderful advertisement for the idea that everyone should have her own eccentric but personal cataloguing system.
12. The Gods in Winter by Patricia Miles (1978) [scanned myself]
Another charming fantasy story, hard to describe without spoilers, but safe to say, very much about elementals.
13. "The Best/Worst Halloween Ever" by Barbara Robinson (2004) [NLS Web braille etext]
"Why do you want to run all over the neighborhood in the dark, and try to keep your costume together, and hang on to your trick-or-treat bag and your flashlight, and then on top of everything else, stay away from the Herdmans? Why?"
Yes," Charlie said, after a second.
"Yes, what?" Mother said.
"All that. Even the Herdmans." He shrugged. "That's what Halloween is supposed to be."
14. One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak (2007) [Bookshare.org]
Bleak story about a young teen runaway and his relationship with the ghost of a classmate who was murdered.
15. "The Mysterious Stranger" by Mark Twain [Project Gutenberg etext]
"Every man is a suffering machine and a happiness machine combined."...Twain's retelling of the Faust myth.
16. _A Dark Night's Dreaming: Contemporary American Horror Fiction_ edited by Tony Magistrale and Michael A. Morrison (1996) [scanned myself]
A collection of essays which grew out of an International Association on the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA) conference but is strangely lifeless, perhaps because I was also reading Kim Newman's writing at the same time.
17. _The Privilege of the Sword_ by Ellen Kushner (2006) [Bookshare.org]
I really loved this book: young woman with a sword, who can resist? Also, I loved the Austen-like dialogue, which is ironic since I really don't like Austen's writing.
18. Grimm Pictures: Fairy Tale Archetypes in Eight Horror and Suspense Films by Walter Rankin 2007
19. "When the Woman Looks" by Linda Williams from Re-vision : essays, in feminist film criticism edited by Mary Ann Doane, Patricia Mellencamp, and Linda Williams (1983) [scanned myself]
More in my project to absorb a wide range of horror criticism.
20. "Bad Luck, Trouble, Death and Vampires" by Garth Nix [etext online]
Amusing paranormal noir short story.