Recent reading
It's again been a while since I wrote anything about my recent reading. The largest chunk of my backlog consists of books 6-14 of Akimine Kamijyo's manga Samurai Deeper Kyo (86.-89., 93.-97.). Even though on the surface it might look like it's just one fight after another with some of the characters trying to determine who is the biggest badass around (well, Kyo, obviously :)), but I like it how the characters' background and motivations are slowly revealed and how many things aren't necessarily what they seem. I also like how some characters' loyalties seem to be shifting all the time, depending on the situation.
It is very clear that Yuya is completely out of her depth with the people she travels with, since are all extraordinary in one way or another. But is also the linking factor that brought them together and keeps them together, despite their differences. This is very well revealed when everybody works together when she is infected by the waterwyrms.
She really is totally clueless about how Kyo feels, even though everybody else around has noticed that she has become his weakness. He is always there whenever she's threatened and performs even more amazing feats of strength in order to protect her. Of course he doesn't say anything and quite a lot of the time acts as his usual crass self, but it's very clear to see that he has deep feelings for her.
I really wonder what is the connection between Kyo and Kyoshiro and the Mibu clan's former Crimson King. Ah well, I guess it will be revealed some time in the future. Also, what is the meaning of the red cross sign that occasionally appears on Kyo/Kyoshiro's back?
One of my favourite interludes was Yukimura's story about how he found his motivation to fight when he was younger. He may appear as a happy-go-lucky character for most of the time, but he cares deeply for his people and friends and is willing to protect them at any cost.
Another such person is Benitora. He is another person who acts the fool quite a lot of time, but when the situation turn serious, he is always ready to fight for his friends. His puppy-love for Yuya is quite amusing at times, but it is also one of the motivations behind his determination to become stronger. It looks like he still has some growing up to do, but he is well on his way to fulfilling his full potential as a man.
I like all the other characters in Kyo's group as well and can't wait to see how the story unfolds in the future. The artwork is really great: it's so detailed, but also manages to convey the motion and speed in the action sequences so well.
* * *
In between all the SDK books, I also read a couple of books of (90.-91.) Mayu Shinjo's Sensual Phrase manga (books 4-5), which continues to be mildly entertaining, but not something I could see myself marathoning on, unlike SDK.
* * *
And to prove that manga isn't the only things I've been reading lately, I've read (92.) Kelly Link's short story collection Magic for Beginners, which I enjoyed very much. I like her quirky and wonderful in which she manages to make something magical out of mundane things.
I think my favourite in this collection was either "The Fairy Handbag" or "Magic for Beginners", which I'd already in Finnish translation in the Uuskummaa?! anthology edited by jukkahoo. I guess Link's stories might be called new weird (or whatever is the fashionable term nowadays), but they could also be called magical realism just as well.
BTW, while I was reading the collection, I got the strong urge to (re)read something by Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry, for example. I guess it was because "The Cannon" and also possible "Catskin" somehow reminded me of her writing.
I loved it how it might be possible to interprete "Stone Animals" as straight-out story about weird things happening for one family, but you could also read it as a one woman's slight descent into madness during her pregnancy and of the way she draws both her children into her psychosis with her. The husband seems to be away almost all of the time, thanks to his work, and she and the children are alone in the house. All the obsessive painting and the way things suddenly become "cursed" overnight made for a very ominous atmosphere in the story. I liked it a lot.
* * *
Then to my last book of this batch, which was a reread of (98.) James A. Hetley's The Summer Country, a gritty and dark fantasy whose main protagonist, Maureen, might be diagnozed as a crazy in our world, but who is revealed to be one of the Old Ones (people with fairy blood might be the simples way of putting it). She stumbles into the middle of a power struggle which soon disrupts her and her sister's lives quite thoroughly drawing them into the Summer Country.
Quite a lot of her mental problems are revealed to be due to her blood legacy (she really can talk to trees, it isn't a hallucination after all), but not all. There are deep traumas in her past which affect her choices and actions in the present day. Even though she finds her strength in the new situation, she isn't completely healed.
It is very clear that Yuya is completely out of her depth with the people she travels with, since are all extraordinary in one way or another. But is also the linking factor that brought them together and keeps them together, despite their differences. This is very well revealed when everybody works together when she is infected by the waterwyrms.
She really is totally clueless about how Kyo feels, even though everybody else around has noticed that she has become his weakness. He is always there whenever she's threatened and performs even more amazing feats of strength in order to protect her. Of course he doesn't say anything and quite a lot of the time acts as his usual crass self, but it's very clear to see that he has deep feelings for her.
I really wonder what is the connection between Kyo and Kyoshiro and the Mibu clan's former Crimson King. Ah well, I guess it will be revealed some time in the future. Also, what is the meaning of the red cross sign that occasionally appears on Kyo/Kyoshiro's back?
One of my favourite interludes was Yukimura's story about how he found his motivation to fight when he was younger. He may appear as a happy-go-lucky character for most of the time, but he cares deeply for his people and friends and is willing to protect them at any cost.
Another such person is Benitora. He is another person who acts the fool quite a lot of time, but when the situation turn serious, he is always ready to fight for his friends. His puppy-love for Yuya is quite amusing at times, but it is also one of the motivations behind his determination to become stronger. It looks like he still has some growing up to do, but he is well on his way to fulfilling his full potential as a man.
I like all the other characters in Kyo's group as well and can't wait to see how the story unfolds in the future. The artwork is really great: it's so detailed, but also manages to convey the motion and speed in the action sequences so well.
* * *
In between all the SDK books, I also read a couple of books of (90.-91.) Mayu Shinjo's Sensual Phrase manga (books 4-5), which continues to be mildly entertaining, but not something I could see myself marathoning on, unlike SDK.
* * *
And to prove that manga isn't the only things I've been reading lately, I've read (92.) Kelly Link's short story collection Magic for Beginners, which I enjoyed very much. I like her quirky and wonderful in which she manages to make something magical out of mundane things.
I think my favourite in this collection was either "The Fairy Handbag" or "Magic for Beginners", which I'd already in Finnish translation in the Uuskummaa?! anthology edited by jukkahoo. I guess Link's stories might be called new weird (or whatever is the fashionable term nowadays), but they could also be called magical realism just as well.
BTW, while I was reading the collection, I got the strong urge to (re)read something by Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry, for example. I guess it was because "The Cannon" and also possible "Catskin" somehow reminded me of her writing.
I loved it how it might be possible to interprete "Stone Animals" as straight-out story about weird things happening for one family, but you could also read it as a one woman's slight descent into madness during her pregnancy and of the way she draws both her children into her psychosis with her. The husband seems to be away almost all of the time, thanks to his work, and she and the children are alone in the house. All the obsessive painting and the way things suddenly become "cursed" overnight made for a very ominous atmosphere in the story. I liked it a lot.
* * *
Then to my last book of this batch, which was a reread of (98.) James A. Hetley's The Summer Country, a gritty and dark fantasy whose main protagonist, Maureen, might be diagnozed as a crazy in our world, but who is revealed to be one of the Old Ones (people with fairy blood might be the simples way of putting it). She stumbles into the middle of a power struggle which soon disrupts her and her sister's lives quite thoroughly drawing them into the Summer Country.
Quite a lot of her mental problems are revealed to be due to her blood legacy (she really can talk to trees, it isn't a hallucination after all), but not all. There are deep traumas in her past which affect her choices and actions in the present day. Even though she finds her strength in the new situation, she isn't completely healed.