Danger! Chaos! Paint!

[danceswithwords]

My house is no longer a fiery death trap! Or, at least, we are aware of no further fiery death trap problems at this time, though I have every confidence, based on past experience, that my next seemingly-benign home improvement project will uncover some new and exciting problem. And the rest of the work, including re-plastering the giant hole in

Comments

[thassalia]

I found Cherryh's prose style to be dry bordering on arid; she is certainly skilled with words, but in a way that invites abstraction and distant, intellectual examination rather than visceral, emotional engagement.

That is a perfect description of Cherryh's style, and exactly why after finishing the Morgaine books, I've never felt compelled to pick up any others.

[cofax7]

Huh. Whereas I've found the Morgaine books to be almost the most emotional of them all. Complicated, still, but I bonded with Nhi Vanye in a way I really didn't with any of her other protagonists.

Well, except maybe for Pyanfar Chanur. She's pretty awesome.

I think Cherryh is brilliant, but yeah, there's often a distance between the reader and the character, even when it's an intimate narration. You see all their warts.

I read Bujold for characterization and emotional engagement; I read Cherryh for the plots and complications, mostly. And the aliens: she does awesome aliens and alien cultures.

[thassalia]

I think Cherryh is brilliant, but yeah, there's often a distance between the reader and the character, even when it's an intimate narration. You see all their warts.

For me, it wasn't even the warts, it was this... created distance that was largely shaped by the density of her language, the way she feels very removed from her characters (she knows them - deeply and intimately - and yet there...I'm having a hard time articulating why her writing doesn't connect with me. Sometimes I find Bujold's prose... too breezy, and Cherryh's never ever breezy.)

[danceswithwords]

I think Cherryh is brilliant, but yeah, there's often a distance between the reader and the character, even when it's an intimate narration. You see all their warts.

Yes, there's something very clinical about her style, like she's spreading the characters out on a table for dissection. I'm interested in seeing how she writes aliens, though, because I think she did a good job of conveying the not-necessarily-human-as-we-know-it ways of thinking of these people who were generations from Earth and had developed their own ways of doing things.

Interestingly enough, I just started Cordelia's Honor this morning; it's much more vivid, but I'm getting a weird romance novel vibe off the first part, which I suspect is a function of the initial setup.

LeGuin squee!

[laurashapiro]

The Dispossessed might just be my favorite novel of alltime. LeGuin is my favorite living writer, and if you've only done Earthsea, you HAVE NOT LIVED. There is *so* much good stuff, from her wonderful, rich short stories to her thinky, barrier-busting novels, not to mention her excellent essays. I understand her poems are good too, but I'm not a big poetry person.

I have almost her entire catalog and am happy to loan things. My books! Let me show you them!

Re: LeGuin squee!

[danceswithwords]

I can has books? It would be lovely to borrow some, and even better because I'm sure you'll make good recommendations. I really admire her writing.

Re: LeGuin squee!

[laurashapiro]

IIRC, you're dining at my place on 9/15. Happy to loan you books then! And talk about them at great (possibly boring) length. (:

Re: LeGuin squee!

[danceswithwords]

That sounds like an excellent plan. :)

[brynnmck]

Thank you for pimping our bitchinparty! ("Pacificon" was already taken. I swear. SDW and I have decided that anyone who overcomes the distinct lack of class we are displaying in the planning, and actually attends, will be proving true friendship to us. Hee.)

I'm so glad you're pleased with your home improvements! And hey, I might get to see them soon, yes? :) (Watch me invite myself over to your house!)

And I don't know what it is about chocolate lab puppies, but they seem to defy all previously established laws of cuteness. I spent like ten minutes squealing over that one when I saw it the other night. (I also just nearly squished my screen as a result of this.)

[danceswithwords]

You are totally invited to my house! If it ends up working out, that is; you're going to be all over the place in the Bay Area.

And oh my goodness, that other puppy is ADORABLE!

[asta77]

I don't think I actually started panicking until I saw 7 DAYS! Remember when we were talking about making hotel reservations last year and how far off it was? Of course, that advance planning paid off in soooo many ways. ;)

[danceswithwords]

I've been so accustomed to thinking of it as something that was happening way in the future; all of a sudden the future is now.

[molly_may]

7 days! It may actually drop below 100 degrees during the day here next week, so pack a jacket! *g*

I'm ashamed to say that the only one of those books I've read is Storm Front, which didn't really inspire me to keep reading the series (though I have listened to the second book on audio). I have a copy of The Diamond Age around here somewhere that I keep meaning to read. Isn't the Sci Fi Channel doing a movie version of that book sometime soon?

[danceswithwords]

It may actually drop below 100 degrees during the day here next week, so pack a jacket!

I am going to die.

Storm Front is pretty awkward and kludgy compared to the other books. And God help us all if the SciFi channel gets its hands on Neal Stephenson; I've possibly sat through one too many original movies lately and the thought makes me do a full body cringe.