(Untitled)

[tzeca]

I'm tempted to hang a sign on the door that says "Gone to Texas" but I don't think many of the locals would get the reference. I'm MARTA-bound to the airport tomorrow at 10a. I've got a stack of Harold Lamb and Robert E. Howard books with which to the bide the time

Comments

[hermes_wade]

Somewhere, somehow, yellowjackets keep getting into my house. I have looked and looked but cannot find the nest or any holes that would let them in...where the hell are they coming from?

[jumpingjoan]

fish tank? Be careful -- those poisons kill fishies.

[tzeca]

I have but one remaining fish anyway. It's the last of the evil fish who killed off one of there own every time I left town (even for a day). I'm not too worried about it but I did cover the tank just in case.

[wuxiadaddy]

I read a few of REH's western stories in the last few weeks. Got them from the library. They were ok but a little... Trite? Cliched? (Or did he invent the particular style?) Anyway, they were fun but no Conan. How were the Lamb? I'm still waiting for those from the library.

[tzeca]

I'm reading Kull at the moment and their trite and cliched, too. I think Howard didn't come into his own until Conan. While some of the cliched feel is definitely present because he was an early adopter of those memes, some of it is also there because he was still struggling to find his muse.

Howard Lamb is pretty damn awesome. They feel a bit out of date but then they are pulp stories from the 10s and 20s. You can easily see where other writers mined his work for ideas and settings but he you can also see why he stood out from the crowd in terms of plot and character. Considering he spoke a number of Asian languages, traveled there extensively, and read a lot of ancient history of Asia and the Middle East, I wonder if he wasn't influenced by things like the medieval Chinese novels.

[wuxiadaddy]

Thanks. I need to get my hands on some Lamb. Hope my library comes through soon.

[tzeca]

I'm halfway through the second volume. I'll loan them to you.