Getting lost in reading at the moment - but nothing heavy. So much for my plan to report on deep Philosphical readings.
I enjoyed finishing another Graham Hurley book - No Lovelier Death - and am now quite a fan of Winter and Faraday - even if Winter now works for the dark side so to speak. But I have taken a break from Hurley and started a paper (!) book series - as opposed to a kindle copy - to read The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. These were her first novels!!! And how excellent are they?!!! I had read a later series set in the same location called The Liveship Traders which quite captivated me. And now I am half way through this first series.
Good writers have always amazed me with how the paint their books. The decisions about plots, sub-plots and characters...time lines....level of detail. So someone comes into a room - what level of detail do we need as a reader? do we need to know the size, height of the room? the type and size of windows? the lighting? the floor cover? the furniture? the smell? Do we need to know everone in the room and what they are wearing...what they are doing... their reactions - words? Does a room entry take a sentence, a paragraph or a chapter? The skill in weaving in this detail to hold a reader captivated is immense! and Robin Hobb has certainly done it for me.
In this series, we follow the life of Fitz - a bastard son of a Prince - who ends up in the Royal Court struggling to find his place amongst all the intrigue. Raiders are hitting the land turning people into zombies and half brother princes are compteing for succession to the throne. There is a skill that allows people to converse with each other from a distance (the mobile phone effect!!!!) and influence actions (advertising!!?) and one that allows links with animals. There is forbidden love and adventure, loyalty and betrayal. And we know we are reading the genre of fantasy!
My father was taken with book heros like Tarzan and the Saint. Not fantasy as we know it since Tolkien - but many of the same elements. What is the fantasy formula and attraction? It is often someone born with humble beginnings, being chosen for a great task and helped by some wizard, wise man, great warrior. Against the odds and against beasts, demons and great oppoistion, they rescue/save a woman, town or country and achieve some sort of hero status. It is an age old message - that life is an adventure and we can start on it regardless of our circumstances. That there are old books or creeds and gurus/priests/srong people who can help us. That our role is to sacrifice ourself for others - and in so doing, we find ourselves.
Standard religion seems to offer a framework for people which follows this road. A way of lifting people to envisage a destiny rather than a hard practical road until age and death takes us. It offers a way of making up for our failures and shame and turns it into a spiritual battle for our souls and the world itself. We are warned of unseen demons and wonderful angels to help us - and wise leaders to explain the holy books. We are given the skill to project our thoughts through prayer to God and influence outcomes in people and the physical world.
I do so enjoy my fantasy reading - and find it had to begrudge those who take it as their life framework. Just maybe, however, they can miss the truly great adventure.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Falling Giants and Hurley continued
Having just had a week or so away on holiday, I took my trusty kindle with three new books downloaded: Ken Follett's Fall of Giants, and Graham Hurley's Price of Darkness and No Lovelier Death. I managed to get through the first two books - and thoroughly enjoyed both!
My experience with Ken Follett had been through his books about building cathedrals in the middle ages in England - World without end and Pillars of the Earth. These were extremely well written books- great stories, feelings of the time, technically interesting and left you with a feeling of getting to know some new characters rather well! In fact I took from World without end a quote which I have on my wall. The context was a Sister called Claris, talking with a dying outlaw. The outlaw asked "Are you afraid you'll burn in hell?" The story goes on with: "It was a question she normally sidestepped, but she felt this dying outlaw deserved a true answer, "I believe that what I do becomes part of me" she said. "When I'm brave and strong. and care for children and the sick and the poor, I become a better person. And when I'm cruel, or cowardly or tell lies, or get drunk, I turn into someone less worthy, and I can't respect myself. Thats the divine retribution I believe in". I liked this - although a Christian friend of mine saw it and dismissed it as being unbiblical. Funny, but I thought it reflected Jesus' attitude quite well!
So, back to the Fall of Giants. What a great expose of World War 1! I had always known that an assination was a key trigger for the war - but now I understand why and how! It seems as if Ken Follett was very careful to present the facts intertwined with the stories of his characters and so history comes alive! The fact that the book starts before the war commenced right through to the aftermath gives you a context around it. I was surprised to read how late the USA entered the war - and why - and then seemed to take over. The stupid strategic decisions made were obvious. The soviet revolution was also explained beautifully through the Russian working class characters (it was a tad tedious in some of the Russion revolution part - but only a tad) - and the class tensions in the UK evident as characters from the aristocracy, their "help" and the coal miners interacted throughout the events - including the issue of the vote for women and the working class. They were very believable characters that were no cardboard cut-outs. Very hard to put down.
But all good things came to end and the ending was good and fitting.
So, without a breath, I took back up with Graham Hurley's the price of darkness. Once again I entered the world of Faraday and Winter - their lives, hobbies, relationships, families (or lack of). This time, Winter went undercover to try to undo the ill-gotton gains of the ex drug baron. Again two stories - but this time they came together at the end. The only sad part was the loss of the Maddox character - the classy high class prostitute that saw Winter survive his brain tunour in the previous book. Will she return in future stories? She does own half his house...but she just dissapeared as a character! Nice ending for Winter in the book (not ending-ending)!!! I wonder if Hurley planned that at the beginning?
Now on to No Lovelier Death. The first chapters show great promise - with Winter in a new role...... I will see.
My experience with Ken Follett had been through his books about building cathedrals in the middle ages in England - World without end and Pillars of the Earth. These were extremely well written books- great stories, feelings of the time, technically interesting and left you with a feeling of getting to know some new characters rather well! In fact I took from World without end a quote which I have on my wall. The context was a Sister called Claris, talking with a dying outlaw. The outlaw asked "Are you afraid you'll burn in hell?" The story goes on with: "It was a question she normally sidestepped, but she felt this dying outlaw deserved a true answer, "I believe that what I do becomes part of me" she said. "When I'm brave and strong. and care for children and the sick and the poor, I become a better person. And when I'm cruel, or cowardly or tell lies, or get drunk, I turn into someone less worthy, and I can't respect myself. Thats the divine retribution I believe in". I liked this - although a Christian friend of mine saw it and dismissed it as being unbiblical. Funny, but I thought it reflected Jesus' attitude quite well!
So, back to the Fall of Giants. What a great expose of World War 1! I had always known that an assination was a key trigger for the war - but now I understand why and how! It seems as if Ken Follett was very careful to present the facts intertwined with the stories of his characters and so history comes alive! The fact that the book starts before the war commenced right through to the aftermath gives you a context around it. I was surprised to read how late the USA entered the war - and why - and then seemed to take over. The stupid strategic decisions made were obvious. The soviet revolution was also explained beautifully through the Russian working class characters (it was a tad tedious in some of the Russion revolution part - but only a tad) - and the class tensions in the UK evident as characters from the aristocracy, their "help" and the coal miners interacted throughout the events - including the issue of the vote for women and the working class. They were very believable characters that were no cardboard cut-outs. Very hard to put down.
But all good things came to end and the ending was good and fitting.
So, without a breath, I took back up with Graham Hurley's the price of darkness. Once again I entered the world of Faraday and Winter - their lives, hobbies, relationships, families (or lack of). This time, Winter went undercover to try to undo the ill-gotton gains of the ex drug baron. Again two stories - but this time they came together at the end. The only sad part was the loss of the Maddox character - the classy high class prostitute that saw Winter survive his brain tunour in the previous book. Will she return in future stories? She does own half his house...but she just dissapeared as a character! Nice ending for Winter in the book (not ending-ending)!!! I wonder if Hurley planned that at the beginning?
Now on to No Lovelier Death. The first chapters show great promise - with Winter in a new role...... I will see.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Two Under!
Back to Graham Hurley! Just finished reading my second book in his Farday/Winter series - the last one being "One Under". In this case, it started with a man chained to a railway line in a tunnell and the going under the train! Hence the title "one under" I resume.
This second book did not disappoint! The chracter development of the main characters - and their relationship - continued - different men, different approaches, different drivers, different private lives (although both lost their wives at some point). I also like that the cases (seems like there are 2 cases per book - or has been so far) - don't always get sewn up in the way you would expect. The anti-climax effect - or rather the unexpected endings. There are even some mild thought-provoking philosophsising amongst the musings of the characters.
So for sheer reading pleasure - I have downloaded the next in the series "The price of darkness". I will advise what I think of this one - and will it lead me to download the next in the series! Don't you just love it when you find a new author and can get a run of their books?!
This second book did not disappoint! The chracter development of the main characters - and their relationship - continued - different men, different approaches, different drivers, different private lives (although both lost their wives at some point). I also like that the cases (seems like there are 2 cases per book - or has been so far) - don't always get sewn up in the way you would expect. The anti-climax effect - or rather the unexpected endings. There are even some mild thought-provoking philosophsising amongst the musings of the characters.
So for sheer reading pleasure - I have downloaded the next in the series "The price of darkness". I will advise what I think of this one - and will it lead me to download the next in the series! Don't you just love it when you find a new author and can get a run of their books?!
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