What'cha Reading?

[mmhmm]

jock and i are reading this.
well, he's reading it to me.

this would be my first fantasy
book that i'm reading willingly.
i like it so far. super descriptive
imagery.

[Lark]

I'm done with the Fromm books, all finished.

Still reading Robert Bloch's collection of stories, it has an out of date charm I like, and What I believe by Hans Kung, which is excellent, just need to ration it or I'd be finished it in one reading.

[SilkRoad]

Just finished reading Tehanu; the fourth book in Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Chronicles.

Let's assume someone served you the most delicious lasagne. You picked your way through the dish, savouring every bit of it, and with the last spoonful of it, bit into a whole peppercorn, the bitter taste of it flooding your mouth and ruining, or somewhat hampering, your enjoyment of the meal.

Tehanu is that peppercorn for me. I read the first three books during my spare time in a week, enjoying the beautiful characters, the otherworldy tone, the simple yet complex wisdom and the magic of it all; it was quite solidly high-fantasy fiction, in every way. Then, seventeen years after the third book, along came a gritty, introspective, real and bitter treatise on feminism and child abuse packaged as the final book in the high-fantasy series. The only things about Tehanu that linked it to the trilogy were the characters and the places within the book. She couldn't have penned it as a separate book; she had to have it ride Earthsea's coattails.

I always found those people who ranted passionately about filmmakers 'ruining their memories' of certain movies, with unnecessary remakes and sequels, to be a bit melodramatic but I now know exactly how they feel. I loved the Earthsea trilogy (I refuse to see this book as part of it) but find my recollection of it to now be somewhat tainted. Frankly, I'm quite mad and sad about it.

I think I felt similarly about Tehanu at first, and it's still not my favourite but I've come round to it quite a lot. People change, their outlook changes and it recognises that. Perhaps she went a little too far in some respects but I can see what she wanted to do.

You might (or not...) want to read Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind, which follow Tehanu. It didn't turn out to be the last book. To me, they sort of balanced out between the first trilogy and Tehanu. They reflect the views put forth in Tehanu but relate more to the earlier books, I think. Then again, if you're not into iconoclasm you might have a hard time with some of the stuff in those two books as well. I thought they were beautiful, although I still return with most pleasure to the first three books.

I'm generally not into rewriting of the worldview of my treasured childhood memories. But Le Guin does what she does so well that I at least have to pay attention.

[Saslou]

I went to the library recently and got:

The Watkins Astrology Handbook - I know quite a bit about astrology but not in-depth so i hoped this book would help with the houses, aspects and modes etc.

Almost finished Blink by Malcolm Gladwell which is a very interesting read.

Then onto Dreamwork: Using your dreams as a way to self-discovery and personal development.

Then onto Pagan Paths: A guide to Wicca, Druidry, Asatru, Shamanism and other Pagan Practices

Then books on Hinduism and Buddhism.

[Aquarelle]

Just finished:


Now reading:

Thanks @Qlip for the recommendation! I'm not very far into it yet, but I love that there's a Minneapolis connection!

[Qlip]

...

Thanks @Qlip for the recommendation! I'm not very far into it yet, but I love that there's a Minneapolis connection!

Oh, where was that? Was that where Finkle-McGraw was from? I remember a lot of midwestern stuff going on with him.

[Aquarelle]

Oh, where was that? Was that where Finkle-McGraw was from? I remember a lot of midwestern stuff going on with him.

Yup, Finkle-McGraw.

[Snoopy22]

Robert B. Parker - Hugger Mugger

[ICUP]

What book should a person who reads hardly at all (me), read?

[Salomé]

What book should a person who reads hardly at all (me), read?

It will put you off reading completely, thus saving you a great deal of time and money and wastefully pretentious navel-gazing.

You're welcome.