A Momentary Taste of Being

I was familiar with the name Susan Hill from that wonderful little book Howard's End Is on the Landing , a kind of compendium of personal favorites from books and literature.  I was familiar with The Woman in Black from the film, which I had wanted to see, but never really had the opportunity.  So, what a wonderful convergence when I discovered that the film I wanted to see came from a source that I knew I would enjoy reading. And, I was not wrong.  The Woman in Black has the form of a classic ghost story--it even starts on Christmas Eve as children are sharing their made-up ghost stories and the experience plunges our first person narrator into a re-experience of his own horrifying ghost story. Arthur, a  young lawyer, is sent from London to the middle of nowhere--a small town at the very edges of a great swamp/marsh where stands Eelmarsh House--the home of an eccentric old woman who has recently died.  His job is to go through the papers in the house, ext...

Hmmm , I thought to myself as I glanced at the book, A nthony Horowitz, isn't he the author of a whole bunch of YA young spy kinds of things?  And here he is continuing the Sherlock Holmes Opus? It's scary enough when great, well known writers of mystery decide to continue the opus--few of these are entirely successful--most are marginal.  And here is a person I know little--indeed next-to-nothing about presuming to tread on this sacred ground. Well, I'm here to tell you that House of Silk is among the very finest continuations of the Holmes saga.  Perhaps a bit too much Elephants Can Remember , Sleeping Murder, or Curtain --but that's rather a matter of taste.  And to my taste, this was superb.  We start with a mysterious stranger, evidently a Boston thug threatening an Englishman who had only just recently returned from America--and we move on into murder, mayhem, opium dens, and conspiracy in high places to keep entirely hidden the secrets of the ...

In a series of connect short stories and vignettes, Joe Henry invites us into the lives and times of a family living in Montana (I think--throughout most of the collection it sounded as though they were perched out on the vestibule to the 9th circle of Hell). There is some gorgeous langauge--some interesting juxtapositions, and a really deft handling of all of the novelistic elements.  However, I found that at times I just didn't get it.  In a couple of cases it was all about horses and the man-horse link which I lack entirely.  In another case it was some confusion over a high-school football game. So while there is much to savor here and those closer to nature will probably get more out of it, I have to admit that at times I was stymied by the subject matter. Nevertheless, highly recommended for those who want to read something that is at times exquisitely beautiful. ***1/2

Hammered is the third in the Iron Druid series, and as with others in the series presents a lively fast-paced story featuring everyone's favorite druid, his disciple, a vampire, a wereworld, and the Russian Thunder-god.  Yep--Russian thunder God, along with the Finnish national hero and several others. The story this time around.  Well, there was this werewolf and this vampire see and they had a thing about the Norse Thunder god and wanted to get back at him for having been wronged so very many years ago so they got together with this druid who rode on the back of the squirrel that runs up and down the world tree. . . No, you just have to read it.  A light, bright, quick afternoon indulgence. ****

Another frothy, light excursion into Celtic (and other mythology).  Interesting takes on appearances of the Blessed Virgin--a fight with Nazi-witches and with Bacchants--and if you aren't familiar with the latter, let me tell you--not a group to tangle with.  Our intrepid hero battles to keep Tempe, Mesa, and Phoenix a Fae-free zone as well as to preserve the indigenous supernatural life against attempted invasions from outside. A lark and a fast read.  So nice that now I find myself waiting for the third-- Hammered in which our hero battles Thor.  (Practically the only thing nearly everyone in any patheon agrees upon is that Thor is definitely the worst of the worst.) Recommended--****

Meet Atticus O'Sullivan, the last druid--no, real druid.  The pull-power from the earth and work magical things kind of druid.  Atticus lives in the town of Tempe Arizona--a place he has chosen because there is no easy way for member of the Fae to find him.  And that is just fine with Atticus because his relations with the Fae are, shall we say, tenuous. Atticus runs a new-age book shop and herb/tea story in town.  He has fixed the place up with all the latest accessories in cold iron (to keep away the unwanted fae and most other magical charms).  But Atticus has a pretty huge problem.  Despite his close relationship with The Morrigan (Choser of the Dead in Battle) he has managed to earn the emnity of a few of the powerful members of the Tuatha de Danaan--the Celtic Pantheon.  Chief among these are Aengus Og, the Celtic God of Love.  (Once you meet him, you'll have no doubt about why the Irish have always gotten along as well as they have.) Ob...

"Deal with him, Hemingway, deal with him."

Some insights from Houellebecq

BH speaks of the rumor Gossip, and its close cousin, rumor, were both well addressed by George Harrison who referred to the one as "The Devil's Radio."

"The Gray Champion"

On "Neutral Tones" A masterpiece of a poem and inspiration for one of my earlier poems also inspired by the language of Finnegans Wake.

The Rage Against God

Believer lists five for the year, including James Hynes's Next. Indeed, I thought next a powerful novel.  I'm not sure it qualifies for underappreciated from most of the reviews I've read, but it is good to see it on a list likely to promote others to read it.

La Carte et la Territoire reviewed I'm surprised by much of this review.  Not the Houellebecq I'm accustomed to--at least according to this review.

Next reviewed I liked it better than the reviewer at Hungry Like the Woolf.  I liked it a great deal, but the reviewer makes some good points.

Guillermo del Toro to direct At the Mountains of Madness We'll see if funding materializes, but if he handles it with the aplomb of The Orphanage and Pan's Labyrinth with a liberal sprinkling of Hellboy , we're likely to be in for a real treat.  The first Lovecraftian treat on film (other than the Lovecraft-in-name-only Reanimator. ) Poor H.P. suffers nearly as badly as E.A. Poe and Stephen King in the transition to the silver screen.  Consider such gems as Die, Monster Die!, The Shuttered Room, The Dunwich Horror .  Dagon was all right, but not much related to the story.  And probably the best Lovecraftian film, In the Mouth of Madness has precious little to do with anything H. P. penned.

False Colours reviewed

Wow, this MP3 is remarkable---Truffaut and Hitchcock together and talking cinema.

The Mayor of Casterbridge reviewed

A Review of Tom Holt's Expecting Someone Taller --sounds delightful