Erik’s Blog

Wow, this is sad. Where did summer go? I know, all y’all who have graduated or otherwise don’t bother with school think summer’s still going. I, on the other hand, need to start school next week. My last year, but still.

There’s still time to eek out another summer book update. I promise this one will be at least as lame as the others. Also, I have a nagging feeling that at least one book that is not listed below was read but I forgot about it. I’m sure it had nothing to do with interest in the book. Life has just been really, really nutty.

McSweeney’s #16 was like all the other issues of McSweeney’s that I’ve read: fantastic. I still don’t quite get the comb, though. When the book first arrived I went straight for the comb thinking it was going to be something really ornate and wild. It’s just a comb, folks. Don’t get so excited next time this happens, ‘kay? You end up getting me excited, and then I get let down because you made too big a deal over nothing. The publication is highly recommended, though, in spite of the comb fiasco.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell by Suzanna Clarke was another fantastic read. A number of “meh” reviews have washed up for this beast and I guess I can see why: if you’re not a long distance reader, or don’t care for 19^th century fiction (even when it’s faked by a contemporary author), or simply thought this was a fantasy book about magicians, you won’t have much else to say but “meh.”

I find myself in the same situation as the rest of the folks who gave this book glowing reviews. The best way I can describe it is this: it’s a 19^th century story about England that just happens to include magic. Having read another long distance reading book earlier this summer about 19^th century England, Quicksilver, I guess I was pre-primed to read this thing and that may have influenced how much I liked it. Like Quicksilver it’s a pig, let there be no doubt about it: 850 pages long with a fair amount of footnotes, and although the story isn’t overly complex, it’s not a Harry Potter book either. Regardless, it’s a very well crafted story.

I don’t know what else I can say about the story without pissing folks off with spoilers so I’ll stop here. Remember: it’s a long distance read, so you can’t pick up the book, read for a half hour, pick it up again a week later, read for 20 minutes, etc. Dedicate a few hours every day to reading it or forget it. Slow burners like this build tension slowly but the payoff of sticking with it to the end is wonderful.

(Not really a spoiler: the way the story ends, it appears a sequel may be possible. I sincerely hope this happens.)

I’m still reading the Lydia Davis book. It’s going slowly. There are gems here and there but overall I’m not as excited with it as I was hoping to be. I’ll keep reading.

My wife and I just finished a week in California’s wine country, and as folks who have been there know, after about 5 p.m. everything more or less closes except for a few restaurants and bars. So, we both brought books with us (duh). Mine is the small Barnes & Noble pocket hardback version of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I’m tired of hearing folks around me glow about Holmes stories so I figured I’d give them a shot. So far, so good. I’ll give a full report some other time. I also brought Steven Dixon’s I but decided to skip it in favor of the Holmes stories. Shoot me. I’ll read Dixon eventually.

Um, what else? Who knows. I guess I’ll shut up.