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Recent books read
Jan. 26th, 2008 02:53 pmI finished a few books in the past few weeks that I should mention. That’s how this blog got started after all.
Debbie Gallagher’s “The Spider’s Bride” was one. There was a preview booklet that I picked up at last year’s convention in Chicago and the chapters were intriguing enough that I put it on my Amazon wish list. And lo and behold, my family bought it for me. Either my niece or my sister.
The other was “Salt River” by James Sallis. I read the other two books about the protagonist earlier, so of course I had to read this one. I found it in the library. The bookstores are horrible about carrying his books. I could order it, but the library is faster.
What have I written in my journal? These books engaged me in different ways. James Sallis is the literary writer, but let me start with “The Spider’s Bride”.
Debbie Gallagher’s book is a fantasy, so you would think that it engaged my heart. Instead, it engaged my mind and memory. I had to read carefully to determine who the many characters represented. At least once during the week you would have heard my delighted cry “so the Red Duke is a red ant!” Or I reminded myself what the Latin names given to various animals, insects, etc. were. Or I looked up the difference between the seelie and the unseelie. I looked up whether there was actually such a thing as a wolf spider. It was fun. She reminded me of reading “The Flying Sorcerers” or “SilverLock” in college and figuring out who everyone was. And she reminded me of reading the old descriptions of Fairie. Not the pretty elves and fairies of childhood but more the stories that made travelers wary in old England. Even though the title is “The Spider’s Bride”, I found her wedding abductor, the Hunter, more interesting. A friend threw me for a loop when she asked if this bride ate her husband, like some spiders do. I hadn’t even considered that, so I read the last third of the book with a more open mind than the text actually demanded. I enjoyed the book. I will probably read it again. Books that stretch my mind are fun in a way that I think some people don’t get.
“Salt River” is on the surface, a mystery. So it should have engaged my mind. Instead, it engaged my heart and spirit. The protagonist spends a lot of time thinking about the shape of his life and the lives of his neighbors. James Sallis used to live in New Orleans and I wish that I could hear him read. He was one of Effinger’s friends, I think. I still remember that George left us packing his things (for his move to Los Angeles) to go hear James Sallis at a book signing. The poetic prose of the book is stunning. And it is so short. Not because the author has the short clipped sentences that people expect of film noir, but because the character is introspective and says no more than he has to. But his thoughts! It’s difficult for me to analyze this book the way that I am told that a writer-in-training should. It doesn’t have the narrative drive that a mystery usually has. There is no promise that the mystery will be solved, even though it is. There is no promise that evil will be punished. Despite P.D. James’ definition of mystery, there is no promise that order will be restored. I want to buy a box of Sallis’ mysteries and hand them out to my workshop and tell them that this is my goal. Stop forcing Elmore Leonard down my throat. This is the gold standard as far as I am concerned. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to find a box of these books if I could afford them. The big box book stores do not carry him; you have to order the books. Or if I do find them, they are on the shelf one week and gone the next.
Debbie Gallagher’s “The Spider’s Bride” was one. There was a preview booklet that I picked up at last year’s convention in Chicago and the chapters were intriguing enough that I put it on my Amazon wish list. And lo and behold, my family bought it for me. Either my niece or my sister.
The other was “Salt River” by James Sallis. I read the other two books about the protagonist earlier, so of course I had to read this one. I found it in the library. The bookstores are horrible about carrying his books. I could order it, but the library is faster.
What have I written in my journal? These books engaged me in different ways. James Sallis is the literary writer, but let me start with “The Spider’s Bride”.
Debbie Gallagher’s book is a fantasy, so you would think that it engaged my heart. Instead, it engaged my mind and memory. I had to read carefully to determine who the many characters represented. At least once during the week you would have heard my delighted cry “so the Red Duke is a red ant!” Or I reminded myself what the Latin names given to various animals, insects, etc. were. Or I looked up the difference between the seelie and the unseelie. I looked up whether there was actually such a thing as a wolf spider. It was fun. She reminded me of reading “The Flying Sorcerers” or “SilverLock” in college and figuring out who everyone was. And she reminded me of reading the old descriptions of Fairie. Not the pretty elves and fairies of childhood but more the stories that made travelers wary in old England. Even though the title is “The Spider’s Bride”, I found her wedding abductor, the Hunter, more interesting. A friend threw me for a loop when she asked if this bride ate her husband, like some spiders do. I hadn’t even considered that, so I read the last third of the book with a more open mind than the text actually demanded. I enjoyed the book. I will probably read it again. Books that stretch my mind are fun in a way that I think some people don’t get.
“Salt River” is on the surface, a mystery. So it should have engaged my mind. Instead, it engaged my heart and spirit. The protagonist spends a lot of time thinking about the shape of his life and the lives of his neighbors. James Sallis used to live in New Orleans and I wish that I could hear him read. He was one of Effinger’s friends, I think. I still remember that George left us packing his things (for his move to Los Angeles) to go hear James Sallis at a book signing. The poetic prose of the book is stunning. And it is so short. Not because the author has the short clipped sentences that people expect of film noir, but because the character is introspective and says no more than he has to. But his thoughts! It’s difficult for me to analyze this book the way that I am told that a writer-in-training should. It doesn’t have the narrative drive that a mystery usually has. There is no promise that the mystery will be solved, even though it is. There is no promise that evil will be punished. Despite P.D. James’ definition of mystery, there is no promise that order will be restored. I want to buy a box of Sallis’ mysteries and hand them out to my workshop and tell them that this is my goal. Stop forcing Elmore Leonard down my throat. This is the gold standard as far as I am concerned. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to find a box of these books if I could afford them. The big box book stores do not carry him; you have to order the books. Or if I do find them, they are on the shelf one week and gone the next.
