(no subject)

Sometimes I lie awake at night and think, "Where did I go wrong?"

Then a voice says, "This is going to take more than one night."

--Charles M. Shultz

Dr Island / Time Cat / Study in Emerald / For A Breath I Tarry

Gene Wolfe, "The Death of Doctor Island"

Novella, found in The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories and Other Stories, which collection also features "The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories" [which rocks] and "The Doctor of Death Island." "DDI," like all the best sci-fi, uses the trappings of SF as a means to talk about something else; psychology, in this case. Four [well, five] characters, one of whom is the aforementioned Doctor Island [who is, in fact, an island, and who does not die, in the neatest trick of words I've seen in awhile]. I enjoy Wolfe's short stories; they make you think, but not so much that you feel utterly lost. Everything in "DDI" makes perfect sense, albeit sometimes only in retrospect.

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Lloyd Alexander, Time Cat

Alexander's first book, in which a cat and a boy travel to nine historical periods and learn valuable life lessons. None of the characters get anywhere near enough development, but the premise is cute and Alexander's prose is quite good. Not one but two precursors to Eilonwy of the red-gold hair, but only one Fflewddur Fflam, and Jason [the boy] is substantially different from Taran.

I think it is now my mission in life to collect copies of all Lloyd Alexander's books. Several of them are long out of print, which saddens me; to the left, I found his translation of Sartre at bookfair.

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Neil Gaiman, "A Study in Emerald"

Gaiman's Hugo-nominated short story. I've not read any other nominees, but they'll have to be pretty strong contenders to get past this one. It starts out Victorian, just another Sherlock Holmes story, and the weird bits work their way in very carefully around the edges, until you're suddenly confronted with them head-on, and just sort of gape in awe at how effortlessly Gaiman has turned the story you're reading upside down.

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Roger Zelazny, "For a Breath I Tarry"

When I first read this I thought it was the best short story ever. I no longer think that; I no longer even think it's the best Zelazny ever. ["Rose for Ecclesiastes" and "24 Views of Mt Fuji, by Hokusai" both kick far too much ass.] It's still damn good, though. Faust, starring robots and a ruined Earth that's being maintained because Man ordered it to be maintained, and so well written. . . wow. Very cool.

Where I've been

Nowhere, mostly. Just lazy. Spent Memorial Day weekend at my parents' place; bought a few books, hung out, generally relaxed some. Went into Woodbridge on Sunday morning to hear my father play dulcimer at a church down there. Pretty cool. Lunch at Five Guys, by which my parents were suitably impressed. The cicadas were loud and red-eyed; I'm sorry they didn't show up in B-burg this year.

Cookout at the Hoffmans' place on Monday, with a bunch of adults [heh] I've known for, oh, around twenty years now. Interesting. I don't like being around a ton of people all that much more when they're people I vaguely know; sat and talked for quite awhile with 4-5 of them for about an hour after dinner, then headed back.

I'm still not really moved in at all, but at least my computer is more or less in place. This week feels like it's just flown by. I'll start unpacking boxes in earnest week after next.

Next week I'm going to Atlanta, to visit sir_alf and faekitty and jonny_law. Email and LJ access will be sporadic all week. If you desperately need to get ahold of me I'll have my phone.

I'm vaguely nervous about spending a week in Atlanta; it'll be the longest time I've spent travelling in about eight years. And it's a vacation, and . . . hm.