Of books and other stuff
Oct. 11th, 2012 08:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prunesquallormdNo gaming tonight cos Lee's visiting from Manchester again tomorrow so game night has shifted to Friday, this not being a two night week. (Aid has a pass for two nights every other week. More than that is a little unfair on his other half, what with the babby and all). To be honest that's a huge relief because oh my god, soooo tired. It's not that I've been much busier than usual (every week seems to be as frantic as every other one, and every week I still feel like I don't achieve very much) it's just that, well, sleep's been very much at a premium recently. Every night this week I've been waking up some time around one-ish and then sleeping fitfully after that. I seem to be managing about 5 hours a night, which sucks. To feel completely human I need 8 hours-ish (always have done) so I spend a lot of my time feeling half dead. Ugh :(
In order to feel like I'm actually achieving something I've finally taken to writing a proper to-do list on Sundays and doing my best to tick everything off by the end of the week. For the last few weeks I've managed everything but one or two things, which isn't bad, I guess, but this week I may actually everything. Yay :D ('LJ/DW" is the last but two thing on the list, then there's "finish this week's book" and "finish rewatching season one of As If" (which I still love, even if it is 10 years old and aimed at teenagers, but then, some of my favourite things are aimed at teenagers, so).
The other thing that I've been doing to make myself feel better, and just more generally achieve-y, is to actually read consistently and regularly. This year - well, the last few years, if I'm honest - has been bad in that regard. So often I'll be so tired that I'll be completely unable to keep my eyes open and have to give up after a page or two (especially as I have a tendency to read in the bath, and it's annoying to fall asleep and end up with a drowned book - though I've been reading in the bath ever since I can remember and the amount of books I've ruined that way is actually surprisingly small, certainly less than 10. It's 10 too many, of course). But for the last month or so I've been making a concerted effort to read a book a week (I read slowly, so that's fast for me. At the best, if I'm not really pushing it, my average tends to be one a fortnight).
Thus far I've been successful at least partly because I've chosen shortish books (no more than 500 pages) that largely read themselves. And obviously page size and font size makes a difference. I've never really made friends with skim-reading. Given the choice, and all the time in the world, I'll still sub-vocalise. I just like words well used, and I like to take the time to appreciate them (one of the reasons I like writers like Mervyn Peake, though he's not everyone's cup of tea. He takes his time and he appreciates that the words aren't just there to tell the story). So yeah, a book a week - 50 pages a day - is a struggle for me, but I feel so much more, erm, alive, I guess, and a lot happier for it.
So, this month has contained:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (of which I've spoken previously).
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett.
Dear old Terry Pratchett. I was really rather upset that he didn't get any sort of reference in the Olympic opening ceremony; he's very much a national treasure, and he certainly deserved it.
I've been reading the Discworld books since I got The Colour of Magic out of the library on its first publication in 1983 and it's always a joy to return to them. It's been a little while since I read the one before that (and I'm very strict about reading them in order, even though for the sake of the story it rarely actually matters. I'm just like that with everything) and it has to be said that they do tend to be somewhat variable (Pyramids and Soul Music, for example, I didn't enjoy very much at all, though Pratchett at his worst is more readable than most writers). Night Watch is probably his most well-received book, critically, though and I have no problem seeing why. And it's a Sam Vimes book and I love Sam Vimes.
The Express Diaries by Nick Marsh.
This is something of an oddity. It's a novel (in diary form, as the name suggests) based on the 'Horror on the Orient Express' Call of Cthulhu campaign, as played (and recorded and put on the internet for all to hear) by the guys at yog-sothoth.com. They did a Kickstarter-style campain (though it was Indiegogo, not Kickstarter. For some reason, I don't think non-US based projects can use Kickstarter) to fund its publication a little while ago, which is why I got my copy, proudly noting that it was "funded by the grand old tradition of public subscription", with my name listed as a backer, through the post a couple of weeks ago. I was rather sorry that I couldn't stump up the money to be included as a named character in the book, though the person who did had a much more appropriately European sounding name, and his brief cameo ended in the bloodiest manner imaginable!
I've listened to a few of the games that yog-sothoth.com have recorded before, and it was rather nice to get to know some familiar characters in depth. It took a little while for me not to 'hear' the failed Sanity and party luck rolls as things went horribly wrong (seriously, those d10s were positively clattering round my brain) but after a while I got over that and started to very much enjoy it. With the silliness, hilarity and wild tangents removed the actual horror of the game really started to shine through, and where (when you're playing, or listening to it played) you just accept the stupidly high body count of a Call of Cthulhu game, when it's happening to characters that you've actually got to sympathise with and like, it actually becomes a serious blow when the deaths come. And it's horror, so the deaths come a lot.
Yes, I'll grant you that a novelisation of a role-playing game doesn't exactly sound promising, but it was actually kind of awesome.
I now want them to do the same thing with 'Masks of Nyarlathotep' and 'Tatters of the King'. Perhaps if I ask nicely ...
'Atlan' by Jane Gaskell.
This is the third of the five volume 'Atlan Saga', which I've been intrigued about since I was a teenager. It turns out that there are so, so many issues that I have with it, I wouldn't even know where to start. Though I'd probably start with Gaskell's casual (and disturbingly accepting) attitude to sexual violence. It's taken me a long time to pick this one up after the first two because of that, but I'm relieved to say this book is blessedly free of it so far.
I don't know. I've wanted to read them for the last 25 years or so. I think that's probably what's keeping me going at this stage.
Unlike 'Night Watch', which I would happily have spent a lot longer over, it's something of a blessing that I'm just skimming this.
And that's all I have tonight, I think. It's only just gone 9 and I'm really tempted to go to bed. Hey ho, getting old!
I'll leave you, for a change, with a poem. This is by Mervyn Peake. The first line is the one I chose (stole!) for the epitaph on my dad's grave.
"TO LIVE IS MIRACLE ENOUGH
To live at all is miracle enough.
The doom of nations is another thing.
Here in my hammering blood-pulse is my proof.
Let every painter paint and poet sing
And all the sons of music ply their trade;
Machines are weaker than a beetle’s wing.
Swung out of sunlight into cosmic shade,
Come what come may the imagination’s heart
Is constellation high and can’t be weighed.
Nor greed nor fear can tear our faith apart
When every heart-beat hammers out the proof
That life itself is miracle enough."
And this is my favourite of Heather Nova's early songs. It's very pretty.
I hope you're all well :)
♥
In order to feel like I'm actually achieving something I've finally taken to writing a proper to-do list on Sundays and doing my best to tick everything off by the end of the week. For the last few weeks I've managed everything but one or two things, which isn't bad, I guess, but this week I may actually everything. Yay :D ('LJ/DW" is the last but two thing on the list, then there's "finish this week's book" and "finish rewatching season one of As If" (which I still love, even if it is 10 years old and aimed at teenagers, but then, some of my favourite things are aimed at teenagers, so).
The other thing that I've been doing to make myself feel better, and just more generally achieve-y, is to actually read consistently and regularly. This year - well, the last few years, if I'm honest - has been bad in that regard. So often I'll be so tired that I'll be completely unable to keep my eyes open and have to give up after a page or two (especially as I have a tendency to read in the bath, and it's annoying to fall asleep and end up with a drowned book - though I've been reading in the bath ever since I can remember and the amount of books I've ruined that way is actually surprisingly small, certainly less than 10. It's 10 too many, of course). But for the last month or so I've been making a concerted effort to read a book a week (I read slowly, so that's fast for me. At the best, if I'm not really pushing it, my average tends to be one a fortnight).
Thus far I've been successful at least partly because I've chosen shortish books (no more than 500 pages) that largely read themselves. And obviously page size and font size makes a difference. I've never really made friends with skim-reading. Given the choice, and all the time in the world, I'll still sub-vocalise. I just like words well used, and I like to take the time to appreciate them (one of the reasons I like writers like Mervyn Peake, though he's not everyone's cup of tea. He takes his time and he appreciates that the words aren't just there to tell the story). So yeah, a book a week - 50 pages a day - is a struggle for me, but I feel so much more, erm, alive, I guess, and a lot happier for it.
So, this month has contained:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (of which I've spoken previously).
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett.
Dear old Terry Pratchett. I was really rather upset that he didn't get any sort of reference in the Olympic opening ceremony; he's very much a national treasure, and he certainly deserved it.
I've been reading the Discworld books since I got The Colour of Magic out of the library on its first publication in 1983 and it's always a joy to return to them. It's been a little while since I read the one before that (and I'm very strict about reading them in order, even though for the sake of the story it rarely actually matters. I'm just like that with everything) and it has to be said that they do tend to be somewhat variable (Pyramids and Soul Music, for example, I didn't enjoy very much at all, though Pratchett at his worst is more readable than most writers). Night Watch is probably his most well-received book, critically, though and I have no problem seeing why. And it's a Sam Vimes book and I love Sam Vimes.
The Express Diaries by Nick Marsh.
This is something of an oddity. It's a novel (in diary form, as the name suggests) based on the 'Horror on the Orient Express' Call of Cthulhu campaign, as played (and recorded and put on the internet for all to hear) by the guys at yog-sothoth.com. They did a Kickstarter-style campain (though it was Indiegogo, not Kickstarter. For some reason, I don't think non-US based projects can use Kickstarter) to fund its publication a little while ago, which is why I got my copy, proudly noting that it was "funded by the grand old tradition of public subscription", with my name listed as a backer, through the post a couple of weeks ago. I was rather sorry that I couldn't stump up the money to be included as a named character in the book, though the person who did had a much more appropriately European sounding name, and his brief cameo ended in the bloodiest manner imaginable!
I've listened to a few of the games that yog-sothoth.com have recorded before, and it was rather nice to get to know some familiar characters in depth. It took a little while for me not to 'hear' the failed Sanity and party luck rolls as things went horribly wrong (seriously, those d10s were positively clattering round my brain) but after a while I got over that and started to very much enjoy it. With the silliness, hilarity and wild tangents removed the actual horror of the game really started to shine through, and where (when you're playing, or listening to it played) you just accept the stupidly high body count of a Call of Cthulhu game, when it's happening to characters that you've actually got to sympathise with and like, it actually becomes a serious blow when the deaths come. And it's horror, so the deaths come a lot.
Yes, I'll grant you that a novelisation of a role-playing game doesn't exactly sound promising, but it was actually kind of awesome.
I now want them to do the same thing with 'Masks of Nyarlathotep' and 'Tatters of the King'. Perhaps if I ask nicely ...
'Atlan' by Jane Gaskell.
This is the third of the five volume 'Atlan Saga', which I've been intrigued about since I was a teenager. It turns out that there are so, so many issues that I have with it, I wouldn't even know where to start. Though I'd probably start with Gaskell's casual (and disturbingly accepting) attitude to sexual violence. It's taken me a long time to pick this one up after the first two because of that, but I'm relieved to say this book is blessedly free of it so far.
I don't know. I've wanted to read them for the last 25 years or so. I think that's probably what's keeping me going at this stage.
Unlike 'Night Watch', which I would happily have spent a lot longer over, it's something of a blessing that I'm just skimming this.
And that's all I have tonight, I think. It's only just gone 9 and I'm really tempted to go to bed. Hey ho, getting old!
I'll leave you, for a change, with a poem. This is by Mervyn Peake. The first line is the one I chose (stole!) for the epitaph on my dad's grave.
"TO LIVE IS MIRACLE ENOUGH
To live at all is miracle enough.
The doom of nations is another thing.
Here in my hammering blood-pulse is my proof.
Let every painter paint and poet sing
And all the sons of music ply their trade;
Machines are weaker than a beetle’s wing.
Swung out of sunlight into cosmic shade,
Come what come may the imagination’s heart
Is constellation high and can’t be weighed.
Nor greed nor fear can tear our faith apart
When every heart-beat hammers out the proof
That life itself is miracle enough."
And this is my favourite of Heather Nova's early songs. It's very pretty.
I hope you're all well :)
♥
no subject
Date: 2012-10-12 04:33 pm (UTC)...i will admit to being biased in favour of Snuff not only because it's Pratchett (and Vimes) meets Austen (so i was that weird child in school that actually adored the term we spent on Regency literature) but also because i got to hear the man himself read from it.
In a similar vein, have you heard about Dodger? It's the newest allegedly-for-teenagers Pratchett and it's all Dickensian. With actual Dickens. (seriously, when i figured out what was going on and who certain people were i actually squeed IRL. My brother specifically came into the living room to judge me for that)
no subject
Date: 2012-10-15 08:06 pm (UTC)I didn't know Snuff had an Austen theme. I'm now very intrigued :) (Though I'll admit to having had a rocky start with Austen. I loved Pride and Prejudice, so then I thought, ooh, Clueless is based on Emma and I love Clueless. I'll read Emma! And god, I hated it :( Well, not the book so much as the character of Emma. And I know Austen wanted to make her unlikable, I just wish she hadn't been quite so successful :/).
I've seen Dodger in the book shop. From what you say, it sounds all kinds of fabulous.
Ach, so many books, so little time!
no subject
Date: 2012-10-15 09:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-18 06:37 pm (UTC)(I really must give some of the other Austens ago some time. 'Emma' just really put me off. Which is silly cos it's just as likely that I'll like the others as much as P&P, rather than dislike them as much as Emma.)