February Books Read

I read 9 books related to the Avon/Equinox series, as well as 1 book by a different author.  I began a new series (4 books) by Michael Moorcock.  The Jewel In The Skull is from 1967, and is the first book in his Hawkmoor, or Runestaff series.  Set in the far future, the evil fold from Great Britain are attempting to take over all the lands of Europe, subjecting the people who surrender right away, and exterminating any one who resists.  Sounds plausible.  Anyway, we are off to a rip-roaring start.  A small kingdom ruled by Count Brass, in the south of France, is resisting.  My edition has many beautiful illustrations (see my Moorcock page), and this mixture of fantasy and science fiction appeals to me.  I am looking forward to book 2.

Next up was Ballard's Empire of the Sun, a largely fictional account of Japan's conquest of China in WW 2, but based on the author's own experiences as a boy in an internment camp at the time.  The book is a welcome reminder of the dehumanization that war brings.  If there is a hell, then it is on Earth during wartime.  Any war, any time.  Watching Trump pardon American soldier war criminals is more than a little bit painful.  Of course the Japanese were evil at this time (and many other times).  But they hardly stand alone in that category.  Anyway, this is a must read novel about suffering and deprivation, and the effect it might have on children.

Barry Malzberg continues to score bulls eyes for me, and his 1971 The Spread is, like most of his novels, one of a kind.  It is far more than just entertaining, too.  It's about the publisher of a dirty newspaper that publishes photos (of men and women) and articles related to sex.  Some of the darkest humour I have ever encountered is in these pages.  reading this kept me laughing and wide-eyed most of the time.  An off-beat book that I can highly recommend.

A less than stellar book by James Blish was next, called The Duplicated Man.  One of Blish's earliest novels, it was co-written with Robert Lowndes.  They are credited for the first use of clones, anywhere (much as Blish was the first to use virtual reality, in the first of his Cities In Flight novels).  There is very little action, and plenty of talking.  And there are so many characters in such a short book, that it makes identifying with any of them difficult.  Clever, but hardly up to Blish's usual standards.  The way the chapters are laid out, I have a feeling that the two writers took turns, with one man writing the first half of a chapter, and the other man the second.

Then it was time to start over again (it now takes me 5-6 weeks to cycle through a book by each remaining author).  Conquerors From The Stars, by Robert Silverberg, is an expansion of a novelette he wrote, and quite a good one at that.  The original short verson is from 1957, and the expanded one from 1965.  Having read the original one first, I found that the full novel did not really add anything to the experience.  I enjoyed both versions, but either one would work.  Aliens have landed (and departed), leaving the world with a planet-wide ocean.  Inhabited islands have trade, and they are protected from piracy by futurist Vikings and their ships.  Enjoyable, and well written.  Beware,though.  No females need apply for roles in this story.

Norman Spinrad's Osama The Gun was written in 2007, but could not find a publisher until 2016.  I'm not surprised.  It's a harrowing and violent first person (epic) novel about a young Islamic jihadist.  The book has large segments in Paris (very well done), Mecca (brilliantly done), Nigeria (yawn), and back to Mecca for the grand finale (silly).  It's the near future, and the Great Satan (American, of course--never China or Russia) will stop to any and all tactics to keep the oil flowing towards itself.  We already know what motivates terrorists and how they think (they don't), and how Islam has been twisted to fit their own definition, but reading the book adds more dimensions to the problems.  Not indispensable, but overall makes for riveting reading.

I finished Piers Anthony's trilogy Tarot, with Faith of Tarot.  We get answers, and a fitting conclusion, to a series that must rank among the best I've ever read (same with his Of Man and Manta trilogy).  It is a must read book, even if you are that into Tarot.  Even so, it is best to have a deck beside you when you read.  The books are more about who God is, and why he is never around when you need him, but Satan always seems to be there for us.  It is filled with fascinating imagery, intelligent conversations (with people such as Jesus), and unique perspectives on age old questions.  Very well done!

And I finished up another trilogy, John Christopher's earliest series for young readers, The Tripods.  The Pool of Fire tells how the Tripods were eventually defeated by humans.  It's a pretty solid series, sticks to its theme, but it's one of those "boys only" books, which I find tiresome (I did as a young reader, too.  I happen to like girls in stories). 

20 short stories by Harry Harrison were next, in The Best of Harry Harrison.  He is one of favourite writers, and the stories are top knotch, from very funny to very deadly.  Harrison has a very wide range of styles and story types, and excels at all of them.

I continue to enjoy Kenneth Bulmer's Key to Irunium series, 7 books in all, I think.  The Wizards of Senchuria is a solid entry in the series, and there are women with active roles (lots of them!).  This 4th book is very short, though, and ends rather abruptly (word quota reached for Ace Double publication).

My lone novel expanding my horizons beyond the Avon/Equinox series (as if needed) was a masterpiece of humour by P. D. Wodehouse called Pigs Can Fly.  Incredible writing skill, funny as anything, and part of a loose series he wrote based on the imaginary Blandings Castle.  Rich and totally delightful.

Mapman Mike

Fighting November Blahs

The doldrums arrived early this year, with our first major snowstorm about two months ahead of schedule.  The snow is gone for now, but the darkness, heavy clouds, and damp chill to the air make day to day life a tad dreary.  However, I had a beautiful clear night on Friday, and it was sunny some of that day.  It was actually the 2nd clear night of this session, but the earlier time it was way too damp and foggy to consider driving into the county (actually, into the next county) to set up.  Dampness gets on the mirrors and eyepieces, causing early shut down of operations.  It was 32 F when I arrived at 6 pm, and 28 F when I left at 9:45 pm.  The autumn stars were up upon arrival, and the winter stars were up upon departure.  I hope I can steal one more good night before the moon interferes.

Last Tuesday I gave a short talk on double stars at our monthly club meeting.  However, my laptop would not connect to the WiFi, and the main projector in the hall did not work.  That was the same day as a major power failure affected a lot of people, including Windsor and us, so that may have contributed to the problem.  Luckily, a fellow member had his laptop, and his worked.  The back up projector was crappy, though.

Yesterday, Deb had her first laser treatment of three that she will need. She certainly experienced some pain afterwards and today, but things are improving as I write.  We have pills for any occasion on hand, so her suffering was mitigated.  Once this problem is fixed, then we can move on towards getting her heart problem looked after (again).  The laser treatments are not covered by the government health plan, nor our private one.  The cost was just over $2000.  Ouch.  More pain.

I just finished an epic novel by Norman Spinrad, part of my Avon/Equinox project.  The book, which took me 9 days to read, is called "He Walked Among Us," and is one of three that he wrote trying his best to put forth solutions for saving the planet from our greed and indifference.  I am now into the Tarot series by Piers Anthony, an author that continues to hold my interest.  It ties in loosely to the "Cluster" series I am reading by him.

In movie news, we continue to watch the Zatoichi series, having just seen #4.  The first four are loosely connected, and more or less set the tone for the 26-movie series.  However, last weekend we watched the 1932 "Three Penny Opera" directed by Pabst.  It was excellent!  Brecht hated it, and many of Weil's songs were cut, but the film works beautifully.  Mackie Mackie!  I am also getting mildly interested in the work of Chantal Akerman.  More to come on her.

 Now showing on Criterion. 

In gaming news, I continue to make progress in Syberia 3 on the PC.  It is a vast game, though the bugs are annoying.  I have had to download saved games a few times now and jump ahead of a bug I could not get past.  It is visually stunning and takes place in many different locations, including a very gloomy Russian asylum in winter, a seaside town, a large ferry boat, an amusement park, subway tunnels, and now in a night time wooded winter landscape.  It is, at least, visually appealing.  We are trying to improve on the Dr. Who card game we bought in Columbus, Ohio a few years ago, and will be playing this weekend.

The listening program has expanded to include the entire record collection.  Recently, we listened to a 4-record set of music by Josquin des Prez, as well as Symphony #80 by Haydn (we're getting there), and Op 79 by Brahms (two major piano works that I MUST learn!), Britten's Op 79, a short work for chorus and orchestra, and we are continuing with the complete organ works of Buxtehude.  I will no doubt be going through several needles.

Our next Detroit day is scheduled for Monday.  I have a book waiting, and Deb wants to buy a few collector coffee spoons from an antique dealer in Dearborn, for an upcoming Yorick episode.  We will stay for lunch, and it wouldn't surprise me if I managed to have a pint in there somewhere.  Detroit had its annual Christmas lights celebration on Thursday night.  Here is a photo.  Pretty fantastic city.

Wow! 

Mapman Mike

August Reading, and Two Movies

I took 3 days off practicing piano and memorizing pieces for our trip to Cincinnati last week.  I lost ground, but not too much.  The Brahms Waltz is proving difficult for me to memorize, but the Haydn is coming along nicely.  I hope to begin the 3rd and final movement of that Sonata, memorizing it.  It shouldn't take too long to jam it inside of my head.

In August I managed to complete 7 books related to my vast and virtually unending Avon/Equinox Rediscovery Project.  I also read two outside books.  While the number of books may be lower than my average, the page count remains the same.  Several of the books I read last month were quite long, with very small print.

The first three books were by Ballard, Malzberg, and Blish, the final three authors of a reading segment.  Each time I conclude a full segment of the remaining Avon/Equinox authors, I read a book unrelated to that series.  Thus after every volume by Blish comes something completely different.  The Ballard book was Concrete Island, another nightmare scenario where the protagonist is trapped.  I found this book to have made its point, and it did have a message, but that it was too contrived for my taste.  Even so, many parts of the book stay with you, and likely always will.  Ballard has a sense of what being isolated is really like.

With every book by Malzberg that I read, I like him more and more.  Confessions of Westchester County is a solid 4-star Looney Tunes cartoon, and I loved every minute of this fascinating story, and the sick-minded characters that inhabit it.  Different from anything else I have ever read.

The Blish tale was another total masterpiece.  Called Doctor Mirabilis, it is Blish's historical fiction based on the life of Roger Bacon, a 13th Century scientist trying to reconcile his religious faith with what he was learning about nature.  The novel loosely fits in to a very loose series by Blish called "After Such Knowledge."  I have now completed my rereading of this (loose) series.

With another cycle of Avon/Equinox authors complete, I picked up E. R. Eddison's Viking epic off my shelf, called Styrbiorn the Strong.  When Tolkien and C. S. Lewis revere a writer (their quotes are on the book), one should pay close attention.  I had only read his Zimiamvian cycle.  This was his first work outside of this fantasy world that I have read, and I loved every minute of it.  It also helps to see where his ideas for The Worm Ouroboros might have come from.

I also finished up a hardcover art book I had been reading for some time, called Italian Baroque Paintings.  That title covers a lot of territory, and it was a fascinating read.  It took me ages to complete, but I did finally finish it.  I began reading it after I had completed the two Bruegel catalogues from Vienna.  I love paintings, and I love reading about paintings.  I even love writing about paintings.  But I cannot paint.  I can draw a teeny bit with pencil.  If reading art books and viewing art could make one into an artist, I'd be pretty awesome by now.

It was time to begin a new cycle of Avon/Equinox authors.  I read a 400-page volume of short stories by Silverberg, covering the years 1962-69.  Too many great stories to mention here (see my Silverberg page for short reviews of each story), but I might just mention "To The Dark Star," and "Hawksbill Station."  Great stuff!

Next came Spinrad's magnificent epic novel Greenhouse Summer, his take on global warming and how the world might look once things really begin to get seriously warm.  Hint:  corporations will be in full control.  While a bit on the theatrical side, this is a truly great novel, filled with fun (but theatrical) characters.  Like most of Spinrad's tales, there is a lot of sex, but usually sex with a purpose (not procreation, either).  From 1999, it remains completely timely today. 

I also finished Piers Anthony's 2nd Cluster novel (there are five).  Anthony is a genius, and on the same level as Frank Herbert.  He is not a polished writer, however.  Too many fantastic ideas and details come pouring out of his head, and he can become overwhelming at times.  But truly great, if the reader can keep up with him.

I finished up the month (reading it in Cincinnati) with the third book of John Christopher's Fireball Trilogy, called Dragon Dance.  Not a great book by any means.  The first one in the series is the best, followed by the 2nd.  This one seems a pale shadow of the first two.  However, by a very strange coincidence, Roger Bacon makes an appearance in a book I read within the same month! 

To see the covers of these books, and read the full reviews, refer to my Avon/Equinox website.  It should be found in the left margin.

Nicolas Roeg's SF classic, The Man Who Fell To Earth, had never been seen by us in its longer version.  We saw one many years ago that ran 117 minutes, and it was a very bad print, fitted for TV.  This was a restored wide screen version, with over 20 minutes of extra footage.  David Bowie is nearly perfect as the alien who to Earth seeking help for his family.  They are dying back on his home planet.  He becomes the richest man in the world, seeking to build a rocket ship.  His plan is undone from many directions, not the least of which is his own weakness of character.  This is mostly a thoughtful and engaging film, but there are many moments where rolling ones eyes might be the best way to pass the time.  A ton of extras came with it on Criterion, but the film ended its run there at midnight last night.  It's a flawed film, but worth seeing more than once.

 Last night we watched a rather brilliant film from 2003, called I Capture The Castle.  Based on a novel written during WW 2, it describes a family living in a ruined castle in England in the mid 1930s.  Two teenage girls try to grow up and prosper amid the ruins of the castle and their family.  The acting is first rate, with a special nod to Romola Garai, who plays Cassandra, the sensitive and intelligent young woman searching for love, but finding only pain.

Mapman Mike

Practicing Piano With Intensity

As I near the end of the road with most of the pieces I am learning for the next recital, it is time to up my game, increasing the focus and striving harder than ever for perfection.  Except for about half a dozen measures of music, the Schumann Op #2 is now memorized, along with the Bach and 4 movements of 5 of the Haydn, and one of the pieces by Louie.  I have one Haydn movement to memorize, and one piece by Louie.  A third piece by here will be performed with music, if I can ever actually play it well enough.  It is nearly time to bring the pieces to Philip, to have them torn down so I can rebuild them!  Not next week (too much going on) but hopefully the week after that.

Randy has notified us that treatment for Anita has more or less been halted, with maintaining her comfort now the priority.  His simple sentence to us brings with it much sadness and reflection.  Of course our thoughts are constantly involved with both he and Anita.  A most difficult time for all involved.  The unseasonable cold and increasingly damp weather we have been having does not make things any easier.  I spoke with my Mom today, and Sudbury has been very depressing this month.  After all, what is Autumn without an October?  We have simply moved right into November.

I have finally got a start on the NM blog, and have published the first part concerning my solo drive west.  Hopefully more will be coming soon, including our Albuquerque and Santa Fe adventures.

I am currently enjoying another novel by Norman Spinrad, a somewhat autobiographical tale called "Children of Hamelin."  Very entertaining so far.  I am reading the book on Kindle, which I more or less like, but when reviewing such a story it is virtually impossible to flip back and check on things.  So I keep a notebook handy, which is cumbersome when reading.  I doubt that my reviews of books read on Kindle are as thorough as the ones I write from real live books.

M.