Mid-August Briefing

Congratulations to England, which is finally getting some rain!  Maybe someday we'll get some here at the Homestead, too. The heat has been turned down a notch, but the humidity continues unabated.  As does the poor air quality as a result.  The air is often dead still.  A ten minute walk outside is like taking a bath.  Temps are in the mid to low 80s most days, and we have had some clouds.  But we need rain quite badly here.  The ground is cracked and very dry and nothing is growing unless it gets watered a lot.  There are both floods and fires not far from us, but we seem to be taking the middle ground.  So far our 30 year old air conditioner has been up to the challenge.  However, we keep the house at 77 F so as not to overtax it.  We needed a new dehumidifier for the basement, it's been running constantly and I've been dumping bucket after bucket of water.  Looking forward to autumn.  Summer is not a nice season in this area.

Piano pieces are coming along.  I nearly have all three Scriabin pieces memorized (along with one Bach, a Haydn sonata, March Wind, and one of two Glass pieces.  I will soon begin memorizing the 2nd Glass piece.  Not being memorized this time is the Bach Prelude and Fugue and the Chopin Nocturne, the latter still giving me pains as I try to master this incredible piece of very difficult music (Op 28 #2).

 

Deb has been switching most of her films to her Youtube channel, as well as fixing up an older film which she was never happy with.  We continue to view commercial films, so here's what we've been up to lately.

 

First, two from Kino Films Collection.  Regular readers of this blog will already know that we watch some pretty strange and weirdly wonderful films, so when I announce that we have watched a really strange one, I usually mean just that.  Legend of the Mountain is a fantasy/horror film from 1979 and directed by King Hu.  With a running time of over 3 hours and the film often moving quite slowly, this one takes a commitment to get through.  A traveling scholar is given an assignment, namely to copy an old manuscript with magical powers within its words.  The scholar is a bit of a goofy character.  Filmed in Taiwan, the landscape scenery is absolutely wonderful, and the fact that it is a wide screen movie helps a lot.  The scholar gets mixed up with a group of ghosts, most of them wanting to get their paws on the documents, which might help them gain more power.  There is no kung fu in the film, though there is some flying and a lot of disappearing.  Replacing kung fu are magic drums, and the good versus evil ones dual via drums.  The smoke and fog machine gets a good workout, and the settings inside and outside of old abandoned monasteries are quite eye-catching.   If you are looking for a weird Chinese movie that is actually quite watchable, this just might be it.  Mildly recommended, especially if you are tired of kung fu films.  Make sure you are watching the full version, all 3 hrs and 12' worth.

 

From Kino Films and showing on Amazon Prime. 

 

Also from Kino is another decently strange offering.  Paul Auster wrote, produced and directed The Inner Life of Martin Frost and it was released in 2007.  Auster's novels are not likely to appeal to a wide audience.  I have read his New York Trilogy and have mixed feelings, though I did really enjoy the first in the series.  It is unlikely that this film will have wide appeal, though I did, for the most part, like it.  A writer stays at a friend's secluded house while away, and hopes to recover from just having finished his most recent novel.  He awakens after his first night to find a young woman in bed beside him.  They gradually get to know one another, but she is not who whom she said she was.  Even so, Martin falls for her and they are soon in love.  He is suddenly alert and writing again.  The mysterious plot doesn't really thicken, but it remains quite mysterious throughout.  The film is only 90 minutes, though parts of it drag a bit.  The couple are separated when she is called back from whence she came, but there seems to be a way around their dilemma.  The film has a good beginning and a good ending, so it's more than halfway successful already.  Some of the middle bits seemed a bit padded, as if trying to stretch out a short story.  The film is very theatrical and should appeal to folks who like stage performances.  Recommended, though not highly.

 

Now showing on Kino Films. 

 

The remaining film was watched on the Criterion Channel.  Rams is a documentary from 2018 and directed by Gary Hustwit.  It chronicles the works of lead designer at Braun Dieter Rams.  Neither of us had heard of this man, but we were both fascinated by this film and the super super cool stuff that he designed.  Many of his designs out-Bauhaus the Bauhaus, though that school was certainly a major influence.  Record players, radios, shelving units, chairs... just about any kind of utensil one could think of was beautifully designed and expertly crafted during his time at Braun.  His lean design look matches his philosophy.  Nothing should be made that isn't simple and direct in appearance, and nothing extra should be added.  Not only that, but the item should be built to last and be easy to repair.  Not too many things manufactured today have that kind of outlook.  A truly wonderful film about a very brilliant (and useful!) man.  His ten principles of design are still studied by design students today.  Highly recommended.

 

Now streaming on Criterion. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

 

 

 

 

Books Read June 2026

 

 I only read one book per month now from my Avon/Equinox SF Rediscovery series, alternating between Kenneth Bulmer and E. C. Tubb, though a few other related authors may still trickle in now and again.  In addition I read four books from my Delphi Classics collection and then one more not related.  I finished up with two essays by Stephen Jay Gould.  So, six books and two essays.

Scorpio Ablaze is #41 in the Dray Prescott series of fantasy novels by Kenneth Bulmer, who writes as Alan Burk Akers.  This is one of the poorer entries in the series, as Dray attempts to unify the rest of Paz against the evil fish heads. The fish heads are the Daleks of this world, mostly one-dimensional mass murderers.  This reader is growing quite sick of them.  Once again there are epic battles, including a pretty decent air ship versus airship one.  The highlight of the book is the reunification of Dray with Delia and the rest of his main buddies, an invincible group of allies if ever there was one.  But Bulmer once again relies on yet another evil wizard to thwart Dray's plans, as if the fish heads weren't enough.  How many times has Dray had to defeat an evil sorcerer or sorceress in this series, one who is backing the bad guys?  It grows thin after six or seven times.  And, unashamedly, there is no ending to this book.  Dray is once again captured by the Star Lords and whirled out of his most recent crisis--Delia has been captured by the fish heads and he was giving chase.  Really?  Yawn. ** stars. 

Next up came another ten stories by Edgar Allen Poe, one of them a novella.  Many of these stories from the 1830s aren't that famous, though a few are and a few more should be.  Several of them show Poe's predilection for humour at the time, though a few are very serious from beginning to end.  Lionizing was a quite funny account of a man born with a unique nose, which he puts to his advantage during his life.

  

Henry Clarke's illustration for Lionizing.  

 

There follows a SF adventure novella in what would inspire Jules Verne.  Using junk science of his day Poe writes The Unparalled Adventures of One Hans Pfall, a humourous account from 1835 of a man's journey to the moon via balloon.  Filled with some very funny parts, the more serious science bits often resembles Verne's later writing.  I enjoyed this story a lot!

The finest story of the ten came next.  King Pest is a macabre tale of two sailors, one extremely tall and thin and the other very short and stout.  They stumble into a meeting of a very unique society, barely escaping with their lives.  Part horror and part fantasy, we again see a direct connection between Poe and a future writer: this story could be called the origin of Fritz Leiber's Faffrd and Gray Mouser tales, among the best fantasy every written.

The Shadow is a very short story about the shadow of death visiting a group of carousing friends.  Yet again we can see from this tale Poe's influence on yet another future writer: Lord Dunsany.

Four Beasts In One is a very funny tale of a time and place long ago (Antioch), in which the king in full giraffe costume parades for his people.  Elsewhere, the tame lions and panthers stroll among the people without causing alarm or harming anyone.  Until they spot that prancing giraffe...

Mystification is classic Poe showing his wit and humour to great effect.  The writing is high level.  When a certain Baron Ritner is insulted by a fool of a guest, he gets back at him in a most unique and refined way.  Rich reading.

Silence is the tale told by a Demon to the narrator about a dreary region in Libya where he watched a man amidst the solitude.  The description of what occurs there stirs the narrator greatly, but he incurs the anger of the Demon by not laughing at the tale.  Strange but very atmospheric.

 

 

 From Poe's Silence, by Henry Clarke. 

 

Ligeia is from 1838 and is one of Poe's most famous tales.  It is a true horror story, and as I read it I could clearly hear the voice of Vincent Price.  This helped rather than hindered the reading. The final few pages are still among the best horror events ever written.

 

  

  Original Ligeia illustration by Harry Clarke, included in my Delphi Classics Kindle edition. 

 

Finally come two linked stories, both very funny.  How To Write A Blackwood Article is followed by the article itself, called A Predicament. An enterprising young woman, very well dressed and highly educated, talks with Mr. Blackwood about getting an article published in his magazine of strange events and occurrences.  He is very specific about how this should be handled, and the woman dutifully takes hasty notes, not always accurate.  This meeting is very funny in itself, as the things that Mr. Blackwood indicates would make for a successful article include the writer having to die some strange and original horrible death.  In the follow up story the woman does indeed die (in her article, at least) in a most strange way.  This is very original writing, however, it is also very racist as there is a black servant involved in the woman's escapade.

 

Swallowdale is from 1931 and is the second book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome.  John, Susan, Titty (Titania) and Roger are back for another summer vacation at the lake.  They waste no time returning to their beloved island to camp out and rough it in the wild.  Roughing it in England is a bit different than in Canada.  These kids would likely be eaten by a bear on their first night camping in Ontario, but on an island in England's Lake District they are free to store their food near their tents, and even travel each day a short distance across the water for fresh eggs and milk.  Roughing it indeed.  Nancy and Peggy, the two pirate girl friends of the children, are back, too.  What is amazing about this story, which is over 400 pages long and would likely take a child the entire summer to read (unless it rained a lot) is that there are no robbers or criminals of any kind.  Just six kids having fun and small adventures during their summer holiday.  While parts of the story might seem quite dull to older readers, the book does teach children all about camping, cleaning up after yourself and leaving your campsite as if no one had ever been there, responsibility towards one's siblings, and even quite a bit about sailing a small boat.  My favourite parts of the book had to do with the foggy day adventures the children had, including Roger's foot injury.  The injury is turned into pure gold for Roger, and he has his own adventure.  The children discover a cave, climb a mountain, have a sailing boat race and eat a lot of food.  It sounds like the perfect summer holiday.  Remember those?  *** stars.

 

 

I read the Kindle edition, which included all of the author's original art.

In the bottom right corner Roger (the youngest) is not being spanked.  He is having his

pants sewn from wearing them out sliding down a rock. 

 

I haven't had the best of luck with the novels of Vita Sackville-West.  Her Grey Wethers, from 1923, is a romantic novel in the tradition of Wuthering Heights, though far less effective.  Clare and Nicholas Lovel are the two main characters.  She is above his class.  He is a gypsy and has the reputation of being a bit of a rogue.  They have always got along, though they realize that their class difference stands in the way of their being together and living happily ever after.  She is 19 and he is in his late twenties.  He is a shepherd, among other things, and they spend days and days together on the Downs.  We are led to believe that they have a platonic relationship, sharing a love of nature and the openness of the country around their village, which lies within a prehistoric stone circle (the grey wethers).  Nicholas has a brother, Olver, who is simple-minded and devoted to him.  Clare lives in the manor house with her father, a doddering scholar who seldom ventures outdoors.  A nearby gentleman, Calladine, is at least 50 and has eyes only for young Clare.

The novel is divided into two books, the first one being quite long and mostly expository.  Book Two contains the main events, including life after marriage for Clare to Calladine, a meek indoors type who prefers reading by the fire to wandering the Downs, and also the marriage of Nicholas to village girl Daisy.  She is madly in love with him and gets him to marry her under a false pretence.  Neither marriage works in any way, shape or form, and eventually the two true lovers abscond to live a rustic life on the Downs, as they were meant to do all along.

Likely written for an audience of young ladies, hopefully it steered a few of them away from unhappy marriages.  Though readable, the book is hardly great romantic literature.  ** 1/2 stars.

 

Next came a Shaw play, Arms and the Man from 1894, first published in 1898.  It is a dated play, attempting to teach audiences at the time that war was not a glorious event, and that bravery in battle was something entirely different than what was thought then.  And yet, though we learned the truth about war the hard way two decades later, we still treat soldiers as heroes and believe that they don't really feel fear the same way as we normal human beings.  I feel at least as admiring of inner city school teachers, police and firefighters.  That is not to say that I have no respect for all the war veterans who saw action and suffered greatly, mentally and physically, but their profession is not the only one to be thankful for.  Anyway, Shaw's play remains a gem, and the fact that he can get such a serious message across through humour makes him one of my favourite writers.  **** stars.

 

Paul Aster's The Locked Room from 1986 is the third novel of his New York Trilogy.  While I liked the first one of the series, I did not like the 2nd one at all.  The third one is readable but I did not find any of it enjoyable.  The writing and story is very claustrophobic, like an annoying dream from which one cannot awaken.  It is also humourless.  Someone who is much better at this kind of thing (losing a grip on oneself) is Barry Malzberg, who, like Shaw, can have us rolling with laughter while digging deep into human psyche and psychosis.  Malzberg never achieved the recognition he so deserves.  I was also reminded in this novel of the superb writing and stories of Patricia Highsmith, especially the Ripley novels.  Now there is some great storytelling, again about losing one's personality by taking over someone else's.  Auster's way of telling a story seems to dull my mind as I read, whereas the other two authors mentioned above make me want to keep reading.  At this point I doubt I will pick up any more of Paul Aster's novels.  There is so much better to be found.  ** 1/2 stars.

 

I finished the month with two more essays by Stephen J. Gould's book of essays on evolution.  Pick up any one of his ten books of essays and read any essay and one will instantly be more aware of the reasons that evolution is important for us to know about.  I read the final essay in his section on biographies, about Vladamir Kovelevsky (and about his more famous wife, Sophia, a mathematician).  Vladamir contributed good science towards solving the problem of the evolution of the horse, a thorny issue back in the day.  As it turns out the horses of Europe were simply a branch of horse development, with the main activity going on in the New World.  It makes fascinating reading.  

Next came the first chapter in a section Gould calls Human Prehistory.  The first essay was about prehistoric cave paintings in France and Spain, and how early interpreters of the art, while agreeing on the extremely high quality of the wall art, tried to organize a chronology based on more primitive drawing becoming more and more realistic as time went on.  Gould points out the flawed thinking in presenting such a theory, especially when even earlier cave art was discovered later and proved to be the best art of the bunch.  This was a really good chapter!  The book I am reading the essays from is Gould's 1998 essay collection called Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and The Diet of Worms.

Mapman Mike

 

  

 

February Reading Summary 2026

It was a short month, but the first half was cold enough to be inside a lot.  There are seven books to report this month

 

Scorpio Reborn is from 1995 and is 252 pages long, the first book of the Lovian Cycle by Kenneth Bulmer, itself part of the extensive Dray Prescott series.  Our hero now finds himself in the southern hemisphere, sent on another mysterious mission by the Star Lords.  He arrives amidst a dwelling fire and barely manages to save a woman before he is knocked cold by a falling beam.  She ends up dragging him from the building.  In a neat twist, Dray Prescott is paralyzed for the first few chapters of the novel, watching events transpire but unable to participate.  He gradually recovers the use of his limbs, then comes speech, and finally he is his old self again.  He is paired with another of the Star Lords' servants, this time a female.  She thinks that she saved him from the fire, instead of the other way around.  Dray allows her to lead, but when he thinks matters should be handled differently he goes his own way.  A good tale filled with evil and cruel bad guys who get their just desserts in the end.  There are three novels in this volume.  

 

The Kindle volume contains three novels.  I read the first one, above.

Cover art by Ken Kelly. 

 

Prison of Night is by E C Tubb and is from 1976 and is somewhat unusual in this series.  Earl Dumarest stays on the same planet for this direct sequel to the previous story, something that has never happened before.  Readers should be glad he did, as some of the mystery of this very strange planet gets solved.  Every day its two suns come close together, and when they do an effect termed Delusia occurs, which enables dead people from a person's memory to come forth and speak with them.  It can be a very unnerving experience, though in some cases it is healing and beneficial.  That is one mystery that does not get solved in this story.  However, this planet has another surprise to claim as its own.  Humans can only be outside during the daylight hours; should they remain out after dark it is the Sungari that rule the world.  These are mysterious creatures that kill people who leave home after dark.  When curfew is called people must remain indoors.  Dumarest stays out and attempts to meet up with these mysterious night time things.  As a result part of the mystery of their existence is revealed to readers.  The rest of the book is standard adventure, with a war to fight and a woman who loves Earl and wants him to settle down with her and raise babies and stock animals.  It won't be a surprise to readers of this series that Dumarest blasts off for other worlds at the end of this book, continuing his search for Earth and his avoidance of the deadly Cyclan.  They are after information in his brain, so he remains on the run. 

 

Cover art by Don Maitz. 

 

I began a Michael Moorcock epic novel called The Whispering Swarm.  It is the first volume of a series called The Sanctuary of the White Friars.  As the large first volume is divided into three books, I shall report when I have completed all three.  I am reading one a month for now.  If things go well I will tackle volume two.

 

Turning now to the Delphi Classics series, I began the month with a novel by Jerome Jerome.  Tommy and Company is from 1904 and consists of a group of short stories loosely linked into a very readable type of novel.  The year is significant, as the stirrings of feminism began to appear in the London public.  Jerome has a field day poking fun, mostly at men, and how they react to modern women.  Tommy/Jane is the central character, a sexless waif at the beginning who is taken in by Peter Hope and eventually adopted by him.  The first story describes their meeting and establishes both characters in a most hilarious fashion.  While the book is far from farce, it is often very very funny.  It can also be quite touching.  Overall, however, the stories are simply great fun to read, and give insights into the times and the people of London.  We meet characters one or two at a time, and though they usually star in their own story, Tommy/Jane is usually working behind the scenes in all of them.  While making only brief appearances after his/her first story, Tommy/Jane provides the main reason to keep on reading.  He/she is one of the most original characters in literature.  The final story is one of the finest endings to a novel this reader has ever encountered.  Full marks for Mr. Jerome.  **** stars.

 

I have added D. H. Lawrence's complete works to my Delphi Classics collection. I began with a novella of his, The Ladybird from 1923.  It's an emotionally packed story that takes place from 1917 to sometime after Armistice.  A young woman visits an English hospital to see a badly wounded German officer known to her family from before the war.  Her own husband is fighting somewhere in Europe of Africa,and is eventually wounded himself.  The wounded German and the young wife become closer and closer, until when her husband finally returns, she is faced with her great problem.  A good read that delves into the psychological problems that wars create, as well as the physical ones.  It also demonstrates how war can change certainties (her love for husband) into uncertainties.  When one thinks one is happily married and then encounters a soul mate, what can one do?  *** stars.

 

Next came a rereading of George MacDonald's Phantastes, his first novel published in 1858.  I first encountered this fairy tale for adults in Lin carter's Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series (see separate blog) as #14.  On first reading I loved the book and awarded in four stars.  On second reading I sitll love the book, but rated it down slightly.  This is mainly due to the main character and the many terrible choices he makes through his dream journey to fairyland, thus causing hardship and misery to others.  The main character is Anodos (ascent in Greek), and his adventures are epic.  They begin in the fairy woods, then on the the fairy castle, then deep underground and opening out onto a vast sea.  This book, more than other other, helped start the adult fantasy trend, and direct links can be found in many places to later works by William Morris and Lord Dunsany.  It likely also influenced Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis, who read the book at 16, was forever changed by it.  Even Arthur Machen's writing can be traced back to episodes in this book.Therefore, anyone interested at all in adult fantasy will find this a must read novel.  It isn't terribly long, and there is a lot of poetry and stories within stories.  Definitely recommended.  *** 1/2 stories.

 

Cover art by Gervasio Gallardo.  See my Ballantine blog link at upper left margin.
 

Speaking of Arthur Machen, next came his earliest published short tales.  The Chronicles of Clemendy, or The History of the Ix Joyous Journeys Carbonnek.  In these linked tales from 1888 of medieval love and loss Machen harkens back to Rabelais, Chaucer and Boccaccio.  His stories feature during a journey among fellow Silurians (lovers of wine, joy, music and letters), and are told by various men.  One tale tells of a mechanical clock knight that usually hits the bells with his weapon, but appears to be walking about town after dark and catching people doing things with members of the opposite sex that they really shouldn't be doing.  Another tale explains how a man wasted his life digging for treasure after overhearing some monks discussing the subject.  There are two with wizards and maidens, the first one a sad tale of woe as a lovely maiden is kidnapped and ravished by an adept, then killed.  The second tells of a wizard father who does not wish his daughter to see other men, afraid that his dark magic might be called out.  Other tales tell of a knight trapped in a high tower, more than a mile above ground, while another tells of a knight trapped in dungeon far beneath the earth.  In all it is a good collection of tale, though after a while they have a similarity that makes it difficult to remember and distinguish between them.  I could see James Branch Cabell being influenced by these tales, though his writing is more erudite and dryly humourous.  Machen does inject humour into the tales, however, sometimes waiting till the moral of the tale is revealed.  Well worth reading, especially if you have only read his novels and later stories.

*** stars.

 

Ghosts (1986) is the second tale in Paul Auster's New York Trilogy.  It is short, more a novella, and seems to repeat a lot of what was encountered in the first book.  Again we have a private eye (a real one this time, supposedly) staked out in an apartment and keeping an eye on a man.  That's pretty much the story in this disappointing sequel to the first book.  Auster seems to get some of his inspiration from the final episode of the 1960s The Prisoner TV series, where Patrick McGoohan finally discovers "who is Number One."  I will eventually get around to book three, but now I am in no rush.  ** stars.

 

Mapman Mike