Katherine Nabity's Blog, page 196
January 17, 2015
Deal Me In, Week 3 ~ “The Damned Thing”
Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
“The Damned Thing” by Ambrose Bierce
Card picked: Two of Spades – A WILD card
From: Project Gutenberg
Thoughts:
Week 3 and I already pick a wild card! Since my first two stories of the year were both 50-ish pages, I decided to look to my Obscure Literary Monsters list and pick something shorter. Shorter, this story was. A mere eight pages in Epub form. My only dissatisfaction was that I was enjoying it so much and it was over too soon!
Like “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Bierce tells this story in several parts, juggling chronology. We start in a cabin with a coroner, a dead body, and a “jury.” We are soon joined by William Harker, a journalist who witnessed the strange death of Hugh Morgan. The second chapter is Harker’s testimony which he has also submitted to his newspaper.
It was not written as news, for it is incredible, but as fiction.
While out hunting quail, Morgan and Harker come upon something in the bushes, something which Morgan refers to as the Damned Thing. Here Bierce points out one of the fundamental tenants of horror fiction:
We so rely upon the orderly operation of familiar natural laws that any seeming suspension of them is noted as a menace to our safety, a warning of unthinkable calamity.
The third chapter reveals the dire wounds on the body and the verdict of assembly. They decide that Hugh Morgan was killed by a mountain lion because, obviously, Harker isn’t entirely in his right mind. And in the fourth chapter (yes, all this in eight pages!), we are allowed to read some of the contents of Hugh Morgan’s diary which has been kept a secret by the coroner. Morgan had his own ideas about the Damned Thing.
***Potentially Spoilery Bits***
JW McCormack’s take on the Damned Thing is quite occult and wants to tie it more closely with Lovecraft’s indescribable monsters even though Bierce gives it, through Morgan’s diary, a more scientific treatment. I disagree with McCormack. The unknown doesn’t have to be necessarily unnatural. It just has to be beyond our current understanding of natural. One of my favorite sub-genres is science fiction horror where the horror is the thing we don’t understand yet. “The Damned Thing” reminds me of one of my favorite scary bits of sci-fi: the monster in Forbidden Planet.
***End Potentially Spoilery Bits***
About the Author: My first brush with Ambrose Bierce was only a month ago and I’m still kicking myself for not reading him sooner. There is something the feels very American to me about Bierce. I’m going to assume for the moment that this is because he’s not a New Englander like Poe or Hawthorne. Nothing against New England, but there’s a difference in perspective between the East Coast and out “West.” In “The Damned Thing,” we hear coyotes and hunt in the chaparral.
Deal Me In, Week 3 ~ The Damned Thing
Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
“The Damned Thing” by Ambrose Bierce
Card picked: Two of Spades – A WILD card
From: Project Gutenberg
Thoughts:
Week 3 and I already pick a wild card! Since my first two stories of the year were both 50-ish pages, I decided to look to my Obscure Literary Monsters list and pick something shorter. Shorter, this story was. A mere eight pages in Epub form. My only dissatisfaction was that I was enjoying it so much and it was over too soon!
Like “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Bierce tells this story in several parts, juggling chronology. We start in a cabin with a coroner, a dead body, and a “jury.” We are soon joined by William Harker, a journalist who witnessed the strange death of Hugh Morgan. The second chapter is Harker’s testimony which he has also submitted to his newspaper.
It was not written as news, for it is incredible, but as fiction.
While out hunting quail, Morgan and Harker come upon something in the bushes, something which Morgan refers to as the Damned Thing. Here Bierce points out one of the fundamental tenants of horror fiction:
We so rely upon the orderly operation of familiar natural laws that any seeming suspension of them is noted as a menace to our safety, a warning of unthinkable calamity.
The third chapter reveals the dire wounds on the body and the verdict of assembly. They decide that Hugh Morgan was killed by mountain lion because, obviously, Harker isn’t entirely in his right mind. And in the fourth chapter (yes, all this in eight pages!), we are allowed to read some of the contents of Hugh Morgan’s diary which has been kept a secret by the coroner. Morgan had his own ideas about the Damned Thing.
***Potentially Spoilery Bits***
JW McCormack’s take on the Damned Thing is quite occult and wants to tie it more closely with Lovecraft’s indescribable monsters even though Bierce gives it, through Morgan’s diary, a more scientific treatment. I disagree with McCormack. The unknown doesn’t have to be necessarily unnatural. It just has to be beyond our current understanding of natural. One of my favorite sub-genres is science fiction horror where the horror is the thing we don’t understand yet. “The Damned Thing” reminds me of one of my favorite scary bits of sci-fi: the monster in Forbidden Planet.
***End Potentially Spoilery Bits***
About the Author: My first brush with Ambrose Bierce was only a month ago and I’m still kicking myself for not reading him sooner. There is something the feels very American to me about Bierce. I’m going to assume for the moment that this is because he’s not a New Englander like Poe or Hawthorne. Nothing against New England, but there’s a difference in perspective between the East Coast and out “West.” In “The Damned Thing,” we hear coyotes and hunt in the chaparral.
January 15, 2015
Review ~ Raylan
The revered New York Times bestselling author, recognized as ���America���s greatest crime writer��� (Newsweek), brings back U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the mesmerizing hero of Pronto, Riding the Rap, and the hit FX series Justified.
With the closing of the Harlan County, Kentucky, coal mines, marijuana has become the biggest cash crop in the state. A hundred pounds of it can gross $300,000, but that���s chump change compared to the quarter million a human body can get you���especially when it���s sold off piece by piece.
So when Dickie and Coover Crowe, dope-dealing brothers known for sampling their own supply, decide to branch out into the body business, it���s up to U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens to stop them. But Raylan isn���t your average marshal; he���s the laconic, Stetson-wearing, fast-drawing lawman who juggles dozens of cases at a time and always shoots to kill. (via Goodreads)
If you follow Justified, you recognize some plot points��from the series in that blurb, but context is different. Elmore Leonard wrote Raylan between the second and third seasons of the series (kinda-sorta). A Salon article from January 2013 explains the situation better than I can, but I like this quote by executive producer and developer Graham Yost:
He wrote this novel ��� and said, “Hang it up and strip it for parts” [���] And so we did.
I am a fan of Justified. After the second season, I actually stopped watching for a while because I feared the decline that often happens to good shows. I finally watched seasons 3-5 in December and I’m happy to report that the quality does not flag.��Justified does something that very few TV shows get right: balancing long term plot threads with the satisfying single episode experience. And without gimmicks; instead relying on interesting characters. That said, Raylan Givens is not my favorite of those characters, and I was hoping for more of the background characters to have bigger roles.
Raylan deals with three plot threads: three villains, all of them female, all very money-hungry. Their portrayals are not flattering, but then, Leonard’s male characters aren’t angels either. Mainly, the stories seemed a little one note to me. This is a problem I’ve had with most of Leonard’s non-Westerns. I wonder if there’s something about a the modern setting that leaches some nuance from his characters.
One note: I bought the Kindle edition of this book. While the Kindle Cloud version was formatted fine, the device version really sucked. For a while I thought Leonard was being particularly jarring with his scene transitions, but then I realized that I was missing line breaks on my Kindle.
Publishing info, my copy: William Morrow, 2012, Kindle/Epub edition
Acquired: Purchased ebook from Amazon
Genre: Crime
Previously: I’ve read one Elmore Leonard novel in the past (a western, Gunsights) and a couple of anthologies. I’m generally happier with his Westerns. Therefore, I haven’t read the other two novels with Raylan Givens as a character, but I did read the short story “Fire in the Hole” from When the Women Come Out to Dance. That short story was the basis for Justified‘s pilot.
January 12, 2015
Magic Monday Is Back!
I like Mondays. On Monday, I am refreshed from the weekend and exhilarated by the possibilities of the week ahead. I also like magic. I like its history, its intersection with technology, and its crafty use of human nature.�� I figured I’d combine the two and make a Monday feature that is truly me: a little bit of magic and a look at the week ahead.
First Magic Monday of 2015! (Last week was Bout of Books.) It seems like it’s been a while since the last one with all the “best-of”s and wrap-ups. I have some plans for future MMs, but they will require getting my feet under me work- & blogging-wise. It could happen!
Under the heading of Check Your Local Listings and Mark Your Calendars:
PBS will be airing the Ricky Jay documentary Deceptive Practice later in January. If you’re in the US, you’ll probably be able to catch it online as well.
(I would link to the PBS trailer, but the embedding doesn’t get along well with WordPress.)
What Am I Reading?
I need to finish Sleights of Mind this week and get it back to the library. Then it’s on to The Magician’s Daughter by Judith Janeway or The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. I’d ear-marked reading Hound due to the gothic elements, I think. For Deal Me In, I’ve already picked a wild card. I think it will be given to ���The Damned Thing��� by Ambrose Bierce.
What Am I Writing?
Need to do a clean-up on Luck for Hire (today) and then have Eric read. Working on getting Lucinda at the Window back into rotation after its stint on KDP Select.
Magic Monday ~ Back in 2015
I like Mondays. On Monday, I am refreshed from the weekend and exhilarated by the possibilities of the week ahead. I also like magic. I like its history, its intersection with technology, and its crafty use of human nature.�� I figured I’d combine the two and make a Monday feature that is truly me: a little bit of magic and a look at the week ahead.
First Magic Monday of 2015! (Last week was Bout of Books.) It seems like it’s been a while since the last one with all the “best-of”s and wrap-ups. I have some plans for future MMs, but they will require getting my feet under me work- & blogging-wise. It could happen!
Under the heading of Check Your Local Listings and Mark Your Calendars:
PBS will be airing the Ricky Jay documentary Deceptive Practice later in January. If you’re in the US, you’ll probably be able to catch it online as well.
(I would link to the PBS trailer, but the embedding doesn’t get along well with WordPress.)
What Am I Reading?
I need to finish Sleights of Mind this week and get it back to the library. Then it’s on to The Magician’s Daughter by Judith Janeway or The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. I’d ear-marked reading Hound due to the gothic elements, I think. For Deal Me In, I’ve already picked a wild card. I think it will be given to ���The Damned Thing��� by Ambrose Bierce.
What Am I Writing?
Need to do a clean-up on Luck for Hire (today) and then have Eric read. Working on getting Lucinda at the Window back into rotation after its stint on KDP Select.
January 10, 2015
Deal Me In, Week 2 ~ “Midnight Emissions”
Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
“Midnight Emissions” by F. X. Toole
Card picked: Ace of Spades
From: Murder on the Ropes edited by Otto Penzler
Thoughts:
I was hoping I’d get to this story sooner rather than later, but I didn’t expect to pull it in Week 2! The inclusion of a story by F. X. Toole was the reason I requested this book from Paperback Swap back in 2009…
This is the story of trainer Red, manager Billy Clancy, and boxer Kenny Coyle. Coyle thinks he’s a very smart man. But as Red puts it, you shouldn’t shit a shitter and you shouldn’t hit a hitter.
See, when the police find a corpse in Texas, their first question ain’t who done it, it’s what the dead do to deserve it.
The mystery aspects of this tale are not particularly mysterious. We are introduced to a corpse in the first paragraph. It becomes fairly obvious who this particular dead man is and who is probably behind his death. This story is all about the journey.
Billy Clancy is partial to heavyweights, having been one himself. Red, on the verge of retirement from the sport of boxing, is fully aware of the ups and downs of training young men who believe they deserve the world for the beatings they take. Both probably knew better, but both are taken in by charismatic, talented Kenny Coyle.
Toole knows boxing, but here his eye is toward the intricacies of training a fighter. It’s social as well as physical, a balancing act between controlling and permitting behavior. The title refers to letting nature take care of physical release rather than pursuing other fatiguing means. The analogy works on a couple of levels.
The weakness of the story is that it is written in a south Texas dialect. It was tough to get into and confusing sometimes. I wish Toole would have kept the language plainer.
About the Author:
From the back of Rope Burns, an anthology of Toole’s stories which I read back in 2008:
F. X. Toole was a trainer and licensed cut man in the world of professional boxing. He was seventy when Rope Burns, his first book, was published, and had been writing and battling rejection letters for forty years. He died two years later, in 2002.
One the stories from Rope Burns was adapted into the movie Million Dollar Baby which was released in 2004.
January 8, 2015
Review ~ Revival
A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.
In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs — including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.
Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties — addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate — Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.
This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It’s a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe. (via Goodreads)
I was drawn to this book by its cover. Specifically, that cover with lightning and a revival tent; title in carnival lights. The blurb was pretty good too. I was intrigued by a revivalist preacher that might not exactly be a man of God. Revival isn’t quite what I expected because I kind of forgot that I was reading a Stephen King novel that “spans five decades.”
This novel rambles. I get that King wants to give this tale scope, but I’m reminded something I liked in M. R. James’ “‘Oh, Whistle, and I���ll Come to You, My Lad'” (a story that gets a mention in Revival, by the way): James introduces the tale through “a person not in the story.” That’s all the mention this character gets. Occasionally, I wanted a little less of the cast and details of Jamie Morton’s life. I think these long asides defuse the tension that should be maintained between Jamie and Jacobs.
I will also admit, I prefer “small” horror over universal dread.��Revival takes a turn toward the cosmic which isn’t unexpected within the bounds of the story, but didn’t thrill me personally.
Publishing info, my copy: Scribner ebook, 2014
Acquired: Tempe Public Library Digital
Genre: Horror
Previously: Not my first Stephen King book, not my favorite Stephen King book, and won’t be my last Stephen King book.
January 4, 2015
Bout of Books 12!
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
Unfortunately, I won’t truly be able to “call in sick” with my “bout of books.” I came down with a bout of head cold last week that hindered my writing productivity. Also, I have a bunch of impending, time-sensitive web mistress duties. But the readathon goes on!
No Goal! I’m a slow reader; I never liked ‘em anyway! I do want to participate in a few challenges and at least one Twitter party–I’ll start building my energy reserves now.
Wrap-Up
Read 400 pages, which isn’t my best readathon number ever, but it’s more than average. Had fun with a few challenges, made it to a twitter chat, added a some new bloggers to my RSS feed. What more can I ask for? Not much, I tell you. Until May, Bout-of-Books-ers!
What Am I Reading?
Finish Raylan by Elmore Leonard
Short story: “Midnight Emissions” by F.X. Toole (More like a novella.)
Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions by Stephen L. Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Sandra Blakeslee
Maybe I’ll get toThe Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
Updates & Challenges
Literary Quote Challenge, hosted by Gone with the Words
The Synopsis Challenge, hosted by LuLo Fangirl
Abracadabra! Is this your card?
For hundreds of years, magicians have been hacking our brains to confound and amaze us.
Two researchers from Barrow Neurological Institute take a look inside our brains to see how magicians do it and what magic can teach us about how we think.
Top 10 Recommendations, hosted by Trees of Reverie
The Challenge: You���ve just started to work at a bookstore (or library) – what are your top ten go-to book recommendations?
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Dune by Frank Herbert
Angry Candy by Harlan Ellison
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation translated by Seamus Heaney
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear by Jim Steinmeyer
How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff
Aside from Dune and How to Lie with Statistics, these are all books I’ve read multiple times. I tried to shoot for a little variety (but mostly ended up dark) and left out books I’d consider “gimmes” like Edgar Allan Poe. I’m terribly bad at recommending books because I’m always slightly apologetic about my tastes. I doubt any bookshop would want me!
Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt, hosted by Caught Read Handed
From the books I own:
1. Find an author with the same initials as you – Kim Newman is the only one!
2. Find a book with the color yellow on it – Luck by Alice Sebold
4. Find a book with a female protagonist – The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt – very under-appreciated!
5. Find the longest book you own – The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
7. Find a book with a face on it (photograph or illustrated) – I was nearly finished with Dark Water by Kofi Suzuki before I realized there *was* a face. It remains one of my favorite cover illustrations.
Pinned: Bout of Books 12!
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
Unfortunately, I won’t truly be able to “call in sick” with my “bout of books.” I came down with a bout of head cold last week that hindered my writing productivity. Also, I have a bunch of impending, time-sensitive web mistress duties. But the readathon goes on!
No Goal! I’m a slow reader; I never liked ‘em anyway! I do want to participate in a few challenges and at least one Twitter party–I’ll start building my energy reserves now.
What Am I Reading?
Finish Raylan by Elmore Leonard
Short story: “Midnight Emissions” by F.X. Toole
Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions by Stephen L. Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Sandra Blakeslee
Maybe I’ll get toThe Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
Updates
Notes & Challenges
Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt, hosted by Caught Read Handed
From the books I own:
1. Find an author with the same initials as you – Kim Newman is the only one!
2. Find a book with the color yellow on it – Luck by Alice Sebold
4. Find a book with a female protagonist – The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt – very under-appreciated!
5. Find the longest book you own – The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
7. Find a book with a face on it (photograph or illustrated) – I was nearly finished with Dark Water by Kofi Suzuki before I realized there *was* a face. It remains one of my favorite cover illustrations.
Deal Me In Lunar Extra ~ “The Specialist’s Hat”
Deal Me In Lunar Extra!
I was very indecisive when picking my Deal Me in Stories, so I added an extra “Lunar” twist.
For each full moon, I’ll be reading a horror story written by a woman.
“The Specialist’s Hat” by Kelly Link
Card picked: An eight
From: Available at Kelly Link’s website
Thoughts: “The Specialist’s Hat” is the short tale of twins Claire and Samantha. The twins are generally ignored by their father (their mother is dead) and they’re left to explore and make up games on their own. Their favorite? The Dead game–when you’re Dead you always tell the truth (unless you don’t want to) and you’re never afraid.
They live in Eight Chimneys a two hundred year old house which once belonged to Charles Cheatham Rash, the subject of their father’s research. Rash was a mediocre gothic poet and author of one novel, The One Who Is Watching Me Through the Window. Bits of Rash’s poetry is sprinkled throughout the story along with a myth he learned at sea, that of the Specialist’s Hat. The Specialist’s hat can imitate any sound.
Something is creeping up the stairs,
Something is standing outside the door,
Something is sobbing, sobbing in the dark;
Something is sighing across the floor.
Rash learned about the Specialist’s Hat from a magician who died on board one of the ships he sailed on.
“Their father says that the other sailors wanted to throw the magician’s chest overboard, but Rash persuaded them to let him keep it”
This reminds me of Descartes mechanical daughter, an automaton that Descartes constructed to prove that something could seem alive and ensouled, yet not be. Story goes that the doll was convincing enough that a particularly superstitious ship’s captain believed it to be of the devil and threw it overboard. With themes of “death” and imitation running throughout this story, I assume the reference was intended.
I didn’t realize that this story would be a suitable read for the Gothic Challenge. With a grand house, surrounded by dark woods, and admonishments not to go into the locked attic, I’m not sure you could hit more Gothic beats in a 5000 words story. It’s a tense and creepy gem.
About the Author: I don’t think I’m overstating when I say that Kelly Link is one of the best and most lauded speculative fiction writers of the last 15 years. If you’ve made a point to read some of the Nebula or Hugo short fiction nominees lately, you’ve read her. Most recently, I enjoyed “Two Houses” from the Bradbury tribute Shadow Show and I’ll be reading her again later in the year for Deal Me In.
I came to this story through Paula Cappa’s Women of Horror for Halloween.
