Traveller’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2015)

Traveller’s comments from the On Paths Unknown group.

Linda wrote: "Ronald wrote: "I think meandering actually comes close to the differentiating factor between the two books for me. Even with the large center portion of the TSD, and with the two main characters ab..."

We could just as well put 2666 on the shelf here, in that case. Er... how urgently do you want to read it? :P On the other hand, don't know if we'd have enough takers. I suppose even 2 or 3 people are enough, but it's long. Thick, whatever. BIG. :)

Ronald wrote: "I think meandering actually comes close to the differentiating factor between the two books for me. Even with the large center portion of the TSD, and with the two main characters absent, I felt it..."

Hmm, in that case, since it is a BIG book in the literal sense of the word as well, I might keep 2666 on the backburner for a while longer even.

I really need to get to Women and Men though... that one's been bugging me for a while now.

Ronald wrote: "I tackled three big books in the last two weeks, and am looking to start another here shortly - they can be quite addicting!

The Recognitions - My Review/Thoughts

[book:2666|31376..."

Those are all BIG books on my TBR and I must say you put me to shame! Hmm, interesting that you found 2666 weaker than Savage Detectives - in which way? I find Bolano can become a bit meandering...

Good luck with your finals, Robyn!

Hmm, I must admit I thought we might have lost you since this book is relatively hard going because the style is strongly narrative with relatively little action and dialogue, which is why I was more looking forward to Finch, I think.

...but if you still have courage for it for later, I'm glad!

Crossing fingers for you.... ;)

Wow... the entire book is worth reading if only for these passages:

(view spoiler)[ Every human being is a puppet on strings, but the puppet half controls the strings, and the strings do not ascend to some anonymous Maker, but are glistening golden strands that connect one puppet to another. Each strand is sensitive to the vibrations of every other strand. Every vibration sings in not only the puppet’s heart, but in the hearts of many other puppets, so that if you listen carefully, you can hear a low hum as of many hearts singing together….

When a strand snaps, when it breaks for love, or lack of love, or from hatred, or from pain…every other connected strand feels it, and every other connected heart feels it—and since every strand and every heart are, in theory, connected, even if at their most distant limits, this means the effect is universal. All through the darkness where shining strings are the only light, a woundedness occurs. And this hurt affects each strand and each puppet in a different way, because we are all puppets on strings and we all hurt and are hurt. And all the strings shimmer on regardless, and all of our actions, no matter how small, have consequences to other puppets…. After we are dead, gone to join the darkness between the lines of light, the strands we leave behind still quiver their lost messages into the hearts of those other puppets we met along the way, on our journey from light into not-light. These lost strands are the memories we leave behind….

Magnify this effect by 25,000 souls and perhaps you can see why I cannot so lightly dismiss what you call a mistake. Each extinguished life leaves a hole in many other lives—a series of small extinguishments that can never be completely forgotten or survived. Each survivor carries a little of that void within them. (hide spoiler)]

Re the machine: that is something truly Miévillian; (view spoiler)[ the "live" bits reminds of his Bas-lag universe, and I almost wonder if this is a nod to him; it could be... ...and to get back to my Aztec obsession, of course the Aztecs also believed in human sacrifice and that it was the 'duty' of people to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

It also reminds me of the story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin. (hide spoiler)]

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Being a raven? I seem to have missed something there..."
Well, more or less from:
(view spoiler)["Can I start again? Will you let me start again? Do you trust me to? Perhaps not. Perhaps all I can do is soar over. Perhaps we’ll fly as the crow flies—on night wings, wind rattling the delicate bones of the rib cage, cold singeing feathers, gaze scouring the ground below us. The landscape will seem clear but distant, remote yet comprehensible. We will fly for ten years straight, through cold and rain and the occasional indignant sparrow certain we’ve come to raid the nest. Ten years shall we fly across before we begin our slow, circling descent to the cause of Duncan’s calamity. Those ten years brought five black books flapping their pages. Five reluctant tombstones. Five millstones round my brother’s neck. Five brilliant bursts of quicksilver communication. Five leather-clad companions for Duncan that no one can ever take away. {Five progressively grandiose statements that stick in my craw.} We fly this way because we must fly this way. (hide spoiler)]

to

(view spoiler)[Gliding, wheeling, we circle back through the windstream and let the titles fall in reverse order so that we might approach the source by a series of echoes or ripples: [...]I don’t mean to speak in riddles. I don’t mean to fly too high above the subject, but sometimes you have no choice. Still, let me land our weary crow and just tell the story…. (hide spoiler)]

It was actually more a rhetorical question from my side, as in: "Hey, way out, dude! " :D

Sheesh! Has there ever been a more scathing rejection in literary history (in all senses of the term) than that of Mr Gaudy?

Later on, when Duncan comes out of the underground for the second time, I find it a bit tedious.

...and what's with being a raven? <_<

Yolande wrote: "I am always excited to see authors, especially when it is a male author, recognize the lack of strong female characters in many genres of literature and then endeavours to change that by creating s..."

Thanks, for that, Yolande!
In this regard, if you do enjoy speculative fiction, you might enjoy Embassytown by China Miéville. It has a rather cool female protagonist. :)

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "I notice that Traveller's link to bookbub has "country_code=za", so if you just blindly give them your email address, you might start getting offers for books only available in South Africa (or may..."

That's strange - I copied and pasted a link from a Twitter blog post, that mentioned they let you know of free book offers (like for example from Random House and other big publishers) but didn't see that part of the link. I haven't actually tried it out - one would think that it would automatically change to whatever country you're in?

Hmm, though it works without that additional bit too. I've now changed it to what should just be the straightforward link? Sorry about that.

Some of you might be interested in this site that apparently alerts one about free book deals : http://landers.bookbub.com/

Stephen wrote: "I've never read Stephen King either, but I might check out The Shining or The Dark Tower sometime, because I don't want to feel too snobby.

Some of the longest books on my "read" list:"

I've read War and Peace and the unabridged Les Misérables (Yes, I read every single word), and Shōgun, but sadly I find Follett a bit of a bore...

Ah, but has anybody around here read Middlemarch? That was a loooong slog, but I got through it. *Buffs nails.*

(Not without much complaining, mind! )

Oh well, then I'm glad that I never wasted too much time on trying to read more of his work... ;)

Thanks Amy!

Well, his style is very immersive, but sometimes I find his subject-matter rather juvenille and his inherent attitude callous.... This did improve over time though.

Jennifer wrote: "I was going to pass on the whole Dark Tower thing. I have read the Shining, I was going to read it again at some point in my life. But I am not a huge fan of King. Nor his son. Joe Hill. I would ra..."

Are you going to try out Shirley Jackson with us in the upcoming read? She seems creepy enough... :P

The Shining made for a very creepy movie indeed! :O

Hm, IIRC, I rather liked The Green Mile.

Yeah, It was relatively silly, if I remember that one correctly..

I read the first one, I think, as a kid and remember quite liking it. The idea of a re-read has been pressing on me more and more... I really hated books like Pet Sematary with it's arbitrary cruelty, though.

Sure, Carrie and a few other of his books are well-written, but there's also a lot to be repulsed by in King's work...

Cujo made for a very scary movie though! I remember watching it on TV with my mother and we were literally in one another's laps at some points! (view spoiler)[ The worst part was where you thought Cujo is finally dead - and he jumps up again... (hide spoiler)]

Did you read any of the The Dark Tower books, Derek?

I must admit that I only like some King. I haven't read The Stand myself yet, can you believe...