Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

Horror? Mystery? Both? Usually, I know where I’m at, when. It comes to this author and the genre. This one sounds a little different…

I’ll finish this up tonight. I’ve enjoyed the experience, but I’m gonna be honest, a lot of this just makes me sad. This is a life to reflect on, that is for sure.

It took a while, but we finally made it to Paris, where we can hook up with the Impressionists! If I ever knew who Van Gogh actually hobnobbed with it was forgotten; I loved his 4 AM visit to Seurat and mom Seurat. I knew that Van Gogh was not going to just lap up the Seurat lecture on where painting technique must go (and thank goodness for that). Seurat did my fave painting, but I like more of Van Gogh’s work.

Took a small break from Lust for Life, to read a few of the issues that lead this collection off. Speaking of amazing art - wow, yeah. Meanwhile, Raven has always been my favourite Teen Titan, and any time the whole Trigon thing kicks in, we get some gorgeous page layouts, colours, with Raven’s look just perfection in every panel.

I am enjoying it - and, y’know, it’s the “cut off his ear over a woman” guy, so I knew going in what to expect - but: as someone who never really dated, looked for romance, love, sex, physical pleasure, validation of worth from another on any level whatsoever…real or fictional stories with “man obsessed with woman who does not want him” at the core, are not for me. But, again, it’s Van Gogh, I’m stuck with it.

A university course called Intro to Art History was the only time I spent actually studying art and artists. My fave painting is Parade de Cirque/Circus Sideshow (1888), by Seurat. My favourite Mystery (uh, tied for first place) is Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi, and that’s Monet-centric. In Horror, I loved Duma Key, and its fictional painter. Lots of great art-based Crime, and Horror, fiction. Dorian Gray!

I like this one. Would have gotten to it a bit faster, but the last few days have seen me struggling with the first cold I've had in the longest while - and I was only able to do the graphic novel yesterday. Today is better. I hate when the hobby I love is harder because of tiredness and a headache - but I'm past the worst, and this book a good one for right now.

Only a few Maigret novels left for me. But lots of other Simenon!

Okay, I think that’s it for tonight. Should wrap this tomorrow. It’s running about 4 out of 5 stars. I’ve thought of another book this vaguely reminds me of - one I enjoyed - Homunculus, by Hugh Paxton. Character names, the absurd-Horror feel of the book, and the dark humour - not so much that they are similar plots. More like similar unsettling lunacy.

Well! Books that have been kind of like this have not generally been ones I enjoyed. Or, at least, not loved. But I guess the secret is, they were only “kind of” like this…not This. One book I did love that I thought of early on, is Elton’s Dead Famous. But I’ve also flashed back to Locus Solus, Leyner’s My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist - and some Extreme Horror that was too much for me. This one, I like.

I’ve managed to get into the swing of things, made peace with the structure and the strangeness - and I’m enjoying it more than I was.

When I was younger, there was a bookstore downtown - long gone - that I only went into occasionally (SF bookstore, used-book, and comic book stores had priority over it). I went in one day, and saw this new softcover called Fight Club - almost tempted, but passed. I went to a movie, and a free magazine there had a teeny reference to Brad Pitt's "upcoming project"...Fight Club. I went back and got the book. A sign!

I love it.

Time to get back to Allingham. Overall, I have liked this series, with some of the later ones not measuring up, IMO. My favourite, so far, is the first entry in the series…which catches me a bit by surprise. Did she not sharpen her craft and provide me a favourite during some peak period, as with most Mystery writers versus my reaction to their stuff? Hunh. Well, it doesn’t matter; more, please!