Dave J. > Recent Status Updates

Decided to start reading this on a whim, but also because I recently read Borges's "The Library of Babel" and thought back to Clarke's Piranesi. I have a jump start here since I already read the first story of this collection some years ago ("Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" - it was my intro to Borges). Should be interesting.

Currently listening to the audiobook narrated by Scott Brick. Story is interesting so far, I can see why this was so influential on SF.

The biography of a Spaniel. Kind of a funny concept. Woolf gets into the history and breeding of Spaniels, and then on into the more speculative territory. Will be interesting to see how the rest of the story pans out.

Liking it so far. Was not expecting the prose to be this experimental. There are weird lapses in each paragraphs and loads of play with language. But there's an earnest intensity and lyrical flow to it all. So far, some insightful childhood vs. adulthood commentary, and how it relates to the light and shadowy friendship between Will Holloway and Jim Nightshade.

Quote from Angus Wilson: "Everyone says as a commonplace that a novel is an extended metaphor, but too few, perhaps, insist that the metaphor is everything, the extension only the means of expression."

Whew, almost done. Very tired of the book at this point. But I wrote a lot of notes and am currently putting a review together. I did finally make it to a part that I remember liking (and I still think it's a good part), it's just too bad that it took a few hundred pages to get there. Too many scenes, too many characters...

Great stuff so far. Le Guin argues that style = the author. "It is how you see: your vision, your understanding of the world, your voice..... To create what Tolkien calls 'a secondary universe' is to make a new world. A world where no voice has ever spoken before; where the act of speech is the act of creation. The only voice that speaks there is the creator’s voice. And every word counts." Nicely said.

Fun story so far, although my movie knowledge does put a damper on Rowling's surprises. Not sure if I'll read through the rest of the series since there are other books that excite me more.

Reached Part 2. My interest in the characters is waning, there are too many of them and too many jostling story threads. While Catling has some good ideas, the execution just isn't there. I can't recall how the novel ends, so my curiosity is driving me to continue reading.

Nice to finally see the differences between the book and the movie. Been trying to form new images of the characters in my head but it's tough to forget about the actors.

It's been a long time coming. Reading this is a bit special for me since I grew up in a church where books like HP were "banned." I can see why, as the whole beginning of this book is about the Dursleys hiding the truth from Harry and trying their hardest to suppress Harry's personal growth. I never made that connection until now, even though I watched the movies years ago. Looking forward to reading the rest.