Books

(this post is actually a number of months old, but not posted till now)

After not having much of a chance to read in recent months, I’ve gotten back into the habit again.  Most recently I have read Neil Gaiman’s wonderful The Graveyard Book.  It is very reminiscent to me, in tone and to some extent thematically, to China Mieville’s Un Lun Dun, and also similarly it is a book that I am in love with.

It seems to me that recently there have been some awesome, beautifully written books that fall under the “Young Adult” category.  And because they are in that YA category they are dismissed by individuals who think themselves above so-called children’s books.  Unfortunately, largely for them, they are missing out on great works.  When writers write for a younger audience it may result in a simplicity of language that can oftentimes be more effective and elegant than complex, cruft-filled, verbosities (an attempt to meld verbose and monstrosities - sorry) of written works.

The problem, as always, is that of categorization and genrefication.  I know people who would not read (or watch) something if it is labeled science fiction or fantasy.  They are missing Ursula K. Le Guin.  I could add dozens others, but that one name is enough.

As for The Graveyard Book, I finished it long before I finished writing this post.  I was let down by the ending.  It came a little too fast, ends were tied up a little too quickly, and I felt the villains should have either been left unexplained or fleshed out much better.  Preferably the latter.  Nevertheless I was completely entranced by the first 3/4ths and it is a book I intend to read again.  Perhaps it will end better next time.

Like many readers, or former readers, of the Wheel of Time, I fell in love with the cycle’s first book, The Eye of the World. And that affair continued strong for a least a couple of more books before things began to take a turn for the worse. I have to say that even though I tired of his wordiness, rambling plot threads, and other issues, I did eventually return with each new book, though often long after its initial published date. The Wheel of Time was, for a time, a great series and many people may still consider it such — though it certainly would have been better as a cycle of six novels — and I think it will be a series that endures in fantasy literature, perhaps moreso now with his untimely death.

I was looking forward to the final chapter of tale begun almost two decades ago, and I had high expectations, as the 11th novel, Knife of Dreams, was his strongest in over ten years. Bad luck. Worse for his family and friends of course, and his fervent fans, and for anyone that admires writers and craftsmen and people who create.