books, books, books
11.23.04 @ 11:43 p.m.
It is hard to update when NOTHING INTERESTING EVER HAPPENS hulargbulaghualgh.
I am packing up my stuff and it is not going well, in that I really haven't packed much of anything. I took one carload of stuff over to the new apartment yesterday and meant to do the same today but eh, didn't. Which is bad, because that means I have to go over tomorrow and drop off my rental agreement. And nothing else, I think, because I simply will not have time. I have to take Greyhound to Portland because of parental paranoia and not wanting to drive down being followed by my parents in another car, since that makes me nervous and I can't drive as fast as I would like. So yeah. I hate to drive observed. (This makes me a little sad in that I will not be able to show off my new car adornment to my brother dearest, which is to say my "My Other Transport is the Millennium Falcon" sticker and Who logo sticker. Yes, I am a geek!)
So tomorrow I'll have classes and I'll have to get things together and get to Greyhound "at least an hour before my bus leaves," which means I should be there by 4:20. I plan to take a fully charged laptop with me so I can try desperately to catch up on NaNo, as I've fallen several days behind. This is to be expected, what with the packing and classes.
Of course, I happily destroyed a large portion of my time by checking Terry Pratchett's newest novel in the Discworld series, Going Postal. Personally, I find that I prefer the newest of his books, though they require a working knowledge of the previous books. That was always one of the selling points of the series; you could jump in wherever and not feel completely lost. Heck, I started two thirds of the way through the City Watch subseries and I didn't really have problems. Which is good, because I don't care for the first two books (the only two I don't own, with the exception of Monstrous Regiment and Going Postal, but that is because I have decided I can no longer afford hardcover books and will wait for paperback, when I shall POUNCE, unless MR is already out, in which case I am too lazy to check, and bookstores are hives of TEMPTATION), as they are parodies of the kind of hard, intense sword-and-barbarian fantasy that I just don't like. And while I had some love for Rincewind, that mostly stems from Eric Idle playing him in the first two video games. Anyway, GP is in the same vein as The Truth and to some extent, Night Watch. There's something different about these new books. They're playful, but more serious at the same time. I guess they're not as flippantly playful but maybe more witty? Somehow they seem more mature than the older ones and I really like that. William de Worde and Moist von Lipwing are my two favorite male characters after Vimes.
And I hate to say this, but I guess I can't have any more shame about it, but the romance seems better in GP and TT. William and Sacharissa, Moist and Adora Belle. The names have all gone downright silly, though. Not that I mind. To quote tritely, "What's in a name?"
So I guess this is me waving a big sign saying "READ DISCWORLD BOOKS." I can't say they don't have a hint of that Science Fiction and Fantasy stigma, because they do. Some very dorky people are ardent followers of Mr. Pratchett's work. And very serious sort of people might be turned off by the... well, silliness, I guess, but at the core is some very biting satire and excellent parody and the kind of writing that will make you laugh out loud on a city bus. How can one author be so clever and witty and just out and out funny?
I should write some kind of guidline about what to read in Pratchett, because I know that each subseries has different tones, and then there are the standalone books. (Random: What ever happened to Gaspode? Last seen playing informant to de Worde, I think.) The Witches, which have more fantasy elements and talk of magic, but also a lot of mockery of Shakespeare; The City Watch, with all it's noire and Sam Vimes; the Death/Susan books, which are dark and question a lot of things that people accept mindlessly...
I think I'll stop with that for now. Academics: I am behind on my reading for EVERY SINGLE CLASS, hurrah! However, I got an A- on each of my papers for Film, which is a very pleasing thing to discover because I just took the graded paper today and did not look at it for hours because it was covered in red ink. Turns out that was mostly praise and commentary. Woo. I cut out of film class today because they were just going to finish watching Amores Perros, which I rented and could not bear to watch again because of all the dogfighting scenes. Not like plane dogfights. Ain't nothin' bothering me with those, but the sight of two dogs going at each other with no other aim than to kill or be killed, that makes me sick and makes me cry. So, since there was to be no discussion, I went home. And immediately went out again to go to the public library, walked to Greyhound to pick up my ticket, walked back to the bus station, bus back to University, bus back home.... it took a lot longer than it should have, all because I don't want to drive downtown on a weekday. How completely stupid, really.
I am thinking of buying Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell as a post-NaNo reward for myself, but I don't know if I can resist it that long if I buy it now. If I had sense, I would ask for it for my birthday. And maybe I shall, since I managed to not march right up to the second floor of the bookstore and purchase it outright, which was my plan this afternoon before self-control came knocking unexpectedly at my mental door. (Er. I am tempted to do so with America: The Book tomorrow, but after leafing through it at Fawn's, I'm not sure I really want it anymore. Again, Christmas is coming, tra la, tra la, which is what my mother says to me if I ever want something up to a month and a half before my birthday, Dec. 21.)
It is after midnight and I have a response paper to write for American Lit. Adieu.
Previously
fuck it @ 08.01.05
fanciful imaginary sea voyages to come @ 07.20.05
*dies* @ 07.19.05
more ootp @ 07.17.05
harry potter: driving our children into devil worship @ 07.17.05
