Checking out that new batch of library books didn’t push me into a new reading regime after all. I’ve been on a binge of watching The Wire, while reading articles online, occasionally messing around with Medieval 2: Total War.
The Bad Popes wasn’t what i thought it would be. The author’s qualification for a bad pope wound up being the ones who undermined the long term temporal power of the Catholic church. Launching crusades or inquisitions was no big deal, and neither was bad theology. It was still diverting reading, but after checking up on more of the back stories, there was a lot of embellishment and omissions going on.
Burgess’ The Wanting Seed isn’t sitting well with me. There are some crazy ideas to play with, but some of the dated references keep snapping me out of the narrative. I’ll stick with it, as it seems interesting.
Goytisolo’s Quarantine is kicking my ass. He’s still incredibly impressive… at the same time he makes me feel a little stupid. He keeps me stumbling, forcing me to read passages three or four times before anything sticks. When something does stick, it seems like genius, but it’s taking a lot of work for so thin of a book and my heart not truly in it.
Tags: books
I’ll defend the Wanton Seed. Not his best, but he was a pro and it stacks up pretty well against my limited experience with SF. He keeps the narrative moving. Considering when Burgess wrote it, it was topical and provocative for its time. There is something great about Burgess, but I blew him off for 25 years without regret.
I do remember reading La Peste. It’s just what anyone with any background would expect. There is no way that W. has read L’Etranger—no way. As for Ivins, another US govt coverup. I don’t know, man, is it a bigger conspiracy than just a rogue nutzo?? What is more frightening??
/talking out my ass
I wager that The Wanting Seed is even good sci-fi. As a kid, my favorite stuff was Heinlein, and that was horribly dated even when i read it (although i was too young to recognize how much.) It’s odd how little bits jar me, when someone like Mieville invents something outlandish and that slips past unjudged. Maybe it’s because I keep reading it the dystopia as a projection of what could be, when it no longer can, when i should be approaching it as an internally consistent world. Again, the problem is with me, not necessarily the book.
A bigger conspiracy is exactly what it seems. That’s far spookier.