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Books of June
Books
Asexualities: Queer and Feminist Perspectives
You know, the main thing I take away from this grab bag of articles (some of which are interesting, some of which are infuriating (well, not the articles themselves, but their subjects)) is that asexuality isn't just queer - I am slowly growing convinced it might be the queerest of them all.
Beretning fra tolvte tværfaglige vikingesymposium
It's fun - I had imagined the articles about the Northmen contacts with Sami and Inuits would have been the interesting ones, but in the end, it was the article about how very little most of Europe knew about the Vikings up until very, very recently that was the most interesting.
Helene Hanff: 84, Charing Cross Road
Which in this edition included the sequel, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street - which admittedly makes plenty of sense, since 84CCR is not even a hundred pages long. Anyway, this is lovely little book - though the first half was a bit. Well. Thing is, I watched the movie years ago, and frankly, this is a rare case of the movie having had the entire book (as best I remember) and even added extra things. Anyway, I very much enjoyed The Duchess - the main character finally getting to visit England and meet people she's been corresponding with for more than two decades. It had a bit of that meeting familiar-strangers-from-the-internet-in-RL vibe, you know?
Kim Harrison: Ever After
Siri Hustvedt: The Blazing World
I thought the premise of this novel - a novel composed of interviews, articles, letters - essentially an anthology of source texts - sounded interesting. Sadly, it doesn't carry through properly - mostly, the "texts" are diaries or memorial pieces. It would have been far more interesting if the author had made it - less convenient, perhaps? It's awfully convenient, all those diaries and letters and personal attestations in this tale.
Nikolaj Højberg: Se hvad jeg siger, hør hvad jeg gør
Okay, this wasn't really my thing - I mean, there were several decent stories, but it never quite managed to appeal to me. Mind you, I've been telling myself to stop picking up horror short stories - I know that the Danish horror genre is having a revival thing going, and that's great, but I'm not really into horror. Anyway, I mostly picked up this short story collection because one of the stories is called Fan fiction - alas, it's not actually about fanfic, it's about an arsehole plagiarist who ends up plagiarising the absolutely wrong thing. Actually, NH is very good at writing arsehole main characters - I'm not quite sure if that's a compliment, but there are several of them in these stories, and he's very good at making them arseholes.
Thit Jensen: Rigets arving 1.
I am gradually growing more and more disappointed at the present state of writing in Danish literature. I mean, look how well it used to be done! Which means it can be done this well...
Rune Engelbreth Larsen: Ledighed og ledighad: kritisk analyse af et politisk normskred
Naomi Mitchison: Memoirs of a Spacewoman
This is a delightful science fiction novel. There's not much plot as such in - mostly we follow the spacewoman, Mary, on several different missions to various planets, and mostly the book spends time showing us the different worlds and sentient and non-sentient lifeforms there. In some ways it's an examination of the concept of the prime directive, even if it doesn't call it that. Also, it's a bit funny, because the back cover makes it sound like there's going to be tons of erotic stuff, and frankly, the most sex scene-ish is when her Martian friend accidentally gets her pregnant by talking to her (yes, this makes sense in context). Anyway, it's a lovely book and you should read it.
Naomi Mitchison: Travel Light
Do you like Norse myth, awesome female characters, dragons, good fantasy novels? Yes, of course you do. Read this - it is a lovely, lovely book, with a heroine who mostly spends her time talking to people (whether said people be horses, rats, the occasional valkyrie or more traditional people). Oh, and I am absolutely convinced that Halla of the various nicknames is asexual. Anyway, this goes on my list of potential Yuletide fandoms - the further adventures of Halla would be a lovely tale to get to read.
Robert M. Schroeck: GURPS Shapeshifters
Norman Spinrad: The Iron Dream
I suppose it must have been Spinrad's intention that Jaggar comes across as really just another, far more succesful Dom (which also explains his uncanny ability to sense them).
To normanniske krøniker
Two medieval chronicles about the Norman Dukes. The first, Gesta normannorum ducum, gives an overview of the Normans from Rollo (who was apparently referred to as a Dane in the oldest texts - and far later, around William the Bastard Conquerer's time, the Normans and the Danes got angry with one another and texts started to distance the Danes and claim other kinships) to William conquering England, with a prequel involving Björn Ironside pillaging and plundering an awful lot, having been sent into exile by his father Lothbrok on account of population pressure. The second text, Gesta Guillelmi ducis normannorum et regus anglorum, is focused on just William, with lots of battles and people betraying one another and it's all very dramatic.
Carrie Vaughn: Kitty in the Underworld
Well, it isn't quite Kitty Gets Stockholmed, but it's not far from it. At least it confirmed to me that I still find captivity and slavery storylines squicky in general (there's a reason why I've never managed to convince myself to read Shadows Return, even though it's right there on my book shelf - some day, perhaps), and that Vikings is a remarkable exception to the general norm.
Comics
Darren Aronofsky: Noa: den der udgyder blodet
I wonder how much of this made it into the Hollywood movie. On the other hand, I don't wonder enough to actually want to go to the bother of watching it...
Doctor Who: the Dave Gibbons collection
I was expecting some fairly run-of-the-mill tie-in comics - and I was disappointed. These are actually good - really good. Colourful, adventurous, occasionally funny, mostly dystopic - it's renewing my desire to get around to watching the old series, actually.
Kim Johnson: Superman: True Brit
Robert Kirkman: Walking Dead: March to War
Mike Mignola: Hellboy: Darkness Calls
Søren Glosimodt Mosdal: Fimbulvinter
Hinako Takanaga: Awkward Silence vol. 1.
Total number of books and comics read this month: 21
Currently reading: The Fan Fiction Studies Reader and The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch.
Asexualities: Queer and Feminist Perspectives
You know, the main thing I take away from this grab bag of articles (some of which are interesting, some of which are infuriating (well, not the articles themselves, but their subjects)) is that asexuality isn't just queer - I am slowly growing convinced it might be the queerest of them all.
Beretning fra tolvte tværfaglige vikingesymposium
It's fun - I had imagined the articles about the Northmen contacts with Sami and Inuits would have been the interesting ones, but in the end, it was the article about how very little most of Europe knew about the Vikings up until very, very recently that was the most interesting.
Helene Hanff: 84, Charing Cross Road
Which in this edition included the sequel, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street - which admittedly makes plenty of sense, since 84CCR is not even a hundred pages long. Anyway, this is lovely little book - though the first half was a bit. Well. Thing is, I watched the movie years ago, and frankly, this is a rare case of the movie having had the entire book (as best I remember) and even added extra things. Anyway, I very much enjoyed The Duchess - the main character finally getting to visit England and meet people she's been corresponding with for more than two decades. It had a bit of that meeting familiar-strangers-from-the-internet-in-RL vibe, you know?
Kim Harrison: Ever After
Siri Hustvedt: The Blazing World
I thought the premise of this novel - a novel composed of interviews, articles, letters - essentially an anthology of source texts - sounded interesting. Sadly, it doesn't carry through properly - mostly, the "texts" are diaries or memorial pieces. It would have been far more interesting if the author had made it - less convenient, perhaps? It's awfully convenient, all those diaries and letters and personal attestations in this tale.
Nikolaj Højberg: Se hvad jeg siger, hør hvad jeg gør
Okay, this wasn't really my thing - I mean, there were several decent stories, but it never quite managed to appeal to me. Mind you, I've been telling myself to stop picking up horror short stories - I know that the Danish horror genre is having a revival thing going, and that's great, but I'm not really into horror. Anyway, I mostly picked up this short story collection because one of the stories is called Fan fiction - alas, it's not actually about fanfic, it's about an arsehole plagiarist who ends up plagiarising the absolutely wrong thing. Actually, NH is very good at writing arsehole main characters - I'm not quite sure if that's a compliment, but there are several of them in these stories, and he's very good at making them arseholes.
Thit Jensen: Rigets arving 1.
I am gradually growing more and more disappointed at the present state of writing in Danish literature. I mean, look how well it used to be done! Which means it can be done this well...
Rune Engelbreth Larsen: Ledighed og ledighad: kritisk analyse af et politisk normskred
Naomi Mitchison: Memoirs of a Spacewoman
This is a delightful science fiction novel. There's not much plot as such in - mostly we follow the spacewoman, Mary, on several different missions to various planets, and mostly the book spends time showing us the different worlds and sentient and non-sentient lifeforms there. In some ways it's an examination of the concept of the prime directive, even if it doesn't call it that. Also, it's a bit funny, because the back cover makes it sound like there's going to be tons of erotic stuff, and frankly, the most sex scene-ish is when her Martian friend accidentally gets her pregnant by talking to her (yes, this makes sense in context). Anyway, it's a lovely book and you should read it.
Naomi Mitchison: Travel Light
Do you like Norse myth, awesome female characters, dragons, good fantasy novels? Yes, of course you do. Read this - it is a lovely, lovely book, with a heroine who mostly spends her time talking to people (whether said people be horses, rats, the occasional valkyrie or more traditional people). Oh, and I am absolutely convinced that Halla of the various nicknames is asexual. Anyway, this goes on my list of potential Yuletide fandoms - the further adventures of Halla would be a lovely tale to get to read.
Robert M. Schroeck: GURPS Shapeshifters
Norman Spinrad: The Iron Dream
I suppose it must have been Spinrad's intention that Jaggar comes across as really just another, far more succesful Dom (which also explains his uncanny ability to sense them).
To normanniske krøniker
Two medieval chronicles about the Norman Dukes. The first, Gesta normannorum ducum, gives an overview of the Normans from Rollo (who was apparently referred to as a Dane in the oldest texts - and far later, around William the Bastard Conquerer's time, the Normans and the Danes got angry with one another and texts started to distance the Danes and claim other kinships) to William conquering England, with a prequel involving Björn Ironside pillaging and plundering an awful lot, having been sent into exile by his father Lothbrok on account of population pressure. The second text, Gesta Guillelmi ducis normannorum et regus anglorum, is focused on just William, with lots of battles and people betraying one another and it's all very dramatic.
Carrie Vaughn: Kitty in the Underworld
Well, it isn't quite Kitty Gets Stockholmed, but it's not far from it. At least it confirmed to me that I still find captivity and slavery storylines squicky in general (there's a reason why I've never managed to convince myself to read Shadows Return, even though it's right there on my book shelf - some day, perhaps), and that Vikings is a remarkable exception to the general norm.
Comics
Darren Aronofsky: Noa: den der udgyder blodet
I wonder how much of this made it into the Hollywood movie. On the other hand, I don't wonder enough to actually want to go to the bother of watching it...
Doctor Who: the Dave Gibbons collection
I was expecting some fairly run-of-the-mill tie-in comics - and I was disappointed. These are actually good - really good. Colourful, adventurous, occasionally funny, mostly dystopic - it's renewing my desire to get around to watching the old series, actually.
Kim Johnson: Superman: True Brit
Robert Kirkman: Walking Dead: March to War
Mike Mignola: Hellboy: Darkness Calls
Søren Glosimodt Mosdal: Fimbulvinter
Hinako Takanaga: Awkward Silence vol. 1.
Total number of books and comics read this month: 21
Currently reading: The Fan Fiction Studies Reader and The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch.
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