Books of September

[oneiriad]

Books

Janni Andreassen: Altid frimodig
I have to conclude that I find Peter Freuchen the person more appealing than the two books of his I've read. Also, maybe I should try to read just one more - Storfanger, perhaps, the one that got turned into a huge Hollywood movie in the 30s?

Alex Beecroft: Under the Hill: Bomber's Moon
Alex Beecroft: Under the Hill: Dogfighters
I have just one question: when's the movie coming out?

Peter Freuchen: Nordkaper
Having now read two of Peter Freuchen's books, I can safely say that I won't be reading any more. He reminds me a lot of Jack London, especially in his choice of setting, and perhaps if I had come across them as a kid, then maybe - but I came across them now and I find his main characters unpleasantly, thoughtlessly violent, and my fascination with the frozen north passed a long time ago. Not to say this doesn't have some good qualities - the description of poor Allinaluk barely surviving the winter and having to resort to cannibalism in the end could have been a fullfledged horror novel in itself if it hadn't been just a couple of pages. But they're not for me.

I wonder how many people alive today can say that they've read Nordkaper. I mean, it's not a bad book as such, and Peter Freuchen was a bestselling author in his day - but it's not in print anymore, and pretty much have to know you want to read it to get it from the libraries, because only a few have it and that's probably all in storage by now. And it's not really surprising that only a few libraries have it, since this was the book Freuchen held hostage in that whole library money mess back then - in fact, that mess is why I wanted to read it. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Phil Masters & Jonathan Woodward: GURPS Banestorm

Thomas Pynchon: Vineland
I'd been meaning to read something of Pynchon, but I should probably have read something other than this. It's pretentiously postmodern and far too invested in subjects that frankly bores me.

Tore Skeie: Jomfruen fra Norge
Well, that was a bloody mess - not the book, the book is fine, but damn. Scandinavian middle age = bloody mess of the sort that if it was fiction, nobody'd believe it.

Lasse Christian Arboe Sonne: Thor-kult i vikingetiden: historiske studier i vikingetidens religion
I wonder how this guy felt when that hammer was found... though I suppose there's still no proof it had anything to do with Thor :-(

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun


Comics

Hajime Isayama: Attack on Titan 2.

Regis Loisel: Le Grand Mort: Sombre

Mike Mignola: Hellboy: The Storm and the Fury

Moebius: Le Monde d'Edena: Les Reparateurs
Moebius: Le Monde d'Edena: Sur l'Etoile
Moebius: Le Monde d'Edena: Le Jardins d'Edena
Moebius: Le Monde d'Edena: La Déesse
Moebius: Le Monde d'Edena: Stel
Moebius: Le Monde d'Edena: Sra

Brian K. Vaughan: Saga vol. 3.


Total number of books and comics read this month: 19
Currently reading: About to start The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross.

Comments

[luzula]

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun

So how did you like this?

[oneiriad]

It's okay. Not amazing, though - the poetry felt less polished than some of the stuff by him I've read (to be fair, he never did publish this himself) and then he's added this Sigurd-as-the-chosen-one who will save the world come Ragnarok theme, which is - odd? I dunno. In general - it felt unfinished, I think might describe it best.

[luzula]

Huh, okay. I do like his poetry generally, but maybe this shouldn't be high on my to-read list, then.