troisoiseaux: (reading 4)
[personal profile] troisoiseaux
Read The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville, a bizarre (I mean, it's Miéville, so like, coincidentally, water is wet) novella set in a WWII-era Paris where the fight between Nazis and the Resistance has been complicated by the addition of demons and "manifs," the manifestations of Surrealist art as the result of an "S-Blast" that warped reality itself. This never really clicked for me, but in fairness, I am definitely not the target audience— I don't know anything about Surrealism, or most of the people featured as characters in the pre-"S-Blast" chapters. Anyway, that's my annual Miéville read sorted.

Currently reading Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar, which is what it says on the tin (nonfiction). I feel like this strikes a good balance in how to fill the gaps of the historical record while centering the story on a woman who couldn't leave much of one— there's a lot of she would likely have...s in describing Judge's experiences, without veering too far into presenting speculation as fact or putting words in her mouth, as it were.

Currently listening to The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett, a mystery in a fantasy setting (my go-to niche for audiobooks, I guess?); the vibe is like sticking the Sherlock Holmes stories, Pacific Rim, and Annihilation in a blender, with Fantasy Roman Empire aesthetics on top. Enjoying this!

Date: 2024-06-05 11:46 pm (UTC)
sabotabby: (books!)
From: [personal profile] sabotabby
Oh, I'm sorry. That's probably my favourite Miéville, but I am the target audience. The most important thing to know is that none of the bonkers RPF stuff is made up. That's literally how all of those people were.

Date: 2024-06-06 12:34 am (UTC)
sovay: (Rotwang)
From: [personal profile] sovay
I did previously know of Jack Parsons, who quite honestly might be less weird in this book than in his actual life, so I can only imagine!

Jack Parsons set a very high bar in his actual life! By which I mean I hope no one I know ever approaches it!

Date: 2024-06-06 02:04 am (UTC)
isis: (awesome)
From: [personal profile] isis
Ooh, I really enjoyed The Tainted Cup! Waiting impatiently for the second book...

Date: 2024-06-06 03:13 am (UTC)
whimsyful: arang_1 (Default)
From: [personal profile] whimsyful
the vibe is like sticking the Sherlock Holmes stories, Pacific Rim, and Annihilation in a blender, with Fantasy Roman Empire aesthetics on top Oooh this sounds intriguing!

Date: 2024-06-06 02:57 pm (UTC)
ioplokon: purple cloth (Default)
From: [personal profile] ioplokon
That Miéville story reminds me a bit of Morrison's Doom Patrol (The Painting that Ate Paris & Albert Hoffman's Bicycle stories in particular), which might be a more accessible way into surrealism, at least on the visual side.

Date: 2024-06-06 03:20 pm (UTC)
chelseagirl: Alice -- Tenniel (Default)
From: [personal profile] chelseagirl
Mieville used to be one of my absolute favorites, when he was writing big sprawling books with lots of worldbuilding. Then, it seems to me at least, he got caught up in wanting to be literary, and got brief and ambiguous and kinda lost me. He's co-authoring something with Keanu Reeves, which is probably going to be a great film role for Keanu eventually but in the meantime I'll probably revert to type and buy it in hardcover and then wonder why.

Date: 2024-06-07 01:27 am (UTC)
marginaliana: Buddy the dog carries Bobo the toy (Default)
From: [personal profile] marginaliana
Miéville is so hit-or-miss for me - I also couldn't quite get into The Last Days of New Paris, and then Kraken swung all the way to the other end of the spectrum in being too straightforward. But The City & the City really hit that sweet spot, I thought.

Date: 2024-06-08 01:50 pm (UTC)
skygiants: Kyoko from Skip Beat! making a mad flaily dive (oh flaily flaily)
From: [personal profile] skygiants
"I can haz squid" also launched me right out of Kraken and fully across the room when I read it.

Date: 2024-06-08 01:51 pm (UTC)
skygiants: Sheska from Fullmetal Alchemist with her head on a pile of books (ded from book)
From: [personal profile] skygiants
Last Days of New Paris definitely felt for me like a constant stream of in-jokes that I was only half-getting at best, but he clearly was having an amazing time writing for himself and I do respect that.

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