sunnuntai 30. tammikuuta 2011
Death of a Dentist
Title: Death of a Dentist
Author: M. C. Beaton
Published: 1998 by Warner Books. American edition. Ick. I bought it in the middle of the UK!
Genre: Murder mystery
Pages: 228
Two reasons I bought and (eventually) read this book: 1) I am terrified of dentists, and hoped that reading of a dead one would get me over my fear so I could go and get my chipped teeth checked, FINALLY, and 2) Hamish Macbeth is, thanks to the TV-series of the same name, possibly my favourite copper. Ever. Played by Robert Carlyle, even, who's one of my favourite actors. Ever.
So it turns out that the TV-series isn't that faithful to the books, but I'm not saying that for sure as this is only one book out of about two dozen. What I can say for sure is that they never made an episode of this one.
The whole Hamish Macbeth -series is set in the Scottish Highlands, in a small, small village called Lochdubh, and its surroundings. It's safe to say that most of the cast are a wee bit eccentric. Hamish himself is a smart cop, in truth too smart for wee Lochdubh. But he doesn't want to leave the life in a small village for a more glorious job in the big city. Death of a Dentist starts with a toothache, a robbed hotel safe and a dead dentist. The toothache is Hamish's, and when it gets bad enough, he decides to head to the dentist with a bad reputation, Gilchrist. The ache is more or less forgotten when, arriving at the man's surgery, Hamish finds Gilchrist murdered in his chair, all his teeth drilled.
Yeah, it didn't really help me with my dentist terror. But it was a fun book to read, similar in spirit to the TV-series. Or the TV-series is similar to the books in spirit, but since I was familiar with the TV-version first... I've got another one on the shelves, Death of a Dustman, but I think I'll save that for a rainy day. Especially since my Pile Of Books That I'm Reading Now is starting to be as tall as my Pile Of Books I Want To Read. Especially since I kinda have to do other things beside reading, like sleep and work and writing and drawing and such. And we just bought a PlayStation 3, so...
"Was there any point in plodding on, finding out a bit here and a bit there? Why not go back to the police station, light the fire and settle down in front of it with a detective story, preferably an American one of the more violent kind where the hero could act out Hamish's frustrations for him, slamming people up against walls and beating confessions out of them."
sunnuntai 2. tammikuuta 2011
Scott Pilgrim
Title: Scott Pilgrim
Creator: Bryan Lee O'Malley
Published: From 2004 to 2010 by Oni Press
Genre: Comedy, action and romance.
Pages: 6 x 150-250 pages. Mostly ~180 pages a pop.
Despite having worked in a comic shop, and seeing the first, oh, five of the albums there every day, I didn't read the comics until I saw the movie. Shame on me. Shaaaame. Aaaaand I actually read them sometime late November/early December, first five in one sitting, with beer, and the last one the following morning, wishing I hadn't drunk so much beer. So what I'm capable of saying about the comics is somewhat distorted both by time and beer.
Damn, now I want a beer.
If you're not familiar with Scott Pilgrim, he's a young man in his early twenties, plays bass in a band called Sex Bob-omb, and is dating a 17-year-old. At least until this cool girl Ramona literally gets into his head. Little does Scott know, Ramona had seven evil exes, and Scott will have to fight all of them. He would actually have known about it, had he not deleted the exes' introductory e-mail as boring. Then the fight is on.
The series has won several awards, and no wonder: the art is very enjoyable, the story is amusing and touching, and the fun is awesome. And I haven't come up with anything intelligent to say in about 20 minutes, so I'll just upload this like it is. No quote, since I don't have the comics here. Would be nice to buy them sometime.
Read Scott Pilgrim!
Creator: Bryan Lee O'Malley
Published: From 2004 to 2010 by Oni Press
Genre: Comedy, action and romance.
Pages: 6 x 150-250 pages. Mostly ~180 pages a pop.
Despite having worked in a comic shop, and seeing the first, oh, five of the albums there every day, I didn't read the comics until I saw the movie. Shame on me. Shaaaame. Aaaaand I actually read them sometime late November/early December, first five in one sitting, with beer, and the last one the following morning, wishing I hadn't drunk so much beer. So what I'm capable of saying about the comics is somewhat distorted both by time and beer.
Damn, now I want a beer.
If you're not familiar with Scott Pilgrim, he's a young man in his early twenties, plays bass in a band called Sex Bob-omb, and is dating a 17-year-old. At least until this cool girl Ramona literally gets into his head. Little does Scott know, Ramona had seven evil exes, and Scott will have to fight all of them. He would actually have known about it, had he not deleted the exes' introductory e-mail as boring. Then the fight is on.
The series has won several awards, and no wonder: the art is very enjoyable, the story is amusing and touching, and the fun is awesome. And I haven't come up with anything intelligent to say in about 20 minutes, so I'll just upload this like it is. No quote, since I don't have the comics here. Would be nice to buy them sometime.
Read Scott Pilgrim!
Invisible Monsters
Title: Invisible monsters
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Published: 1999 by Vintage
Genre: Palahniuk.
Pages: 297
Didn't I do this already? Yes, I did, in March. But! I didn't get the book until six months later. I can be a little slow. But there was this one night in September, I had taken a few beers, I'm sure, and went to bed, and for some reason started to think about this book, and burst into giggles as I realised how nuts it had really been.
So I wanted to read it again, but with the pile of Books To Read being as high as it is, I couldn't justify re-reading a book so soon. But then I was stuck with There Will Be Rainbows, and read this as a quick snack in between. And yeah. I liked it. Really fucked up book, but that's Palahniuk for you.
Protip: Don't read this book while eating. I did not need to know what felching is, especially while eating yogurt.
"The one you love and the one who loves you are never, ever the same person."
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Published: 1999 by Vintage
Genre: Palahniuk.
Pages: 297
Didn't I do this already? Yes, I did, in March. But! I didn't get the book until six months later. I can be a little slow. But there was this one night in September, I had taken a few beers, I'm sure, and went to bed, and for some reason started to think about this book, and burst into giggles as I realised how nuts it had really been.
So I wanted to read it again, but with the pile of Books To Read being as high as it is, I couldn't justify re-reading a book so soon. But then I was stuck with There Will Be Rainbows, and read this as a quick snack in between. And yeah. I liked it. Really fucked up book, but that's Palahniuk for you.
Protip: Don't read this book while eating. I did not need to know what felching is, especially while eating yogurt.
"The one you love and the one who loves you are never, ever the same person."
There Will Be Rainbows
Title: There Will Be Rainbows
Author: Kirk Lake
Published: 2009 by Orion Books
Genre: Biugraphy.
Pages: 264 + discography + index + stuff
Oh dear. This was read last year, but updating? Didn't happen. I'm not quite sure December happened, either. Did it? It's all quite confusing.
Anyway. The biography of Rufus Wainwright, my favourite singer/songwriter. The name is a misquote, actually, from his song 14th Street. The actual lyrics go "And there'll be rainbows..." which is addressed in the book and stuff. So it's an intentional misquote, and it's explained, so... why am I telling you all this? I don't know.
This took a looong while to read, considering I started it in November, and finished over xmas. But, as much as I love Rufus, and as interesting as it was to read about him and his family, sibling rivalry and everything, it was kinda like studying for an exam. I have read a few biographies before, and, with all my love to Rufus, enjoyed them far more. The writer would ramble on about record executives and politics, which was... boring, and go on about what Rufus' dad, mom, sister and other family members were doing, which was more interesting, considering I'm also a fan of his mom & aunt and sister, not so the dad, but. It would do all that and then pass some big, huge incidents in the main subject's life with barely a nod. 'Yes, yes, then he got raped, but this and that was also happening and the records didn't sell and DreamWorks was going bust.' It was an essay on contemporary music and record deals as much, or more so, as a biography. I was kinda hoping it would be the other way.
"Time takes a sabbatical when Rufus Wainwright sings. (...)"
Amen, New York Times, amen.
Author: Kirk Lake
Published: 2009 by Orion Books
Genre: Biugraphy.
Pages: 264 + discography + index + stuff
Oh dear. This was read last year, but updating? Didn't happen. I'm not quite sure December happened, either. Did it? It's all quite confusing.
Anyway. The biography of Rufus Wainwright, my favourite singer/songwriter. The name is a misquote, actually, from his song 14th Street. The actual lyrics go "And there'll be rainbows..." which is addressed in the book and stuff. So it's an intentional misquote, and it's explained, so... why am I telling you all this? I don't know.
This took a looong while to read, considering I started it in November, and finished over xmas. But, as much as I love Rufus, and as interesting as it was to read about him and his family, sibling rivalry and everything, it was kinda like studying for an exam. I have read a few biographies before, and, with all my love to Rufus, enjoyed them far more. The writer would ramble on about record executives and politics, which was... boring, and go on about what Rufus' dad, mom, sister and other family members were doing, which was more interesting, considering I'm also a fan of his mom & aunt and sister, not so the dad, but. It would do all that and then pass some big, huge incidents in the main subject's life with barely a nod. 'Yes, yes, then he got raped, but this and that was also happening and the records didn't sell and DreamWorks was going bust.' It was an essay on contemporary music and record deals as much, or more so, as a biography. I was kinda hoping it would be the other way.
"Time takes a sabbatical when Rufus Wainwright sings. (...)"
Amen, New York Times, amen.
Tilaa:
Blogitekstit (Atom)