Achtung Booklog

[trinityofone]

I am revoltingly behind. Let's say no more about it.

Comments

[an_kayoh]

Unfortunately, as seems to be de rigueur for this sort of book these days, there's also a more modern component

I would happily shoot all of the books that I've read in this vein in the past six months. And the reverse, the modern tales with the sudden flashbacks to a historical mystery tale. Pick ONE, please, just like your neighbor told you on Halloween, and write it.

[trinityofone]

Amen, dude. This cliche has become painful and needs to end!

[laughingacademy]

I was lucky enough to be introduced to GKC via the dedication of Good Omens and various tips of the hat in Gaiman's Sandman comics, and my search for The Man Who Was October (a volume in Dream's library) led me to The Man Who Was Thursday, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, and Manalive before the Father Brown stories. Sadly, the racism is a recurring problem in Chesterton's work; whenever a Jewish character appears I cringe preemptively. And yet, the dialogue! The metaphors! The batshit plots!

[trinityofone]

I know, exactly! Which is why I can't give up on him entirely: the good stuff is too good. Hey, I'm Jewish and I love T.S. Eliot; I guess I can suffer a bit for Chesterton, too.

But I am not doing so more than I have to, which means no more Father Brown for a while/ever. I got a very strange book Chesterton wrote for children, and I am going to try that; what's Manalive?

[laughingacademy]

(Whoops, just noticed I missed a close italics tag in my first comment. Sorry for getting all emphatic on you.)

Manalive is one of Chesterton's urban magical realism novels. It's kind of Mary Poppins meets Perry Mason. A strong wind heralds the arrival of Innocent Smith, a strapping blond man who seems more than slightly "touched," at a London boardinghouse. Through art and nonsense he inspires the inhabitants to cheer up and pursue their heart's desires, and everything is jolly -- until Smith is accused of various crimes, including burglary, polygamy, and murder...

Aha! There's a Wikipedia entry but it's a spoilery.

The book is available online through Project Gutenberg and Google Books.

[trinityofone]

Sweet! That sounds right up my alley. Thanks!

[lesadoreyl]

I agree so much on the Father Brown stories that I'm literally nodding my head all real EMPHATIC-LIKE at my screen. I also loved The Man That Was Thursday to bits. I'm a huge fan of detective/murder mysteries and I was always coming across Chesterton mentioned in the same breath with Conan Doyle & Agatha Christie and the others, so I was so thrilled when I managed to hunt down the collected stories... and then it was like O_o. I mean, you've put your finger on it exactly. Not only is there all that preachiness and religiosity and general hateful business, the stories themselves are BAD. Like, badly written. Badly plotted mystery-wise. Full of unpleasant and unlikeable character, starting with Brown himself. I kept reading and reading figuring there had to be something there. Major disappointment.

Well, at least I still have The Napoleon of Notting Hill to look forward to

[trinityofone]

The Napoleon of Notting Hill is a little tricky to find in hardcopy, but it's totally worth it. I hope you locate and enjoy it!

Thanks for piping up! I have a love/hate relationship with doing these booklogs, so I'm always happy to hear others enjoy them or find them useful. Sorry I've been remiss about updating lately; I'm gonna try to at least mostly catch up before the end of the year!

[soho_iced]

Epic supernatural love story - can I put in a good word for Elizabeth Knox? Actually this applies to almost all of her novels, but The Angel's Luck and The Angel's Cut were what came to mind. Suprisingly physical and completely unsentimental take on angels.

Must hunt down some more Chesterton I think - I read a couple of Father Brown and found my tolerance limit approaching too fast for comfort, but I much prefer novels anyway so will give these a try.

[trinityofone]

Sadly (well, happily at the time), I've already read The Vintner's Luck and The Angel's Cut. But yes, more like that, please!

[soho_iced]

(Whoops, should have checked those titles before posting.) The reason I like this author so much is that I can satisfy my craving for supernatural epicness while enjoying beautiful writing at the same time - usually I can only find one at a time.

Would you count Robin Hobb? The second Farseer trilogy (starting with Fool's Errand) is pretty much the epic love story of Fitz and the Fool, and he/she is borderline supernatural.

[trinityofone]

I keep hearing that Robin Hobb is kind of great, but sort of evil, both in her actual books and in her relationship to her fans/the internet. I'm sort of afraid to Go There.

[wychwood]

EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH BOOKLOG :)

...bafflingly, I always liked the Father Brown stories more than the rest of Chesterton's work. Although I've not really read them for a decade or more, so perhaps the Suck Fairy has visited them in the meantime.

In conclusion: huzzah for booklogs! Let me know if you're around online and want solidarity in writing? I have rather a lot to get through myself although not quite as many as you.

[trinityofone]

I do! I do want solidarity! I looked for you this "weekend"-my fake weekend-but, possibly due to fakeness, you were not around. I'm home sick today, so maybe I will catch you later? Although I saw you were ill, too. FAIL, December.

The Suck Fairy is such a jerk.

[wychwood]

Sadly my online hours are now much limited! I probably go to bed too early to catch you in your morning, most of the time. Although the whole university closes down completely between Christmas and New Year, which is going to ROCK.