Books Received (and Bought)–April 13
Jeff VanderMeer • April 13th, 2008 @ 10:32 pm • Culture
Okay, so…guess what we bought and what we got in the mail…
Can you imagine this being given to troops today? Well, the modern equivalent…
Ann picked up these for the cheese factor:
And I need some antedote to the constant flood of contemporary genre books, so I have decided to pick back up on my Lawrence Durrell reading…
April 13, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Ooh. Durrell. I used to plow through the Durrell at my grandmother’s house. Time to go visit the library…
Welcome back!
April 14, 2008 at 12:37 am
Just finished reading both “Fallen” and “Iron Angel”. Both were great, but I have to say the latter novel really blew me away! Will probably be one of my favorites when all is said & done…
April 14, 2008 at 12:44 am
Three Men! A Girl! A Desert Isle!…and a book that looks as though it features the artwork to the Run, Spot, Run!-era reading books. Interesting.
As for the Durrell…that’s one more author whose name I’ve heard in passing yet never could remember when it was time to buy books. Might have to look into that next month when I have the money to spare for purchases.
April 14, 2008 at 3:06 am
You definately bought the Durell books and those old paperbacks. The Tim Lebbon and Alan Campbell were probably sent to you.
April 14, 2008 at 3:07 am
Um, Nunquam but no Tunc? Or do you already have it? Great writing but bad sf, but, well, great writing. I’m a huge fan of Durrell – so much so, I recently bought a copy of his first novel, Pied Piper of Lovers. And it wasn’t cheap…
April 14, 2008 at 5:42 am
I assume you already have Tunc, because otherwise Numquam doesn’t make much sense. I don’t think the Avignon Quintet is a patch on the Alexandria Quartet, but it has some great moments. But if you’re really into Durrell, go for the travel books, especially the trio on Corfu (Prospero’s Cell), Rhodes (Reflections on a Marine Venus) and Cyprus (Bitter Lemons), which are easily the best things he wrote. (Oh, and if you’ve not read it look out for his Pope Joan, it’s really a translation of an old Greek novel but it’s usually published under his name, and I suspect it’s something you’ll find interesting.)
April 14, 2008 at 9:41 am
Just read the Alexandria Quartet for the first time this winter, and it totally blew me away. (Well, Justine, Balthazar and Mountolive blew me away. Clea I thought was kind of meh.) I’ll be curious to hear what you think about these.
April 14, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Paul–The travel stuff does look good. I’m reading the Avignon first since I’m sure the Alexandria Quartet is better and Avignon would thus suffer if I read it second. Very glad to have the notes about Tunc, btw, since I was wondering why Numquam was making no sense!!!
David–Yeah, I read one of them a very very long time ago, and then realized it was the second or third in the series and decided to stop and go back to the first, and never got around to it. I plan to this year!
JV
April 14, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Whoops! Busted myself. Now Matt Staggs is gonna kick my sorry ass. *Running for hills*.
April 14, 2008 at 6:18 pm
There are links between the Avignon Quintet & the Alexandria Quartet. I liked both, but found the last book in the Avignon series a bit hard going. I also love Durrell’s diplomatic service stories Sauve Qui Peut and Esprit De Corps – they are highly entertaining.