The B&B Book Review
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Reading Tender is the Night.
The first 120 pages were pretty agonizing. That's about a third of the book before the big scandal of the central couple, the Divers, is revealed and it starts to pick up.
I get the impression this must have been more shocking and engrossing at the time. Also it's full of period references I don't get a bit like if Pynchon but I can't be bothered to look it up.
Supposedly this is better than The Great Gatsby. I've not read it. -
Is there an abridged 1/3rd shorter copy I can recommend to people.
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@Temps
Covenant cops flak because of they way it handles the stupid decisions made. Prometheus too. They're not always made under duress either, in fact a lot of the stupidity comes from the direction, not just the way the character is written. But we've been through that loads of times, fuck it.
I do think it's far easier to pull that caper off in a book though, far more tools at your disposal to ensure the reader fully comprehends a character's motives and actions than you can get across in a film. -
I never felt when watching it there was an issue, but like I said, I can definitely understand it effects the enjoyment of it by others. I'm just not a nitpicker, even though hollywood stories are totally ripe for it these days. It takes a lot to knock my suspended disbelief hat off.
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Believe me, I've tried after a few drinks too
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Annihilation allows for the main protagonist to act irrationally at times because of her reasons for being there; which isn't a defence you can necessarily level at Covernant.
Like Tiger says, the 2 sequels aren't to the same standard, second book certainly isn't although the third is a return to form.
I'm currently reading his new book, Borne which is promising. -
Absolutely agree with that. Second book is the weakest but if you do read it, it's well worth cracking on with the third.
Will be interested in hearing what you think of Borne. I've been keeping a beady eye on it. -
Tempy wrote:Gatsby is Great and can be done in an evening
Gatsby is magnificent. The prose strokes the ear. Quite superbly written.
Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Checked if Annihilation was available on Google Play, it was and I got offered a $5,00 credit. Had almost $8,00 collected by filling in Google surveys, so that's basically a free book. Have it ready for when I'm done with The Dark Tower.
Also noticed there is a Laura Palmer diary on there, written by Lynch his daughter. Does anyone know if this adds some interesting knowledge to the Twin Peaks universe, or was it something to make a bit of extra cash? -
I finished Annihilation last night. It's very good. Very well edited, and VanderMeer is very clever in his choice of words and phrases. It's pretty fascinating how he can get so much out of so little, with words suggesting the kind of uneasy horror that people enjoy in Lovecraft and Ligotti, but there's something less malignant about it.
It seems primarily to be about non-human sentience, and the weirdness in nature that we don't understand. The final few passages are spectacular, flipping between imagery that manage to elide lots of visual keys together in an elliptical mess, and the very brief hint at the unconfirmed scope of the novel. It made me order Authority and Acceptance so we'll see how they go. -
Pretty much nailed it. I've ordered the second and third. You're right about that ending. It really does become almost like a 2001 ending but on a page.
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HALLO YOUR BOI TEMPS SENT ME
Annihilation then, sounds good. I have bought (lol) them all, will go sit on the toilet and start the first. -
Also whoever recommended Bird Box to me, its a stonker.
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davyK wrote:Atonement by Ian McEwen.
I can only describe this as a novel about a meta-novel.
The narrative at its core starts like downtown Abbey but phases into scenes that make that first 30mins of Saving Private Ryan feel pedestrian . Start to end this is a technical tour de force of wordmanship....the author must be at the peak of his powers.
That would be enough but the structure into which this has been folded is quite superb. I will from time to time dabble with creative writing but anyone who has serious ambitions that way might best stay away as realising you probably won't be this good could be demoralising.
Best thing I have read in a long time. Maybe ever. And one i suspect that will reward a revisit.
Highly recommended.
Given the film has been watched, is it still worth reading?iosGameCentre:T3hDaddy;
XBL: MistaTeaTime -
Tempy wrote:I finished Annihilation last night. It's very good. Very well edited, and VanderMeer is very clever in his choice of words and phrases. It's pretty fascinating how he can get so much out of so little, with words suggesting the kind of uneasy horror that people enjoy in Lovecraft and Ligotti, but there's something less malignant about it. It seems primarily to be about non-human sentience, and the weirdness in nature that we don't understand. The final few passages are spectacular, flipping between imagery that manage to elide lots of visual keys together in an elliptical mess, and the very brief hint at the unconfirmed scope of the novel. It made me order Authority and Acceptance so we'll see how they go.
Sold! Just ordered.Get schwifty. -
Authority and Acceptance are 300 pages each, I've been sold up the river.
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The Daddy wrote:
Given the film has been watched, is it still worth reading?Atonement by Ian McEwen. I can only describe this as a novel about a meta-novel. The narrative at its core starts like downtown Abbey but phases into scenes that make that first 30mins of Saving Private Ryan feel pedestrian . Start to end this is a technical tour de force of wordmanship....the author must be at the peak of his powers. That would be enough but the structure into which this has been folded is quite superb. I will from time to time dabble with creative writing but anyone who has serious ambitions that way might best stay away as realising you probably won't be this good could be demoralising. Best thing I have read in a long time. Maybe ever. And one i suspect that will reward a revisit. Highly recommended.
Haven't seen the film...I suspect the narrative was easy to convey that way but I can't see how the woven-in structure that discusses novels as a medium would be done. There's a bit in a book - a rejection letter from a publisher - that seems to be about an early draft of the book you are actually reading. I also believe the book has a different ending - at least there is something missing from it in the film version that is not insignificant.
if you are looking for something more than the basic narrative then I'd give the book a go.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Tore through Annihilation in just two sittings. Been a long time since I did that. I have never read a piece of fiction where reading about the main character was akin to looking in the mirror. The biologist is me. Her meticulousness, her obsessiveness, her disinterest in people, her desire for solitude. All me. And what a great piece of fiction it is. A vivid, menacing fever dream. How on earth this is going to be effectively rendered on film I don't know, but it'll be interesting to find out.Get schwifty.
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VanderMeer seem so happy with how it's progressing. Worth noting that Garland took to adapting the script when only the manuscript of the first book existed, and there was no book 2 or 3, so it might be different in a bunch of aspects
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More 200 page books please. Annihilation has brevity and that is all too lacking in modern fantasy and science fiction. See The Builders as another top tier example.
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Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Tiger. 128 pages. Highly original, magic realism.
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tigerswiftly wrote:More 200 page books please. Annihilation has brevity and that is all too lacking in modern fantasy and science fiction. See The Builders as another top tier example.
Loved The Builders, great recommendation!
iosGameCentre:T3hDaddy;
XBL: MistaTeaTime -
See post about Authority/Acceptance coming in at 100 pages longer each. Maximum dislike.
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Stopharage wrote:Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Tiger. 128 pages. Highly original, magic realism.
Noted, thanks.
The Daddy wrote:
Loved The Builders, great recommendation!tigerswiftly wrote:More 200 page books please. Annihilation has brevity and that is all too lacking in modern fantasy and science fiction. See The Builders as another top tier example.
Glad you liked it! Such a rip-roaring tale. -
Now I'm a scarred book club veteran of two years I feel like if your book is >350 pages your publisher should have to apply to a governing body for a quality license.
Stick something on the front like Nintendo Seal of Quality. -
Just started 'Catch 22'
Bit crap isn't it? Though I was feeling the same way about 'For Whom The Bell Tolls', just maybe the way that they present conversation, just seems to do my noggin in a little, althuogh maybe Catch 22 is just trying to make me realise that everyone in the book is actually a fucking idiot and/or mentalist"I spent years thinking Yorke was legit Downs-ish disabled and could only achieve lucidity through song" - Mr B
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