6 Down, 46 To Go

China Mieville is certainly an interesting writer. Looking for Jake and Other Stories is the second short story collection I’ve read this year. It’s definitely a slightly unfair comparison holding this up to Neil Gaiman’s work, given my sheer, unbridled love for Gaiman as an author (I refer you to my gushing here), but Looking for Jake... is a mixed bag. 

The first couple of stories were interesting, but didn’t really grab me. I could see the skill at work and the technical quality of the writing, but it lacked that real ‘hook’ that makes the story dig in your mind and resonate in a memorable way. That said, there were several standouts - The Tain, Reports of Certain Events In London, Details, and Entry Taken From A Medical Encyclopaedia were my particular favorites, intersecting somewhere between Gaiman and Lovecraft. 

Reports of Certain Events In London had a brilliant concept (which I won’t go into here, because: spoilers), and an interesting presentation style - told through a series of partial, recovered ‘documents. Entry Taken From A Medical Encyclopaedia is a fantastic description of a fictional disease - originally published in a collection of such stories, in which a Gaiman story included in Fragile Things was also included (Diseasemaker’s Croup). The Tain is the biggest, most striking set piece of the book.

Mieville (who, I learned, also went to Clare College) groups his work under the category ‘weird fiction’, picking up the thread of Lovecraft, among others, and this is very much evident (and I do love me some good/pulpy Eldritch fiction). The other thing that pervades almost every story is Mieville’s obsession with London (which seems to extend to his other works as well).

I’m currently blasting through another (short) book of short stories - The Bloody Chamber - which I’ll write up in due course. I’ve also set up an account on Goodreads to provide a quick summary of what I’ve read - and I’ll start adding some of my listed recommendations on there as well, to give you a view of what I’ve got coming up. I’ll post the link on Twitter in due course; check out #GRaBaW to find it, if you like.

Week 6

6/52

Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman (2006)

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (2011)

The Revolution of Saint Jone - Lorna Mitchell (1988)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John Le Carré (1974)

I Can Make You Hate - Charlie Brooker (2012)

Looking For Jake and Other Stories - China Miéville (2005)

Currently Reading:

The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett (1989)

The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter (1979)

Currently Listening To:

Jobs - Walter Isaacson (2012)

I Can Make You Read (Faster)

Confused as to what this is all about? See the first post here.

Another one down (and I promise that not all my posts will be sorry attempts at puns on the book title)! As I mentioned in my last post, I was worrying that getting into one of the longer books was going to put me behind schedule. With just a few days left of the week, I faced either falling behind and having to play catch-up, or switching tracks and powering through something a little more manageable.

Predictably, I plumped for the latter, so to see out the week, I ploughed through Charlie Brooker’s ‘I Can Make You Hate’, a collection of his acerbic columns and occasional TV segments from the last three-or-so years.

The cover alone is worth the price of admission

Got my cheeky personalised copy! I thought he was drawing a toucan. He mocked me when I asked if that's what it was. It was a special moment.

It’s a great read, particularly if you, like me, enjoy listening to (reading) a good, well-constructed, unbridled rant. That said, I don’t think this is really a book that’s intended to be read all in one sitting. The sheer amount of bile that had condensed on my face after powering through such a volume of well-put-together, surreal metaphors or ridiculous put-downs was almost overwhelming. 

For all of his reputation for misanthropy, Charlie Brooker actually comes across as quite a reasonable guy. A middle-aged, slightly bullshit-worn geek with an uncanny talent for putting the stupidity of many aspects of the world into perspective with a clever turn of phrase, in such a way that might be wholly depressing if it weren’t so funny. So there you go, he’s a man who transforms some of the scream-inducing ridiculousness and horror of the world into comedy. Isn’t that hilarious?

If you’ve come across any of Brooker’s other work, you know what to expect. If you haven’t, you really should, and this certainly isn’t a bad place to start. Though if you really want to see arguably the best thing he’s done (in fact, one of the best things on television in 2011), go and watch the first series of Black Mirror. Go on! Now! It’s only three sub-hour episodes - it’s ‘The Twilight Zone’ for the smartphone generation, and is horribly depressing and insightful, in a rather cathartic way. With a new season on the way in the next few weeks, there’s no better time to start. 

Genuinely creepy tube poster, but very excited for series 2.

Enough raving for now! I’m already moving on to the next one, so, more updates on they way!

Another gratuitous picture of me with the author, making it look like I spend a disproportionate amount of time hanging around with writers. If only.

Week 5

5/52

Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman (2006)

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (2011)

The Revolution of Saint Jone - Lorna Mitchell (1988)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John Le Carré (1974)

I Can Make You Hate - Charlie Brooker (2012)

Currently Reading:

The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett (1989)

Looking For Jake and Other Stories - China Miéville (2005)

Currently Listening To:

Jobs - Walter Isaacson (2012)


Remember you can follow my reading exploits on Twitter on #GRaBaW, where I post slightly more regular updates.