Euan > Recent Status Updates

The End of the Garden by Michal Ajvas (1991)- A surreal story about a man who encounters a woman attacking a komodo dragon in her bedroom. I'm not sure what the point was, but good imagery and very surreal.

The Dark by Karen Jay Fowler (1991)- A story about a series of events in Yosemite, including disappearences and reports of plague, leading to a musing about the nature of animals in man.

Family by Joyce Carol Oates (1989)- A slyly creep story of a family on ranch, as they go through subtle transformations as the world seems to slowly collapse outside their compound.

His Mouth will Taste of Wormwood by Poppy Z. Brite (1990)- An excellent, gothic tale of two young men seeking decadence in debauchery in New Orleans.

The Boy in the Tree by Elisabeth Hand (1989)- A very weird story, blending sci-fi and fantasy, about an autistic girl who is one of several empaths, who, twisted with drugs and training from childhood, are able to enter other people's dreams, and sometimes take them away as therapy. It's the story of this research institute being investigated (because sometimes the patients die) and of the head researcher's trauma.

The Functions of Dream Sleep by Harlan Ellison (1988)- The story of man, burdened with grief, who wakes up one night to find a maw on his side which closes and disappears. He seeks help through interpreting his dreams.

Worlds that Flourish by Ben Okri (1988)- The story of a man, living in an oppressed city as if in a dream, and the weird events that happen to him before and when he tries to flee.

Hogfoot Right and Bird-hands by Garry Kilworth (1987)- A story about a woman who turns parts of her body into animal pets. Short, but weird and somewhat disturbing.

Shades by Lucius Shepard (1987)- The story of a Vietnam vet returning to Vietnam as a reporter, to see a ghost captured by the Vietnamese of a soldier he knew. Really good- an excellent character portrayal, and examination of different kinds of "shades."

Next project: clear out my "currently reading."

I always think this is excellent when I pick it up, I've just not been in the mood for epic fantasies lately.

"It took me thirty days to get from the Rossio Grande to Marcela's heart, no longer riding the courser of blind desire but the ass of patience, crafty and stubborn at the same time... I can tell you the ass was the equal of the courser-- an ass like Sancho's, really, a philsopher."

This book is hilarious.

This is supposed to be feminist?

I have so many problems with this, but this might have been the most cartoonishly stupid event of all.

Please just become tentative friends and don't become a romance, please just be friends and don't become a romance. You have many more important things to worry about

DNF @ 230.

It's not a bad book per se, but the thought of continuing, as Marie Kondo would put it, "doesn't spark joy." My mind was already preemptively wondering whether it was going to be 2 or 3 stars, and I didn't want to read 200 more pages to decide.

The ambience was good, but all the characters were all very flat, and the plot felt random. Maybe if I knew or cared much about Turkish muslim/secular conflict.

Wasn't really feeling anything was reading, so decided to go with something that won't count for next Bingo. Good so far

In the Hills, the Cities by Clive Barker (1984)- Reread. I remember only thinking this was okay when I first read it several years ago, but I didn't that was the case at all this time. This was great and horrific. Doesn't perhaps fit "the weirdest thing I've ever read" which I feel I've heard about it, but excellent.

Tainaron by Leena Krohn (1985)- Skipped, because I read this last year. It's a favourite though.

Bloodchild by Octavia Butler (1984)- Butler wrote this as a way of overcoming her fear of botflies? I mean it was great. But it was horrific.

Part 3. This is simultaneously good, and feels like a chore to read.

The Discovery of Telenapota by Premendra Mitra (1984)- The story of finding a ruined shell of a city, interestingly told in second person future perfect.

Soft by F. Paul Wilson (1984)- The story of a plague which causes the bones of its victims to liquify, and two partial victims surviving in NYC. Gross and scary.

My god, this book has breaks? It was a solid wall of text up until this point. Good story, but the formatting choices leave a lot to be desired.

*sigh* We're only 1/3 of the way in, this bitch isn't going to stay dead is he?

Also, if they're talking about Louis and Lestat, everyone who tagged this "romance" needs help.

How weird and emo and overwrought. Fun though

The New Rays by M. John Harrison (1982)- A story about a woman undergoing an unspecified, experimental treatment by being irradiated by New Rays in a shoddy, sketchy clinic, which also seems to create or involve blue homunculi of the patients, and this strange treatment's effect on her