I read this book almost a year ago, back when I was actually posting, but I've got it queued, so here goes:
I tend to associate Jack London with icy cold settings and dogs (whether White Fang or The Sea Wolf, there's still plenty of cold + dog connotation), but it turns out he traveled and wrote about the sunny south as well. (No dogs in these either, for what it's worth) Not that the stories are any less brutal than his northern tales, but the change of scene and the cultural backdrop is refreshing.
I remember the stories being somewhat hit and miss, some were very good and interesting, while others were just . . . strange. Expect difficult subjects that might get you banned from the local high school such as slavery, other forms of exploitation and violence. However, London is known for moving past the "Noble Savage" stereotype to show all people as individuals, and these stories are prime examples.
Labels: fiction, short stories
Hi!
Okay, reeeeally long break there, I actually gave up on posting for awhile. :-p In between moving back to Texas, buying and moving into a new house, and adopting a pair of adorable dogs, I haven't had much time to angst over postings.
And that was the problem really :-p I'm thinking that I might just keep this blog as a record of what I'm reading, instead of trying to do in-depth reviews of everything, and taking forever to actually post.
So, here's my two latest reads:
The Wall and the Wing by Laura Ruby, read by Renée Raudman
A kid's book that I picked up because I found the audiobook for ridiculously cheap, along with a handful of the Narnia audiobooks. It takes place in an un-named city (*cough* New York *cough*) where people can . . . fly? Except for the main character, an orphan girl, who then discovers that she can turn herself invisible. Adventure ensues.
It's good fun, once you get past a big dose of weirdness and the narrator's over-the-top voices, but better for kids than for adults that just have fun with kid-lit, imho.
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
I mostly tackled this one to earn another feather in my literary cap, and it turned out to be enjoyable, although a little slow from time to time. The edition (can't find the narrator, but it was Blackstone Audio) was quite good, it even cut out the two prose tales that were supposedly the most mind-numbingly boring of the whole lot.
I remember reviewing Canterbury Tales in junior high; we just learned about Chaucer, the basic premise of the work, and it's historical significance. I walked away with the impression that we didn't actually read any of the stories because they were a) too hard and b) too long. Turns out that it was actually because several of the tales were nowhere near suitable for a junior high class ^o^ Scandalous stuff!
That's all I've got for now, lets see if I can keep this up!