Jungle fever

[threemonkeys]

The process of choosing a book to read can be a good indicator of mood for me. When things are good, then any book will do, but when I'm feeling blah about things then it becomes harder. I don't even want to contemplate the "I don't want to read anything" scenario. Anyway, it would seem that blah covers my mood at the moment because I looked at my to read shelf and despite any number of books that I was keen to read at the time of purchase there wasn't really much that said "pick me". In the end I chose Kalimantan by Lucius Shepard. It might seem an odd choice. Shepard leans toward writing hardish military science fiction in jungle settings with the sensibility of a horror writer. In this case this book, more novella than novel, is more like the setting of a Clark Ashton Smith story with drugs opening a doorway into a fantastic world. But the reason for choosing Shepard is simple - he has this lovely smooth, almost liquid, prose style. The words just flow into my mind without fuss or difficulty. Yet the writing isn't the simplistic thing that you might imagine - the description, action, plot structure all have enough complexity to make it interesting.

So what should I read next...

Comments

[russellk.livejournal.com]

Shepard's movie reviews, however, stink. Factless vituperation wrapped around a mean spirit with an infinite capacity for stereotyping and overgeneralisation. Or, at least, that's how he might describe himself if he wasn't himself.

His reviews seem to serve only one purpose: to convince the reader that there are exactly two types of people in the world: Lucius Shepard and boneheads.

I'm still not sure why his reviews make me so angry, even when find myself agreeing with him. I'll know something important (and probably unflattering) about myself when I work it out.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

I haven't actually read any of Shepards reviews. I have noticed though that some authors do have quite different voices when reviewing compared to writing fiction.

Do you write reviews? I have this sudden urge to compare and contrast. :-)

[russellk.livejournal.com]

Nope, I don't write reviews. Mainly because I have no taste and I don't want anyone to know.