Oh no, not that again

[threemonkeys]

One of the great things about George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, apart from actually reading them that is, is that its popularity means that George's back list is being re-released. Apart from the recent big collection of his short fiction, I have also purchased and read The Armageddon Rag. I liked it a lot.

This is a book described as "Concerning the American pop music culture of the '60s". It most certainly is about the 60's, but it is also about the '80s - the time when it was written. It looks at the baby boomer generation which protested the war, grooved to the music, espoused free love and all that stuff. Those same boomers who became stockbrokers or estate agents in the '80s. Those that weren't broken and disillusioned that is.

Right about now, you are probably groaning and thinking - "hasn't that been done to death". It is true that a lot of authors have attacked this topic - it is part of the condition of that generation that they look back at the lost opportunities and/or the way they changed the world. What George brings to the party is the ability to get right inside the head of his disillusioned main character and help the reader live the spirit of the '60s and the angst of the '80s. It is a fine piece of writing and it just feels so real. It would not surprise me if a good chunk of this book is autobiographical. How else would you explain the sense of connection.

It is a dark fantasy too. The strange stuff kicking in during the second half of the book. But even then it is about death and resurrection gone wrong - the metaphor being easy to find but that does not invalidate it as a piece of entertainment as well.

Many people have views of the 60s or if not them, then what the boomer generation has become these days. Those views are not always very positive. Such views will affect how you would see this book. Personally I am old enough to have been around then but not old enough to be a part of it. I always feel like I missed out on something. Perhaps that is why this book speaks to me so much.

Comments

[lobelet.livejournal.com]

I think this is my very favourite Martin novel. I was glad to see it republished since I didn't actually own a copy. Now I do...

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

I can just see you decked out in all your hippie regalia. Um, actually, on second thoughts, no I can't.

[lobelet.livejournal.com]

I was never really decked out in the regalia (I couldn't afford it -- all I could manage was op-shop clothes. Though some of those were admittedly a bit odd looking). But I sort of led the life style and I most definitely approved of the philosophy (if that's not too pompous a word). I still do approve, come to that. On several occasions in my classes I've compared the altruism of the open source movement to the hippy world view. Many of its leading practitioners were (and are) hippies. And that degree of sympathy is very probably why I feel so comfortable with open source and so very unconfortable with closed source. Perhaps I haven't shed enough ideals yet...

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Y'see I had no problem with you and the ethos - that is why my first thought was to try to imagine you decked out in the gear. But as soon as I tried to imagine you with flowers in your hair, I got stuck. I bet the hair was long though.

[lobelet.livejournal.com]

Definitely no flowers. And the hair, being curly, tended towards a rather scruffy afro. But mostly it just looked silly.