Plaited

[threemonkeys]

I didn't get a lot of reading done while on holiday. I read bits from some SJV nominated stuff and Striped Holes by Damien Broderick. The latter was a humourous offering from the Sheckley school of silliness. It is the type of book where a skeleton plot is arranged so a whole bunch of witty or just plain silly sequences can be attached to it. The success or failure of the book being determined by how many of those sequences work for the reader. For me, the answer was some but probably not quite enough although it was pleasantly diverting.

The thing is, I'm not a big fan of simple silliness. Giving a character a silly name (Sopworth Hammil) isn't really all that funny. I need cleverness with just a bit of satirical bite - that is to say, I need wit in what I read. To be fair, I think the author was trying for that a fair bit, but it didn't always work. When it did, it was very good - there is a sequence where "god" describes how he got that role by being granted three wishes by a genie which really sticks in my mind. It is also worth noting that this book would probably have been funnier when it was first published - topical references erode over time. I realise that this is a very minor work in terms of Broderick's output - perhaps I had better find a more major one.

Comments

[darthsappho.livejournal.com]

SJV Nominees are out? The web page still just says "nominations for 2007 are now being accepted".

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Erk - so it does. Nominations closed on 31 March. The detail page has that info at least. The web site should have been updated. The complete nomination list has not been published. Nominees have been contacted because you have to accept nomination and as part of that were asked if they will make their work available by sending review copies - we were able to grab the ones received so far.

The above paragraph does little to convey just how frustrated by the SJV process I am this year. Next year with an Easter con it is going to be vital that this process is done properly.

[lobelet.livejournal.com]

As usual, your comment states succinctly what is supposed to have happened and the timeline during which it was supposed to happen.

And, as usual, it hasn't happened. Nominees have not been contacted. At least one nominee that I am aware of was ignored because the nomination email was "lost" (sic), deadlines have been ignored. And so on...

Inept is far too mild a word to describe the SJV administration process.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

And my frustration continues to grow. The SJV process seems immune from any form of meaningful censure. Given the position I'm in I should be able to do something and yet ...

*sigh* This is probably something for a personal conversation.

[lobelet.livejournal.com]

Exactly so.

We did a BIG at the new Malthouse last night. I was surprised that you weren't there. 10 out of 10 for the range of beers, but 0 out of 10 for ambience. Shame...

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

I remembered about BIG at about 9pm - I did mean to be there.