Collected Stories ~ Peter Carey
Genre: Short Stories; Fiction (including a couple of fantasy and sci-fi short stories).
9.5/10
Before I even start talking about the text itself, let me just say I read it through in January this year, was amazed by it, lent it to brother, he was amazed with it, bought himself and a number of his friends copies and took a long time to return my copy to me.
This is one of my Literature 3/4 texts, and to tell the truth I'm amazingly glad that it is. The short stories, though very bizarre, are complex and engrossing. Carey treads thin-thematic ice in regards to the colonisation of Australia (and cultural genocide) by America, focusing especially on the way that Australia has become a victim of the influence of America with regard to dreams (as seen in American Dreams), and how this perversion of Australian culture can lead to nothing good. Carey also delves into isolation, and how this can act as a catalyst and exacerbate the baser tendencies, as well as decreasing the mental stability of the isolated and often marginalised protagonists. These are but a drop in the ocean, with Carey investigating the objectification of women, undercurrents in society, as well as the base and taboo subjects which are seldom talked about but quite likely performed more than one would like to think. In regards to taboo Carey is ruthless, depicting copophragia, incest, rape, dictatorships, cannibalism and homosexuality all with a dispassionate and generally omniscient narration.
What I found most intriguing however was the way that Carey defied the boundaries between reality and fantasy, often merging the two so seamlessly that the reader loses all track of what is real and what is not. To call the stories bizarre is an understatement, but the nuance that can be found in Carey's trademark concise sentences is often far more shocking than the terrible acts that provide the base for Carey's investigation into the human psyche. From stories about mimes and talking unicorns to analytical reports of a revolution and the revulsion of fat people that stems from it, Carey manages to be consistent, though varied. In regards to consistency he often deals with the same themes, and in all of them can be seen important messages about humanity and the way that it goes through the motions. With respect to variety, every single story out of the twenty-six short stories found in the 454-page long collection deals with a completely different scenari, with different characters and often in very different worlds.
Carey's ability to place bizarre and amazingly unconventional acts within diconcertingly commonplace situations spawns a concurrently surreal and disturbing effect, as Carey explores the multi-faceted nature of every single scene and situation present in the short stories. In stories like "The Puzzling Nature of Blue", "American Dreams" and "Report on the Shadow Industry", Carey analyses the pervasive influence of the politcal on the personal as well as the illusory appeals of artistic creation. Other stories, like "Life and Death in the South Side Pavilion" (my brother's personal favourite), "The Fat Man in History" and "The Uses of Williamson Wood" (my personal favourite) explore the situations of the marginalised of society, the fat, the mentally and physically abused, the weak and the deadbeats, their triumphs and their dilemmas (with special emphasis on the latter).
To tell the truth, my immature and somewhat sub-standard reviewing abilities really can't reproduce the thoughts flying about my head, so I'll leave it basically with this.
The Sydney Morning Herald said that reading Peter Carey's Collected Stories is like "being shot by a firing squad of angels."
Peter Carey claimed diffidently that he had "made a whole career out of making my anxieties get up and walk around."
Laura Cummings, Sunday Times, August 13, 1995;
"Here is a man who can put you into the head of Homer in the blistering heat ("Light falls on his blind eyes like coloured rain on a tiled roof") as he exhaustedly rearranges the "small coins" of his characters within the great epic..."
Simply a must-read, especially if you are fond of complex and post-modernistic short stories.
(Not simply a must read, but a must CLOSE read...every time you read a sentence you realise something new about what Carey was trying to say.)
Anonymous I
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Tetralogy, Part 1
The Dragonbone Chair ~ Tad Williams
Genre: Fantasy
5.5/10
I picked this book up last year after having it recommended to me repeatedly, and as a result had high expectations (that and I loved Tad Williams' Otherland Tetralogy). Unfortunately, these were to some extent not achieved. While Williams' prose is well-paced and fluent, and his style of writing altogether pleasing, the content itself of the book was somewhat...unoriginal. I used to be a huge fan of the entire formulaic fantasy style (David Eddings being exemplary in this); scullion boy moans about how unimportant he is. Scullion boy is apprenticed to magician, but still retains no hopes as to an interesting future. Boy is then drawn into a world of magic and intrigue, in which he finds out that he's basically the only person who can save the world. Boy meets random girl/girl dressed as boy, and falls in love with said girl. Girl turns out to be princess. Boy is depressed as he believes he's not good enough for girl. Boy gets with girl. Boy saves world.
Of course, cynicism aside, The Dragonbone Chair was a good read, and I did throw myself whole-heartedly into it as a form of nostalgia. It's set in a fantasy world (unsurprisingly), ruled over predominantly by humans, but with other races all scattered about (and generally treated nastily by humans). There are the trolls, who live in the far northern mountains and bear some resemblance to dwarves (short, like mountains, ride rams etc), the Sithi (a race that preceded the humans, heavy on the magic, part animal, very cat-like, very mysterious and misanthropic etc) and, of course, dragons. The tale follows the path of Seoman (re-named Simon for convenience by kind people who adopt him), a scullion boy who was left at the castle in mysterious circumstances, with little or nothing known about his heritage. Of course it's simply obligatory that he becomes apprenticed to a magician (who turns out to be a member of a secret order), saves a prince from his brother (who becomes an evil king), and goes on to battle the minions of Ineluki, the feared Storm King. While this it inself is not particularly novel, and the whole idea of a scullion boy who sets out on his own (and is later befriended by a troll, Binabik) isn't really new either, Williams is still able to draw the reader in (let's face it, it's generally a formula that works) , and hold them there.
The trials that Simon goes through are often rather harrowing, and I caught myself smiling more than once at some jest or cute scene (and then glanced around to make sure no one had seen my idiotic grin), so overall Williams I think did pretty well, considering that he was writing on nothing new. Whilst not the best book of its kind, and astoundingly predictable at times, it's still worth a perusal if you have the time on your hands and are really into that sort of thing. Otherwise, I wouldn't go out of your way for it.
Anonymous I
Genre: Fantasy
5.5/10
I picked this book up last year after having it recommended to me repeatedly, and as a result had high expectations (that and I loved Tad Williams' Otherland Tetralogy). Unfortunately, these were to some extent not achieved. While Williams' prose is well-paced and fluent, and his style of writing altogether pleasing, the content itself of the book was somewhat...unoriginal. I used to be a huge fan of the entire formulaic fantasy style (David Eddings being exemplary in this); scullion boy moans about how unimportant he is. Scullion boy is apprenticed to magician, but still retains no hopes as to an interesting future. Boy is then drawn into a world of magic and intrigue, in which he finds out that he's basically the only person who can save the world. Boy meets random girl/girl dressed as boy, and falls in love with said girl. Girl turns out to be princess. Boy is depressed as he believes he's not good enough for girl. Boy gets with girl. Boy saves world.
Of course, cynicism aside, The Dragonbone Chair was a good read, and I did throw myself whole-heartedly into it as a form of nostalgia. It's set in a fantasy world (unsurprisingly), ruled over predominantly by humans, but with other races all scattered about (and generally treated nastily by humans). There are the trolls, who live in the far northern mountains and bear some resemblance to dwarves (short, like mountains, ride rams etc), the Sithi (a race that preceded the humans, heavy on the magic, part animal, very cat-like, very mysterious and misanthropic etc) and, of course, dragons. The tale follows the path of Seoman (re-named Simon for convenience by kind people who adopt him), a scullion boy who was left at the castle in mysterious circumstances, with little or nothing known about his heritage. Of course it's simply obligatory that he becomes apprenticed to a magician (who turns out to be a member of a secret order), saves a prince from his brother (who becomes an evil king), and goes on to battle the minions of Ineluki, the feared Storm King. While this it inself is not particularly novel, and the whole idea of a scullion boy who sets out on his own (and is later befriended by a troll, Binabik) isn't really new either, Williams is still able to draw the reader in (let's face it, it's generally a formula that works) , and hold them there.
The trials that Simon goes through are often rather harrowing, and I caught myself smiling more than once at some jest or cute scene (and then glanced around to make sure no one had seen my idiotic grin), so overall Williams I think did pretty well, considering that he was writing on nothing new. Whilst not the best book of its kind, and astoundingly predictable at times, it's still worth a perusal if you have the time on your hands and are really into that sort of thing. Otherwise, I wouldn't go out of your way for it.
Anonymous I
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Sergei Lukyanenko's The Watch Tetralogy, Part 1.
The Night Watch ~ Sergei Lukyanenko.
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Horror. (I found very little horror in the novel myself however)
8/10
There's something about Russian Literature that just nabs me. I don't know what it is, but The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko did just that, from the very first page I was hooked. Perhaps it's the names, it's the culture, whatever the reason, just like Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy), I just couldn't put The Night Watch down. Lukyanenko's prose is engaging and fluent, and the concept of good and evil being so disempowered that they have to resort to a bureaucratic truce is, to say the least, intriguing. The Night Watch follows the path of Anton Gorodetsky, a fairly new member of the Night Watch, a collection of Light Ones who counter-balance the Day Watch, the dark ones who monitor the movements of Light Others during the day. This is another novel idea from Lukyanenko, as the Day Watch patrol during the daytime, making sure that no unauthorised Good is done (and if it is, they’re arrested and brought under trial before the Inquisition, a shady power that is left unrevealed in The Night Watch), while at night the Night Watch does the same, but for Dark Others.
The defining moment of an Other's life is their decision, when they choose to join either the Dark or Light side (though it seems some, like Vampires, have no choice in the matter). At some point during their life (or for a few, never) they will be discovered by one of the two sides, and initiated. After entering the ‘Twilight’ (An incorporeal realm in which Others can move about, and many of the rules of the human realm [time, some of the laws of physics, and the solidity of objects] do not apply there), the Other must make the choice between Dark and Light. It is purely up to them, and many references are made to the fact that if someone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, and has a bad day before their choosing, may well choose the Dark side instead of the Light, though they may have a disposition towards the latter. Once they have chosen, they seem to be imprinted in a way so that they can’t change…the Light Others do good not because they feel it is right, but because it is part of their nature, and the same goes for Dark Others. Hence Dark Others doing Good actions and Light Others doing Evil actions…happens very rarely, as to do so would be against their nature. This also means that changing sides is improbable, if not impossible (at this stage it is, but who knows what Lukyanenko will add in the the sequels).
The Others are split into different races, magicians (or sorceresses), who are common in both sides (Dark Magicians and Light Mages), Vampires (who as far as I know are only Dark) and Shapeshifters (Shifter-Mages for Light, Shapeshifters for Dark), and though these in themselves are not original ideas, Lukyanenko makes these races his own, adding his own twists and characteristics, thus giving the races in his novel a new and fascinating facet.
Anton (or Antosha to close friends) is the main protagonist for the three different stories of The Night Watch, which range from saving potential Others from Vampires, halting the path of an Inferno (a dark curse placed upon someone that can grow to magnicifient proportions when the Dark Magician casting it is powerful, and can cause massive destructions when unleashed), finding an uninitiated Light One who believes he is the only Light Other in a world of Dark Others, and is hunting Dark Ones and killing them (therefore breaking the treaty), and then finally aiding a great sourceress in her attempts to change the world for the better.
For me, as interesting as each of these were, they were merely a side-dish on the main meal, which was the notion of the two sides having to co-operate (to some extent), so that they can exist (and in a certain sense, combat one another) without wreaking havoc across the world. Each side abides by the treaty whilst at the same time trying to undermine their opponents, and the prescient ability of powerful Others to foresee probable outcomes adds a new level of uncertainty as to whether everything that happened was merely a plan of one side, or whether the characters have free will and can determine the future by their actions. Lukyanenko also adds the less novel concept of these Others who live long beyond human life-span having great influence on the world (such as the Second World War and Communism within Russia, both failed attempts of the Light to get an upper hand), which rather echoes novels like Jonothan Stroud’s Bartimaeous trilogy, adding a zest of a different take on history into the novel.
Nevertheless, the idea of two powers too powerful/weak to take on each other directly trying to subvert one another and humans so that they become the dominant power is fascinating, as each attempts to eliminate Good/Evil (whichever applies) from the minds of the humans they are trying to protect/control.
Even by the end of The Night Watch, it seems as though this goal is unlikely, but who knows what Lukyanenko will reveal in the rest of the Watch Tetralogy; The Day Watch, The Twilight Watch and The Final Watch.
A gripping read, I picked it up at about 7:30 in the evening one night, and had finished it within 12 hours, so unable was I to put it down. This is almost a must-read for those interested in both fantasy and the concepts of good and evil controlled by bureaucracy/free will[amongst others] with a little subtle humour sprinkled here and there.
Next novel in sights: The Day Watch
Anonymous I
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Horror. (I found very little horror in the novel myself however)
8/10
There's something about Russian Literature that just nabs me. I don't know what it is, but The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko did just that, from the very first page I was hooked. Perhaps it's the names, it's the culture, whatever the reason, just like Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy), I just couldn't put The Night Watch down. Lukyanenko's prose is engaging and fluent, and the concept of good and evil being so disempowered that they have to resort to a bureaucratic truce is, to say the least, intriguing. The Night Watch follows the path of Anton Gorodetsky, a fairly new member of the Night Watch, a collection of Light Ones who counter-balance the Day Watch, the dark ones who monitor the movements of Light Others during the day. This is another novel idea from Lukyanenko, as the Day Watch patrol during the daytime, making sure that no unauthorised Good is done (and if it is, they’re arrested and brought under trial before the Inquisition, a shady power that is left unrevealed in The Night Watch), while at night the Night Watch does the same, but for Dark Others.
The defining moment of an Other's life is their decision, when they choose to join either the Dark or Light side (though it seems some, like Vampires, have no choice in the matter). At some point during their life (or for a few, never) they will be discovered by one of the two sides, and initiated. After entering the ‘Twilight’ (An incorporeal realm in which Others can move about, and many of the rules of the human realm [time, some of the laws of physics, and the solidity of objects] do not apply there), the Other must make the choice between Dark and Light. It is purely up to them, and many references are made to the fact that if someone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, and has a bad day before their choosing, may well choose the Dark side instead of the Light, though they may have a disposition towards the latter. Once they have chosen, they seem to be imprinted in a way so that they can’t change…the Light Others do good not because they feel it is right, but because it is part of their nature, and the same goes for Dark Others. Hence Dark Others doing Good actions and Light Others doing Evil actions…happens very rarely, as to do so would be against their nature. This also means that changing sides is improbable, if not impossible (at this stage it is, but who knows what Lukyanenko will add in the the sequels).
The Others are split into different races, magicians (or sorceresses), who are common in both sides (Dark Magicians and Light Mages), Vampires (who as far as I know are only Dark) and Shapeshifters (Shifter-Mages for Light, Shapeshifters for Dark), and though these in themselves are not original ideas, Lukyanenko makes these races his own, adding his own twists and characteristics, thus giving the races in his novel a new and fascinating facet.
Anton (or Antosha to close friends) is the main protagonist for the three different stories of The Night Watch, which range from saving potential Others from Vampires, halting the path of an Inferno (a dark curse placed upon someone that can grow to magnicifient proportions when the Dark Magician casting it is powerful, and can cause massive destructions when unleashed), finding an uninitiated Light One who believes he is the only Light Other in a world of Dark Others, and is hunting Dark Ones and killing them (therefore breaking the treaty), and then finally aiding a great sourceress in her attempts to change the world for the better.
For me, as interesting as each of these were, they were merely a side-dish on the main meal, which was the notion of the two sides having to co-operate (to some extent), so that they can exist (and in a certain sense, combat one another) without wreaking havoc across the world. Each side abides by the treaty whilst at the same time trying to undermine their opponents, and the prescient ability of powerful Others to foresee probable outcomes adds a new level of uncertainty as to whether everything that happened was merely a plan of one side, or whether the characters have free will and can determine the future by their actions. Lukyanenko also adds the less novel concept of these Others who live long beyond human life-span having great influence on the world (such as the Second World War and Communism within Russia, both failed attempts of the Light to get an upper hand), which rather echoes novels like Jonothan Stroud’s Bartimaeous trilogy, adding a zest of a different take on history into the novel.
Nevertheless, the idea of two powers too powerful/weak to take on each other directly trying to subvert one another and humans so that they become the dominant power is fascinating, as each attempts to eliminate Good/Evil (whichever applies) from the minds of the humans they are trying to protect/control.
Even by the end of The Night Watch, it seems as though this goal is unlikely, but who knows what Lukyanenko will reveal in the rest of the Watch Tetralogy; The Day Watch, The Twilight Watch and The Final Watch.
A gripping read, I picked it up at about 7:30 in the evening one night, and had finished it within 12 hours, so unable was I to put it down. This is almost a must-read for those interested in both fantasy and the concepts of good and evil controlled by bureaucracy/free will[amongst others] with a little subtle humour sprinkled here and there.
Next novel in sights: The Day Watch
Anonymous I
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