Topic: What are you reading these days?

[tarascon]

The Science and Fiction of Autism by Laura Schreibman

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2938932/

[smokester]

Reading Charlotte's Web to my daughter.

[goldshirt*9]

Still plodding on through the Anthony Riches Empire books. Ok a easy read

[6pairsofshoes]

Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Vergil's Aeneid.

It's pretty compelling.  Road trip.  Trojan War from the perspective of the losers.  Bad, bad Greeks!

Whoops.  Not exactly a comic book, but then again, you don't know my imagination.

[goldshirt*9]

Keane's Company - Napoleonic romp

[goldshirt*9]

Jack lark book book 11, A tad bored of it but I will finish it.
Have the "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang" next

[6pairsofshoes]

Ovid's Metamorphoses. 
It's kind of a history of the world, including a big flood, and then a series of mythological stories, like Jupiter and Juno's constant marital problems due to his incessant infidelities and the havoc this wreaks on mortals and other demigods.  Poor Io, the nymph, that got turned into a cow, and Argus, the hundred eyed sentinel who had to watch over her.  Neither one had a great time of it.  Then there's the scallywag mortal child of Apollo (Phoebus), Phaeton, who asks Dad if he can borrow the car.  Things go downhill from there.  It's a series of short episodes -- so rather easy and entertaining.  Many myths that I'd heard in passing are laid out in greater detail here, so it's pretty fun.

[goldshirt*9]

After a long time, I have decided to revisit the "Thomas Covenant" series, have never read the last series and have decided to start from the beginning. Wish me luck

[christ]

After a long time, I have decided to revisit the "Thomas Covenant" series, have never read the last series and have decided to start from the beginning. Wish me luck

Luck.

I read the first Chronicles, all the while not understanding or believing the motivation of "our hero" . I had no sympathy for him from the beginning, and even less as time went on. Once I got over this dislike, I enjoyed the story (although the rape still leaves a bad taste, even all these years later), and some of the world-building was brilliant (although depressing and derivative), but I hated the main protagonist. I thought that in general the story overcame his hero, and the ending tied everything up nicely.

Then the second Chronicles, and the new hero(ine) was as bad as the first and (although I didn't think it possible) this lot was much more depressing than the first lot. Donaldson's writing quirks were just as noticeable and consistent, but after a dodgy start I got into these books and quite enjoyed most of the read.

All around I don't think that Donaldson should be allowed to write heroes, as he hasn't a clue how to do them. I think that he is of the opinion that all heroes have feet of clay, if not feet, legs, torsos and necks of clay, and it is his job to show us that they aren't worth the paper they are printed on: except that he relies on them eventually coming good and saving everyone. (Unbelievably The Gap Cycle is even worse: his continual use of rape as a weapon - and as motivation/ justification in those books - is even worse than in the Covenant books, and just appalling, in my opinion)

After twenty years I picked up the first book of the last Chronicles and just couldn't get into it at all. Donaldson sets a very depressing scene quite believably, but I really couldn't force myself to spend any time in that bleak/ bleaker/ bleakest environment. The Last Chronicles are therefore sitting unread on the top of my wardrobe, and there they shall remain.

As I say, I wish you luck - let us know how you get on!

[6pairsofshoes]

Good luck, goldie.  I had to look those up.  They sound involved, like lots of fantasy novels, but with some compelling protagonist.  I don't know that I'd enjoy them, given chris's descriptions.

I am reading another futuristic novel, "Never Let Me Go," by Kazuo Ishiguro.  About clones raised to donate their organs.  Told from the perspective of one, while still in the exclusive institution where they are raised and cared for until adulthood.  The novel is subtle in that you don't really grasp what's going on for a while (and given I haven't finished it, I can't really provide spoilers of any substance).  And then, it's hard to predict where it's going, but probably not to a good place.

I read his "Remains of the Day," which you might know from the film with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, many years ago, and I can't say that it's a feel good novel, but it does offer keen insights into people's emotions and the structures -- both internal and external -- that prevent them from achieving happiness.  He lives in the UK, having emigrated from Japan when he was 5.  I guess he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2017.