Reading Journal: Thursday 29th October 2009
October 29, 2009 by Rob
Filed under Reading Journal
Hi folks. Well today saw the publication launch of David Vann’s Legend of a Suicide (Penguin Books), and at around 4pm I turned over the final page of the book. Right now my head is awash with many things – exhilaration, shock, confusion – strong emotions which ironically come to fore around the theme of suicide (or so I would imagine – or after reading this perhaps even know).
I was going to post up my afterthoughts immediately upon finishing this book. But I’ve held back for two reasons. The first is that I have afterthoughts for other books to post first. And the second? Well to be honest I’ve not got my head around what I’m going to be writing in my afterthoughts for Legend... I will say that the largest story of this book Sukkwan Island, is going to stick with me forever. It’s an absolutely remarkable piece of fictional writing. The final two stories – both short – have their place in the book as a whole, but coming on the back of that preceding ‘chapter’ they pretty much fade into insignificance. Well actually they don’t. They play a significant part of the whole (as do the opening two stories). Hehehe you see what I mean? My head is buzzing, but in a good way.
Today I also managed to tick off story number 29 in my 31 Shots of Short reading challenge. It was a sea-faring tale from F. Marion Crawford entitled The Upper Berth, and actually it was another good choice of story. Suitably creepy, and wholly ‘haunty’ this is the third day in a row I’ve had the pleasure of marking a ’shock short’ 4 out of 5. You can check out my ‘official’ afterthoughts on the story HERE
As good as The Upper Berth is though, one has to seriously question the mentality of the characters in some of these stories. I mean here’s a man, Brisbane, terrified by a ghostly presence in his cabin, and after spilling the beans to the captain, Brisbane is offered any choice of room as an alternative (provided he he keeps hush hush). What does Brisbane do? Yep you’re right. He decides to carry on sleeping in the haunted cabin. Then again maybe it’s a good job he did. It wouldn’t be much of a story if he simply up and left at the first sign of trouble. Why am I talking as though this were a real-life event? I have no idea. Time ot move on to tomorrow’s scheduled reading I think.
::Reading planned for tomorrow::
With so many reviews to catch up on (sorry Penguin Alcemi and Gallic), I’m purposely keeping my reading light tomorrow. I do have the penultimate story in my 31 Shots of Shock challenge to read of course – Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1859 tale, The Haunted and the Haunters, but other than this I don’t know what else I’ll get to. Will I ever get to start Hamsun’s Mysteries this week? I don’t know but I certainly hope so.
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Rob, a self-confessed bibliophile, is without any hope of rehabilitation. He gets unnaturally excited over anything book-shaped, and if book sniffing were a crime then he would have been locked up years ago (which wouldn't bother him in the slightest provided his cell were lined with books)
