taking stock: the book meme thing
Dec. 30th, 2006 11:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baleanopteraGrabbed from pretty much every one:
Favorite books of 2006
- in which I post a list of no particular order, the contents of which is formed by my memory of the previous year, the words written on a bleak December morning when the writer found herself surrounded by whale-song (don't ask..).
Sarah Monette: Melusine & The Virtu
- actually two books, but they follow each other and tell a complete story, so I consider them as one. They are fantasy books that tell a good story and plays with and expands the genre, which leaves both the general reader and the geek in me satisfied. I'm a little more coherent about why I love the books here. But the bottom line is I keep coming back to these books, leafing through the pages to read my favorite passages. Which is more than enough to entitle them a place on this list.
Rabindranath Tagore :Selected Poems
- I found this writer through an LJ recommendation (thank you![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
winterspel ! )Then I had a grueling two weeks search in Norwegian bookstores before I found my own copy. It was worth it though. I'm always a little insecure when describing why poetry moved me. Somehow I always end up saying: "It touched my heart!" Which is true, but perhaps a bit subjective. So instead I'll quote the first lines of Tagore I ever read:
Soon, I feel
the time comes near to leave.
With sunset shadings
screen the parting day.
Let the hour be silent; let it be peaceful.
Let not any pompous memories or meetings
create a sorrow's trance.
May the trees at the gate
raise the earth's chant of peace
in a cluster of green leaves.
May the night's blessings be
in the light of the seven stars
Elizabeth E. Wein: The Winter Prince
- another LJ recommendation (this time thank yousemyaza!). A wonderful retelling of the story of Mordred and Arthur. The language is spares and poetic, the story engaging. Wein also knows a lot about folklore and legends and weaves this beautifully into her story. In short I loved this retelling of parts of the Arthur-cycle.
David Freeberg: The Power of Images: studies in the history and theory of response.
- so this is not a fiction book, but it is still one of the best books I've read in years. It messed with my head, but in a good way. Freedberg talks about how we use images, speculates on why we create images and why we need them. He draws on a wide range material, and one of the things I loved best was that he didn't use the high culture/low culture divide.
It's on the list because my notebook is filled with quotes from it, and because it radically altered a few of my assumptions and pushed my ideas for a P.hD project in a good direction. Hee!
Egil's Saga
- this was partially a reread, as I read parts of this at school when I was thirteen. It's one of the old Norse sagas and tells the story of Egil Skallagrimson, warrior-poet and psycho farmer. (The book chooses to describe him as morally ambiguous, which I suppose is true, but feels a little tame.) Egil is the best poet of his generation, one of the best warriors too - and the story of his life is at times quite bloody, never dull and always filled with very dark, blood dripping humor. It also features Egil's nemesis the Norwegian king Erik Bloodaxe - and believe me he had earned that name.
Terry Pratchett: The Wintersmith
- I love Terry Pratchett, and particularly the Witch series (the Watch series comes a good second). Therefore I might have been a bit influenced by that love when I read the book. Still - the story of Tiffany Aching is incredibly compelling, and I love how Pratchett manages to be funny and thought provoking at the same time. Also - Granny Weatherwax got a cat, named "You". As in "You! Get off the table!" ;D
Favorite books of 2006
- in which I post a list of no particular order, the contents of which is formed by my memory of the previous year, the words written on a bleak December morning when the writer found herself surrounded by whale-song (don't ask..).
Sarah Monette: Melusine & The Virtu
- actually two books, but they follow each other and tell a complete story, so I consider them as one. They are fantasy books that tell a good story and plays with and expands the genre, which leaves both the general reader and the geek in me satisfied. I'm a little more coherent about why I love the books here. But the bottom line is I keep coming back to these books, leafing through the pages to read my favorite passages. Which is more than enough to entitle them a place on this list.
Rabindranath Tagore :Selected Poems
- I found this writer through an LJ recommendation (thank you
winterspel ! )Then I had a grueling two weeks search in Norwegian bookstores before I found my own copy. It was worth it though. I'm always a little insecure when describing why poetry moved me. Somehow I always end up saying: "It touched my heart!" Which is true, but perhaps a bit subjective. So instead I'll quote the first lines of Tagore I ever read: Soon, I feel
the time comes near to leave.
With sunset shadings
screen the parting day.
Let the hour be silent; let it be peaceful.
Let not any pompous memories or meetings
create a sorrow's trance.
May the trees at the gate
raise the earth's chant of peace
in a cluster of green leaves.
May the night's blessings be
in the light of the seven stars
Elizabeth E. Wein: The Winter Prince
- another LJ recommendation (this time thank you
semyaza!). A wonderful retelling of the story of Mordred and Arthur. The language is spares and poetic, the story engaging. Wein also knows a lot about folklore and legends and weaves this beautifully into her story. In short I loved this retelling of parts of the Arthur-cycle. David Freeberg: The Power of Images: studies in the history and theory of response.
- so this is not a fiction book, but it is still one of the best books I've read in years. It messed with my head, but in a good way. Freedberg talks about how we use images, speculates on why we create images and why we need them. He draws on a wide range material, and one of the things I loved best was that he didn't use the high culture/low culture divide.
It's on the list because my notebook is filled with quotes from it, and because it radically altered a few of my assumptions and pushed my ideas for a P.hD project in a good direction. Hee!
Egil's Saga
- this was partially a reread, as I read parts of this at school when I was thirteen. It's one of the old Norse sagas and tells the story of Egil Skallagrimson, warrior-poet and psycho farmer. (The book chooses to describe him as morally ambiguous, which I suppose is true, but feels a little tame.) Egil is the best poet of his generation, one of the best warriors too - and the story of his life is at times quite bloody, never dull and always filled with very dark, blood dripping humor. It also features Egil's nemesis the Norwegian king Erik Bloodaxe - and believe me he had earned that name.
Terry Pratchett: The Wintersmith
- I love Terry Pratchett, and particularly the Witch series (the Watch series comes a good second). Therefore I might have been a bit influenced by that love when I read the book. Still - the story of Tiffany Aching is incredibly compelling, and I love how Pratchett manages to be funny and thought provoking at the same time. Also - Granny Weatherwax got a cat, named "You". As in "You! Get off the table!" ;D
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 06:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 07:36 pm (UTC)And sometimes the reading itself gets hindered by outside facts -it has for instance proved almost impossible to obtain Bujold books in this part of Norway. Most bookstores in my town seem to hold terry Goodkind as the pinnacle of fantasy and sci-fi. *sigh*
no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 07:58 pm (UTC)And in regards to Arthur - I too love Arthurian stories. Both the older, more original material and the newer adaptions. It seems the type of legend that gets reinterpreted for each new generation. I love that.
Even if, in regard to your Arthur icon, "Once and future king" is one of those I love the best.
Speaking of Arthur - have you heard Heather Dale's song "Mordred's Lullabye"?
no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 09:59 pm (UTC)Presto! Let me know if the upload gives you any problems.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 11:09 pm (UTC)And a yay for "Farscape" too, even if I'm just about to start season two I already love it. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-30 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-31 09:13 pm (UTC)As for Buffy - well, I like parts of it, and then there are other parts I have some problems with. There are sometimes I find Whedon's portrayal of women a little problematic. Or more precisely Whedon's reputation for writing
excellent female characters.
I will admit to liking Firefly and Angel better, probably because the characters appeal to me more.