Good Intentions (July Reading)
Aug. 14th, 2011 02:50 pmTen Years That Shook the City: San Francisco 1968-1978 (Chris Carlsson, ed) (2011): 328 pages of left-flavored essays on the late '60s / post-'60s / '70s San Francisco liberal scene. This wasn't great: it's SF History 201, and I needed City History 101. Also, the essay quality was uneven; a few were very entertaining and well-written, many were competent, and several had careless copy editing mistakes, such as an extra endnote. If the writer doesn't care enough to fix easy stuff like spelling and commas, can I trust they got the facts right?
( Cut for space. ) Overall, the collection was mildly interesting, but so uneven I can't recommend it unless you have a lively pre-existing interest in accounts of that era. I'm taking recommendations for further reading on San Francisco history to feed my itch for local history.
Fullmetal Alchemist vol 1 - 8 (ch 1 - 33) (Hiromu Arakawa) (2002 - 2004): Manga. Brain candy. Addictive brain candy. I must apologize for the capslock in advance, because I know it's coming.
The premise: two boys try to resurrect their mother with alchemy. It backfires spectacularly. Now they're on a quest to get their original bodies back. I got as far as page 3 of the first volume before thinking, "this is going to be awesome, or a trainwreck. But it could be an awesome trainwreck!" And I was right! There is fridging (Nina Tucker), and the Ishbalan civil war is probably not social justice compliant, and I don't care. The story slides past the worst possibilities during the initially episodic storytelling and firms up nicely, adding vivid secondary and tertiary recurring characters as the plot develops an arc and the worldbuilding opens up. The female characters are at least as competent and likeable as their male counterparts. The story's focus is on the military, but civilians, kids, old women all get their moment to shine. The expanding storylines loop around and back into Ed and Al's quest, sticking to and heightening the premise's emotional core. In short? ROCK ON.
( High points for plot, likable characters, and judicious killing of your darlings. )
Also,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
norabombay? FMA is fantasy, but it's heavily influenced by the European industrial revolution, so there are trains. Lots of trains. *Innocent face*
Maskerade (Terry Pratchett) (1995): Magic, mysterious deaths and the stage... Discworld does Phantom of the Opera. Pratchett's writing is a pleasant cup of tea, but very often I find it's high quality English Breakfast when I am craving Earl Grey. Or oolong. Or jasmine in green tea. I like the Discworld novels without the powerful attraction other people do.
Numbers game: 10 total finished. 10 new, no rereads; 9 fiction, 1 nonfiction; 8 manga, 1 essay collection.
( Cut for space. ) Overall, the collection was mildly interesting, but so uneven I can't recommend it unless you have a lively pre-existing interest in accounts of that era. I'm taking recommendations for further reading on San Francisco history to feed my itch for local history.
Fullmetal Alchemist vol 1 - 8 (ch 1 - 33) (Hiromu Arakawa) (2002 - 2004): Manga. Brain candy. Addictive brain candy. I must apologize for the capslock in advance, because I know it's coming.
The premise: two boys try to resurrect their mother with alchemy. It backfires spectacularly. Now they're on a quest to get their original bodies back. I got as far as page 3 of the first volume before thinking, "this is going to be awesome, or a trainwreck. But it could be an awesome trainwreck!" And I was right! There is fridging (Nina Tucker), and the Ishbalan civil war is probably not social justice compliant, and I don't care. The story slides past the worst possibilities during the initially episodic storytelling and firms up nicely, adding vivid secondary and tertiary recurring characters as the plot develops an arc and the worldbuilding opens up. The female characters are at least as competent and likeable as their male counterparts. The story's focus is on the military, but civilians, kids, old women all get their moment to shine. The expanding storylines loop around and back into Ed and Al's quest, sticking to and heightening the premise's emotional core. In short? ROCK ON.
( High points for plot, likable characters, and judicious killing of your darlings. )
Also,
norabombay? FMA is fantasy, but it's heavily influenced by the European industrial revolution, so there are trains. Lots of trains. *Innocent face* Maskerade (Terry Pratchett) (1995): Magic, mysterious deaths and the stage... Discworld does Phantom of the Opera. Pratchett's writing is a pleasant cup of tea, but very often I find it's high quality English Breakfast when I am craving Earl Grey. Or oolong. Or jasmine in green tea. I like the Discworld novels without the powerful attraction other people do.
Numbers game: 10 total finished. 10 new, no rereads; 9 fiction, 1 nonfiction; 8 manga, 1 essay collection.
