Reading Reading Reading

[talktooloose]

For someone who doesn't really like "fantasy" novels, I have just finished two big trilogies: Ursula K. Leguin's original three Earthsea novels and the three books comprising Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Both series are spectacular.

The Leguin is a miracle of simple and powerful storytelling. It takes a familiar landscape of wizards and dragons and pulls it out of the war-stench of honourable swords and pure good versus pure evil. They are books about the responsibility of power and the way that power can draw us down the paths of evil. I don't even want to see how badly they mangled it on TV last week (for one thing, Ged is dark-skinned, not Shawn Ashmore, cute as he might be).

I don't understand why the producers of LOTR have optioned His Dark Materials which is, ultimately, an anti-fundamentalist, anti-Church, anti-JudeoChristian God screed. It is amazingly imaginative and constantly surprising but do they really think they can open this lucratively in America? I'd love - LOVE - to see them try.

Reading ahead: I've just begun the Billy Strayhorn biography, Lush Life. I am also finishing up listening to the audiobook of Toni Morrison's Jazz which was my background during the road trip last week. By my bed are the novels Wicked and I Know This Much Is True. I am reading the manga series Paradise Kiss and various other comics, appelle just gave me the book Airborne and I am pulled by the desire to re-read Michael Ondatje's The English Patient. I am looking forward to these quiet hours during my 10 days of Christmas holiday time.

Comments

[schubert-snow.livejournal.com]

Paradise Kiss? *smile* I'm so happy that someone else reads that! My first manga boyfriend was Arashi, because I'm not counting that fling I had with Mars's Rei. And George! I love George. And there's this one character that I think is really gorgeous... I think his name starts with an H. He's a photographer or a model or something. Not Hiro. Hmm, maybe it doesn't start with an H. I forget. Oops.