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Book/Comic Recs, 3/16/11
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 10:20 amIn Books:
The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi: This is a book group read, and winner of various important sci-fi awards (Hugo/Nebula), and it wears its pedigree proudly. I can see why it won all the prizes; the world it presents is rich, layered, and thickly populated and plotted. But this is the kind of thick plotting that rubs me the wrong way. Some authors have a very light touch with the universe they've created and know how to hint at details that flesh out the plot, rather than detract from it. This book, on the other hand, practically screams on every page, "LOOK AT THIS SALIENT DETAIL NO THIS ONE WAIT THAT ONE MIGHT BE MAJORLY IMPORTANT OH WAIT OVER HERE!" And it makes for slightly tiring reading. Add to this an almost constant switching between 7 or so main characters, and uncountable numbers of second-tier, important characters, and it's a bewildering story. Reading this is like eating a very rich, dense cake baked by a world-class chef after a heavy meal: you know it's delicious, but you're feeling stuffed barely two bites in. A lighter touch would help me want to finish in time for group, and in general, too. Bacigalupi would benefit from sitting down with an author like Laura Joh Rowland, who obviously has millions of details but judiciously weighs how many she can include before the narrative overbalances. I prefer her lemon chiffon cake to Bacigalupi's tiramisu pie with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup frosting and vanilla bean ice cream.
(Also, note to authors: allow yourself one use of the word "fecund" per book. Anything more is a bit on the excessive side.)
In Comics:
Scott Pilgrim vs., Volumes 1-6, by Brian Lee O'Malley: When I saw the movie, I blogged about realizing that I'd been just a touch too snobby when it came to reading the comics it was based on. And it turns out that the comics were well worth the read, just as light and fun as the movie, except for the ending. The final volume packed in a lot more action and pathos than I was expecting based on the story leading up to them; I'm equally impressed with the character development and defeat of the Big Boss/Main Villain, who really was a jerk and whose plans for the heroine were incredibly gross and creepy. But most of all, I liked seeing Ramona grow and change with the course of the plot, and her final, astral combat actions were just awesome. Scott... well, he was a tough sell as a hero, and I wasn't as invested in him as I was in the other characters. Still, it was fun to see him realize what he really wanted and take the steps necessary to make it happen. I am a little sad that the movie edited Kim's role so heavily, but perhaps it was for the best, since I had a lot of unanswered questions about her. It was also nice to see Knives get a more definitive and appropriate ending. Stacey Pilgrim and Wallace Wells were made of awesome and win in both movie and book version. (It also helps that O'Malley choose to end with one of my favorite images in all of literature: a leap into the unknown. So simple, and so perfect for this story about becoming an adult!)
I wasn't sold on the artwork, still, although it was appropriate to the story and its tone. I'd like to be able to tell the characters apart at first glance, not on second or third, and then sometimes based on what they were wearing. (An artist friend of mine once told me that she saw her greatest challenge to create characters who were still recognizable when they were dressed in surgical scrubs and masks. Very few artists can successfully pull this off.) But, hey, the story was fun, and that's what matters the most.
The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi: This is a book group read, and winner of various important sci-fi awards (Hugo/Nebula), and it wears its pedigree proudly. I can see why it won all the prizes; the world it presents is rich, layered, and thickly populated and plotted. But this is the kind of thick plotting that rubs me the wrong way. Some authors have a very light touch with the universe they've created and know how to hint at details that flesh out the plot, rather than detract from it. This book, on the other hand, practically screams on every page, "LOOK AT THIS SALIENT DETAIL NO THIS ONE WAIT THAT ONE MIGHT BE MAJORLY IMPORTANT OH WAIT OVER HERE!" And it makes for slightly tiring reading. Add to this an almost constant switching between 7 or so main characters, and uncountable numbers of second-tier, important characters, and it's a bewildering story. Reading this is like eating a very rich, dense cake baked by a world-class chef after a heavy meal: you know it's delicious, but you're feeling stuffed barely two bites in. A lighter touch would help me want to finish in time for group, and in general, too. Bacigalupi would benefit from sitting down with an author like Laura Joh Rowland, who obviously has millions of details but judiciously weighs how many she can include before the narrative overbalances. I prefer her lemon chiffon cake to Bacigalupi's tiramisu pie with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup frosting and vanilla bean ice cream.
(Also, note to authors: allow yourself one use of the word "fecund" per book. Anything more is a bit on the excessive side.)
In Comics:
Scott Pilgrim vs., Volumes 1-6, by Brian Lee O'Malley: When I saw the movie, I blogged about realizing that I'd been just a touch too snobby when it came to reading the comics it was based on. And it turns out that the comics were well worth the read, just as light and fun as the movie, except for the ending. The final volume packed in a lot more action and pathos than I was expecting based on the story leading up to them; I'm equally impressed with the character development and defeat of the Big Boss/Main Villain, who really was a jerk and whose plans for the heroine were incredibly gross and creepy. But most of all, I liked seeing Ramona grow and change with the course of the plot, and her final, astral combat actions were just awesome. Scott... well, he was a tough sell as a hero, and I wasn't as invested in him as I was in the other characters. Still, it was fun to see him realize what he really wanted and take the steps necessary to make it happen. I am a little sad that the movie edited Kim's role so heavily, but perhaps it was for the best, since I had a lot of unanswered questions about her. It was also nice to see Knives get a more definitive and appropriate ending. Stacey Pilgrim and Wallace Wells were made of awesome and win in both movie and book version. (It also helps that O'Malley choose to end with one of my favorite images in all of literature: a leap into the unknown. So simple, and so perfect for this story about becoming an adult!)
I wasn't sold on the artwork, still, although it was appropriate to the story and its tone. I'd like to be able to tell the characters apart at first glance, not on second or third, and then sometimes based on what they were wearing. (An artist friend of mine once told me that she saw her greatest challenge to create characters who were still recognizable when they were dressed in surgical scrubs and masks. Very few artists can successfully pull this off.) But, hey, the story was fun, and that's what matters the most.
