What Are You Currently Reading?

[thehamish]

easy tiger haha. currently reading The Whisperer in Darkness by HPL, one of the few i hadnt read, can see why the HPLHS have made this their next film, creepy as fuck. what i love about his work is that he gives you just enough to peak your interest/terror and your imagination does the rest.....

[drterror666]

There's quite a few HPL stories I haven't read, namely the ones he co-wrote with other people. I saw a couple of nice faux leather bound tomes (or should that be tombs?) in Waterstones t'other day. Me want!

[thehamish]

There's quite a few HPL stories I haven't read, namely the ones he co-wrote with other people. I saw a couple of nice faux leather bound tomes (or should that be tombs?) in Waterstones t'other day. Me want!

haha nice one...have only read his solo work, so cant comment, now reading The Lurking Fear (an early one) EEEEK! dont forget Shadow Over Innsmouth starts tonight (see me Radio Alert thread)

[Argento]

I'm reading the Daphne Du Maurier collection of short stories called "not after midnight". It has Don't Look Now in it, the story which the film was based on. No matter how dark and gothic the story may be, it still makes me want to stay in Venice but I think that actually going there might break the illusion as I've heard it is Uber-touristy!

[Sgt Sunshine]

Recently finished reading Philip K Dick's "Martian Time Slip" as part of the SF Masterworks series....
Recommended...

[Companero]

'Why We Suck' by "Doctor" Denis Leary. Quite funny though not as good as his original live standup show.

[thehamish]

Recently finished reading Philip K Dick's "Martian Time Slip" as part of the SF Masterworks series....
Recommended...

its a doozy, its the dick book ive got most copies of for some reason...

[Sgt Sunshine]

its a doozy, its the dick book ive got most copies of for some reason...

Cheers hamish......
Not sure what a "doozy" is....but its a fine read & possibly a film contender (although personally I'd rather see Arthur C Clarke's "Rama" series first)
Cheers
Sgt S

[thehamish]

hmm. its just a slang word, im sure i picked up from tv, US in origin perhaps....
just finished the Shadow Over Time by HPL...another one i hadnt read! hmmmm. another Dream tale, i do get the feeling that this was the direction he'd have gone in if he'd lived.....

[drterror666]

Ever read Brian Lumley's Dreamlands series? It's based on Lovecraft's Dream stuff. Clicky! You can get them at Amazon.

[thehamish]

noted, though i wasnt overly fond of his Necroscope stuff...

[drterror666]

I loved most of the Necroscope series, before he started milking it.

[thehamish]

indeed. just finished reading Girls to the Front, a history of Riot Grrrl by Sara Marcus. always loved Bikini Kill, so was intrigued to read this. twas ok, though i feel a book by Hanna would be better.

[cbradfordshreds]

For a while now, I have been disappointed by a lack of a Kindle version of 'Solaris' by Stanislaw Lem. While up at my parents last weekend, I had a look on the Kindle store from my device and thought I'd check again for Solaris. Lo and behold, there it was - and only £1.98!

Now I don't know too much about the art and aesthetics of translation but this claimed it was a first time ever Polish-English translation (by Bill Johnston) and, moreover, the version we have had for a long time (1970 translation by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox) is, apparently, translated from a Polish-French translation which Lem himself described as poor. I've not read this version, but from some of the stuff I've read, it sounds like it plays a bit too loose and disrespectful with the original text. I've copied some info below, found on the net, which seems to support this new translation very strongly: -

""It took a few years to overcome a number of difficulties to allow for a new translation of Solaris – this time directly from Polish," said Lem's wife Barbara and his son Tomasz in a statement. "We are very content with Professor Johnston's work, that seems to have captured the spirit of the original. We are both somewhat conservative readers and despite the fact that an ebook will follow in about six months we secretly hope for a paper edition. Currently this is impossible due to legal issues but recognition of the new translation might persuade the publisher to rethink their position. For the time being we are excited about the reception of the 'new' Solaris and its popularity."

"Much is lost when a book is re-translated from an intermediary translation into English, but I'm shocked at the number of places where text was omitted, added, or changed in the 1970 version," said Johnston. "Lem's characteristic semi-philosophical, semi-technical language is also capable of flights of poetic fancy and brilliant linguistic creativity, for example in the names of the structures that arise on the surface of Solaris. I believe this new translation restores Lem's original meaning to his seminal work."

Johnston said that as the number of these instances grows, Lem's style is changed: "the text is not being translated but rewritten, a wholly different matter".

So, if you fancy reading this translation of Solaris, it's now available (although not in book form for legal reasons apparently). I have read the first couple of chapters and, have to say, that I am finding it quite hard going. I don't know if it's Lem's style or how the Polish language works, but it is reading quite bizarrely at times. I'm getting into it though!

[Kel E]

Just read Hell House by Richard Matheson.
Not as great as I Am Legend but good. The idea is clever and there are some spooky moments though I am so used to the 73 movie that I cant really remove myself from the movie character depictions when reading.

[thehamish]

For a while now, I have been disappointed by a lack of a Kindle version of 'Solaris' by Stanislaw Lem. While up at my parents last weekend, I had a look on the Kindle store from my device and thought I'd check again for Solaris. Lo and behold, there it was - and only £1.98!

Now I don't know too much about the art and aesthetics of translation but this claimed it was a first time ever Polish-English translation (by Bill Johnston) and, moreover, the version we have had for a long time (1970 translation by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox) is, apparently, translated from a Polish-French translation which Lem himself described as poor. I've not read this version, but from some of the stuff I've read, it sounds like it plays a bit too loose and disrespectful with the original text. I've copied some info below, found on the net, which seems to support this new translation very strongly: -

""It took a few years to overcome a number of difficulties to allow for a new translation of Solaris – this time directly from Polish," said Lem's wife Barbara and his son Tomasz in a statement. "We are very content with Professor Johnston's work, that seems to have captured the spirit of the original. We are both somewhat conservative readers and despite the fact that an ebook will follow in about six months we secretly hope for a paper edition. Currently this is impossible due to legal issues but recognition of the new translation might persuade the publisher to rethink their position. For the time being we are excited about the reception of the 'new' Solaris and its popularity."

"Much is lost when a book is re-translated from an intermediary translation into English, but I'm shocked at the number of places where text was omitted, added, or changed in the 1970 version," said Johnston. "Lem's characteristic semi-philosophical, semi-technical language is also capable of flights of poetic fancy and brilliant linguistic creativity, for example in the names of the structures that arise on the surface of Solaris. I believe this new translation restores Lem's original meaning to his seminal work."

Johnston said that as the number of these instances grows, Lem's style is changed: "the text is not being translated but rewritten, a wholly different matter".

So, if you fancy reading this translation of Solaris, it's now available (although not in book form for legal reasons apparently). I have read the first couple of chapters and, have to say, that I am finding it quite hard going. I don't know if it's Lem's style or how the Polish language works, but it is reading quite bizarrely at times. I'm getting into it though!

£2 for solaris! bargain, discuss fri!

[thehamish]

just finished Al Franken's Lying Liars... which i loved/was appalled by. who needs looney conspiracy theories when they behave in such a fashion out in the fricking open?? recommended for people who loathe Bush and his ilk.

[TheRoadWarrior]

~just finishing Douglas Coupland's "Generation X".

I saw Coupland give an interview on an E-book/future of the printed book programme. The prog' asked various folks in publishing or authors if the paper book will eventually vanish -a grim prospect.

I'd only heard of the novel prior to then. It's a sharp and and sympathetic view of Gen X and the Hippy culture which came long before them and is still present in the form of 'rightg-on' companty bosses. And a slating of the contemporary Yuppy culture which followed. You'll learn about 'McJobs' and hundreds of other terms which the book places in footnotes on each page.

I wasn't entirely convinced that Gen X or any such nomenclature can sum up an entire generation. It may be an American thing and mean a great deal less to we Brits. . . but that said, I now love the early 90s culture, Beavis and Butthead, Nirvana and films like Slacker. It almost makes you want to drop out!

I've since looked up a few of his other books on Amazon and may read a few of his other takes on culture and the frustrations of living in our age, as he he is witth and incisive. Gen X was his first novel and he wrote it in lonely isolation out in the desert, in an interview he said the frustrations and angst probably came through in the writing.

Week before-

Picked up a copy of Seamus Heaney's translation of BEOWULF from the local library. It was a quick and easy read, finished it in a couple of sittings and now get why it was made as an animated film. I may even watch that film now, had avoided it before and thought, hmm, it'll be painful.

Heaney discusses attempts to film the poem in his introductory notes, and it's a fascinating essay.

[thehamish]

during my recent charity shop binge, i came across a copy of Quentin Crisp's New york memoir Resident alien, a worthy companion to The Naked Civil Servant filled with his usual unique outlook on life.

[Sgt Sunshine]

Just coming to the end of David Niven's "The Moon's a Balloon" and loved it....
Very funny chap with a fascinating life.......wish I could see those old Parkinson shows again.
Cheers
Sgt S