Books I Read May 8th, 2022

Actually, I have good reasons for being a few weeks behind on these but they're private so quit asking.

Engine Summer by John Crowley – A wistful post-apocalypse doubling as a 60's elegiac. I first read this when I was like 11, at an age when the only books I read had people hitting other people with swords. I didn't get it but it stuck in my mind ever since. A re-read reveals a lot of strange beauty mixed with the interminable wank which seems to have struck Crowley somewhat in old age (see: Aegypt, or maybe don't.) Still, it's odd and unique and worth a read.

San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities by Michael Shellenberger – A depressing if not entirely accurate discussion of California's homelessness crisis. I'll have more to say about it in another forum.

The Place of the Lion by Charles Williams – Gnostic fantasy from a lesser known Inkling. No part of that sentence appeals to me, I'm not sure why I read this and not surprised I didn't like it.

Peach Blossom Paradise by Ge Fei – The daughter of exiled rural gentry becomes embroiled in revolutionary activities in turn of the century China. An esoteric, almost fantastical depiction of the impossible necessity of revolution and the recurring failures of humankind. Very good.

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor – Mrs. Palfrey brings her stiff upper lip and dated English reserve to old age, a shoddy hotel London hotel inhabited by other elders in her position. As always, Taylor's prose is quiet, mean, and masterful.

A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman – The vast tableau of the misery that was Western Europe in the 14th century as revealed by one of the best popular historians of the 20th. Tuchman's prose is lucid and clever, and she moves effortlessly between broad trends and minor anecdotes. Lots of fun.

Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo and Donal Logue – I needed something light after the brick that was Distant Mirror, and who doesn't love Danny Trejo? Like Malcolm Braly but with more celebrity gossip.

High Spirits by Robertson Davies – Not actually ghost stories but rather very tepid academic/Canadian satire. No idea why I finished this.