Books I Read July 10th 2023

Sun has arrived and LA is resplendent. In a few weeks everyone will start to complain of the unending light but for the moment we're enjoying the lobster tans and long evenings. As always, such beauty is peculiar contrast to the slow moving political crisis that is American society, more on that over at the LA Times.

Growing Up Weightless by John M. Ford – The prodigious children of the rulers of the moon rebel against the confines of their future society. Ford is a really interesting, peculiar writer. His language is strong, the plotting is complex and he has a human focus which tends to contrast with the genre as it has come to exist, but at the same time he like wrote a bunch of star wars tie in novels? Anyway, this was good and smart and affecting and I liked it.

Japanese Ghost Stories by Lafcadio Hearn – Retellings (and, one suspects, outright reimaginings) of classic Japanese folklore by an early European settler in Meiji-era Japan. After a while you do get a bit like 'no don't fall in love with the pale maiden you met beside the tomb!' but mostly these are lovely and evocative.

Against the Wind by Martin A. Hansen – A collection of short stories from an early 20th century master of Danish fiction. Small town farmers go mad with greed and stand up to the Nazis and occasionally find God in a cruel but redeemable world. Good stuff.

The Promise by Silvina Ocampo – Drowning in the Atlantic, a woman recollects her life in a series of character description and brief vignettes. Lyrical, evocative, surreal. I'm a big fan of Silvina Ocampo but that's nothing much new.

Rovers by Richard Lange – Two undead brothers scuzzing immortal through the American West run afoul of love, bikers. Blunt, fast-paced, and well-written, Lange and I share an affection for deglamourizing vampires .