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I Should Be Working...
Oct. 28th, 2003 12:08 pmBut with our new exhibition open, it's gotten a bit calmer here.
So some thoughts on various and sundry...
1. Finally read Watchmen from cover to cover. Surprised that I haven't done so till now? Well, when this classic of the comic book genre came out, I was 17, and just wasn't ready for it. I would skim it in the shop every month, but the overall effect was too depressing, too overwhelming. Since then, I have not been in a rush to read the whole thing.
My mistake. It's still a fairly heavy comic, but with the passage of time and with my own maturity, I can get past that, and find the brilliance involved. I should have read it much sooner. Naturally, as befits something so tightly packed, I'm reading it again.
Alan Moore has long been my pick for greatest comic book writer ever, and this one series confirms that to my satisfaction. It's not flawless - the ending is missing the right kind of "oomph" to fit the build-up, and a couple of characters needed a bit more work - but the scope of the story, and the things Moore and Dave Gibbons do with super-heroes, Cold War politics, and people is still amazing. I could probably write a book on this. I'm surprised no one has.
I may come back and do a spoiler-filled post on it, or maybe not, but if you love comics and haven't tried Watchmen, you owe it to yourself to do so.
2. Also just read Carl Sagan's SF novel, Contact. This story of how mankind (notably the main character) is changed by getting a message from Out There is quite readable, but also feels way too much like a longer Arthur C. Clarke novel for me not to wonder if Clarke wouldn't have done it better (or at least shorter). Like Clarke, Sagan takes an idea and explores the ramifications of it. Like Clarke, he uses a lot of narrative instead of dialogue. And like Clarke, his characters are often little more than hooks for the ideas.
Now, I am a fan of Clarke's novels, and I guess there are worse role models for another scientist/visionary to imitate. But Clarke's greatest virtue is that he kept it relatively short. He never lost track of how far he wanted to go with his ideas. I think by writing a longer novel, Sagan did start losing something. What's more, I think that Sagan thought he was developing the characters a lot more than he ultimately did.
The end result is worthwhile, but really needed editing. Also, Sagan gets points for trying very hard to have a sympathetic man of the cloth mixed in to the story. While I don't think that Sagan succeeded in making this preacher believable or real, it's noteworthy that Sagan at least allows for such people to exist. He really, really tries not to show a bias against all religion that many SF writers do, but then the book has a surprising spiritual side that emerges at its conclusion.
3. We return to OVFF for the Pegasus Award winners, and some comments. (Cut-tagged due to length and boring subject matter for non-filkish friends.)( Read more... )
So some thoughts on various and sundry...
1. Finally read Watchmen from cover to cover. Surprised that I haven't done so till now? Well, when this classic of the comic book genre came out, I was 17, and just wasn't ready for it. I would skim it in the shop every month, but the overall effect was too depressing, too overwhelming. Since then, I have not been in a rush to read the whole thing.
My mistake. It's still a fairly heavy comic, but with the passage of time and with my own maturity, I can get past that, and find the brilliance involved. I should have read it much sooner. Naturally, as befits something so tightly packed, I'm reading it again.
Alan Moore has long been my pick for greatest comic book writer ever, and this one series confirms that to my satisfaction. It's not flawless - the ending is missing the right kind of "oomph" to fit the build-up, and a couple of characters needed a bit more work - but the scope of the story, and the things Moore and Dave Gibbons do with super-heroes, Cold War politics, and people is still amazing. I could probably write a book on this. I'm surprised no one has.
I may come back and do a spoiler-filled post on it, or maybe not, but if you love comics and haven't tried Watchmen, you owe it to yourself to do so.
2. Also just read Carl Sagan's SF novel, Contact. This story of how mankind (notably the main character) is changed by getting a message from Out There is quite readable, but also feels way too much like a longer Arthur C. Clarke novel for me not to wonder if Clarke wouldn't have done it better (or at least shorter). Like Clarke, Sagan takes an idea and explores the ramifications of it. Like Clarke, he uses a lot of narrative instead of dialogue. And like Clarke, his characters are often little more than hooks for the ideas.
Now, I am a fan of Clarke's novels, and I guess there are worse role models for another scientist/visionary to imitate. But Clarke's greatest virtue is that he kept it relatively short. He never lost track of how far he wanted to go with his ideas. I think by writing a longer novel, Sagan did start losing something. What's more, I think that Sagan thought he was developing the characters a lot more than he ultimately did.
The end result is worthwhile, but really needed editing. Also, Sagan gets points for trying very hard to have a sympathetic man of the cloth mixed in to the story. While I don't think that Sagan succeeded in making this preacher believable or real, it's noteworthy that Sagan at least allows for such people to exist. He really, really tries not to show a bias against all religion that many SF writers do, but then the book has a surprising spiritual side that emerges at its conclusion.
3. We return to OVFF for the Pegasus Award winners, and some comments. (Cut-tagged due to length and boring subject matter for non-filkish friends.)( Read more... )
