As far as fiction goes I was initially quite snobbish in what I consumed, having in my teenage years rekindled my love of reading through philosophy and the classics. I held an undeclared disdain for genre fiction because, I suppose, it was in this seemingly low class realm compared to the ‘lofty heights of literary fiction’. Also, there were so many books, widely declared to be great for centuries and so I would never run out of those to the point where I’d have to read more pedestrian fare. This prejudice, thankfully, did not last long as I started reading Tolkien and then Robert A. Heinlein. Then of course the Song of Ice and Fire series happened (thankfully I read the books before being exposed to the show, unlike Tolkien and the movies), I discovered Philip K. Dick and so on. Frankly it disturbs me when people say they can’t get into a science fiction or fantasy story. To me that says a person suffers from a deeply malnourished imagination. To not be able to imagine a fantastical world let alone create one would be utterly dreadful and dull. I don’t know what shape my life would take without this capacity. The world can suck so damn much, you need to be able to imagine something better in order not to go insane. An ideal starts in the imagination; a ‘what if’. If you can’t use this capacity of the human mind then you are living a starved existence, a defeated existence.
At any rate, I’ve read some good books recently and would like to mention them. First of all I read the first two books of the Dune Saga by Frank Herbert:
Dune
Dune Messiah
I only wish I had read these earlier in my life. My god are they enrapturing. I honestly wish I was more of a nerd in my youth, because I would have been much ‘cooler’ than I in fact was. These books are just very well written. Mr. Herbert, rest his soul, writes in a beautiful way that brings you in and lets you feel the story first hand. There is a significant amount of story specific terminology in the books, (the first book has its only dictionary index) but its not overwhelming and feels appropriate, serving to draw you further into the world. The story is heavy with mysticism in a way which uniquely and effectively gels with the science fiction setting. These books left me blown and I cant wait to read the rest in the series.
After the former two books I read Novel with Cocaine, by M. Ageyev.
Novel With Cocaine
Very little is known about the author, M. Ageyev being a pseudonym, believed to have belonged to a mysterious man named Mark Lazarevich Levi, a Russian émigré. The book was written during the transitional period between tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union, although the book makes almost no mention of this background, and first revealed in the Parisian based publication called Numbers. This was a very interesting book, a little unexpected, but quite enjoyable. It feels like something I will want to read again because of this nagging feeling of a missed nuance. The bulk of the book has no mention of cocaine, and for a time I thought a certain romantic interest was a metaphor for the drug which turned out to be untrue. However, a central theme of the book seems to be forms of addictive behavior so perhaps the romance and the drug use are both metaphors for something more specific yet unspoken aspect about the human condition. In all I quite enjoyed the book and it put me into a Russian mood leading me to start reading this:
Crime & Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky is perhaps the most potent author I have ever read. And attention must be given here to the translators of his works, the two most prominent in English currently being Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. A non-English writer’s works are only as good as their translations and credit is due to these two for reproducing such wonderful stories. I can’t account to the veracity of their efforts as I don’t speak or read Russian but I can only say Dostoevsky is one of if not my favorite writer because of their translations. Previously I have read The Brothers Karamazov and Notes From the Underground. The latter being a work which haunts me ever since. The parallels I drew with the personality of the main character and my self were disturbing in their familiarity. I’m only about a quarter of the way through Crime & Punishment and I’m really getting drawn into it now.
I whole heartedly recommend that these aforementioned books be read by anyone. Some might require some initial patience if your not used to the styles or conventions of the writer or setting but rest assured you will be rewarded. If you’ve already read any of these books what did you think of them? I’d be curious to know.
Sophia Slap 