Books, fiction.
2020-06-30 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liadethorneggeI am no longer that person that goes to the library weekly, so I haven't been up-to-date on new releases or books coming out - so it was by chance that I found out just over a month ago that Arundhati Roy had published a second book in 2017.
I loved her first one called "The God of Small Things", and in particular I liked how she used language and page-layout in imaginative and playful ways, so I sent a message to the Uppsala English Bookshop to inquire about their supply of the second title "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" 438 pages (New Yorker review, The Guardian review). It was not in stock, but would get back to me when it was in.
Yesterday I thought it might be time to get back to them to see if it had arrived, and also ask about "This Is How You Lose the Time War" 198 pages (TOR review) by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone and they had it in the store, and furthermore had tried to notify me one month ago that the Roy book was also available, so I hopped on my bike and went to pick up both books.
"This is how you lose the time war" I heard about through the podcast Desert Island Discworld, when the host Al Kennedy interviewed Amal El-Mohtar about her work, and discusses the Terry Pratchett book "Equal Rites". Their discussion was interesting and I thought if I found her book I'd pick it up.
Well, yesterday on the way home I decided to stop in the little park just west of home to start reading my new books. Randomly I picked the thinner one and started reading "This Is How You Lose the Time War" and got 50 pages in before I continued back home. Today I was unexpectedly sent back home, so spent the afternoon finishing this slim volume, and I quite liked my experience. It's Sci-Fi, it's queer, it's epistolary and the language is crisp and interesting. Everything does not get resolved or answered, and even though it's a short book and a quick read, I think slowing down a little to ponder will make it clearer. It's basically a dialogue between Red and Blue, who are two super-soldiers on opposing sides. It's also a love story and it's heartbreaking and triumphant.
I loved her first one called "The God of Small Things", and in particular I liked how she used language and page-layout in imaginative and playful ways, so I sent a message to the Uppsala English Bookshop to inquire about their supply of the second title "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" 438 pages (New Yorker review, The Guardian review). It was not in stock, but would get back to me when it was in.
Yesterday I thought it might be time to get back to them to see if it had arrived, and also ask about "This Is How You Lose the Time War" 198 pages (TOR review) by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone and they had it in the store, and furthermore had tried to notify me one month ago that the Roy book was also available, so I hopped on my bike and went to pick up both books.
"This is how you lose the time war" I heard about through the podcast Desert Island Discworld, when the host Al Kennedy interviewed Amal El-Mohtar about her work, and discusses the Terry Pratchett book "Equal Rites". Their discussion was interesting and I thought if I found her book I'd pick it up.
Well, yesterday on the way home I decided to stop in the little park just west of home to start reading my new books. Randomly I picked the thinner one and started reading "This Is How You Lose the Time War" and got 50 pages in before I continued back home. Today I was unexpectedly sent back home, so spent the afternoon finishing this slim volume, and I quite liked my experience. It's Sci-Fi, it's queer, it's epistolary and the language is crisp and interesting. Everything does not get resolved or answered, and even though it's a short book and a quick read, I think slowing down a little to ponder will make it clearer. It's basically a dialogue between Red and Blue, who are two super-soldiers on opposing sides. It's also a love story and it's heartbreaking and triumphant.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-30 07:24 pm (UTC)I taught the God of Small Things the year I had a lovely comparative literature module with first year uni students.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-30 07:30 pm (UTC)