She asked me to come but alas the trip coincided with exams and assignment madness. With the gotcha gremlin of hindsight I now think I’m crazy for passing on this one! She gets back tomorrow and in amongst doing my essays (1 down, 2 to go!) I look forward to seeing her.
My plane reading is sorted, thanks to recommendations from fellow bibliophiles. I'll be cruising the clouds with my head stuck in David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas , thanks to Matt. Satisfying two of my passions, wanderlust and bibliomania, is Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs, a travel narrative by Jeremy Mercer about his stay at an English-language bookstore in Paris - Shakespeare and Co (cheers tanabata!). Overexcitement bubbles at the thought of reading the YA book Holes . I will leave it behind owing to Bybee's input about its lack of page-number meatiness. Not ideal for plane material, but I hope to consume it quickly the week before I leave.
I must offer up a little confession at the risk of being maligned. I’ve never read Harry Potter. Horrified now? I'm willing to correct my backward ways and the trip would be a good excuse. So, if I get hold of a copy of the first book, I might make a substitution… I'm not sure about the Los Angeles aiport, but since we have a six-hour stopover there I could possibly acquire it there.
13 comments:
Cloud atlas is a fun light-hearted read for a long flight. I started it on a flight to Florida and finished it while I was there.
Oh, and regarding Shakespeare & Co - I did sleep there - two nights, or maybe three. Then I forced my Parisian friend to let me sleep on the floor of his girlfriend's apartment. (Caused problems later but that's another story.) S&C was an experience - there were cockroaches, bedbugs, mould, tiny sleeping nooks among the bookshelves (these were quite fun but the bugs weren't). And a variety of young men hanging around hoping to impress the girls. The guy who owned the place was quite odd. He turned a couple of American girls away cos he thought their backpacks were too big. Quote - 'I once traveled for three months without a change of clothes.' Hmmm.
I'm not horrified that you've never read any Harry Potter. I read the first two at the urging of my wife and have no desire to read any of the rest. Honestly I don't understand why so many people love them so much. I've read much better fantasy.
I hope you enjoy Cloud Atlas!
When do you leave?
I'm surprised you've never read HP, because you were in that age group that JK Rowling was writing to originally. If you can't find those books during your travels, I'll be amazed. If they're here, they're everwhere.
Wow, your lucky mum!
Do tell how you get on with Cloud Atlas. I read Mitchell's Black Swan Green in January in loved it. Cloud Atlas is next on my list from him.
Meli, You do sound like quite the global citizen! So it wasn't so sweet co-habiting with the roaches? I could probably brave staying there but cockroaches freak me out. Re: the owner -and I was worried about only bringing six shirts?
thanks matt, I want to try HP just to see what the fuss is about but I don't know if I'll enjoy it either. Does your lukewarm response horrify hardcore HP fans?
Tanabata, 18 days to go...wooohooo!
Bybee, oh yeah I definitely betray my peergroup. It's shameful stuff. Mum came back today - and she says whilst the cruise was great in hindsight she would have preferred to have put the money into backpacking - the 'on land' part was most exciting and she could've seen alot more with the cash.
verbivore, will do. In fact, I hope to consume it on the plane and then pen a review in NZ.
My wife is a big Harry Potter fan and she always wants me to keep reading them. She knows I have no interest, but she isn't horrified and I try not to talk Harry Potter to other people I know are fans. I don't think they would want to know my true feelings about the series.
The funny thing is I have appreciated some of the movies more than my wife.
Hello, I've just happened upon your site and I'm enjoying it immensely! Nice work here!
Like Matt I think there's better kids/YA fantasy (mine for instance - ho ho). But seriously - I think Garth Nix does better world building, Kate Constable does a better magic system, Phillip Pullman does better conflict. But I personally think you can't beat JK for pace and structure - she knows how to build a story and hook a reader. I would recommend them to anyone serious about writing and reading. Honestly, it's not an accident that she's so successful, she knows about the addictive quality of narrative.
Sounds like a good idea to tread lightly around the hardcore HP fans Matt. I haven't seen the movies, only because I'd like to read the books first.
Thanking you bibliolatrist. Also loving your site.
Thanks for visiting Penni. I'm off backpacking soon but will keep your books in mind. I've been intending to explore some of the authors you've mentioned so thanks for the insight! I read Pullman's The Subtle Knife and enjoyed it but haven't read the other books in the series. Any idea what they're like? Hopefully I'll read some HP soon.
I didn't think the third Pullman Dark Materials book was as good as the first two, for some reason I felt less involved. Strangely I had the same experience with Garth Nix with Abhorsen, but that might have been because of the delay after reading Sabriel and Lirael.
BAckpacking is good for the soul. Plus I love that whole read and swap thing, though I always seem to come home with way too many books and a very heavy backpack.
Oh, I loved the whole Pullman trilogy. I guess in the third book there's more about the resolution and intensification of the ideas behind the books, which struck a chord with me. But I love love love the first book. I want a daemon too.
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