31/01-2023 - Monday
January - Summary
Good afternoon, sharks.
Here’s my write up of things I read during this past month. I’ll make a champion’s effort in maintaining this throughout the year, but we all know how it is. You start with the best of intentions; new year new energy and then it peters out after a while. In my previous post, I already mentioned Legends and Lattes, so I’ll just copy paste that write up before I move on to the next.
Legends and Lattes - Travis Baldree
At this point it feels like most things that can be said about this book have already been repeatedly quoted. How it’s Animal Crossing meets Dungeons and Dragons. Slice-of-life in a tabletop setting. A refreshing twist on the fantasy genre.
All of this is true, but if I were to sum this story up in a single sentence, I’d go for this: It feels like a warm hug in a book. While the stakes are never zero, the threat isn’t this over looming dread typical of its genre. The characters are enjoyable and go through a soft growth throughout the pages. With an economical language, I can see this perhaps being a bit dry for some. Personally however I really enjoyed the matter of fact descriptions and efficient sentences. It makes for an easy and enjoyable read. Legends and Lattes is for people who crave slice-of-life DnD with a side of slow burn (or dare I say roast?) romance. I really hope Baldree will bless our bookshelves with another equally delightful tale in the future.
‘Salem’s Lot - Stephen King
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve not been too keen on Stephen King in the past. He follows a set of self-instilled tropes I’m not the biggest fan of; violence towards women, the alcoholic writer protagonist, endings that don’t stick the landing - that kind of thing. And sure, ‘Salem’s Lot is kind of the blueprint of what later became King’s recipe for a successful book. Yet there’s something fun and innocent about this 600+ pages behemoth. Innocent is perhaps the wrong word when we’re talking about a town getting erased by vampirism. What I’m getting at, is that you can see King finding his writing legs, establishing his well deserved place in the horror writer canon. After I began, I found myself unable to put down the book and stayed up way too late every evening until I was done. Which led to several nights filled with nightmares. One thing that is rather jarring and where you have to keep in mind this book is from the 70’s, is the incredibly dated language. There’s a plethora of f-bombs as well as fat shaming without a moment’s hesitation. That aside, I really enjoyed the story and the fleshed out characters. Because character writing really is what I enjoy about King’s writing.
The Seep - Chana Porter
Few situations are more frustrating than when you really want to like a thing, but find yourself unable to. You’re so desperately willing to give something the benefit of the doubt and yet your gut instinct was correct. Back in December when I was out traveling, I almost chose this book over Fahrenheit 451 and in hindsight I’m so glad I didn’t. In The Seep, we follow a trans main character navigating the landscape after an alien invasion. Already here you’d be forgiven for thinking the metaphor is a subtle as a kick to the face, but alright, I’ll bite. Sadly this book felt like chewing stale biscuits. Almost no significant or important details about the characters or the environment are served to the reader. Instead it feels like reading a text written by someone on drugs, about people on said drug. Quintessential narration is left on the sideline, making the characters feel flat and shallow. It’s not often I’ve read something written by an adult and find it so frustratingly immature, especially in the context of the themes in this book. I could harp on about everything I disliked, but that would turn into mean mockery and lack certain constructive qualities. Safe to say I did not remotely enjoy this and it left me incredibly frustrated for several reasons.
Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Now this was a palate cleanser after the previous experience. A relatively short read of 300 pages with surprisingly dense text. I have to admit it took me some time to feel truly invested in the characters. Several times I found myself drifting away into my own thoughts instead of paying attention to the text. Probably to no fault of the author as it’s well written. I think it’s just formatted in a way where I struggled to maintain focus before it really kicked off. And the escalation happens quite late in the book, which I assume is quite typical for this sort of storytelling. There were times I just wanted to shake the main character and ask her to respond logically to certain situations. Yet again I assume this makes sense in context of the time period, the setting etc. When the eldritch horror truly sets in, I couldn’t put the book down and I rushed through the last sixty pages, hungry for more. A good horror snack for the horror starved.
Run away with me, Girl - Battan
I’m slightly ashamed to admit this was the only comic I read this month. As has become tradition, I keep picking up lgbtq mangas despite knowing they’re more often than not a complete miss for me. And my feelings about Run away with me, girl, are complicated. It’s hard to tackle this ongoing story without major spoilers, but I’ll give it a go. The comic centers around three different characters, two women and a man; Momo, Midori and Tazune. Momo and Midori were high school sweethearts and Momo was set on the idea of the two of them spending their lives together. Then Midori abruptly ends their relationship and all forms of contact. Ten years later Midori once again bumps into Midori, only to discover Midori’s not only getting married to a man named Tazune, but she’s also pregnant with his child. This comic revels in several tropes I have a hard time enjoying or even accepting. First out is the “let’s pretend to be lesbians, haha jk, no one is a lesbian, time to grow up” trope. This paints a rather unhealthy portrait of women liking women. That it’s just a phase and we’re expected to pick up a heteronormative lifestyle when we enter adulthood. That a relationship between women isn’t as good as a straight one or even a legitimate one. I struggle finding this remotely endearing. Another troublesome depiction is how both Midori and Tazune clearly have suffered some form of abuse or neglect during their childhood. And as adults they’re unable to function properly. This alone isn’t where I furrow my brow. It’s when I’m unable to tell if the story uses this as an excuse for their rather horrible behavior as adults, rather than an explanation. I’m unable to ascertain if the story tries to tell the reader they’re excused if they had a challenging upbringing. I think at the end of the day I’m just incredibly tired of tragic gays. Is there no room for happiness in a queer narrative? I will at least pick up volume 2 down the road when it’s translated, because if nothing else, I want to see if my worries are justified or erased.
That’s it for January, let me know what you think and what you’ve read/watched/played this month! And don’t forget the charity in less than two weeks!