When movies attack books

Catherynne M. Valente has decided not to see the Chronicles of Narnia because of her love for the books and her unwillingness to have the images in her head changed to a mass produced image. She points to Lord of the Rings and what happened to that:

I love my Eowyn, I love my Faramir. I do not love Miranda Otto and David Wenham, pretty as they may be. I do not love that visions of this book are so bottom-lined now, that the wonderfully unique experience of participating with a long-dead author in creating a world which exists for no one else has been replaced by enforced communal experience, that all our worlds are the same. Though it is a different essay entirely, the ultimate and natural destiny of books is not movies, and books have their own power which movies cannot effect. What movies can do is allow us all to experience the same things in approximately the same way, which is amazing, and sometimes horrible.

I basically agree with her. It's tough to read Lord of the Rings without at some point seeing Elijah Wood as Frodo. It's frustrating. You live with it and you try to retain your original vision (even though I do enjoy the films).
But what if I had never watched the movies, never gone to the theaters and bought the DVDs. Would I be free from those images? As far as I can see, if a movie is a hit it is nearly impossible to escape. Movie merchandise is everywhere from Burger King to children's toys.
And then it hits cable. I can't channel surf by HBO without catching part of "Return of the King" right now. How many times would a lover of the books be able to go on turning the channels before they gave in and watched a few minutes?
Even the books, go to your local Barnes & Noble and look at them. There is the trilogy with Viggo Mortensen's face glaring out of it.
I often look forward to movie versions of my favorite books (next up, "A Scanner Darkly"), but I regret the way those images are plastered over everything. I still want to open those pages and read the book without thinking of the movie. Is that even possible anymore?

Promoting underrated writers

At Syntax of Things, lit bloggers have put together a list of underrated writers who deserve more attention:

we decided to ask a wide range of litbloggers to tell us the writers who aren't receiving the attention they should. We allowed the contributors to define "receiving attention" however they preferred, whether it be by the NYTBR, or all of print media, or the litbloggers, or some combination, basically however they chose to define it. We asked each to provide us with up to five names and a short explanation as to why each writer deserves more attention.

You can find the list here. A few writers (most of them nominated by Gwenda Bond) I'm well aware of and glad to see support for them: Jeffrey Ford, Geoff Ryman, Carol Emshwiller and Poppy Z. Brite. There's many more I'm going to have to read up on and see if I can't read some of their stuff. Check it out, it's a very interesting list.

Mumpsimus interviews Joe Hill

Matt Cheney does an interview with Joe Hill, the writer who is getting much attention for his new collection of short stories, 20th Century Ghosts. Hill has a Web site here. After hearing all the hype for Hill, I found the story "20th Century Ghost" in one of the recent The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror editions. It lived up to the hype. It was a smart, touching ghost story. Now, looking over the fiction section of Hill's Web site, I see that I have magazines in which his fiction appeared. That's what I get for not reading every story in my magazines.

Jeffrey Ford excerpt at Infinity Plus; also lots of online fiction

Infinity Plus has printed an excerpt of Jeffrey Ford's "Cosmology of the Wider World." The excerpt is the whole first chapter. Check it out, I think you'll enjoy it. There's an added bonus as well. Ford introduces the excerpt with an explanation of his inspiration for the novella and says that he has over 100,000 words about Belius and his pals already written. Personally, I would love to see more of those stories. I hope he prints them.
While you're at Infinity Plus, check out the rest of the issue, which is a PS Publishing special. There's a new short story by Zoran Zivkovic as well as an introduction to his work by Tamar Yellin. Peter Crowther, the brains behind PS Publishing, also has a story and interview and there's a profile of Postscripts magazine.
And further, while I'm talking about online fiction, check out the Fortean Bureau, which has just published its latest issue. Among the delights is Nick Mamatas's latest column on short story collections.
And finally, SciFiction is still publishing in its final weeks. This week: Howard Waldrop's "The King of Where-I-Go" and Alfred Bester's "Star Light, Star Bright." Once again, I want to remind everyone of the EDSF Project to show our appreciation for SciFiction. Read some of the appreciations and sign up for your own story.

Gregory Benford blogs

Science fiction writer Gregory Benford has a new blog called Benford & Rose. His first entry is a discussion with Darrell Schweitzer on "What does the rise of fantasy mean?"

Robert Sheckley, 1928-2005

Robert Sheckley has died. It's a lousy day for genre fiction.

• Here's the Wikipedia entry on Sheckley.


• The SFWA obit


• Sheckley's official homepage.


• A Locus interview excerpt.


• Edward Champion on Sheckley.


• New York Times obituary.


• John Shirley writes about Sheckley. No permalink unfortunately.


• Douglas Lain talks about meeting Sheckley.


• Spurred on by the Sheckley and Williamson deaths, Nick Mamatas has some interesting things to say about art, death and longevity.


• Musician Gary Lucas writes about the Robert Sheckley he knew.


• Ellen Datlow discusses working with Sheckley at her board at Night Shade Books.


• Christopher Priest writes the obituary for the Guardian.

A ramble: Metaxucafe, new blogs and A Fan's Notes

I'm really loving Metaxucafe. Not only does it give me a chance to discuss issues with other bloggers and serve as inspiration to do a better blog, but it alerts me to many other lit bloggers out there and what excellent reading is to be had.
Just now, I came across Golden Rule Jones and a post quote Frederick Exley's "A Fan's Notes." Go there and read the quote, it's good writing.
Now I have a real jones to dig out my copy of that book and reread it. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Exley's voice. To this day (I read it when I was maybe 21), I still remember little details from the book -- the way he reads the New York Times every Sunday, the definition of the word "apostasy," and Exley describing himself as a young man dressed in the style of Capote in scarf and hat -- although much of the larger details of plot have fallen away. It really was an excellent novel and one I'll have to go back to.

Learning from Nanowrimo

Kelly Armstrong writes about what she learned from NaNoWriMo. A professional writer, Armstrong still said she learned things about her writing process she had never known before or only suspected.
I've only recently found the blog Storytellers Unplugged. It's a joint blog filled with mini-essays by horror and dark fantasy writers like Gary Braunbeck, Douglas Clegg, Brian Keene, Tim Lebbon, Matt Schwarz, Scott Nicholson and many more. It's got a lot of great stuff, especially if you're interested in writing.

Horror writer J.N. Williamson, 1932-2005

Horror writer J.N. Williamson has died.

• Briane Keene memorializes him at his blog.


• Williamson's bibliography.


• Shocklines message board has a thread about Williamson's death.


• Ed Gorman says a few words about Wiliamson on his blog.


• Blogs from Midnight writes about his first professional sale to Williamson.


• A thread on Maurice Broaddus message board


• Maurice Broaddus earlier offered a visit with Williamson and had a chat with him.


• DarkEcho blog obit


• Nick Kaufmann gives an account of meeting Williamson.


• RLK! Spotlight On... J.N. Williamson


• Indy Star obituary.


• Maurice Broaddus talks about Williamson's funeral.


• Lucy Snyder gives some suggested Williamson reading.


• Snyder also prints an appreciation by John Maclay.


• Gary A. Braunbeck writes a tribute.

"Cosmology of the Wider World" by Jeffrey Ford

I just finished Cosmology of the Wider World by Jeffrey Ford. It's terrific.
The book is about a minotaur, Belius, born to human parents. The book starts in the present day, Belius is living in the Wider World, a place only animals have access to. Belius lives in a coral tower where he writes his book, "The Cosmology of the Wider World." But something is missing from his life and he asks his friends for advice. As Belius' problems play out, we get glimpses of his past and how he got to the Wider World.
The book plays off ideas from Dante, "Frankenstein" and mythology, as well as the frailties of any outsider. The story is beautiful, sad, outrageous and just overall wonderful. I can't recommend it enough.
Ford has mentioned in other places that the Cosmology is part of a larger work he has been playing with over the years. In reading the book, one can see how more stories can be told about Belius and his friends. I hope Ford decides to put more of those stories out there.
And by the way, where does Ford come up with these names? He has a genius for naming characters. In this book alone there's Belius, Pezimote, Vashti, Thip, Scarfinati and Nona. He's created character names like Piambo, Cley and Drachton Below (my personal favorite). Even when he takes real names he uses them in weird ways, Antony Cleopatra as a guy. It's just one of the smaller things that makes Ford's work so terrific.
Now I'm waiting for "The Empire of Ice Cream," Ford's latest short story collection, due out next year. I've read most of the stories in the book and I can't wait to reread them, as well as the new story.

Template change

Well, I went and done it. I've changed my blog template and spent a whole morning doing it. I found the template here. I've always liked the three column format and wanted to try it out. What do you all think? Feel free to criticize or make helpful suggestions.
The top left box, called "The Weird", includes a couple of quotes I found quickly. I actually like both of them a lot. And Mieville's idea of weird fiction was one of the reasons I picked the name Weirdwriter. (A name I've never been entirely happy with, but will stick with now that I've had it for a while.) I may change quotes if I find more or better ones.

More great SciFiction appreciations

Three great new appreciations have gone up at the EDSFProject. The first is Bob Urell's take on "A Man of Light" by Jeffrey Ford. "A Man of Light" is one of Ford's more perplexing stories, full of imagery and ideas and less powerfully set on characters. But Urell doesn't delve all that deeply into it. Instead, he offers what he feels reading a Jeffrey Ford story is like. And though I wouldn't have described it the same way, I still think he's right.
The second is Nathan Ballingrud's appreciation of Struwwelpeter by Glenn Hirshberg. It's a perfect combination of two horror writers (and two new bloggers). Ballingrud focuses on the writing, the little details that make the story sing.
The third is Tim Pratt's appreciation of Over Yonder by Lucius Shephard. This is a story I haven't read, but you can always be sure that a Shephard story is worth your while, and Pratt does an excellent job telling you why.
Have you done your part for SciFiction and signed up to do an appreciation of a story? There are still about 150 stories left. There isn't a clunker to be found in the bunch. Pick one out and tell the world how much you liked it. SciFiction is nearly gone and we should be celebrating its existence.

Reading trilogies or standalones

There is an interesting conversation going on in the comments section of Matthew Cheney's review of Princess of Roumania about how some people just can't read trilogies. Cheney points out how he has given up on one after another:

I think I have trouble picking something up, putting it down, and returning to it—once a book is finished, I want to be done with it. I hate partial anything. It annoys me with new books, because if I’m going to invest the time and money in a book, I want it to be a complete experience. Oftentimes, I think publishers and writers are just trying to scam as much money out of readers as they can, and I resent it. (Though I realize it has a long, long history, going back to the earliest days of printing. Venerable tradition never stopped me from resenting anything, alas...)

I have to say I agree with him. Although, I think I'm more afraid of them then resent them. In my teen years, I read plenty of trilogies: Tolkien, Brooks, Wilson, Asimov (though his books don't quite fit Cheney's complaint) and Adams. But now that I'm older and I find less and less reading time, I look askance at these long, multi-volume series.
Right now, I have books from George R.R. Martin, R. Scott Bakker and Kij Johnson, sitting on the shelf being avoided. I feel like reading one ties me in to reading the rest. It took me years to read all of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series by Tad Williams. It took a shorter amount of time to read through Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. Even Jeffrey Ford's Physiognomist Cley novels took me a while. I know there is plenty of enjoyment to be had in these books and there's a lot of fun being held on the line waiting to find out what happens next. But I'm put off, right from the start.
On the other hand, like Cheney, I'm not put off by standalone novels set in the same place. I've read all of China Mieville's Bas-Lag books with any worry, and those are equal in size to any fat fantasy novels you can think of.
This also has me wondering, why do so many authors write such long books these days? All my science fiction and fantasy novels from the '50s and '60s and even into the '70s are short. In fact, I'm reading Jeffrey Ford's "Cosmology of the Wider World" right now and that's about 170 pages, and it's called a novella. Yet, that is about the size of most of Philip K. Dick, A.E. Van Vogt or Fritz Leiber novels (taking three authors at random). What happened in the '80s that made publishers start seeking out the longer and longer novels. I'm not exactly complaining, but it does seem strange to me.
UPDATE: This post at Metaxucafe goes on a little bit about long books (not anything about trilogies really, though the root cause for avoiding both is the same). Despite my worries about reading longer books or trilogies, I can't get behind abridgements. I just don't think you'd be getting the real novel. I've heard of people who read "Moby Dick," skipping the parts about whales. I don't blame them at all. But I can't read that way, and unfortunately that means I haven't finished "Moby Dick," which drives me more crazy than not having read "Ulysses." I see "abridgement" on a book, I think, well I'm not getting the real deal.

New counters

Thanks for all your advice yesterday on the pop-up problem and counter suggestions. I've now gotten ride of webstats4u and put in a MyBlogLog and StatCounter counters. Pretty soon, I'll add MyBlogLog's top 5 links counter as well.
Blogger has been acting kind of funny as well lately. You try to make changes to your template and you have to go through republishing at least two or three times before it takes. I've got a couple of years of posts on this blog, but you wouldn't think that would cause all these error messages. Oh well, it works eventually.
In the next few days, I may be absent from the Internet. I've got a new computer and I've got to set it up and get my Internet connection up and running. With any luck, that won't take too long.

Favorite bookstores

At MetaxuCafe, Bud Parr is asking people to list their favorite bookstores. He gives his favorites and many other people are adding their thoughts to the comments. I've added mine, Books by the Falls, of course, being one of them. Go over there and give your recommendations.

Ad problems

Every time I've stopped by this blog today, I've encountered a pop-up ad. I've written to Blogger support to see why this is happening. If this turns out to be Blogger or Blogspot putting these ads on my page, I may have to consider my options. I really hate pop-up ads, especially ones that claim to be helping you with "Windows registry."
Until that's sorted out, my apologies to anyone encountering pop-up ads when they visit here.

UPDATE: Thanks to Chris in my comments, I've found out that my stats counter is the problem. Here's the
explanation he linked for me:

Scince NedStat basic has been sold pop-up banners appear on the sites featuring the free counter. Many people have reacted in shock and many announced to remove the counter from their websites.
Nedstat has been sold and is now called Webstats4u (yeah, agreed, its a lame name). In the news is that the statistics pages will generate popups on the websites using NedStat.

At this moment I dont see pop-ups appear on my websites but as soon as they begin to appear I will remove all Nedstat Basic counters from all websites I maintain. With pain in my heart as the MOTAS counter registered over 15295461 pageviews up to now.

The reason for the popups is that developement costs money. Sadly they don't mention they just bought all so there wasn't any developement costs to begin with besides a new site lay out.

We want the old NedStat back!

I'll be getting rid of my stats counter immediately. Any suggestions for a new one?

Check out Video WatchBlog

Tim Lucas, editor of Video Watchdog and author of Throat Sprockets and The Book of Renfield, started a new blog a few weeks ago called Video WatchBlog.
You should bookmark it immediately if you're interested in horror and other genre films. He writes fascinating articles on so many things and his knowledge of horror seems to be endless. Take, for instance, his look at Cronenberg's "The Fly" and why certain scenes were deleted. He's also written interesting reviews on Showtime's Masters of Horror series, so far he's done Homecoming, Jenifer, Chocolate, Dreams in the Witch House and Incident On and Off a Mountain Road. And that's only the start. Be sure to check the archives, he's got insights into Italian horror films, the old Superman series and Hitchcock. Well worth your time.

Used book bonanza

I went to my favorite books store this weekend. I wasn't expecting much, as I didn't have a lot of money, but they were having a 50 percent off sale so I picked up a few things:

• The War Against the Rull: All my talk about A.E. Van Vogt recently made me pick up this Pocket Books paperback from 1962. It's one of Van Vogt's books I know nothing about.


• New Dimensions 1: Edited by Robert Silverberg, this was one of the great anthology series during the New Wave era. It has stories by Gardner Dozois, Ursula K. LeGuin, Harlan Ellison, R.A. Lafferty, Barry Malzberg and Thomas Disch. Great stuff. Unfortunately, I got home and realized I had bought the same book in hardcover at the store years earlier.


• The Ninth Galaxy Reader: Edited by Frederik Pohl, this collects "the cream of the short stories from Galaxy Magazine." Among the authors included are R.A. Lafferty, Roger Zelazny, Brian Aldiss, Larry Niven and John Brunner. It only cost me a quarter!


• Doc Savage: The Sargasso Ogre: I've been buying the Doc Savage paperbacks as long as I can remember. I've only read a few and I enjoy them. I try and collect as many of the pulp characters as I can. I have paperbacks that feature the Shadow, the Spider and Operator #5.


• Attack from Atlantis: This Lester Del Rey novel features an atomic submarine battling Atlanteans. "An American atom sub vanishes and plunges the world into a new Cold War crisis. A startling science -fiction adventure as timely as today's headlines" reads the cover. The cover also features someone riding some kind of fish with a submarine lassoed behind it. How could I not pick this one up?


• The Power and the Glory: I read Graham Greene's "The End of the Affair" a year or two ago and loved it. Since then, I've read a few of his short stories. Now I've got this one. I'm excited about it.


• Interfaces: Another science fiction anthology, this one edited by Ursula K. LeGuin. It features authors like Vonda McIntyre, John Crowley, Michael Bishop, Gene Wolfe and James Tiptree Jr.


• Beasts: A novel by John Crowley. I saw it in hardcover and figured I should pick it up. I've had "Little, Big" weighing down a shelf for years now and figured maybe something shorter like this would be a better place to start with Crowley.

It's a pretty good haul I think. If you're interested in the used book store, Books by the Falls now has a Web site. They do auctions online and off. Here's their eBay seller page.
I don't know when I'll get around to reading these books, I've got a ton on the To Be Read file already. I'm currently reading Jeffrey Ford's "Cosmology of the Wider World" and loving it.

Glen Hirshberg on horror and catharsis

Glen Hirshberg has reprinted the introduction to his story Mr. Dark's Carnival on his blog. The post expounds on his love of haunted houses and goes into why he doesn't read or write horror for catharsis. It's a thoughtful post, I'd quote some here, but I'd think you'd get more out of it if you read the whole thing. The story, Mr. Dark's Carnival (sorry, no link), is great, as are Hirshberg's other stories.
I tend to agree with Hirshberg on that subject. The best horror stories don't end with the closing of the covers, they linger in the mind and make you think or just simply haunt you. Think of the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft or Thomas Ligotti: Those stories explicitly leave the reader thinking about a world larger and more dangerous than most people have ever imagined. A scary monster that jumps off the page and says boo! can be fun (god knows I like them), but it's not the best horror can do.

Metaxu Cafe

I've started visiting and have become a member of MetaxuCafe. It's a place for literary bloggers and people who read literary blogs. The front page is set up like Arts & Letters Daily or The Page, except with headlines and comments from literary bloggers. There's a page for all the headlines of the day. Inside, there's a forum to discuss blogging and literature and the meeting of both. It seems like a really good service and I'm trying to get more deeply involved in it.
In other news, I've nearly completed changing my blog roll. I've taken some sites out and added others. If you have questions about why you were placed in one category or another, ask away and I'll try to explain myself. Also, if you want to tell me if the links are more helpful this way, or if you have other suggestions, feel free.