Sky mike and the World of my weekend.

Posted on | by Mike
  • I've fallen into the hype and picked up a copy of of Susanna Clarke's book Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. It must be getting very popular as it was sold out nearly everywhere I went. If you read this before 12:30pm Monday, you can catch the author downtown for a signing.

    It's being hailed as a "Harry Potter" for adults. This strikes me, and people who have read the book already, as a marketing ploy. Granted it is about magic as a gentlemen's scholarly pursuit in early 19th century England, but it reads as a homage to, and slight parody of, British social comedy novels. I've enjoyed the Harry Potter books but I'm not a nut about them. I generally eschew historical novels along with fantasy and/or sci-fi but I'm digging this book so far. I'll have more to say as I continue.

    Side note: As a person who grew up with comics and the Sandman saga, it always amazes me the reverence our culture has for Neil Gaiman. The way Sandman was able to hit a massive audience was probably one of the high-water marks for DC Comics. There are only two back quotes to this book and one of them by Gaiman. He never does quotes, and this one is huge and imposing ("best English novel in seventy years…."). So if you like Gaiman at least check this out. It's on the Long List for the Booker Prize as well.

  • Did anyone else think Arthur Miller was dead? Well I guess he's not, and he has a new play at the Goodman. This completely ruins my fantasy of an afterlife where he is playing cards and drinking too much with Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee and Eugene O'Neil while mocking dead French playwrights and causing no good (picturing the tb-ridden O'Neil calling Camus a "little bitch" on a sea of clouds entertains me to no end).

    • 3 thoughts on “Sky mike and the World of my weekend.”

    Comments are closed.