Book Commentary
June 23, 2001
By Michael
I actually got around to reading some of all that SF and Fantasy that came in the other week. There was an old fantasy favorite whom I shall not mention, a disappointing pot-boiler of an affair .What did I expect? But I did manage to find time one quiet afternoon to read a few chapters of Back in the USSA by Kim Newman and Eugene Byrne.
Some of you may know of Newman as the writer of a number of vampire novels, not a genre I have an especial interest, but I recall a collection of short stories he wrote, sort of detective-noir-meets-HPL . Well, Back in the USSA is engagingly done, if the beginning chapters are any clue, various historical and even non-existent cultural personages (the Blues Brothers) set in an alternate United States which had the 1917 Revolution instead of Russia. Al Capone instead of Stalin. Kurt Vonnegut instead of Gorbachev. And so on.
One item I've heard about but never have actually seen is Paul Carus' The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil. This is a hardcover edition from Bell Publishing, late '60's, I think; the present edition is only available in paperback for US$19. Carus' work is very nicely illustrated with plenty of clear engravings and woodcuts from throughout history, East and West, and he covers a lot of ground, if not in a great deal of detail. An interesting addition to anyone's collection of the history of ideas.
I had forgotten that Gahan Wilson wrote as well as drew. And such complementary short (in some cases, very short) stories to his bizarre and wonderful illustrations. Here we have The Cleft and Other Odd Tales, a first edition U.S., copiously illustrated, of course. I've been dipping in and reading the odd tale (and believe me, some are very odd) and chortling in spite of myself. My favorite so far is the Manuscript of Dr. Arness, a dry and amusing tale especially to such a Luddite as myself.
At this point I can indulge in an Iain M. Banks rant, as we have in a copy of his latest space opera, Look to Windward. Put succinctly, I love anything this guy writes, the contemporary stuff (which he pens under Iain Banks, no M.) as well as the space opera. Brutal, humourous, thoughtful and undeniabley sympathetic to the human condition. I don't know if he ever will surpass Use of Weapons or Against a Dark Background, but Look to Windward is a fine addition to his Culture novels. My only caution would be to readers unfamiliar with his Culture novels, delineating a true post-scarcity society, may find this his latest a bit hard going. I would suggest reading Consider Phlebas, first.
This last item has been here at Old Goat since opening, and I forgot all about it for the last few weeks. But Scroggins, one of our regular browsers, reminded me of it . It doesn't look like much from the outside, a rather plain dull purple paper pamphlet, oversized, but it is worth a close look. Published by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, Ontario, Entrances and Exit : the Garden as Theatre by Geoffrey James is an astounding collection of black and white photographs, taken in various Italian Renaissance gardens. There is a short essay, written by the photographer and curiously about the unpublished photos in this series, yet bringing it all together.
Back in the USSA by Kim Newman and Eugene Byrne. Mark V. Ziering Books 1997. First Edition. $25.
The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil by Paul Carus. Bell Publishing 1969. $20
The Cleft and Other Odd Tales by Gahan Wilson. TOR 1998. First Edition. $18.
Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks. Orbit 2000. Paperback $12.
Entrances and Exits: the Garden as Theatre by Geoffrey James. Agnes Etherington Art Centre. 1984. $12.