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kilroyPrint date: 1972 (20s: 1, 50s: 1, 60s: 2, 70s: 5, 80s: 4, 90s: 3, 00s: 7)
This is a book that I didn't want to read. But I picked it up, and I was drawn in quite involuntarily.
It's a novella and two longish short stories, which I wasn't expecting. The first is a premise I'd never seen before brought to terrible life; the story went on too long but the concept alone would merit keeping it. The second story is a loving homage to the theater and to Shakespeare. The third story is a farcical bit of warning about the future, which involves the author inventing the PDA about forty years ahead of his time.
Leiber has a tendency in general to overcook his work; the book I rejected earlier was a case of that, and even in the books of his I like (I own a complete set of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) he tends to spin his words out a little more descriptively than he really needs to. When it works, it's because there's some core to the story that we can attach to-- a person, a story, or an idea that propels us through the literary chop. And these stories work for that reason. Each has a core concept that makes it a story and not some ridiculous puff of verbal smoke.
To get back to the beginning... the stories put ideas in my head that I couldn't quite shake. I had no choice but to read, and I suspect that at least two of the ideas will stick with me for a good long time. The stories are not tightly plotted and they're not brilliantly written, but they work. I'll read them again someday. And that's enough.
Verdict: Keep. (14/40 keepers)
Page count: 191 (8566 total)
Completed: 23 (11 female authors, 12 male authors)
Rejected: 17 (9 male authors, 8 female authors)
Next book due: 8/1
This is a book that I didn't want to read. But I picked it up, and I was drawn in quite involuntarily.
It's a novella and two longish short stories, which I wasn't expecting. The first is a premise I'd never seen before brought to terrible life; the story went on too long but the concept alone would merit keeping it. The second story is a loving homage to the theater and to Shakespeare. The third story is a farcical bit of warning about the future, which involves the author inventing the PDA about forty years ahead of his time.
Leiber has a tendency in general to overcook his work; the book I rejected earlier was a case of that, and even in the books of his I like (I own a complete set of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) he tends to spin his words out a little more descriptively than he really needs to. When it works, it's because there's some core to the story that we can attach to-- a person, a story, or an idea that propels us through the literary chop. And these stories work for that reason. Each has a core concept that makes it a story and not some ridiculous puff of verbal smoke.
To get back to the beginning... the stories put ideas in my head that I couldn't quite shake. I had no choice but to read, and I suspect that at least two of the ideas will stick with me for a good long time. The stories are not tightly plotted and they're not brilliantly written, but they work. I'll read them again someday. And that's enough.
Verdict: Keep. (14/40 keepers)
Page count: 191 (8566 total)
Completed: 23 (11 female authors, 12 male authors)
Rejected: 17 (9 male authors, 8 female authors)
Next book due: 8/1