Category: C+

disease?

Posted on by Greig

Unknown Pleasures

Chris Ott

Unknown Pleasures 33 and a thirdPart of Continuum’s 33 and 1/3 series of short books that examine recordings by beloved artists over the years.
This one looks at the rise of Joy Division at the making of their classic debut album, Unknown Pleasures.
Given the brevity of the book it cannot compete with works like “Touching From a Distance” or celebrate the myth to the extent that Twenty-Four Hour Party People did.
It’s a basic, functional little volume.
It’s worth picking up cheap if you particularly love Joy Division.

Rating: C+

sabotage?

Posted on by Greig

JPod

Douglas Coupland

JPodSupposedly an update of the classic Microserfs for the Google generation this is instead a cynical, heartless mess of a novel.
Centred around a group of workers at a faceless games company in Vancouver, the book riffs off on the personal neuroses and bizarre acts of these people and their families.
As always Coupland’s prose is superbly readable and some of it is very funny, but the story is stupid, the characters are deeply unlikeable and he fills about a third of the book with concrete text or lists of prime numbers, digits of pi, and other pointless lists. It worked when used sparingly and within context in microserfs – in this novel it makes a slight tale seem more of a rip-off.
If you read Microserfs and wanted more or you just love Coupland’s work, then read this book, but be prepared to be disappointed. Otherwise, avoid it.

Rating: C+

homunculi?

Posted on by Greig

Under Old Earth and Other Explorations

Cordwainer Smith

Under Old Earth and Other ExplorationsThis collection, as with the majority of Cordwainer Smith’s work, is set among the worlds of the Instrumentality – his vision of far future humanity. Smith was primarily a short story writer – only writing one novel – and this book contains some of his finest work.
For much of this collection I found it a chore to finish the stories.
Smith had some fantastic ideas, with some very astute insights into the future of humanity, the milieu is superbly realised with every nuance thought through, but his writing can be as dry and unexciting as cold toast.
(As an aside Smith’s real name was Paul Linebarger, and he was a professor of Asiatic Studies and an expert on psychological warfare. I suppose I could blame his writing style on this background, but I’m clueless when it comes to literary theory)
Highlight for me would be the story of the deposed ruler, who instead of coming back to his kingdom with an army, sneaks in and saves his people by subtly altering the mind of the dictator who replaced him.
This is worth a quick read if you have a keen interest in the past giants of science fiction, or if you are particularly keen on short
story collections. It really wasn?t my kind of thing.

Rating: C+