Lansdale

Lansdale

Think I met Joe R Lansdale once, in Austin, at a book signing-like afternoon event. It was a little bookstore that no longer exists, specializing in SF/F. Think he was just making an appearance, at a nascent phase of his career.

He. Is. Great.

Defies taxonomy, other than “Deep East Texas,” and with that? See what they say.

I was, personally affected by two of his early novels. I don’t recall the content, just random imagery, and then? How I felt when I read the books. The Drive-In.

I was at the university, at the time, reading “great literature,” and on break, I remember finding the novel in a bookstore, and the feeling I got from reading the pair.

Incredulity. Excitement. Sheer joy, and a certain mastery of the absurd?

I’m almost afraid to reread them, for fear I would lose that sense of awe and wonder those novels inspired in me.

#Mojo

The Deserter

The Deserter

The Deserter – Nelson DeMille & Alex Demille

There’s a kind of pacing, traumatic injury, dismemberment, and death all leavened with humor. Maybe dark, sardonic, ice cold humor, but a certain way of placing each plot element next to each other. Some authors are more practiced and skilled than authors.

Wait. Early in the book, does this echo the movie version, Apocalypse Now? Too soon to say.

The Deserter

The Deserter – Nelson DeMille & Alex Demille

The Deserter: A Novel

More Book 7

More Book 7

“56. Consider yourself dead, and the life you have lived till now gone; now count the rest of your days as a reprieve from death, and live according to Nature.”

  • Excerpt From Marcus Aurelius

“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.” (56)

(Of note? One copy suggests I’ve used this before. Couldn’t find it, so here it is, maybe again. Maybe not.)

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius (Loeb Classical Library)

Delphi Complete Works of Marcus Aurelius – Marcus Aurelius

Meditations – Marcus Aurelius & Gregory Hays

Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library)

As always a free version is hosted on astrofish.net right here.

#meditation
#HashTagsSuck

Walk the Wire

Walk the Wire

Walk the Wire – David Baldacci

There’s a fun touch, right at the very beginning, before the main characters show up, just a little, probably nobody notices, but the hunter and prey, the strong man? Not always so strong. “Loses his lunch.” Just a wonderfully evocative opening. I picked this book up close on the heels of staying up late to finish reading another book.

I don’t recall which one, but one of the (Lee Child) Jack Reacher novels was set in a similar, North Dakota posting. Think it was similar in description, at the outset. While I have the books on the shelf, I can’t be bothered to try and figure out which one it was. But if the Arctic Circle is merely 50 miles north of the Canadian border then, well, why?

“It’s the wild, wild west.” Along with Minnesota, probably added to the list, now North Dakota as a place I might not want to visit again. High body count, in the novel, you know.

Does a good author leave obvious clues out in the open?

Some of it, updated variations on old, familiar themes. Some of it? Yeah, North Dakota got a less inviting.

Sentimental flourish at the end, and proof the author has a soft spot in his heart. Otherwise, an excellent addition to the Memory Man collection.

Walk The Wire

Walk The Wire

Walk the Wire

Think there are more, but I couldn’t pull them all together. Apparently, I’ve read a lot of this author.

Walk the Wire

Walk the Wire – David Baldacci

Walk the Wire (Memory Man Book 6)