Tag: The Truth

WWW Wednesday – October 2, 2024

Ryan2 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

FrankensteinWith October having kicked off, I started reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley last night; the edition I’m reading includes spectacular pen and ink illustrations by Bernie Wrightson, well known for his work on comic series like Swamp Thing. So far, I’ve only read the front matter, which included a few introductions and sections giving some historical context for when it was written. The more modern introduction was written by Stephen King, and we are also treated to the introduction written by Shelley herself for the 1831 reprint. I was quite surprised to learn that, according to the author’s introduction, in her imagining of the creation of the Creature, when the story was still just a seed of an idea, she described it as being animated by “the working of some powerful engine.” I had thought the explicit use of technology of that nature was an addition by later adaptations, but clearly I’ve been mistaken for years.

Recently Finished

Everything is TeethEverything is Teeth by Evie Wyld and Joe Sumner is an autobiographical graphic novel I picked up from the library a week or so ago. This was another case of me fully embracing the accessibility libraries grant us and picking up a book I wouldn’t have ever purchased for myself. The story mainly covers the author’s experiences spending her summers in Australia as a young girl, her obsession with sharks serving as a through line throughout her experiences. This was one of those books that resonated with me despite not tapping into a precise childhood fixation I shared because the way she was feeling was familiar, even if the subject of her feelings wasn’t. I’m really happy I checked this one out.

James Bond The BodyJames Bond: The Body by Aleš Kot and various illustrators is a standalone volume from the recent James Bond comics published by Dynamite. This was another library book, but what most caught my eye about it was Kot as the author; I think he did exceptional work on the Bloodborne comics (especially for a video game tie in), so my interest is likely to be piqued if I see him attached to something. It was an interesting look at the toll being a secret agent takes on Bond’s body, as well as the fortitude required for him to live this life, weaving together several semi-self-contained smaller stories that all connect by the end. What was most refreshing was the idea of his missions feeling smaller scale; ultimately, the fate of world really is still at stake, but Kot managed to make the focus feel more grounded.

The TruthLastly, I managed to finish reading The Truth by Terry Pratchett, so I’ve managed to read at least one Discworld novel this year. I’m sad that this will likely be the only one, but I don’t want my reading to be too narrow. I feel like I comment on this a lot while reading this series—after all, it’s pretty hard to read 25 books set in the same world and not have similar things to say about it—but I really think this was a solid iteration on a familiar story structure to this series that we hadn’t seen in a while. It did have some notable similarities, like I can’t help but feel like the hero and heroine duo we get in books like these, unlikely to appear as protagonists in the series again, are all secretly facets of the same people. Nevertheless, this was a stronger outing that felt like it had something to say about newsprint and media and stood its ground by having it here to stay in the Discworld going forward.

Reading Next

Nothing this week, so to speak, but only because I will be posting my opening post for Frighteningly Good Reads either tomorrow or Friday, and that is where I plan to outline what I’d like to read for the month of October.

WWW Wednesday – September 25, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

The TruthI’m still making my way through The Truth by Terry Pratchett, but I’ve managed to read through another 100 pages are so since last week, so I’m closing in on finishing it up. I’m hoping I can have it done by next week, especially since I will want to get started on Halloween reads, and this is very much not a spooky read in any way. Though the main plot of this book, involving a secret group of elites trying to depose the Patrician of the city so that a puppet can be elected in his place, sounds pretty interesting, it’s been a little bland so far. Still, I am really enjoying William trying to establish a newspaper with integrity, especially in the face of more established guilds essentially making tabloid papers that will just make things up. I wonder if things will lead to him being humbled as he maybe starts to over-inflate himself as some sort of arbiter of Truth, but so far I’m rooting for him; I hope the Ankh-Morpork Times is here to stay in the series going forward.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week!

Reading Next

FrankensteinThough I’m still humming and hawing about all the books I think I can realistically read this October (a post is forthcoming), I can say with certainty that one of them that I want to read (a rare reread!) is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, specifically the edition with illustrations by Bernie Wrightson. Frankenstein is one of my favourite books, and it’s been a long time since I’ve read it, so I’m excited for that fact alone, but I’m also really looking forward to Wrightson’s breathtaking art accompanying the experience. I bought my copy a few years ago now (probably longer than I think), so I’m glad I’m finally getting to it.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – September 18, 2024

Ryan2 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

The TruthI’m still making my way through The Truth by Terry Pratchett, though I haven’t made especially good progress this past week. With the story presenting newspapers as a novelty in the city, I can’t help  but feel oddly compelled to read a newspaper myself. It’s something that’s never been a habit for me, but the way it’s being presented is hearkening back to a time before widespread online media, and it’s making me feel that reading a paper for precisely local news, where I live, would hold much more appeal. This is probably a fleeting whim, but it’s amusing to be so self-aware of fiction’s influence. The mounting conflict seems to be about the Patrician of the city being replaced by an imposter, with the end goal of usurping him, but with the shadowy group’s insistence he not be killed, I wonder what more they have planned.

Recently Finished

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The HorseI ended up coming across another shelf of graphic novels at my local library, so I brought a number of them home, relishing the opportunity for more brisk reads that I wouldn’t pick up under other circumstances. One was Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen, a “Sarah’s Scribbles” collection of comic strips. It was an amusing outing, but I’m glad I didn’t buy this book when it came out, as I think I’ve outgrown the style a little; it’s millennial humour that was better suited to me when I was in my 20s. I also read The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy, which caught my eye because of its lovely ink art. Essentially an all-ages picture book, it was full of nice, thoughtful sentiments, though at times they felt more like saccharine platitudes. Still, it was a moving work that made for a nice, relaxing read. Lastly, I finished reading Stung with Love: Fragments and Poems by Sappho. I haven’t got much more to say on it, other than I’m happy that it was more enriching for me than other ventures into reading poetry, which I struggle with sometimes.

Reading Next

Suddenly, the end of September feels like it is coming up really fast, so I’m starting to shift into thinking about October reads. I haven’t fully settled on what horror book I want to start with just yet, but I’ll be taking part in Frighteningly Good Reads again this year, so I’ll have a post at the start of next month detailing a selection of books I want to get through.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – September 11, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

The TruthI made some decent progress on The Truth by Terry Pratchett this past week, sitting at well over 120 pages in now. It’s still in what feels like the “ramping up” phase of the story, but I’m enjoying it well enough so far. In the past, I found this formula a little played out, but it receded into the background as his books started to focus more on building on the characters from their respective subseries. Now, he’s come back around to it in what feels like a more refined way so far. I really liked how the story itself does a little nod to these older stories, like Moving Pictures, with the Patrician grilling the dwarf who runs the printing press about the likelihood of this new innovation wreaking similar havoc on the city/reality, bringing up several other incidents from across the series’s many books. Moving Pictures was well over ten books ago now, so it was sobering to be reminded that it really wasn’t that long ago for the people of this world. They really do deal with a lot of crazy crap.

I also made some decent headway reading Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments by Sappho. I should have it done soon, I just want to take my time a little instead of plowing through so I can appreciate it better. The translator’s notes alongside the fragments are very helpful, especially the one about a fragment that has acquired “cult status” in academic circles, simply reading “A handkerchief; Dripping with…”

Recently Finished

Batman Hellboy StarmanSometime over the past week I decided to finally read Batman/Hellboy/Starman by James Robinson and Mike Mignola, a two-issue crossover comic featuring the two iconic characters and some guy I’ve never heard of before. The story is non-canonical, so it just has fun with the idea of Batman and Hellboy meeting up. This crossover is from 1999, so it felt especially informed by the TAS version of Batman, but I could have just been projecting. It was a fun little outing involving them trying to thwart Nazis from reviving an elder god. It wasn’t especially deep as a story, but it didn’t have to be; while the Hellboy novels have their problems with that, these more basic plots thrive better as comics. Interestingly, I think the Kindle version I bought for about $4 was technically a scam? It’s not listed anymore, and there are banner ads within about it coming from a free comic book site. I think somebody made a quick buck listing somebody else’s work.

Reading Next

Once again, I’m not really sure what I’ll be reading next, but I do have a bunch of books in mind, so it’ll just be a matter of settling on one.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – September 4, 2024

Ryan2 Comments
www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

The TruthIt’s feeling rather late in the year for this considering I used to try to read one every quarter, but I’ve finally started the next Discworld novel I need to get to: The Truth. I’m expecting this one to feel a little refreshing because it’s been a long time since I’ve read one that wasn’t a part of a subseries like the Witches or the City Watch. This follows a similar yet more open-ended structure to some of the previous ones, about the world being effected by the arrival of a new innovation in some way. This book sees a machine printing press coming to the city of Ankh-Morpork and with it widespread print media. This would have a profound effect anywhere, so I’m really curious about what will unfold in this unique setting. I’m only 30 pages or so in so far, but I’m hoping I can get a lot more done soon.

Stung with Love Poems and FragmentsI also started reading Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments by Sappho, a book collecting all of the surviving poems and fragments by the well-known Greek poet. I’ve only read a section on poems about Goddesses so far, as there was actually a good deal of front matter to this book giving more context to what we know about Sappho as a figure. I found this most interesting as a look into just how fragmentary surviving art and history can be. There are plenty of references to her work and skill as a great poet throughout histoyr, but comparatively little of her actual work has survived up to now. It’s surreal to see ancient Roman sources cited, who would’ve had direct access to her work, and having to base our understanding of it off of theirs. I don’t know how quickly I’ll finish this, it’s not very long, but I likely won’t give full updates like this each week if my progress is slow.

Recently Finished

AuthorityLast week I finally finished reading Authority by Jeff VanderMeer, the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy. Things finally came to a head in the story in the final chapters, and in true Southern Reach fashion I had only a vague understanding of what was really going on, except for a few certainties that were quite apparent. I really liked that a prevailing feeling I had throughout the book without a single explicit indicator to it was made to be right. I know it’s a 10-year-old book, but I don’t want to ruin it for anybody who may be interested, so I’m being vague myself. Despite the fact that I had trouble finding good momentum with reading this book, I did really enjoy it, and I’m happy with how it concluded. I’m wondering if Acceptance will hold any real, concrete answers or if I should resign myself to being in the dark about a lot of it, even at the very end.

Reading Next

I’ve not decided anything that I want to read next with certainty, but with October just around the corner I am starting to consider what horror books I think I can get through. My reading speed has been a little stunted this year, which is really bothering me, so I’m worried I won’t be able to do more than one average-sized novel. We shall see.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.