i read some books (2024)

[dng]

i've actually read some books this year, mainly due to two bouts of severe internetlessness. so i thought i would list the books i have read (possibly not in completely correct chronological order but close enough).

#1: Passionate Journey by Frans Masereel

amazing proto graphic novel from the 1919, featuring 150 woodcuts of a man living his life in all its glory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passionate_Journey

(I've read another one of h is books too - the city - which was shorter but also good)

#2: Shuna's Journey by Hayao Miyazaki

Two books, two graphic novels, two journeys. This was great. From the early 80s, when he was making nausicaa too (which it's quite similar too in places, as well as similar to stuff that later appears in castle in the sky and princess mononoke). Weird and unsettling and wonderful

#3: The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada

Some people work for a big company in various positions and are all slowly subsumed by the miseries of work. Good (but very short)

#4: White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

Modern times set retellings of various fairytales. Pretty great (as are the other books I've read by Kelly Link, which all seem to be short story collections).

#5: The Tale Of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman

A thousand year old arabic epic about fatima, the absolute best warrior in the entire world. I enjoyed this a lot

#6: Aesop's Fables

It is Aesop's Fables. (I bought this in a charity shop for 10p and read it while waiting in the car in the rain)

#7: Nothing Left To Fear From Hell by Alan Warner

A novel about shit old Bonnie Prince Charlie as he retreats across scotland after losing his war. This was okay, I suppose, but definitely the least good book i've read by Alan Warner (who wrote Morvern Callar and a bunch of other stuff)

#8: The Sign Of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle

Fuck off, Holmes.

#9: Terminal Boredom, by Izumi Suzuki
#10: Hit Parad Of Tears, by Izumi Suzuki

These were both utterly amazing. Philip K. Dick/JG Ballard esque 70s/80s science fiction stories of increasing oddness/sadness. Then I made the mistake of reading the author biography bit, and found out she committed suicide when she was 30, which made me feel strangely upset.

(Never ever read the author biographies in Japanese books.)

#11: The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht

This was pretty great, a sort of children's picture book about the death of all things. Apparently the first thing Bill Watterson's published since Calvina nd Hobbes finished in the 90s or whenever.

#12: The Coiled Serpent by Camilla Grudova

Surreal grotesque short stories. Good, but occasionaly too grotesque, maybe. I preferred her other books (the doll's alphabet, which was also short stories like this, and Children Of Paradise, a novel set in an old edinburgh cinema, which i read last year and liked a lot)

#13: All The Lovers In The Night by Mieko Kawakami

A lonely woman in japan is lonely, in japan. This might be the saddest book I've read.

(I've read a couple of other books by her, and they were good too. Also last week I saw a film - Ice Cream Fever - which was based on some of her stories and that was quite good too, which was nice. In that for some reason all the most beautiful women in japan live in the same apartment block, and are all quite sad, and lonely, but they eat lots of ice cream, and eventually they cheer up a bit, although not too much, probably)

#14: The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer

A sort of crime story that's mostly just an excuse for Bob to talk about pies. And having a bath. This is very funny and I liked it a lot. Lovely Bob Mortimer

(Also it reminded me of the dirk gently novels, although without the supernatural bits.)

[dng]

and that's all the books i've read so far this year unless i forgot some which i might have done

[endar]

hooray for lovely bob mortimer

also how dare you. Bonnie Prince Charlie was the rightful heir and should have been allowed to live the hedonistic life his dad enjoyed so

[blombluss]

#1: Passionate Journey by Frans Masereel

amazing proto graphic novel from the 1919, featuring 150 woodcuts of a man living his life in all its glory

Most interesting, Davuss!

Also:

The 149th image, which was cut from some editions:



We've all been there after a night out!

[vom]

hooray, what a good lot of books.

I seem to have forgotten how to read again, in the stress of trying to move house. But I'm "reading" Werner Herzog's memoir and it's amazing, I need to get back to it and stop looking at rightmove dot co dot uk instead