(no subject)
Feb. 9th, 2012 04:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nentariAs promised, I'm going to start reviewing the books I read. Here's what else I've managed to finish since I last posted about the subject:
Doctor Who: Kinda - Terrance Dicks
I haven't watched this particular serial yet, so I can't make a comparison between the two versions (book vs. TV) of the story. I did read several reviews that classified it as "confusing" and "hard to follow", which thankfully was not the case with the novelization. It's a tale seeping with symbolism from both Buddhism and Christianity, while at the same time re-telling a recurring Who trope - that of the conflict between Earth colonists and the natives. Uncle Terrance is once again a competent storyteller, providing us with an engaging novelization that can be read almost in one pace.
The Railway Children - E. Nesbit
Some time ago, I bought a gorgeous deluxe 1400+ pages compilation of many children classics, including The Little Prince, the two Alice books, The Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan and several more. My goal was to start reading the compilation from start to finish, but since a few weeks' back Professor Dave's Ark in Space dedicated a whole episode of their podcast to this book, and since it was one of only 2 or 3 pieces from the compilation I have never read, I decided to skip to this one in order to appreciate the comments and reviews of Dave & Co. without being spoiled.
Anyway, what can I say? It's a lovely story, with sweet, engaging characters. While some other children's books of that time are somewhat timeless, this one is firmly set in the time it was published, but that is definitely not a bad thing - on the contrary, it enhances the fairytale feel of some of the chapters (though in a story firmly set in the real world, I'm not sure "fairytale" is a really apt way to describe it). Overall, though, a real classic.
Doctor Who and the Visitation - Eric Saward
Anyone familiar with my thoughts on Doctor Who will not be surprised with the next statement: I hate, nay, loathe Eric Saward. He is the one to blame for all the crap that happened during poor Colin Baker's tenure, and about 90% of the stuff people criticise John Nathan-Turner for was actually his doing. Plus, he's an ill-spirited, infantile and petty excuse for a human being. Yes, I rate him even lower than Emma Watson and the Ten/Rose team, and that's saying something. Therefore, I approached this novelization with some wariness, as it was penned by him. Still, with this being early Saward, it's actually a rather tolerable story. However, you can still sense his ill-will at being forced to write Richard Mace according to the way the character was portrayed/directed in the televised version rather than the Gary Stu that inhabited his tiny little brain. Hopefully the next novelizations of Saward-penned scripts will have been written by other, more competent writers. I know that the following of his tales (in terms of broadcast order, that is), Earthshock, was written by Ian "Harry Sullivan" Marter, which alone is sure to make me stop wincing.
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide For People Who Love Books and For Those Who Want to Write Them - Francine Prose
What it says in the tin. It was a really interesting read, showing examples in literature of how to describe characters, set a scene, create sentences, paragraphs, introductions, make small gestures actually mean something, and so on. And, like any in intelligent book on how to write, the author admits that nothing she suggests is set in stone, and presenting us with exceptions to those rules. The chapter on Chekhov, filled with said exceptions, is particularly illuminating.
Doctor Who: Black Orchid - Terence Dudley
Except when you're Eric "Dunghead" Saward, having the author of the script doing the novelization as well is a great experience, especially when you're familiar with the televised version, as they can enrich the narrative with details they had in mind while writing the original material. This is exactly what happens with Black Orchid which, although being the novelization of a two-part story (in a time where the average serial was four parts long) is the longest novelization I have seen in a long time. This book doesn't have any scene that doesn't feature in the televised version, but we get a lot of interesting displays of the inner thoughts of all the leading characters, from the Doctor's silent outrage when he's unfairly accused, to Tegan's delight watching the cricket match (and ensuing frustration at her fellow companions and their inability to get the game or the other Earthly stuff around them), and the chance to see what was really going on behind Lady Cranleigh's mask when she was at her more icily impassive. In the words of the characters, absolutely topping.
Doctor Who: Kinda - Terrance Dicks
I haven't watched this particular serial yet, so I can't make a comparison between the two versions (book vs. TV) of the story. I did read several reviews that classified it as "confusing" and "hard to follow", which thankfully was not the case with the novelization. It's a tale seeping with symbolism from both Buddhism and Christianity, while at the same time re-telling a recurring Who trope - that of the conflict between Earth colonists and the natives. Uncle Terrance is once again a competent storyteller, providing us with an engaging novelization that can be read almost in one pace.
The Railway Children - E. Nesbit
Some time ago, I bought a gorgeous deluxe 1400+ pages compilation of many children classics, including The Little Prince, the two Alice books, The Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan and several more. My goal was to start reading the compilation from start to finish, but since a few weeks' back Professor Dave's Ark in Space dedicated a whole episode of their podcast to this book, and since it was one of only 2 or 3 pieces from the compilation I have never read, I decided to skip to this one in order to appreciate the comments and reviews of Dave & Co. without being spoiled.
Anyway, what can I say? It's a lovely story, with sweet, engaging characters. While some other children's books of that time are somewhat timeless, this one is firmly set in the time it was published, but that is definitely not a bad thing - on the contrary, it enhances the fairytale feel of some of the chapters (though in a story firmly set in the real world, I'm not sure "fairytale" is a really apt way to describe it). Overall, though, a real classic.
Doctor Who and the Visitation - Eric Saward
Anyone familiar with my thoughts on Doctor Who will not be surprised with the next statement: I hate, nay, loathe Eric Saward. He is the one to blame for all the crap that happened during poor Colin Baker's tenure, and about 90% of the stuff people criticise John Nathan-Turner for was actually his doing. Plus, he's an ill-spirited, infantile and petty excuse for a human being. Yes, I rate him even lower than Emma Watson and the Ten/Rose team, and that's saying something. Therefore, I approached this novelization with some wariness, as it was penned by him. Still, with this being early Saward, it's actually a rather tolerable story. However, you can still sense his ill-will at being forced to write Richard Mace according to the way the character was portrayed/directed in the televised version rather than the Gary Stu that inhabited his tiny little brain. Hopefully the next novelizations of Saward-penned scripts will have been written by other, more competent writers. I know that the following of his tales (in terms of broadcast order, that is), Earthshock, was written by Ian "Harry Sullivan" Marter, which alone is sure to make me stop wincing.
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide For People Who Love Books and For Those Who Want to Write Them - Francine Prose
What it says in the tin. It was a really interesting read, showing examples in literature of how to describe characters, set a scene, create sentences, paragraphs, introductions, make small gestures actually mean something, and so on. And, like any in intelligent book on how to write, the author admits that nothing she suggests is set in stone, and presenting us with exceptions to those rules. The chapter on Chekhov, filled with said exceptions, is particularly illuminating.
Doctor Who: Black Orchid - Terence Dudley
Except when you're Eric "Dunghead" Saward, having the author of the script doing the novelization as well is a great experience, especially when you're familiar with the televised version, as they can enrich the narrative with details they had in mind while writing the original material. This is exactly what happens with Black Orchid which, although being the novelization of a two-part story (in a time where the average serial was four parts long) is the longest novelization I have seen in a long time. This book doesn't have any scene that doesn't feature in the televised version, but we get a lot of interesting displays of the inner thoughts of all the leading characters, from the Doctor's silent outrage when he's unfairly accused, to Tegan's delight watching the cricket match (and ensuing frustration at her fellow companions and their inability to get the game or the other Earthly stuff around them), and the chance to see what was really going on behind Lady Cranleigh's mask when she was at her more icily impassive. In the words of the characters, absolutely topping.
