Sulphur on 11/2/2010 at 19:16
I guess he's either lazy or it's an artificial way to make it a challenging read. On reading The Road, I also noticed that he makes pretty sparse use of the comma. Sentences run on, and he uses this to great effect because the rhythm and flow of each sentence is paid particular attention to.
Apart from the punctuation, how does No Country hold up as a story, though? Especially in comparison to the film?
june gloom on 12/2/2010 at 00:57
Not seen the film, but the book is pretty solid. It took me a while to realize what year it was though, because the blurb calls it "the modern era" or sommat and the actual timeperiod isn't really mentioned until about a quarter of the way through. Chigurgh is a frightening character and a lot of the book, when it's not a shootout anyway, is like some sort of noir set in the Texas borderland, despite McCarthy's writing style being basically not at all like Raymond Chandler et al.
Sulphur on 12/2/2010 at 06:23
All right, that's my next stop then. As an aside, the movie's done really, really well. Javier Bardem (who plays Chigurh) steals the goddamn show, and it's a movie full of brilliant performances. Frustrating ending, but it's easy to see why it had to go that way.
catbarf on 13/2/2010 at 02:37
Having read Neuromancer a few months ago, and having just finished Count Zero, I'm about to read Mona Lisa Overdrive.
Question about the plot of the previous two:
Are the voodoo deities in the matrix related to the merging of Wintermute and Neuromancer? And if so, does this mean that something went wrong with the link? And was I supposed to pick up on this in Count Zero or is it Gibson doing his usual trick of tantalizingly hinting at things he never describes?
june gloom on 13/2/2010 at 05:15
The voodoo deities are implied to be the fractured remains of the Wintermute/Neuromancer merger. And while it's hinted at in Count Zero it's never explicitly explained, so it may take a re-read or two to really get it. Mona Lisa Overdrive is much the same way.
Tocky on 15/2/2010 at 05:47
"Day by Day Armageddon" by J. L. Bourne because damn it I love the fight against certain implacable death at the hands of rotting undead. It's not as good as World War Z but it's still "gripping". Heh. Getting back to it now.
june gloom on 15/2/2010 at 10:10
Just started Flow My Tears The Policeman Said by PKD. Promising start.
Flagston on 15/2/2010 at 16:48
If any of you Orson Scott Card fans want some entertaining reads then head over to his Ornery American website and read some of his World Watch essays. You may never look at one of his books the same again.
Most of the people on his own forums think he is a gigantic ass.
