Interregnum

while i really think the book can speak for itself much better than anyone else and can stand up to any set of expectations you can throw up in defense against it, i'm nonetheless a bit worried about the possiblity that i might have created a totally wrong-headed set of expectations for it, and in that sense, Jeff VanderMeer's brief comment over on his blog (trust me, it's somewhere in that linked post) about my (series of) review(s) of Shriek: An Afterword is absolutely essential for anyone crazy enough to have thought to base their decision whether to read the book or not on anything i've said. it's much more level-headed, for one, and, more importantly, it's easier on the eyes.

in retrospect, my own analysis may have been a tad bit overwrought (ha! a tad bit?!?), and the best thing about Shriek, despite everything i've said which suggests the contrary, is how beautifully simple it is...but it was fun (for me, anyway) dissecting it the way i did, looking and finding and peeling-off layers that may never have been intended nor, perhaps, been really there, and, you never know, it might actually add something to your own reading experience.

right. anyway, what i'd really wanted this post to say (before i found Mr VanderMeer's comments and link and effectively derailed my mental composition for this post) is that the other reality has finally (expectedly) caught-up with this blog... i'm going to be starting the next series of (increasingly inaccurately named) real-time reviews having had quite a bit of a head start on anyone keeping tabs on this blog.

i.e., i'd already started reading the next book down my to-be-read pile (Justina Robson's Natural History) two nights ago, but haven't gotten around to really thinking about my reactions to it...you know, real world issues, work, all that reality catching up and getting in the way...

but i'll post the first installment as soon as i can properly wrap my head around writing a proper real-time-review entry. right. back to the other life...