Ah, the enigma of George Lucas. Who is he? What does he want? Still doing small, experimental movies after he sold Lucas Film to Disney? Some answers are given. His three first films are pretty good. Return of the Jedi... ugh! Those teddy bears! And the prequels...
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino
I almost gave up ten pages in. He's not a good novelist, the writing is clumsy. And goes on for too long often. Wanna know what Cliff Booth's favourite movies are? Well, you get them here. But then you become used to the style, and it almost gets enjoyable. But he could have cut 100 pages or so.
Pastoralia by George Saunders
Is the guy a one trick pony? Doing two or three different voices and then letting the reader read between the lines. It's quite effective, and can be found in the last story, The Falls, but it's very reminiscent of Tenth of December. Which came later. So maybe this was a warm-up.
What's it all about? by Michael Caine
His first autobiography. Some nice anecdotes, but ones he's often repeated on talkshows. And the book has that oral quality. Quite superficial about each film. And lots of namedropping! Lunches with royalties and so on. Best part is maybe the first 150 pages on his early years of struggle.
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
It's okay, I guess. Not quite sure why this is a classic. Quite dry with paperthin characters. And an anti-climactic ending.
Copra Round Six by Michel Fiffe
Still have some problems getting into the story or care about the characters. But the art is amazing.
The Art of Robert E. McGinnis
I've pretty much stopped buying this sort of art books. You look through them once and then put them on a shelf never to look at again. And weighing a ton when you move. But I found a cheap, used version of this book and fell for the temptation. There are pulp illustrations, James Bond , longlegged girls! and Westerns, but also some nice landscapes.
Speaking of ‘classic’ science fiction…
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Day-Ascension-Warhammer-40-000/dp/1800260911
I saw this at the bookstore today and thought, ‘This cover is amazing. The book has to be parody somehow.’ The back cover copy was not revealing any secrets in that regard. But still I wondered, ‘Maybe this would be fun?’
"On the forge world of Morod, the machines never stop and the work never ends. The population toil in the mines and factoria to protect humanity from the monsters in the void, while the Adeptus Mechanicus enjoy lives of palatial comfort.
"Genetor Gammat Triskellian seeks to end this stagnant corruption. When he learns of a twisted congregation operating within the shadows, one which believes that the tech-priests are keeping the people from their true salvation — a long prophesied union with angels — he sees in them an opportunity to bring down Morad's masters and reclaim the world in the name of progress.
"But sometimes, the only hope for real change lies in the coming of monsters."
A Genestealer Cults Novel