Recent Readings

So I've finished a few books recently. I'll save the best for last so...

First off there's The Steampunk Trilogy by Paul Di Filippo. This is another book that I decided to read after Sci-Fi Museum in Seattle. There are three parts to the book (trilogy, duh) which are really more like novellas. All three are a might odd, and take a different look on past events. I'm not sure how to describe it all. I've never read any steampunk before, and I'm not sure if I will again. Victorian times really don't interest me, and neither does the tech. I think I'll give William Gibson's The Difference Engine one more shot, but that will probably be it for steampunk for me.

Another book i noted to read from the Sci-Fi Museum was Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. As it turns out, I think I've read this one before, but things were vague enough that I either skipped around through it, or I just experienced a book length sense of deja vu. Either way, DADoES? is an interesting book that avoids going into the real details of the androids making it so that you accept them as established technology that people know about but are not familiar with. of course now I have to watch the movie again. I've not really sat through the entire film since the first time I watched it with my parents as a kid and didn't get it. I think I might have a better understanding now.

And finally, a recommendation from Dian: Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson. Jennifer read this one first because Dian's description of it seemed right for her. Jennifer found it beautifully written, but also very depressing. I read it and found the tears flowing freely through the first two-thirds of the book. It wasn't that I was sobbing, but my typical running tears I get when I'm full of emotion or creativity. The feelings in the book are very strong. The interesting thing is that the sex of the protagonist is a mystery, and one that remains unresolved. You don't need to know it, and perhaps that allows the reader to put themselves into the mindset more strongly. This is another author I'll be looking into more.