Here is my November, 2025 reading. I haven't posted this in a few months, since the site was down...
The Book of the New Sun – Gene Wolfe This was my third time reading this and the most rewarding. This was partly due to knowing more going in, but maybe being older and a better reader played a role? I followed along with the podcast Alzabo Soup, which dug into the text pretty thoroughly. Those guys brought a lot to the table in terms of character motivations and intentions. What a dense and rich text. Some people don’t like this book, and that’s okay. I probably don’t like a lot of the books they read.
Other Voices, Other Rooms – Truman Capote This was my first book by Capote, and the atmosphere worked for me, which is a good thing, since that is its strongest feature. In fact, it really spoke to me in that way, and the ambiguity didn’t hurt. The scene near the end with the mule in the hotel was wonderfully weird, especially in the characters response/lack of response. This was very much my sort of book.
The Unreasoning Mask – Philip Jose Farmer I continued my education in SF with this book, my first Farmer. A friend told me he was reading this, and I realized I had it on my shelf (along with a pile of other SF I’ve recently acquired,) so I read it now. What a miserable waste of time this book was. The writing was clunky, the names silly, and the ideas stupid. I kept wondering if the same book written by a better writer could have been good. Maybe. To quote David Pringle in Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, “…he has written more than thirty novels, many of them unabashed hackwork…He has written no masterpieces.” If this is his best work, I can’t imagine how bad his hackwork is. Avoid this. Avoid him. Maybe he was a good person, but his writing is best forgotten.
Solar Labyrinth – Robert Borski This is a companion book to Book of the New Sun. It elaborates on possible identities and relations of the many characters, supporting its theses with text. Borski has written much on Wolfe, and I have at least one other volume. Definitely enjoyable.
Witch House – Evangeline Walton Walton is the author of one of my favorite fantasy novels, her take on The Mabinogian. I went into this with high hopes, and it turns out to be not bad. It is a haunted house story, as the title suggests, and takes place in New England. Written in an old-fashioned style, it kept me hoping through much of the book. Indeed, it might have been quite good, but it succumbs to an ending that might be called cliché. As S. T. Joshi says, “It is creditable, though far from remarkable.” Still, there’s nothing wrong with reading a 3-star book once in a while. One can even enjoy it.
Fantastic Orgy – Alexander M. Frey This slim book (60 pages, four stories) was a quick read. The first story was disturbing, as I’d hoped, and the other three were insightful portrayals of poverty that I found accurate. My favorite might have been “Offering” which tells the story of an old woman who steals from the offering box in a church, and the rationale she uses to justify it. I did not judge her for it. I am amazed how much literature there is out there. This was translated from German and published by Wakefield Press this year. I have many of their books and have read some.
The Book of the New Sun – Gene Wolfe This was my third time reading this and the most rewarding. This was partly due to knowing more going in, but maybe being older and a better reader played a role? I followed along with the podcast Alzabo Soup, which dug into the text pretty thoroughly. Those guys brought a lot to the table in terms of character motivations and intentions. What a dense and rich text. Some people don’t like this book, and that’s okay. I probably don’t like a lot of the books they read.
Other Voices, Other Rooms – Truman Capote This was my first book by Capote, and the atmosphere worked for me, which is a good thing, since that is its strongest feature. In fact, it really spoke to me in that way, and the ambiguity didn’t hurt. The scene near the end with the mule in the hotel was wonderfully weird, especially in the characters response/lack of response. This was very much my sort of book.
The Unreasoning Mask – Philip Jose Farmer I continued my education in SF with this book, my first Farmer. A friend told me he was reading this, and I realized I had it on my shelf (along with a pile of other SF I’ve recently acquired,) so I read it now. What a miserable waste of time this book was. The writing was clunky, the names silly, and the ideas stupid. I kept wondering if the same book written by a better writer could have been good. Maybe. To quote David Pringle in Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, “…he has written more than thirty novels, many of them unabashed hackwork…He has written no masterpieces.” If this is his best work, I can’t imagine how bad his hackwork is. Avoid this. Avoid him. Maybe he was a good person, but his writing is best forgotten.
Solar Labyrinth – Robert Borski This is a companion book to Book of the New Sun. It elaborates on possible identities and relations of the many characters, supporting its theses with text. Borski has written much on Wolfe, and I have at least one other volume. Definitely enjoyable.
Witch House – Evangeline Walton Walton is the author of one of my favorite fantasy novels, her take on The Mabinogian. I went into this with high hopes, and it turns out to be not bad. It is a haunted house story, as the title suggests, and takes place in New England. Written in an old-fashioned style, it kept me hoping through much of the book. Indeed, it might have been quite good, but it succumbs to an ending that might be called cliché. As S. T. Joshi says, “It is creditable, though far from remarkable.” Still, there’s nothing wrong with reading a 3-star book once in a while. One can even enjoy it.
Fantastic Orgy – Alexander M. Frey This slim book (60 pages, four stories) was a quick read. The first story was disturbing, as I’d hoped, and the other three were insightful portrayals of poverty that I found accurate. My favorite might have been “Offering” which tells the story of an old woman who steals from the offering box in a church, and the rationale she uses to justify it. I did not judge her for it. I am amazed how much literature there is out there. This was translated from German and published by Wakefield Press this year. I have many of their books and have read some.
