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Zero History (and other books)
Oct. 6th, 2010 09:39 pmFinally finished this a couple of days ago! I don't know if it's as structurally similar to All Tomorrow's Parties as my memory makes it out to be (already the three books in the current trilogy have the same plot, what do you want XD;), but experientially that's how it was - leisurely zigzagging for 4/5 of the book, reveals and romantic resolutions for the last 1/5, tailing off on a quiet apocalypse undersold to the point of hilarity ("...wait did that just happen"). The prose is as always. Or no - one suspects Twitter has had a detrimental effect on Gibson's dialogue. XD; It's like one is getting a character-count-conscious shorthand version of each conversation instead of the sounds actually coming out of ppl's mouths.
( Not very serious spoilers (Bechdel, penguins) )
It turns out Hollis is kind of a Holmes nerd, which is... not surprising. XD; Actually I kept thinking that a modern-day revamp of Col. Sebastian Moran should be something like an evil version of Garreth. (That isn't a null-set observation, is it?) I mean, that's basically how his thing with The Old Man is. XD; Though I re-read The Valley of Fear the other day**, which made me realize you're not actually given anything on Moriarty and Moran's working relationship other than Holmes's forensic accounting. And I can't remember anyone trying to complicate it, make it interesting, in derivative works... Mind you when you've got three out of four corners, which is basically the case in both current adaptations, you can proceed by inference for maximum punchiness.
In the same bookstore session I also read half of Let The Right One In (or Let Me In, as it's been translated per Hollywoodization), but stopped when I realized it would be LUMINESCENTLY DEPRESSING. G went to see the movie and said it was scarier, had better effects, but I liked the quiet observation of the original; the way it's not cued as a horror flick. Plus they took out the androgyny, no surprise.
** Sometimes it's good to have no memory - I found I had no idea what the resolution of the mystery was. XD;; Then skipped the Inevitable American Bit(tm).
( Not very serious spoilers (Bechdel, penguins) )
It turns out Hollis is kind of a Holmes nerd, which is... not surprising. XD; Actually I kept thinking that a modern-day revamp of Col. Sebastian Moran should be something like an evil version of Garreth. (That isn't a null-set observation, is it?) I mean, that's basically how his thing with The Old Man is. XD; Though I re-read The Valley of Fear the other day**, which made me realize you're not actually given anything on Moriarty and Moran's working relationship other than Holmes's forensic accounting. And I can't remember anyone trying to complicate it, make it interesting, in derivative works... Mind you when you've got three out of four corners, which is basically the case in both current adaptations, you can proceed by inference for maximum punchiness.
In the same bookstore session I also read half of Let The Right One In (or Let Me In, as it's been translated per Hollywoodization), but stopped when I realized it would be LUMINESCENTLY DEPRESSING. G went to see the movie and said it was scarier, had better effects, but I liked the quiet observation of the original; the way it's not cued as a horror flick. Plus they took out the androgyny, no surprise.
** Sometimes it's good to have no memory - I found I had no idea what the resolution of the mystery was. XD;; Then skipped the Inevitable American Bit(tm).
