Subject: (urth) Semi-OT: Random Mievillainousness

From: Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 09:38:33 +0000

China M. has an article in the Guardian (http://tinyurl.com/6s587)
from which I pull the  following quotes as possibly interesting 
and/or relevant to the recent-ongoing discussion of his work:

*****BEGIN QUOTED TEXT*****
I'm in this business for the monsters. My single favourite monsters 
are the beastmen in The Island of Doctor Moreau. I love the 
octopoid creatures and the giant swine spirit in William Hope 
Hodgson. I have a lot of time for pig monsters. I've always liked 
being terrified of monsters from underwater coming up, like the 
Creature from the Black Lagoon. There's a picture of Beatrix 
Potter's Jeremy Fisher with the trout about to bite his foot and 
he hasn't seen it yet. Completely terrifying.

...

Loads of children read books about dinosaurs, underwater 
monsters, dragons, witches, aliens, and robots. Essentially, the 
people who read SF, fantasy and horror haven't grown out of 
enjoying the strange and weird.

...

The weirdest thing I ever saw was in Hyde Park. There was a 
crowd, I joined them, and for the next 10 minutes we stood 
aghast and fascinated watching a pelican eating a pigeon.
*****END QUOTED TEXT*****

--Dan'l

-- 
www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer
Freedom has no barcode.
     --J.G. Ballard

---

From: Lisa Schaffer-Doggett <harlekin at earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 10:06:44 +0000

You know, I haven't read any Mieville, but for all the talk of him 
being hack-ish, there's a certain purity of feeling in these quotes 
that make me curious now to check out at least one book by him.

Don

On Thursday, December 2, 2004, at 09:38 AM, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:

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From: stilskin <acronus at yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 10:31:33 +0000

Mieville is worth reading.  He is no hack, in my
opinion, although he has clearly been influenced by
hacks -- as has Gene Wolfe.  I recommend The Scar as
the "purest" Mieville -- that's the book I feel has
come closest to showcasing his strengths.  Perdido
Street Station will also give a fair appreciation of
his talents.  I would avoid Iron Council, his latest. 
He's not the tidiest of writers under the best of
circumstances, but IC is just plain sloppy.

Paul
--- Lisa Schaffer-Doggett <harlekin at earthlink.net>

> > *****END QUOTED TEXT*****

=====
http://www.sff.net/people/stilskin

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