This is a really interesting article about the cell phone novels in Japan and how they're used by young women as a means for expression:
I'm a single undead gal trying to make it in the big city. I have to start somewhere and they're evil here. They don't judge. They've got necro-tempered glass. No burning up. A great medical plan, and who needs dental more than us?
Harmony ,'Conviction (1)'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Maysa - Oct 22, 2009 10:22:58 pm PDT #10260 of 28706
Fred Pete - Oct 23, 2009 4:38:31 am PDT #10261 of 28706
Ann, that's a ferret.
I haven't kept up -- my first reaction to "cell phone novel" was Steven King's Cell. Where cell phones are a key part of the story, but it definitely isn't a cell phone novel.
Aims - Oct 26, 2009 7:51:49 am PDT #10262 of 28706
Shit's all sorts of different now.
Emeline got a personally inscribed copy of Blueberry Girl from our friend Anne this weekend. Damn book made me cry. But she LOVES it. It is quite beautiful. A must-have for young girl children.
She is building up quite the collection of personalized books. She already has The Wolves in the Walls, Micawber (by John Lithgow) and this winter she'll be getting The Last Unicorn since Peter S. Beagle will be at the Con that we always go to.
Jessica - Oct 27, 2009 6:26:16 am PDT #10263 of 28706
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
I'm about a third of the way through A Game of Thrones, and so far am really enjoying it. I haven't read fantasy (Tolkien and Harry Potter excluded) in years, so I'm pleased that this book holding my interest.
Tom Scola - Oct 28, 2009 8:44:55 am PDT #10264 of 28706
Where do you come from? Where do you go? What is your scene, baby? We just gotta know.
Wikipedia can be so awesome sometimes: [link]
Polter-Cow - Oct 28, 2009 8:50:25 am PDT #10265 of 28706
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
So it appears that The Hotel New Hampshire is the Ultimate John Irving Novel.
Steph L. - Oct 28, 2009 8:53:33 am PDT #10266 of 28706
That which does not kill you should RUN
That is excellent.
Also, it's fucked up yet unsurprising that the Irving books I loved the most in college (Garp, Hotel New Hampshire) were the ones that had all (or almost all) of the recurring themes.
DavidS - Oct 28, 2009 11:55:03 am PDT #10267 of 28706
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
were the ones that had all (or almost all) of the recurring themes.
Water Method Man and Setting Free the Bears both have the usual set of early Irving obsessions: Bears, Austria, Whores, Comic Mayhem, Ironic Death.
Seska (the Watcher-in-Training) - Oct 28, 2009 12:20:46 pm PDT #10268 of 28706
"We're all stories, in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?"
Favourite Irving: Owen Meaney. Possibly because I like slightly twisted takes on religion.
Polter-Cow - Oct 28, 2009 12:21:05 pm PDT #10269 of 28706
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
That's my only Irving.