Week Three
Oct. 10th, 2003 09:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hmpf4./5.10.2003 (end of week three):
Still no internet at home, though we're a few steps closer now. We actually have a phone line now, it just, somehow, does not work with my modem. That is to say, there is probably a fault on the line. Will have to have that tested tomorrow. As a result, I haven't had much motivation to update my LJ so far – I hate writing down my thoughts in a huge room in the computer cluster with people looking over my shoulder all the time. So, no updates, so far.
Instead, I am mostly reading. Since I've been here, I've read the last part of the First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Master and Margarita, Consider Phlebas, and American Gods. All of them, good books.
Thomas Covenant: The first part is the best, I think, but the rest is quite nice, too, though nice isn't the right word for it, really, given that good old Thomas Covenant is such an unpleasant person and the books are just filled to the brim with pain. Also, I''m having some issues with the language. I think Mr. Donaldson tends to go over the top pretty often. He has some annoying stylistic mannerisms. Still, interesting personal journey, and a fascinating book – on the one hand, employing many well-known fantasy tropes, on the other hand giving a very personal, quite original twist to them. The first part succeeded best in giving me an otherworldly feel – probably because in it, Thomas Covenant is so desperate not to believe, thus giving the whole book a feel of unreality. All in all, I love the books – all three of them – enough to get seriously tempted each time I pass the green spine of the Second Chronicles in a bookshop. I will buy and read them one of these days, I'm certain. I'd definitely recommend the book to everyone who wants to read a 'different' kind of fantasy.
The Master and Margarita: interesting; not quite as engaging as I would have wished. Possibly a problem of translation. Strangely, as with 'War and Peace', I notice a certain avuncular quality to the prose that doesn't sit quite right with me. I'm not sure if that is simply a characteristic of Russian literature, or if it's an issue of translation.
Consider Phlebas: quite stunning images and ideas, some really nice characters (with really silly names; I mean, what kind of a name is 'Wubslin'? What cruel parents would call their daughter 'Perosteck'?), though sometimes it felt like... I dunno how to put it. It reminded me of a little boy building sand castles only to destroy them in the most spectacular manner imaginable. You could be pretty certain of two things in that book: 1.) you would encounter loads of impressive machines – megaships, giant trains, giant spaceship, giant orbitals... and 2.) all of these oversized technical devices would be destroyed with great gusto. The book would make a great action movie, although one could not accuse it of being without substance – there was definitely more than just the action there. So, all in all, not my favourite book of the ones I've read recently, but still interesting enough to make me want to check out more of Iain M. Banks' writing. I think I might be going for 'Against a Dark Background' next, which looks to be less action-oriented.
American Gods: Just finished reading it, compulsively. It pretty much kept me from doing anything useful for the last few days. Well, what can I say? I love it, quite simply. Pure Gaiman, with its all-too-human gods, its sense of a deeper reality, its astute little observations and eerily believable inventions. I'm kind of creeped out that Gaiman observed, as I have done many times, that you only ever catch the same episode of shows you don't watch regularly. He writes it's a cosmic law, and I guess it must be! ;-) I love the biggest dwarf in America, and the taxi-driving jinn, and the man that Shadow can't remember. I wonder if the book is secretly set in the same universe as the Sandman comics? This is one of the books that you start missing and want to read again, immediately after turning the last page.
Apart from my reading, I've had my first few classes at uni, and I've been job hunting. On Wednesday, I went to the Jewellery Quarter, which is just what it says: a whole quarter with – almost – nothing but jewellery shops and workshops. So, I asked around, but no one was hiring, and eventually I was pointed to a bigger company, and they seemed somewhat interested. So I gave them a diskette with images of my work, and the guy I was talking to, who happened to be the boss's son, went next door with it and, supposedly, had a look, and then came back and told me that I was pretty interesting to them, and that they might have vacancies in the design department soon. Mind you, I wasn't looking for a job as a designer, it's not something I feel comfortable with or even enjoy doing, but I'll take whatever job I can get in the jewellery industry. Well, I left them my e-mail and got an e-mail, two days later, that said they were still interested and would I come for an informal meeting next week? I have no idea what that means, but I've decided to treat it as a job interview. I'm very, very reluctant to be too optimistic, though. Nevertheless, it is kind of flattering to know that they would even consider hiring me.
Still no internet at home, though we're a few steps closer now. We actually have a phone line now, it just, somehow, does not work with my modem. That is to say, there is probably a fault on the line. Will have to have that tested tomorrow. As a result, I haven't had much motivation to update my LJ so far – I hate writing down my thoughts in a huge room in the computer cluster with people looking over my shoulder all the time. So, no updates, so far.
Instead, I am mostly reading. Since I've been here, I've read the last part of the First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Master and Margarita, Consider Phlebas, and American Gods. All of them, good books.
Thomas Covenant: The first part is the best, I think, but the rest is quite nice, too, though nice isn't the right word for it, really, given that good old Thomas Covenant is such an unpleasant person and the books are just filled to the brim with pain. Also, I''m having some issues with the language. I think Mr. Donaldson tends to go over the top pretty often. He has some annoying stylistic mannerisms. Still, interesting personal journey, and a fascinating book – on the one hand, employing many well-known fantasy tropes, on the other hand giving a very personal, quite original twist to them. The first part succeeded best in giving me an otherworldly feel – probably because in it, Thomas Covenant is so desperate not to believe, thus giving the whole book a feel of unreality. All in all, I love the books – all three of them – enough to get seriously tempted each time I pass the green spine of the Second Chronicles in a bookshop. I will buy and read them one of these days, I'm certain. I'd definitely recommend the book to everyone who wants to read a 'different' kind of fantasy.
The Master and Margarita: interesting; not quite as engaging as I would have wished. Possibly a problem of translation. Strangely, as with 'War and Peace', I notice a certain avuncular quality to the prose that doesn't sit quite right with me. I'm not sure if that is simply a characteristic of Russian literature, or if it's an issue of translation.
Consider Phlebas: quite stunning images and ideas, some really nice characters (with really silly names; I mean, what kind of a name is 'Wubslin'? What cruel parents would call their daughter 'Perosteck'?), though sometimes it felt like... I dunno how to put it. It reminded me of a little boy building sand castles only to destroy them in the most spectacular manner imaginable. You could be pretty certain of two things in that book: 1.) you would encounter loads of impressive machines – megaships, giant trains, giant spaceship, giant orbitals... and 2.) all of these oversized technical devices would be destroyed with great gusto. The book would make a great action movie, although one could not accuse it of being without substance – there was definitely more than just the action there. So, all in all, not my favourite book of the ones I've read recently, but still interesting enough to make me want to check out more of Iain M. Banks' writing. I think I might be going for 'Against a Dark Background' next, which looks to be less action-oriented.
American Gods: Just finished reading it, compulsively. It pretty much kept me from doing anything useful for the last few days. Well, what can I say? I love it, quite simply. Pure Gaiman, with its all-too-human gods, its sense of a deeper reality, its astute little observations and eerily believable inventions. I'm kind of creeped out that Gaiman observed, as I have done many times, that you only ever catch the same episode of shows you don't watch regularly. He writes it's a cosmic law, and I guess it must be! ;-) I love the biggest dwarf in America, and the taxi-driving jinn, and the man that Shadow can't remember. I wonder if the book is secretly set in the same universe as the Sandman comics? This is one of the books that you start missing and want to read again, immediately after turning the last page.
Apart from my reading, I've had my first few classes at uni, and I've been job hunting. On Wednesday, I went to the Jewellery Quarter, which is just what it says: a whole quarter with – almost – nothing but jewellery shops and workshops. So, I asked around, but no one was hiring, and eventually I was pointed to a bigger company, and they seemed somewhat interested. So I gave them a diskette with images of my work, and the guy I was talking to, who happened to be the boss's son, went next door with it and, supposedly, had a look, and then came back and told me that I was pretty interesting to them, and that they might have vacancies in the design department soon. Mind you, I wasn't looking for a job as a designer, it's not something I feel comfortable with or even enjoy doing, but I'll take whatever job I can get in the jewellery industry. Well, I left them my e-mail and got an e-mail, two days later, that said they were still interested and would I come for an informal meeting next week? I have no idea what that means, but I've decided to treat it as a job interview. I'm very, very reluctant to be too optimistic, though. Nevertheless, it is kind of flattering to know that they would even consider hiring me.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-10-10 01:54 pm (UTC)American Gods and Sandman/ universes
Date: 2003-10-11 04:55 am (UTC)Con: Wednesday/Odin and Loki are clearly different incarnations from those gallivanting about in Sandman. However, by the rules of American Gods, each country gets its own incarnations anyway...
First reaction: How could I miss that?
Date: 2003-10-11 09:50 am (UTC)One thing that did remind me of the Sandman universe, however, was the description of Shadow's death, of the darkness, 'lit by a single star'. That reminds me of Dream's eyes.
On the other hand, the whole death episode is a strong case against the idea of AG being set in the Sandman universe, 'cause Shadow doesn't meet Death...