Read Icculus: The Next Generation

Two novels and a manga this week:

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, Jules Verne
SQUIRREL SEEKS CHIPMUNK, David Sedaris
WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND VOL. 2, Kousuke, Oono

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is one of my favorite novels of all time so I figured it was high time to give 20,000 LEAGUES a shot. Where as Journey is a sort of adventurous scientific fiction story, League seems much more of a scientific adventure if you know what I mean. I liked it, but it was a lot less exciting than Journey was. I got pretty bored of the non-Nemo characters, but it definitely had its moments.

SQUIRREL SEEKS CHIPMUNK is a collection of short stories about animals. Sort of like Aesop’s Neurotic Fables. I loved it. It’s one of the funniest books I’ve read since the last David Sedaris book I read.

Househusband vol. 2 was even better than vol. 1. It’s an incredibly silly, episodic gag manga about a retired yakuza who now lives as a house-husband. It’s great.

2020.05.08 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 40

We’re at the “I’m going to watch Naruto from the beginning” stage of quarantine.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

This might be the isolation speaking? but… I’m thinkin’ about trying my hand at painting miniatures? I bet the bride’s got brushes I could use, I just need to order some paints? and a miniature what to paint? Do they make robot miniatures? I don’t really care about Orcs and shit, but I’d paint a mecha all day.

There is also the “painting and weathering some of the Gundam models I have” option. That might be fun too. I’d have to clean off this desk and probaby get a better light… ooh but then maybe I could also set up m’webcam to stream it. This is starting to sound more like one of those projects where I have a great time getting everything set up and then once it’s ready the actual project falls by the wayside because what I REALLY wanted to do was sort out the supplies and whatnot. We’ll see, I guess.

Very little to report this week in the way of any sort of READING ICCULUSNESS so not going to bother with a post. I’m about halfway through 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, it’s fun. I have also read some manga: Vol 2 of CRYING FREEMAN and the first volume of BLACK CANVAS: MY SO-CALLED ARTISTS JOURNEY. Both are great. Expecting a bunch of books in the mail next week so maybe next friday we’ll have more to discuss.

Currently Playing; I’m watching Naruto, so just the theme from Naruto I guess.
Currently Reading: I just told you that.

Read Icculus Goes to Monte Carlo

Good week! 4 books and 1 manga.

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE, Diana Wynne Jones
CASTLE IN THE AIR, Diana Wynne Jones
HOUSE OF MANY WAYS, Diana Wynne Jones
IS IT WRONG TO TRY TO PICK UP GIRLS IN A DUNGEON? VOL. 1 LIGHT NOVEL, Fujino Omori
GIGANT, VOL. 1, Hiroya Oku

The moving castle trilogy was 2/3s excellent and 1/3 fine. The first book is a delightful fairy-tale that I adored every page of. Its sequel, while not quite reaching the heights of its predecessor was also a blast and a fun riff on the tales of the Arabian Nights. HOUSE OF MANY WAYS however was a let down. I never really cared about the plot and actively disliked the protagonist. Also, its ties to the characters of the first 2 books were not very interesting and felt like in the years since she’d written them last Jones sort of forgot how to write them? I dunno. I’m interested to read more of her books though because I LOVED the first 2 and while I wasn’t a huge fan of the final volume it was still a decent enough fantasy.

So. Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon? We still don’t know the answer. I read this purely as some junkfood trash to pick at because I liked the anime. I can say that I enjoyed reading it, but it’s also the most I’ve ever enjoyed a book that was as HORRIBLY written as this. I don’t know how much is the translation and how much is the book itself… but, yeah. Just utter dogshit. I sort of knew that going in, but I was still surprised just how bad it was. I will probably read the next one when I next need a very stupid book I can read when I’m too tired to even bother TRYING to spin up my brain.

GIGANT is wild. There’s no way to describe it without sounding like a degenerate? This dude makes friends with his favorite porn star? and she has massive breasts? and then she gets a weird, mysterious power to grow really big like Super Chief in the old Hanna Barberra cartoons? The art is amazing and even though the premise is… out there? I really liked it and am a fan of all of Oku’s previous work so I preordered the next volume.

2020.05.01 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 35

Everything is on fire and I hurt my neck and wrist in a semi-related, cushion-punching incident.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

Counting down the seconds until I can leave this chair and go lie down. It’s been a week, ladies and gentlemen! This is tough all over, I know, but this is my blog so I’m gonna whine on it…

I started another book about Miyazaki: MIYAZAKIWORLD by Susan Napier. So far it’s great, much more the type of book I was looking for when I read the Helen McCarthy one. That book was fine, but was clearly written at a time where Miyazaki had to be explained to people. This one came out post-WIND RISES so has no need to bury the lede and can get right into the stuff I want instead of recapping movies I’ve seen 35 times each. In the last 8 days I’ve watched 8 of the 11 Miyazaki features. By tonight that number will be 9. I haven’t rewatched Totoro on this journey yet, but I’ve seen that movie roughly monthly since I had children (often weekly and sometimes daily) so it’s less pressing for me. The other one I haven’t rewatched recently is Castle of Cagliostro, mostly because it’s the only one I haven’t got on blu ray. I had a dvd once upon a time, but I think I foolishly parted with it in the great “oh, shit my wife is pregnant I gotta sell some of this shit and buy furniture” purge of 2012. The second I can get the blu for a reasonable sum I will correct this error.

Currently Playing: ZANDAR ZAN – “HDK 18 † Thug life in Tsargol”

Currently Reading: MIYAZAKIWORLD, Susan Napier

Read Icculus Goes Bananas

Finished 1 book and 3 mangas this week:

CRYING FREEMAN, VOL. 1, Kazuo Koike & Ryoichi Ikegami
PARASYTE, VOL. 1, Hitoshi Iwaaki
THE DRIFTING CLASSROOM: PERFECT EDITION VOL. 1, Kazuo Umezz
HAYAO MIYAZAKI: MASTER OF JAPANESE ANIMATION, Helen McCarthy

The book about Miyazaki was interesting, but also very strange and dated. It came out after Princess Mononoke. There is a lot of talk in it about whether Miyazaki could possibly repeat the success of that film with his next project which little was known of. The next project would turn out to be SPIRITED AWAY, which is, in my opinion, one of the three greatest films ever made.

The other thing that was weird about the book was how much of it was dedicated to just detailing the full plots of each film. I can see that being something you’d want to have at the time when these movies were not easily (or in many cases even remotely) accessible, but in 2020 I don’t need to read a 20 page synopsis of My Neighbor Totoro because I’ve seen it no less than 100 times.

Still, a fun enough little time capsule.

2020.04.17 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 25

I’m at the “watching hour long videos of nerds touring their manga collection” phase of isolation.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

I moved a bunch of manga down into my office (I got another table so my workspace quadrupled and now I have so much more space to do activities!) so that I would see them every day until I felt shamed into reading them all. I’m being stared at currently by the first 6 20TH CENTURY BOYS omnibus editions by Naoki Urasawa, the first 5 URUSEI YATSURA omnibus’ by Rumiko Takahashi (I’ve read the first one and I loved it), a big collection of the complete DORORO by Osamu Tezuka (given to me by my friend Sho for my birthday! What a guy.), Junji Ito’s adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s NO LONGER HUMAN and a bunch of other stuff. (Gotta save some for the next time I can’t think of what to blog about on a friday).

Here’s hoping this strategy of piling stuff I want to read beside me all day will prompt me to read some of it.

Speaking of reading! I suck at it again… My reading rate has plummeted of late and I only finished one thing this week so I’m not going to bother with a full Read Icculus entry. I’ll just mention it here:

I read Haruki Murakami’s memoir about running (and really, about writing) WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING. I loved it. Maybe I should start running? Why not me?!

Currently Playing: Makeup and Vanity Set – “Roy”

Currently Reading: That same stupid light novel about meeting girls in dungeons, it’s TRASH, but it is a fun diversion from the apocalypse.

2020.04.15 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Entry 23

Bet you thought I was going to forget again! No such luck.

Greetings from my hovel on the shores of the Bow.

Ed Brubaker, Marco Martin & Muntsa Vicente released a new digital first comic on Panel Syndicate today! I have only read the first couple pages but it appears that Marcos Martin is doing his best work ever? Which is already a pretty high bar? I really love this format. I wish more creators would release their comics digitally like this. (No disrespect to the many fine local comic shops out there who are definitely hurting at this time, but the fact that they’re wonderful places doesn’t change the fact that the mainstream comics distribution and sales model is badly in need of repair). Brubaker and Martin get instant buys from me anyway, but this appears to be great even for them!

A new season of anime is upon us. Cheer or groan here depending on your persuasion. I am excited and managed to watch the first episode of 3 series last night:

Kaguya-Sama Love is War: Season 2
I was a big fan of season 1 and this first episode was great. It’s a very funny show, though I could see it being patience-trying for some. Chika is eternal best girl.

Appare-Ranman!
This was the new show I was most intrigued by as it looked like a 19th-century, steampunk, anime WACKY RACES. The first episode was very light on the WACKY RACING, but it did give us a taste before flashing back to setting up how our characters arrived in said WACKY RACE. It seems good. The animation is very strong and I love the character designs.

Gleipnir
I don’t know what to make of this show? It could go either way, but after episode 1 I was pretty into it. It’s got weird sports-mascot monster guys and a deranged seeming female (pro?an?)tagonist? I’m definitely going to keep watching, but it’s not going to be for everyone.

Currently Playing: Phish – “Sigma Oasis”
Currently Reading: IS IT WRONG TO PICK UP GIRLS IN A DUNGEON? LIGHT NOVEL VOL. 1, Fujino Omori

Return of the Son of Read Icculus

Shook off the weird malais that was keeping me from reading and finished 4 books this week:

ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY, David Sedaris
THE WAKE, Paul Kingsnorth
MOON OF THE CRUSTED SNOW, Waubgeshig Rice
SHIVERING SANDS: SEVEN YEARS OF STORIES, DRINKING AND THE WORLD, Warren Elis

For years I insisted I hated David Sedaris. Last year a friend brought up the subject again. “I really don’t understand how you could hate David Sedaris” he said “it seems like the kind of writing you would love?”

This is a friend whose opinions and recommendations I tend to pay closer attention to than some so I looked at Sedaris’ wikipedia page so I could point to the book I’d read that remains the worst thing I’ve ever read.

Couldn’t find it.

Well, I didn’t IMAGINE this book. I read it for a book club!

I googled the title… Eggers. It’s David EGGERS that I hate.

I’ve since read all but 2 of David Sedaris’ books and they’re all brilliant (my favorite is WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES). You should read David Sedaris.

2020.03.24 Dispatches From the Wasteland – Day 7

Just read Albert Uderzo died. 92 years old. Heck of a run.

The Asterix comics he and Goscinny created together are one of the 3 books that gave me my love of comics (and reading in general). Asterix totally holds up and if you’ve never read them or if it’s been a while you should probably do so. I mean, you’re literally locked in your house for the foreseeable future. If not now, when?

Still finding it nigh-impossible to focus on “big-boy” books, whether eye-reading or ear-reading so I’m just rereading comics. I’m about a quarter of the way through my read of the new coloured Master Edition of FROM HELL (which is even more incredible than I thought, which is saying something given I believe it to be Moore’s best work).

Started what is probably my 10th reread of INJECTION by Warren Ellis & Declan Shalvey. It’s currently on hiatus as Shalvey has other work he’s been focusing on (I’m very interested in checking out his BOG BODIES graphic novel) but there’s sooooo much in the 15 issues we have that I can happily reread them for as long as is required until the series can continue.

Ellis, Shalvey, Bellaire. INJECTION, Issue 7. Image Comics. I don’t know how to cite comics and I ain’t lookin’ it up.

Stay safe out there, sinners of the wasteland.

Currently Playing: greyl – “SWEET SUMMER TRIP”

Currently Reading: INJECTION, Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire

2020.03.13 Books in the Wasteland

Yesterday I missed my first weekday post since starting the zone. I’m sure you didn’t notice as you were too busy tending to the world catching fire (more than usual) around you!

I spent the day getting myself set up to work from home for a while and now that I’m more or less settled in we return to our regular broadcasting schedule.

So, time for the weekly book round-up. I finished 3 books and one graphic novel this week:

MEDDLING KIDS, Edgar Cantero
THE NEDDIAD: HOW NEDDIE TOOK THE TRAIN, WENT TO HOLLYWOOD, & SAVED CIVILIZATION, Daniel Pinkwater
FACELESS KILLERS, Henning Mankell
SWIMMING IN DARKNESS, Lucas Harari

MEDDLING KIDS seemed like it might be a fun little pulpy “scooby-doo vs cthulhu” sort of yarn, but unfortunately it was just bad. The first half I was very distracted by how mediocre the actual writing was and the second half that was overshadowed by how much I disliked all the characters and how bored of the incredibly stupid plot I was. Big whiff.

THE NEDDIAD was delightful and holds the distinction of being the first “chapter-book” I read out loud to my son. We read together every night and have done since he was an infant but this was the first book of any length we’ve read together and he loved it. We started the sequel THE YGGYSSEY immediately after we finished THE NEDDIAD.

FACELESS KILLERS is the first of Henning Mankell’s “Wallander” novels and I’ve been meaning to start those for years now. It was good, I shall read the rest.

SWIMMING IN DARKNESS is a really remarkable graphic novel. The art is excellent, very clean and clear and the way in weaves a mystery in with myth, magic and architecture makes it unlike almost any comic I’ve ever read. Definitely worth checking out.

I swear I’m going to finish the Bruce Sterling novel I’ve been reading for 2 months this week. I have to. It’s becoming embarassing.

Currently Playing: Eluvium – “Virga I”

Currently Reading: FLIGHTS, Olga Tokarczuk