Edition: Grafton, 1986
Review number: 514
The last of the Swords of Corum trilogy is very similar to the last of Hawkmoon's adventures in The Quest for Tanelorn. Corum, last of the Vadagh race, faces a renewed attack by the Chaos gods, led by Mabelode, King of the Swords, brother of the less powerful gods destroyed by Corum in the earlier books of the trilogy. This time the attack, again mediated by the barbaric Earl Glandyth, is more subtle, involving sorcery rather than military force. His minions have created a potion which causes distrust and dissension, so that those affected by it destroy each other.
Battling the tensions this psychoactive gas causes within their party, Corum, his wife Rhalina and their friend Jhary set out on a quest to destroy Mabelode, which they soon discover is only possible after Corum travels to Tanelorn with two other aspects of the Eternal Champion to perform a task at the Conjunction of a Million Spheres, an event which can affect every one of the infinite number of parallel worlds.
The joining together of different versions of the Eternal Champion in a quest for Tanelorn is exactly the same as the Dorian Hawkmoon plot. The atmosphere of The King of the Swords is as strong as in any of Moorcock's novels, it just has a re-used plot. (This is, of course, part of the point of the idea of the Eternal Champion; it does, however, rather reduce the interest of this novel.)
Tuesday, 30 May 2000
John dos Passos: The 42nd Parallel (1930)
Edition: Penguin
Review number: 515
The first novel of the famous USA trilogy presents a picture of that country from the beginning of the century until 1917, when the US declared war on Germany. (The trilogy as a whole continues until the early 1930s.) In these novels, dos Passos created a new literary style, frequently admired if rarely imitated, in which documentary style clips are used to create background, to relate the characters to political and economic events and to make the novel seem to be a panoramic picture of the state of the nation.
Each section of the novel is divided into recurring pieces. The longest piece of each section forms the main story, and is basically a narrative about one of the main characters. Then there are newsreel sections, which contain headlines and clips from newspapers, often fragments of sentences as though what you read is an impression gained from flicking through a paper very quickly. There are also pieces summarising the lives of men and women who had a formative influence on their times, such as Thomas Edison. The most interesting pieces, though most difficult to take in, are the 'Camera Eye' narratives, which are also fragmented, and are basically stream of consciousness style snippets of description grouped together more or less randomly.
The end product of reading this novel is a feeling of atmosphere. The plot is not important (and, indeed, practically non-existent); characters may be well drawn, but their purpose is to illustrate the times in which they live. The way that the novel is put together is so clever that it can achieve this without using reams of description. The major problem is in the newsreel sections, because the material selected there presupposes a fair amount of knowledge of American politics in the first few years of the century. Headlines are not helpful in creating an atmosphere if you have never heard of any of the people mentioned.
Of the imitators of this trilogy, both the most successful and the one who has followed dos Passos most slavishly is John Brunner, in his series of dystopias. He has actually used what he has taken from the USA trilogy in a more fundamental way. Because he was writing science fiction, the whole background had to be invented, and Brunner used the documentary portions to establish parts of that background (such as slang expressions, bits and pieces of future mass media) picked up on in the later narrative portions.
The 42nd Parallel is more an extremely extended description than a novel in any traditional sense; its sections do not lead anywhere in particular, and the lack of plot means that the various characters are not integrated for any purpose (some of them meet, but that is all).
Review number: 515
The first novel of the famous USA trilogy presents a picture of that country from the beginning of the century until 1917, when the US declared war on Germany. (The trilogy as a whole continues until the early 1930s.) In these novels, dos Passos created a new literary style, frequently admired if rarely imitated, in which documentary style clips are used to create background, to relate the characters to political and economic events and to make the novel seem to be a panoramic picture of the state of the nation.
Each section of the novel is divided into recurring pieces. The longest piece of each section forms the main story, and is basically a narrative about one of the main characters. Then there are newsreel sections, which contain headlines and clips from newspapers, often fragments of sentences as though what you read is an impression gained from flicking through a paper very quickly. There are also pieces summarising the lives of men and women who had a formative influence on their times, such as Thomas Edison. The most interesting pieces, though most difficult to take in, are the 'Camera Eye' narratives, which are also fragmented, and are basically stream of consciousness style snippets of description grouped together more or less randomly.
The end product of reading this novel is a feeling of atmosphere. The plot is not important (and, indeed, practically non-existent); characters may be well drawn, but their purpose is to illustrate the times in which they live. The way that the novel is put together is so clever that it can achieve this without using reams of description. The major problem is in the newsreel sections, because the material selected there presupposes a fair amount of knowledge of American politics in the first few years of the century. Headlines are not helpful in creating an atmosphere if you have never heard of any of the people mentioned.
Of the imitators of this trilogy, both the most successful and the one who has followed dos Passos most slavishly is John Brunner, in his series of dystopias. He has actually used what he has taken from the USA trilogy in a more fundamental way. Because he was writing science fiction, the whole background had to be invented, and Brunner used the documentary portions to establish parts of that background (such as slang expressions, bits and pieces of future mass media) picked up on in the later narrative portions.
The 42nd Parallel is more an extremely extended description than a novel in any traditional sense; its sections do not lead anywhere in particular, and the lack of plot means that the various characters are not integrated for any purpose (some of them meet, but that is all).
Friday, 26 May 2000
Paul Feyerabend: Farewell to Reason (1987)
Review number: 513
Farewell to Reason is a collection of essays on the subject of relativism. Though they were rewritten for inclusion in this volume, their independent origin still shows in a certain repetitiveness and in disparity of content - some are far more concentrated on a single theme than others (for example, some are criticisms of particular writers).
The essays pick on the same kinds of targets as Feyerabend's book Against Method, and attack the idea that science is a unified whole, with a single overriding method. Karl Popper is singled out for criticism, but much of what is said would apply to anyone who contrasts "scientific thinking" with other modes of thought (this is usually done do dismiss religious ideas).
Most of the criticisms that can be made of Against Method are also appropriate here. The rhetorical style of Feyerabend's argument, his use of Galileo as a paradigm of scientific method, and the use of counter examples from areas not always regarded as scientific such as economics are faults common to both. The essay form adds new problems, and some parts do not fit into the whole terribly well (notably the discussion of Aristotle's philosophy of mathematics, though it is interesting in itself). Neither Popper nor Feyerabend seem terribly convincing to me; while it is obvious that not all scientific thought is uniform, most practising scientists have quite similar ideas about what they are trying to do. These differ in details (such as the precise relationship between theory, experiment and whatever may count as underlying reality), but then philosophy does not interest many and certainly there are few who would let it affect their work.
The most interesting new point is part of the essay on Galileo and the church, in which Feyerabend parallels the attitude of Catholic cardinals then and the scientific establishment today. As the money and administrative side of scientific research grow every larger, it is more and more difficult to be a (successful, rather than starving) iconoclast. For science to have a religious orthodoxy of this kind is a bad thing, and we need people like Feyerabend to continually attack its genesis.
Thursday, 25 May 2000
Ann Granger: Running Scared (1998)
Review number: 512
The third Fran Varady novel continues with the themes which shaped the first two. Fran is currently working with her friend Ganesh in his uncle's corner shop. She becomes involved with crime once again when a man staggers into the shop, having managed to escape from a car in which he was being abducted. She does not immediately connect the discovery of an envelope containing a set of photographic negatives with this man, until his body turns up on the doorstep of her flat. Then she realises that this envelope is what the kidnappers were after, and that she and Ganesh are in a lot of danger.
With the discovery of the body, the police of necessity become involved, and the distrustful relationship between them and Fran has not changed. She continues to have friends among the homeless, and the them the police have always been objects of fear.
Fran is an interesting character, and the background of these novels is rather different from the vast majority of detective novels. I suspect that the series will continue to entertain for some time to come.
Wednesday, 24 May 2000
Anthony Powell: Hearing Secret Harmonies (1975)
Edition: Heinemann, 1975
Review number: 511
The final part of A Dance to the Music of Time concentrates on what has been an occasional theme until now, esoteric religion, as several characters become involved in what would probably today be described as a New Age cult. Most of the remaining long running characters (including the narrator, Nick Jenkins) are now in their sixties or seventies, and the title refers to both these elements - it is part of a quotation about being affected by mysticism ("hearing secret harmonies" of the universe) before death.
Aside from the final downfall of Kenneth Widmerpool, as his exhibitionist and masochistic side completely takes over his personality, there is little of interest in this novel, a fitting end to a series which has never seemed as good to me as enthusiastic endorsements of its stature by critics suggested. The whole collection is flawed by the colourless, neutral narrator; if it was intended to be naturalistic, we should surely be able to see how he has coloured his narrative with his own personality. The plot of the series as a whole is ludicrous, consisting mainly of a series of coincidences to reintroduce familiar characters. French novelists, notably Balzac and Proust, seem to do this gallery of human life idea far better.
Review number: 511
The final part of A Dance to the Music of Time concentrates on what has been an occasional theme until now, esoteric religion, as several characters become involved in what would probably today be described as a New Age cult. Most of the remaining long running characters (including the narrator, Nick Jenkins) are now in their sixties or seventies, and the title refers to both these elements - it is part of a quotation about being affected by mysticism ("hearing secret harmonies" of the universe) before death.
Aside from the final downfall of Kenneth Widmerpool, as his exhibitionist and masochistic side completely takes over his personality, there is little of interest in this novel, a fitting end to a series which has never seemed as good to me as enthusiastic endorsements of its stature by critics suggested. The whole collection is flawed by the colourless, neutral narrator; if it was intended to be naturalistic, we should surely be able to see how he has coloured his narrative with his own personality. The plot of the series as a whole is ludicrous, consisting mainly of a series of coincidences to reintroduce familiar characters. French novelists, notably Balzac and Proust, seem to do this gallery of human life idea far better.
Terry Pratchett: Carpe Juggulum (1998)
Review number: 510
The Discworld novels now have separate groups of characters, who each inhabit their own novels: the wizards of the Unseen University, the guards of Ankh-Morporkh, Death, and, as here, the witches of Lancre. Magrat having given up being one of the coven to become queen, she is replaced by Agnes Nitt, who is basically a caricature of the plump, unpopular teenage girl, and who in addition has an inner voice, the pushy Perdita - because of the saying that inside every fat girl there's a thin one struggling to get out.
The enemies they face are vampires, nobles from a neighbouring country invited - usefully for them - to the christening of Magrat's daughter. They see this as an opportunity to take over the kingdom of Lancre, a new source of food. They are slightly different from traditional vampires; seeking to modernise themselves, they have forcibly acclimatised themselves to sunlight (at least on dull days), religious symbols, and garlic.
This story is actually quite exciting as well as amusing. The novel is one of the best Discworld novels, full of the trademark Pratchett humour (funnier than in some of the series) - I particularly liked the idea of vampire watermelons, which such back.
Tuesday, 23 May 2000
Alexander Kent: Sloop of War (1972)
Edition: Hutchinson & Co, 1972
Review number: 509
This early Richard Bolitho novel covers his actions during the American War of Independence, which coincides with his first independent command. In this tale of general military incompetence by the army command, Bolitho of course shows his own brilliance. This is frequently at the expense of his superiors, as is commonplace in this type of novel, and in this case he shows such obvious superiority that a higher ranking officer perjures himself at his own court martial in an attempt to destroy Bolitho's career.
Kent's Bolitho novels are fun to read, but he contents himself with always fitting into the stereotypes created by C.S. Forester. Hornblower was such a strong character that Forester's successors are hard put to write anything original that will appeal to his fans and yet be different enough to establish their own voices.
Review number: 509
This early Richard Bolitho novel covers his actions during the American War of Independence, which coincides with his first independent command. In this tale of general military incompetence by the army command, Bolitho of course shows his own brilliance. This is frequently at the expense of his superiors, as is commonplace in this type of novel, and in this case he shows such obvious superiority that a higher ranking officer perjures himself at his own court martial in an attempt to destroy Bolitho's career.
Kent's Bolitho novels are fun to read, but he contents himself with always fitting into the stereotypes created by C.S. Forester. Hornblower was such a strong character that Forester's successors are hard put to write anything original that will appeal to his fans and yet be different enough to establish their own voices.
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