rosanicus

This is the first time I've had enough reading built up for this specific post format and I'm EXCITED.

What I've Just Finished Reading

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, On Zionist Literature by Ghassan Kanafani and Murder by Air by W.E. Johns.

I picked up Piranesi at the charity shop near work on Monday and then read all of it yesterday, including about sixty pages during silent reading time (which I extended much longer than usual out of a selfish desire to keep reading Piranesi... forgive me). It's such a gorgeous book, surprising nobody, and I absolutely loved the narrator and the way he engaged with the House on a religious and personal level. He's so empathetic and careful and deeply traumatised, many things I enjoy in a character, and the fact the entire book is epistolary caused me extreme joy. I knew I was going to like this one, but I'm very pleased by how much I loved it - a five star reading experience for sure.

On Zionist Literature was a very interesting text on the history of Zionist thought as viewed through the form of the novel in the Western world and beyond, from the early 1800s up to the date of publication in 1967. It came up as a PDF on Tumblr a few days ago and I thought, ooh, that looks interesting, and ended up reading it over the course of two evenings! I do think that reading it in translation made some of the author's points a little unclear, especially with how some academic terms were translated, but overall I was really engaged with it in a way that academic texts rarely draw me in. I thought the section about the early 19th century was particularly effective, although I wasn't always convinced by the author's arguments on specific texts. I'll definitely seek out more work by Kanafani, but might look up reviews to check whether the translation is more accessible.

Finally, the obligatory Johnsiverse book. Murder by Air is the third Steeley book and objectively the best plot so far. There were so many twists and turns which were always well thought out, engaging and thrilling. I really liked the Count as an antagonist and especially Helene (both of her!), another example of W.E. Johns' blase attitude towards crossdressing in the pre-war period. He engages with it as if it's the same level of disguise as, like, a false moustache, and I enjoy it!  Obviously in my heart Constantino got his egg cracked by this experience and then miraculously escaped the plane crash at the end so that she could turn over a new, transgender leaf. Fingers crossed!

What I'm Reading Now

This is always a complete crapshoot but AT PRESENT, I am working on Blood On Satan's Claw, which is the very late novelisation of one of my favourite horror films of all time. The pastor has gone on a short walk and stumbled upon the future site of some rather nasty satanic rituals, but it's clearly already a Place Where Terrible Things Happen... all mysterious and etc., I'm enjoying it but because the original film is quite atmospheric the book is relying heavily on narration and setting description, which could become quite a slog if the pace continues as it has so far.

What I Plan To Read Next

Possibly yet another crack at Biggles Follows On. I also bought a slim volume by Ernest Shackleton which I believe to be a long extract from South!, which I will dive into when I feel like reliving polar agonies but don't feel depressed enough to rewatch The Terror.

Yesterday I decided on a whim to dive into the last 'character' series of WEJ's that I hadn't tried yet, and ended up breezing through the first Steeley book in just a few hours. It's fun!

Steeley is (for anyone unitiated) a sort of Robin Hood figure, who following the trauma of the Great War decided that he was sick and tired of war profiteers and the like getting rich on the misery of the underclasses and resolved to Do Something About It. The Something About It just happens to include illegal smuggling, running a chain of hosiery shops under the name 'Madame Montforte' (yes, really), engaging in ludicrous and admirable displays of philanthropy under a Latin pseudonym, and hitting policemen in the face with lobsters.

He is also desperately, existentially lonely in a way which the narrator - his old war buddy Eric 'Tubby' Wilde (so named for his 'expansive' waistline, thanks WEJ) - is at pains to point out and occasionally attempt to mitigate in his own slightly failtastic way. I found this a really interesting character beat to be honest. It also means that my ongoing quest to read deeply into the implications of some of the characters in Biggles is not necessarily in vain, because WEJ really did like to go into some psychological depth in his writing. I really enjoyed the short introduction from Tubby about their wartime experiences (and not only for the homoerotic devotion he displays) because it introduced the core tenets of Steeley's character very early on and then they were stuck to assiduously by the narrative!

The plot itself was very much in the WEJ vein of constant action and derringdo, which I enjoyed very much, although the plot was extremely thin on the ground. It felt more like WEJ had invented Steeley and thought 'hey, here's a guy I can get into' then spent 150 pages just hanging out with him in his cool house with multiple secret passageways, hidden aircraft hangers and a HOT AIR BALLOON LAUNCHPAD.

I also love WEJ's names. Has anyone discussed this? Because this book has a sort of Flash Harry character called Dude Dale. DUDE. DALE.

Anyway I highly recommend this one for its extreme concentration of fun and excitement, alongside the WEJ-required gay subtext and big flock of sheep. I've started reading Steeley Flies Again and in chapter 2 Tubby and Steeley experience a homophobic microaggression. It's great.