Wednesday Winged Hours (On Thursday)

[evelyn_b]

What I've Finished Reading

I didn't have any trouble finishing Decider by Dick Francis, but it left kind of a weird taste in my mouth. The narrator, a regular guy obsessed with restoring ruined houses, happens to inherit some shares in a racecourse owned by his extremely dysfunctional not-really-family (the family of the guy his mother divorced before he was born). The racecourse managers come to him for help in dealing with the family, and he gets entangled in a lot of skulduggery, including having part of the stands blown up on top of him. It's entertaining? Francis is very readable. I didn't love the grim gleefulness with which the family's most loathsome member is disposed of, or the last-minute revelations that actually he was even worse than you thought! I wasn't thrilled with our up-close-and-grody tour of the narrator's personal life, either. I guess it hit a level of "complicated and unsympathetic" that I'm willing to ride with in a "literary" book but don't like or want in a pulpy thriller about vicious racecourse owners trying to out-sabotage each other. So the jury's still out on Dick Francis; I'll probably give him another try the next time he shows up in a free-books context, or on the cheap shelf at one of my regional bookstores.

What I'm Reading Now

Still The Guns of Avalon, weirdly enough - it's such a short book! but I'm finding it slow going even though I don't dislike it particularly. Probably I've just been distracted; it's been a busy week made busier by anxiety and technological glitches.

Also began Making Money by Terry Pratchett, a gift from a friend! This was a slower start than other Pratchett books, and feels sometimes, especially in the beginning, a little more contrived - but maybe that's just Moist von Lipwig's particular curse. Moist is a man in a Dostoevskian pickle: rescued from the gallows at the last minute by Machiavellian city boss Lord Vetinari, he's now obligated to use his new respectable persona to Vetinari's advantage or go right back to being hanged. First he reformed the post office (presumably in a previous book); now he's tasked with beefing up the banking system so Vetinari can do a bunch of expensive infrastructure work. The book picks up a lot once he inherits a small dog (Mr Fusspot) who has inherited the position of bank chairman. I like it when animals have positions of power they don't actually care about. It picks up a little more after he invents paper money, and that's about where I am.

What I Plan to Read Next

Maybe next week I'll catch up for real! Maybe. Also possibly The Three Musketeers.

Comments

[osprey_archer]

I loved the book where Moist von Lipwig reformed the post office! Going Postal, I think it's called? Anyway, I always meant to read Making Money but I never got around to it. Perhaps I should take this as a kick in the pants in that direction...

[evelyn_b]

I should read that one! Poor Moist. I don't know that he's as strong a character (as sharp in my mind, that is) as Sam Vimes or the witches from Wyrd Sisters, but his predicament is certainly awkward. Even if he does seem to have a knack for reforming major modern institutions.

(I do like that his saving trait is being blindingly unmemorable).

[thisbluespirit]

Making Money is still good, but I think it's about the point where the Alzheimer's was just beginning to make itself felt - it was a long process. Sadly. (Going Postal the first Moist book is excellent, though.)

Three Musketeers! They are the worst and also the best. <3

[evelyn_b]

Oh no. :( I've heard there was a point when things go downhill, but wasn't sure when to expect it. There's still quite a lot to like in Making Money and I'll definitely read Going Postal.

Looking forward to the best worstness!

[thisbluespirit]

I think where the point is, is debatable - and there's never nothing good in there! It just does start to tell, inevitably, and sadly.

[littlerhymes]

Decider is an 'eh' Dick Francis imo. I too would be... uh... undecided if that was one of my first ones. Hmm, that was terrible and I'll show myself out. (I hope you find more DF books!)