As promised, an update on my reading list this week. Happy New Year!
Kim. I don’t know how to describe Kipling’s novel, except that I wish I could relive the experience of reading it all over again. Initially, I wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with the storyline – I’d read Laurie R. King’s The Game, which sets Mary Russell and Holmes in the backdrop of Kim’s colonial India. But reading Kim itself was re-immersing myself in that world. Kipling’s sensory descriptions of places and people are phenomenal, and the narrative balanced the fast-paced action of the Great Game with the spiritual reflections of Kim’s lama. Although I draw issue with the blatant sexism(s) within the novel, I didn’t find it as overtly pro-Imperialism as I thought I might (Conan Doyle, I think, may be more of an Imperialist than Kipling is in Kim).
My light read for today was Magnus Flyte’s City of Dark Magic. I think this one falls under the new(er) genre of New Adult, which is (from my understanding) a mix of YA-like narrative with the uncensured Adult genre. So, essentially, this novel is Prague + magic + art/music history + sex. It’s quite engaging, and a good read. I love the amount of research that went into this novel (it’s all about Beethoven), and spinning a fantasy tale from said research is certainly intriguing. That being said, as much as I’d enjoy Sarah (the protagonist and narrator) in real life, I found her narrative voice slightly annoying and somewhat predictable. (Note that this is one of my major complaints about the YA genre in general… yes, my YA-loving friends, don’t act so shocked.) Still a fun read, and it was a good way to transition from Kim to my next classic novel.
Farmgirl Writes 