The Literary Reflection, II

It is time to once again reflect on recent readings, and stop for a moment the random consideration of rice pudding, puzzle cubes, and 'The Six Million Dollar Man'. The literary reflection must strike once again, with great vigour, lack of concision, and a tendency to list slightly to larboard. This time, it's even more of a mixed bag than usual.

'The A-Team' by Charles Heath (1984)

Yes, a novelisation of an adventure series pilot from the 1980s. 'The A-Team' actually spawned ten novelisation from it's first two (and best) seasons, and they are in many ways better than the show itself. By all accounts, Charles Heath was a fictitious umbrella nom-de-plume for a bunch of jobbing authors, who took the show and made it a bit more consistent, refined some of the humour, and added a bare minimum of extra framing material. This one has the advantage of being based on the double-length pilot episode. Is it good? Yes, in a bare manner. Actually, I really loved these ten novelisations when growing up, and this one is still pretty solid, even if it adds very little to the screened version in terms of solid narrative. The world can only be enhanced by the addition of more Howling Mad Murdock, however. This was a plan that definitely did come together.

'The Master And Margarita' by Mikhail Bulgakov (1967)

I already wrote about this briefly in its own post. It's a classic Russian novel, a great work, and one that did leave a definite effect. The novel is split into two very distinct parts, and the casual reader might be confused at the abrupt change of pace and lack of a definite climax, but it is definitely a worthy read. No, the diabolical entity isn't defeated, but it's a different kind of story than that, and one to not be missed. Also, in a definite advantage, a great genre novel which doesn't leave you miserably affected and broken from an overload of dystopia and or tragedy is something to be treasured. There's a reason why I've heard that enigmatic title being bandied about for so long.

'Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat' by Ernest Brahma (1928)

The works of Ernest Bramah are little known today, as are most works of entertainment more than a couple of decades old. 'Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat' is the third in the 'Kai Lung' series, and is a sequence of shorter stories set into by a substantial framing story. The narrative is based around the storyteller Kai Lung and his quest to rescue his spouse from her imprisonment by a robber baron. As it is a short story collection, and my talents lend themselves more to novel length narratives, it took a long long time to read, but was definitely worth it. I'm not sure that I'll dig up any more of the entries in the Brahma bibliography, although I really don't know why. The writing was exquisite and witty, and the immersion into the Oriental world of language and etiquette was profound. Perhaps it's because I was looking for something to follow the superlative 'Bridge Of Birds' by Barry Hughart, or am in deep short story fatigue. What? Written myself into a corner? Okay, I'll read another. Mwahahahhahah. 'The Moon Of Much Gladness' will follow in due course.

'Going Postal' by Terry Pratchett (2004)

It may be the last definably classic Discworld novel, and it's certainly one of my favourites. As with most of the Discworld novels, it's ultimately slight but a brisk and enjoyable romp. The story is that of Moist von Lipwig (yes, it is an unfortunate name), an inveterate conman who is given a second chance by the tolerant tyrant of Ankh-Morpock and asked to reopen and popularise the city's post office. Much symbolism and hijinks ensues, as does thinly (if it's covered at all) veiled criticism of corporate business behaviour. I love it, and it has one of the best love interests in Adora Belle Dearhart (he did indeed go the whole hog on names this time around). Oh, for an Adora Belle Dearhart!

Yes, it was a mix of books both old and old. The book piles have rotated substantially, and now it's time to dig into some Greek and the great Freud himself...

O.