Raymond Chandler

Just finished The Library of America's Chandler Stories and Early Novels, which included 13 "Pulp Stories" and 3 novels, including The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely, and The High Window. The stories, particularly, were wonderful - sure, there is lots of vivid tough-guy talk, but also great plotting, amusing dialog and tangled mysteries unwound by Philip Marlowe (or, in some stories, Mallory or Malvern), who has a code of honor but is still tough and wise enough to see through the lies and cheap ambitions.
One discovery - there's lots of humor in these stories! Fascinating and immensely readable. I grew up in LA - was it really like this?
(Art from Steve Weissman)

William Gibson's Neuromancer

Gibson's Neuromancer is his first book ever, and the second book of his that I have read. I previously read Idoru (out of order). Neuromancer is good - far from as excellent as Idoru; you can really tell he is an amateur writer. The narrative is choppy and often confusing and the dialogue feels false in various places. However, the ideas are still really interesting and at times purely brilliant. The book is famous as a seminal sci-fi work rather than on its own merits, so I would still suggest reading it, especially since it lays out some of the characters for the later works (e.g., Case, Molly). I'm looking forward to reading Count Zero.

Gibson's 3 Trilogies:

The Sprawl Trilogy:

• Neuromancer
• Count Zero
• Mona Lisa Overdrive

The Bridge Trilogy:

• Virtual Light
• Idoru
• All Tomorrow's Parties

The Bigend Books:

• Pattern Recognition
• Spook Country
• Zero History

Witchblade: Origins Volume 1

Just finished reading Witchblade: Origins Volume 1, my first comic book ever. I asked the guy in the comic book stand at Dragon*Con to recommend me something that:

1. Has a strong plot (not stupid or silly)

2. Has interesting character development

3. Is visually cool

4. Has cool costumes

I would say this largely fits the bill. The plot is definitely intriguing and it is visually awesome. It remains to be seen whether the characters will develop in the next volume, although I will check them out and see. As far as costumes go, this girl wears next to nothing all the time, so there isn't much to speak of there. The Witchblade itself is pretty sweet though (pictured on the cover), so I could definitely do a costume with her wearing it with one of her many miniscule dresses.

At first it was hard for me to get used to reading all the different speech bubbles, and the intermittent (and seemingly arbitrary) bolding of words was annoying, but I got over that.

Would recommend.

Bony and the Kelly Gang + Bony and the White Savage

Two more excellent stories by Arthur Upfield, featuring the half aborigine detective, Napoleon Bonaparte. Bony and the Kelly Gang is delightful! As usual, the setting is Australia, but this time in a deep, nearly inaccessible, valley populated by two lively and rebellious extended Irish families. A good mystery filled with warm human interactions***. Bony and the White Savage is an excellent mystery/thriller - still some light touches and good fellowship, but a darker theme and deeper mystery.

***Amazing coincidence! Today's NY Times has a story about Ned Kelly:

"In Australia, Kelly needs no introduction; for Americans, it may help to think of him as Jesse James, Thomas Paine and John F. Kennedy rolled into one. Born about 1854 to an Irish convict exiled to Australia, Kelly became a folk hero as a very young man. He took up arms against a corrupt British constabulary, robbed banks and wrote an explosive manifesto. He was shot and arrested in a final shootout in which he wore homemade metal armor, and in 1880 he was hanged by the Anglo-Irish establishment he despised. "

Kelly and these events serve as a key backdrop to the story in Bony and the Kelly Gang!

Branch Rickey by Jimmy Breslin

This quick, pleasurable read sketches the very interesting life and character of Branch Rickey, for many years the general manager and part owner of the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers and the man who single-handedly integrated major league baseball by recruiting Jackie Robinson and, immediately after, Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella. Breslin is a master of the lively anecdote and a shrewd commentator on American life - highly recommended!

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

This excellent book more frequently made me uncomfortable than anything I have read in a long time. The Berglund family and their relatives and friends are interesting and troubled - and their weaknesses and vanities are placed under the klieg lights of Franzen's simple but powerful prose. I identified at least a little with all the characters but one, so I felt uncomfortable in turn when the faults and troubles of these characters were highlighted. I identified least with the disaffected and cynical rocker Richard Katz, so I guess that's why I liked him the most - I didn't squirm when he was under the light! But there were many laugh out loud moments also.
In a way, the book seems like a well-crafted puzzle - though the narrative was composed largely of grim events afflicting not-so-likable people, these people all eventually and convincingly achieved some peace and the ending was moving and uplifting. Very interesting. Highly recommended.

Moonfleet

This lovely Folio Society book is an adventure/treasure/coming-of-age story and, as such, has been compared favorably with Treasure Island. (e.g. VS Prichett says ‘In the class of Stevenson’s Kidnapped or Treasure Island’). I thought it was a very good story, although pretty sentimental and with some plot coincidences that strain credibility. Sentimentality doesn't slow me down much, but I would not really recommend it to others on that account. Paraphrasing Lloyd Bentsen: "Moonfleet, I have read Treasure Island, I know Treasure Island, Treasure Island is a favorite of mine. Moonfleet, you are no Treasure Island".