What are you currently reading?

[RonClinton]

Picked it up today at a local Barnes & Noble.
EDIT: And returned it, because I found a signed copy at another bookstore.

Unfortunately at now halfway through I'm not digging ABOVE THE FIRE as much as you, fanatic, but I'm preservering and do plan to finish it. It's not a bad book, but has the awkward hallmarks of a first-time novelist, even one whose biography states he's been writing non-fiction for twenty years (fiction, it turns out, is a different animal): O'Donnell is doing far, far too much telling rather than showing. In addition, some of the exposition is stitled, overly formal and complicated...feels like he's trying too hard to create the image with the assistance of a thesaurus and overwrought, sometimes odd, prose rather than let it develop organically in the reader's mind through clean exposition. Belabored points. And so on. I'll concede that my expectations were far too high on this one given the references to the Peter Heller and McCarthy's THE ROAD, but still...it's been a bit of struggle to get through some of this...it's clear that there's a good book within but it needed a heavier editorial hand than it received to shape it.

EDIT: Finished it last night, and the second half doesn’t improve…if anything, it’s even more of a disappointment. Very unfortunate.

[dannyboy121070]

I&#8217 I've come across a couple of John the Balladeer stories in the past (I think there was one in Dark Forces, and I believe ‘Vandy, Vandy’ was reprinted in Hartwell’s Dark Descent), though this edition is the first time I am reading a collection by Wellman.

Initial thoughts at the halfway point of the Valancourt edition:

The stories in the Valancourt edition are arranged in order of publication, and the first 3 or 4 stories were VERY similar; John, who is the essence of a good character, comes across a small mountain community / family and the community / family is being put upon by a bad / evil man and John, by using his silver strung guitar, helps the community / family rid itself of the bad / evil man, 

At this point I was wondering if I would finish the collection. However, the story plots got a little more varied after that, using more Appalachian legends and general American folklore.  In the last story I read, John comes across a giant of a man and the story referenced the Bible (not in a heavy handed way, but giants were referenced in the book of Genesis) and the American folklore of Paul Bunyan and others.

After the repetitious beginning, the stories have gotten more enjoyable. These are simple stories with simple characters that fall into one of two categories, either good or bad. Saying that, I can’t imagine I’d ever feel compelled to upgrade from the single Valancourt story collection. The stories in this edition usually run from 12 to 18 pages, the perfect length for what are essentially pretty simple stories. I think Ron said it, and I would agree, that the style of these stories and Wellman’s writing style would not lend themselves to keeping my interest in a novel length work.

So in general, I’m happy I picked up this edition of classic stories, but doubt I will feel any need to upgrade beyond the Valancourt edition in the future.

That being said, since I am at the half way point, I will probably take a break from the John stories and read something else for a few days.

B
 

I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. What you said about the repetition is pretty much what I've heard elsewhere. I usually have a bunch of books going at the same time, so I'll be dipping in and out to avoid getting sick of the tropes.

[brlesh]

I am just discovering these stories, so please share your thoughts on the book when you get a chance.

I’ve come across a couple of John the Balladeer stories in the past (I think there was one in Dark Forces, and I believe ‘Vandy, Vandy’ was reprinted in Hartwell’s Dark Descent), though this edition is the first time I am reading a collection by Wellman.

Initial thoughts at the halfway point of the Valancourt edition:

The stories in the Valancourt edition are arranged in order of publication, and the first 3 or 4 stories were VERY similar; John, who is the essence of a good character, comes across a small mountain community / family and the community / family is being put upon by a bad / evil man and John, by using his silver strung guitar, helps the community / family rid itself of the bad / evil man, 

At this point I was wondering if I would finish the collection. However, the story plots got a little more varied after that, using more Appalachian legends and general American folklore.  In the last story I read, John comes across a giant of a man and the story referenced the Bible (not in a heavy handed way, but giants were referenced in the book of Genesis) and the American folklore of Paul Bunyan and others.

After the repetitious beginning, the stories have gotten more enjoyable. These are simple stories with simple characters that fall into one of two categories, either good or bad. Saying that, I can’t imagine I’d ever feel compelled to upgrade from the single Valancourt story collection. The stories in this edition usually run from 12 to 18 pages, the perfect length for what are essentially pretty simple stories. I think Ron said it, and I would agree, that the style of these stories and Wellman’s writing style would not lend themselves to keeping my interest in a novel length work.

So in general, I’m happy I picked up this edition of classic stories, but doubt I will feel any need to upgrade beyond the Valancourt edition in the future.

That being said, since I am at the half way point, I will probably take a break from the John stories and read something else for a few days.

B
 

[sholloman81]

Just finished reading the Lividian slipcased LE of Robert McCammon's "Seven Shades of Evil". Had read a few of these stories previously; however, I still enjoyed the heck out of this book. IMO, "Wandering Mary" & "The Lady Barbara" were the best stories, but each of the stories with Minx Cutter were super fun too. I would love to read more Minx stories! This series is one of my all-time favorites and I am super stoked for the final book, Leviathan. After that's done, I'm hopeful we'll still get the occasional story set in the "Matthew" world.

Am now reading the Suntup AGE of HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Read the book when it was first released and remember liking it; however, I can only remember the basic premise; so, I'm really looking forward to reading this again, especially the choice Suntup version!

[dannyboy121070]

Starting John the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman (Valancourt edition).

B

I am just discovering these stories, so please share your thoughts on the book when you get a chance.