The Lost Trilogy-Component: A Mini-Epic

[tamaranth]

I've been sorting through my books ...


Because I had a cold last week (and was laid low by post-birthday lethargy) I decided to ignore the massive to-be-read pile and indulge myself by rereading. I'd never read Julian May's Galactic Milieu books (Intervention, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask, Magnificat) straight through - and I find May's flawed utopia tremendously appealing, to say nothing of her straightforward, competent prose style. Have read enough Literature for now ...

So I indulged myself. It got to Sunday morning and I emerged from my bed to retrieve Magnificat. And it wasn't there. I mean, it was there in the catalogue. And I remember acquiring it.

But ... not there.

Obviously the sane solution was to take all the fiction off the shelves (about 1500 books, mainly paperbacks, in two layers, arranged more or less alphabetical by author with a large overflow of not-yet-shelved). And then put them back. In order. Discarding a lot of them in the process, and checking the rest against my catalogue.

The process took 7 hours. I discarded 232 books, worked out why I was keeping about another 300, and found yet another practical application for my digital camera - photographing each layer of each shelf as it was filled, for future checking against PC-based catalogue. I do have the catalogue on my Visor too, but the interface is a bit clunky.

Why they stay:
- there are a few authors I'm pretty much completist about - Brust, Dunnett, O'Brian ...
- there are books I can't imagine not being able to pick up and dive into for a few pages, though I may not think of them from year to year
- book evilly defaced by the author's personalised inscription: I used to be keen on getting books signed .
- it's always worth having a recommended fantasy trilogy or two on hand for next time I'm in that sort of mood.
- just because I've owned something for 20 years and not read it, doesn't meant I never will (yeah, yeah)

Why they go:
- duplicates
- some of these books should be hurled with great force. Their next owner can do that.
- life's too short to reread most novels
- I have owned something for 20 years and am even less keen on the idea of reading it ...

Now the pattern of spines is different and new: I've identified a few gaps: I'm reminded of books I was looking forward to reading and haven't yet read: and, oh yes, I did find Magnificat, which had slipped down behind the shelf support. And the ending is still flawed.


And my list of Discarded Fiction is now available. Have a look and let me know if there's anything you fancy!

Comments

[swisstone.livejournal.com]

Assuming no-one else has put their marker down, I wouldn't mind the Baxter, Bester and Goldman - and I definitely want The Scarlet Pimpernel.

[latexiron.livejournal.com]

I would like:

Edmondson, Adrian - The Gobbler (Can he write?)
Hawes, James - A White Merc with Fins
Rice, Anne - Violin
Rice, Anne - Servant of the Bones [hc]

... please, if they're still available.

And what is:

Smith, Helen - Alison Wonderland

??? Any good?

[latexiron.livejournal.com]

I forgot to ask - are these real books, with pictures, or the boring grown up sort with wurds only?

Ooh. Books

[fishlifter.livejournal.com]

I would definitely like, if not too late:
The Memory Cathedral (Jack Dann)
The Stars Compel and The Stars Dispose (Michaela Roessner)

I would be quite interested in (but if someone else wants them more, or if I reflect on shelf space enough and time, I may back down):
Blue Shifting (Eric Brown)
Fredric Brown's Best Short Stories
City of the Iron Fish (Simon Ings)
Critical Mass (Pohl/Kornbluth)

Got a fanzine article title for me yet...?

[brisingamen.livejournal.com]

You have mail ... a list of books!

M.

[green-amber.livejournal.com]

The Maureen McHugh that isn't China Mountain Zhang? is it any good? I loved CMZ.

[fishlifter.livejournal.com]

No. Very disappointing by comparison. Her third one, Mission Child, is a lot better again.

In my opinion!

[green-amber.livejournal.com]

Is it still Chinese-oriented? intrigued cos there's a famous modern Chinese novel called Half of Man Is Woman (I used to call it Half of Man is Biscuit when Tommy used it a sa teaching text and it lay around the house..)

[fishlifter.livejournal.com]

A bit, I think (have bad memory for Detail). There are some-sort-of-oriental influences, but the setting and society are very different.

[maryread.livejournal.com]

Lolah Burford? you have? anything by Lola Burford!

Like I need more books. To read. Right.