Meet the King of Weird (7DaysPositivityChallenge)
Life of an avid reader is not easy because not all books are created equal and many are quite average. Going from one book to another is a bit like moving on from one love affair to another – some are fun or exciting or interesting, but very few have that Wow factor, that turns your world upside down. When you're young it's easier to be impressed, but as I grow older few books manage to stir something inside.
As part of the positivity challenge, today I am grateful for having found American writer Jeff VanderMeer, also known as 'The king of Weird'. Some years ago I read his highly-appreciated trilogy 'Southern Reach', a good book, quite haunting and definitely worth reading, but not as weird and captivating as the one I'm reading now - an earlier book of his, 'City of Saints and Madmen', a 2001 collection of fantasy stories set in the fictional city of Ambergris. The title itself is enough to make you buy the book and it delivers – the stories are full of crazy people, as for the saints, they're not one would expect. (The Living Saint in the first story 'Dradin in Love' is one of the funniest characters you'll ever meet! Not in person, I mean, you wouldn't want to do that!)
Much like in life, we tend to fall in love with authors that have something in common and much of VanderMeer's book not only reminded me of my beloved Terry Pratchett, at some points it felt like being immersed in a newly discovered book of the legendary creator of Discworld. Ambergris is not quite Ank-Morpork, but it's pretty close, although a much darker place. Chilling, even.
No spoilers, I haven't finished the book myself. I have yet to discover the mystery of the mushroom dwellers and I hope VanderMeer will not leave me hanging, I'd hate that.
Finding a good book is one of the things that make life beautiful, if only by keeping you interested in a fictional world, where ordinary problems like 'what's for dinner' or 'what the hell is Bitcoin doing' have no place.
The people of Ambergris have worries of their own so for a while I can ignore mine and focus on theirs.
The best part is that, checking the author online, I've just discovered there are two other books set in Ambergris, so I'm set for the immediate future. Because, if there's one thing I hate, it's seeing a good book coming to a close. It's that delicate moment when you desperately want to know how it ends, but don't really want it to end.
Please do not ask why didn't I keep to the schedule and post 'Day 2' of the positivity challenge yesterday. You cannot really expect me to be positive two days in the row!
Thanks for reading
I’ve read a couple of Jeff’s non-fiction books about writing. I have a difficult time reading non-fiction. I might have to try City of Madmen and Saints. You’re so correct about staying positive for multiple days, people who can do it intrigue me😉
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Vandermeer is a prolific writer and editor. Wonderbook, his book on writing strange fiction, is an absolute feast of good advice and illustration, and I wound up with the mammoth Big Book of Science Fiction he edited with his wife - really enough stories for a lifetime, if you can manage to lift it. (Seriously the book is bloody huge.)
You remind me that I haven't actually read any of his fiction yet. It's probably time to remedy that.