The night is dark and full of terrors

♫ Sequester – Night's Watch

No spoilers here, don't worry! I don't like to be spoiled myself, and I will protect others from it too! And the song I'm listening to is actually about this series!

I'm not much of a reader. I don't know how much I read "on average", but I'm not the type who always has at least one book in progress. However, something strange has obviously happened to me since I've already finished two books this year – well, I had started the first one last year and read the first half quite slowly... Until I got a grip of myself in spring and sped up. 

I've been reading A Song Of Ice And Fire – in other words, the Game of Thrones novel series, for a few fears I guess. It took me quite a while to finish the first book. It took me something like half a year to read half of the second book, A Clash of Kings. But as I sped up in spring, I finished the latter half of it in a few months... And at the beginning of summer, I started the third book, A Storm of Swords. It's over one thousand pages long, and I finished it a few days ago... And that is damn fast for me!

I bought the first four books in a bundle when I began because I figured I'd be a slow reader. It was true at first, but obviously something happened to me. Although all three books so far have contained some bloody boring chapters, they've been very enjoyable too – especially the third one since I devoured it with such appetite. Those of you who have watched the HBO TV series, and especially the third season, know the amount of extreme drama in the third book... But yes, it was the most interesting piece so far.

Now I'm moving onto A Feast for Crows. I think it'll be very different from the earlier volumes – I even heard a rumor it's not nearly as good as the preceding ones... But we'll see, eventually. I can barely wait for the fourth season of the TV series!

As all the fans know, it's not particularly safe to root for any character in the series as they might as well die next, but nevertheless, I support Jon Snow! Mostly in the books, though. Peter Dinklage does such awesome job as Tyrion Lannister in the show that it's difficult not to like the character, not that he wouldn't have the same wits in the book. And strangely enough, I've found myself liking Sansa Stark in the books too, maybe because her chapters have often been interesting.

Do you watch Game of Thrones or read A Song of Ice and Fire? Who are your favorite characters?

The Case of the Syphilitic Sister

Do you still remember when I wrote a review of The New Death and others? The author of that collection, James Hutchings, is working on another project – a detective / superhero story set in the 1930's. The first chapter of The Case of the Syphilitic Sister is available at JukePop Serials, with more chapters to come.

I can recommend this especially if you read and enjoyed The New Death and others, but you might also want to check it out if crimes and superheroes fascinate you. Take a look at the tag list at the beginning of the chapter! I really like the wit and the humor and am looking forward to read more.

The adventure is over

♫ Ensiferum – Lai Lai Hei

So I finished reading The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, having been reading it randomly ever since I mentioned it in this blog post dealing with Edgar Allan Poe. It was very enjoyable, something I hadn't expected it to be, and something I could recommend to everyone who has enjoyed Poe's short stories or who likes adventure stories such as those of Verne's. Those who have found their inner pirate might enjoy it too, they're sailing so much.

The image here is Albert Edward Sterner's illustration of a certain scene – about which I won't tell anything as it might be a spoiler.

But alas! Can someone tell me what happened to Tiger? Did I just miss that part, or was it omitted altogether?

Lastly, Satuilin – if you see this, please contact me at quicksilversanity @ gmail.com. I have trouble contacting you regarding your giveaway prize as the email messages just keep bouncing back.

The New Death and others – giveaway contest winner

The New Death and others giveaway contest is now over! Thanks everyone! The winner is Satuilin – congratulations! You can expect to be contacted soon regarding your prize. Have fun reading the eBook!

I also warmly recommend others to check out the book review and consider familiarizing yourself with it. Now, until next time, so long!

I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.

♫ Ashbury Heights – Christ

I have finally got around to writing a blog post which might actually be interesting at best! This time I shall babble about Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) and my everlasting interest in his literature. And well, persona too.

My first touch with his literature was in secondary school, at the age of fourteen, when we read a short Finnish translation of Berenice in a Finnish class. Quite soon I started to read his story compilations in Finnish, starting with The Gold Bug.

Today I own four books, one audio book and Lou Reed's concept album The Raven. Two of the books I have are in English: Tales of Mystery and Imagination; and The Complete Illustrated Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Considering that I have all of his stories within the covers of the latter, I would barely need anything else. However, I don't personally like holding and reading a book with nearly a thousand pages, thus, if I want to read a certain story and can find it in a lighter book, I opt for it.

Other two of the books are in Finnish; one contains Finnish translations of his less-known stories whereas the other comprises translations of his poems and a long introductory article.

Translated poetry is quite a controversial subject. On one hand I think that poetry is such a play with words and their carefully chosen placements within sentences that it's not a good idea to translate poems. On the other hand, the Finnish translations of Poe's poems are good, for real. I've read at least two different translations of The Raven, and years ago I could also recite the other by heart – yes, the whole long poem. I still remember very long parts of it. However, naturally his poems are at their best read in English, but I'm not a puritan telling you NOT to read any translations. The stories within his poems might still be worth it.

"'Prophet!' said I, 'thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—" (The Raven)

"And neither the angels in heaven above, / Nor the demons down under the sea," (Annabel Lee) 

"A blood-red thing that writhes from out / The scenic solitude!" (The Conqueror Worm)

Edgar Allan Poe wrote mostly short stories with only one full-length novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. I have to admit, shamefully, that I haven't yet read it although it's been included in that full collection I own (d'oh!). I certainly should...

I've enjoyed many stories, and it's difficult to choose my favourite ones. Some of them, however, are The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, Ligeia, The Black Cat and The Masque of the Red Death. Those are all relatively well-known. He wrote many intriguing science fiction stories the plots of which I might remember, but not the names! :D If you have never read anything by Poe, I could recommend starting with one of those titles.

Poe is known for his "gothic horror stories", but I think that can be slightly misleading. That cannot be used to describe his whole (fiction) works. I think the name of the book I own, "tales of mystery and imagination", describes his works better. Sure, some of his stories are "pure gothic horror". Very many of them are not. He's sometimes considered to be the inventor of the modern detective story – so go figure; he's written stories of that kind. Some of them are science fiction. Some of them are just, well, the results of a dreamy mind wandering here and there, depicting strong humane emotions from anxiety to passion. If you're looking for actual gothic horror, you might not want to start with The Balloon-Hoax. The Murders in the Rue Morgue might not be that rewarding either.

And what was that CD I had? Lou Reed's concept album The Raven. I bought it merely because of the concept, and back then I didn't like it much. I haven't listened to it probably after that... I might like it more now, so I might need to try again.

"I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago."

Ever since I found out about Poe, and at least until the end of high school, he and his stories were a great inspiration source for me. In Finnish classes I wrote several theses of him or his works and in art classes I depicted the world of his works (and even his personal life) in various ways. His effect on my personal works has been smaller in and after university, though my love for ravens will never fade. :}

"If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered."

I think Poe's simply genius. The sad story of his life is also very interesting, and I think it explains many aspects of his stories and poems – not literally, but many of the emotions he must have undergone.

"Science has not yet taught us if madness is or is not the sublimity of the intelligence."

"That man is not truly brave who is afraid either to seem or to be, when it suits him, a coward."

"The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?"

"The true genius shudders at incompleteness - and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be."

"There are few cases in which mere popularity should be considered a proper test of merit; but the case of song-writing is, I think, one of the few."

"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

"Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term Art, I should call it 'the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul.' The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in Nature, entitles no man to the sacred name of 'Artist.'"

"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality."

Pardon me for the spam of Poe quotes, but I couldn't just choose a few. And still I omitted many. But I chose the ones that I found the mots inspiring and well, I hope other creative minds do so too.

I'm not particularly interested in visiting the US in general, but the Museum of Edgar Allan Poe is a place I'd like to go to! I wonder how many hours I could spend there if I went there... And how much money I could spend buying unnecessary shot glasses with his face printed on them etc. Oh well, maybe one day... I guess this is all for now. So long!

Hooray to the glory

♫ Real Life – Nowhere Girl

Not exactly sure about the glory part...

I've been quite silent as I've been both busy and well... occasionally unable to write too? Yeah well, I recently moved, and I still lack an internet connection of my own... Kind of. It's a complex story, and I think that anything that can possibly have gone wrong, has also gone wrong. And the secret is, although it's not illegal: I've been leeching on my neighbour's unsecured WLAN...

I would have so many things to write about! I cannot choose, and I don't want to put everything in one post either! While I still couldn't access the internet at all at home, I watched Dorian Gray, and I could write about that... I could show off my new apartment (will do, eventually) or what not. But I'll show a few nice things which I found at the summer sales.

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa (Finnish Bookstore) had some nice wooden boxes, or should I say – treasure chests. At least the bigger one is almost pirate-credible, isn't it? It may lack metallic frames, but it's pretty. Anyway, I bought those because I really needed some pretty storage boxes for my jewellery and other accessories.

In the same bookstore I found this book, which I had seen there earlier too, and well... I began to feel sorry for them as they hadn't yet got rid of the last piece. Then I just had to buy it, right..? It was a friendly favour, right? The book cost 12 € and it was actually quite interesting. The layout was quite nice with exciting details. The book introduced several famous pirate (captains), such as Blackbeard, Henry Morgan and Sam Bellamy. (The last one made me smile indeed – the man was better known as Black Sam, and well, my mother has a black, long-haired dachshund whose real name is Bellamy.) The book is, however, way too violent considering it was in the children's department. :O I mean, details of the real, violent ends those pirates faced... But I recommend it to all pirate fans. :D

Cheap lacy gloves are cheap lacy gloves, and I don't think I'm supposed to resist them. They're not too decorative, which is nice too.

This summer dress only cost 5 €. It's surprising that I like such a print, but well... There's something that really fascinates me. I cannot quite figure out what it is, but it gives me some deep feeling. And it's brownish, which is rare for me too.

I also bought some socks online the other day, and they were all very nice. Maybe I should take photos of them too... Although it's more tricky to take photos of socks. Naturally I should put them on first. Anyway, I shall keep going. I should have four days of work left before my summer vacation! Yay! And it's a Lumous weekend! I'll go there on Saturday and maybe even Sunday, but since I will obviously go to work on Monday, I really cannot party too hard on Sunday evening. Too bad. So long!

"I'm afraid not," Howl said. "You've had your time."

Today I heard some unfortunate news; Ms. Diana Wynne Jones passed away on March 26th, having suffered from lung cancer for a few years.

Diana Wynne Jones

16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011

So, one great fantasy author fewer in the land of the living. Fortunately her stories will live much longer. However, it's sad there will be no more stories featuring my dear Howl Jenkins, who's simply an awesome fictional character. Ever since I read an interview with her in which she said she might still write yet another story (after House of Many Ways) I had really been looking forward to it. I would have loved to read something with Howl as the main character again.

But time's our enemy, so rest in peace, Diana.

Howl's Moving Castle is the only book that has ever insprired me to write even remotely good fanfiction. Genereally, I neither read nor write fanfiction remarkably often, but a few years ago I started writing a HMC fic, which exploded from a planned two-shot to a long story with 13 chapters and 20k+ words. And its success has really surprised me. o_O I still keep getting email notifications when people add it to their favourite stories or whatsoever. I kind of promised to write a sequel – but yeah, it's been a year and a half already. I've been so awfully busy, and I don't even enjoy writing so much. However, I've had an idea all along. Maybe I will, one day (after graduation?), write that short story, just to honour Ms. Jones' memory and keep my promise to my readers?

And last but not least, one of my favourite Howl quotes:

"I give up. I see no point in living if I can't be beautiful."
— Howl

Reading can be risky for women on the verge

♫ Turisas – To Holmgard and beyond

A while ago a friend and I ordered some books from Amazon, and a while I go I fetched them from the post office. And this is what I got:

Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass. I'd been thinking of buying it for such a long time, but I'd never bothered to order it all alone. I'd been waiting for a time when I'd have something else to purchase too. I guess it's a must for me to own, because:

We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.
- Cheshire Cat

Through the Looking Glass is relatively strange to me still, I've never had chances to familiarize myself with it. Reading it at the moment.

I don't know why exactly I got the urge to buy Tim Burton's poems. Might be all the movies I've watched? Anyway, the book is awesome. I'm very picky when it comes to poetry. I want poems to really have some ingenious language, not necessarily rhymes, but something. I easily regard modern poetry as wannabe arty, and thus, rarely like it. However, Burton's poetic language was brilliant, and the stories were hilarious. I guess I could relate to Voodoo Girl:

But she knows she has a curse on her,
a curse she cannot win,
For if someone gets
too close to her,
the pins stick farther in.

Last but not least, I also bought something that's supposed to be useful.

AdamsMorioka & Terry Stone's Color Design Workbook, which is supposed to be of some help in my thesis work. I hope it'll also be... Although the whole thesis work frustrates the hell out of me. I realized I rather read fairytales than anything that'd help me to graduate.
I guess this is it for now, so long!