- hi; in article,
<
df9c8194-9264-4486...@t18g2000yqi.googlegroups.com>,
pete...@gmail.com "Cryptoengineer" concurred:
>>>The crawl through the submerged cave tunnel in The Weirdstone of
>>>Brisingamen did it for me.
>>Oh, likewise. �Read it once, gave it away.
>>Not to mention that, as Karen Anderson once pointed out, if Garner
>>had written _The Lord of the Rings_, all the action would've taken
>>place between Hobbiton and Bywater.
- oh please; between hobbiton and the trollshaws, at least!
(and with all the diversions and alarums along the way, too.)
>
>Very much so. I read TWoB, and its sequel "The Moon of Gomrath" when I
>was a kid (a 3rd book, 'Boneland' is to be published at the end of
>this month),
- ooh!
> and plotted all the action on an Ordnance Survey map.
- *g* - i spent a bright summer's day very happily wandering
around the area on bicycle and on foot, pushing the "camel",
very happily finding (some of) the places - though not, alas,
fundindelve - and discovering he'd foreshortened some of the
distances...
>Garner lives in the area, and many of his stories are very place
>specific. I'd love to visit,
- oh do, do;
>but fear that the suburbs of Manchester are encroaching on the story's
>landscape.
- nope; some things _have_ changed, it's true: but they're the
social, technological and public services' changes of the past
half-century, common to most of the uk, and not the unchecked
urban sprawl of the cities that seemed so likely in the fifties
and early sixties:
alderley edge is still a very special, and rather strange place.
>
>...and yes, the underground segment of TWoB is the most claustrophobia-
>inducing passage I've ever read.
- indeed; the latter part, in the byq kbewuatf especially. [a]
- _The Weirdstone of Brisingamen_ and _The Moon of Gomrath_ (its
sequel, but both novels have satisfactorily stunning conclusions),
_The Owl Service_ and _The_ (illustrated) _Stone Book Quartet_
are among the very best fantasies i've read in the last 50 years.
- love, ppint. ("and re-read. multiple times.")(and given copies
to young-ish friends; and recommended to many customers of all
ages, who seemed suitable/had seemingly suitable readers in mind)
[a] - rot-13ed in case any rasfwrer's not yet read this classic
[drop the "v", and change the "f" to a "g", to email or cc.]
--
"What are your fees?" inquired Guyal cautiously. "I respond to three
questions," stated the augur. "For twenty terces I phrase the answer
in clear and actionable language; for ten I use the language of cant,
which occasionally admits of ambiguity; for five, I speak a parable
which you must interpret as you will; and for one terce, I babble in
an unknown tongue." "Guyal of Sfere", _The Dying Earth_- Jack Vance