W
elcome to the
March What We Are Reading column.
Today, we have Louise Cusack and Janni Nell
~A Princess of Mars~ Edgar Rice Burroughs
I adored Burroughs “Barsoom” series as a teenager and wanted to re-read
it before seeing the new John Carter movie, so I began with A
Princess of Mars which opens in 1886 with Virginian born John Carter, a
Confederate gentleman, being transported to Mars. Once there, Carter
falls foul of giant green Martians, rescues the very human looking Princess
Dejah Thoris and falls in love with her before leading forces in a planetary
war to protect her.
This book was first published as a novel almost a century ago, in
1917. The language is gorgeous, and the vaguely patriarchal attitudes (her
tiny hands, the fairer sex) have to be viewed in the context of the time
the books were written. The style, as well, with big info dumps and long
dialogue ‘set pieces’ wouldn’t be tolerated by modern publishers. Oh, but
the story! I remember well my rapture on first reading these
books, how I thrilled to John Carter’s inherent bravery, and the fact that he’d
rather kill a warring opponent than a ‘brute beast’ (I think that was the
vegetarian in me coming out). He had a pet Martian dog, and was a true
action adventure hero, a man’s man, yet when he met the princess and fell in
love with her he was endearingly hopeless.
Early in their romance he inadvertently insulted her, being unaware of
their customs, and when she wouldn’t speak to him he was gutted. In his
narrative he said:
“…my foolish pride kept me from making any advances. I verily
believe that a man’s way with women is in inverse ratio to his prowess among
men. The weakling and saphead have often great ability to charm the fair
sex, while the fighting man who can face a thousand real dangers unafraid, sits
hiding in the shadows like some frightened child.”
He knew he was putty in her small, fragile hands, and for the first
time (in the eighties) I was reading male viewpoint in what was for all intents
and purposes a romance novel, and finally getting to understand why men act
like idiots when they’re in love! Mills and Boon novels at the time were
all in female viewpoint, and in any case I craved fantasy worlds and
adventures. So these books gave me everything I loved, along with
insights into the male psyche beyond battle and bloodshed. That male
perspective on falling in love is something I’ve brought to my own Shadow Through Time
trilogy, alongside the adventure that makes fantasy stories so thrilling.
I’m looking forward to seeing what Disney do with the John Carter
story, but I doubt it will live up to the fantasies of a hormonal fifteen year
old who fell hard and fast for ‘the clean limbed fighting man of Virginia’.
Do read these books. They’re true classics, and deservedly so.
Janni Nell
~The Passage~ Justin Cronin
Once in a while you read a book that makes you want to grab randoms in
the street and say:
You have to read this!
“The Passage” by Justin Cronin is a big sprawling
futurist/apocalyptic/rip-roaring read. I loved every one of its 900+ pages. It
left me wanting more, which is great because this is the first in a trilogy.
(Ridley Scott has optioned the screen rights.) If you enjoy action, adventure,
a multitude of great characters, a credible threat to society and a thoroughly
detailed world, this book is for you.
If that’s not enough - this book is well written. Really well written.
The pacing is perfect. The descriptions are detailed without being boring. The
action scenes are truly nail-biting and the main characters are totally
cheer-worthy. I know, I know, I’m gushing, but this book just blew me away.
It’s easily in my top ten of all time. Bring on the sequel.
C.M. Simpson shares chapters from her alter-ego's Carlie Simonsen book, Dear Tiger: I Don't Think I'm Human Anymore (Book 2, The Tiger Letters).
Keri Arthur features an oldie, Embraced by Darkness (Book 5, Riley Jenson) and Unlit (Book 1, Kindgoms of Earth and Air) in her Six Sentence Sunday Time.
