League of Extraordinary Books

New Items:
The Cave Girl by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1913)
Oh boy, i was not looking forward to this after my last Burroughs experience but you know what, it was pretty damn good.
A posh nerdy bookworm gets washed up on an island full of cavemen. He's helped by a girl who teaches him to survive and he eventually becomes the great warrior she already mistakenly beleives him to be.
Its good solid stuff with surprisingly strong characterization for a Burroughs story. [4/5]

The Cave Man by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1917)
The sequel and continuation of Cave Girl. This is a real mixed bag. There's some great dramatic turns in the plot but its marred by many last minute rescues and Deux Ex Machina's.
Also the author clearly didn't reread Cave Girl before writing this as there are a number of elements which contradict the previous story.
Luckily all the investment in the characters garnered in Cave Girl kept me interested despite the flaws. [3/5]


Old Item:
Maza of the Moon by Otis Adelbert Kline (1930)
Another decent pulp story. A Tony Stark-like protagonist accidentally starts a war with the Moon-Chinese (this section is a twist on Verne's story 'Earth to the Moon'). Yes in this all Chinese and presumably all other asians, are descended from moonmen.
If that sounds a bit racist then you would be right, the descriptions of the moon-chinese are particularly stereotypical. However overall the chinese people on earth are fairly dealt with.
There is of course the requisite princess (a caucassian, needless to say), there are also space-ships, deathrays, spacedragons, etc.
This is at least as pulp as 'Princess of Mars' but i still liked it. One great thing was the background material about a war between Mars and the Moon. That really helped give the story-world a bit of depth. [3/5]

PS: The idea that all chinese people are descended from moonmen isn't that much stranger than what the Chinese actually believe.
Most chinese believe that they evolved from Homo-Erectus, not Homo-Sapien, and are thus a distinct species from the rest of us.
A top chinese geneticist attempted to prove this theory recently but succeeded in proving the opposite. The Chinese are indeed just people like the rest of us.

New Items:
Lamia by John Keats (1819)
A fairly long and confused poem about a tragic love affair between and man and...maybe a snake, as i mentioned its confused. A beautiful woman was a snake but before she was a woman, then she's a woman again only she's later accused of always having been a snake soooo... i give up. Its a mess. [2/5]

The Time Garden by Edward Eager (1958)
A children's magical adventure very much in the vane of E.Nesbit stories. Unfortunately, it's constantly acknowledging how similar it is to the works of E.Nesbit, which does not help matters. It is especially unhelpful due to the fact that it is quite dissimilar in one respect, which is that it is nowhere near as imaginative.
It picks up quite a bit towards the end but is still fairly tame and boring compared to the predecessors it tries to ape. [2/5]


Old Item:
The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spencer (1596)
Epic poem. I really like this. Its overly long and there are so many characters you'll definitely get confused and feel lost at times, however there are so many memorable moments. The action scenes are particularly good which seems weird for poetry. Diespite magic and monsters there is also an odd amount of realism to many incidents which i enjoyed.
Plus there is plenty of violence and sex which is stange for something which is a self-confessed christian allegory.
Due to its length there is plenty to dig into and i liked it enough to buy a copy despite reading it for free on my ereader. [4/5]

PS: I put some thoughts about this elsewhere on the net might aswell reprint it here...
So the Faerie Queene is quite important in terms of the League comics, in the comics you find out 'Queen Gloriana I' setup the creation of the 1st League and it seems as if Alan Moore is saying that the 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' comics are a spiritual successor to the Faerie Queene.
And theres plenty of evidence to support this, the Queene has this mix of lots of different story elements just like League.
Theres christian mythology, greek myth, oberon the faerie king gets a mention, theres a dragon that wouldn't be amiss in Lord of the Rings, at one point we hear the mythological version of the founding of Britain by Brutus, and of course King Arthur shows up.
So you have this mix of all these elements in the same way the League comics combine characters from different stories and theres further similarities.
Sex, violence, numerous attempted sexual assaults, strong female characters, archaic language, good action scenes etc. (i really don't know how the action scenes work so well in poetry but they just do :lol )
And lastly i was struck by how mature and real some the Faerie Queene is which is weird to say for poetry and a christian allegory, i expected something like He-Man with this endless march of victory but its not like that.
I think the Faerie Queene is to poetry what the League and other Alan Moore works are to comics. They are both far more real and interesting than i would have thought given the medium in which they are written.

New Item:
A Plunge into Space by Robert Cromie (1891)
I have heard that Jules Verne critisized H.G.Well's novel 'First Men in the Moon' as "unscientific" due to its use of an anti-gravity maguffin. I find this hard to credit however given his foreword to this book which uses the same idea.
In fact the books are so similar at least in there basic idea, that Cromie accused Wells of plagiarism despite the fact that Cromie was not the first to use such a concept.
Anyway luckily Wells didn't take any more ideas from this as it's pretty bad. It manages to make travel to another world incredibly boring which i suppose i should be impressed by as that must be hard to do.
Its incredibly verbose but still manages to be as vague as any pulp-fiction when it comes to technology. While it's social satire is occasionally interesting its romance is clunky and i can't imagine what the author's overall aim was. [2/5]

Old Item:
Aucassin and Nicolete by unknown (1200)
This is an odd one. It's half poetry and half prose. Its an epic romance but also has some absurd bits. There's fights, captures, disguise's etc. It also has a surprisingly strong heroine who really does far more than the guy. Overall it's a nice oddity and as i understand it unique in its form of storytelling.[3/5]

New Item:
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)
I was not looking forward to this one. There have been a number of desert island type stories on my reading list so far, so i was not expecting anything new from the quintessential one. However this book did have one thing going for it which i haven't seen much of and that is a great deal of psychological realism.
Crusoe becomes religious and philosophical about being on the island which helps give the story a lot more depth than one might expect.
The realism continues in other ways, events which if told differently would seem too lucky or coincidental instead come across as the vicissitudes of real life.
Also the amount of work and various things Crusoe is able to make on the island is far more realistic than other books such as the Mysterious Island etc.
I still think it could have been shortened somewhat especially the ending but i can't deny its pretty good if you can stick with it and far better than i was expecting. [4/5]

Old Item:
Fattypuffs and Thinifers by Andre Maurois (1930)
Two brothers stumble across a strange underground land which is at war. One nation being made up of fat and lazy people the other of thin, miserly people.
Although decently written the more i think about it the less good it looks. There are a number of problems with it.
First the level of death and destruction which seems odd for a children's book of this sort. Second the protagonists really have no influence on the course of events and finally in a story with too such extreme elements the logical conclusion is the emergence of a happy medium but from what i can recall that doesn't happen.
Overall its ok, but i have no idea what the author's point was or what he was aiming to achieve with it. [3/5]

New Items:
The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell (1924)
Classic short story, can't say too much about it without giving it away but most people will be aware of the general outline.
A man washes up on a mysterious island where he finds a hunter who tells him he hunts the most dangerous type of game and invites him to join in.
I could have done with a few more descriptive details but overall it's a pretty good thriller/action story.
This has clearly had a great impact and you'll find its influence in books, comics, movies, tv shows etc. [4/5]

New Atlantis by Francis Bacon (1627)
An unfinished fragment of a utopian novel. Sailors discover a highly advanced christian society that wishes to keep its existence a secret from the outside world. There is some proto-scifi concerning the technology possessed by the island thats interesting given the age of the story, but overall not much to write home about. [2/5]


Old Item:
Fortunio by Theophile Gautier (1838)
A funny and relatively short social satire/romance. Its about a man who grew up with every want indulged and need met. He finally visits england where he was born and causes all the ladies to fall for him.
Its quite funny, for example it spends an entire chapter talking about the heroines pet cat.
The ending comes on rather abruptly and is a bit disappointing, also modern readers might be a little disturbed by Fortunios harem, his favorite wife being only 12 years old.
Its been a while since i read it and my memory of it seems to have gotten better with age, perhaps my score will be higher if i ever get around to a reread (which i might well do). [3/5]

New Item:
The Story of O by Anne Desclos (1954)
The quintessential S&M story, although perhaps a little more theatrical than reality. There is an entire group or society involved in this, a bit like in Ninth Gate or Eyes Wide Shut.
I have to say that it was a lot less uncomfortable a read than i expected. I mean even Fanny Hill was a difficult read for me but this was much less so.
I think the main difference is the consensualness of the proceedings. O isn't tricked, intimidated or emotionally manipulated into agreeing with what is done to her. She seems intelligent, stable, financially independent, and is even shown to be something of a predator herself on occasion.
The sex in this book is blunt but not graphic, or perhaps graphic but not detailed.
Its not about sex its about control and need. Sometimes O's suppression of self for something outside herself takes on an almost religious nature. Its a really interesting character piece.
Also now that i think about it, it's also not about pain. Much of S&M revolves around getting pleasure from experiencing pain but that never happens to O.
She likes the pain inflicted on her only in so much as it makes her feel like she is under another persons control. Its a subtle but important difference between this and other S&M stories.
O's journey of self discovery, for want of a better term, is complete by about the 3/4 stage of the book. After that it felt like there wasn't really anywhere else for O to go.
The story ends abruptly and unfinished with only a note to reveal O's possible fate.
However i think it was a good idea to end it then as the plot looked like veering into some questionable areas which would have undermined the clearly consensual nature of the rest of the story. [4/5]

Old Item:
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (1938)
A fake reporter reports on a fake war. Journalistic satire. Its lot shorter than you might expect, or at least feels so because not a lot happens and it felt a bit pointless. It certainly wasn't as funny as i expected and the main character doesn't really get involved in events to any significant degree. Its ok but nothing to write home about . [3/5]

New Item:
Green Mansions by (1904)
Well that was disappointing. This is a sort of supernatural romance, kinda, maybe preternatural would be more apt. Anyway its about a man who finds a forest in Guyana said by locals to be haunted. I can't say much more about it without spoiling the story, especially since there is so little plot.
I was really into it at first burning quickly through the first 9 or so chapters. It seemed really compelling, but after a while i realized the reason i was reading so quickly, was because of the thin plot. I felt compelled to read a lot because that was the only way to get any sense of accomplishment story-wise as so little was actually happening.
Overall its well written but far too verbose and i was disappointed with it after a good start.
Also the romance in it became a little uncomfortable for me at times. Modern sci-fi often points out the dubious morality of Kirk's romances in the 70's Star-Trek show and those opinions came into my mind several times during this read. [3/5]

Old Items:
Encounter at Dawn by Arthur C.Clarke (1953)
Said to have been the inspiration for the opening of 2001 A Space Odyssey this is a short story about a primitive species meeting advanced aliens. Its really got nothing much of interest. [2/5]

Child of the Phalanstery by Grant Allen (1884)
Short story about a utopian society and how they maintain their perfect system. A nice little dark tale. [3/5]

New Item:
The Front Page by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur (1928)
Comedy play, unfortunately i couldn't get a hold of the plays script, so had to settle for the film adaptation.

The Front Page (1931)
I believe this is close if not identical to the original play. An ace reporter wants to get married and leave the business. However his manipulative boss and his old reporter instincts conspire to prevent his retirement.
Its pretty decent, although a comedy i'd say it borders on dark comedy. It does a good job of satirizing the politicians aswell as the newspaper business. Although i thought the main characters conflict between his love and hate of being a reporter could have been a little smoother. He lurches from one to the other a little too quickly at times.
Also the crosstalk which is used to show the chaos of the news business can be a little annoying at times. [3/5]

His Girl Friday (1940)
The famous adaptation in which the main reporter is now female. You would think having the ace reporter be a woman would be quite progressive and in a way it is, BUT in others ways its kind of sexist. The roll of the manipulative boss is extended somewhat and he is now not only the boss but the reporters ex-husband, trying to prevent her not only from leaving the paper but also from getting remarried.
While the fact she can outdo the men at her job seems feminist, the fact she can be so manipulated by her husband/boss makes it feel chauvinist. The previous version had much more of an internal conflict than this one.
Apart from those changes and issues its the same script as the original version. Oh and there is even more crosstalk in this which can get even more annoying.
Overall i still prefer this to the original but only slightly. [3/5]


Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
Well what can i say its Frankenstein of course its good,actually one thing i can say is it's a LOT darker than other classics like Dracula. It also has so much more to say than almost any other classic i can think of. It's operating on a completely different level to other books of the time.
This is such an oddly modern book in many ways and the so-called monster is so far removed from the film versions its quite amazes me how we got from one to the other.
The structure of the story and Victor's reaction to his creation might both be a tad strange to a modern audience but its an amazing story especially when compared to others of its time period. [4/5]

New Items:
The Freeshooter by Carl Maria von Weber (1821)
Faustian opera. A land has the strange tradition that a man must make a good shot in hunting in order to prove his worth. This leads to a man being tempted into a faustian deal in order to insure being able to marry his love. Obviously i just read the text as its a german opera but it wasn't bad plot wise. [3/5]

The Golden Cockerel by Alexander Pushkin (1834)
Adaptation of an Irving fairytale, its ok mostly because its odd and leaves you with a lot of questions. I wonder how close it is to the original. [3/5]


Old Item:
Riallaro, the archipelago of exiles by John Macmillan Brown (1901)
In the vein of Gulliver's Travels the protagonist journeys to a fog bound archipelago and discovers various islands each run on different philosophies.
There are four or so major islands, run by what i would describe as liars, communists, warmongers and sensualists. Then each of these islands takes anyone they deem mad and sends them to another island filled with people who share their madness or extremist views.
So you have islands populated by nothing but anarchists, another by journalists, others by religious extremists of one kind or another, one filled with book critics another by people who value pedigree above all else, another by people who will always argue the opposite of what you say, others who will always agree with whoever seems the most popular, another with those who think they can talk to the dead etc.
That last one is one of my favorites, the community has divided into two groups the traditionalists who build creepy castles to attract ghosts and the modernists who say you don't need all that stuff and ghosts are perfectly happy turning up in a modern kitchen and communicating by knocking on the underside of tables, provided you only ask questions everyone knows the answers too. Its funny stuff.
Not as well characterized as Gulliver's Travels but lots of ideas and it also has a certain internal logic, theres a fairly reasonable explanation why this place exists and how such weird communities manage to survive. So nothing as sci-fi-ish as laputa or liliput. Overall i just really enjoyed it.
Also theres a second-part or sequel which i'm definitely going to read at some point its called Limanora, the island of progress. [4/5]

New Item:
Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (1532)
Epic italian poem, featuring knights, damsels, magic and the occasional monster. Its not so much a single story as an entire library of them all mixed together. Set against the backdrop of the Moors invading France. This gives the work a lot more cohesion than other epics like the Faerie Queene.
The author does a pretty good job of reminding you who's who and whats been happening, whenever he switches characters. This helps a lot and i wasn't often confused about which character was which.
The best thing about this is the moral greyness of it all. It really is almost 'Game of Thrones' in places. Heroes lie, make bad deals to save their own skin, kill hundreds of soldiers or farmers, and in one intance tried to rape some woman who they just rescued.
I do have to say it has a LOT less attempted sexual assaults than the Faerie Queene, but a lot more consensual sex. It also has less monsters and magical creatures than Spenser's work but i like that, it means that when things do get strange it has more of an impact.
A few minor issues, one is the lists of famous people rammed in to the work here and there, these are only of interest to people of the day or historical scholars, but are easily skippable.
The other thing that can annoy is the structure, most of the switches between character are fine but occasionally it happens at an exciting moment and instead of hearing what happens next your forced to get through a completely unrelated plot before getting back to the action.
Also this is a direct sequel to the unfinished 'Orlando Innamorata' and while the version i read contained a quick summary of events from that work i still felt confused at the start and on occasions when it refers back to previous events from Innamorata.
Overall despite not being able to read it in its native language, its REALLY good. There's just so much in here and some of it is just the right amount of morally gray for a modern audience to appreciate. Oh and there's some kick ass females in here aswell. [5/5]

Notes: I read the 1831 verse translation by William Stewart Rose. However there are a small number of pieces missing in that translation. I mean there was this guy spying on the queen who was having sex with a midget and then for some inexplicable reason , Rose starts skipping lines.
Anyway the missing pieces (which arn't all naughty) i was able to find in the earlier 1591 translation by John Harrington. That translation is harder to find on the net, the audio is surprisingly available on LibraVox, but i also was able to get the text from Lulu.com. You have to sign up but they don't ask for a credit card to download.
If i'd have had access to the Harrington translation earlier i probably would have just read all of that one it seems pretty good and it was written only 60 years after the original.


Old Items:
Greek myths.
I can't rate these like normal literature but i thought i'd mentioned them anyway. My personal favorite method to experience greek myth is letting 'Dael Kingsmill' tell them to me .
She has a mythology vlog, formerly on GeekandSundry, now on her own channel MonarchsFactory. She's covered several myths referenced in the League comics including:
Tiresias the Blind seer
Seven Against Thebes
Heracles
Aeneas and the Founding of Britain

also she's covered a couple of fairytales referenced in LOeG:
Bluebeard
The Snow Queen

New Item:
The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati (1940)
This reminds me a little of Catch-22.. a little. Its shows the absurd side of military life somewhat. However this shows not the horror of war but rather the horror of peace.
The story is about a solider posted to a barracks which guards an area no one ever expects to be attacked. The place is so isolated and runs on such strict rules and regulations its practically a prison. Some people suffer from what in prisons is termed 'institutionalization', unable to find a place or function outside of the routine of the barracks.
Mostly though this is a story about trying to find a purpose in life and how time can slip by so quickly while your waiting for that purpose to find you.
Its kind of haunting and a bit depressing but it'll stay with you for a while. Also its quite a quick read and is just the right length i'd say. [4/5]

Old Item:
The Castle by Franz Kafka (1926)
I rated this when i read it but am doing this review much later and in hindsight it seems better than the rating i gave. It is unfinished but that doesn't matter much due to the nature of the story.
A man arrives in a village which stands in the shadow of a castle. He seems to be some sort of revolutionary who wants to get into the castle to fight the System and stand up the The Man etc. He assumes the people in the castle are afraid of him or at least deem him a threat but your never sure if this is the case or whether they even know he exists.
Its the original dystopian bureaucratic nightmare story. It has an amazing atmosphere to it. Its greatest strength however is the constant change of perspective. The nature of each character changes a lot during the story as the protagonist learns more about them. Nothing and no one is ever what it seems. [3/5]

New Item:
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899)
I had great reservations about reading this. From what i absorbed about it from popular culture i was expecting something really dark, gritty and unpleasant to read.
I could not have been more wrong. There's a level of absurdity and unreality in this which keeps things from getting too depressing.
The story is that some people are stuck on a boat in london waiting for the tide to change and so one of them tells a story to pass the time. The story is about a time when the protagonist worked in africa for the terrible ivory trade and how he met a great and terrible man.
There are few books i've read which have left me with so many questions and i mean that in a good way. Even if you accept the bare facts at face value so much of the story takes place in the storytellers head. Its all opinion and conjecture.
It reminds me a lot of Lovecraft's writing in both its fantastic descriptions and the fact that so much is left to the imagination of the reader. Its really amazing that this was written in 1899 as it feels far more modern than other books i've read from those times.
Its not too long either but might be a bit highbrow for some, it took all my concentration to read and fully understand and even then i'm sure a reread or two would be rewarded.
Oh and did i mention its descriptive writing, well i'm going to again anyway as its darkly beautiful. [4/5]

Old Item:
Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter (1984)
I have a feeling this will work even better on a reread. Its still good first time but its level of weird changes a bit too rapidly. Anything goes in a story but generally you adjust to how weird a story is and can deal easily with whatever it throws at you. However in this I was caught offguard a few times and had a hard time getting to grips with how strange things got.
The other minor quibble is related to the first, it doesn't go were you expect. What i mean is i was expecting a longer story, involving more locations and then the carpet got pulled from under me. Both of these problems I guess are more my issues than the books.
Anyway this is a tale set at the turn of the 20th century. A reporter is interviewing a trapeze artist who claims her stage wings are real, (its a tiny bit like that John Travolta film 'Michael'). He decides to travel in disguise with the circus as it tours Russia.
Some knowledge of the late 1800's in terms of politics and social upheaval would help but isn't essential.
Its a very unique story and not something you'll ever forget. [4/5]

New Item:
The Land That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1918)
aka Caspak #1.
A mixed bag. The first half of this is like the 'Hunt for Red October', i liked those bits overall. I also like the introduction to the island and the female character is good most of the time. There is an interestingly weird thing happening with the various tribes encountered which i also liked although i'm sure it will be more fully explained in future parts.
On the other hand it is pulp, the characters are only shown in broad strokes, there are major coincidences and Deus Ex Macina's. Also several incidents seem to happen multiple times.
Some elements are also clearly taken from a previous Burroughs story, 'Cave Girl' which i enjoyed more than this. [3/5]


Old Items:
Roadtown by Edgar Chambless (1910)
This is another utopian novella thing but its an amazing idea. Imagine a city built in a single long line, connected with underground rail. The author lays out this plan which seems really do-able. This isn't a very long read and its one of the most startlingly simple and original ideas i've ever heard. [3/5]

Utopia Limited by Gilbert & Sullivan (1893)
The first G&S opera i ever watched or rather listened to as i couldn't find one to watch. I also read along as i have a bad ear for music especially if there are a lot of people singing and there are a LOT of singers in this production.
The story is about an island nation, Utopia. The princess and several other women have just come back from school in england and its decided to make the country a limited liability company so they can borrow as much as they like without ever having to pay it back if things go wrong.
Its very funny satire and i liked it a lot more than i expected. [3/5]

New Item:
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin (1972)
I don't know about the supposed satire people associate with this book, i read it as a straight up horror story. I knew the premise going in but wasn't sure how it would play out.
This is very good, Levins style lends itself well to drawing the mundane. Everything is very clear and easy to picture. Although his scene switching can take a little getting used to. The scene changes being rather abrupt.
Overall its shorter than I expected and it leaves you with plenty of room to speculate and think about the story. I like it and i'm glad i have another couple of Levins books on my to-do list. [4/5]

Out of Time's Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1918)
aka Caspak #3.
The last part of the Caspak trilogy and by far the best. It gives the final details of the strange evolution of life on Caspak. Which is both weirder, grosser and cooler than i expected. Its also far more horror based than the first two parts. [4/5]


Old Item:
Mount Analogue by Rene Daumal (1952)
A strange one this. A man has determined there must be a huge mountain on the earth so large it bends light around ti which is why it hasn't been discovered yet. He assembles a varied group of people to scale the mountain. I liked, if not understood, what there was of it but it is unfinished so it doesn't really feel like it accomplished much. [3/5]

New Items:
Algernon Blackwood, short stories

The Empty House (1906)
Overly typical visit to a haunted house but still well told. [3/5]

A Haunted Island (1899)
Supernatural tale about a man staying alone on a small lake isle and his growing paranoia. Again well told but kind of lame storywise. [3/5]

The Wolves of God (1921)
A man returns to his island home after years in the Canadian wilderness haunted by something that happened there. I've begun to really like Blackwood's characters but his plots a still a bit meh. [3/5]

The Valley of the Beasts (1921)
A brutal man goes hunting in a forbidden valley said to be protected by an indian god. Ending a little disappointing but overall a nice strange tale good characterization and visual descriptions. [4/5]


Old Item:
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (2000)
I'm not going to give in to the hype, this book isn't perfect. I felt that Truant's story could have ended with a little more closure. However while not perfect this is an excellent read and definitely something i will read again.
Don't get intimidated by the text layout, it's a far easier read than it might look and if you do feel a little lost at times you'll probably find your feelings matching perfectly with those of the characters.
This is a Weird tale in the classic sense of the word, its got some very lovecraftian elements to it. I also have to say its quite lurid. One of the main characters has a very sleazy sex life, adults only!
One of the many interesting things about this horror tale are the footnotes, which analysis and add many additional levels to the story, something like the digressions in Moby Dick but not as mind numbingly boring.
This story or rather stories (since there are really three interweaving plots) didn't terrify me to the depths of my soul but it did get inside my head which isn't something many stories can boast of.
I read this in a library and liked it so much i bought a copy, plenty of reread value on this one. [4/5]