Your Assigned Reading for Next Class--Dr. Jekyll

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really like Robert Louis Stevenson (I read and loved Treasure Island and Kidnapped--and was almost surprised to discover how much I enjoyed them). I'm also interested in the original story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and found a nice version at the bookstore.

But it wasn't that great to read.

Yes, it's worth it. Especially because it's not that long--a novella at best. Interesting to see the original. But there is virtually no suspense, no action or plot.

The story is told kinda like H.P. Lovecraft stories, where the whole point of the story is to relate some element of strangeness, some amazing truth, and the way it comes to the reader is as someone's recollection after the fact. (Dr. Jekyll includes several forms of this, including the main character's long letter at the end retelling everything we already kind of knew.) It removes all narrative tension, IMO, making it blasé reading.

I repeat--I genuinely like the author. I was surprised when I found myself enjoying his adventure novels exactly as if I were his target audience, never mind how many years or generations separated me from them. But Dr. Jekyll is a different sort of read.

Still worth it, IMO. You could read it all at once, probably, or read it like I did--fifteen minutes or so at a time, in 4 or 5 bites. (Less time, probably, for many readers.) I still find it a pleasure to experience firsthand stories like this that have long since penetrated popular culture and left their mark.

For that purpose, I recommend it. For pleasure reading, for genuine fun, I point you toward his adventure novels.

I mean, if you like fun things. :)

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Where I Recommend an Author's Entire Oeuvre

Skirmish: The Great Short Fiction of Clifford D. Simak by Clifford D. Simak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Clifford Simak has long been one of my favorite writers--sometimes the favorite--and I recommend science fiction fans read almost everything by him.

I'll wait.

I'm not a big reader of short stories, though, just in general, and it's not what I love most about this author, but there are still so many things here that I do like that I still recommend this collection with 4 of 5 stars. (Seriously, though--read his novels. Then come back. They'll still be here.)

Mainly, I love how his SF is almost always rooted in rural America. Some everyman (almost always a man, yes) in Wisconsin or the like encounters something strange, and he and his dog have to figure out what the deal is. He often has robots, but they are usually genteel and quiet and evolved, like a friendly Vulcan. His writing is so grounded in wooded places and cabins and country highways and quiet Main Streets and farms that his writing is often called pastoral. And I like it. I like the feeling in such stories, the nostalgic mood it puts me in, even in the middle of science fiction.

There's a lot of that here. These are short stories, not novels, so (as you know) they follow different rules, and as a result I have less closure on some than I really prefer, but I still enjoyed all of them. And as a True Fan, I'll always root for Clifford Simak.

And as a post script--I picked up this book at my high school when it was set out as a discard, and I sorta dig the library dust jacket and pocket up front with the school's name on it. Reading out of it reminds me of reading books with students, my favorite part of the nearly 30 years I spent there. Though I'm not a teacher man any more, I couldn't help musing at the end of every story, "I wonder if this would have worked well with my students?" I wish sometimes I could find out.

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Nautical Fantasy, Apparently, Is a Thing. I Like it.

Sails & Sorcery: Tales of Nautical Fantasy by W.H. Horner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is exactly the kind of book you can judge by its cover, and I think that's good. If you like the idea of fantasy stories on the sea, with pirates and magic and such, and enjoy short stories as a format, you're gonna find a lot to like in this book.

Sails and Sorcery is about as on-the-nose as any title you'll ever find. And the subtitle, "Tales of Nautical Fantasy," spells it out more if you somehow missed the point. With a cover image of a castle guarding a port, an airborne sailing ship, and mermaids in the foreground, you can be pretty sure of what you're going to get in this book. It tells you what to expect, and, thankfully, it delivers. It's a fun collection.

Really, I thought the stories were very even in quality and entertainment value, which is surprising, as there are 28 in the book. I didn't dislike any, and several I liked quite a bit. All of the stories--truly, all, in my opinion, without exaggeration--have good action and varied characters and interesting settings and exciting plots and satisfying conclusions. At 15-20 pages a story, they can each be read in a single sitting, short enough not to grow tiresome but long enough to entertain. Pretty much what you look for in a short story collection, right?

Often, short stories are aimed at a literary audience, even in science fiction and fantasy, but that is not the case here. I'm glad--those stories leave me cold. These are closer to the pulp end of the literary spectrum, which is to say that they're primarily about action and plot, with a focus on entertainment, though many have a lot of emotion and offer food for thought. Some stories develop the characters more than others, and some spend more time on world-building, creating some amazing settings, but all are peopled by interesting characters and are set in exotic and exciting worlds (though a few are recognizably our own world). Several could lead to good novels, in my opinion.

I liked it, and I recommend it, and so that I don't appear to be overselling it, I gave it four stars. Solid collection, plenty of good stories. And if I'm wrong anywhere, it may be that you'll think I should have gone to five.

And that's cool.

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