Books

[Maryokutai]

Funke's most prominent work is Tintenherz (Inkheart) and its two sequels, a YA fantasy series which also got a relatively mediocre film adaption. After you mentioned it I bought the book as a Christmas gift for a friend who's a big Del Toro fan but I don't he think he's read it yet (I also bought him the German version which, oddly enough, is a translation). I think I might just buy it for myself at some point, but I'll watch the movie again beforehand for sure (not looking forward to the bottle scene though).

[OCH]

 

The Undying Monster

 

Quote

'And the evil a man does may haunt those who come after him to the end of time, while he rests in peace himself.'

 

Of all things, 2024 has so far been the year I've been getting back into reading.

 

Not too long ago I took out a subscription with the British Library (support your local library, kids! Failing that, the Main one). Tales of the Weird, as on the cover above. This book is actually book 3 or 4 in my subscription (I know, a backlog from me ..shocking) and it was overall a really interesting read. The titular Monster refers to a family curse. Written in 1922 (with a movie adaptation in 1942, which I haven't checked out yet). It's quite a compelling story. A fair chunk of the prose is very "turn of the century" with hard to follow references/slang, today. As well as being very melodramatic in places. Although I don't normally read them, I really thought this book needed annotations or appendixes at the very least. Ironically enough, six pages from the end. It had a single annotation for one word alone. That made me chuckle for some reason. While the "science/logic" to this story gets really hocky at times. Also the surprisingly progressive introduction of two strong female leads, takes a nosedive by the end. The resolution itself is somewhat clever within that framework. If this sounds good to you, go for it. 6/10