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surells t1_j6cgi4a wrote

My favourites are:

Number 9 Dream - it just has so much narrative drive and youthful enthusiasm. The main character really felt real to me. And I loved the experimentation with style/genre in each section. Not a big fan of the Goat Writer stuff, but it's not a deal breaker.

Black Swan green - Being from the Midlands in the UK this had a lot of nostalgia for me. I liked how down to earth it was and how that would contrast with some of Mitchell's more unusual choice of metaphor. Plus Hugo Lamb was a great antagonist I was very glad to see reappear.

Thousand Autumns - Just a big wonderful beast of a book. He manages to get the bygonese perfectly, striking the balance between it feeling viably old whilst still being readable. it's incredibly well researched, and the setting is fascinating. I managed to visit Dejima when I went to Japan, and I never would have known about it without the book. Plus I think this is where we first meet Marinus.

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ackthisisamess OP t1_j6gj13b wrote

Number9dream I did in general enjoy (I loved the descriptions of Japan, and I've been to Japan like you and I'm very connected to the location) however I struggled about with a certain graphic scene (if I remember correctly).

I also really enjoyed the descriptions of England (I love and miss England) in Blackswangreen. However, I prefer the books with more magical elements so I wasnt crazy about this one either. Likewise with thousand autumns. All beautifully written books of course, but not suited for my very specific and picky "comfort" list haha.

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surells t1_j6h7tfn wrote

Good to know you enjoy the magic. I think he gets a lot of criticism for including magic from his more snobby reviewers and readers who think it's unbecoming of a writer of his quality, but like you I think it's great and always appreciate a writer ignoring genre boundaries.

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cwojanis t1_j6j681a wrote

I have read the same little book once a year for the last 30 years. Just a fantasy entitled The Blue Sword. Over my last 74 years I've read thousands of books and I've read many, many books more than once. It's spending time with old, dear friends.

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