Get Hexed!

Turned in my résumé project yesterday and started in on Hexed, the next Iron Druid book, as soon as I got off work.  My brother came over around 7 (more about that later), so I didn't get to pick it up again until an hour ago.  

I canNOT believe HBO didn't pick up on these books when True Blood was winding down.  There's lots of nudity, dangerous/scary goddess sex, porn-star looking witches, and a funny dog!  What more could you ask for?  I'm at the part where Atticus is fighting the German witches, half of whom are pregnant with demonspawn, and he's just decapitated one, losing half an ear in the process.  I'm getting a new project tomorrow, so I need to finish this tonight and not start the next one-- I seriously cannot put these down. 

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By Special Request: More about the Iron Druid

Attila, Irish Wolfhound, propr. Mme Sylvie Saulue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rebbie, my sister, just read my last post and pointed out that (in her opinion) I didn't give enough information about the book.  After reading it again, I think she may be right, so here goes.

The book is Hounded, by Kevin Hearne, and its hero is Atticus O'Sullivan, a 2000+ year old druid.  In fact, he is the last druid, and over those years he's made some powerful enemies.  He lives in Tempe, Arizona, which is kind of a safe zone because it is difficult for his enemies to reach.  But it's not impossible, so he is repeatedly attacked by minions of his most powerful enemy, Aenghus Og, the Celtic god of love (who seems to be quite a hater for a love god).  Other Celtic gods turn up to mess with his life, but he prevails with the help of his friends, including his dog Oberon, an Irish wolfhound who wants to be like Gengis Khan and have a harem of French poodles. 

It's a lot of fun, and I think Rebbie should give it a chance.

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Talk about Mythic--Kevin Hearne Has Got it All--and a Druid!

Druid Ghost lite (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In between writing my résumé and waiting to get my critical analysis back, I've been re-reading Kevin Hearne's funny Iron Druid books.  After all the work I did on my paper, it's good to see that the myth criticism approach really does work even when you aren't trying to do it!  Of course, Hearne is using actual myths (and creating new ones), both the classical and the little-known, so it shouldn't be surprising that I can pick out all sorts of monomyth elements and characteristics of the archetypes in the stories.  

Anyway, if you haven't read them, you ought to give them a try, if only for the mind-to-mind conversations between Atticus (the hero) and Oberon (his dog).  Hilarious dialogue!

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Rita Dove's The First Book

Cover of Bride of the Rat God

This is now one of my favorite poems.  It's so simple, yet it says everything it needs to say about that moment when you first hit upon the book that turns you into a reader.  I'm pretty much a "narrative junkie," with a two-book-a-day habit, and since the semester started, I'm about 30 books behind.  Yeah, I'm reading a lot for school, but it's not like I'm reading stories.  And I've gotten really cranky over not having the time to read for myself.  This is the reason I stopped posting for a while:  I needed to read. 

So, what did I read?  I re-read a couple of favorites, Barbara Hambly's Bride of the Rat God (since it just came out on Nook-- I love that thing!) and Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (another Nook download; I read this in fourth grade and it's still as good as I remember), as well as four free-Friday Nook ebooks.  I've been reading Norwegian mysteries by Jo Nesbo; they are fascinating and disturbing.  My sister loaned me her Hamish MacBeth mysteries (by M. C. Beaton), and they should take me through to the holidays.

I feel so much better now.

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Reading Complex Material

Hildegard reading and writing
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I got a little behind in my postings because of the George essay I wrote about in my last post.  It was longer and more complicated than the stuff we've been reading, and it also had so much in it that I wanted/needed to think about that I couldn't discuss it for a while.  I think that being asked about how I handle this kind of writing was a good thing-- I realized that I'm going to be having to read more and more difficult stuff from now on, and thinking about my "reading strategies" (this is what The Norton Field Guide to Writing calls them) can only help me get a grip on what is being said.
One thing I've found out is that it helps me to go over the material again a couple of days after reading it all the way through, because I always come across things I didn't take in the first time.

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