small world, stuff, travel, kickboxing

[deralte]

So, Japanese started up again tonight. There were lots of new people and it was good socializing and seeing friends from before. When I got there, I was kinda weirded out since I was pretty sure I recognized one of the new Jets. As in, "didn't he go to Edinburgh uni?" sort of recognize, which was freaky enough. Talked to him and it turned out it's even wierder. Not only did he go to Edinburgh uni, but he was in my year and his major was Archaeology! We never had any honours courses together which is why I was a bit foggy on who he was, but still. What are the chances out of all the people in the world that one of the thirty people I graduated with would show up in Japan in the same prefecture I happen to live in?

The news about Steve Irwin's death shocked me tonight. I think because you just never expected him to die of being stung by a stingray - there were several other dangerous animals I expected him to die from, but stingray was pretty low on the list.

I spent a few hours yesterday translating some doujin pages, and at the end, asked myself why I had spent so much time doing so. Still have no answer *L* Have also finished reading the third volume of She-Hulk (funny series, though I alternate between finding her character annoying and finding her character annoying) and I finished off Peter Parker: Spider-man, and Amazing Spider-man from Vol. 2 onwards (I swear I've reread the issues where Aunt May finds out several times...). Have been reading Marvel Ultimates which is both much more realistic than the original comics and in some ways just as unrealistic. Still lots of plot holes and maybe because of the reaslism, they're much more obvious. Also, it might help to get the Hulk psychiatric help and stop treating him like dirt. Idiots.

Catching myself up on Doctor Who. Still have the last two eps of season two to finish, but am not in much of a hurry. This season's really not as fun as the last one, and the only ep I've really enjoyed was the French one.

I'm not really looking forward to this week. I've got a pretty solid schedule and some classes I dislike (though I lose those either next week or the week after) but this week will be a slog. Luckily, I have eps 14 onwards of Ouran High Host Club to watch and ice cream and melon cream soda to make ice cream sodas of the highest caliber to console myself (I had an actual root beer float last night. So yummy. Thanks G.!)

I let myself be talked into a road trip to Mt. Fuji in two weeks. Otherwise known as driving 10 hours, climbing for eight hours in the dark to reach the top for dawn, then climbing down and driving back. I think we're insane, but, hell, how often to you get the chance to do something like that?

Anybody read the Chrestomanci Chronicles or any other of Diana Wynne Jones books? (Besides Howl and sequel) Are they worth reading, cause they're probably the easiest English lang. books to get here that I haven't read yet, and I enjoyed Howl's Moving Castle and was therefore wondering if it was worth spending the money.

I can't decide what to do for Christmas/New Years this year. I'll have two weeks or so off so I can go wherever I want, and I can even ask for the trip as a Christmas present so money's not too much of an issue. Of course, the question is where do I want to go and why. Tokyo? Kyuushu? Okinawa? Hokkaido? Korea?

Oh, I forgot to mention I went back to kickboxing on Saturday. It was like I'd never left. The cute guy I've been flirting with decided to spend the class teaching me anything he could think of (and it was really distracting the way he kept standing behind me and holding his arms out right against mine so I would punch straight), far away from everyone else. And I forgot my tape for my feet so another guy up and gives me one of his rolls (which was a lot better quality than my own). Afterwards, headed into Ube with M. to play pool. We barely managed two games in an hour *L* Then, we actually headed to the second hand store to hang out until around 1am, which just goes to show, we may actually have no lives whatsoever. Did see one of the strangest customized vans I've ever seen - it had spoilers in the shape of a whale's tail and was painted black with killer whales and fish swimming in the stars all over it. Oh, and the inside was bright green and orange.

Comments

[rilina.livejournal.com]

My favorite non-Howl books by DWJ are Archer's Goon and Dogsbody. I've read some of the Chrestomanci books; they often strike me as something that I would have really loved when I was a younger, but only mildly like now, and I don't know how much I think they're worth buying. (Good library checkouts, though, whenever you get access to an English language one again.)

[deralte.livejournal.com]

Good to know (even if I don't think I've seen those particular DWJ books here *sigh*). Thanks:)

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I've also been recommended The Homeward Bounders given what else I've liked, though I haven't gotten around to it yet.

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland is funny, though not really a narrative; apparently Dark Lord of Derkholm takes the ideas in Tough Guide and makes a story from it. Again, that's still on my to-read list, so can't say much more.

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

I quite like the Chrestomanci books, especially The Lives of Christopher Chant and The Magicians of Caprona. Unfortunately, you're now likely to find them only in omnibus editions with two other Chrestomanci novels, Witch Week (which is not worth reading, unless you're seriously bored) and...shoot, forgotten the title of the other one, but it's actually the first Chrestomanci book written. There's a 5th Chrestomanci book, Conrad's Fate, which I really quite like, but it might not make a whole lot of sense if you haven't read The Lives of Christopher Chant.

Deep Secrets is really awesome, though. (Part of it takes place at a SF&F con). It's not a Chrestomanci book, and its intended audience is quite older than DWJ's usual audience.

I'd say almost all of DWJ's books are worth a check-out from the library and a good read, but not all are worth a buy. Her audience is mostly 10-14-year-olds for a lot of the books, and sometimes it shows. Her books for an older audience get a bit more twisty in their thinking, but I think they're some of her best.

[nentari.livejournal.com]

Personally, Witch Week is my favourite of the series - I love the repressive, "anti-Hogwarts" kind of feeling the school has, and the whole racism/witch hunt history of that world (also, there's the fact that Nan is the character I identify with the most in DWJ's books). It also has an interesting link to Janet's brackground, even if she's not mentioned by name.

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

I liked The Lives of Christopher Chant best; I tend to read for characters more than for ambience, and so while I adored Christopher I didn't erally find anyone in Witch Week to love. The world itself was quite interesting, though, and I really liked the last few chapters or so of the book.

[nentari.livejournal.com]

The Lives of Christopher Chant was certainly one of the most interesting, definitely - especially in light of what we already know from Charmed Life. It was interesting to see how some characters were so different from what they'd later become (the Goddess especially was a pleasant surprise), which is why I'm looking forward to reading Conrad's Fate and The Pinhoe Egg.

[nentari.livejournal.com]

I really love the Chrestomanci books, which were my very first contact with the DWJ world - the first four books of the series so far are the only ones that have been published in Portugal so far. *shakes fist at our inability to see a good writer*
Since the only other DWJ books I've read were The Merlin Conspiracy and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, I can't really say if they're better or worse than any of her other works, but I found them quite enjoyable. They are very much more children-oriented than The Merlin Conspiracy (and probably Howl, though I'm only familiar with the movie) but I personally don't see it as a drawback.

In case you still have doubts, I suggest you get Charmed Life, and then see if you feel it's worth following. You can read the other books in any order - though probably Conrad's Fate should be read after The Lives of Christopher Chant (though, since Conrad hasn't been released here yet, I cannot say this with 100% certainty).

[deralte.livejournal.com]

They only sell them in the omnibus volumes here (books 1 and 2, and books 3 and 4) and they're kinda expensive so I don't really want to waste the money buying them if I'm not going to like them.

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

The Merlin Conspiracy is the sequel to Deep Secret, which you should definitely read if you can get your hands on it. (Except the end's been sort of spoiled by TMC but it's great anyway.) Also, Tough Guide to Fantasyland has a ...sort of companion series? Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin are set in the world the guidebook ostensibly introduces us too, and they're my favorite Jones books altogether.

I shall never, ever be able to forget the carnivorous sheep.

[nentari.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to find Deep Secret for quite a while, but so far have been unsuccessful. All of Nick's hints in TMC about previous events have left me quite curious. Ah well, I'll surely find it when I least expect it.

[emilyray.livejournal.com]

'Charmed Life' was the first Diana Wynne Jones I ever read, so it occupies a special place in my heart. I think that and the prequel, 'The Lives Of Christopher Chant' are the best of the Chrestomanci sequence and definitely worth reading. 'The Magicians of Caprona' is also very good. The others in the sequence suffer by comparison, but those three are worth spending money on.

[kalorlo.livejournal.com]

I really like most of Diana Wynne Jones' books - read them first when I was younger and still enjoy them. Archer's Goon is very funny, along with The Magicians of Caprona. I tend to separate Magicians from The Lives of Christopher Chant and Charmed Life because it isn't as much about Chrestomanci as those two are (and Witch Week is somewhere way off in the distance in my mind - he turns up, but it has a very different feel and mostly isn't about him. I don't like it so much, but it may be worth reading anyway. Is somewhat grimmer). Then there's A Tale of Time City and Fire and Hemlock, the latter having sort-of links to Tam Lin. Hexwood is headfuck territory and a lot darker. Black Maria is quite good in an "isn't she awful" kind of way, though is probably less substantial than most of the others. Oh, and there's Homeward Bounders! I love the setup, but it tends to make me cry.

Those are the ones I really like. I didn't get on so well with Dogsbody and I never worked out why. I also didn't like most of the Dalemark Quartet (starts with Drowned Ammet). I think it annoyed me by jumping so far in time between each book, with no obvious links until the end. I wanted to find out more about the first time it was in. Power of Three and The Time of the Ghost are odd and slightly spooky, if I recall. I didn't find so much to engage with in them.

Deep Secret is great. There's also a book of short stories, also aimed at older readers - Minor Arcana. Has some interesting stuff in, including a story about typos...