Bibliophilic angst

As those who follow my Goodreads page will know, I've spent much of this month working my way through Dan Simmons' latest doorstop of a novel, Drood. I'm not what you'd call an expert in Victorian literature or Charles Dickens, but I have a bit of grounding in the subject from college Brit Lit courses, and am enjoying it quite a bit as a result. Even though it's far from a perfect work, it's interesting in that some of its biggest flaws are directly responsible for some of its most surprising successes.

I may get into a more detailed analysis later; for now, I just want to angst a bit. You see, the whole reason I knew of the book's existence was due to Subterranean Press' announcement that they were publishing a limited edition; thanks to a combination of my recent efforts to stem discretionary spending and a higher-than-usual price tag, I managed to avoid purchasing it blindly and instead got a copy of the regular hardcover from the local library. And as much as I've enjoyed reading it, I don't think I'm going to buy the limited edition. It would certainly fit right in with the vague theme of first-editions-of-speculative-fiction-novels-I've-enjoyed on which I've been building my collection, but I'm just not certain I'd read it again anytime soon. And as cool as it would be to have in my collection, I'm not in a place financially or available-space-wise where I can see dropping $80 on it right now.

Ah well. At least I'm enjoying reading it. Imperfect storytelling or no, I do believe I can quite honestly say that I've never read anything else like it - and that counts for quite a lot.

Bibliophilic angst

As those who follow my Goodreads page will know, I've spent much of this month working my way through Dan Simmons' latest doorstop of a novel, Drood. I'm not what you'd call an expert in Victorian literature or Charles Dickens, but I have a bit of grounding in the subject from college Brit Lit courses, and am enjoying it quite a bit as a result. Even though it's far from a perfect work, it's interesting in that some of its biggest flaws are directly responsible for some of its most surprising successes.

I may get into a more detailed analysis later; for now, I just want to angst a bit. You see, the whole reason I knew of the book's existence was due to Subterranean Press' announcement that they were publishing a limited edition; thanks to a combination of my recent efforts to stem discretionary spending and a higher-than-usual price tag, I managed to avoid purchasing it blindly and instead got a copy of the regular hardcover from the local library. And as much as I've enjoyed reading it, I don't think I'm going to buy the limited edition. It would certainly fit right in with the vague theme of first-editions-of-speculative-fiction-novels-I've-enjoyed on which I've been building my collection, but I'm just not certain I'd read it again anytime soon. And as cool as it would be to have in my collection, I'm not in a place financially or available-space-wise where I can see dropping $80 on it right now.

Ah well. At least I'm enjoying reading it. Imperfect storytelling or no, I do believe I can quite honestly say that I've never read anything else like it - and that counts for quite a lot.