Random Thoughts

I’m reading a big fantasy omnibus, and as is my wont when doing that, I’m reading separate short, short books in between the novels in the omnibus. Because reading several novels in a row in an omnibus is just oddly offputting to me. (But I have no problems reading several novels from the same author in a row otherwise. Go figger.)

Hey! I should tell you my Jandek story.

So, a decade and a half ago (or perhaps even longer ago than that) we were in Rome one winter, and as usual I googled desperately for interesting music in the area. I only found two things (some larger European cities are pretty much dead as far as experimental music goes — unless you know somebody who knows somebody), and the first was Uri Caine (who played in (if I remember correctly) a university lecture hall), and the second was Jandek.

To get a ticket, we went to a clothes store — which was closed. I knocked on the door, and was let in after a while, and then told that the Jandek show was sold out. But he put me on a waiting list, and then I got a phone later that we could get tickets anyway. So we went over, and it turned out that Jandek was going to play in the basement next door. There were about 20 people in the audience, all sitting on crates and whatever — this was a very dusty, dilapidated basement filled with odds and ends.

Then Jandek arrived, sang and played, and it was great.

Such underground music scene.

Anyway, this slender book is good — the texts tend toward being kinda opaque, but they’ve got a nice flow. Things get clearer towards the end. I like it.

The Rays Of Light That Did Not Illumine (2020) by Jandek (4.04 on Goodreads)

I wanted to read something entertaining today, so I first tried a new, well-reviewed mystery book, gave up, and then went with yet another old Barnard mystery.

It’s pretty entertaining! The only annoyance this time around was that Barnard was so strongly hinting at one specific character as being the guilty one — by making him the absolutely least likely character, ever, and basically making it impossible for him to have done it, which is very suspicious indeed.

And of course, he didn’t do it, so it was the old double twist kind of thing. Which is fine! But when you sell it that hard, it gets a bit much.

Otherwise just what the doctor ordered.

A City of Strangers (1990) by Robert Barnard (buy used, 3.45 on Goodreads)

The main mystery here is how I ended up with this book. I have no recollection of why I bought it, but perhaps I saw some glowing reviews and gave it a shot? I’m always on the lookout for some well-written mysteries.

I mean, just the name — Seraphina Nova Glass — should have been a sufficient clue that this was going to be awful. And it is! I couldn’t even get through the first chapter. The writing is clunky and odd (I think she’s going for “cute” and not getting it quite right). And it’s got that “so much drama” thing going on with several conflicts per scene etc etc.

Nothing Ever Happens Here (2025) by Seraphina Nova Glass (buy new, buy used, 3.53 on Goodreads)