Old words

While I haven’t been reading much, I realized that what I have read recently is old words: Rex Stout, Robert E. Howard and Isaac Asimov. I didn’t plan it that way. Of course the words are old because that’s just the way it is. It’s that the stories that are old, though except for the Asimov they were new to me (I reread Foundation and started on Foundation and Empire).

It gives me a view of the world from the authors’ perspectives. Howard looks back, Stout looks around and Asimov looks forward. I didn’t read these things looking for social commentary, I read them for fun. Sometimes the rest just happens on its own.

In the Nero Wolfe novel, it was just a few lines that were used to define the characters – very concisely and nicely sarcastic in one particular character’s voice. I got a glimpse of people from different backgrounds living through a time of change. For the novel, it tells you who the people are and how they fit together. For me, it shows me clues to where we came from and how our society got to where it is now.

I’ve only read the first story in a Howard anthology, so all I can see is a dramatically different style. It’s flamboyant, broad-brush, bold color characterization – well, dark colors in this one, but still rich. You have to be uninhibited to write like that. It’s fun and enticing.

Asimov is, well, Asimov, offering a calculated look at all of human nature as seen from the future. It’s the question of ‘where do we go from here?’ when the ‘here’ is the scientific maelstrom of the 1950s. Of course, science will show the way.

I did try some new stuff; I started a new fantasy novel at the end of last year, but I put that on the shelf. It’s entertaining, but long and not engaging. There just isn’t anything happening. I got halfway through a 700 page book, and if this is all a setup it better be for one heck of a payoff. I might not ever get to it though because I just don’t feel connected to the book. I figure I get credit for reading a book, though, since I’ve invested so much time and effort just to get to where I am.

I’ve been putting down books I just don’t get into, no matter what the reviews. I have a pile of books to sort through and old words to read.