oiran | aghast/Gormenghast and also SV story recs and ego

So, about three years ago, I purchased a copy of the Mervyn Peake Gormenghast trilogy bound in one volume. I was enthralled instantly and, unlike my usual pattern of devouring a book within a matter of hours, I found that I was both unwilling and unable with this story. I wanted to savor it. When I moved back to Seattle for a year and some, I had boxed up a bunch of books that were special, and that I wanted Mr. Glove to mail to me. Unfortunately, he got the box mixed up with other boxes of books, and he later could not recall whether it had been stored or taken to Goodwill. About a month ago, I finally unearthed the box (the LAST box with books in it in our basement) and was delighted that all the special books had not, in fact, been given away. I began reading Gormenghast again and finished book two.

The descriptions of time and space and quality of light in these stories are like nothing I've read before. Pages and pages and pages of detail and set-up so that a character can walk in and some tiny thing can happen ever-so-prettily. It sounds claustrophobic and stuffy, but it's wonderful. The characters are fairy tale creatures, but kind of grubby and sad, furtive, misunderstood. I fell in love with poor Fuchsia right away--and perhaps that was one of the first problems. Fuchsia, you see, isn't the star of these tales. Her brother, Titus, is.

The villain, Steerpike, is described in most unflattering terms. He has dark red eyes, a bulbous forehead, and high, narrow shoulders. I have seen caps from some filmed version of this, however, and Steerpike is played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who is widely agreed to be fucking hot. If anything, JRM should have played a hotter version of Lord Titus (I have no idea who really did play Titus, and I haven't seen anything of the filmed version except pics of JRM standing on roofs and scowling). Even though I like to look at Jonathan Rhys Meyers as much as anyone, I haven't made the least effort to see the filmed version of the story because I just love the books so much and love to hate ugly, as-written Steerpike.

Yes, I love the books so much. Well, the first two books.

I am hating book three, which is called Titus Alone. That right there is the reason, I think. It's just fucking Titus, and I don't care what happens to him. I don't care about his adventures. I don't care about anything now that he's left the castle. I want to go back to the castle and see what they're up to there. The author has very carefully and definitively removed all the things I like about the story from play. I am so resentful of this that I can't imagine he'll be able to reengage me in a mere 200 pages (there have been, what? about 900 pages prior, I think) and thus redeem the storyline. I have been poking at this for a couple of weeks now, and I'm maybe 40 pages into it, which is what I might usually read in 20-30 minutes.

I know there are a few people on my FL who know these books well, and I think for the same reasons that I do. I'm going to stagger through it (while rereading Dawn Powell novels as a reward), but I'm wondering: is Titus Alone ever going to make me happy? Even for a moment? With my two favorites decidedly missing?

Story recs: I see all these posts complaining about the lack of SV stories being posted and that's just wrong. Whether or not they're what everyone wants to read, there are definitely stories being posted.

kieyra wrote a very sci-fi story, Negative Space that bumps us 100 years into the future. I'm not familiar with the book she says she borrows from, but I really like this story very much. I've really enjoyed her other stories as posted to SSA, as well.

Healer by

paperbkryter. I did not expect to like this pairing at all, but I read it anyway and I'm very glad I did. You probably will be, too.

And I pimped this last night, but my excitement has not yet waned, so here you go again: I Could Hurt You Now by

gothphyle(also here on the challenge site). Write for the challenge! Please! I will squee and follow you around telling you that you're pretty and smell good.

And in the ego slot: I posted something that is only mostly completed about Lex @ Excelsior. No Clark in sight. No Bruce, either, if that matters.

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I totally agree that Ashton Kutcher looks like a younger, dopier Gale Harold, but I so cannot see the Tom Welling resemblance. Of course, I don't think Ian Somerhalder looks like TW, either. I think Ian Somerhalder looks like a really pretty girl with a scruffy beard.

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tynantblue0162 needs to write more, and write more porn. By not doing so, she's being selfish and cruel.