Free Art, Free Time

Surprisingly close to my flat is this gorgeous building, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery. It's free to enter and would take the better part of a day to really appreciate everything. I've been in Scotland for almost a year now and hadn't been inside until a few days ago. It's almost a crime... though my friends tell me quite a few Glasgwegians haven't been, either.

Almost everything is in the wings of the building. From ancient Egypt to the history of Glasgow to famous works of art by Van Gogh and Salvador Dali, they've got it all. I enjoyed their extensive collection of stuffed life-size animals and skeletons of dinosaurs, ancient fish, and mammals. My favorite was the Giant Irish Deer. It astounds me to think of deer or elk that huge living not too long ago in Scotland. Look at the size of those antlers!

My boyfriend and I spent about two hours there and didn't get to see everything before it closed. Another trip there soon is likely.

Otherwise I'm trying to think of things to fill the three weeks left of my holiday. There's a nice cafe right across from the museum, called Beanscene. It's a chain in the area, but I love the atmosphere and upbeat music. I'll probably go there occasionally to write and edit my novel. I've been reading quite a bit too, and I have two books I've finished in the last week that I'm going to review. Expect those reviews on my blog in the next week or so. Since I'll be hanging out in my flat so much, and even reading and writing won't fill my time. Perhaps I'll think about a game to get into for a few weeks...

Neverwhere

A couple months ago, I bought Neverwhere for Kindle, by Neil Gaiman, as it was one of his more successful novels that I hadn't read yet. After finishing The End of the Pier, I figured I should read that next, since I was going to see Neil Gaiman a week later. I ended up barely not finishing it in time. Gaiman then mentioned the book in his talk and gave away a small spoiler. But no big deal.

I really seem to be eating up books lately, just because I've realized I can read during breakfast and lunch, and when I take the subway or train on weekends. I'm starting to agree with the people that say "always carry a book with you, as you never know when you might want to read." It's even easier now that I have a thin Kindle to read big books. I might just make my goal of 25 books this year--just two more than last year, but that felt like a lot.

~

Book 9: Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

I'm not surprised it was hard to put down, as I know I like Gaiman's writing, but I haven't read a page-turner in a while. Felt good.

In London, Richard and his fiance Jessica are going out to dinner to meet her father, who is a media giant on par with Murdoch. As they walk, Jessica goes on and on about how to act around her father. They come upon a young woman named Door lying in the road, who appears to be wounded. Richard can't just leave the girl there, even though this dinner is a big deal to Jessica, so he picks the girl up. Jessica warns him that she'll break up with him if he does this, but he ignores her and takes the girl back home to take care of her.

From this day on, no one in London can see him or even remember him. He's essentially invisible, nonexistent. Only Door can see him. He follows her into a world they call "London Below" (whereas the world we know is "London Above"), where people can understand rats and pigeons, tube stations are actually named after things (there is an Earl at Earl's Court, etc), and crazy, magical things are considered normal.

I really admire Gaiman's imagination. The themes in it may not be as deep as some people like, but it's a great fantasy. Fun, funny, and memorable characters.

Meeting Neil Gaiman

Edinburgh was beautiful. If I hadn't lost my camera's cable and battery charger, I would have taken pictures. I went with my boyfriend, who doesn't know a lot of Neil Gaiman's work. We decided he should come along kind of at the last minute, so he didn't see the talk. We arrived at the festival barely in time for Neil Gaiman's presentation. Signing afterward took a long time, then we barely made the train home after eating quickly. This all means I will certainly be going back one of these weekends with the boyfriend to see the sights. I did get a glimpse of Edinburgh Castle, from Princes Street. A valley that looks like a sheer cliff face in the middle of a city? Man, that's impressive.

Seeing Neil Gaiman in person was fantastic. I only got about ten seconds to talk to him, and that's after an hour and a half of waiting in line to get my book signed, but it was definitely worth it. I told him his work was inspiring, and that I was a writer, and that reading his stuff helps. A bit lame, but he's not going to remember it anyway. He thanked me and wished me luck with the writing. And kudos to him for signing so many books. The guy in front of me thanked him for that, but Gaiman thanked him back for waiting so long in line, though I think his job is probably more tiring.

His hour-long talk was great as well. He has kind of a big goofy smile, and crazy hair, and is both funny and eloquent. Similes and metaphors (decent ones, mind you) seem to just be inherent in his speech. A guy from the festival did the interviewing, but it was mostly Gaiman going on about his different works, and some of his thought processes behind writing and his different books/comics/scripts. He even gave a sneak peek of some writing he's working on, and to my delight, said there's a sequel--or two--of American Gods to be written...

Tomorrow marks the last day of my internship. After that, a full month free to do whatever I want, and then classes start. My last year as an undergraduate, and possibly my last year at university. Gulp.

A Book And A Festival

Summer has been going steadily. Work is boring at times, because I both don't have enough to do and am trying to communicate with a large company. That never goes quickly, and I end up frequently just waiting for their responses.

My internship is up in two weeks, and I hope to edit my novel after that, before the term starts. I've also been playing Oblivion, a PC RPG game that was made a few years ago. I've found it very immersive and the world to explore is huge. Next week I'm going to the Edinburgh Book Festival to see none other than Neil Gaiman! I hope to get my battered and torn copy of American Gods signed. And not to babble when I meet him.

~

Book 8: The End of the Pier, by Martha Grimes

I've written about Martha Grimes' murder mysteries before, in this post more than a year ago now. I'm reading all of her books in order, and enjoying them.

This one's a bit different from her previous books. There's no Detective Richard Jury, and the story is set in America rather than England. Most of her books also start with a murder scene, but this one slowly builds to it, as we learn that there were previous murders. Sam, the sherrif of the small town, believes they've had the wrong man in jail for years now. His boss doesn't want to believe it, and Sam seems to be the only one trying to figure out what really happened.

The characterization is very well done. She has a clear view of what each person is like, and describes them well. A lot of time is spent in Maud's head, and it's not clear why until the end. She's a slightly depressed, slightly loopy single mother dealing with a kind of empty nest syndrome. She likes sitting on the end of the pier (hence the book's name), watching the party across the lake that seems to always be happening. Sam likes her company, so he joins her occasionally for a drink there. We also spend time in the killer's head, which is also well done. Nothing about him in these snippets reveal who he is until later in the book, and they're terribly creepy.

At times this book seemed all over the place and it was hard to tell what was going on and how everything was connected, but I think that was part of the enjoyment for me. It certainly kept me reading.