I don't think I'm alone in feeling like the quantity and even the quality of entertainment out there is severely lacking in 2020. I mean, just a couple of months into the year, the world caught its first wiff of COVID-19, and that snowballed quickly, destabilizing and shutting down much in the way of new entertainment.
Movies? Nobody was going to work on new movies (or shows) with the COVID scare, so that business was stopped in its tracks. Netflix and other streaming services eventually began to throw up the odd new release that was already in the can prior to the pandemic. It's been a solid five months, or a bit more, that we've had to put up with dwindling offerings on this front. And pretty much nothing made an impression during this time. We're just watching whatever because that's all we've got. I've seen more crap - or so-so - movies in the last while than in my entire life up until this point.
Movies theatres shut down. Not that this affects me, really, since I've avoided the cinemas for years now. The theatrical experience had already become pretty unbearable for me. Too many patrons behave like animals, noisy, phone-obsessed, kicking seats... no thanks. Plus the average run-time of most modern movies has become uncomfortably seat-locked, clocking in at 2.5 hours and up. I like the freedom to pause what I'm watching so I can hit the can or the fridge, or just stand and stretch, whenever I want. I hear that some cinemas have opened, though with physical distancing restrictions in place. Still, an iffy proposition.
Music? For a good long while there, that industry had been shut down. It's still in a weird state of limbo. No concert tours, no album releases. But after some of that cabin fever wore off, certain artists got antsy and creative, and became more active online with streaming concerts, some new music, and later, eventually some new albums were dropped into our lives. Nothing for me, though. Instead, I found marginally interesting Youtube channels by musicians who had nothing better to do.
While my music and movie consumption has gone way down this year, I've maintained a decent reading schedule. I haven't bought many brand new book releases (just one recently, in the mail at this moment), but I've had online purchases of past titles shipped to my door, and have kept up my reading. I had a slump or two when my mood (COVID-related, no doubt) sort of messed with my motivation to seek out a new book.
Early in the year, I enjoyed the novel Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem. A quirky detective story that made me laugh out loud more than once. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn is one of the best two books I've read so far this year. It's a spy tale that spans the two world wars, with riveting characters, dialogue and scenarios. Definitely one I'll read again someday.
Exhalation is a collection of science-fiction short stories by an under-appreciated author Ted Chiang. His intelligent and imaginative style and ideas appeal to me, reminding me a bit of fellow Chinese powerhouse writer Liu Cixin.
A slight departure from sci-fi took me to a quick and light-hearted novel called Madrigal by John Gardner. A reluctant assassin makes for comical reading, believe me.
Back to sci-fi, I finally tried out the much-lauded Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. Yes, it lived up to the promise. I thoroughly enjoyed the expansive world-building and fascinating characters and their individual backgrounds. I intend to check out the sequel, Fall of Hyperion, one of these days.
Still on a speculative fiction kick, I went for the classic Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke. Good but not as good as I expected. Still, for its time, it was a big deal, so I can appreciate the significance of the novel. In a nutshell, it is about man's first contact with an alien race. No spoilers here... if that's your thing, see for yourself.
Then on to The Mote in God's Eye, another purported sci-fi gem, co-written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It was a thick book that sort of set me up with high expectations. It started off great, kind of went strange on me - almost losing me entirely, but I hung in there and rode it out to a fairly good conclusion. Not great, in my opinion, but a fun read, I guess.
After that, I was "in the mood" for Anthem: Rush in the 70's, a biography of the progressive rock legends. I knew the author (we'd done a little business years ago, and met more recently), so was ready for something cool. The book is a solid and detailed account of the band throughout their early years. These guys first formed in 1968 and only just retired a few years ago. Rush's lengthy career was comprised of various periods of musical transformation, so the author concentrates on just the 70's here, with upcoming "sequels" to cover the decades to follow. As a long-time fan of the band, I found the book expertly written and researched. Very nice job!
Then for something completely different, I read a legal "thriller" called Reversible Errors, by Scott Turow. The author is known for applying his lawyer's knowledge to his literary works. I enjoyed the book as much as one could, considering there is zero action, and pretty much all dialogue. It's an achievement, and probably well-suited to adaptation to a certain type of film. Not for everyone, but it was intriguing and intelligent.
I just recently started Ball Lightning, by the aforementioned modern science-fiction master, Cixin Liu. I'm only a little ways into the book, and while it's a neat idea, I feel this is a lesser work than Liu's amazing Three Body Problem trilogy (AKA Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy). But I will reserve judgement until I've actually completed the novel. So far, so good.
On deck, I have a few things that have been sitting for a while. Early in the year, I started Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine, but got distracted by another book, and put that on hold. But no matter, it's an easy thing to pick up again. Very funny and informative. Something I could use to ease my COVID tensions.
The Gods Laughed, by Poul Anderson, is also on my "to read" shelf. I've long meant to try something by sci-fi author Anderson, but never have. A friend recently gave me a handful of the author's books, so I'll have a chance to see what his writing is like.
I also have a handful of Isaac Asimov novels, courtesy of that same friend who cleared out his collection... these are the first four of his famous Foundation series. I read Foundation long ago, but look forward to a re-read and then will proceed with the sequels. More heady sci-fi for the brain.
And that one new release that's on its way is Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor. It's an historical fiction about the life of Victorian era author Bram Stoker. This tells of the years leading up to his writing of his famous novel, Dracula. Yeah, you've all heard of that book, even if you haven't read it. It sounds like a fascinating story... about the aspects of Stoker's life that inspired and influenced his soon-to-be-published horror masterpiece.
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