The Priest of the Invisible

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As part of an attempt to become more organised (and to eke more out of my hours) I’ve recently begun scheduling things I’d like to do. It’s not quite as cold as it sounds, and it affords me the ability to ensure I do things I like, but which often suffer in the throes of a Wikipedia hole or a TV Tropes vortex.

One of the things on my list is to read a poem a day. Every day. One poem. This is to counter the fact that though I like poetry, and though I spent four years at university reading books – some of which were made up of poems! – I still feel myself to be a low-watt bulb when it comes to poetry. It’s something I like, and have liked for a long time, but something I feel kind of stupid around, like I’ve turned up to a fancy restaurant in tracksuit pants. Continue reading “The Priest of the Invisible”

Book review: Bad City Blues

Bad City BluesBad City Blues by Tim Willocks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another out-the-door read, I began this in order to get it off my shelves. I’m trying to downsize books, and I felt that this would be a good read-and-donate, so away I went.

I may have to reconsider this plan of action.

While this is the second Willocks book I’ve read, it’s the first of his to be published. Green River Rising was my first, and it’s undeniable that while that book is more polished, Bad City Blues is more viscerally interesting. There’s certainly a sense that Willocks is working out ideas here, and the writing sometimes veers close to formula, but in genre fiction, that’s hardly a cardinal sin.

Willocks’ writing here is resolutely Southern-fried gothic violence. There’s touches of Chandler and Cain, with sweaty balls; religion, robbery and the fuckery love leads you to are foremost. Continue reading “Book review: Bad City Blues”

Book review: Burial Rites

Burial RitesBurial Rites by Hannah Kent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time to enthuse: this is one of the most striking first novels I’ve read in a long time. It’d sat on my shelf for a while, and I grabbed it as I hustled for a bus, so I approached it with no real expectations. So to end up reading something that came across as a more astringent cross between Atwood’s Alias Grace and the austere bones of Miller’s The Crucible was a surprise, to say the least.

Kent’s book is rooted in history and tells of the final weeks of Agnes Magnusdottir’s life. It’s the story of the last woman executed in Iceland, Continue reading “Book review: Burial Rites”

Book review: Preacher, Volume 9: Alamo

Preacher, Volume 9: AlamoPreacher, Volume 9: Alamo by Garth Ennis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, here we are.

It’s kind of odd reviewing Alamo, the final collection of Preacher trades, as it simultaneously is a review of a collection of issues of the comic, and the run as a whole. It’s something you’re not going to read unless you’ve read the rest of the run, and if you’ve managed to stick through the other eight trades, you’re probably in for the long haul anyway. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 9: Alamo”

Book review: Preacher, Volume 8: All Hell’s a-Coming

Preacher, Volume 8: All Hell's a-ComingPreacher, Volume 8: All Hell’s a-Coming by Garth Ennis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This, the penultimate Preacher collection, gathers together issues 51-58 and the Tall in the Saddle one-off. It’s a collection that has a fair bit going on, though it’s not as action-packed, necessarily as the others. Certainly, it seems to clear the path for the final volume.

We begin with our main trio split, still. Tulip is kept in a drugged haze, and through her escape from chemical bondage (and creepy sex) Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 8: All Hell’s a-Coming”

Book review: Preacher, Volume 7: Salvation

Preacher, Volume 7: SalvationPreacher, Volume 7: Salvation by Garth Ennis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This Preacher trade gathers issues 41-50 of the regular run of the series, and focuses squarely on Jesse’s path after splitting with Cassidy and Tulip. It’s something of a refractory period in the story – Custer regroups and finds strength again – but it’s also home to some of the series’ more interesting foes, so it’s a worthwhile read. And that’s without counting the insight into the padre’s past this handful offers. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 7: Salvation”

Book review: Preacher, Volume 6: War in the Sun

Preacher, Volume 6: War in the Sun Preacher, Volume 6: War in the Sun by Garth Ennis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gathered in this volume is the special issue One Man’s War, and issues 34-40 of the main run of Preacher. It’s a collection that’s not quite as dazzling as some of the previous installments, but it does feature a shitload more firepower than we’ve seen previously – and the first really ruinous split in the crew.

(Oh, there’s also a small imaginary world where everyone has a face like an arse, but that’s more a little palate-cleanser for the next gathering of issues. Suffice it to say that it’s the first time Arseface has been without subtitles for a long stretch.) Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 6: War in the Sun”

Book review: Preacher, Volume 5: Dixie Fried

Preacher, Volume 5: Dixie FriedPreacher, Volume 5: Dixie Fried by Garth Ennis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This Preacher trade is another favourite. It collects Blood and Whiskey, a Cassidy special, and issues 27-33 of the regular run. Together, they deepen the portrait we have of the series’ whiskey-swilling vampire, proving that there’s a little more to him than toothy comic relief. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 5: Dixie Fried”

Book review: Preacher, Volume 4: Ancient History

Preacher, Volume 4: Ancient History Preacher, Volume 4: Ancient History by Garth Ennis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another day, another collection of Preacher issues. However, this one’s something of an oddity. It gathers together three one-shot specials: Saint of Killers, The Story of You-Know-You and Good Old Boys. There’s a lengthy introduction by series author, Garth Ennis, in which his love of cinema is apparent – which is convenient, as the volume contains an excellent riff on his favourite genre, the Western, as well as a not-so-great version of the ’80s action film. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 4: Ancient History”

Book review: Preacher, Volume 3: Proud Americans

Preacher, Volume 3: Proud AmericansPreacher, Volume 3: Proud Americans by Garth Ennis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Preacher re-read rolls on. Proud Americans gathers issues 18 to 26 of the series and while it contains just as much blow-shit-up-while-making-knob-jokes stuff as the previous trades, it’s also one which deepens character and explores history, too. Spoilers ahead, most likely.

We begin as Jesse is en route to Paris, where he encounters Space, a Vietnam vet who has stories to share of John Custer. The previous collection’s story of Angelville told of the meeting of Jesse’s mother and father, but this one offers some insight into what sort of a man he was – traits which have rubbed off onto the son, in an exchange begun by an anti-Commie lighter. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 3: Proud Americans”