Breakfast In The Ruins- In the roof garden 1971

[mfkeown]

Hi all or anyone at all!

I've been reading Michael Moorcock for a couple of years now, done the usual dive in through the fantasy/sf omnibuses (although not habitually a fantasy reader) and am now exploring more widely.

I just started Breakfast In The Ruins and had to break my silence to praise the first segment of the book, in the roof garden. Its a perfect short story. Its evocative of a place and time (current then, but historical now) and of a mood that I find easy to relate to. Then broader issues of emotional, social and economic guilt and embarassment are raised just beneath the horizon. I find myself sympathising emotionally yet also encouraged to look at more abstract themes.

Quite lovely. Neil Jordan's early short fiction seems to try similar ideas.

Now I'll go and read the rest of the book...

[A_Non_Ymous]

It's a fine book. In fact, of Mr. Moorcock's earlier novels, it is one of my favorites.

I'm tempted to go back and reread it.

LSN

[David Mosley]

It's a fine book. In fact, of Mr. Moorcock's earlier novels, it is one of my favorites.

I'm tempted to go back and reread it.

Seriously, LSN, if you'd like to wait a little while, we could make BITR the next book for the self-styled 'Moorcock Reading Group' to tackle next month?

(I say 'self-styled' because at the moment, I suspect the MRG consists of myself and Aral Vilsn - although he's not actually reading the current book - The Shores of Death - because he's just read the NW version. Hopefully though through persistance we may pick up more members over time.)

Anyway, BITR would be a really good choice to make the next novel because it's available online at RevolutionSF - http://www.revolutionsf.com/print.php3?id=722 - so it would be really easy for anyone who wants to read it to do so.

Would other people be interested in coming aboard with this? (The idea of a Reading Group - for those who don't know - is for the members to all read the same book, in a given timeframe, and then discuss it afterwards.)

[A_Non_Ymous]

Seriously, LSN, if you'd like to wait a little while, we could make BITR the next book for the self-styled 'Moorcock Reading Group' to tackle next month?

Thanks for the invitation, but I'm too, um, "restless" (that's probably the word) to participate in a reading and discussion group. I tend to run on my own schedule, which can, at times, be unpredictable.

Have fun.

Still, BitR is a fine book. Definitely recommended.

And while you are perusing his early works, don't overlook The Ice Schooner, which I think is underrated. It's much more traditional than Breakfast in the Ruins, but that doesn't disqualify it from serious consideration. Compare it to other sf books of its period, and ask how it stacks up. Worth one's time, definitely; I reread it just last year. It had been a very long time.

LSN

[David Mosley]

Thanks for the invitation, but I'm too, um, "restless" (that's probably the word) to participate in a reading and discussion group. I tend to run on my own schedule, which can, at times, be unpredictable.

Okay, no harm in asking. :)

Ice Schooner *is* pretty good as I recall, but it's so long since I last read it that I don't remember much about it - still there's an excuse to re-read it some time. :D

[A_Non_Ymous]

Absolutely. The story is told with consummate skill and control. Hard to believe Mr. Moorcock was 26 when he wrote it. (I know, he went back and revised it somewhat around '77 and once again in the '80s, but those changes were mostly near the end of the book.)

LSN