Hello, I've been reading!
Jun. 7th, 2023 11:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizbeeSuccession - Season 1: The Complete Scripts by Jesse Armstrong et al
I miss Succession. But what better way to remember it than by reading the scripts?
I am attempting to read one episode between other books, but I keep getting caught up in the narrative. Through the exercise of considerable self-control, I'm only at episode 7 so far, and I'm deeply impressed by how good these are. There's famously a lot of ad libbing in the series, but maybe less than you'd think -- a lot of the Succession trade marks like filler words and repetitions are on the page.
Also on the page from the start: Connor's presidential ambitions, Shiv's willingness to abandon her career if she thinks she could be CEO. They were always there if I knew to look. Gerri/Roman is right there from their very first scene.
Finally, I think it's useful to remember that Succession isn't this good by accident -- apropos the WGA strike, Jesse Armstrong has talked about how he negotiated with HBO for a full writers room, a longer writing period than most streaming dramas, and writers were always present on set.
Class Trip by Jerry Craft
The final book in Craft's middle grade graphic novel trilogy. Unlike the first two, this one covers a couple of weeks instead of a year or a semester, so we get to spend more time with some characters who have been peripheral until now -- and also Andy, the class bully. I really enjoyed the way Craft gave us a glimpse into Andy's psyche and gave him a pathway to becoming a better person, without insisting that his victims forgive him and become friends.
This was the first of Craft's books where I found some of the art a little off-kilter -- some of the faces in the early sections were uncharacteristically lifeless. But it's more than made up for by Craft's careful rendering of Parisian streetscapes and landmarks.
I really enjoyed this trilogy, and I can't wait to see what Craft does next.
The Black Queen by Jumata Emill
GOOD NEWS, it's another contemp YA novel by a gay Black man set in Louisiana. This is an extremely edifying publishing trend.
This one is a crime novel: the first Black homecoming queen in a practically-segregated school is found dead. Two girls need to find out who did it: the victim's best friend -- and daughter of the only Black police captain in town -- and the spoiled white girl who is suspect number one.
Emill deals with a lot of sticky, nuanced issues in this book: Duchess thinks her father is overlooking the obvious suspect because he's protecting a white girl, while also wanting to defend him from her classmates, who are like, "ACAB, obviously." And Tinsley is, to put it bluntly, a racist bitch.
Duchess's complicated attitude to the police can't really be resolved, but Emill has to thread a very fine needle in making Tinsley compelling enough that the reader will tolerate her chapters before she begins to develop an ounce of self-awareness and begins to change.
I enjoyed this a lot, and as a person who reads a lot of crime fiction, I have to give it the highest possible praise: I did not guess the real killer until about one page before they were revealed.
I miss Succession. But what better way to remember it than by reading the scripts?
I am attempting to read one episode between other books, but I keep getting caught up in the narrative. Through the exercise of considerable self-control, I'm only at episode 7 so far, and I'm deeply impressed by how good these are. There's famously a lot of ad libbing in the series, but maybe less than you'd think -- a lot of the Succession trade marks like filler words and repetitions are on the page.
Also on the page from the start: Connor's presidential ambitions, Shiv's willingness to abandon her career if she thinks she could be CEO. They were always there if I knew to look. Gerri/Roman is right there from their very first scene.
Finally, I think it's useful to remember that Succession isn't this good by accident -- apropos the WGA strike, Jesse Armstrong has talked about how he negotiated with HBO for a full writers room, a longer writing period than most streaming dramas, and writers were always present on set.
Class Trip by Jerry Craft
The final book in Craft's middle grade graphic novel trilogy. Unlike the first two, this one covers a couple of weeks instead of a year or a semester, so we get to spend more time with some characters who have been peripheral until now -- and also Andy, the class bully. I really enjoyed the way Craft gave us a glimpse into Andy's psyche and gave him a pathway to becoming a better person, without insisting that his victims forgive him and become friends.
This was the first of Craft's books where I found some of the art a little off-kilter -- some of the faces in the early sections were uncharacteristically lifeless. But it's more than made up for by Craft's careful rendering of Parisian streetscapes and landmarks.
I really enjoyed this trilogy, and I can't wait to see what Craft does next.
The Black Queen by Jumata Emill
GOOD NEWS, it's another contemp YA novel by a gay Black man set in Louisiana. This is an extremely edifying publishing trend.
This one is a crime novel: the first Black homecoming queen in a practically-segregated school is found dead. Two girls need to find out who did it: the victim's best friend -- and daughter of the only Black police captain in town -- and the spoiled white girl who is suspect number one.
Emill deals with a lot of sticky, nuanced issues in this book: Duchess thinks her father is overlooking the obvious suspect because he's protecting a white girl, while also wanting to defend him from her classmates, who are like, "ACAB, obviously." And Tinsley is, to put it bluntly, a racist bitch.
Duchess's complicated attitude to the police can't really be resolved, but Emill has to thread a very fine needle in making Tinsley compelling enough that the reader will tolerate her chapters before she begins to develop an ounce of self-awareness and begins to change.
I enjoyed this a lot, and as a person who reads a lot of crime fiction, I have to give it the highest possible praise: I did not guess the real killer until about one page before they were revealed.
