Monday 9 December 2013

Shalee lhaih 2013: Shiaghtin 49

Jerrey nuyoo hiaghtin as daeed ny Shallee Lhaih. Shoh ny lhiah mee yn çhiaghtin shoh chaie. Va mee son seiy roym son nagh vel monney lioaryn ry-lhaih dys roshtyn y dean, agh haink feayraght hrome agglagh orrym as cha dod mee jannoo monney agh tannaghtyn my lhie as clashtyn rish creelaghyn-fynneigagh rish kuse dy laaghyn:

The Moons of Jupiter (Isaac Asimov)

Skeeal Lucky Starr elley, ny cooish 'olliaghtagh oaylleeagh bentyn rish peeikearys er eayst Yupiter. Ga dy vel contoyrtyssyn aynjee, son y chooid smoo ta'n lioar mychione eabyn Starr y chooish y 'eaysley, as shen liorish ynsaghey ny Leighyn Robotagh erskyn ooilley. Ghow mee ram soylley jeh as mish my lhie nane as y floo aym.

Kionnit er y gherrid:

Genshiken Second Season y.l. 2 (Kio Shimoku)

Skeeal anaasoil as taitnyssagh elley. By vie lhiam fakin ad cur tastey da Madarame reesht. 'Sy chied straih, v'eh beggan thanney, as s'mie lhiam fakin ben goaill anaase ayn. Chammah's shen, er lhiam dy bee shuyr veg Hasahara scanshoil 'sy traa ry-heet. Ta kiangley cramp gaase eddyr Madarame as karracteyryn elley, as ta mee jeeaghyn roym dy 'eddyn magh ny haghyrys.

No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular y.l. 1 (Nico Tanigawa)

Hug ynnyd-eggey ennagh coyrle dou dy by vie lhiam y lioar shoh kyndagh rish lioaryn elley by vie lhiam. S'orroosyn y foill, myr shen. Cha noddym gra dy nee lioar vie t'ayn er chor erbee. Ta'n "skeeal" bentyn rish inneen t'er geau rouyr traa cloie gammanyn as lhaih skeealyn graih geekagh, agh veg marish sleih elley; myr shen rish roshtyn 15 d'eash as yn ard-scoill, cha nel schlei erbee eck dy gheddyn caarjyn erbee. Lhisagh eh ve ny skeeal aitt, gyn ourys, agh s'treih lhiam gra nagh ren mee gearey un cheayrt; dy jarroo, chamoo cha ren mee mynghearey un cheayrt noadyr. Er y fa nagh vel caarjyn erbee eck, cha nel kianglaghyn persoonagh erbee ry-akin agh marish braar s'aegey, as cha nel eh ceau traa maree gyn feme. Cha nel coraa ny coraa aigney ny h-inneen anaasoil ny aitt. Ta'n ellyn, son y chooid smoo, jus caslyssyn jee jannoo dreaghyn quaagh son t'ee er creau ny keoie car y traa - cha nel reayrtyssyn aalin ny lane vree ry-akin. Ta Tanigawa croo cooishyn oddagh ve anaasoil ny trimsagh - myr sampleyr, yn inneen çhemmit ayns thie bee rish possan dy cho-ynseydee çheet stiagh as ish son scapail - as feaysley ad gyn y nah vlass ny'n blass elley. Schlei feer ghoan, dy jarroo. Voir eh orrym, er y fa dy dennee mee dy row ad er çhee cooilleeney red ennagh mie dy mennick, agh hie ad shaghey. Son ymmyrkey yn inneen, cha nod oo goaill ree myr inneen 'aitagh; ta çhingys sheshoil ennagh urree ny t'ee ass e keeayll, as cha nel y lheid bun cooie son spotçhal. Dy beagh eh er nyannoo skeeal trome-chooishagh jeh, foddee dy beagh eh mie; agh cha ren eh.

Cha neeu ee. Gyn çheet er kionnaghey, cha neeu ee dy lhaih. My t'ou son lhaih er aegidee gyn schlei sheshoil, lhaih Oreimo ny Haganai ny Genshiken.

Prince Ivan (Peter Morwood)

Ghow mee toshiaght lhaih shoh. Ta daa doilleeid ayn: 1) cha row ee er y rolley son v'ee ayns thie my ayr as my voir, ga dy chreid mee dy beagh ee er y rolley; 2) ta 60 duillag er coayl as mean ny lioar. Cha nel ad giarrit ny caillt, cha row ad rieau aynjee, s'baghtal shen. Quaagh agglagh. Agh by vie lhiam ny lhaih mee jee!


The end of week forty-nine of the Reading Project. Here's what I've read this week. It's less than I'd hoped, seeing the goal's so close, but I was struck down by a particularly vicious virus that left me basically prostrate for a few days and unable to do much but listen to podcasts:

The Moons of Jupiter (Isaac Asimov)

Another Lucky Starr story, another scientific mystery. This one involves scientific espionage on the moons of Jupiter (obviously). Although a few adventure bits creep in, it's mostly about Starr's attempts to track down the spy as subtly as possible, largely by probing the Laws of Robotics. Asimov puts in plenty of general astronomy for background and general coolness, though. I enjoyed reading this as a distraction from lying helpless with flu.

And the inevitable new acquisitions:

Genshiken Second Season v. 2 (Kio Shimoku)

Skeeal anaasoil as taitnyssagh elley. By vie lhiam fakin ad cur tastey da Madarame reesht. 'Sy chied straih, v'eh beggan thanney, as s'mie lhiam fakin ben goaill anaase ayn. Chammah's shen, er lhiam dy bee shuyr veg Hasahara scanshoil 'sy traa ry-heet. Ta kiangley cramp gaase eddyr Madarame as karracteyryn elley, as ta mee jeeaghyn roym dy 'eddyn magh ny haghyrys.

No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular v. 1 (Nico Tanigawa)

Some website or other recommended this on the basis of other stuff I'd read, which means it's all their fault. I can't say this is a good book by any stretch of the imagination. The "story", such as it is, is about a teenage girl starting high school without any social skills or friends, having misspent her youth playing niche games and reading unconvincing romances. This is intended to be a basis for comedy, but I have to say I neither laughed nor even smiled once. Because she doesn't have any friends, the book can't spend time covering her relationships, except briefly with a little brother who doesn't want anything to do with this weirdo. Neither the girl's actual voice, nor her internal monologue, are insightful or amusing; there are flashes of believable teenaged thought, but this is drowned out by manic thoughts that leap about wildly.

The art, for the most part, is images of the girl grimacing and sweating - almost every single panel, in fact. There are no impressive vistas here, and the art didn't feel particularly lively or interesting to me. Tanigawa sets up what could be interesting or tragic situations (such as the girl being trapped in a restaurant when schoolmates come in, and desperate to escape without them seeing) but then manages to resolve them in ways that largely avoid both options. It's frustrating because it often felt like the hovered on the edge of being good, but weren't able to find expression. The girl's behaviour isn't convincing as teenage awkwardness, but so extreme that (in the absence of genuine humour) it felt far more like serious anxiety disorder or some other mental health problem, not an appropriate subject for wacky humour of the kind Tanigawa was attempting. It could have made a decent serious story, but didn't.

Not worth reading, let alone buying. If you want to read about socially-awkward teenagers, read... well, just about anything, but I'd recommend Oreimo (convincing) or Haganai (amusing) or Genshiken (generally great).

Prince Ivan (Peter Morwood)

I started reading this, but there were two issues. 1) it turned out not to be on the list, on account of being at my parents' house (my list is wildly inconsistent in this matter); 2) there's a chunk of 60 pages missing exactly where the major plot kicks off, ruining the book. They're not torn out or anything, it's a printing error that's impossible to spot from the cover or anything. Very weird. I'll want to chase down another copy later though, as I was really enjoying it.

No comments:

Post a Comment