I posted this in Cantina after watching a live Facebook question and answer with Joe Hill, but thought it should be here in case any Joe Hill fans want to seek out this book.
I listened to this Facebook Q & A and he's a charming guy.
I don't understand, though, why he never mentions his novella? novelette? Gunpowder. A Lord of the Flies type feel set on another planet, with a different breed of kids.
No one ever asks him about it, maybe they don't know it exists. At one time, he had thought about doing a follow up.
Sheesh, I just looked on Amazon and some of the copies are going for 500 bucks!
I don't know if he feels it isn't sophisticated writing, or a good showcase of his writing or what. I'm baffled. It is a terrific story with some of the sharpest imagery and characterizations he's done. Some quite lyrical and beautiful writing. Maybe I just love it because of what I was going through at the time I read it. It seemed to touch a very personal chord with me as my mom had just died from breast cancer. The bleak feel, the children, the interaction of the "mother," I don't know. I just think it is so beautiful.
You know how you can hear music from long ago that you loved, and many many songs will immediately put you back to a time and place in your life, the feelings of a moment, the smells, the people. That happens to me a lot with music. That doesn't happen as often with books for me, but, Gunpowder is one of those books that transports me to a moment in time that was difficult and life changing.
I am thrilled I own a signed copy. It was supposed to be numbered, but for some reason, they left that space blank. I paid for a signed, numbered edition -- maybe I'll just add my own number.
Edited to Add: And, the cover art is gorgeous stuff, done by Vincent Chong.
Last edited: 1 minute ago
I listened to this Facebook Q & A and he's a charming guy.
I don't understand, though, why he never mentions his novella? novelette? Gunpowder. A Lord of the Flies type feel set on another planet, with a different breed of kids.
No one ever asks him about it, maybe they don't know it exists. At one time, he had thought about doing a follow up.
Sheesh, I just looked on Amazon and some of the copies are going for 500 bucks!
I don't know if he feels it isn't sophisticated writing, or a good showcase of his writing or what. I'm baffled. It is a terrific story with some of the sharpest imagery and characterizations he's done. Some quite lyrical and beautiful writing. Maybe I just love it because of what I was going through at the time I read it. It seemed to touch a very personal chord with me as my mom had just died from breast cancer. The bleak feel, the children, the interaction of the "mother," I don't know. I just think it is so beautiful.
You know how you can hear music from long ago that you loved, and many many songs will immediately put you back to a time and place in your life, the feelings of a moment, the smells, the people. That happens to me a lot with music. That doesn't happen as often with books for me, but, Gunpowder is one of those books that transports me to a moment in time that was difficult and life changing.
I am thrilled I own a signed copy. It was supposed to be numbered, but for some reason, they left that space blank. I paid for a signed, numbered edition -- maybe I'll just add my own number.
Edited to Add: And, the cover art is gorgeous stuff, done by Vincent Chong.
Last edited: 1 minute ago
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