Armageddon Rag
Jul. 15th, 2009 11:48 pmWhen I started going out with Liv, we pressed on each other some of our favourite books, many of which became instant favourites. Unfortunately I absorbed so much new material so quickly, most of it never got blogged about at the time.
It's notoriously hard to describe why Armageddon Rag is so good. I generally say something like "You know how many books attempt to cash in on the vague connection between rock music and the supernatural, and describe music so evocative you can practically hear it and it makes your spine creep? And use that feeling to subtly suggest that, maybe, just this once, something supernatural is going on behind the scenes? And those books generally fall far short, because describing what music feels like with text is really hard and no-one can do it? Well, Armageddon Rag does do it. It makes you want to run out and buy the records, and be horribly stricken that they don't exist!"
The band are called the Nazgul, but it's not heavy on Tolkien rip-offs. They were massive in the 60s, until the lead singer was assassinated. The main character and others were mostly active in counter-culture then, writers for alternative magazines, etc, but are all grown up now, and looking back on who they used to be, and who they expected to be now. I really can't do it justice, but it jumped instantly into being one of my favourite books. (You may also want to read Liv's and Rysmiel's reviews, as Rysmiel originally introduced it to Liv.)
It's notoriously hard to describe why Armageddon Rag is so good. I generally say something like "You know how many books attempt to cash in on the vague connection between rock music and the supernatural, and describe music so evocative you can practically hear it and it makes your spine creep? And use that feeling to subtly suggest that, maybe, just this once, something supernatural is going on behind the scenes? And those books generally fall far short, because describing what music feels like with text is really hard and no-one can do it? Well, Armageddon Rag does do it. It makes you want to run out and buy the records, and be horribly stricken that they don't exist!"
The band are called the Nazgul, but it's not heavy on Tolkien rip-offs. They were massive in the 60s, until the lead singer was assassinated. The main character and others were mostly active in counter-culture then, writers for alternative magazines, etc, but are all grown up now, and looking back on who they used to be, and who they expected to be now. I really can't do it justice, but it jumped instantly into being one of my favourite books. (You may also want to read Liv's and Rysmiel's reviews, as Rysmiel originally introduced it to Liv.)