Paul Friswold

Paul Friswold: RFT staff writer, lover of all things arcane and Celtic, prodigious reader, wise friend.

What’s the last truly great book you read?
A: The Sea Kingdoms, by Alistair Moffat. It’s a history of the Celtic people, but as seen through the lens of the modern UK. Moffat goes to those places where custom and culture linger (Padstow in Cornwall, the Isle of Lewis, the Isle of Man) and shows that the passage of thousands of years are incapable of stripping away the essential nature of a people. The clothes may change, but the soul remains the same. It’s a huge story well told, with the biases of the author (a proud Scotsman) on full display. It simultaneously made the world seem older and fresher, and human life smaller and vaster. I was sad to finish it, which is the surest sign I know that I just read a great book.

What book changed your life?
A: My heart says The Hobbit; my gut says the Ace paperback version of Conan with the Frank Frazetta cover of Conesy battling Thak the Man-Ape. My mom gave me The Hobbit when I was 7 or 8 — I was confused by all the songs in the first few chapters, and then I really got into it when Thorin & Co. get to Mirkwood. That was it for me — we meet the elves in Thranduil’s dark kingdom and I knew I’d found my people.


Conan, however, I found on my own when I was 11 or 12. It was dark, gritty, full of sex and violence — very far from Tolkien and all the things I loved about Middle Earth. I hid the book from my parents because I was certain I’d get grounded for bringing this filth into the house. And of course, my mother caught me reading it and was unfazed. She was very cool about it, which I know now is because she did not (and does not) think there’s anything dangerous about any book. She trusted me to know the difference between fantasy and reality, and she trusted me.


So Conan was the first book I bought with my own money that was clearly an adult book. I think that’s the book where the world changed for me.

How old were you when you read it? And what changed?

A: See above.

What were your favorite books as a child?
A: The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, the first four Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Warlord of Mars also by ERB, Carola Oman’s retelling of the Robin Hood legends, D’Aulaires Book of Norse Myths, John Steinbeck’s version of Le Morte d’Arthur, and if we’re being completely honest, the Dungeon Master’s Guide by Gary Gygax. I read that thing like I was going to be tested on it. Incidentally, Appendix N in the DMG was a bibliography of books that influenced Gary and Dave Arneson in creating Dungeons & Dragons; I began hunting down as many of those titles as I could find. And there began my love affair with a well-composed bibliography.

If the cut-off age for “child” is twelve, it pains me to leave Harlan Ellison off this list. But I found him in my teen years, and that curmudgeonly genius ruled my life for the next decade. I didn’t eat for two days when The Essential Ellison was published because I couldn’t put it down, and because I’d spent all the money I had at that time to buy it. I met him a few years later at the Chicago Comic Convention and he signed it, and he was a total sweetheart. Harlan, please don’t die — losing Ray Bradbury this week almost broke my back.

What are your favorite books at this stage of your life?
A: I’d have to say all of the books from Question 4 above. I try to read The Lord of the Rings every December (I missed last year, which stopped the streak at six consecutive years) and I find still find as much joy in it as I did the first time I read it. I still dearly love the Weird Tales crew of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and even Talbot Mundy. I also read a steady stream of Dark Ages/Medieval histories — right now I’m picking up quite a few books on the Anglo-Saxon era, although Rob did just talk me into a new history of the Crusades.


And then when I want to break that stuff up I read how-to books about teaching yourself foreign languages. I love trying to memorize lists of introductory vocabulary in a foreign language. I bought an old book on Cornish that was written by a very proper English gentleman who revealed every nasty bias and racist thought of his era in between his lessons on fishing terminology. You wanna see into someone’s mind without them knowing? Have ‘em explain a second language to you — the very bones of their thoughts and being are exposed.


Also, William Shakespeare is still the funniest guy in the room as far as I’m concerned.


Oh, and then Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, George Mackay Brown and Yeats. I tend to read more poetry in the winter, not so much in the summer. If you asked me this in November, they’d have been at the start of the list. There’s something about digging into Hughes’ “Crow” series when it’s cold out — I can’t explain it, but I recommend you try it for yourself.

What famous book have you read that you were excited to start, but ended up disliking?
A: The Catcher in the Rye. It didn’t take long, either. Twenty pages of Holden whining put me off Salinger for life. If that’s his best work, I’d hate to read his also-rans.

Is there a genre you categorically refuse to read?
A: I recognize that this answer reveals me as a huge asshole, but the people should be told: I despise the entirety of the New York Review of Books crowd. Franzen, Chabon, Foster Wallace? Hate ‘em. I don’t know that they’re in the same genre, or even if they fit in any accepted genre. But to me, they’re all lumped under the “Highly Educated White Guy Using His Life and Neuroses to Explain Your Life to You, You Simpletons” rubric. I’m a moderately educated white guy with a whole host of emotional/psychological problems, so I fear that this is what I sound like every time I open my mouth in public.


Additionally, any book subtitled “A Novel” makes my guts churn. If I see that on the front of a book, chances are I’ll never read it. I will mock it mercilessly though.

What is your #1 favorite short story?
A: Writing this the day after Ray Bradbury died is probably influencing this decision, but I’m gonna go with “The Toynbee Convector.” It’s about a guy who claims to travel to the future and comes back to his own time (the 1980s) to tell everyone life is amazing in the future. The world’s cleaner, safer, people are happier, there are all these amazing technologies that have lifted us out of the muck of the 20th century, etc. He has videos to prove what he’s seen and everything.
And then the day arrives in the far future where our hero is supposed to appear from the past, and the world is all the things he said it would be. And of course, he was lying about all of it. He faked it all and told a great story and people fell in love with the ideas. He realized that if people are inspired to believe in something bigger than themselves and are convinced it will happen, they’ll work towards that goal. It’s pretty much the story of Ray Bradbury, or any writer who dabbles in futurism and optimism. Ray was a TITAN when he was on, and I miss him already.

What is your all-time favorite book?
A: Moby-Dick. I had to read parts of it in high school, and I loved it so much I read the whole thing. Then I read it again ten years later, and I found a whole new appreciation for it. I read it again after another ten years had passed, and it was like I was reading an entirely new book — the older I get, the better it gets. What I initially read as just a thrilling adventure story I came to see as the story of a man trying to find a place in the world, and it then became the story of a man learning that life is uncontrollable and sudden loss broken up by madness. At the end all you have left is incomprehension about why these things happen.
And that final line! “On the second day, a sail drew near, nearer, and picked me up at last. It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.” Jesus. That’s it right there. That’s everybody in the world, making friends, making a family and then having them just disappear. Where do they go? Why did they go? Why I am here when they’re gone? Every time I read that line I have to go lay down and drink until it gets light out.


I’m scheduled to read it in another four or so years, and I can’t wait. What am I going to find this time? What if that’s not what it’s really about? My last reading of it has always been disproven by the next reading, so what is is it all about? Ah, I may start it when I get home.


No, no. No. I’ll wait the next four years out. I want to be fully prepared for Melville’s big finish the next time he springs it on me.


 

The Hobbit By J.R.R. Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien (Illustrator) Cover Image
By J.R.R. Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien (Illustrator)
$17.99
ISBN: 9780547928227
Availability: On our shelves now (while supplies last)
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - September 18th, 2012

J.R.R. Tolkien's classic prelude to his Lord of the Rings trilogy Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.


Conan the Barbarian: The stories that inspired the movie By Robert E. Howard Cover Image
$7.99
ISBN: 9780345531230
Availability: May be on Backorder or may be Out of Print. May take a number of weeks to arrive if it arrives at all. We will confirm.
Published: Del Rey - July 26th, 2011

Conan the Barbarian is one of the greatest fictional heroes ever created—a swordsman who cuts a swath across the lands of the Hyborian Age, annihilating powerful sorcerers, deadly creatures, and whole armies of ruthless foes. Today his name is synonymous with the epic battles of ancient times, but Conan originated in the early decades of the twentieth century with one of the founding fathers of fantasy, the visionary Robert E. Howard. The unforgettable stories collected here form a thrilling adventure, following Conan from his mercenary youth to his bloody conquests on the frontier and even the high seas. Bold and enduring, the legend of Conan the Barbarian continues to grow in popularity and influence.


Tarzan of the Apes By Edgar Rice Burroughs, Gore Vidal (Introduction by), Michael Meyer (Afterword by) Cover Image
By Edgar Rice Burroughs, Gore Vidal (Introduction by), Michael Meyer (Afterword by)
$6.95
ISBN: 9780451531025
Availability: Not in stock at store. Will, in most instances, ship from our warehouse in 7-10 days
Published: Signet - August 5th, 2008

Tarzan of the Apes, was published in 1914, and along with its 22 sequels has sold over 30 million copies in 58 languages. Author of numerous other jungle and science fiction novels and novellas, including The Land That Time Forgot, Burroughs had a writing career that spanned almost 30 years, with his last novel, The Land of Terror, being published in 1941. He died in 1950 at his ranch near Tarzana, the California town named for his legendary hero.


Mars Trilogy: A Princess of Mars; The Gods of Mars; The Warlord of Mars By Edgar Rice Burroughs, Scott M. Fischer (Illustrator), Scott Gustafson (Illustrator), Mark Zug (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Edgar Rice Burroughs, Scott M. Fischer (Illustrator), Scott Gustafson (Illustrator), Mark Zug (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781442423879
Availability: Not in stock at store. Will, in most instances, ship from our warehouse in 7-10 days
Published: S&S/Saga Press - February 7th, 2012

This bind-up of the first three John Carter of Mars books is an ideal 100th anniversary keepsake. Ever since A Princess of Mars was published in 1912, readers of all ages have read and loved Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series. Now, 100 years later, this brand-new bind-up contains the first three classic John Carter of Mars books: A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars. Featuring an Introduction by Bruce Coville and illustrations from three classic fantasy illustrators—Mark Zug, Scott Gustafson, and Scott Fischer—this collection is an incredible value and will be treasured by existing and new fans.


D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths By Ingri d'Aulaire, Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Michael Chabon (Preface by) Cover Image
$29.95
ISBN: 9781590171257
Availability: Not in stock at store. Will, in most instances, ship from our warehouse in 7-10 days
Published: NYR Children's Collection - May 31st, 2005

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) By John Steinbeck, Chase Horton (Editor), Christopher Paolini (Foreword by) Cover Image
By John Steinbeck, Chase Horton (Editor), Christopher Paolini (Foreword by)
$20.00
ISBN: 9780143105459
Availability: Backordered. Not in stock at store and may take a number of weeks to arrive.
Published: Penguin Classics - December 30th, 2008

The Catcher in the Rye By J. D. Salinger Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780316769174
Availability: Not in stock at store. Will, in most instances, ship from our warehouse in 7-10 days
Published: Back Bay Books - January 30th, 2001

Anyone who has read J.D. Salinger's New Yorker stories ? particularly A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, The Laughing Man, and For Esme ? With Love and Squalor, will not be surprised by the fact that his first novel is fully of children. The hero-narrator of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children's voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden's voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep.


Moby-Dick: or, The Whale (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) By Herman Melville, Nathaniel Philbrick (Foreword by), Tony Millionaire (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Herman Melville, Nathaniel Philbrick (Foreword by), Tony Millionaire (Illustrator)
$21.00
ISBN: 9780143105954
Availability: Not in stock at store. Will, in most instances, ship from our warehouse in 7-10 days
Published: Penguin Classics - October 27th, 2009