Oops; Vathek and Chamisso; Jimmy Neutron

I wrote yesterday having bought a paperback by one Henry Klinger. After I had written the thing I left the book on the desk and Kauto took it and ripped the cover off. Oh well, it wasn't very expensive.

***

I forgot to mention that I got through "Vathek" in the train. There were some great scenes in the subterranean parts, in which Vathek finds the ancient, pre-Adamite gods (shades of Lovecraft, eh? or the other way around; Lovecraft must've known the book (I don't know where my copy of his "Supernatural Horror in Literature" is, so can't check right now (by the way, if I ever put up a "real" publisher, Lovecraft's essay will be one to be translated (where was I?))). I also read Adalbert von Chamisso's "The Man Who Sold His Shadow". It was better than I remembered (read it while I was 17 or so) and I even had forgotten it's about losing a shadow, not a Doppelgänger. (Given the title, one might ask: what was I thinking?)

***

Those who know me better know that I'm not much interested in playing computer or video games. At the moment, though, I'm playing Gotta Blast, of the Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius fame! (A critical mind in me says that while this is a rather peaceful game (you shoot only the meteors), it teaches accepting war-time techniques and technologies and prepares the way for the computer-controlled warfare for the kids to learn and use later on.)