# My latest guilty pleasure: The Dresden Files (books) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698 "2009-09-27T00:46:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/21 "2009-09-27T15:43:06Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Well… I think we could debate this. I think that the works of Raymond Chandler are certainly pulp fiction, but they’re literature as well. Brilliant, innovative writing; insight into multi-dimensionsal characters; plots, settings, and characters that say something about the human condition. If that’s not literature, what is? I think Butcher’s Dresden novels are VERY well written, and have a very Chandler-esque feel to them. > > Mind, I’m not saying ALL pulp fiction is literature, but I’m saying that one shouldn’t dismiss something as “not literature” just because it’s not Dostoyevski. Hey, you don’t have to convince me; I’m like PKD’s biggest fan and you know how _that_ goes over in some lit circles. As I mentioned, I had been trying to get into [Infinite Jest](http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Jest-David-Foster-Wallace/dp/0316066524/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254065077&sr=8-1) by David Foster Wallace, which was highly recommended by someone who’s opinion I have a great deal of respect for, but I just couldn’t get into it at all. Compared to such high-falutin’ material, the Dresden books are very much pulp fiction, is all. Believe me, I _love_ pulp fiction, especially with a sci-fi/fantasy twist. I have all of the Stainless Steel Rat books, the Jake Strait books, most of Mick Farren’s novels, Robert E. Howard’s novels, Peter Tasker’s Mori books, etc., etc. … I love them all, and generally find that I like my wisdom dispensed with brevity, rather than longevity. Hmmmm. Maybe we need a pulp fiction appreciation thread. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/22 "2009-09-27T16:13:08Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Well… I think we could debate this. I think that the works of Raymond Chandler are certainly pulp fiction, but they’re literature as well. Brilliant, innovative writing; insight into multi-dimensionsal characters; plots, settings, and characters that say something about the human condition. If that’s not literature, what is? I think Butcher’s Dresden novels are VERY well written, and have a very Chandler-esque feel to them. > > Mind, I’m not saying ALL pulp fiction is literature, but I’m saying that one shouldn’t dismiss something as “not literature” just because it’s not Dostoyevski. > > And, yes, when Cecil wrote that column about the Underground Chicago, I was privileged to be in on the phone conversation (I had read all the books and neither Ed nor Cecil had.) > > If you’re new to them, I do suggest reading them in order. There are characters and plot arches that build. **Strongly** second this. I was lucky enough to see a row of them on my library’s shelf. I thought, I’d try the first one first, and proceeded to get through them all within a couple months. Timing was perfect, as Butcher was in the area at a first day signing for Turn Coat (waves at **Dex** ) and got to see him do some Q & A. The line to get a personal signature was a cluster - and I had to work early - **Dex** stayed. I got a pre-signed copy though. Others said it - NOT a guilty pleasure. Just a pleasure. ETA: I had a hard time deciding what was the cooler part of the evening - seeing Butcher, or sitting with **Dex** over a couple beverages beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/23 "2009-09-27T17:37:03Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I am a huge fan of Jim Butcher and also recommend his Codex Alera series - but that one you must read in order. The first one was rather slow for me, but now I think I enjoy that series at least as much as The Dresden series. > > You might try Glen Cook’s _Garret_ series, which I liked in its early days. Another plug for the Garret books, which I actually prefer to his Black Company books. I’m currently reading the latest, “Cruel Zinc Melodies”. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/24 "2009-09-27T18:17:51Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Well… I think we could debate this. I think that the works of Raymond Chandler are certainly pulp fiction, but they’re literature as well. Brilliant, innovative writing; insight into multi-dimensionsal characters; plots, settings, and characters that say something about the human condition. If that’s not literature, what is? I think Butcher’s Dresden novels are VERY well written, and have a very Chandler-esque feel to them. > > Mind, I’m not saying ALL pulp fiction is literature, but I’m saying that one shouldn’t dismiss something as “not literature” just because it’s not Dostoyevski. Thanks, Dex, for saying this much more eloquently than I . . . well, _would have_, if not for trying to come up with a less sarcastic retort that disparaged the perception of _lit-tra-choor_ whilst defending the honor of mere plebeian scribes. Which is all pretty much a tempest in a teapot, really, and no offense to Snowboarder Bo, but I just don’t see the value in the comparison, and the concomitant perception of “slumming” to read well-written fiction because it happens to be genre fiction. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/25 "2009-09-27T19:43:34Z")
Yes, **Mr Bus Guy** , it was fun to meet you prior to the Butcher signing (despite my goofing up the time and being so late.) Anyhow, I thought of another “pulp” writer: Robert Louis Stevenson, with such novels as _Treasure Island_ and _Kidnapped_ and stories like _The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde_. Pulp as can be. I dislike the notion that writing has to be superficially “deep” to be great literature. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/26 "2009-10-05T01:35:09Z")
Brief hijack instead of a new thread… In _at least_ two Dresden novels I’ve read so far (I’m on the 5th, _Death Masks_, reading consecutively), Harry Dresden wryly notes that his friend Michael has named his kid after him, and then shakes his head and says something along the lines of “Harry Carpenter. Who would saddle a kid with such a name?” OK, should I be hearing a wooshing sound as I fail to get it? As names go, “Harry Carpenter” doesn’t strike me as particularly unfortunate. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/27 "2009-10-05T03:38:57Z")
Couple of guesses: Harry’s just focusing on the first name and being self-deprecating, or it sounds like “Hairy Carpenter,” which is something you wouldn’t get with a more abstract last name. It does seem a tad weak, though. ---
**Author:** ![Nuclear\_Siafu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f04885/32.png) [@Nuclear\_Siafu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuclear_Siafu)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/28 "2009-10-05T07:37:22Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Couple of guesses: Harry’s just focusing on the first name and being self-deprecating, or it sounds like “Hairy Carpenter,” which is something you wouldn’t get with a more abstract last name. It does seem a tad weak, though. Recall that Michael Carpenter is a very Christian man. I seem to recall people of that faith tell stories about a particularly famous carpenter who’s always depicted with a bit of a beard. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/29 "2009-10-05T08:41:41Z")
I just wanted to pop in and say that I watched the first 2 TV shows on hulu, and I thought they were terribad. I won’t be watching anymore. The stuff in my head as I read is way better visually, the dialogue is delivered better, and the hockey stick was a really stupid idea (as was the jacket). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/30 "2009-10-05T08:48:24Z")
As I mentioned, I’ve been reading them out of order, since I can’t get them all from my library (they just don’t have all of them in my library system, and no one branch has more than 2 or 3). But here’s the list, and what I have read. [ul]1 Storm Front 2000 2 Fool Moon 2001 3 Grave Peril 2001 4 Summer Knight 2002 5 Death Masks 2003 6 Blood Rites 2004 7 Dead Beat 2005 - just finished it 8 Proven Guilty 2006 - done 9 White Night 2007 - read this first 10 Small Favor 2008 11 Turn Coat 2009 - done 12 Changes 2010[/ul] I’ll be out and about tomorrow doing some errands, and I’m going to drop by the Las Vegas library and see if they have Storm Front at least. They’re a much larger system than the one we have here in Henderson, NV and I think we have an exchange deal with them where our library cards can be used in their system. If so, I plan on getting all of these I can find, even all 11 currently in print if possible. These books are great fun! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/31 "2009-10-05T08:55:19Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I just wanted to pop in and say that I watched the first 2 TV shows on hulu, and I thought they were terribad. I won’t be watching anymore. The stuff in my head as I read is way better visually, the dialogue is delivered better, and the hockey stick was a really stupid idea (as was the jacket). The general consensus among fans seems to be that the books are indeed superior to the TV series. I did enjoy the graphic novel prequel _Welcome to the Jungle_; probably not coincidentally he did the writing for it if not the art. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/32 "2009-10-05T09:32:13Z")
I, uh, read that in the book store last week, along with about 10 pages of the Storm Front GN. Again, tho, I like the pictures in my head better than what the artist drew, so I put SF down. I thought the story in WttJ was good, but I did find the visuals distracting me from the story, and my enjoyment of it. It wasn’t bad art, just not how I picture Harry (or anything else, for that matter). ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/33 "2009-10-05T13:16:57Z")
The TV series made too many compromises. I found it enjoyable on its own terms., but it was a different Harry Dresden from the books. Just as Disney’s Cinderella is different from the Grimm Brorthers’ Cinderella. I don’t have any problem dissociating the two. One is a novel, where people can read at the own speed, savor the language, and it takes many hours to read. THe other is a TV show, paced for the average audience, crammed into an hour. Different media, different things altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/34 "2009-10-05T22:41:35Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I just wanted to pop in and say that I watched the first 2 TV shows on hulu, and I thought they were terribad. I won’t be watching anymore. The stuff in my head as I read is way better visually, the dialogue is delivered better, and the hockey stick was a really stupid idea (as was the jacket). I thought the casting was spot-on, but I agree that it’s not really good material for a TV show. Too much that needs to be explained. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/35 "2009-10-06T00:55:10Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I thought the casting was spot-on, but I agree that it’s not really good material for a TV show. Too much that needs to be explained. As **CK Dex** notes, there’s just too many things they had to compromise in order to make it palatable to the unwashed masses. I didn’t care for the casting much, TBH. The guy playing Bob was good, but too stiff and Shakespearian I thought… I prefer Bob as he is in my head: a regular bowling/poker buddy kind of voice. Everyone else just didn’t have “it” if ya know what I mean. The show definitely wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever seen, and I can totally see why Mr. Butcher would have agreed to the show (briefcases full of money have that effect on people), but I just thought it was so much less than the books, it wasn’t worth bothering with any more than I did. In fact, I’d say it’s about as good as the _Legend of the Seeker_ shows I’ve watched, which again are just much, much less than the books. I’d rather read. I picked up _Fool Moon_ and _Small Favor_ at the library today. Gonna see if I can’t find a used paperback of _Storm Front_ so I’ll at least have the beginning of the series under my belt. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/36 "2009-10-06T01:25:09Z")
The audio books are worth finding too. James Marsters does an excellent job with the reading. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/37 "2009-10-06T05:26:41Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I thought the casting was spot-on, Wow, do we disagree. That’s why they make both chocolate and vanilla. ---
**Author:** ![Karweenie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e79b87/32.png) [@Karweenie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karweenie)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/38 "2009-10-06T05:33:26Z")
LOVED the Dresden Files. Sped through all of them in a few weeks. Do you enjoy magic and smart-assery in novels? If you do, another excellent read would be the [Bartimaeus Trilogy.](http://www.amazon.com/Bartimaeus-Trilogy-Boxed-Jonathan-Stroud/dp/142310420X) One of the few series where the second and third books are _better_ than the first. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/39 "2009-10-06T16:49:02Z")
> [@Karweenie](#): > > Do you enjoy magic and smart-assery in novels? If you do, another excellent read would be the [Bartimaeus Trilogy.](http://www.amazon.com/Bartimaeus-Trilogy-Boxed-Jonathan-Stroud/dp/142310420X) One of the few series where the second and third books are _better_ than the first. I acquired an advance reading copy of the second volume of this at a book show, and it’s been sitting with my “to be read” books ever since because I can’t decide if I should try to read it without reading he first book, or if I should try to track down an inexpensive copy of the first book (or see if my local library has it). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698/40 "2009-10-06T20:50:12Z")
_Fool Moon_ was pretty good. It was cool to get introduced to Billy & Georgia, who played a huge role in a later book that I read earlier. Now I’m off to the used book stores to buy \ paperbacks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-latest-guilty-pleasure-the-dresden-files-books/511698.md?page=3)