EMT 8/16/16 Free Book Edition [krakatoa]

So here's a little something for those looking for sweet literary payback against the overwhelming tide of PC, post-modern, post-morality, ham-handed political manifestos regularly generated by today's publishing houses. I bring you a non-PC, post-idiocracy, double-fisted mud-in-the-collective's-eye romp.

My brother recently lost his job, in a manner highly suggestive of a ideological purge given that, up until he actually came out as non-liberal, he had garnered regular promotions, raises and statements of appreciation from his company.

He had been working on an idea for a series of books, and has self-published via Amazon. The downloads for the first book and a novella are free on the 16th through the 20th. Even if you download it and hate it, you'll be doing a solid to a guy on the right side and trying to provide some entertainment at the expense of a few clicks so, you know, as Boomhauer would say: clickety click click.

The first book is Firing of the Crucible.

And the Novella is called Attila the Runner Episode 1: Awakening.

It's SciFi although not hard SF. Won't make you do math, and mostly, it's a story about kicking a lot of ass. I'm biased, but I did enjoy it more than I expected, with a lot of good pages against only a few parts a little meh.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's high literature. But it's also not at all bad and had me turning pages, especially relative to contemporary fare. It can be heavy handed at points, and the action can tend towards the graphic novel at times. But I've read a lot worse from a lot of people making it through the regular literary channels and into paper publication. A. Lot. Worse.

More on that below the fold, some of which will probably piss some of you right the eff off.

I have a curse: I am compelled to finish any book I start, no matter how bad.

The worst was a cruel joke from my best friend, who gave me a book he claimed to have enjoyed, and for the next 6 months, I was able to read a couple pages at a time before literally throwing it down in anger. I can't remember the name of it. Was a "horror" story by some acclaimed author about evil woods. You knew they were evil, because, quite literally, you were told about it every 3rd paragraph. You should thank me every single day and twice on Sundays that I cannot remember the author or the title. What hurts the most is that when I told my "friend" how much I hated it when I finally finished it and asked him how he could have enjoyed it, he copped an innocent look and said "Shit, I stopped reading after 3 pages. I thought you knew I was kidding."

I've got crappy friends. Well, really, I have one crappy friend. And no others. And being far too lazy to cultivate more, I'm stuck with him.

Now granted, I can be a hard sell, even when it comes to generally venerated authors.

Books of note that I disliked intensely: The first book of the Game of Thrones (seriously, there was next to nothing I liked in that book, and what I did like, got killed). J.R.R. Tolkienwannabe pornified (sexually and violently) ripoff of great authors that came before him.

Stephen King's Tommyknockers. This goes down as the single book in my life I could not finish. I got 2 chapters in, and with great shame flipped to the very end of the book and read the completely predictable and boring end. It sat glowering on my bedside table for a week after that, fueled by the flame of my unrequited literary imperative, feeding my self-recrimination and filling me with thoughts of despair and the general feeling that something was terribly and terrifyingly wrong no matter what I decided to do with the book. I finally pissed on it, shot it, and burned it, but Stephen King had already won.

And a surprising entry in my bad books HOF: Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. Surprising, because Heinlein is properly regarded as a heavyweight in the annals of S.F., but this read like nothing more than a commercialized cashing on on his name in the dawning of the age of Aquarius. (I apologize, I puked in my mouth just typing that phrase.)

Anyway, please enjoy the free read from my brother. Or, like I said, even the genre isn't your cup of tea, the clicks alone will help him out. If you don't like it, tell me why in the comments. He'll enjoy any critiques. It gives him names to put to the villains he kills in interesting ways in the next book.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:30 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Good morning, horde.

Posted by: Hanoverfist at August 16, 2016 06:42 AM (SB5Q1)

2 Hey krak, you are a lifesaver! I am behind on my reviewing and had nothing to post about today so I am going to post about your brother's book.

With a link back here of course.

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 06:47 AM (7lVbc)

3 They're free so wth....downloaded both.

Even if I never get around to reading them, it's clicks for him.

Posted by: Tami at August 16, 2016 06:49 AM (Enq6K)

4

DAY 1,379

84 to go (157 to Inauguration Day )

Muzzies, Marxists, Maoists, Mau-Maus, MFM's, Moochelle, Mao-suits, McCain's, McConnell's, Mario's, Mahdi megatons, machiavellian Mississippi mudslingers, McAuliffe's, Maduro's, MIRV's, Mexifornians, McKesson's, Milwaukee mayhem, Mizzou malefactors, mewling mattress-myth manufacturers, marriage maimers, menacing Mozillan 'mo's, Myrmidons, Mugwumps, Monrovian microbes, malicious mosquitos, mutants, malcontents, malthusians, maniacs, malignant medical mandates, martial law, miscreants, microaggressors, minions, maladjusted masochistic multiculturalists, momzers, mamalukes, mooks, mopes, mariuoli, meeskeits, maricons, marauders, malodorous militants, menstruating mons veneri, malfunctioning Moron microsites and miscellaneous meshugas notwithstanding.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 06:50 AM (9P3OG)

5

Trump's foreign policy speech from a reluctant Trump supporter (me):

Grand Slam Home Run.

More please.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 06:51 AM (9P3OG)

6 That's terrific, votermom! I appreciate it.

Posted by: krakatoa at August 16, 2016 06:51 AM (RCS9o)

7
So, I wake up and my ring finger is swollen at the knuckle and I can't bend/straighten it.

Could it be . . . Arthur Itis?? Ugh.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 06:53 AM (9P3OG)

8 Not a sci-fi fan butt I'll bite. Thanks for the tip, krak.

Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 06:53 AM (0e24x)

9
"I have a curse: I am compelled to finish any book I start, no matter how bad."

I used to be that way, but as OM notes at the end of the Sunday book thread, life is too short to read crappy books.

If a classic is slow going at first, I'll give it more of a chance, because I figure it's a classic for a reason. But a great deal of contemporary fiction is just plain dreck and I see no reason to waste my time on something I don't enjoy. I have to do enough really boring reading as part of my job.

Posted by: Donna&&&&&V (whitely waiting for the ballgame) at August 16, 2016 06:54 AM (P8951)

10 So, I wake up and my ring finger is swollen at the knuckle and I can't bend/straighten it.

Could it be . . . Arthur Itis?? Ugh.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 06:53 AM (9P3OG)

Or gout. Get some black cherry juice...the real stuff, not the sugar water stuff.

Posted by: Tami at August 16, 2016 06:54 AM (Enq6K)

11 Hey, all...those books are free if you have Kindle Unlimited!

Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 06:54 AM (0e24x)

12 Need a new book to read. Got it..thanks!

Posted by: lizabth at August 16, 2016 06:55 AM (3v3uS)

13 creeper, they're free even if you don't have Kindle Unlimited.

Posted by: Tami at August 16, 2016 06:55 AM (Enq6K)

14 Posted by: Donna&&&&&V (whitely waiting for the ballgame) at August 16, 2016 06:54 AM (P8951)

I found a November 1936 edition of Gone With the Wind at a garage sale over the weekend for fifty cents. My daughter took it from me!

Posted by: cicero Kaboom! kid at August 16, 2016 06:58 AM (p0XHr)

15 Not finishing a Stephen King book doesn't really count since it isn't really "literature" - literature but more like mass produced computer generated , assembly line horror stories for the easily amused. I'd say you still have a perfect record.

Posted by: Ripley at August 16, 2016 06:58 AM (1BQGO)

16 Posted by: Tami at August 16, 2016 06:55 AM (Enq6K)

Oh. {sigh} Moar coffee.

Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 06:58 AM (0e24x)

17 Click on Buy rather than Read for Free (Kindle Unlimited)

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 06:59 AM (7lVbc)

18 I have a curse: I am compelled to finish any book I start, no matter how bad.[i/]

I used to be that way but I find myself doing it more than I used to since I got the Kindle. As for the Game of Thrones POS, my wife got me the first two books in hardback when the first came out. She thought I would like them.

I managed to "gut" through the first couple of chapters in book 1 before closing it up. I even went back after a year and tried again. I didn't make it past the first few pages that time. I closed it up and gave both books to out local library having never opened the second book.

A complete waste of over $40.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 16, 2016 06:59 AM (mpXpK)

19 10 Or gout. Get some black cherry juice...the real stuff, not the sugar water stuff.
Posted by: Tami at August 16, 2016 06:54 AM (Enq6K)

Oh G-d no. I usually get that every few years or so but in the toe. If it's in the finger, I think that indicates chronic and not acute.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:00 AM (9P3OG)

20 Oh G-d no. I usually get that every few years or so
but in the toe. If it's in the finger, I think that indicates chronic
and not acute.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:00 AM (9P3OG)

Or it indicates I could be wrong. Just a thought.

Posted by: Tami at August 16, 2016 07:01 AM (Enq6K)

21 @5. Grand Slam Home Run.

- J.J. Sefton

It must have been good 'cause the MFM is slamming it. And of course the Donktards.

Posted by: Case, Mors Semper Tyrannis at August 16, 2016 07:01 AM (8cftc)

22 I found a November 1936 edition of Gone With the Wind at a garage sale over the weekend for fifty cents. My daughter took it from me!
Posted by: cicero Kaboom! kid at August 16, 2016 06:58 AM (p0XHr)

Your daughter re-enacting the role of Sherman, I see.

But 1936 edition - cool.

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 07:01 AM (7lVbc)

23 Damn, saved by the italic closer in nic.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 16, 2016 07:02 AM (mpXpK)

24 Could it be . . . Arthur Itis?? Ugh.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 06:53 AM (9P3OG)

It could be a creepy crawly bite, too.

Posted by: RickZ at August 16, 2016 07:04 AM (o+O5j)

25 17
Click on Buy rather than Read for Free (Kindle Unlimited)

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 06:59 AM (7lVbc)
Hokay. Will do. But it will have to wait till I finish the one I'm reading now. I'm at the limit for KU downl....Oh, wait! If I click "Buy" it doesn't count against my KU allotment.
Thank you, votermom.And have the rest of you read the second installment of "Wearing the Cat"? Do that.

Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 07:04 AM (0e24x)

26 I don't finish bad books.

However, there is one book I have on my shelf that was a secret Santa gift to me by an online friend (moms group) years ago. It was her last Christmas as she found out a few months before that she had stage 4 cancer.
To this day I can't even start the book, just picking it up makes me sad.

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 07:05 AM (7lVbc)

27 22 But 1936 edition - cool.

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 07:01 AM (7lVbc)

My mother had a copy of that from the 30s. I don't know who wound up with it. I got a Kindle version of it when they had it on sale. That was one of those that I closed up without finishing it. It was nothing more than a soap opera in a book and incredibly drawn out and boring. One of those rare books that the movie was much better than the book.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 16, 2016 07:05 AM (mpXpK)

28 24 It could be a creepy crawly bite, too.
Posted by: RickZ at August 16, 2016 07:04 AM (o+O5j)

No telltale indicators for that. Meh, probably a touch of arthritis. They call it, aging IIRC.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:06 AM (9P3OG)

29 Finishing Moby Dick was a challenge. Herman Melville could go on for 20 pages on how to tie a knot but I slogged through it. Les Miserable was the same way only worse. I think there was about 80 pages dedicated to describing the sewers below Paris, Managed to fins that too, but not sure it was worth it. Finishing Cather In The Rye was a mistake. I kept thinking something is bound to happen but it never does. Should have quit after 10 pages. Most overrated book ever.

Posted by: Ripley at August 16, 2016 07:07 AM (1BQGO)

30 Posted by: Ripley at August 16, 2016 07:07 AM (1BQGO)

*** Holden Caulfield had to be the most disagreeable "protagonist" ever. Hated that book.

Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 07:09 AM (0e24x)

31 Well I can't stand it. Gonna hit the porch rocker and try to brave the humidity. Its only 72F now.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at August 16, 2016 07:10 AM (mpXpK)

32 30 Posted by: Ripley at August 16, 2016 07:07 AM (1BQGO)

*** Holden Caulfield had to be the most disagreeable "protagonist" ever. Hated that book.
Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 07:09 AM (0e24x)

I remember reading it in 10th grade, and even I thought, at the same age of the protagonist, "who the fuck is this whiney loser?!"

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:11 AM (9P3OG)

33 Ripley: my crappy friend keeps a few unread copies of Catcher scattered around his life. Says "it keeps my handlers believing I am handled". He also claims to have an alter ego named Hot Pockets the clown, so, well , not sure what conclusions to really draw from that.

Posted by: krakatoa at August 16, 2016 07:12 AM (RCS9o)

34 I read through one Danielle Steele book but hated it and never read another.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 16, 2016 07:12 AM (6HqlZ)

35 Sounds like a plan, Vic. I think I'll join you. Hope the mosquitoes aren't too bad where you are. We have them in clouds but I have one of those electronic tennis racket thingies that you swat them with and it electrocutes them. It makes a nice "Zap!" sound and produces a pretty blue spark when it gets one. Such fun.

Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 07:12 AM (0e24x)

36
The only criticism for Trump on his speech is semantic but important. He kept referring to his immigration plan as "extreme." His plan is common sense. It's the Democrats who are the extremists.

But it was really solid all the way on policy and who is to blame for a world in flames.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:15 AM (9P3OG)

37 Posted by: Ripley at August 16, 2016 07:07 AM (1BQGO)

I heard a few sound bites from that speech. It was good but I kinda missed the rabble-rousing Trump.

Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 07:16 AM (0e24x)

38
SCOAMF warns Democrats not to be overconfident Hilary will win.

Hmm. Is he just trying to keep them fired up or is he scared she really is going to lose?

My gut is Trump wins in a close one.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:17 AM (9P3OG)

39 Bye Vic, see you later.

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 07:17 AM (7lVbc)

40
Hmm. Is he just trying to keep them fired up or is he scared she really is going to lose?

--

He interrupted his vacant to campaign for her.

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 07:18 AM (7lVbc)

41 37 Posted by: Ripley at August 16, 2016 07:07 AM (1BQGO)

I heard a few sound bites from that speech. It was good but I kinda missed the rabble-rousing Trump.
Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 07:16 AM (0e24x)

I prefer him sane, informed and on message. He can rabble-rouse every so often but the substance of what he said is unbeatable. All he has to do is keep repeating it day in and day out.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:19 AM (9P3OG)

42 It might help when you think that Stranger was written a few years earlier than all that hippy shit, and he was properly nonplussed when it was enthusiastically embraced by that crowd.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at August 16, 2016 07:19 AM (0KfYo)

43 J.J., I'm not wild about Trump butt I wouldn't be surprised if he wins in a blowout.

You cannot reconcile the crowds at his appearances with the polls. Polls can lie. Bodies at the rallies tell the truth.

Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 07:21 AM (0e24x)

44 But I'm not a fan of Stranger as much as I am of his earlier stuff. It seems to be the demarcation where he began exploring polyamory in his books.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at August 16, 2016 07:21 AM (0KfYo)

45 43 J.J., I'm not wild about Trump butt I wouldn't be surprised if he wins in a blowout.

You cannot reconcile the crowds at his appearances with the polls. Polls can lie. Bodies at the rallies tell the truth.
Posted by: creeper at August 16, 2016 07:21 AM (0e24x)

Bodies at the polls in November will be the measure. But your point is taken.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:21 AM (9P3OG)

46 I read Catcher too in 10th grade and couldn't relate to it at all, just like Fast Times.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 16, 2016 07:22 AM (EZebt)

47 The forces of evil are firmly aligned behind Hillary and they are busy getting the forces of stupidity aligned as well. This looks grim.

Posted by: Ripley at August 16, 2016 07:22 AM (1BQGO)

48 "His plan is common sense."-J.J.

I guess that's the problem. Common sense went out the window years ago. But it was nice to hear he stands by Israel. Have not heard that very much in the last eight years.

Posted by: Case, Mors Semper Tyrannis at August 16, 2016 07:23 AM (8cftc)

49
At the very minimum I hope any fool not voting Trump will at least show up and vote Republican down the line.

Every House seat is up and about a third of Senate seats.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:24 AM (9P3OG)

50 David Baldacci is intolerable. He knows jack about weapons and the military and can't be bothered to do any research. Plots and characters are trite and laughable.

Posted by: Wernher Von Strangelove. at August 16, 2016 07:29 AM (NA4Je)

51 Steve Sailer credits Heinlein as writing three classics for three different audiences. Stranger in a Strange Land for the hippie types, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress for the libertarians, and Starship Troopers for conservatives. I tend to agree with that generalization. Never have read Stranger. Just the blurb on it makes me not want to read it.

Posted by: WOPR - Nationalist at August 16, 2016 07:30 AM (Ee2nz)

52 G'mornin' Horde !

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at August 16, 2016 07:30 AM (gUoN4)

53 50 David Baldacci is intolerable. He knows jack about weapons and the military and can't be bothered to do any research. Plots and characters are trite and laughable.
Posted by: Wernher Von Strangelove. at August 16, 2016 07:29 AM (NA4Je)

You just described the Hollywood studio system for the past 20 years.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:31 AM (9P3OG)

54 49 At the very minimum I hope any fool not voting Trump will at least show up and vote Republican down the line.

Every House seat is up and about a third of Senate seats.
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:24 AM (9P3OG)
====

Ronery, so ronery.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 16, 2016 07:31 AM (EZebt)

55 This tweet shows a table of how many people have shown up at Trump and Hillary rallies this August

https://twitter.com/HH36133705/status/765349953468260352

Trump 19 rallies total 105K (average 5K per)
Hillary 8 rallies total 12K (average 1.5K per)

I didn't realize Trump has also been doing small venues - it's basically retail campaigning. A lot too - 19 in rallies in 14 days.

Hillary must be already exhausted by her 8.

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 07:33 AM (7lVbc)

56 I have too many unfinished books stacked up, some of which I actually liked while reading.

I mostly don't do fiction, and I can't bring myself to read any digital copies of things. I need paper and binding. Still, I hope your brother's endeavor is a success.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 16, 2016 07:34 AM (Pz4pT)

57 If I remember correctly, Stranger in a Strange Land was the first Heinlein book I read and I read many more after, so I must not have been much of a literary critic... or something. Drunk maybe?

Hard to reconcile the enthusiasm of Trump supporters with the zombie-esc and photoshopped blech support out of the Hillary crowd.

Like I've said before - the fraud this round is gonna be in yer flippin face.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at August 16, 2016 07:34 AM (4ng05)

58 JJ, I'm curious how you decided to just go with Ms in your list of bad things to be lamented each morning.

Is that letter of the alphabet particularly evil, or was there another motivator for that choice?

Posted by: Sharkman at August 16, 2016 07:36 AM (KAVjS)

59 In all my life, the only Stephen King novel I ever read was "The Stand". Everyone kept raving about it, so I broke down and read it. Boring, predictable start, predictable middle, predictable end, and all predictable lefty bullsh*t. Have not touched one of his books since.

Posted by: The Oort Cloud - Source of all SMODs at August 16, 2016 07:36 AM (2pIEi)

60
Sheriff David Clarke is a superstar. His message of blaming progressivism and bad personal choices is like holy water to the vampires.

Now, if Trump can crib that message and hammer it home . . .

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:36 AM (9P3OG)

61 Steve Sailer credits Heinlein as writing three classics for three different audiences. Stranger in a Strange Land for the hippie types, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress for the libertarians, and Starship Troopers for conservatives.

I enjoyed his juvenile books when I was a kid.

Posted by: Grump928(C) says Free Soothie! at August 16, 2016 07:36 AM (rwI+c)

62 morning, Horde. MRI this morning. Wish me luck. Sorry to learn that your brother lost his job in an ideological purge, Krakatoa, hope he lands on his feet soon. What is the industry? just curious.
ah well, out into the steambath that is the Outside World.

Posted by: vivi at August 16, 2016 07:37 AM (11H2y)

63 IMHO, the only thing King wrote worth reading was The Stand. Just barely.

For truly creepy books, I recommend Jeff Long. One of his was Deeper. It was one of a two book series, so make sure you read the first one first.

Also was Del Toro's The Strain (made into a movie with AtC's favorite actor).

And, if you want to be completely creeped out, read Scott Sigler's Infected. One of two and one of the weirdest I've read.

Posted by: Bayou City at August 16, 2016 07:37 AM (U9Qbt)

64 Caleb Carr's horifically shitty book The Alienist is the one that caused me nightmares to finish. Worst book I have ever read, I think.

Poured a bottle of cheap whiskey on it and torched it. I guess that makes me a book-burnin' Nazi.

Posted by: Sharkman at August 16, 2016 07:38 AM (KAVjS)

65 At the very minimum I hope any fool not voting Trump will at least show up and vote Republican down the line.

Every House seat is up and about a third of Senate seats.
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:24 AM (9P3OG)

I don't vote for our Congressminx, because she doesn't deserve my vote. She'll win anyway.

We just nominated a Democrat for Governor, and the rotten old Gope Senator of ours is the Grinch, personified.

A couple local races, I am behind the candidates, and if I DO throw any money out there, it will be in those races. I am curious what happens if the Republican Party, nationally, implodes. Where do some of those down-ticket folks go.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 16, 2016 07:38 AM (Pz4pT)

66 58 JJ, I'm curious how you decided to just go with Ms in your list of bad things to be lamented each morning.

Is that letter of the alphabet particularly evil, or was there another motivator for that choice?
Posted by: Sharkman at August 16, 2016 07:36 AM (KAVjS)

The end of the Mayan calendar coincided with the election in 2012. And when I added Marxists and Muzzies the rest just came naturally over time . . . as we all do.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:39 AM (9P3OG)

67 @55

Another way to dice it is that Trump reached 7495 people per day while Hillary reached 875.

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 07:39 AM (7lVbc)

68 65 Posted by: BurtTC at August 16, 2016 07:38 AM (Pz4pT)

Well, if you have community board and school board elections, it helps to populate those with like-minded individuals, since it all flows upward.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:41 AM (9P3OG)

69 Have read all five of the JRR Martin GoT times. Hated every one.

Quothe the Sharkman: "English, Mother-Fucker!!! Can you write it?!?!?!?"

When his fat, sweaty ass finally dies, perhaps an actual writer of the language will finish it for him. Or "Not" would be cool, too.

Posted by: Sharkman at August 16, 2016 07:41 AM (KAVjS)

70 Book downloaded krak. I've been looking for something new to read, so I'll give it a try.

Posted by: GMan at August 16, 2016 07:41 AM (sxq57)

71 But I'm not a fan of Stranger as much as I am of his earlier stuff. It seems to be the demarcation where he began exploring polyamory in his books.
Posted by: Jeff Weimer at August 16, 2016 07:21 AM (0KfYo)

Like a lot of creative people, they need limits. I know it is counter-intuitive. However, if you give a creative person limitless control, they usually produce crud. Having a limit forces them to get inventive and figure out how to overcome those limits. Heinlein in the 40's and 50's was limited. The 60's were when his success started removing the limits that made him more creative.

Posted by: WOPR - Nationalist at August 16, 2016 07:42 AM (Ee2nz)

72 In all my life, the only Stephen King novel I ever read was "The Stand". Everyone kept raving about it, so I broke down and read it. Boring, predictable start, predictable middle, predictable end, and all predictable lefty bullsh*t. Have not touched one of his books since.

Posted by: The Oort Cloud - Source of all SMODs at August 16, 2016 07:36 AM (2pIEi)

I read The Shining eons ago, and thought it was a good read. Then picked up a book of his short stories, and remember thinking "this guy is a one-trick pony," even though I can't really say now what that trick is.

Re-hashed, mass-produced junk, like fast food. Not meant to be brain food, just stuff to fill the gullet.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 16, 2016 07:42 AM (Pz4pT)

73 Another way to dice it is that Trump reached 7495 people per day while Hillary reached 875.
Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 07:39 AM (7lVbc)

But you're not counting the big cemetery outreach. I understand they're leaving no headstone unturned.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at August 16, 2016 07:43 AM (4ng05)

74 Well, if you have community board and school board elections, it helps to populate those with like-minded individuals, since it all flows upward.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:41 AM (9P3OG)

The school board fills me with more disgust than the national stage. Small time crooks and crony back-scratching. Sold to idiot voters because it's "for the children."

Posted by: BurtTC at August 16, 2016 07:44 AM (Pz4pT)

75 Morning all

Posted by: Nevergiveup at August 16, 2016 07:45 AM (zp+j1)

76 Thomas Pynchon is a name I should not know.

Posted by: Dave at Buffalo Roam at August 16, 2016 07:45 AM (GL7rj)

77 I did manage to finish The Tommyknockers, but I hated it pretty much all the way. King's "No Nukes" poet protagonist was completely insufferable.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 16, 2016 07:46 AM (AroJD)

78 I, too, am one of those "once I start a book, I must finish" and I too have one exception: False Memory, by Dean Koontz. Just an utterly vile book.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 16, 2016 07:47 AM (AroJD)

79
Russia bombs Syrian militants from Iran base for first time
In an effort to cut down on travel time and to carry out more bombing runs, Russia has placed several of its strategic bombers in an airbase in Iran; this can be seen as Russia expanding its influence and presence in the Middle East.

Well isn't that Nice?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at August 16, 2016 07:47 AM (zp+j1)

80
Peter Schweizer on Levin near the bottom of hour 3.

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at August 16, 2016 07:47 AM (9P3OG)

81 It's harder to enjoy a writer if he's constantly outed himself as a lefty douchebag for decades.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at August 16, 2016 07:48 AM (+wjl1)

82 I enjoyed his juvenile books when I was a kid.
Posted by: Grump928(C) says Free Soothie! at August 16, 2016 07:36 AM (rwI+c)

I still like his juveniles. As an adult you pick up on the adult themes he throws in.

Posted by: WOPR - Nationalist at August 16, 2016 07:48 AM (Ee2nz)

83 I'm actually surprised with the support Trump's speech seemed to garner among the luke cool GoPes. I think even Hewitt managed more positive comments on the speech than his typical evisceration by machete bile spittage.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at August 16, 2016 07:49 AM (4ng05)

84 I had to put "The Shining" down when Jack breaks his kid's wrist in Boulder.

Never even saw the film.

Just. effing. hate. it.

Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at August 16, 2016 07:49 AM (4+VII)

85 For your NeverTrump people....understand that you and JOE BIDEN are now partners.

That is all.

Posted by: #neverskankles at August 16, 2016 07:50 AM (kfFTe)

86 "I read The Shining eons ago, and thought it was a good read. Then
picked up a book of his short stories, and remember thinking "this guy
is a one-trick pony," even though I can't really say now what that
trick is.

Posted by: BurtTC"

That was my exact experience with King. Everything else seemed like was mass produced pap.

Posted by: Ripley at August 16, 2016 07:50 AM (1BQGO)

87 The man accused of fatally shooting an imam and his aide on a Queens street felt a hatred toward Muslims in the days after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, his brother said Monday.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at August 16, 2016 07:51 AM (zp+j1)

88 Posted by: BurtTC at August 16, 2016 07:42 AM (Pz4pT)

The Stand left a bad taste in my mouth, so to speak, on a number of levels, which is why I never went back to the King well. That, and what you said about him being a "one trick pony" I kept hearing from a lot of people, which pretty much clinched it for me. Far too many other actually good books for me to read out there to waste my time and money on any more of King's crap.

Posted by: The Oort Cloud - Source of all SMODs at August 16, 2016 07:51 AM (2pIEi)

89 Well isn't that Nice?
Posted by: Nevergiveup at August 16, 2016 07:47 AM (zp+j1)

Any day now, they'll be taking off from Incirlik.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at August 16, 2016 07:51 AM (4ng05)

90 The man accused of fatally shooting an imam and his aide on a Queens street felt a hatred toward Muslims in the days after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, his brother said Monday.

15 years ago? That a long simmering murderous rage.

Posted by: Grump928(C) says Free Soothie! at August 16, 2016 07:52 AM (rwI+c)

91 Trump gave a speech yesterday? Hmm. We were so busy talking about him not releasing tax records, we kind of missed it. Og by the way did you hear that once he said something that someone was offended by? Awful, awful man.

- MSM & "Conservative" Media

Posted by: #neverskankles at August 16, 2016 07:52 AM (kfFTe)

92 Anyone have a link to Trump's Foreign Policy speech?

Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at August 16, 2016 07:52 AM (4+VII)

93 Stephen King really insists upon himself.

What about The Dome?

Really? The ending is that the town existed under a glass dome and these naughty alien kids were playing with it, causing all the death and destruction?

Shoot yourself in the face, Steve.

Posted by: Sharkman at August 16, 2016 07:53 AM (KAVjS)

94 Posted by: Grampa Jimbo at August 16, 2016 07:49 AM (4+VII)

====

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 16, 2016 07:53 AM (EZebt)

95 Thanks for the explanation JJ.

Posted by: Sharkman at August 16, 2016 07:54 AM (KAVjS)

96 Yay! Addict SIL is on.the.plane to rehab.

Phew!

Posted by: Tami at August 16, 2016 07:55 AM (Enq6K)

97 Lisa Scottoline is an author to avoid. One of hers was the only book I threw into the trash with a full windup.

Posted by: FireHorse at August 16, 2016 07:55 AM (lhvb+)

98 King does OK with regular mass market horror-type stories. Christine is, I thought, pretty good.

When he tries to get all serious and literary, well, that's when he alternately sucks then blows.

Posted by: VA GOP Sucks at August 16, 2016 07:56 AM (eytER)

99 You know, Hillary could easily be a character in one of Stephen Kings books.

Posted by: Ripley at August 16, 2016 07:56 AM (1BQGO)

100 Howard Chaykin's 'American Flagg' comic book series from the 1980s depicted 21st Century Chicago as a dystopia of commercialized sex and Government-sanctioned urban warfare.

Was that spot-on or what?

Posted by: V the K at August 16, 2016 07:57 AM (O7MnT)

101 The one thing about King that's enjoyable is his high enthusiasm for writing. You can tell that he loves to write, that comes through in his work. Plots an characters are more or less the same from book to book.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 16, 2016 07:58 AM (AroJD)

102 Ok, my reblog of your krak's post is up

lin in nic

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 07:58 AM (7lVbc)

103 Speaking of great authors...

I'm making good (I'd say great, if I wasn't so humble) progress on my magnum opus (second attempt at writing something that someone besides me would ever read). I'm actually enjoying the process this time. The first time was more like taking a hammer drill to my skull. This time it feels more like something that I not only want to do, but enjoy doing while I'm doing it. I just write 'til I'm done every day. No fuss, no muss.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at August 16, 2016 07:58 AM (4ng05)

104 Dump up.

Posted by: Hanoverfist at August 16, 2016 07:59 AM (L62jT)

105 98 King does OK with regular mass market horror-type stories. Christine is, I thought, pretty good.

--

Yep, his books written as Bachman are good.
Thinner is the creepiest book for me, not sure why, I just found it really disturbing.

Posted by: @votermom at August 16, 2016 08:00 AM (7lVbc)

106 Scottoline's first few books were pretty good.

Went to a book signing of hers in 2003 at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington. Had her sign a book for my then-GF: "Girls kick ass."

She said she was going to steal that line without attribution. Always wonder if

Posted by: Sharkman at August 16, 2016 08:00 AM (KAVjS)

107 Premature postination!

Was going to say that I will always wonder if she did use that line, but not enough to pick up another one of her books.

Posted by: Sharkman at August 16, 2016 08:01 AM (KAVjS)

108 The lamest trope of modern scifi is the "Misunderstood Villain Who Is Just Hurting Inside."

Darth Vader turned evil because he had bad dreams about the death of his baby-momma? Nero in the Abrams Star Trek reboot was just sad because Spock couldn't save his girlfriend? The Dominion in DS9 sought to conquer and subjugate the galaxy because they were hurt by the bigotry and intolerance of other races?

A good villain should make you happy when the badass hero finally kills him; not make you think "If only he had gotten some decent counseling."

Posted by: V the K at August 16, 2016 08:02 AM (O7MnT)

109 Poured a bottle of cheap whiskey on it and torched it. I guess that makes me a book-burnin' Nazi.

Posted by: Sharkman
________

Some books need to be burned. The light and heat from the fire is the sole redeeming quality of some books.

Posted by: FireHorse at August 16, 2016 08:02 AM (lhvb+)

110 Hah! Tuesday book thread!

Amazing, since I just finished the four book Frontline series by Marko Kloos (Terms of Enlistment is Book #1)that was recommended on last Sunday's book thread two(?) days ago, and I wanted to say some things about it.

First, at two bucks each, they were in my price range, and secondly, they are the only genre I really enjoy (science fiction), and three, I was captivated by the story, and Lastly, there is a point to be made; a political point.

There is a very subtle, and very well done political thread that runs through the series that

1)Is true, or at least, true in part, or could be true, and is believable
2)Feeds the readers prejudices
3)confirms and validates the readers prejudices
4)and is written in such a way that the reader can project his prejudices into the the story.

By the end of book #4 the pattern is revealed, and I am sesitive to it because I am trying to do the same thing.

The easiest way to explain it is this : John Wayne was always the heroic warrior, a man of integrity, a man of honor, a good man, a nationalist, a patriot, and over the last sixty years that (conservative) idea has been discredited; it has become a tv trope to be mocked.

In the Frontline story there is a place where I, as a conservative would react by saying, "ya, I see it, but that's a little extreme, but it was a necessary evil" while a liberal would see it as confirming a bias. In another place I said, "That's a little lame. The act needs to be more explicit to justify the decisions made by the character, but I can see how that sets up a dilemma for later.

By the end of book #4 I was reading as fast as I could to get to the ending to see how it all worked out, and the ending of book four is why I'm writing this. I didn't like the ending, and didn't like the political thread that runs through all four books.

Oh, the ending was dramatic, and exciting, and sets up book five, but, by the end, the political thread has been implanted, and it demonstrates what conservatives are up agains.

One minor quibble, I don't like my space aliens to be bug eyed monsters which is another tv trope. The bug ened monster is horrifying (Alien 1,2,3,4 Predator, The Blob, et al) and has to be killed, and is the perfect foil for our hero. Entertaining as hell, but do they always have to be bug eyed monsters?

Posted by: Skandia Recluse at August 16, 2016 08:03 AM (VfGfs)

111 Yep, his books written as Bachman are good.
Thinner is the creepiest book for me, not sure why, I just found it really disturbing.

Well, most. The Long Walk worked because even though the story is kind of a slog to read, it kind of fits with the theme of a long, seemingly unending walk to nowhere.

On the other hand, Road Work didn't do it for me. One one hand I was clinically interested in the guy going through his mid life crisis or whatever, but then the ending just didn't fit the rest of the story. It's like King was writing out of inertia and didn't know how to end the story, so he just decided to have the guy go out in a blaze of glory.

Posted by: VA GOP Sucks at August 16, 2016 08:04 AM (eytER)

112 A good villain should make you happy when the badass hero finally kills him; not make you think "If only he had gotten some decent counseling."

Posted by: V the K
________

Thank you! Best movie villain ever, by the way, is Scorpio from "Dirty Harry."

Posted by: FireHorse at August 16, 2016 08:05 AM (lhvb+)

113 A good villain should make you happy when the badass hero finally kills him; not make you think "If only he had gotten some decent counseling."

Agreed - a good morality tale is not a tragedy, but they keep being written that way which destroys the story.

It's presented as if the bad guy is bad because the good guy isn't good enough...eg the evil is the hero's fault for not being sensitive/appreciative/progressive enough.

Posted by: VA GOP Sucks at August 16, 2016 08:06 AM (eytER)

114 Entertaining as hell, but do they [space aliens] always have to be bug eyed monsters?

Posted by: Skandia Recluse
________

The alien looked normal in the Superman movies.

My favorite space alien, appearance-wise, was the one in The Cat from Outer Space.

Posted by: FireHorse at August 16, 2016 08:09 AM (lhvb+)

115 So I see HillaryAir is downright giddy that McMullen qualified for the ballot in Utah. Fuck those guys and that guy in particular.

Posted by: #neverskankles at August 16, 2016 08:10 AM (kfFTe)

116 Downloaded the two books to help out. (Being free helps.) Don't read a lot of sci-fi compared to when I was young so these books will be a change of pace.

I used to share your start it/finish it compulsion. But I have so many wonderful classics to enjoy in retirement, things I should have read decades ago, that is ended. If a book, fiction or not, doesn't hold my attention quickly, it's done.

Posted by: JTB at August 16, 2016 08:19 AM (V+03K)

117 >>My favorite space alien, appearance-wise, was the one in The Cat from Outer Space. Posted by: FireHorse at August 16, 2016 08:09 AM (lhvb+)

Aliens from the Tom Cruise "War of the Worlds" remake. Taut, broad face, large nostrils, sinister eyes, three legs--curiously similar in features to the First Lady.

Posted by: General Zod at August 16, 2016 08:20 AM (Bdeb0)

118 I read Stranger in a Strange Land as a young teen not long after it came out. It was interesting and a bit eye opening then, and of course there was the nudity and sex. I re-read it a few years ago. It hasn't aged well EXCEPT for Jubal's pontificating about human nature, living well, and especially art. I still enjoy those sections.

Posted by: JTB at August 16, 2016 08:26 AM (V+03K)

119 I will give your brother's books a try. Always glad to find a new author.

I also have the "can't not finish a book" problem, but I've been able to put a few down with bookmarks by telling myself that I'll get back to them later. There are probably three or four on my bookshelf now the bookmarks somewhere in the middle that will never be picked up again. I did finish Stranger in a Strange Land, but I kind of wished I hadn't. I've been avoiding GRR Martin, because he'll never finish that series, and I hate unfinished series' more than unfinished books.

Posted by: DavidD46725 at August 16, 2016 08:27 AM (5naCt)

120 Thanks for the books. I was looking for something that fit within my budget.

Posted by: Mr. Mxyzptlk at August 16, 2016 08:28 AM (kHJ3a)

121 Heinlein in the 40's and 50's was limited. The 60's were when his success started removing the limits that made him more creative.
Posted by: WOPR - Nationalist at August 16, 2016 07:42 AM (Ee2nz)

And writing for a juvenile audience would also limit some of the subjects.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at August 16, 2016 08:50 AM (w8OYL)

122 Uh, folks, Stranger In A Strange Land was written in Heinlein's early 'aneurism' phase, where he increasingly went off the rails and into some pretty strange places. It was followed by the fun, but increasingly sexually explicit Glory Road, which preceded the incomprehensible Number of the Beast. After he had brain surgery, he then published (with a little help) the uninspiring but at least legible Friday.

The wacko hippie shit was because he was nuts (not disparaging his earlier work, i cut my teeth on it).

This further cements the concept that liberalism is a mental illness. In Heinlein's case it was.

Posted by: Eye Pluckers International Union at August 16, 2016 09:31 AM (1Rgee)

123 "The Old Man and the Sea" by Hemingway is tied for the worst book I ever read; made me want to stab myself in the eye with a fork. "Great Expectations" (Dickens) is the other one. Made me want to stab BOTH eyes - with a spoon. My 8th grade language arts teacher made us read both of those "classics"; I still haven't forgiven her. Somehow, I managed to slog through the first, there was no way in hell I could make it through the second. Needless to say, I flunked that test - didn't care, either.
After I had kids, I used to threaten them with the ultimate punishment: having to read "Great Expectations" cover to cover, then do a book report on it. They weren't sure just how terrible this could be, but they didn't want to take a chance, either. I never had to follow through.

Posted by: big sarge at August 16, 2016 09:39 AM (NUvoP)

124 That was one of those that I closed up without finishing it. It was
nothing more than a soap opera in a book and incredibly drawn out and
boring. One of those rare books that the movie was much better than the
book.
*
*
I think Rhett should have dumped Scarlett a lot earlier than he did . . . or given her a good spanking. Which her father should have done even earlier.

Movies better than the books they're based on:

Die Hard (novel is Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp)
Jaws
Wolfen

There are probably a few more; I'll think of 'em.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 16, 2016 09:42 AM (txdEq)

125 44
But I'm not a fan of Stranger as much as I am of [Heinlein's] earlier stuff. It
seems to be the demarcation where he began exploring polyamory in his
books.
*
*
He said in a memoir note that he'd finished the story a couple of years earlier, as you said, and held it back until he judged that the mores in America had changed enough. Apparently he timed it just right.

His earlier work is dynamite; and Friday and Job: A Comedy of Justice (for very different reasons) are superb. Read Maureen Long's comments on the decline of civilization in "our" timeline in his last book, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, and tell me he wouldn't have been a good fit here.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 16, 2016 09:47 AM (txdEq)

126 69
Have read all five of the JRR Martin GoT times. Hated every one.

Quothe the Sharkman: "English, Mother-Fucker!!! Can you write it?!?!?!?"

When his fat, sweaty ass finally dies, perhaps an actual writer of
the language will finish it for him. Or "Not" would be cool, too.
*
*
In the early '80s he produced a heck of a good vampire/historical thriller called Fevre Dream, set in the 1850s, with unpleasant vampires, good historical detail, and one of the ugliest heroes in fiction (in fact he's called "The Ugliest Man on the River," the Mississippi River). Of course it wasn't 500 pages long, either.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 16, 2016 09:52 AM (txdEq)

127 Heinlein has been my hero since childhood. I hate Stranger in a Strange Land.

Posted by: Feynmangroupie at August 16, 2016 09:55 AM (eOgW6)

128 Is this the book thread?

Posted by: OregonMuse at August 16, 2016 10:20 AM (0qLQM)

129 I read all of Anna Karenina. By the end, I was wishing she would just die already so the book could be over.

Read Gone with the Wind 4 times in high school. I loved it!

I had read all of the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan novels that were out at the time (maybe twice?) and was going through them again. I finished Debt of Honor on September 10, 2011. I tried to start Executive Orders but things were just too real. I couldn't read it. I think I eventually did read it a year or so later, and then picked up his new books, but he really changed after Sept 11. The story had no continuity and the way he wrote changed, I thought.

Posted by: mullingthingsover at August 16, 2016 10:24 AM (CmpB+)

130 I've never crossed the Rubicon and ordered anything from Amazon. Are your brother's books available at Barnes and Noble or elsewhere?

Posted by: CCO at August 16, 2016 10:36 AM (/Fsqp)

131
Stephen King's Tommyknockers. This goes down as the single book in my life I could not finish. I got 2 chapters in, and with great shame flipped to the very end of the book and read the completely predictable and boring end.

All too often, like just about every fucking novel often, he defaults to the same villain: Space Aliens.

Look at It. Fantastically creepy horror at first, then turns silly when you find out the bad guy is a giant Space Alien Spider.

The one thing I really enjoy about King's work is the towns Derry, Castle Rock and Jerusalem's Lot as cursed communities. An idea he stole from Lovecraft, and totally ruined by making the towns into Alien magnets.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at August 16, 2016 10:52 AM (xxSK3)

132 123
"The Old Man and the Sea" by Hemingway is tied for the worst book I ever read; made me want to stab myself in the eye with a fork.

Pretty much every Hemingway story is:

The world is a terrible, awful place.
And then you die.
Alone.

Posted by: JackO'Spades at August 16, 2016 11:09 AM (xQZ/Y)

133 Never skip to the end on any Stephen King book. The man can write but he can't stick an ending to save his life.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at August 16, 2016 12:02 PM (hR1Jj)

134 Couldn't stomach Stranger in a Strange Land? Heh - I take it that you didn't even bother trying "Time Enough for Love". You'd've puked much sooner.

It's rare that I don't finish a book that I've started, but there are a few in my wake. As I get more advanced in age, I find it easier to stop: I'm less inclined to waste my (remaining) time on the off-chance that something interesting might happen.

I've got AoSHQ for that, and with a better guarantee.
:::please ignore massive sucking sound:::

Posted by: LCMS Rulz! at August 16, 2016 12:35 PM (o7l6R)

135 Yeah, I think SiaSL marks the point after which I'm not allowed to read Heinlein.

I mean, the people who are around me insist that I don't, because his work pisses me off so much. "Good story...good story...good story...and BAM WEIRD RANDOM SEX NONSENSE!"

Grr.

Posted by: moviegique at August 16, 2016 12:46 PM (7zeA4)

136 What a timely book thread. I just finished SiaSL and yeah, what a letdown. Heinlen's star is dimmer to me due to that book.

Posted by: WinLinBSDAdmin at August 16, 2016 01:10 PM (B11vO)

137 Oh no, you did not just say Time Enough for Love made you puke.

I remember being a kid and trying to read that.

It was impossible for the first 60 pages or so, then once I got used to his style it was awesome.

Try
skipping the weird random sex parts and reading the part about the
laziest man in the world being a 1910's cadet in the Navy's officer
academy , or the part about taking a covered wagon across wilderness on a
different planet.

Or if you like weird random sex parts read the parts where he has sex with his mother, sisters, and daughters.

His
daughters because in the future people normally live 400+ years, and
the're 70+ years old and still considered like youngsters. They're his
sisters because they're also his clones, except with they Y chromosome
replaced with the X.

And his mother because he's 2000+ years old,
travels back in time, meets his mother he barely remembers, and
honestly falls in love with her.

So he's obviously just playing with the reader on sensitive topics, which is nice he's got the balls to do it.

Oh
by the way, it's a sequel to a novella where a secret group of
long-lived people are forced to leave the earth and explore the stars.
You'll find it in Expanded Universe, and is awesome, plus no weird
random sex.

Posted by: Terrible, America, Terrible at August 16, 2016 05:09 PM (GyTPW)

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