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Sunday Morning Book Thread - 05-28-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
PIC NOTE
OK, I know I said we'd be returning to libraries around the world, but please bear with me for one more week. Hexie had the "zoomies" and was running along the tops of my bookcases in the living room. I was able to snap the pic above, just as she tried to ensnare my soul.
We'll be returning to regularly scheduled libraries from around the world next week...(pinkie swear! Got a good one lined up courtesy of a Moron!)
CHARACTER MOTIVATIONS In any story, character motivation *matters.* It's important to us as readers to be able to understand the reasons why characters behave. Now in the real world, we can see lunatics engaging in behavior that doesn't make a lick of sense to us. Seems like we see more and more of that on social media, as well as in the people in our neighborhoods that behave a bit oddly. Still, in their minds, whatever they are doing makes sense to them in the moment. How many of us did something stupid, crazy, or both when we were younger (less than 29) but it seemed like a good idea at the time? Raise your hand! (Mine is raised as well!) Even in stories where characters go mad--or start out mad--there has to be some rationality in place for us to at least perceive a possible reason for character motivations. Otherwise, we end up with a plot that is all too common in Hollywood these days where the characters simply stumble from one set piece to the next with little reason for them to be there. Motivations do not have to be serious or weighty matters that drive the plot. You can have characters motivated by relatively shallow thoughts and feelings, so long as you are entertained by the story. For instance, in L. Sprague de Camp's The Honorable Barbarian the main character is mostly motivated to find a way to lose his virginity. Even though he's had a few opportunities to do so, fate seems to be keen on intervening. He's also on a quest to find a new escapement for the clock business his family runs, and then gets tangled up in a scheme to deliver an important message to a foreign king when the original messenger is presumably killed by prostitutes. All these motivations combined keep driving the plot forward as his adventures become more and more farcical and ridiculous (it's supposed to be comedic fantasy). By contrast, Jake Sullivan's motivation in Larry Correia's Grimnoir Chronicles can be summed up as follows: The bad guy loses. Period. Jake is obsessed with adhering to his own moral code, which is how he's survived numerous potentially fatal situations. Of course, he's sometimes "Lawful Stupid" in that he gets in over his head but is still able to survive thanks to his mastery of the (super-)Power he commands. This dedication to an ideal is a common characteristic among Correia's main protagonists, usually driving them to insane actions in pursuit of their goals. What are some examples of characters with poorly-developed motivations? Or examples where the motivation doesn't quite seem to work for the character?
I've pretty much hit a dead end. Most of my favorite authors have either died or retired. Too many of the newer authors can't write worth a damn. I go to the library or the bookstore, read the first few pages of a book that looks interesting, only to put it back because the writing is so atrocious. Part of the problem is I've already read the premise half a dozen times. Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around at May 21, 2023 10:55 AM (B7rlW)
I, too, struggle when finding a new author to read, or at least one that is new to me. Last year I attended a few library book sales, which were a good source of books by authors I'd heard of, but had never read. That turned out to be a generally good solution, as I would most likely never have tried Peter F. Hamilton's Void Trilogy. Same with Larry Correia's Monster Hunter series. I thoroughly enjoyed both authors' writing styles. Writing and participating in the Sunday Morning Book Thread has also expanded my horizons. Y'all have so much to offer in terms of suggestions for reading material it's downright scary. That's one reason why I've been collecting recommendations--if you get bored, you can check out a Moron-recommended book. You may not always enjoy it, but you will almost always learn something new. For example, I know Adrian Tschaikovsky is highly recommended around here, so I will definitely check him out one of these days. I've also been taking pains to try and put a dent in my to-be-read (TBR) pile. I've accumulated hundreds of books over the years that I've meant to read, but somehow didn't get around to it. So that's been my main focus for the past couple of years. Unfortunately, it's hard to make much headway in my TBR pile because I do tend to acquire more books, though not this week. I just can't seem to crack the "80% of my books read" threshold... What do YOU do when you want to find an author new to you?
I know what you mean. Finding a new author you like can be very tricky. I recently had some luck with an old author, one so ubiquitous that I assumed I would not like him, so I ignored his work when searching for new detective fiction. Silly of me. I am now on the 4th of Robert Parker's Spenser books, and having a good time with them. There are 48 more of these books waiting for me. Posted by: Splunge at May 21, 2023 11:31 AM (IKlwI)
Comment: True crime stories about serial killers and psychopathic monsters seem to be very popular. Maybe because their way of thinking is so alien to the "normal" person. In Larry Correia's Warbound, one of the secondary characters who joins the heroes is a legitimate sociopath. It's mentioned more than once that he only interacts with humans so that he can pretend to be one. He lacks all of the empathy required to relate to humans as an equal. He's also very smart and twisted, so to him we are a game or puzzle to be solved. Sociopaths and psychopaths (yes, there's a difference) are unredeemable monsters. There is NO possibility of true atonement for their evil ways.
This week I listened to the Audible book The Demon Next Door, which is about Texas serial killer Danny Corwin.
Corwin was executed in 1990 for the murder of three women (he raped two of them). He also raped and attempted to kill two other women and raped a third. Most were around Temple.
The book does not play the sympathy game with Corwin. After finishing I found myself wondering how serial killers select their targets. Opportunity will be part of it but surely Corwin would have had more six opportunities.
BTW his weapon was a knife. Posted by: That Northern skulker at May 21, 2023 09:30 AM (eGTCV)
Comment: According to the introduction in this book, it's based on disputing three Great Untruths that are widespread on American college campuses:
Haidt and Lukianoff's The Coddling of the American Mind has been informative. (A very minor example - President Trump's "good people on both sides" comment after Charlottesville is a bit worse than what right wing commenters have taught us to believe.) As an elderly person, the material describing the likely relationship between social media and increasing incidence of mental illness among college students is compelling. While the authors seem willing to contort their thinking in whatever ways are necessary to excuse leftist nonsense, I think the book is worth reading. Posted by: Oglebay at May 21, 2023 11:50 AM (j4NKg)
- The Untruth of Fragility: What doesn't kill you makes you weaker.
- The Untruth of Emotional Reasoning: Always trust your feelings.
- The Untruth of Us Versus Them: Life is a battle between "good" people and "evil" people.
Comment: There's nothing wrong with getting lost in admiring beautiful illustrations of plants/flowers.
Last night on the Hobby Thread, Polliwog asked about books that would be good references for plant illustrations. This was my quick response. - Beatrix Potter (as in Peter Rabbit) did some excellent floral paintings that were included in scientific publications of the day.
- The botanical illustrations in the Brambly Hedge kids books. They are loose but completely accurate to form and color.
- Redoute's Fairest Flowers. They were done in the early 1800s. Phenomenal.
- Botanical Portraits with colored pencils by Ann Swan.
- Botanical Drawing in Color by Wendy Hollender.
- Any of the works by Martin Johnson Heade. The only problem was I got looking through the various volumes and lost a few hours of sleep looking at the beautiful artwork. Posted by: JTB at May 21, 2023 09:31 AM (7EjX1)
Comment: Totalitarian propaganda can be very, very effective in controlling the population. Remember when Kim Jong Il died? We saw how much his people wept genuine tears of sorrow for the death of their beloved Dear Leader. He was worshiped as a god in that country, even to this day, I believe. There will always be those who place their complete and total faith in Man instead of their Creator. More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (790 Moron-recommended books so far!)
Been relaxing in Michigan the last couple of weeks. Read Chaim Potok's The Gates of November, about the Slepak family of refuseniks. It intersects a little with Natan Sharansky's Fear No Evil. What's really fascinating about it are the occasional glimpses into the mindset of the people who maintained faith in the Soviet leadership. Volodya Slepak's father never lost faith, even when Stalin and his government started persecuting Jews and inciting violence against Jews. When Stalin died (which followed the comedy-drama movie fairly closely), Even in the labor camps, many cried. Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at May 21, 2023 09:36 AM (olroh)
- Grimnoir Chronicles Book 3 - Warbound by Larry Correia -- The heroes go in search of the mysterious Pathfinder, who heralds the attempt by the Enemy to invade Earth and destroy the Power that gave humanity their gifts.
- The Honorable Barbarian by L. Sprague de Camp -- I've never read any of his work before. Seems like a slightly more humorous version of Jack Vance. Really just a series of misadventures of a young man struggling to find his way in the world.
- Runelords Book 1 - The Sum of All Men by David Farland -- I don't much care for the magic system in this series. It's incredibly parasitic and destructive, even for the supposedly "good" faction. Not sure if I will finish this one.
- Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts -- I acquired the rest of this series a short time ago and thought I'd give this one another read. I read it when I was teenager and didn't enjoy it much. Now that I'm 29+, I can see why people tend to rate it fairly highly within the overall Riftwar Saga. It's a political thriller rather than an action-packed fantasy adventure story.
- Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts -- Political intrigue continues as Mara Acoma strives to consolidate her legacy after defeating her most hated rival house.
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip at May 28, 2023 09:00 AM (xhxe8)
2
Is that cat a Republican? It looks ready to Pounce.
Posted by: davidt at May 28, 2023 09:01 AM (SYTee)
3
Read a Perry Mason last week. It didn't end in a courtroom breakdown by the real guilty party.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 09:01 AM (Angsy)
4
Would anyone like to hear some of my poetry?
Posted by: Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings at May 28, 2023 09:02 AM (PiwSw)
5
My Sugar got on top of the book case often, was quite the leap up too.
Halfway through David Walder's Nelson, it is just over 500 pages
Halfway through David Walder's Nelson, it is just over 500 pages
Posted by: Skip at May 28, 2023 09:02 AM (xhxe8)
6
hiya
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 09:04 AM (T4tVD)
7
What are some examples of characters with poorly-developed motivations? Or examples where the motivation doesn't quite seem to work for the character?
I never thought about that aspect, so maybe all my characters in the crap I write....
I never thought about that aspect, so maybe all my characters in the crap I write....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 09:04 AM (Angsy)
8
This week I read Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky which was recommended here a few weeks ago. Tchaikovsky has created an interesting, unique universe, populated it with interesting characters, and has them doing exciting things to save humanity. What more could you ask for in a sci-fi trilogy?
Posted by: Zoltan at May 28, 2023 09:05 AM (62Hpd)
9
I don't think the Pants guy owns a weedwhacker. (if you catch my drift....)
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 09:05 AM (T4tVD)
10
Looking for a new author? Try Preston and Child. I especially recommend starting with The Ice Limit, or one of the special agent Pendergast books like Still Life with Crows.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at May 28, 2023 09:05 AM (EaHne)
11
I've pretty much hit a dead end. Most of my favorite authors have either died or retired.
You must be bad luck !
You must be bad luck !
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 09:07 AM (T4tVD)
12
L. Sprague De Camp was a great SF and fantasy author. He could tell amusing stories and he paid a lot of attention to historical and scientific detail. Sadly, his reputation has been diminished because he was put in charge of editing the Conan stories of Robert E. Howard, which he took as a mandate to rewrite some of them completely. This has given him a bad reputation among Howard fans which I think has made people overlook De Camp's own original work.
It's possible to be a good writer and still be the wrong writer for a particular job.
It's possible to be a good writer and still be the wrong writer for a particular job.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:07 AM (QZxDR)
13
Sci-Fi book is at the stage of assembly: this involves collecting all the 1-5 page segments into a single 'book' on the office tower (not the laptop, where the writing gets done) and filling in problem areas of actions (how characters get from A to B) and ensuring continuity. This book was more like making a movie, where things are 'shot' out of order, so it's 'editing' but more like a 'film edit' at this point.
Oh! For the tower, I have a large flat-screen monitor mounted and displayed vertically; it makes viewing and editing 'pages' SO much easier.
Oh! For the tower, I have a large flat-screen monitor mounted and displayed vertically; it makes viewing and editing 'pages' SO much easier.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 09:08 AM (43xH1)
14
Finished "Guys & Dolls." Finished "Naked City." Still working on those Black Panther tales. And the library delivered a Perry Mason mystery and another order. So guess how I'm going to spend a chunk of my holiday.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:08 AM (uIu2G)
15
Holden Caulfield just wanted to get through that damn field of Rye. Took him forever.
Posted by: From what I remember at May 28, 2023 09:09 AM (DhOHl)
16
I am wearing pants!
Now with that out of the way ..... I am reading the Robert B. Parker "Jesse Stone" series. There are 17 books and I'm on #9.
I liked the movies with Tom Selleck. The books are good as far as the police side. His side story re ex-wife gets annoying after 3 books. I shall persevere.
I have a copy of Jason Matthews' Red Sparrow series "The Kremlin's Candidate" which is #3. I've already read #1 & 2. Really, really enjoyed them. Best spy novels I have read thanks to someone in the Book Thread a long while ago who mentioned the author and the first 2 books, otherwise I probably would never have known. THANK YOU THANK YOU. I am drooling at the thought of reading it but I purposely decided to read the Jesse Stone series first,
I might read the Spenser series by Parker later. Don't know what's it about.
(BBCode tags not working! ...... Pixy!)
Now with that out of the way ..... I am reading the Robert B. Parker "Jesse Stone" series. There are 17 books and I'm on #9.
I liked the movies with Tom Selleck. The books are good as far as the police side. His side story re ex-wife gets annoying after 3 books. I shall persevere.
I have a copy of Jason Matthews' Red Sparrow series "The Kremlin's Candidate" which is #3. I've already read #1 & 2. Really, really enjoyed them. Best spy novels I have read thanks to someone in the Book Thread a long while ago who mentioned the author and the first 2 books, otherwise I probably would never have known. THANK YOU THANK YOU. I am drooling at the thought of reading it but I purposely decided to read the Jesse Stone series first,
I might read the Spenser series by Parker later. Don't know what's it about.
(BBCode tags not working! ...... Pixy!)
Posted by: Ciampino --- It was good for my soul at May 28, 2023 09:09 AM (qfLjt)
17
16
My rush to complain! The Tags are working just fine ... apologies Pixy.
My rush to complain! The Tags are working just fine ... apologies Pixy.
Posted by: Ciampino - never rush to complain at May 28, 2023 09:12 AM (qfLjt)
18
"The Cookbook Collector" by Allegra Goodman has a description of the kind of bookstore in which many of us would like to lose ourselves:
"Yorick's Used and Rare Books had a small storefront on Channing but a deep interior shaded by tall bookcases crammed with history, poetry, theology, antiquated anthologies. There was no open wall space to hang the framed prints for sale, so Hogarth's scenes of lust, pride, and debauchery leaned rakishly against piles of novels, folk tales, and literary theory. In the back room those piles were so tall and dusty that they took on a geological air, rising like stalagmites. Jess often felt her workplace was a secret mine or quarry where she could pry crystals from crevices and sweep precious jewels straight off the floor."
"Yorick's Used and Rare Books had a small storefront on Channing but a deep interior shaded by tall bookcases crammed with history, poetry, theology, antiquated anthologies. There was no open wall space to hang the framed prints for sale, so Hogarth's scenes of lust, pride, and debauchery leaned rakishly against piles of novels, folk tales, and literary theory. In the back room those piles were so tall and dusty that they took on a geological air, rising like stalagmites. Jess often felt her workplace was a secret mine or quarry where she could pry crystals from crevices and sweep precious jewels straight off the floor."
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 09:12 AM (wdHY0)
19
@3 --
OrangeEnt, that's been my experience with the Mason novels. There are courtroom fireworks, but often the guilty party isn't even arrested in court; they're just known to be sought by the police or have been arrested behind the scenes.
I wish the TV show had done more of that.
OrangeEnt, that's been my experience with the Mason novels. There are courtroom fireworks, but often the guilty party isn't even arrested in court; they're just known to be sought by the police or have been arrested behind the scenes.
I wish the TV show had done more of that.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:12 AM (uIu2G)
20
Thank you those that help us to be free today.
Happy Memorial Day
Happy Memorial Day
Posted by: rhennigantx at May 28, 2023 09:14 AM (BRHaw)
21
yes matthews has some elements like egorova's sixth sense, and his attention to local cuisine, that makes him special
I was reading westlake's attempt at bond film, set in the south pacific australia and hong kong, some elements of which seem to seep into tomorrow never dies
the bondish villain is an american expat from hong kong, who plans revenge against the city state, for the chinese domination in an interestng way,
I was reading westlake's attempt at bond film, set in the south pacific australia and hong kong, some elements of which seem to seep into tomorrow never dies
the bondish villain is an american expat from hong kong, who plans revenge against the city state, for the chinese domination in an interestng way,
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 09:16 AM (PXvVL)
22
BOOKZZZZ!
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 09:18 AM (vHIgi)
23
Hexie, defender of bookshelves!
Repent, ye overdue borrowers!
Repent, ye overdue borrowers!
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 09:19 AM (vHIgi)
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 09:20 AM (T4tVD)
25
Most of my reading this past week was learning the rules to a new game system for a session on Friday evening. The game in question was Ars Magica, which came out in the 1990s and tried to address two problems the creators had with D&D: the power imbalance between wizards and guys-with-swords (wizards start out weaker, wind up vastly stronger, so either sword guys have to be nerfed at the start, or wizards get nerfed later on); and the lack of historical grounding.
The solution to the second problem was the simple, and universally applicable principle: "Just use Earth, ya big baby." So it's set in medieval Europe -- just one where all the fantastic folktale creatures are real and lurking just out of sight.
The first problem was solved by saying "screw it." Wizards are more powerful, so everybody either plays a wizard, or part of a wizard's team of non-magical sidekicks.
Fun stuff. You can see a lot of the Vampire RPG in AM's genetics -- the wizards belong to different orders, which get different power specialities and have certain character stereotypes, and they do a lot of pointless intriguing against each other. But overall enjoyable.
The solution to the second problem was the simple, and universally applicable principle: "Just use Earth, ya big baby." So it's set in medieval Europe -- just one where all the fantastic folktale creatures are real and lurking just out of sight.
The first problem was solved by saying "screw it." Wizards are more powerful, so everybody either plays a wizard, or part of a wizard's team of non-magical sidekicks.
Fun stuff. You can see a lot of the Vampire RPG in AM's genetics -- the wizards belong to different orders, which get different power specialities and have certain character stereotypes, and they do a lot of pointless intriguing against each other. But overall enjoyable.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:20 AM (QZxDR)
26
Probably the most difficult motivations to sell to readers are those revolving around human nature: the idea that a figure does something because 'it's human nature'. There is so much disagreement as to the meaning of that, it makes for a difficult sell. If the author believes History is two monkeys fighting over the same banana, some readers will disagree; if the story is Good versus Evil that can be subjective. Killing is bad... but not always. Sexual motivations can appeal... or not. Even social norms are subjective from group to group (potential readers).
That last statement makes me want to write a quick Islamic Romance and put it up on Literotica.
"Achmed Finds His Second Wife'!
That last statement makes me want to write a quick Islamic Romance and put it up on Literotica.
"Achmed Finds His Second Wife'!
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 09:20 AM (43xH1)
27
L. Sprague De Camp was a great SF and fantasy author. He could tell amusing stories and he paid a lot of attention to historical and scientific detail. Sadly, his reputation has been diminished because he was put in charge of editing the Conan stories of Robert E. Howard, which he took as a mandate to rewrite some of them completely. This has given him a bad reputation among Howard fans which I think has made people overlook De Camp's own original work.
It's possible to be a good writer and still be the wrong writer for a particular job.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023
***
I met de Camp and his wife Catherine at an SF convention in the late '80s, and in fact still have a postcard signed by her for both of them. I got the chance to tell Sprague that, whenever I've read something of his, I've learned something new, and he smiled happily.
It's possible to be a good writer and still be the wrong writer for a particular job.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023
***
I met de Camp and his wife Catherine at an SF convention in the late '80s, and in fact still have a postcard signed by her for both of them. I got the chance to tell Sprague that, whenever I've read something of his, I've learned something new, and he smiled happily.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:21 AM (omVj0)
28
I sort of accidentally read "The Greatest Game Ever Played" by Mark Frost, which describes the U.S. Open golf tournament of 1913. (It was made into an entertaining movie by Disney back in the pre-perv times of 2005.) Apparently I'd recommended it to the library so long ago I'd forgotten and then one day it just appeared in my holds.
Glad it happened because I very much enjoyed reading the stories of the main characters who were all working class kids who escaped dark, poverty-stricken childhoods through the medium of golf. There's a lot of good collateral history too.
If you actively dislike golf you probably wouldn't like the book but if you have even a casual interest in sports it's a lot of fun. Some of the descriptions of the tournament got a bit too detailed for me, but it's easy to skim these parts.
Glad it happened because I very much enjoyed reading the stories of the main characters who were all working class kids who escaped dark, poverty-stricken childhoods through the medium of golf. There's a lot of good collateral history too.
If you actively dislike golf you probably wouldn't like the book but if you have even a casual interest in sports it's a lot of fun. Some of the descriptions of the tournament got a bit too detailed for me, but it's easy to skim these parts.
Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at May 28, 2023 09:22 AM (fTtFy)
29
True crime stories about serial killers and psychopathic monsters seem to be very popular.
-
I've been doing the 100 Days of Dante thing supplemented by The Modern Scholar on The Divine Comedy and Danteworlds by Guy Raffa (which is kind of fustrating because the experts don't always agree). The point out that Dante doesn't make evil attractive as Star Wars makes Darth Vader attractive or Silence of the Lambs makes Hannibal Lecter attractive. Satan is the subtlest creature in the Garden.
-
I've been doing the 100 Days of Dante thing supplemented by The Modern Scholar on The Divine Comedy and Danteworlds by Guy Raffa (which is kind of fustrating because the experts don't always agree). The point out that Dante doesn't make evil attractive as Star Wars makes Darth Vader attractive or Silence of the Lambs makes Hannibal Lecter attractive. Satan is the subtlest creature in the Garden.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 09:22 AM (FVME7)
30
oh its called forever and a day
also I took another stab at stross, who after an resume of current events, UK taken over by a Old One flashes back to regency england, the time of frankenstein and the first vampire tale, the vampyr
also I took another stab at stross, who after an resume of current events, UK taken over by a Old One flashes back to regency england, the time of frankenstein and the first vampire tale, the vampyr
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 09:22 AM (PXvVL)
31
My pleasant surprise this week was “The Scarlet Circus”, a romantic short story collection by Jane Yolen with the tales loosely based on fairy tale characters and elements: merfolk, dragons, the Sword in the Stone, genies, even adult Alice returning to Wonderland.
One story is about a slave finding a genie’s bottle on the beach:
“I stared at the bottle. If I had any luck at all, the bottle had fallen from a foreign ship and its contents would still be potable. But then, if I had any luck at all, I would not be a slave in Arabia, a Greek sailor washed up on these shores, the same as the bottle at my feet. My father, who was a cynic like his father before him, left me with a cynic’s name – Antithias – a wry heart, and an acid tongue, none proper legacies for a slave.”
What follows is a charming love story between Antithias and the female genie inside the bottle.
One story is about a slave finding a genie’s bottle on the beach:
“I stared at the bottle. If I had any luck at all, the bottle had fallen from a foreign ship and its contents would still be potable. But then, if I had any luck at all, I would not be a slave in Arabia, a Greek sailor washed up on these shores, the same as the bottle at my feet. My father, who was a cynic like his father before him, left me with a cynic’s name – Antithias – a wry heart, and an acid tongue, none proper legacies for a slave.”
What follows is a charming love story between Antithias and the female genie inside the bottle.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 28, 2023 09:24 AM (+RQPJ)
32
I wish the TV show had done more of that.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:12 AM (uIu2G)
Hamilton Burger wasn't even the DA in the one I read.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:12 AM (uIu2G)
Hamilton Burger wasn't even the DA in the one I read.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 09:24 AM (Angsy)
33
"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality."
Romans 12:11-13
Romans 12:11-13
Posted by: Marcus T at May 28, 2023 09:24 AM (+Odgf)
34
The kittens are out eating.
https://www.twitch.tv/kittenwatch
Biscuits' kittens ON VIDEO eating solid food.
https://www.twitch.tv/kittenwatch
Biscuits' kittens ON VIDEO eating solid food.
Posted by: Ciampino -- never rush to complain at May 28, 2023 09:24 AM (qfLjt)
35
"The Cookbook Collector" by Allegra Goodman has a description of the kind of bookstore in which many of us would like to lose ourselves:
=====
For many years, my description of my own household has involved a time-travel station of the LaBrea Tar Pits where some things randomly surface.
=====
For many years, my description of my own household has involved a time-travel station of the LaBrea Tar Pits where some things randomly surface.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 09:24 AM (MIKMs)
36
One thing about character motivations I've noticed in recent years saddens me a lot.
We seldom see characters motivated by honor, at least not in contemporary settings. And even in historicals they usually tack on something about protecting the innocent or getting revenge.
Example: in Dumas's Three Musketeers (and the magnificent 1970s film) the Musketeers are motivated solely by honor. They are fighting to preserve the Queen's honor -- even though they are at the same time fighting a war against forces backed by her family and the guy she was having an affair with! A Musketeer defends a lady's honor, period.
We seldom see characters motivated by honor, at least not in contemporary settings. And even in historicals they usually tack on something about protecting the innocent or getting revenge.
Example: in Dumas's Three Musketeers (and the magnificent 1970s film) the Musketeers are motivated solely by honor. They are fighting to preserve the Queen's honor -- even though they are at the same time fighting a war against forces backed by her family and the guy she was having an affair with! A Musketeer defends a lady's honor, period.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:25 AM (QZxDR)
37
The Untruth of Us Versus Them: Life is a battle between "good" people and "evil" people.
-
Untruth? I've been leaning more and more in this direction. Take Target. Please!
-
Untruth? I've been leaning more and more in this direction. Take Target. Please!
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 09:25 AM (FVME7)
38
I might read the Spenser series by Parker later. Don't know what's it about.
(BBCode tags not working! ...... Pixy!)
Posted by: Ciampino --- It was good for my soul at May 28, 2023
***
Ciampino, Parker was a whiz. He was an academic to start with, an English professor who did his thesis on Raymond Chandler. In the early '70s he started the Spenser series (Spenser is a Boston private eye who actually likes his life -- he's nowhere near as dark or noirish as most PIs), then Jesse Stone, a series of PI novels with a female lead, Sunny Randall (not woke or PC). All are part of the same universe. He also wrote several Westerns -- Appaloosa the movie is based on his novel -- wrote screenplays, a love story, a "Young Spenser" YA novel, and more.
(BBCode tags not working! ...... Pixy!)
Posted by: Ciampino --- It was good for my soul at May 28, 2023
***
Ciampino, Parker was a whiz. He was an academic to start with, an English professor who did his thesis on Raymond Chandler. In the early '70s he started the Spenser series (Spenser is a Boston private eye who actually likes his life -- he's nowhere near as dark or noirish as most PIs), then Jesse Stone, a series of PI novels with a female lead, Sunny Randall (not woke or PC). All are part of the same universe. He also wrote several Westerns -- Appaloosa the movie is based on his novel -- wrote screenplays, a love story, a "Young Spenser" YA novel, and more.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:25 AM (omVj0)
Posted by: Serbia at May 28, 2023 09:26 AM (43xH1)
40
Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around
=====
^^^THIS^^^
=====
^^^THIS^^^
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 09:27 AM (MIKMs)
41
Thanks Perf. Now to the content.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023 09:27 AM (7Tb4o)
42
Re: Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone -- the odd thing is that Jesse is written at the beginning as a young man about 30 years old, and I think some of the TV adaptations have been of novels where JS is about that age. Yet the older Selleck is utterly perfect for the role and delivers Jesse's lines from the books so well that if you reread the novel, you hear him.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:29 AM (omVj0)
43
Chaim Potok's The Gates of November, about the Slepak family of refuseniks.
-
Two-year-old sentenced to life in prison with family after North Korean stormtroopers discover parents’ Bible
https://tinyurl.com/tfcfhtxv
Seems fair.
-
Two-year-old sentenced to life in prison with family after North Korean stormtroopers discover parents’ Bible
https://tinyurl.com/tfcfhtxv
Seems fair.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 09:29 AM (FVME7)
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at May 28, 2023 09:29 AM (DhOHl)
45
We seldom see characters motivated by honor, at least not in contemporary settings. And even in historicals they usually tack on something about protecting the innocent or getting revenge.
Example: in Dumas's Three Musketeers (and the magnificent 1970s film) the Musketeers are motivated solely by honor. They are fighting to preserve the Queen's honor -- even though they are at the same time fighting a war against forces backed by her family and the guy she was having an affair with! A Musketeer defends a lady's honor, period.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:25 AM (QZxDR)
---
Larry Correia's Saga of the Forgotten Warrior is very much about honor at its core. The main character found out he'd been living a lie according to his culture, but still manages to do the right thing (according to his own definition of honor).
The book I'm currently reading, Servant of the Empire, is also very much concerned with honor, though this is according to pseudo-Japanese culture...
Example: in Dumas's Three Musketeers (and the magnificent 1970s film) the Musketeers are motivated solely by honor. They are fighting to preserve the Queen's honor -- even though they are at the same time fighting a war against forces backed by her family and the guy she was having an affair with! A Musketeer defends a lady's honor, period.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:25 AM (QZxDR)
---
Larry Correia's Saga of the Forgotten Warrior is very much about honor at its core. The main character found out he'd been living a lie according to his culture, but still manages to do the right thing (according to his own definition of honor).
The book I'm currently reading, Servant of the Empire, is also very much concerned with honor, though this is according to pseudo-Japanese culture...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 28, 2023 09:30 AM (BpYfr)
46
Sprague and Catherine De Camp were lovely people to meet. I spoke with them in person a few times. I actually got to work on a project which was based on some of his stories, but unfortunately by that time he was in very poor health and was unable to offer much commentary. I've been looking for a copy of his autobiography.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:30 AM (QZxDR)
47
western european vampire tale,
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 09:30 AM (PXvVL)
48
New author: Mark Henshaw, the writer of the Red Cell series. The Red Cell is a one-man analysis unit in the CIA. A second case officer is burned early into her first foreign posting, so she is assigned to the Red Cell, where she draws field assignments.
Henshaw, a former intelligence analyst, has written four books. The first, "Red Cell," deals with efforts to bring out the agency's top source in China amid that country's move on two islands near Taiwan. The second, "Cold Shot," is about the Iranians smuggling radioactive material to Venezuela. Those are the two I've read although I own them all.
Following are "The Fall of Moscow Station," about the station chief going rogue, and "The Last Man in Tehran," which I understand is anti-Israel. That saddens me, but I'll read it anyway.
I highly recommend the first two.
Henshaw, a former intelligence analyst, has written four books. The first, "Red Cell," deals with efforts to bring out the agency's top source in China amid that country's move on two islands near Taiwan. The second, "Cold Shot," is about the Iranians smuggling radioactive material to Venezuela. Those are the two I've read although I own them all.
Following are "The Fall of Moscow Station," about the station chief going rogue, and "The Last Man in Tehran," which I understand is anti-Israel. That saddens me, but I'll read it anyway.
I highly recommend the first two.
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:31 AM (uIu2G)
49
>Two-year-old sentenced to life in prison with family after North Korean stormtroopers discover parents’ Bible
Nip it. Nip it in the bud!
Nip it. Nip it in the bud!
Posted by: Dear Leader Barney Fife at May 28, 2023 09:31 AM (DhOHl)
50
Baffling motivations of characters: anyone in any John Updike book, ever.
I read all the Rabbit books thinking there might be some point to some of it eventually, but no. The main character was flatly a creepy suburban nothing whose motivations made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Actually, any book involving 'suburban ennui' as a motivation. How is that a motivation?
I read all the Rabbit books thinking there might be some point to some of it eventually, but no. The main character was flatly a creepy suburban nothing whose motivations made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Actually, any book involving 'suburban ennui' as a motivation. How is that a motivation?
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 09:33 AM (43xH1)
51
Thank you for JTB's posting on floral illustrations. I would add just one more to this excellent list: Albrecht Durer's watercolor "The Great Piece of Turf", in which the great German artist painted a chunk of turf cut from an ordinary meadow. It beautifully illustrates dozens of plants in a single image; in fact, an entire book could be written about that one painting.
Posted by: Nemo at May 28, 2023 09:33 AM (S6ArX)
52
In the book Annihilation the alien presence have no apparent motivation - same with the Crawler.
Unlike the people in the book with their many faceted motivations.
Unlike the people in the book with their many faceted motivations.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023 09:35 AM (7Tb4o)
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 28, 2023 09:36 AM (5pZqO)
54
Actually, any book involving 'suburban ennui' as a motivation. How is that a motivation?
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023
***
I suppose it can be, if it's severe enough. And if it leads to some real adventures.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023
***
I suppose it can be, if it's severe enough. And if it leads to some real adventures.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:37 AM (omVj0)
55
Okay, here's one of my favorite (bad) examples of incomprehensible motives: the main character of Thomas Mann's _The Magic Mountain_ goes to visit a friend who's in a tuberculosis sanitarium in the Alps. He hangs around the sanitarium, which is full of tuberculosis patients, and even stays in one of the rooms. Eventually he gets tuberculosis so he moves in to the sanitarium himself . . . and then World War I starts so he goes off and joins the Army and dies. There are lots of conversations which are either profound or tedious, one walk in the mountains, and an ineffectual duel.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:38 AM (QZxDR)
56
i found moscow station, interesting, I looked askance at the latter, Iran wasn't always a evil hegemon, they had good relations under the shah, savak's reputation was overdone, as with all black legends,
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 09:39 AM (PXvVL)
57
Perfessor, I sent you an e-mail.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 09:39 AM (Angsy)
58
So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, PLEASE PUT ON SOME PANTS
You may take our sobriety, but you'll never take...OUR BALLS' FREEDOM!!!!
You may take our sobriety, but you'll never take...OUR BALLS' FREEDOM!!!!
Posted by: Drunk Scotsman, wearing a kilt at May 28, 2023 09:39 AM (NCgXW)
59
What do YOU do when you want to find an author new to you?
----
Well I'm 29 so I doubt that I have many, many years ahead of me so I am loath waste time and start books that may not be to my liking. For example, I like sci-fi but do not tolerate fantasy, magic, etc. So I want to know beforehand something about the story and often rely on you people here on AoS as well as the odd chance pointer from some other source.
----
Well I'm 29 so I doubt that I have many, many years ahead of me so I am loath waste time and start books that may not be to my liking. For example, I like sci-fi but do not tolerate fantasy, magic, etc. So I want to know beforehand something about the story and often rely on you people here on AoS as well as the odd chance pointer from some other source.
Posted by: Ciampino --- never rush to complain at May 28, 2023 09:40 AM (qfLjt)
60
Yeah, 'suburban ennui' as a motivation utterly baffles me. Makes no sense. My Mexican buddy either: his wife is from a wealthy US suburb, and he and I once spent an afternoon at a dive cantina trying to figure out what exactly Cheever's 'The Swimmer' was about, and both eventually agreed:
'Nothing', and that the piece is an utter waste of f****g time.
'Nothing', and that the piece is an utter waste of f****g time.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 09:40 AM (43xH1)
61
Well, with an alien mind, as in Annihilation or the works of Lovecraft, the very fact of their motives being incomprehensible is kind of the whole point. The story is about how people respond to that.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:40 AM (QZxDR)
62
Eventually he gets tuberculosis so he moves in to the sanitarium himself . . . and then World War I starts so he goes off and joins the Army and dies. There are lots of conversations which are either profound or tedious, one walk in the mountains, and an ineffectual duel.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023
***
I concluded long ago that a *lot* of what English teachers want you to read, that they call classics, aren't.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023
***
I concluded long ago that a *lot* of what English teachers want you to read, that they call classics, aren't.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:40 AM (omVj0)
63
week geek - was it you pitching the spy thriller 'I am Pilgrim' last week? I really enjoyed that book.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023 09:41 AM (7Tb4o)
64
I thought Moscow Station was familiar, got it when first came out and still have it
Posted by: Skip at May 28, 2023 09:42 AM (xhxe8)
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:42 AM (uIu2G)
66
Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around
=====
^^^THIS^^^
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 09:27 AM (MIKMs)
I wonder if like/dislike of life in the 70s is motivated by how old the person was?
=====
^^^THIS^^^
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 09:27 AM (MIKMs)
I wonder if like/dislike of life in the 70s is motivated by how old the person was?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 09:42 AM (Angsy)
67
the Spenser books were also about honor. Spenser trying to live according to his code with Hawk as his antithesis. There's a great scene where Spenser tells a guy to leave him alone. Hawk says you know that won't work. After Spenser say, yea, but I can't do anything else, Hawk says, I can and shoots him.
the TV show (Spenser for Hire) only once (that I saw) caught that sense of moral ambiguity that the books explored.
OTOH, after about 15 or so of the Spenser books, I quit. They were starting to be repetitive.
I have a different problem finding new authors. I'm cheap and some genres I don't touch (shifters, vampires, ...). So I depend a lot on Kindle Unlimited. I've found a number that publish there (Nathan Lowell, Doug Boulter, CJ Petit, some westerns).
the TV show (Spenser for Hire) only once (that I saw) caught that sense of moral ambiguity that the books explored.
OTOH, after about 15 or so of the Spenser books, I quit. They were starting to be repetitive.
I have a different problem finding new authors. I'm cheap and some genres I don't touch (shifters, vampires, ...). So I depend a lot on Kindle Unlimited. I've found a number that publish there (Nathan Lowell, Doug Boulter, CJ Petit, some westerns).
Posted by: yara at May 28, 2023 09:44 AM (2QYbD)
68
My daughter is entering the 9th grade in the fall and is taking an advanced ELA(English Language Arts 🙄
class. They are assigned a summer reading assignment... I do have a major problem with the book assigned, "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson. I got the book and my daughter started reading it. She came to me half way through and said it's AWFUL!!! She says the writing is bad, it's all over the place, characters are not relatable, etc. Best part is it contains gay sexual scenes/themes and according to my daughter pediphile themes and grooming. It's award winning, teacher recommended, best selling, 5 stars, great reviews, etc., etc. I'm sure most of the high sales numbers are from school reading assignments. I read a few pages and the writing isn't great.
This is in Texas. This book is regularly on "banned book" lists.
Look, I'm not a prude, I'm here at AoSHQ after all, but I'm not comfortable with this. She says it's fine, it's just such a bad and boring book, she's not traumatized or anything. On the bright side, she picked up on the attempted indoctrination quickly and she thinks it's terrible and most importantly she brought it to my attention.
class. They are assigned a summer reading assignment... I do have a major problem with the book assigned, "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson. I got the book and my daughter started reading it. She came to me half way through and said it's AWFUL!!! She says the writing is bad, it's all over the place, characters are not relatable, etc. Best part is it contains gay sexual scenes/themes and according to my daughter pediphile themes and grooming. It's award winning, teacher recommended, best selling, 5 stars, great reviews, etc., etc. I'm sure most of the high sales numbers are from school reading assignments. I read a few pages and the writing isn't great.
This is in Texas. This book is regularly on "banned book" lists.
Look, I'm not a prude, I'm here at AoSHQ after all, but I'm not comfortable with this. She says it's fine, it's just such a bad and boring book, she's not traumatized or anything. On the bright side, she picked up on the attempted indoctrination quickly and she thinks it's terrible and most importantly she brought it to my attention.
Posted by: lin-duh at May 28, 2023 09:44 AM (UUBmN)
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:46 AM (uIu2G)
70
Trimegistus @46, De Camp's autobiography "Time and Chance" is well worth reading.
I enjoy De Camp's science fiction and fantasy but what I like best of his work are his historical novels: "An Elephant for Aristotle", "The Arrows of Hercules", "The Bronze God of Rhodes" and "The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate". Great stories set in very accurate historical backgrounds.
I enjoy De Camp's science fiction and fantasy but what I like best of his work are his historical novels: "An Elephant for Aristotle", "The Arrows of Hercules", "The Bronze God of Rhodes" and "The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate". Great stories set in very accurate historical backgrounds.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at May 28, 2023 09:46 AM (2SWLc)
71
I don't mean to sound like I'm dumping on LenNeal, but "The Swimmer" is one of those plonkingly obvious metaphor stories beloved of English teachers and midwit critics. How can you not tell what it's about? Mortality, with all the usual markers deployed according to rule.
Cheever was a smart guy, and I think he figured out exactly what would appeal to New Yorker readers: a story for midwits that makes them feel smart for noticing the obvious.
Cheever was a smart guy, and I think he figured out exactly what would appeal to New Yorker readers: a story for midwits that makes them feel smart for noticing the obvious.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:46 AM (QZxDR)
72
lin-duh to me it still gets the thoughts established and what can say something more down the road can make that change?
Posted by: Skip at May 28, 2023 09:46 AM (xhxe8)
73
the Spenser books were also about honor. Spenser trying to live according to his code with Hawk as his antithesis. There's a great scene where Spenser tells a guy to leave him alone. Hawk says you know that won't work. After Spenser say, yea, but I can't do anything else, Hawk says, I can and shoots him.
the TV show (Spenser for Hire) only once (that I saw) caught that sense of moral ambiguity that the books explored.
OTOH, after about 15 or so of the Spenser books, I quit. They were starting to be repetitive. . . .
Posted by: yara at May 28, 2023
***
True on most counts. I suspect the episode you saw with that flavor might have been written by Parker himself.
the TV show (Spenser for Hire) only once (that I saw) caught that sense of moral ambiguity that the books explored.
OTOH, after about 15 or so of the Spenser books, I quit. They were starting to be repetitive. . . .
Posted by: yara at May 28, 2023
***
True on most counts. I suspect the episode you saw with that flavor might have been written by Parker himself.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:47 AM (omVj0)
74
Who'd athunk it?
Of Course: "Right Wing" Bomb Threats Sent to Target Were From Angry Deranged Leftist
Of Course: "Right Wing" Bomb Threats Sent to Target Were From Angry Deranged Leftist
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 09:47 AM (FVME7)
75
Baffling motivations of characters: anyone in any John Updike book, ever.
I read all the Rabbit books thinking there might be some point to some of it eventually, but no. The main character was flatly a creepy suburban nothing whose motivations made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Actually, any book involving 'suburban ennui' as a motivation. How is that a motivation?
Suburban ennui is just the author showing you that he's not of the common herd. It's pure social positioning. You can see the same in Sinclair Lewis (Main Street), and movies like American Beauty. It's a tired and shallow trope, but people need to feel better than their fellows.
I read all the Rabbit books thinking there might be some point to some of it eventually, but no. The main character was flatly a creepy suburban nothing whose motivations made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Actually, any book involving 'suburban ennui' as a motivation. How is that a motivation?
Suburban ennui is just the author showing you that he's not of the common herd. It's pure social positioning. You can see the same in Sinclair Lewis (Main Street), and movies like American Beauty. It's a tired and shallow trope, but people need to feel better than their fellows.
Posted by: Archimedes at May 28, 2023 09:47 AM (eOEVl)
76
An old (both us us are 29+, and I have known him since 1st grade) friend likes to buy hardcover books at Costco, read them, and then give them to me.
He's a big fan of C.J. Box and the Joe Pickett series. He gave me "Treasure State," which is not a Joe Picket story, but still a very enjoyable read. I can easily recommend it for a good yarn.
He's a big fan of C.J. Box and the Joe Pickett series. He gave me "Treasure State," which is not a Joe Picket story, but still a very enjoyable read. I can easily recommend it for a good yarn.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 09:47 AM (vg8N1)
77
What I want from a new author or new book is simple for me to list because I made a similar list when I wrote "Wearing the Cat". I wrote the list for exactly the type of book that I'd like to read and what I hope to accomplish for WtC.
Here's the list:
1) I wanted a fun literary novel. A comic novel in the sense of "Huckleberry Finn" or "Catch-22".
2) I wanted a picaresque novel because I like reading picaresque novels and I like the format of a good entertaining long read.
3) The hero would be a picaro. Not necessarily an admirable character, but one who went through life using his wits. Such as they were.
4) The protagonist and other figures would experience growth and development. I hate novels where everyone stays the same and no one changes.
5) I wanted a story where there were lots of twists and surprises and laughs or shocks.
6) I didn't want the reader to know exactly where the novel was going and what was going to happen while they were reading, because...
7) I wanted everything, everything to come together, make sense, and resolve at the climax and at the end. Because that makes for a fun read.
(con't)
Here's the list:
1) I wanted a fun literary novel. A comic novel in the sense of "Huckleberry Finn" or "Catch-22".
2) I wanted a picaresque novel because I like reading picaresque novels and I like the format of a good entertaining long read.
3) The hero would be a picaro. Not necessarily an admirable character, but one who went through life using his wits. Such as they were.
4) The protagonist and other figures would experience growth and development. I hate novels where everyone stays the same and no one changes.
5) I wanted a story where there were lots of twists and surprises and laughs or shocks.
6) I didn't want the reader to know exactly where the novel was going and what was going to happen while they were reading, because...
7) I wanted everything, everything to come together, make sense, and resolve at the climax and at the end. Because that makes for a fun read.
(con't)
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 09:47 AM (RJQ8g)
78
"I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
---
Lin-duh, I see it's a Stonewall Honor Book(!). On Amazon, I had to scroll down through fields of huzzahs to even get to the description. Apparently, it's stunning.
---
Lin-duh, I see it's a Stonewall Honor Book(!). On Amazon, I had to scroll down through fields of huzzahs to even get to the description. Apparently, it's stunning.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 28, 2023 09:49 AM (+RQPJ)
79
I pilgrim starts off in a very grand guignol slaughtering, which sets up a character who becomes critical to the story later on, specially in the context of when it happens,
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 09:49 AM (PXvVL)
80
"I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson. I got the book and my daughter started reading it. She came to me half way through and said it's AWFUL!!! She says the writing is bad, it's all over the place, characters are not relatable, etc. Best part is it contains gay sexual scenes/themes and according to my daughter pediphile themes and grooming. It's award winning, teacher recommended, best selling, 5 stars, great reviews, etc., etc.
-
DiSantis and Florida will probably ban it.
-
DiSantis and Florida will probably ban it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 09:49 AM (FVME7)
81
Lin-duh: I know a way to get that book off the curriculum. Find something that can be interpreted as racist, either in that or anything else the author ever wrote, and complain about that to the teacher.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:49 AM (QZxDR)
82
"I suppose it can be, if it's severe enough. And if it leads to some real adventures.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius"
At the cantina, re: Cheever, we agreed that an excess of mostly unearned luxury seemed to create a loss of authenticity, and an absence of a sense of individuality, and that *might* motivate a person to take risks, etc. But that mostly, in both our life experience, it simply led to yet more asinine and nonsensical behavior. That is, the very lack of life motives makes people do even more stupid, senseless sh*t, not find meaning (motivation) in their lives.
I confess neither of us understand the story at all.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius"
At the cantina, re: Cheever, we agreed that an excess of mostly unearned luxury seemed to create a loss of authenticity, and an absence of a sense of individuality, and that *might* motivate a person to take risks, etc. But that mostly, in both our life experience, it simply led to yet more asinine and nonsensical behavior. That is, the very lack of life motives makes people do even more stupid, senseless sh*t, not find meaning (motivation) in their lives.
I confess neither of us understand the story at all.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 09:50 AM (43xH1)
83
Actually, any book involving 'suburban ennui' as a motivation. How is that a motivation?
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 09:33 AM (43xH1)
It's to make those stuck in "vibrant" city centers feel better about themselves. They're so superior to those boors with ticky tacky houses and lawns, and barbeques, and cars, and friendly neighbors. Nowhere near the sophistication of those who live in high rises, their cold water walkups, crowded, graffiti covered commuter trains, colorful street characters, and garish clubs hawking sex work. How inferior those suburbanites are.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 09:33 AM (43xH1)
It's to make those stuck in "vibrant" city centers feel better about themselves. They're so superior to those boors with ticky tacky houses and lawns, and barbeques, and cars, and friendly neighbors. Nowhere near the sophistication of those who live in high rises, their cold water walkups, crowded, graffiti covered commuter trains, colorful street characters, and garish clubs hawking sex work. How inferior those suburbanites are.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 09:50 AM (Angsy)
84
"On the bright side, she picked up on the attempted indoctrination quickly and she thinks it's terrible and most importantly she brought it to my attention."
That's as much a part of her education as anything. Learning to think for yourself is one of the most important things you can learn.
That's as much a part of her education as anything. Learning to think for yourself is one of the most important things you can learn.
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 09:51 AM (iayUP)
85
The other thing about Spenser is that his kind and moral side, and his tough guy side, are externalized and represented respectively by Susan, his long time lady friend, and by his legbreaker ally Hawk. This is like the way that Spock and McCoy represent different sides of Capt. Kirk's character.
This setup didn't spring immediately from Parker's mind, however. Susan is not in the first book; he meets her in the second. And Hawk does not appear until the fourth one. Parker had to feel his way, as we writers all do.
This setup didn't spring immediately from Parker's mind, however. Susan is not in the first book; he meets her in the second. And Hawk does not appear until the fourth one. Parker had to feel his way, as we writers all do.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:51 AM (omVj0)
86
I don't mean to sound like I'm dumping on LenNeal, but "The Swimmer" is one of those plonkingly obvious metaphor stories beloved of English teachers and midwit critics. How can you not tell what it's about? Mortality, with all the usual markers deployed according to rule.
Cheever was a smart guy, and I think he figured out exactly what would appeal to New Yorker readers: a story for midwits that makes them feel smart for noticing the obvious.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:46 AM (QZxDR)
Was there a movie?....w/Burt Lancaster?
Cheever was a smart guy, and I think he figured out exactly what would appeal to New Yorker readers: a story for midwits that makes them feel smart for noticing the obvious.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:46 AM (QZxDR)
Was there a movie?....w/Burt Lancaster?
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023 09:52 AM (AwYPR)
87
Once again I'm reminded of a line by Leslie Charteris:
"(The song's lyrics were) described as 'sophisticated' by people who like to think of themselves as sophisticated."
"(The song's lyrics were) described as 'sophisticated' by people who like to think of themselves as sophisticated."
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:52 AM (uIu2G)
88
why would I want to read about that, we see enough of that on our city streets
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 09:52 AM (PXvVL)
89
I never heard of "Whatever does kill you make you weaker." I heard it as "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Sometimes. Sometimes whatever doesn't kill you makes you maimed and crippled.
Sometimes. Sometimes whatever doesn't kill you makes you maimed and crippled.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 09:52 AM (vg8N1)
90
SCORE!!!!
I was top bidder at my local library's silent auction for what is known as: "Porter's Journal", which is the log of David Porter, Captain of the USS Essex, one of America's original 6 frigates, launched September 30, 1799. The log covers the War of 1812, up to the moments when the Essex was captured by the British at the Battle of Valparaiso in 1814. Prior to that the Essex had devastated the British Pacific whaling fleet.
The capture of the Essex showed that arming a frigate with short range, heavy carronades (she had 40 x 32 pounders) rather than longer range, lighter naval guns (18 and 24 pounders) such as the USS Constitution was armed with, was not a good decision. The Brits stood off and pounded the Essex at leisure whilst the Essex could not inflict any damage on them at all.
A 200 year-old leather bound book in decent condition for a bid of $40.00. I pick it up on Tuesday and can't wait to read it. As a former naval officer this is treasure of immense value to me. And it is an American treasure as well.
Good morning fellow Book Nerds.
I was top bidder at my local library's silent auction for what is known as: "Porter's Journal", which is the log of David Porter, Captain of the USS Essex, one of America's original 6 frigates, launched September 30, 1799. The log covers the War of 1812, up to the moments when the Essex was captured by the British at the Battle of Valparaiso in 1814. Prior to that the Essex had devastated the British Pacific whaling fleet.
The capture of the Essex showed that arming a frigate with short range, heavy carronades (she had 40 x 32 pounders) rather than longer range, lighter naval guns (18 and 24 pounders) such as the USS Constitution was armed with, was not a good decision. The Brits stood off and pounded the Essex at leisure whilst the Essex could not inflict any damage on them at all.
A 200 year-old leather bound book in decent condition for a bid of $40.00. I pick it up on Tuesday and can't wait to read it. As a former naval officer this is treasure of immense value to me. And it is an American treasure as well.
Good morning fellow Book Nerds.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 09:52 AM (InP/Q)
91
I finished Onions in the Stew by Betty MacDonald, the last of four autobiographical-ish books she wrote, this one about getting re-married and moving from Seattle to Vashon Island because there were no apartments or houses to lease due to the war.
On Vashon they find a lovely house on the water with no direct access by road, where she deals with commuting to work in Seattle by ferry, gardening, which she loves, cooking, which she loves, war shortages, bad weather, women's' groups luncheons (asking why the worst cooks have the hottest houses and the weakest coffee) and her daughters who she loves in spite of them going through adolescence.
She approaches it all with optimism since she is not living on a 40 acre chicken farm without electricity nor is she recovering in a TB hospital.
It is very much a telling of her life, including the parts that make her tear her hair.
On Vashon they find a lovely house on the water with no direct access by road, where she deals with commuting to work in Seattle by ferry, gardening, which she loves, cooking, which she loves, war shortages, bad weather, women's' groups luncheons (asking why the worst cooks have the hottest houses and the weakest coffee) and her daughters who she loves in spite of them going through adolescence.
She approaches it all with optimism since she is not living on a 40 acre chicken farm without electricity nor is she recovering in a TB hospital.
It is very much a telling of her life, including the parts that make her tear her hair.
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 09:53 AM (xhaym)
92
Was there a movie?....w/Burt Lancaster?
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023
***
There was; late '60s, I think. Janice Rule was in it (?).
Was there a movie?....w/Burt Lancaster?
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023
***
There was; late '60s, I think. Janice Rule was in it (?).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:53 AM (omVj0)
93
The other thing about Spenser is that his kind and moral side, and his tough guy side, are externalized and represented respectively by Susan, his long time lady friend, and by his legbreaker ally Hawk. This is like the way that Spock and McCoy represent different sides of Capt. Kirk's character.
---
Huh. Harry Dresden tends to follow the same dynamic in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. He's generally a decent guy, but he knows he can go Dark Side, drunk with the power of a wizard if he's not careful. Karrin Murphy and Michael Carpenter serve as his morality chains to keep him on the straight and narrow. Karrin represents "Law" and Michael represents "Good."
---
Huh. Harry Dresden tends to follow the same dynamic in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. He's generally a decent guy, but he knows he can go Dark Side, drunk with the power of a wizard if he's not careful. Karrin Murphy and Michael Carpenter serve as his morality chains to keep him on the straight and narrow. Karrin represents "Law" and Michael represents "Good."
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 28, 2023 09:53 AM (BpYfr)
94
What I want from a new author or new book is simple for me to list because I made a similar list when I wrote "Wearing the Cat".
naturalfake,
I should give that another go. I started it and then put it down because it wasn't really grabbing me. But in fairness, I do that with a lot of books that I wind up really liking after I go back to them later.
naturalfake,
I should give that another go. I started it and then put it down because it wasn't really grabbing me. But in fairness, I do that with a lot of books that I wind up really liking after I go back to them later.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 28, 2023 09:54 AM (nfrXX)
95
A 200 year-old leather bound book in decent condition for a bid of $40.00. I pick it up on Tuesday and can't wait to read it. As a former naval officer this is treasure of immense value to me. And it is an American treasure as well.
Wow, that's amazing. I'm very jealous.
Wow, that's amazing. I'm very jealous.
Posted by: Archimedes at May 28, 2023 09:54 AM (eOEVl)
96
(con't)
I wanted serious novel told in a comic format with lots of different styles of comedy, whether clever, ribald, G-rated or down and dirty.
9)I wanted a novel for an intelligent reader. Not one where the author has to step in every five minutes to tell you what the "message" is, but one where the author trusts the reader to divine intent on their own and come to their own conclusions.
I think I got it about 95-96% right for WtC, so I was pleased.
if that sounds like your kind of novel, check out "Wearing the Cat" by HD Woodard. Amazon gives a pretty good sized sample, so you check see if it's your kind of thing or not.
I wanted serious novel told in a comic format with lots of different styles of comedy, whether clever, ribald, G-rated or down and dirty.
9)I wanted a novel for an intelligent reader. Not one where the author has to step in every five minutes to tell you what the "message" is, but one where the author trusts the reader to divine intent on their own and come to their own conclusions.
I think I got it about 95-96% right for WtC, so I was pleased.
if that sounds like your kind of novel, check out "Wearing the Cat" by HD Woodard. Amazon gives a pretty good sized sample, so you check see if it's your kind of thing or not.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 09:55 AM (RJQ8g)
97
Zoom book club is reading All Systems Red which is the first novel of. The Murderbot Diaries.
Only 150 pages and I'm only a third of the way through. I like it a lot!
The author is a woman (I am not a biologist so can't really be sure) and while the murderbot is sexless there is some female undercurrent I can't explain it. Not that that is bad.
Plus I just like saying murderbot.
Only 150 pages and I'm only a third of the way through. I like it a lot!
The author is a woman (I am not a biologist so can't really be sure) and while the murderbot is sexless there is some female undercurrent I can't explain it. Not that that is bad.
Plus I just like saying murderbot.
Posted by: blaster at May 28, 2023 09:55 AM (VT6+R)
98
Perfesser, I haven't read The Honorable Barbarian by L. Sprague de Camp, but his Compleat Compleat Enchanter is one of my favorite funny fantasy books.
And speaking of Raymond Feist, I think his Faerie Tale standalone is great - better than any Stephen King dark fantasy.
And speaking of Raymond Feist, I think his Faerie Tale standalone is great - better than any Stephen King dark fantasy.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 09:55 AM (vHIgi)
99
Oh murderbot author is Martha Wells.
Posted by: blaster at May 28, 2023 09:56 AM (VT6+R)
100
Last new author I got semi-into was Cixin Liu. I was aware of him for a while, but not interested. Then I saw 'The Wandering Earth' ... think 'Armageddon' but remade by whoever the Chinese Jerry Bruckheimer is... based on one of his books... Just a big dumb cheesy action movie that exceeded my generous capacity for suspending disbelief. That led me to check out his books which are... somewhere between OK and pretty good.
Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at May 28, 2023 09:57 AM (9yUzE)
101
And speaking of Raymond Feist, I think his Faerie Tale standalone is great - better than any Stephen King dark fantasy.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 09:55 AM (vHIgi)
---
I guess I will need to give Faerie Tale another read. I didn't like it much the first time, but maybe I was too young to really appreciate it (I was a teenager).
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 09:55 AM (vHIgi)
---
I guess I will need to give Faerie Tale another read. I didn't like it much the first time, but maybe I was too young to really appreciate it (I was a teenager).
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 28, 2023 09:57 AM (BpYfr)
102
the antagonist, the saracen, has a diabolical scheme, but unlike most villains he seems properly motivated
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 09:58 AM (PXvVL)
103
The Woke book assignment -
The teacher is bound to assign the same woke garbage when school resumes. So your daughter will waste a full semester on woke indoctrination.
The teacher is bound to assign the same woke garbage when school resumes. So your daughter will waste a full semester on woke indoctrination.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023 09:58 AM (7Tb4o)
104
Bign'James yes, I liked it
Posted by: Skip at May 28, 2023 09:59 AM (xhxe8)
105
Was there a movie?....w/Burt Lancaster?
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023
***
There was; late '60s, I think. Janice Rule was in it (?).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:53 AM (omVj0)
No, no. It was with a guy named Kennedy, I think.
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023
***
There was; late '60s, I think. Janice Rule was in it (?).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 09:53 AM (omVj0)
No, no. It was with a guy named Kennedy, I think.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 09:59 AM (Angsy)
106
This week I read an entertaining first novel, The Italian Prisoner, by a local (transplanted) author, Elisa M. Speranza. A lot of Italian POWs were interned in the States; they couldn't be repatriated or sent elsewhere in Europe while the war was on. A bunch were housed in New Orleans. Elisa's novel is about a young woman, born here but of Sicilian parents, who goes to work at the Higgins Boat Yards as a bookkeeper, and falls in love with one of the Italian prisoners. It was very readable, evoked the 1940s very well, and got the flavor of the French Quarter (when it was just a neighborhood, not a theme park) and other areas of town right.
Burgundy Bend Press is the publisher. elisamarieesperanza.com.
Burgundy Bend Press is the publisher. elisamarieesperanza.com.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:00 AM (omVj0)
107
Posted by: lin-duh at May 28, 2023 09:44 AM (UUBmN)
This is one of my big problems with "diverse" fiction.
A lot of them are badly written, and rely on ticking off the proper rainbow boxes.
This is one of my big problems with "diverse" fiction.
A lot of them are badly written, and rely on ticking off the proper rainbow boxes.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 10:00 AM (vHIgi)
108
Was there a movie?....w/Burt Lancaster?
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023
***
There was; late '60s, I think. Janice Rule was in it (?).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
The guy discovers that he's an asshole. Hell, I could've told him that before he ever got his feet wet.
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023
***
There was; late '60s, I think. Janice Rule was in it (?).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
The guy discovers that he's an asshole. Hell, I could've told him that before he ever got his feet wet.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 10:00 AM (FVME7)
109
I am putting together my personal Materia Medica (a collection of information on useful plants) and herbal recipe book.
For flexibility of arrangement I'm using a 3-ring binder, but I don't want the pages tearing out and I want the book to look good. To help with those issues I got some botanical washi tape from Hobby Lobby to reinforce the page holes and also mark section beginnings. Hopefully that will make the visual impression pleasant while adding sturdiness.
For flexibility of arrangement I'm using a 3-ring binder, but I don't want the pages tearing out and I want the book to look good. To help with those issues I got some botanical washi tape from Hobby Lobby to reinforce the page holes and also mark section beginnings. Hopefully that will make the visual impression pleasant while adding sturdiness.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at May 28, 2023 10:00 AM (nC+QA)
110
"The Swimmer" is one of those plonkingly obvious metaphor stories beloved of English teachers"
Maybe that's the problem with these kinds of things: too obvious for either of us to notice it. He's a brilliant writer, if a bit baroque for my taste, and I found it so hammer-meet-nail I figured that couldn't be all there was, to provoke all the kudos. As far as a 'mortality metaphor' yeah, we both agreed we spent the whole time wishing the guy would drown in the next pool.
Maybe that's the problem with these kinds of things: too obvious for either of us to notice it. He's a brilliant writer, if a bit baroque for my taste, and I found it so hammer-meet-nail I figured that couldn't be all there was, to provoke all the kudos. As far as a 'mortality metaphor' yeah, we both agreed we spent the whole time wishing the guy would drown in the next pool.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 10:00 AM (43xH1)
111
"mithridatic"
Sounds Tolkenesque, don't it?
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 08:51 AM (iayUP)
----
Can you use it in a sentence?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel"
Mithridatic potions work by giving the subject slowly increasing doses of poison so as to build up a natural immunity.
It comes from King Mithridates, who developed the potions because he was afraid he would be assassinated with poison. As it was though, they just stuck him with swords and spears.
I thought it sounded Tolkienesque because it reminded me of Bilbo's shirt.
Sounds Tolkenesque, don't it?
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 08:51 AM (iayUP)
----
Can you use it in a sentence?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel"
Mithridatic potions work by giving the subject slowly increasing doses of poison so as to build up a natural immunity.
It comes from King Mithridates, who developed the potions because he was afraid he would be assassinated with poison. As it was though, they just stuck him with swords and spears.
I thought it sounded Tolkienesque because it reminded me of Bilbo's shirt.
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:01 AM (iayUP)
112
It comes from King Mithridates, who developed the potions because he was afraid he would be assassinated with poison. As it was though, they just stuck him with swords and spears.
I thought it sounded Tolkienesque because it reminded me of Bilbo's shirt.
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:01 AM (iayUP)
---
Ironically, if Mithridates had been wearing Bilbo's mithril shirt, he might have survived.
I thought it sounded Tolkienesque because it reminded me of Bilbo's shirt.
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:01 AM (iayUP)
---
Ironically, if Mithridates had been wearing Bilbo's mithril shirt, he might have survived.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 28, 2023 10:03 AM (BpYfr)
113
A 200 year-old leather bound book in decent condition for a bid of $40.00. I pick it up on Tuesday and can't wait to read it. As a former naval officer this is treasure of immense value to me. And it is an American treasure as well.
Good morning fellow Book Nerds.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 09:52 AM (InP/Q)
Congrats. That is really cool.
I hope to hear many a review.
Good morning fellow Book Nerds.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 09:52 AM (InP/Q)
Congrats. That is really cool.
I hope to hear many a review.
Posted by: Refoeger at May 28, 2023 10:03 AM (B705c)
114
Mithridatic potions work by giving the subject slowly increasing doses of poison so as to build up a natural immunity.
It comes from King Mithridates, who developed the potions because he was afraid he would be assassinated with poison. As it was though, they just stuck him with swords and spears.
If only he'd stuck himself with pins, to build up an immunity to stabbing.
It comes from King Mithridates, who developed the potions because he was afraid he would be assassinated with poison. As it was though, they just stuck him with swords and spears.
If only he'd stuck himself with pins, to build up an immunity to stabbing.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 10:03 AM (RJQ8g)
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:03 AM (iayUP)
116
Of George, formerly of Microsoft but now founder and owner of Yorick's: "He was a reader, an autodidact with such a love for Great Books that he scarcely passed anymore for a Berkeley liberal. Strange to say, but at this time in his life George would have had a happier conversation with Berkeley, the philosopher, than with most of his old Berkeley friends.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 10:04 AM (wdHY0)
117
As far as a 'mortality metaphor' yeah, we both agreed we spent the whole time wishing the guy would drown in the next pool.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023
***
Sounds like I need to stay away from that. My view of Catcher in the Rye is that Holden needed a good twelve-step program, and a hitch in the Marines.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023
***
Sounds like I need to stay away from that. My view of Catcher in the Rye is that Holden needed a good twelve-step program, and a hitch in the Marines.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:05 AM (omVj0)
118
I am reading a short book (around 120 pages, with one quarter of them nothing but black and white photographs), "Armour, A Lake Superior Fisherman", with text and photographs by the author, Peter Oikarinen. A native of Michigan's Copper Country and graduate of Michigan Tech in Applied Physics, Peter took up part time employment with Armour Sarkala, another Finn, who lived by Lake Superior and commercial fished its waters. All this occurred around the same time that I myself was a student at "Da Tech" (mid-70s), so I became engrossed in the stories told here. That my father's father and my father were engaged in commercial fishing made matters resonate even more for me.
Told in a series of short stories or vignettes, Armour's life prior to fishing and his tribulations as a small time operation in the increasingly restricted Lake Superior commercial fishing business served as the framework on which Peter hung his vivid descriptions of the weather, working conditions, camaraderie among the fisher folk and Finns, and life on the Keweenaw Peninsula in the second half of the Twentieth Century. His photographs nicely complement the text.
I liked this book and recommend it highly.
I am reading a short book (around 120 pages, with one quarter of them nothing but black and white photographs), "Armour, A Lake Superior Fisherman", with text and photographs by the author, Peter Oikarinen. A native of Michigan's Copper Country and graduate of Michigan Tech in Applied Physics, Peter took up part time employment with Armour Sarkala, another Finn, who lived by Lake Superior and commercial fished its waters. All this occurred around the same time that I myself was a student at "Da Tech" (mid-70s), so I became engrossed in the stories told here. That my father's father and my father were engaged in commercial fishing made matters resonate even more for me.
Told in a series of short stories or vignettes, Armour's life prior to fishing and his tribulations as a small time operation in the increasingly restricted Lake Superior commercial fishing business served as the framework on which Peter hung his vivid descriptions of the weather, working conditions, camaraderie among the fisher folk and Finns, and life on the Keweenaw Peninsula in the second half of the Twentieth Century. His photographs nicely complement the text.
I liked this book and recommend it highly.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 28, 2023 10:05 AM (5pZqO)
119
Janny Wurts is one of those I read as a teen. For whatever reason, never really liked the primarily political oriented Empire books.
Posted by: Aetius451AD personal phone at May 28, 2023 10:06 AM (99F1J)
120
It comes from King Mithridates, who developed the potions because he was afraid he would be assassinated with poison. As it was though, they just stuck him with swords and spears.
-
They had to beat his liver to death with a stick.
-
They had to beat his liver to death with a stick.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 10:06 AM (FVME7)
121
68 She says it's fine, it's just such a bad and boring book, she's not traumatized or anything. On the bright side, she picked up on the attempted indoctrination quickly and she thinks it's terrible and most importantly she brought it to my attention.
Posted by: lin-duh at Ma
Be careful if she starts talking about phonies and being angry about the president...she might be a Moron!
Posted by: lin-duh at Ma
Be careful if she starts talking about phonies and being angry about the president...she might be a Moron!
Posted by: Jon Lennon at May 28, 2023 10:06 AM (NCgXW)
122
This week I read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, after seeing it recommended here (thanks!). Really enjoyed it.
I then decided to dive back into my backlog of unread Kindle books and chose Crisis Moon by Michael McGruther. Although the writing quality suffers after reading Weir, the story is intriguing so far.
I then decided to dive back into my backlog of unread Kindle books and chose Crisis Moon by Michael McGruther. Although the writing quality suffers after reading Weir, the story is intriguing so far.
Posted by: DIY Daddio at May 28, 2023 10:07 AM (64aAI)
123
Sounds like I need to stay away from that. My view of Catcher in the Rye is that Holden needed a good swift kick in the ass -- several, actuallytwelve-step program, and a hitch in the Marines.
Sounds like I need to stay away from that. My view of Catcher in the Rye is that Holden needed a good swift kick in the ass -- several, actually
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 28, 2023 10:08 AM (5pZqO)
124
Lin-duh: I know a way to get that book off the curriculum. Find something that can be interpreted as racist, either in that or anything else the author ever wrote, and complain about that to the teacher.
Posted by: Trimegistus
---
Hmmm...but then I would have to waste my time actually reading it, hard pass.
This is Austin so there is no escaping the "diversity". It's spreading even to the rural areas. Many morons have met my daughter. I think her foundation is strong enough to weather high school. It's a big plus that she doesn't hate me yet!
🤣😂
Posted by: Trimegistus
---
Hmmm...but then I would have to waste my time actually reading it, hard pass.
This is Austin so there is no escaping the "diversity". It's spreading even to the rural areas. Many morons have met my daughter. I think her foundation is strong enough to weather high school. It's a big plus that she doesn't hate me yet!
🤣😂
Posted by: lin-duh at May 28, 2023 10:08 AM (UUBmN)
125
Bookshelf cat appears set to pounce and seize.
Posted by: That Northern skulker at May 28, 2023 10:08 AM (eGTCV)
126
I really enjoyed Larry Correia's Grimnoir Chronicles (as with all of his books), however it still needs one more book to finish the story. Does anyone know if he plans to finish the series?
Posted by: FreeKnight at May 28, 2023 10:09 AM (gXw+B)
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 10:09 AM (wdHY0)
128
Picked up "Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought" for a buck at St. Vincent DePaul.
Very interesting and thoughtful history of the development of Mariology during the first 500 years of the Catholic Church:
https://tinyurl.com/Mary-and-the-Paters
Very interesting and thoughtful history of the development of Mariology during the first 500 years of the Catholic Church:
https://tinyurl.com/Mary-and-the-Paters
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 10:09 AM (InP/Q)
129
Sprague and Catherine De Camp were lovely people to meet. [ .. .. ..] I've been looking for a copy of his autobiography.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:30 AM (QZxDR)
Sprague De Camp went on vacation in the Mediterranean and wrote two books on it, the better one is Great Cities of the Forgotten World. Not autobiographical but he leaks into it
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 09:30 AM (QZxDR)
Sprague De Camp went on vacation in the Mediterranean and wrote two books on it, the better one is Great Cities of the Forgotten World. Not autobiographical but he leaks into it
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 10:09 AM (xhaym)
130
Holden Canfield needed a good beating.
Posted by: Aetius451AD personal phone at May 28, 2023 10:09 AM (99F1J)
131
mithridates waged a guerilla war against rome's colonies, some details in saylors work, the back story is he got insights from the two leading warlords sulla and marius, he struck in the midst of their conflict,
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 10:10 AM (PXvVL)
132
My view of Catcher in the Rye is that Holden needed a good swift kick in the ass -- several, actually -- a good twelve-step program, and a hitch in the Marines.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 28, 2023
***
All of the above
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at May 28, 2023
***
All of the above
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:10 AM (omVj0)
133
Actually, it occurs to me you don't have to actually read the book. Just get someone to post on Twitter that the author is a racist, and show that to the teacher. It's on Twitter so it must be true!
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:10 AM (QZxDR)
134
Oh, believe it or not, I found some of Odysseus' motivations confusing, with the Greek Fate-type 'motivation' propelling much of the narrative.
And Amphinomus bothered me a lot.
I get the 'wrong place-wrong time' thing, but it should have been clear he was motivated at least in part by his own sense of honor and responsibility. Who knew Odysseus wasn't dead? Twenty years? Dude.
It was uncalled for.
And Amphinomus bothered me a lot.
I get the 'wrong place-wrong time' thing, but it should have been clear he was motivated at least in part by his own sense of honor and responsibility. Who knew Odysseus wasn't dead? Twenty years? Dude.
It was uncalled for.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 10:10 AM (43xH1)
135
What You Need to Know About the Biden/McCarthy Tentative Debt Deal
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It's like King Kong v. Godzilla; no matter who wins, we lose.
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It's like King Kong v. Godzilla; no matter who wins, we lose.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 10:11 AM (FVME7)
136
After a decade of it being in the back of my mind, I finally bit the bullet and bought a used copy of "Gypsy Horses: And the Traveler's Way" a coffee-table book that I didn't buy when it was in print, but wished I had. Now that I've read it, I realize why I didn't buy it back in the day.
The text of the book is a pretty standard NPR/National Geographic style I-spent-a-week-with-some-quaint-ethnic-group narrative. But the meat of the book is the pictures. Some wonderful pictures of British gypsy horses! And quite a bit of pictures of weathered British yokels.
Alas, there were far fewer pictures of the gypsy wagon, like what is prominently pictured on the cover. I was hoping for a deep dive into the horses, the carts, and just the mechanics of nomadic life. Basically, I wanted a manual for what it would have been like to live like a nomad in a medeval world. A reference for that great fantasy epic I will never actually write/draw....
Oh well, the book is still enjoyable enough as it is. And it's worth the money to never let it nag at me again.
The text of the book is a pretty standard NPR/National Geographic style I-spent-a-week-with-some-quaint-ethnic-group narrative. But the meat of the book is the pictures. Some wonderful pictures of British gypsy horses! And quite a bit of pictures of weathered British yokels.
Alas, there were far fewer pictures of the gypsy wagon, like what is prominently pictured on the cover. I was hoping for a deep dive into the horses, the carts, and just the mechanics of nomadic life. Basically, I wanted a manual for what it would have been like to live like a nomad in a medeval world. A reference for that great fantasy epic I will never actually write/draw....
Oh well, the book is still enjoyable enough as it is. And it's worth the money to never let it nag at me again.
Posted by: Castle Guy at May 28, 2023 10:12 AM (Lhaco)
137
Do we know what poisons King Mithridates dosed himself with to build up his tolerance? You can do that with arsenic, for instance. Did the ancients know that element?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:12 AM (omVj0)
138
Mithridates only ever really stood a chance because Sulla and Marius were quarreling.
Posted by: Aetius451AD personal phone at May 28, 2023 10:13 AM (99F1J)
139
Hexie Looks Dangerous
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 28, 2023 10:13 AM (RIvkX)
140
I started reading Alan Smale's Clash of Eagles, then I realized that Time Trials by Rothman & Butler on my to read pile is due back at the library so I need to read that first
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 10:14 AM (VdN7z)
141
If you think King Mithridates was a quack, check out this treatment for epilepsy:
"The brains of a weasel are also considered very good, dried and taken in drink; the liver, too, of that animal, or the testes, uterus, or paunch, dried and taken with coriander; the ashes also of a burnt weasel; or a wild weasel, eaten whole with the food. All these properties are equally attributed to the ferret."
"The brains of a weasel are also considered very good, dried and taken in drink; the liver, too, of that animal, or the testes, uterus, or paunch, dried and taken with coriander; the ashes also of a burnt weasel; or a wild weasel, eaten whole with the food. All these properties are equally attributed to the ferret."
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:15 AM (iayUP)
142
Do we know what poisons King Mithridates dosed himself with to build up his tolerance? You can do that with arsenic, for instance.
Works for iocaine.
Works for iocaine.
Posted by: The Man in Black at May 28, 2023 10:15 AM (nfrXX)
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 10:15 AM (uIu2G)
144
Dried organs would probably be packed with nutrients.
Posted by: Aetius451AD personal phone at May 28, 2023 10:16 AM (99F1J)
145
Ace Atkins has written the majority of the Spenser books after Parker died. I read the first two and thought they were Parker worthy. I really liked Atkins series with the Quinn Colson character. These are touted as Southern Noir, and I think that's apt. He has other series and standalone books, including a novelization of the Fatty Arbuckle case which I thought was good- "Devil's Garden". I'm including a link of his work that's on a site that's great bookseriesinorder.com. Really comprehensive site that formats the authors works with links to Amazon for reviews and purchases. Here's Atkins'-
https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/ace-atkins/
Ace Atkins has written the majority of the Spenser books after Parker died. I read the first two and thought they were Parker worthy. I really liked Atkins series with the Quinn Colson character. These are touted as Southern Noir, and I think that's apt. He has other series and standalone books, including a novelization of the Fatty Arbuckle case which I thought was good- "Devil's Garden". I'm including a link of his work that's on a site that's great bookseriesinorder.com. Really comprehensive site that formats the authors works with links to Amazon for reviews and purchases. Here's Atkins'-
https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/ace-atkins/
Posted by: Leon Sphinx at May 28, 2023 10:16 AM (UIngH)
146
"The brains of a weasel are also considered very good, dried and taken in drink; the liver, too, of that animal, or the testes, uterus, or paunch, dried and taken with coriander; the ashes also of a burnt weasel; or a wild weasel, eaten whole with the food. All these properties are equally attributed to the ferret."
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:15 AM (iayUP)
---
Hmmm. I wonder if Weasel knows he's the cure to epilepsy...
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:15 AM (iayUP)
---
Hmmm. I wonder if Weasel knows he's the cure to epilepsy...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 28, 2023 10:16 AM (BpYfr)
147
I have a serious question for authors.
I am considering writing a book about my career. May be a memoir or an instruction maybe both. What is the best way of learning if someone has already written a book like that? Does the world need two of the same book?
I am considering writing a book about my career. May be a memoir or an instruction maybe both. What is the best way of learning if someone has already written a book like that? Does the world need two of the same book?
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 28, 2023 10:16 AM (RIvkX)
148
On motivation, it can be an issue when reading older (especially older *and* foreign) mysteries. There's been a couple of times where the stated motivation for the crime seemed stupid, but I suspect would make emotional sense if I were French, or Japanese, or had truly Edwardian fear of family embarrassment, as the case may be.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at May 28, 2023 10:17 AM (nC+QA)
149
109 I am putting together my personal Materia Medica (a collection of information on useful plants) and herbal recipe book.
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Polliwog, what a cool project!
That reminds me, I am trying out a "disc bound " type notebook specifically do I can rearrange pages
-/
Polliwog, what a cool project!
That reminds me, I am trying out a "disc bound " type notebook specifically do I can rearrange pages
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 10:17 AM (VdN7z)
150
currently reading:
The Blue Nile, Alan Morehead(1963)
It's not common knowledge that the entire reaches of the Niles(blue and White)were unknown/forgotten from Roman times until the late 1600's...over 1000 years, where the now famous ruins, temples, canals, cities, were covered with sand, and the peoples there didn't even know ANY of the history, or care. Those still living in the Delta, didn't even know where the river came from..no one knew eithiopia and other places south of Cairo even existed.
The 1st explorers that went, and returned, were uniformly considered Liars, that made everything they reported about the region up from whole cloth. It wasn't until Napoleon went and took Cairo, then chased the Mamelukes north that their tales were proven true. He only stuck around because his invasion fleet was wiped out by Nelson, leaving him no way to go home.
Moreheads 1st book covers the White Nile, I'll look for that next...I paid 50cents, estate sale
The Blue Nile, Alan Morehead(1963)
It's not common knowledge that the entire reaches of the Niles(blue and White)were unknown/forgotten from Roman times until the late 1600's...over 1000 years, where the now famous ruins, temples, canals, cities, were covered with sand, and the peoples there didn't even know ANY of the history, or care. Those still living in the Delta, didn't even know where the river came from..no one knew eithiopia and other places south of Cairo even existed.
The 1st explorers that went, and returned, were uniformly considered Liars, that made everything they reported about the region up from whole cloth. It wasn't until Napoleon went and took Cairo, then chased the Mamelukes north that their tales were proven true. He only stuck around because his invasion fleet was wiped out by Nelson, leaving him no way to go home.
Moreheads 1st book covers the White Nile, I'll look for that next...I paid 50cents, estate sale
Posted by: birdog at May 28, 2023 10:17 AM (uAI4S)
Posted by: Oddbob at May 28, 2023 10:18 AM (nfrXX)
152
"The brains of a weasel are also considered very good, dried and taken in drink; the liver, too, of that animal, or the testes, uterus, or paunch, dried and taken with coriander; the ashes also of a burnt weasel; or a wild weasel, eaten whole with the food. All these properties are equally attributed to the ferret."
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:15 AM (iayUP)
Just eat the whole damn thing.
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:15 AM (iayUP)
Just eat the whole damn thing.
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023 10:18 AM (AwYPR)
153
Trying to explain the Mondale thing?
Posted by: Aetius451AD personal phone at May 28, 2023 10:19 AM (99F1J)
154
Would anyone like to hear some of my poetry?
Posted by: Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings
*Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz begins a dramatic reading of his epic "Oh Freddled Gruntbuggly" after vaporizing Ms. Jennings*
Posted by: Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings
*Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz begins a dramatic reading of his epic "Oh Freddled Gruntbuggly" after vaporizing Ms. Jennings*
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 10:19 AM (InP/Q)
155
Does the world need two of the same book?
Some might argue that there really are only a dozen or so books and millions of versions of each.
Some might argue that there really are only a dozen or so books and millions of versions of each.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 28, 2023 10:20 AM (nfrXX)
156
mithridates waged a guerilla war against rome's colonies
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Unforeseen consequence of the Mithridatic Wars. One of the Roman generals who fought him (but did not defeat him partially due to the disloyal manipulations of his subordinate, Claudius Pulcher) was Lucullus. Lucullus, later known for his magnificent gardens, loved horticulture. He brought back cherry trees from the wars and introduced cherries to Europe.
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Unforeseen consequence of the Mithridatic Wars. One of the Roman generals who fought him (but did not defeat him partially due to the disloyal manipulations of his subordinate, Claudius Pulcher) was Lucullus. Lucullus, later known for his magnificent gardens, loved horticulture. He brought back cherry trees from the wars and introduced cherries to Europe.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 10:20 AM (FVME7)
157
On the Grimnoir Chronicles, the series begs to be made into an animated set of movies, or even a live-action movie trilogy.
It's pure fun.
It's pure fun.
Posted by: Inspector Cussword at May 28, 2023 10:21 AM (nC+QA)
158
I am considering writing a book about my career. May be a memoir or an instruction maybe both. What is the best way of learning if someone has already written a book like that? Does the world need two of the same book?
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 28, 2023
***
There's no reason why we can't have another well-written, entertaining memoir. If your career is unusual, or your part in it, or even just your voice as you tell it, it would be welcome.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 28, 2023
***
There's no reason why we can't have another well-written, entertaining memoir. If your career is unusual, or your part in it, or even just your voice as you tell it, it would be welcome.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:21 AM (omVj0)
159
@145
I'm a fan of Ace Atkins but found his southern noir books less satisfying than the ones he did that were novelizations of famous murders.
I'm a fan of Ace Atkins but found his southern noir books less satisfying than the ones he did that were novelizations of famous murders.
Posted by: Mr Gaga at May 28, 2023 10:21 AM (KiBMU)
160
"I am considering writing a book about my career. May be a memoir or an instruction maybe both. What is the best way of learning if someone has already written a book like that? Does the world need two of the same book?
Posted by: San Franpsycho"
Apologies ahead of time: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Man, OF COURSE someone else has already written something at least similar! What? Any sensible person knows 'There is no new Thing under the Sun'. Write your book/memoir/instruction, please, do it, for real, and don't at all be dissuaded by some doubt it's 'old ground'. It's fine, you're fine.
And no one individual can write exactly like any other individual. Write your book. I'll buy it and read it.
Posted by: San Franpsycho"
Apologies ahead of time: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Man, OF COURSE someone else has already written something at least similar! What? Any sensible person knows 'There is no new Thing under the Sun'. Write your book/memoir/instruction, please, do it, for real, and don't at all be dissuaded by some doubt it's 'old ground'. It's fine, you're fine.
And no one individual can write exactly like any other individual. Write your book. I'll buy it and read it.
Posted by: LenNeal at May 28, 2023 10:22 AM (43xH1)
161
"You can do that with arsenic, for instance. Did the ancients know that element?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere"
Yes, arsenic was one of the poisons. The recipe for his potion was long lost, but Pliny says it contained "2 dried walnuts, 2 figs, and 20 rue leaves, which were supposed to be crushed together and taken with a pinch of salt by a person who had fasted for at least one day."
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere"
Yes, arsenic was one of the poisons. The recipe for his potion was long lost, but Pliny says it contained "2 dried walnuts, 2 figs, and 20 rue leaves, which were supposed to be crushed together and taken with a pinch of salt by a person who had fasted for at least one day."
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:22 AM (iayUP)
162
How to get someone having a grand mal episode to eat some dried weasel testes is left as an exercise for the reader.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:22 AM (QZxDR)
163
Trying to explain the Mondale thing?
What is "the Mondale thing?" I thought maybe I missed something so I did "^F mondale" and only found your comment.
What is "the Mondale thing?" I thought maybe I missed something so I did "^F mondale" and only found your comment.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 28, 2023 10:23 AM (nfrXX)
164
of course we get marius side of the story, from sullust who was a caesar partisan, so its probably as legit at thucydides polishing up pericles and rubbishing cleon and nicias,
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 10:23 AM (PXvVL)
165
Clap for the Wolfman.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 28, 2023 10:24 AM (X+Ku8)
166
Lucullus did defeat a rather large army (while heavily outnumbered) of Mithridates. Then he also beat a large force from Armenia.
Pompey REALLY wanted command of that army.
Pompey REALLY wanted command of that army.
Posted by: Aetius451AD personal phone at May 28, 2023 10:25 AM (99F1J)
167
It seems to be true that one can build up a tolerance for arsenic, but I don't think that's valid for many other poisons. A lot of them would just make you sick instead of dead if you took a small dose -- or accumulate and make you sick and then dead if you keep taking it.
The problem is that different poisons kill you in different ways, and your body has different ways of trying to prevent that.
The problem is that different poisons kill you in different ways, and your body has different ways of trying to prevent that.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:25 AM (QZxDR)
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 10:26 AM (vg8N1)
169
Lin-duh, I see it's a Stonewall Honor Book(!). On Amazon, I had to scroll down through fields of huzzahs to even get to the description. Apparently, it's stunning.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 28, 2023 09:49 AM (+RQPJ)
"All About Buggery", vol. CCCLIX
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at May 28, 2023 09:49 AM (+RQPJ)
"All About Buggery", vol. CCCLIX
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 28, 2023 10:26 AM (4VNnW)
170
Nearly June, and my heat is on...in SC.
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023 10:26 AM (AwYPR)
171
Clap for the Wolfman.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 28, 2023
***
He gon' rate your Book Thread high --
Posted by: Dr. Varno at May 28, 2023
***
He gon' rate your Book Thread high --
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:26 AM (omVj0)
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 10:29 AM (uIu2G)
173
I'm a member of a later generation that wasn't forced to read Catcher. John Steinbeck was our school fodder. Coulda done worse, eh. Shirley Jackson was another reading assignment favored by our teachers. I recall being assigned to read 'The Lottery' a number of times through middle school. Pearl Buck was still well regarded.
Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut. Bradbury was accessible as a young student even when I didn't really understand the deeper concepts. For reasons I don't remember - I never liked Vonnegut.
Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut. Bradbury was accessible as a young student even when I didn't really understand the deeper concepts. For reasons I don't remember - I never liked Vonnegut.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023 10:29 AM (7Tb4o)
174
Good morning. Late morning for me.
I started the third book in Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy Mona Lisa Overdrive. This is my 8th Gibson book and I think my last for awhile. His character descriptions and his dystopian world visions are still fascinating and I am enjoying the book but starting to mix up the characters from the different books so time for someone new.
I also read a new Heather Graham and when I started skipping pages of dialog that had nothing to do,with the story, really just filler, knew I was done with her.
I started the third book in Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy Mona Lisa Overdrive. This is my 8th Gibson book and I think my last for awhile. His character descriptions and his dystopian world visions are still fascinating and I am enjoying the book but starting to mix up the characters from the different books so time for someone new.
I also read a new Heather Graham and when I started skipping pages of dialog that had nothing to do,with the story, really just filler, knew I was done with her.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at May 28, 2023 10:29 AM (t/2Uw)
175
According to exent, eccentric author Mark Helprin (A Soldier of the Great War, A Winter's Tale), "The Swimmer" is based on an adventure Helprin had when he was an impetuous yute. I believe it, based on how whacky Helprin is.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 10:29 AM (InP/Q)
176
Deep Thoughts From Jane Fonda
“Hanoi” Jane Fonda Blames White Men for Climate Change: “We Have to Arrest and Jail Those Men”
“Hanoi” Jane Fonda Blames White Men for Climate Change: “We Have to Arrest and Jail Those Men”
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 10:30 AM (FVME7)
177
My favorite way to find new genre authors is to use short-story anthologies, particularly themed ones, and even more particularly, those with an historical orientation. I love, e.g., stories about paranormal investigators, and while much of the content of the anthology Dark Detectives didn't thrill me (except that one story bore the greatest title I've ever seen: "The Man Who Shot the Man Who Shot the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" -- beat that if you can!), the introduction put me on to a dazzling array of series characters dating back over a hundred years: Aylmer Vance, Dr. John Taverner, Moris Klaw a.k.a. the Dream Detective, Gregory George Gordon Green a.k.a. Gees, and all the way up to the 1970s and the full-on psychedelic freakshow that was the adventures of Doctor Orient -- not to mention many more.
Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at May 28, 2023 10:31 AM (SPNTN)
178
The teacher is bound to assign the same woke garbage when school resumes. So your daughter will waste a full semester on woke indoctrination.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023 09:58 AM (7Tb4o)
True, dat. I'd recommend changing classes, or just dropping the one with "woke" teacher.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023 09:58 AM (7Tb4o)
True, dat. I'd recommend changing classes, or just dropping the one with "woke" teacher.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 28, 2023 10:31 AM (4VNnW)
179
Deep Thoughts From Jane Fonda
“Hanoi” Jane Fonda Blames White Men for Climate Change: “We Have to Arrest and Jail Those Men”
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 10:30 AM (FVME7)
Hmmm..."white men" are responsible for her "success".
“Hanoi” Jane Fonda Blames White Men for Climate Change: “We Have to Arrest and Jail Those Men”
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 10:30 AM (FVME7)
Hmmm..."white men" are responsible for her "success".
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023 10:33 AM (AwYPR)
180
I am considering writing a book about my career. May be a memoir or an instruction maybe both. What is the best way of learning if someone has already written a book like that? Does the world need two of the same book?
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 28, 2023
____________
Mine will be entitled "Don't Do This: The Story of My Career".
I am considering writing a book about my career. May be a memoir or an instruction maybe both. What is the best way of learning if someone has already written a book like that? Does the world need two of the same book?
Posted by: San Franpsycho at May 28, 2023
____________
Mine will be entitled "Don't Do This: The Story of My Career".
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 28, 2023 10:33 AM (lzkV5)
181
I'm reading a Thomas Perry book, his newest, "Murder Book," and while it's an OK read, its setting seems off.
He sets it in a fake town surrounded by other fake towns in a fake Indiana on a fake river, which for me gives it no sense of place at all.
Lee Childs did this for a lot of the Reacher books.
He sets it in a fake town surrounded by other fake towns in a fake Indiana on a fake river, which for me gives it no sense of place at all.
Lee Childs did this for a lot of the Reacher books.
Posted by: Mr Gaga at May 28, 2023 10:33 AM (KiBMU)
182
My HS American Literature consisted of Melville, Hawthorne, Twain, etc.
My HS English Lit consisted of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Coleridge, T.S. Eliiot, Alexander Pope, Oscar Wilde, etc.
Modern English Lit is whatever shit some woke asshole wrote in English.
My HS English Lit consisted of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Coleridge, T.S. Eliiot, Alexander Pope, Oscar Wilde, etc.
Modern English Lit is whatever shit some woke asshole wrote in English.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 10:34 AM (vg8N1)
183
63 week geek - was it you pitching the spy thriller 'I am Pilgrim' last week? I really enjoyed that book.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023 09:41 AM (7Tb4o)
----
I mentioned that I had just read it and enjoyed it.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023 09:41 AM (7Tb4o)
----
I mentioned that I had just read it and enjoyed it.
Posted by: Ciampino - never rush to judgement at May 28, 2023 10:35 AM (qfLjt)
184
"The Untruth of Emotional Reasoning: Always trust your feelings"
If I always trusted my feelings, there would be a lot of strangled people laying around.
If I always trusted my feelings, there would be a lot of strangled people laying around.
Posted by: fd at May 28, 2023 10:35 AM (iayUP)
185
Jane could have stayed in North Vietnam if she thought it was so great
Posted by: Skip at May 28, 2023 10:36 AM (xhxe8)
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 10:36 AM (vHIgi)
187
Also useful is checking revivals from major publishing houses. Poisoned Pen Press is giving us the Library of Congress Crime Classics series, reviving many unjustly forgotten detectives of the Golden Age and before; my favorites so far are Astro the Seer, Master of Mysteries (utterly delightful: He's a Holmesian observer pretending to be psychic!) and Average Jones, a gentleman of leisure who investigates bizarre classified ads in order to have something to do with his time.
And there are lots of anthology series that will lead you on a merry quest for more: the Mammoth Books cover all sorts of fantasy, horror, and other genres; mystery readers swear by the Black Lizard series of Big Books of (thank you, Otto Penzler!); and best of all are the Oxford Books of ... just about everything. You all are going to curse me for telling you about this someday!
And there are lots of anthology series that will lead you on a merry quest for more: the Mammoth Books cover all sorts of fantasy, horror, and other genres; mystery readers swear by the Black Lizard series of Big Books of (thank you, Otto Penzler!); and best of all are the Oxford Books of ... just about everything. You all are going to curse me for telling you about this someday!
Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at May 28, 2023 10:36 AM (SPNTN)
188
the title character in pilgrim doesn't come into focus, right away, it would be a challenge to introduce him properly,
Posted by: no 6 at May 28, 2023 10:37 AM (PXvVL)
189
Do we know what poisons King Mithridates dosed himself with to build up his tolerance? You can do that with arsenic, for instance. Did the ancients know that element?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:12 AM (omVj0)
The arsenic minerals, realgar and orpiment have been known since ancient times. The names alone are a giveaway.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:12 AM (omVj0)
The arsenic minerals, realgar and orpiment have been known since ancient times. The names alone are a giveaway.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 28, 2023 10:37 AM (4VNnW)
190
“New” Authors from old classics:
I have gotten on a sci-fi kick, where the authors are 19th and early 20th century :
Burroughs John Carter
Verne (get a good translation and/or reader if audio)
E.E. “Doc” Smith Lensmen
It is so interesting to see where so many of the common tropes weren’t yet tropes.
I also found a great audio version of Moby Dick (where Ishmael was a fop / somewhat un-self aware, and the book was so much funnier than I remember when struggling through is (though the travelogue whaling, and similar engineering and naturalist classification in ‘20,000 Thousand Leagues under the See’ is still a odd to modern tastes (though if you you Neal Stephenson, you should be right at home).
I have gotten on a sci-fi kick, where the authors are 19th and early 20th century :
Burroughs John Carter
Verne (get a good translation and/or reader if audio)
E.E. “Doc” Smith Lensmen
It is so interesting to see where so many of the common tropes weren’t yet tropes.
I also found a great audio version of Moby Dick (where Ishmael was a fop / somewhat un-self aware, and the book was so much funnier than I remember when struggling through is (though the travelogue whaling, and similar engineering and naturalist classification in ‘20,000 Thousand Leagues under the See’ is still a odd to modern tastes (though if you you Neal Stephenson, you should be right at home).
Posted by: Legion of Boom at May 28, 2023 10:37 AM (TPtpa)
191
If I always trusted my feelings, there would be a lot of strangled people laying around.
Posted by: fd
*whistles innocently*
Posted by: fd
*whistles innocently*
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 10:37 AM (vHIgi)
192
Greetings!
I will admit to a fascination with true crime books.
The most recent was about the Green River Murders.
I will admit to a fascination with true crime books.
The most recent was about the Green River Murders.
Posted by: gourmand du jour at May 28, 2023 10:38 AM (MeG8a)
193
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
John Gotti III Prepares to Take Out Boxing Legend Floyd Mayweather Jr.
John Gotti III Prepares to Take Out Boxing Legend Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at May 28, 2023 10:38 AM (FVME7)
194
Jane could have stayed in North Vietnam if she thought it was so great
Posted by: Skip at May 28, 2023 10:36 AM (xhxe
___________
To Leftists staying in the US is a hardship post. Fonda is actually making a great sacrifice by returning here, being famous, marrying a rich guy, etc.
No, really, that's what they think.
Jane could have stayed in North Vietnam if she thought it was so great
Posted by: Skip at May 28, 2023 10:36 AM (xhxe
___________
To Leftists staying in the US is a hardship post. Fonda is actually making a great sacrifice by returning here, being famous, marrying a rich guy, etc.
No, really, that's what they think.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 28, 2023 10:38 AM (lzkV5)
195
I'm a member of a later generation that wasn't forced to read Catcher. John Steinbeck was our school fodder. Coulda done worse, eh. Shirley Jackson was another reading assignment favored by our teachers. I recall being assigned to read 'The Lottery' a number of times through middle school. . . .
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023
***
Yes, I skipped Catcher too. We had Steinbeck's "The Pearl" and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House among other things. As tenth grade was winding down, our teacher asked if we'd like a copy of the reading text, which was being replaced. I grabbed it, and still have it -- good poetry, stories like "Leiningen Versus the Ants," "The Quiet Man," a Poe pastiche/parody by Steinbeck, "The Open Window" by Saki, stuff by Hemingway, Jessamyn West, and a very early Vonnegut story. Most of them would be cancelled now. Shows you how the "reading" curriculum has declined.
Posted by: 13times at May 28, 2023
***
Yes, I skipped Catcher too. We had Steinbeck's "The Pearl" and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House among other things. As tenth grade was winding down, our teacher asked if we'd like a copy of the reading text, which was being replaced. I grabbed it, and still have it -- good poetry, stories like "Leiningen Versus the Ants," "The Quiet Man," a Poe pastiche/parody by Steinbeck, "The Open Window" by Saki, stuff by Hemingway, Jessamyn West, and a very early Vonnegut story. Most of them would be cancelled now. Shows you how the "reading" curriculum has declined.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:39 AM (omVj0)
Posted by: gourmand du jour at May 28, 2023 10:40 AM (MeG8a)
197
Dagny the Siberian kitten has climbed onto the couch and is grooming herself next to me. Unprecedented.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:41 AM (omVj0)
198
87 Once again I'm reminded of a line by Leslie Charteris:
"(The song's lyrics were) described as 'sophisticated' by people who like to think of themselves as sophisticated."
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:52 AM (uIu2G)
----
Loved The Saint. I read them all.
"(The song's lyrics were) described as 'sophisticated' by people who like to think of themselves as sophisticated."
Posted by: Weak Geek at May 28, 2023 09:52 AM (uIu2G)
----
Loved The Saint. I read them all.
Posted by: Ciampino - never rush to judgement at May 28, 2023 10:43 AM (qfLjt)
199
Dagny the Siberian kitten has climbed onto the couch and is grooming herself next to me. Unprecedented.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:41 AM (omVj0)
----
SHHH! *whisper* Don't spook her! *whisper*
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:41 AM (omVj0)
----
SHHH! *whisper* Don't spook her! *whisper*
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 28, 2023 10:43 AM (BpYfr)
200
I mentioned last night, I started watching a German tv show on amaxon - The Gryphonn (Der Greif) which is based on a fantasy book(s) by someone Holbein?
Any krautish horde ever hear of it?
Any krautish horde ever hear of it?
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 10:44 AM (vHIgi)
201
I think back on my primary and secondary education and think about in which courses I actually learned something. Math, science, Latin and, maybe, history. Apart from a class taught by a grim old woman who relentlessly taught diagramming sentences, English was completely and totally useless.
I think back on my primary and secondary education and think about in which courses I actually learned something. Math, science, Latin and, maybe, history. Apart from a class taught by a grim old woman who relentlessly taught diagramming sentences, English was completely and totally useless.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 28, 2023 10:44 AM (lzkV5)
202
Gryphon not Gryphonn
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 10:44 AM (vHIgi)
203
if that sounds like your kind of novel, check out "Wearing the Cat" by HD Woodard. Amazon gives a pretty good sized sample, so you check see if it's your kind of thing or not.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 09:55 AM (RJQ8g)
---
It is the antithesis of Three Weeks with the Coasties: A Tale of Disaster and also an Oil Spill.
Both take place in a nautically-themed military environment, one being ribald and over the top, the other a cube farm from hell.
I recommend buying them both.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 09:55 AM (RJQ8g)
---
It is the antithesis of Three Weeks with the Coasties: A Tale of Disaster and also an Oil Spill.
Both take place in a nautically-themed military environment, one being ribald and over the top, the other a cube farm from hell.
I recommend buying them both.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 10:46 AM (llXky)
204
Good Sunday morning, horde! I'm late, and you started without me!
(Could not fall asleep last night, then finally did, then couldn't wake up. Sigh)
*back to the top to see what you've been reading
(Could not fall asleep last night, then finally did, then couldn't wake up. Sigh)
*back to the top to see what you've been reading
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 28, 2023 10:46 AM (OX9vb)
205
NaturalFake, the original picaresque novel is Lazarillo de Tormes, and it fits all those elements.
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 10:46 AM (xhaym)
206
Btw Perfesser,I love the library meme
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 10:47 AM (vHIgi)
207
Science fiction is not my thing, but Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem trilogy was mostly great. The second volume includes the worst love story ever conceived, but the resolution of the conflict with the would-be invaders of Earth is brilliantly concealed in plain sight. I listened to the audiobooks but could not keep track of who was who. I highly recommend reading the books rather than listening.
Posted by: Oglebay at May 28, 2023 10:48 AM (j4NKg)
208
I'm also somewhat bothered by over-use of fake places. I much prefer a story or a book which uses a real place, and tries to draw a real picture of that place, than one which happens in Busytown or wherever.
Although, to be candid, I also love HP Lovecraft's fictional Massachusetts towns, so I guess a lot depends on the execution.
Although, to be candid, I also love HP Lovecraft's fictional Massachusetts towns, so I guess a lot depends on the execution.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:48 AM (QZxDR)
209
Geeze, it took me this long to even *find* pants. Getting them on was another ordeal.
Posted by: McLurkerson at May 28, 2023 10:48 AM (wNDOJ)
210
Apart from a class taught by a grim old woman who relentlessly taught diagramming sentences, English was completely and totally useless.
=====
This may sound odd, but I envy you your 'grim old woman' because grammar is a total mystery to me. I took five years of Latin, mostly to find out what a noun or a verb was. Us 'smart' kids in the 60s didn't need no grammar.
=====
This may sound odd, but I envy you your 'grim old woman' because grammar is a total mystery to me. I took five years of Latin, mostly to find out what a noun or a verb was. Us 'smart' kids in the 60s didn't need no grammar.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 10:49 AM (MIKMs)
211
I have one book from my HS library that I never returned, The Keys of the Kingdom by A.J. Cronin. If I sent it back, they'd throw it away.
I have one book from my HS library that I never returned, The Keys of the Kingdom by A.J. Cronin. If I sent it back, they'd throw it away.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 28, 2023 10:49 AM (lzkV5)
212
Ah! Fresh-brewed covfefe, and microwaved pizza, the breakfast of champions.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 28, 2023 10:49 AM (4VNnW)
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 10:49 AM (T4tVD)
214
Although, to be candid, I also love HP Lovecraft's fictional Massachusetts towns, so I guess a lot depends on the execution.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:48 AM (QZxDR)
---
I think those work because they were fictionalized versions of real locations.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:48 AM (QZxDR)
---
I think those work because they were fictionalized versions of real locations.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at May 28, 2023 10:50 AM (BpYfr)
215
Wow, that's amazing. I'm very jealous.
Posted by: Archimedes
I'm probably going to be spending a considerable sum at the local book preservationist rehabbing it. Money well spent, indeed.
Posted by: Archimedes
I'm probably going to be spending a considerable sum at the local book preservationist rehabbing it. Money well spent, indeed.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 10:50 AM (InP/Q)
216
We're not all mage-level mixologists like our own Naturalfake, so I appreciate a hand up
Edie Muller, host of TCM's "Noir Alley", was a bartender in his youth, and has written "Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir".
I see one of my favorite movies, the boxing noir "The Set-Up", has been paired with The Deshler, made with rye whiskey, Dubonnet, Cointreau, and Peychaud's bitters, and garnished with lemon and orange peel twists. Classy!
Lots of fun movie talk and appropriate cocktail pairings.
Edie Muller, host of TCM's "Noir Alley", was a bartender in his youth, and has written "Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir".
I see one of my favorite movies, the boxing noir "The Set-Up", has been paired with The Deshler, made with rye whiskey, Dubonnet, Cointreau, and Peychaud's bitters, and garnished with lemon and orange peel twists. Classy!
Lots of fun movie talk and appropriate cocktail pairings.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 10:51 AM (wdHY0)
217
Love, Lust, Loathing, and Lucre,
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 10:26 AM (vg8N1)
---
There used to be an acronym to describe what motivated traitors during the Cold War. I took a class on espionage in college, and can't remember what it was. Sex, money, ideology, excitement are the ones I recall.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 10:26 AM (vg8N1)
---
There used to be an acronym to describe what motivated traitors during the Cold War. I took a class on espionage in college, and can't remember what it was. Sex, money, ideology, excitement are the ones I recall.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 10:51 AM (llXky)
218
Ah! Fresh-brewed covfefe, and microwaved pizza, the breakfast of champions.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 28, 2023 10:49 AM (4VNnW)
_________
Cold pizza >>> Microwaved pizza
Ah! Fresh-brewed covfefe, and microwaved pizza, the breakfast of champions.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 28, 2023 10:49 AM (4VNnW)
_________
Cold pizza >>> Microwaved pizza
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 28, 2023 10:51 AM (MoZTd)
219
Leverage, aka blackmail - S.M.I.L.E.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 10:52 AM (llXky)
220
As far as finding new authors, when it's science fiction, I look at the publisher. Baen books seems to publish good SF. Also, recommendations from authors I like. Larry Correia does a good job talking up new authors on his site, so that's a source.
Posted by: Stacy0311 at May 28, 2023 10:52 AM (ixC6O)
221
"The Untruth of Us Versus Them" is not an Untruth. Do you have a set of principles, like say the Constitution? Then you better be willing to fight for it against the them who by their actions DO NOT. Otherwise, THEY will win and have no qualms about killing YOU for their Principles.
As Belgarath the Sorceror put it "Us vs Them clears out the underbrush and lets you get right down to cases."
As Belgarath the Sorceror put it "Us vs Them clears out the underbrush and lets you get right down to cases."
Posted by: SDN at May 28, 2023 10:52 AM (KdP4Y)
222
Sadly, I did have to read Catcher In the Rye, as did my wife and both of my kids. One thing which we can share as a family is hating that book intensely.
Happily, I missed Moby Dick in high school, which means I only read it when I was an adult and enjoyed the hell out of it. Especially without some high school English teacher pestering me about seeking out hidden meanings and whatnot. Melville isn't subtle, it's all right there.
Happily, I missed Moby Dick in high school, which means I only read it when I was an adult and enjoyed the hell out of it. Especially without some high school English teacher pestering me about seeking out hidden meanings and whatnot. Melville isn't subtle, it's all right there.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:52 AM (QZxDR)
223
68 lin-duh:
The best answer to really dull "classics" required by teachers is the undeservedly obscure middle-school delight No More Dead Dogs, by the inimitable Gordon Korman (who published his first middle-school novel while still in middle school). Our hero simply will not lie about anything -- and he DIDN'T ENJOY HIS TEACHER'S FAVORITE BOOK! which gets him sentenced to the drama club production based on said book. Shenanigans begin, and they Do. Not. Stop. It's a wonderful little romp, which I used to recommend especially to the parents of boys who didn't like to read.
The best answer to really dull "classics" required by teachers is the undeservedly obscure middle-school delight No More Dead Dogs, by the inimitable Gordon Korman (who published his first middle-school novel while still in middle school). Our hero simply will not lie about anything -- and he DIDN'T ENJOY HIS TEACHER'S FAVORITE BOOK! which gets him sentenced to the drama club production based on said book. Shenanigans begin, and they Do. Not. Stop. It's a wonderful little romp, which I used to recommend especially to the parents of boys who didn't like to read.
Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at May 28, 2023 10:52 AM (SPNTN)
224
Plus I just like saying murderbot.
Posted by: blaster
I've read that entire series. Martha Wells is the author and she is fantastic. Most of her other works are fantasy, I think. Haven't read those, just the MurderBot Diaries.
Posted by: blaster
I've read that entire series. Martha Wells is the author and she is fantastic. Most of her other works are fantasy, I think. Haven't read those, just the MurderBot Diaries.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 10:53 AM (InP/Q)
225
I learned that acronym as MICES: Money, Ideology, Compromise (=blackmail), Ego, and Sex.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:53 AM (QZxDR)
Posted by: Tuna at May 28, 2023 10:53 AM (gLRfa)
227
Apart from a class taught by a grim old woman who relentlessly taught diagramming sentences, English was completely and totally useless.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh
You would be grim too, if you had to look out on thst sea of blank faces every day
Swapping any English / Lit class for a foreign language class is a good idea
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh
You would be grim too, if you had to look out on thst sea of blank faces every day
Swapping any English / Lit class for a foreign language class is a good idea
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 10:55 AM (vHIgi)
228
Making my first foray into Heinlein (shut up!) by Reading The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress this week. Took me a second to get the voice down, but I like the effect. Fun book so far.
Posted by: McLurkerson at May 28, 2023 10:55 AM (wNDOJ)
229
Does the world need two of the same book?
I went to hear Joseph Campbell once. Sure wish I'd thought to ask him "You realize this has all been said before, right?"
I had a cult conspiracy theory, with friends, that the purpose of high school poetry class was to make sure not too many people would get to liking poetry too damn much. Every time I hear somebody bleat about their awful high school English experience, it plots a little map of their interior mental layout. They got to you. It worked. You work for them, now.
I went to hear Joseph Campbell once. Sure wish I'd thought to ask him "You realize this has all been said before, right?"
I had a cult conspiracy theory, with friends, that the purpose of high school poetry class was to make sure not too many people would get to liking poetry too damn much. Every time I hear somebody bleat about their awful high school English experience, it plots a little map of their interior mental layout. They got to you. It worked. You work for them, now.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at May 28, 2023 10:56 AM (jYCXf)
230
Congrats. That is really cool.
I hope to hear many a review.
Posted by: Refoeger
The very first sentence of the book is "October 14, 1812, I received orders from Commodore Bainbridge to provision the Essex and prepare for extended sea duty . . . "
Dripping with history . . .
I hope to hear many a review.
Posted by: Refoeger
The very first sentence of the book is "October 14, 1812, I received orders from Commodore Bainbridge to provision the Essex and prepare for extended sea duty . . . "
Dripping with history . . .
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 10:57 AM (InP/Q)
231
I'm also somewhat bothered by over-use of fake places. I much prefer a story or a book which uses a real place, and tries to draw a real picture of that place, than one which happens in Busytown or wherever.
Although, to be candid, I also love HP Lovecraft's fictional Massachusetts towns, so I guess a lot depends on the execution.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:48 AM (QZxDR)
I wonder how much of that is to avoid nitpicking critics?
"San Francisco's (LA, NYC,London, etc.) not like that! Enzo's Pizza's on the other side of town, you've put it in Little Japan!"
Use a fictional town, avoid silly complaints like that. Also, how can you really describe a place, if you've not lived there for a long time?
Although, to be candid, I also love HP Lovecraft's fictional Massachusetts towns, so I guess a lot depends on the execution.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 10:48 AM (QZxDR)
I wonder how much of that is to avoid nitpicking critics?
"San Francisco's (LA, NYC,London, etc.) not like that! Enzo's Pizza's on the other side of town, you've put it in Little Japan!"
Use a fictional town, avoid silly complaints like that. Also, how can you really describe a place, if you've not lived there for a long time?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 10:57 AM (Angsy)
232
An interesting aspect of the Green River murders is the belief on the part of LEOs that they were looking for a psychotic genius.
Posted by: Oglebay at May 28, 2023 10:59 AM (j4NKg)
233
I remember the 3 novels assigned to us in American lit were "The Scarlet Letter", " Moby Dick" and "The Red Badge of Courage". "Red Badge of Courage" was tolerated but the other two meh.
Posted by: Tuna at May 28, 2023 11:00 AM (gLRfa)
234
Also, how can you really describe a place, if you've not lived there for a long time?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 10:57 AM (Angsy)
Like, say...Mars?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 10:57 AM (Angsy)
Like, say...Mars?
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023 11:00 AM (AwYPR)
235
150
Moreheads 1st book covers the White Nile, I'll look for that next...I paid 50cents, estate sale
Posted by: birdog at May 28, 2023 10:17 AM (uAI4S)
----
I lived for 4 years at the very source of the Nile, a place called Jinja in Uganda. The Nile started from Lake Victoria, at Ripon Falls, less than a mile from our house. Those falls were submerged when the Owen Falls Dam was completed in 1954.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripon_Falls
Moreheads 1st book covers the White Nile, I'll look for that next...I paid 50cents, estate sale
Posted by: birdog at May 28, 2023 10:17 AM (uAI4S)
----
I lived for 4 years at the very source of the Nile, a place called Jinja in Uganda. The Nile started from Lake Victoria, at Ripon Falls, less than a mile from our house. Those falls were submerged when the Owen Falls Dam was completed in 1954.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripon_Falls
Posted by: Ciampino -- never rush to judgement at May 28, 2023 11:01 AM (qfLjt)
236
Lin-duh's daughter should write a book report: "I was disappoint. The faggot didn't die of AIDS, and the tranny didn't shoot himself upon discovering that cutting his junk off did not make him into a woman."
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at May 28, 2023 11:01 AM (4VNnW)
237
So I'm still reading the Ford Madox Ford biography by Max Saunders. It's now 1909, and Ford has brought the English Review into being with himself as editor, and it is the most all-star writing platform in human history. Everyone was featured - James, Conrad, Wells, Lawrence...basically every single English writer of that era wrote in that magazine, and many were "discovered" through it.
Ford's best work was yet to come, but this guy was breathing amazingly rare air. Naturally, he pissed it all away because in a clear anticipation of the Moron mentality, he had to have the most complicated female relationships known to human kind.
Estranged from his wife (purportedly after sleeping with her sister), he then hooks up with another literary figure (Violet Hunt), but also "brings home" a 17-year-old German streetwalker as "a ward," which may have been a way to force his wife to divorce him (no-fault was not a thing). She refused.
Seriously, I thought this would be pretty dry stuff, but now I see why it takes two volumes.
Ford's best work was yet to come, but this guy was breathing amazingly rare air. Naturally, he pissed it all away because in a clear anticipation of the Moron mentality, he had to have the most complicated female relationships known to human kind.
Estranged from his wife (purportedly after sleeping with her sister), he then hooks up with another literary figure (Violet Hunt), but also "brings home" a 17-year-old German streetwalker as "a ward," which may have been a way to force his wife to divorce him (no-fault was not a thing). She refused.
Seriously, I thought this would be pretty dry stuff, but now I see why it takes two volumes.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:01 AM (llXky)
238
I started Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and put it down. I will get back to it eventually.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:01 AM (vg8N1)
239
There used to be an acronym to describe what motivated traitors during the Cold War. I took a class on espionage in college, and can't remember what it was. Sex, money, ideology, excitement are the ones I recall.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
The "Power of the P...." has always been strong.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd
The "Power of the P...." has always been strong.
Posted by: Tonypete at May 28, 2023 11:01 AM (qoGsy)
240
The best answer to really dull "classics" required by teachers is the undeservedly obscure middle-school delight No More Dead Dogs, by the inimitable Gordon Korman (who published his first middle-school novel while still in middle school).
=====
YES!!!
I'll add Sideways Stories for the slightly younger group. There is NO EXCUSE for 'litrachur' to be grim and stupid. I found a tattered copy of No More Dead Dogs recently, I think it was the fifth or sixth copy I bought over the years.
=====
YES!!!
I'll add Sideways Stories for the slightly younger group. There is NO EXCUSE for 'litrachur' to be grim and stupid. I found a tattered copy of No More Dead Dogs recently, I think it was the fifth or sixth copy I bought over the years.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 11:02 AM (MIKMs)
241
Making my first foray into Heinlein (shut up!) by Reading The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress this week. Took me a second to get the voice down, but I like the effect. Fun book so far.
Posted by: McLurkerson at May 28, 2023
***
Manny's English is affected by his Russian ancestry, as I recall. Russian has no definite article, and it may not have an indefinite one, so you get sentences like "I am going to store."
His odd English is never hard to understand, though.
Posted by: McLurkerson at May 28, 2023
***
Manny's English is affected by his Russian ancestry, as I recall. Russian has no definite article, and it may not have an indefinite one, so you get sentences like "I am going to store."
His odd English is never hard to understand, though.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:02 AM (omVj0)
242
I started Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and put it down. I will get back to it eventually.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
It sucks!!
*tap tap tap - Hello, is this thing one?"
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
It sucks!!
*tap tap tap - Hello, is this thing one?"
Posted by: Tonypete at May 28, 2023 11:02 AM (qoGsy)
243
A 200 year-old leather bound book in decent condition for a bid of $40.00. I pick it up on Tuesday and can't wait to read it. As a former naval officer this is treasure of immense value to me. And it is an American treasure as well.
Good morning fellow Book Nerds.
Posted by: Sharkman
Only reason I know the difference between a cannonade and a carronade is cause of O'Brian.
Good morning fellow Book Nerds.
Posted by: Sharkman
Only reason I know the difference between a cannonade and a carronade is cause of O'Brian.
Posted by: MkY at May 28, 2023 11:02 AM (cPGH3)
244
I thought James Monroe was gonna preview his new book in this thread ?
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 11:03 AM (T4tVD)
245
Ford's best work was yet to come, but this guy was breathing amazingly rare air. Naturally, he pissed it all away because in a clear anticipation of the Moron mentality, he had to have the most complicated female relationships known to human kind.
___________
The Good Soldier is a great read. The real villain is the narrator, John Dowell.
Ford's best work was yet to come, but this guy was breathing amazingly rare air. Naturally, he pissed it all away because in a clear anticipation of the Moron mentality, he had to have the most complicated female relationships known to human kind.
___________
The Good Soldier is a great read. The real villain is the narrator, John Dowell.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 28, 2023 11:03 AM (MoZTd)
246
Morning Hordemates!
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:03 AM (YGqO/)
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 11:03 AM (T4tVD)
248
Some random comments:
Being in my 70's, I agree it is hard to find good new authors. Sometimes you find good old authors you missed. I have found some decent new ones from time to time. It's hard.
Who gets to define "good" and "evil?" Well you can start with the 10 commandments. I think there are basic good and evils that everyone can recognize. The harder part is determining when you are being good or bad. Sometimes it's obvious, other times you can talk yourself into doing something wrong because you basically want to.
Being in my 70's, I agree it is hard to find good new authors. Sometimes you find good old authors you missed. I have found some decent new ones from time to time. It's hard.
Who gets to define "good" and "evil?" Well you can start with the 10 commandments. I think there are basic good and evils that everyone can recognize. The harder part is determining when you are being good or bad. Sometimes it's obvious, other times you can talk yourself into doing something wrong because you basically want to.
Posted by: Zogger at May 28, 2023 11:03 AM (cp8Bt)
249
"The Six Frigates" is a good book.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:04 AM (vg8N1)
250
Dripping with history . . .
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 10:57 AM (InP/Q)
(I misspelled my own nic.)
Now on to what it takes to provision a ship in 1812?
Fascinating.
If you own the original do you own the copyright? Could you re(?)publish the book?
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 10:57 AM (InP/Q)
(I misspelled my own nic.)
Now on to what it takes to provision a ship in 1812?
Fascinating.
If you own the original do you own the copyright? Could you re(?)publish the book?
Posted by: Reforger at May 28, 2023 11:04 AM (B705c)
251
I remember the 3 novels assigned to us in American lit were "The Scarlet Letter", " Moby Dick" and "The Red Badge of Courage". "Red Badge of Courage" was tolerated but the other two meh.
Posted by: Tuna at May 28, 2023 11:00 AM (gLRfa)
---
Crane - the author of the Red Badge - hung out with Ford in London. I'm not kidding, the dude freaking new everyone. Trading barbs with G.K. Chesterton, tea with Hillaire Belloc, lunch with Lloyd George.
I knew he was connected, but he's basically in the center of everything. Crazy that most people have no idea who he is. The only book of his still in print is The Good Soldier, which is a mind-bending novel if there ever was one.
Posted by: Tuna at May 28, 2023 11:00 AM (gLRfa)
---
Crane - the author of the Red Badge - hung out with Ford in London. I'm not kidding, the dude freaking new everyone. Trading barbs with G.K. Chesterton, tea with Hillaire Belloc, lunch with Lloyd George.
I knew he was connected, but he's basically in the center of everything. Crazy that most people have no idea who he is. The only book of his still in print is The Good Soldier, which is a mind-bending novel if there ever was one.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:04 AM (llXky)
252
Like, say...Mars?
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023 11:00 AM (AwYPR)
Well, I'm not Lucian of Samosata, so....
Like, say...Mars?
Posted by: BignJames at May 28, 2023 11:00 AM (AwYPR)
Well, I'm not Lucian of Samosata, so....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 11:04 AM (Angsy)
253
An interesting aspect of the Green River murders is the belief on the part of LEOs that they were looking for a psychotic genius.
I'm not familiar with that particular case (and I'm too lazy to bingle it right now) but I wonder if what you're describing isn't a corollary of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. If you over-estimate yourself, then naturally anyone who bests you at anything simply must be a sooper geenyus.
I'm not familiar with that particular case (and I'm too lazy to bingle it right now) but I wonder if what you're describing isn't a corollary of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. If you over-estimate yourself, then naturally anyone who bests you at anything simply must be a sooper geenyus.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 28, 2023 11:04 AM (nfrXX)
254
I started Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and put it down. I will get back to it eventually.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
Don't read it during a Full Moon.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
Don't read it during a Full Moon.
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 11:05 AM (T4tVD)
255
I have to say that when I read The Good Soldier, I was impressed by its style, but now I'm going to have to re-read it knowing that a lot of it is based on Ford's weirdo sex romps - and it's not what you think. I mean, there's a whole subtext of lusting after a chick but being incapable of getting it up out of guilt.
More issues than a magazine subscription, yet the ladies loved him.
More issues than a magazine subscription, yet the ladies loved him.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:05 AM (llXky)
256
I started Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and put it down. I will get back to it eventually.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
Try to hear it in Keanu Reeve's voice
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
Try to hear it in Keanu Reeve's voice
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 11:06 AM (vHIgi)
257
I have heard my wife's cousins, of Polish and German ancestry say "Are you coming with?"
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:07 AM (vg8N1)
258
The sociopath character in Predators was written well and a good twist .
Posted by: polynikes at May 28, 2023 11:07 AM (BqNkw)
259
I have heard my wife's cousins, of Polish and German ancestry say "Are you coming with?"
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
We used that construction when in Northern Berks County, PA - lots of Pennsylvania Dutch there.
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
We used that construction when in Northern Berks County, PA - lots of Pennsylvania Dutch there.
Posted by: Tonypete at May 28, 2023 11:08 AM (qoGsy)
260
The Tabernacle Choir's Memorial Day broadcast starts in 20 minutes:
https://tinyurl.com/5b2zea43
https://tinyurl.com/5b2zea43
Posted by: Half Dozen at May 28, 2023 11:08 AM (b9xFd)
261
The Good Soldier is a great read. The real villain is the narrator, John Dowell.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 28, 2023 11:03 AM (MoZTd)
---
I don't know, there's a lot going on, and plenty of blame to go around.
Very much like Ford's life - it's like he can't maintain a friendship for more than 10 years before flipping out. Fascinating reading.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at May 28, 2023 11:03 AM (MoZTd)
---
I don't know, there's a lot going on, and plenty of blame to go around.
Very much like Ford's life - it's like he can't maintain a friendship for more than 10 years before flipping out. Fascinating reading.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:09 AM (llXky)
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:09 AM (vg8N1)
263
Try to hear it in Keanu Reeve's voice
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 11:06 AM (vHIgi)
---
"Whoa."
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at May 28, 2023 11:06 AM (vHIgi)
---
"Whoa."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:10 AM (llXky)
264
I have heard my wife's cousins, of Polish and German ancestry say "Are you coming with?"
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
"Throw Grandmother down the stair her shoes"
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
"Throw Grandmother down the stair her shoes"
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 11:10 AM (xhaym)
265
I've pretty much hit a dead end. Most of my favorite authors have either died or retired. Too many of the newer authors can't write worth a damn. I go to the library or the bookstore, read the first few pages of a book that looks interesting, only to put it back because the writing is so atrocious. Part of the problem is I've already read the premise half a dozen times.
Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin
________________
Since human nature is immutable, I refuse to read any fiction less than less than 50 years old. Why take a chance when there are so many classics I'll never get to, and that probably explored the same premise as some badly written modern rehash? There is nothing new under the sun.
Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin
________________
Since human nature is immutable, I refuse to read any fiction less than less than 50 years old. Why take a chance when there are so many classics I'll never get to, and that probably explored the same premise as some badly written modern rehash? There is nothing new under the sun.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at May 28, 2023 11:10 AM (exvX8)
266
197 Dagny the Siberian kitten has climbed onto the couch and is grooming herself next to me. Unprecedented.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:41 AM (omVj0)
----
See what happens when you put on pants?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 10:41 AM (omVj0)
----
See what happens when you put on pants?
Posted by: Ciampino --- never rush to judgement at May 28, 2023 11:10 AM (qfLjt)
267
Also, how can you really describe a place, if you've not lived there for a long time?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023
***
YouTube or Google Street View?
Seriously, though, a lot of it comes down to imagination. No one has ever lived on Mars or on a starship or a moon of Jupiter, yet there are compelling stories about just that. For places on Earth, now we have YT and Street View, so you can get an idea of the visuals about a town or even a foreign city you've never visited. And you can can write to or talk with people who *have* lived there.
I'll never *know* Denver or any other spot on Earth the way I know the pesthole of Noo Awlins. For one thing, I have associations with many parts of it that go back to my childhood. But that won't keep me from scooping up essential details of a given place.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023
***
YouTube or Google Street View?
Seriously, though, a lot of it comes down to imagination. No one has ever lived on Mars or on a starship or a moon of Jupiter, yet there are compelling stories about just that. For places on Earth, now we have YT and Street View, so you can get an idea of the visuals about a town or even a foreign city you've never visited. And you can can write to or talk with people who *have* lived there.
I'll never *know* Denver or any other spot on Earth the way I know the pesthole of Noo Awlins. For one thing, I have associations with many parts of it that go back to my childhood. But that won't keep me from scooping up essential details of a given place.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:10 AM (omVj0)
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:11 AM (vg8N1)
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 11:12 AM (MIKMs)
270
The "Power of the P...." has always been strong.
Posted by: Tonypete at May 28, 2023 11:01 AM (qoGsy)
---
The Soviets had honey-traps on our Marine guards in Moscow. IIRC, the new embassy being built in the 80s had to be torn down because of all the microphones that had been embedded in its wiring were impossible to remove.
Posted by: Tonypete at May 28, 2023 11:01 AM (qoGsy)
---
The Soviets had honey-traps on our Marine guards in Moscow. IIRC, the new embassy being built in the 80s had to be torn down because of all the microphones that had been embedded in its wiring were impossible to remove.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:12 AM (llXky)
271
Steven Pressfield's The Profession is a good read. The big vice of the soldiers in the book ,including the protagonist, is drug use to be able to handle the fighting , both physical and mental.
Posted by: polynikes at May 28, 2023 11:12 AM (BqNkw)
272
Funny how old SF depicts Mars as hot.
LOL
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:11 AM (vg8N1)
---
It isn't the kind of place to raise your kids. In fact, it's cold as hell.
LOL
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:11 AM (vg8N1)
---
It isn't the kind of place to raise your kids. In fact, it's cold as hell.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:13 AM (llXky)
273
I agree Biff. Why waste your precious time on modern crap when there is 3000 years great stuff to read instead?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:13 AM (vg8N1)
274
I have been told that it has great Catholic memes.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:14 AM (vg8N1)
275
Just finished JT Sawyer's Escape and Evade.
A fun and quick read...a few plot twists and a fine ending.
A fun and quick read...a few plot twists and a fine ending.
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:14 AM (YGqO/)
276
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:12 AM (llXky)
It always seemed to me if you knew they were going to attempt the honeypots you could just gaslight them and still have your fun.
It always seemed to me if you knew they were going to attempt the honeypots you could just gaslight them and still have your fun.
Posted by: polynikes at May 28, 2023 11:14 AM (BqNkw)
277
Thanks for quoting me on finding new authors. I should mention that a big part of the problem is that I owned a specialty bookstore for eighteen years, and worked for Walden books more than six years before striking out on my own. I was spoiled rotten. At least once a week, I'd receive a box of advanced reading copies from one publisher or another. Most of the contents of those boxes were dreck. When it started, I joined Netgalley, an online service where booksellers could request and download electronic ARCs. Not to mention I got every book catalogue known. Basically, I read everything that would help me find the right book for my customers.
I still keep up as best I can. I read a blurb or a reveiw, get the book from the library, and within ten minutes, close it and take it back. Both the writers and reviewers are too young to realize better writers than them wrote the same book thirty years ago.
I've given up. These days, I mostly reread old favorites. Right now, I'm doing the main Ender's Game trilogy.
I still keep up as best I can. I read a blurb or a reveiw, get the book from the library, and within ten minutes, close it and take it back. Both the writers and reviewers are too young to realize better writers than them wrote the same book thirty years ago.
I've given up. These days, I mostly reread old favorites. Right now, I'm doing the main Ender's Game trilogy.
Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around at May 28, 2023 11:14 AM (B7rlW)
278
If you're a fan of Nelson DeMille, particularly the John Corey novels, do yourself a favor and skip the latest book, The Maze.
It's the worst thing he's ever written.
It's the worst thing he's ever written.
Posted by: Rusty Nail at May 28, 2023 11:15 AM (p0Mx9)
279
232 An interesting aspect of the Green River murders is the belief on the part of LEOs that they were looking for a psychotic genius.
Posted by: Oglebay at May 28, 2023 10:59 AM
****
Like us, cops read and watch too many mystery stories, and expect that they reflect reality. Real crime is usually so much duller and more sordid that fictional crime, which must be interesting if the story is not to fail.
Posted by: Oglebay at May 28, 2023 10:59 AM
****
Like us, cops read and watch too many mystery stories, and expect that they reflect reality. Real crime is usually so much duller and more sordid that fictional crime, which must be interesting if the story is not to fail.
Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at May 28, 2023 11:15 AM (SPNTN)
280
I have heard my wife's cousins, of Polish and German ancestry say "Are you coming with?"
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023
***
Old-time New Orleanians used to call grocery shopping "making groceries." Not selecting or picking up or buying, but making. I suspect that came from some French, Spanish, or maybe even German construction. It might even come from Irish, Yiddish, or Italian. We've had big populations of all of those here at various times and mixing together.
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023
***
Old-time New Orleanians used to call grocery shopping "making groceries." Not selecting or picking up or buying, but making. I suspect that came from some French, Spanish, or maybe even German construction. It might even come from Irish, Yiddish, or Italian. We've had big populations of all of those here at various times and mixing together.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:16 AM (omVj0)
281
re: Finding new (to you) authors
fantasticfiction.com
Go to the page for an author you like.
1) Look at books he has co-written with other authors--some of them may not be familiar to you.
2) Look at books he recommends.
3) Look at the section at the bottom titled: "Visitors also looked at these authors" (Amazon has a similar section)
You can also go to a Genre page and look at Popular Titles and Coming Soon.
Find a specialty bookstore. Get on their mailing list. ask for recommendations.
The best I know of for Science Fiction and Mystery are Uncle Edgars and Uncle Hugos in Minneapolis MN.
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.shtml
They were burned to the ground during the riots in June 2020, but have recently reopened. The newsletter has apparently not resumed, but the links to the unpublished August 2020 issue can be found on the page above.
fantasticfiction.com
Go to the page for an author you like.
1) Look at books he has co-written with other authors--some of them may not be familiar to you.
2) Look at books he recommends.
3) Look at the section at the bottom titled: "Visitors also looked at these authors" (Amazon has a similar section)
You can also go to a Genre page and look at Popular Titles and Coming Soon.
Find a specialty bookstore. Get on their mailing list. ask for recommendations.
The best I know of for Science Fiction and Mystery are Uncle Edgars and Uncle Hugos in Minneapolis MN.
http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.shtml
They were burned to the ground during the riots in June 2020, but have recently reopened. The newsletter has apparently not resumed, but the links to the unpublished August 2020 issue can be found on the page above.
Posted by: drwilliams at May 28, 2023 11:16 AM (c3dDP)
282
The Soviets had honey-traps on our Marine guards in Moscow. IIRC, the new embassy being built in the 80s had to be torn down because of all the microphones that had been embedded in its wiring were impossible to remove.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:12 AM (llXky)
Its far worse now with RFID tags everywhere and so tiny.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:12 AM (llXky)
Its far worse now with RFID tags everywhere and so tiny.
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:16 AM (YGqO/)
283
It always seemed to me if you knew they were going to attempt the honeypots you could just gaslight them and still have your fun.
Posted by: polynikes at May 28, 2023 11:14 AM (BqNkw)
---
You could if the people they were pumping for intelligence weren't jarheads. I mean, we are talking crayon-eaters here.
"Wait, what was I supposed to tell you again? I wrote it down..."
Posted by: polynikes at May 28, 2023 11:14 AM (BqNkw)
---
You could if the people they were pumping for intelligence weren't jarheads. I mean, we are talking crayon-eaters here.
"Wait, what was I supposed to tell you again? I wrote it down..."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:17 AM (llXky)
284
Funny how old SF depicts Mars as hot.
LOL
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
It used to be until climate change.
Funny how old SF depicts Mars as hot.
LOL
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
It used to be until climate change.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 28, 2023 11:18 AM (63Dwl)
285
PLEASE PUT ON SOME PANTS
My fellow Commentariat, is this what we've reduced ourselves to? The Perfessor having to plead, beg, and implore for the merest soupçon of decorum?
You know who you are.
#BeBetter
My fellow Commentariat, is this what we've reduced ourselves to? The Perfessor having to plead, beg, and implore for the merest soupçon of decorum?
You know who you are.
#BeBetter
Posted by: Duncanthrax at May 28, 2023 11:18 AM (a3Q+t)
286
Martha Wells is a great author. I enjoy Murderbot's snark, but I also love The Element of Fire (classic fantasy with some Musketeer-esque gentlemen adventurers and a half-fae girl with a grudge) and the semi-related Ile-Rien steampunkish fantasy books such as Death of the Necromancer (great title!). I recommend them to the Horde.
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at May 28, 2023 11:19 AM (doiJh)
287
I don't have any issues finding new authors because there's a bunch of old ones I still need to catch up on. Chesterton is one I'm working on. There is also stuff by Joseph Conrad that I haven't read yet.
No real risk of me running out of material...
No real risk of me running out of material...
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:20 AM (llXky)
288
I just finished 2nd book of Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem series.
The Dark Forest, from 2008. From the start seemed different than first book. Near future predictions are always hard, the successful socialist paradise of Venezuela somehow didn't happen, but targeted viral warfare was another matter.
Odd that the best ? current hard science fiction author is from China. I don't share his pessimistic view of human nature, but his books incorporate current knowledge of physics and sci-fi better than anything more recent I'm aware of.
The Dark Forest, from 2008. From the start seemed different than first book. Near future predictions are always hard, the successful socialist paradise of Venezuela somehow didn't happen, but targeted viral warfare was another matter.
Odd that the best ? current hard science fiction author is from China. I don't share his pessimistic view of human nature, but his books incorporate current knowledge of physics and sci-fi better than anything more recent I'm aware of.
Posted by: InspiredHistoryMike at May 28, 2023 11:20 AM (cKlzO)
289
To find good authors, read books about the genre you're interested in, how it began and evolved, etc. Or read biographies of, or essays by, your favorite authors and find out who impressed and influenced *them*.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:20 AM (omVj0)
290
I'll never *know* Denver or any other spot on Earth the way I know the pesthole of Noo Awlins. For one thing, I have associations with many parts of it that go back to my childhood. But that won't keep me from scooping up essential details of a given place.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:10 AM (omVj0)
Yes, but you also know the people and their personalities in that location. Just knowing where a place is on the map doesn't give you any of that, does it? If you put Nola personas and attitudes into Minneapolis, it would sort of jar, and the reader might be lost and put the book down. I'll reference real places in my stuff, but the action takes place in a mythical world. That works well in a western setting as many places have come and gone.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:10 AM (omVj0)
Yes, but you also know the people and their personalities in that location. Just knowing where a place is on the map doesn't give you any of that, does it? If you put Nola personas and attitudes into Minneapolis, it would sort of jar, and the reader might be lost and put the book down. I'll reference real places in my stuff, but the action takes place in a mythical world. That works well in a western setting as many places have come and gone.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 11:21 AM (Angsy)
291
Someone mentioned golf books upthread. James Bartlett has written a series of Murder mysteries set in a golf environment. He knows the game and as a former sports writer/editor has so.e fun insights into the tournament setting. Fun reading.
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:22 AM (YGqO/)
292
I agree Biff. Why waste your precious time on modern crap when there is 3000 years great stuff to read instead?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
___________________
A family member tried to get me to read The Only Good Indians a couple of years ago. Raving about it. I read the first 20 pages in preview on Amazon. Please, no.
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse
___________________
A family member tried to get me to read The Only Good Indians a couple of years ago. Raving about it. I read the first 20 pages in preview on Amazon. Please, no.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at May 28, 2023 11:23 AM (wso9P)
293
... the successful socialist paradise of Venezuela somehow didn't happen...
Any author, fiction or nonfiction, who predicted that goes immediately onto my "idiots to be ignored" list.
Any author, fiction or nonfiction, who predicted that goes immediately onto my "idiots to be ignored" list.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 28, 2023 11:24 AM (nfrXX)
294
The remake of The Little Mermaid (hey, it's originally a book, so not out of place here) got panned by the NYT.
Disney's live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel and a diverse cast, "reeks of obligation and noble intentions," Wesley Morris writes.
"Joy, fun, mystery, risk, flavor, kink — they’re missing."
You read that correctly. The critic is upset because TLM lacks kink.
https://tinyurl.com/yck76bxt
People had fun in the comments.
https://tinyurl.com/mthnpp8c
Disney's live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel and a diverse cast, "reeks of obligation and noble intentions," Wesley Morris writes.
"Joy, fun, mystery, risk, flavor, kink — they’re missing."
You read that correctly. The critic is upset because TLM lacks kink.
https://tinyurl.com/yck76bxt
People had fun in the comments.
https://tinyurl.com/mthnpp8c
Posted by: Archimedes at May 28, 2023 11:25 AM (eOEVl)
295
NaturalFake, the original picaresque novel is Lazarillo de Tormes, and it fits all those elements.
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 10:46 AM (xhaym)
Sounds like my kind of thing.
Do you have a translation you recommend?
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 10:46 AM (xhaym)
Sounds like my kind of thing.
Do you have a translation you recommend?
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 11:26 AM (RJQ8g)
296
... the successful socialist paradise of Venezuela somehow didn't happen...
Any author, fiction or nonfiction, who predicted that goes immediately onto my "idiots to be ignored" list.
The story is redeemed by the heroic Venezuelan leader being murdered by a mob of his own countrymen.
Any author, fiction or nonfiction, who predicted that goes immediately onto my "idiots to be ignored" list.
The story is redeemed by the heroic Venezuelan leader being murdered by a mob of his own countrymen.
Posted by: Oglebay at May 28, 2023 11:26 AM (j4NKg)
297
Yes, but you also know the people and their personalities in that location. Just knowing where a place is on the map doesn't give you any of that, does it? If you put Nola personas and attitudes into Minneapolis, it would sort of jar, and the reader might be lost and put the book down. I'll reference real places in my stuff, but the action takes place in a mythical world. That works well in a western setting as many places have come and gone.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023
***
Right, I'd have to say the Nawlins people were transplants to MN. (I can hear 'em now, complaining about "the cold" when it's only 50 F.) I could read books about, or set, there. Pittsburgh, for instance, has its own peculiar dialect ("Jeet jet?" for "Did you eat yet?" and "yinz" for the plural of "you"). Details like that can show the reader where he is.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023
***
Right, I'd have to say the Nawlins people were transplants to MN. (I can hear 'em now, complaining about "the cold" when it's only 50 F.) I could read books about, or set, there. Pittsburgh, for instance, has its own peculiar dialect ("Jeet jet?" for "Did you eat yet?" and "yinz" for the plural of "you"). Details like that can show the reader where he is.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:27 AM (omVj0)
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 11:27 AM (RJQ8g)
299
Someone mentioned golf books upthread. James Bartlett has written a series of Murder mysteries set in a golf environment. He knows the game and as a former sports writer/editor has so.e fun insights into the tournament setting. Fun reading.
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:22 AM (YGqO/)
My favorite golf book is the same as many, The Legend of Bagger Vance. It was a surprise as I had always heard of it but never desired to read it ( even though I was an avid golfer) . Then I became aware that it was written by Steven Pressfield . Read it immediately.
That brings me to a big disappointment as the last two books by Pressfield seemed to be obviously woke . Still an easy read since he writes so well but I liked neither book.
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:22 AM (YGqO/)
My favorite golf book is the same as many, The Legend of Bagger Vance. It was a surprise as I had always heard of it but never desired to read it ( even though I was an avid golfer) . Then I became aware that it was written by Steven Pressfield . Read it immediately.
That brings me to a big disappointment as the last two books by Pressfield seemed to be obviously woke . Still an easy read since he writes so well but I liked neither book.
Posted by: polynikes at May 28, 2023 11:28 AM (BqNkw)
300
For those looking for a new author, I've been a big fan of Jonathan Maberry's stuff. His Joe Ledger series is pretty good, and he recently branched out to what I assume will be n epic fantasy trilogy (or more, I suppose). He's also got some zombie and vampire worlds, for those still into zombie fiction.
Posted by: Octochicken at May 28, 2023 11:28 AM (8VyQQ)
301
We're not all mage-level mixologists like our own Naturalfake, so I appreciate a hand up
Edie Muller, host of TCM's "Noir Alley", was a bartender in his youth, and has written "Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir".
I see one of my favorite movies, the boxing noir "The Set-Up", has been paired with The Deshler, made with rye whiskey, Dubonnet, Cointreau, and Peychaud's bitters, and garnished with lemon and orange peel twists. Classy!
Lots of fun movie talk and appropriate cocktail pairings.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 10:51 AM (wdHY0)
What great idea!
Edie Muller, host of TCM's "Noir Alley", was a bartender in his youth, and has written "Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir".
I see one of my favorite movies, the boxing noir "The Set-Up", has been paired with The Deshler, made with rye whiskey, Dubonnet, Cointreau, and Peychaud's bitters, and garnished with lemon and orange peel twists. Classy!
Lots of fun movie talk and appropriate cocktail pairings.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 10:51 AM (wdHY0)
What great idea!
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 11:30 AM (RJQ8g)
302
I suppose I must shuffle off and do some chores. Yeah, I'm free tomorrow and can do some of them then, huh?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:30 AM (omVj0)
303
Any author, fiction or nonfiction, who predicted that goes immediately onto my "idiots to be ignored" list.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 28, 2023 11:24 AM (nfrXX)
Simon Bolivar's last letter predicted that Venezuela and Colombia would become so broken with factionalism and self interest that it would become a wasteland, totally destroyed, ruled by mobs and petty tyrants, and cast so low that even the Europeans wouldn't deign to try to control it again.
Posted by: Oddbob at May 28, 2023 11:24 AM (nfrXX)
Simon Bolivar's last letter predicted that Venezuela and Colombia would become so broken with factionalism and self interest that it would become a wasteland, totally destroyed, ruled by mobs and petty tyrants, and cast so low that even the Europeans wouldn't deign to try to control it again.
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 11:30 AM (xhaym)
304
I did enjoy the crime novels of Donald E Westlake.
The Hot Rock movie was pretty close to the book and possibly even funnier.
The Hot Rock movie was pretty close to the book and possibly even funnier.
Posted by: Ciampino - Never rush to judgement at May 28, 2023 11:32 AM (qfLjt)
305
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 11:30 AM (xhaym)
The US saved Colombia from that fate. So far.
The US saved Colombia from that fate. So far.
Posted by: polynikes at May 28, 2023 11:32 AM (BqNkw)
306
She says it's fine, it's just such a bad and boring book, she's not traumatized or anything. On the bright side, she picked up on the attempted indoctrination quickly and she thinks it's terrible and most importantly she brought it to my attention.
Posted by: lin-duh at May 28, 2023 09:44 AM (UUBmN)
Spawn of lin-duh has a good head on her shoulders, and seems to possess the right amount of cynicism to see through this bs.
The themes are bad enough, but it's really distressing that it's so important to push The Message that "educators" are pushing poorly written material.
Posted by: lin-duh at May 28, 2023 09:44 AM (UUBmN)
Spawn of lin-duh has a good head on her shoulders, and seems to possess the right amount of cynicism to see through this bs.
The themes are bad enough, but it's really distressing that it's so important to push The Message that "educators" are pushing poorly written material.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 28, 2023 11:33 AM (OX9vb)
Posted by: Ominous narrator voice at May 28, 2023 11:34 AM (DhOHl)
308
300 For those looking for a new author, I've been a big fan of Jonathan Maberry's stuff. His Joe Ledger series is pretty good, and he recently branched out to what I assume will be n epic fantasy trilogy (or more, I suppose). He's also got some zombie and vampire worlds, for those still into zombie fiction.
Posted by: Octochicken at May 28, 2023 11:28 AM (8VyQQ)
----
The Joe Ledger series was great but I'm not into Fantasy, vampires, etc.
Posted by: Octochicken at May 28, 2023 11:28 AM (8VyQQ)
----
The Joe Ledger series was great but I'm not into Fantasy, vampires, etc.
Posted by: Ciampino -- Never rush to judgement at May 28, 2023 11:35 AM (qfLjt)
309
Edie Muller, host of TCM's "Noir Alley", was a bartender in his youth, and has written "Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir".
Does each drink come with a whine about the "blacklist?"
Edie Muller, host of TCM's "Noir Alley", was a bartender in his youth, and has written "Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir".
Does each drink come with a whine about the "blacklist?"
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 28, 2023 11:36 AM (63Dwl)
310
When I dropped off a couple of books at a Little Free Library, it was loaded with several books by mystery writer Parnell Hall. I had never heard of him before but the books were written in the late 80s and early 90s. I didn’t think it would be nice to take all of them so I grabbed 2 or 3, assuming I could finish them and trade them for others later. I really enjoyed them! Sort of a cross between Lawrence Sanders (firts-person narrative) and Carl Haiisen (kooky characters). Unfortunately, when I returned to trade them, the others were gone. He also wrote under the pen name JP Hailey.
On a more serious note, I just finished reading “The Dressmakers of Auschwitz” by Lucy Adlington. It’s a historical account of female camp prisoners who survived by sewing for the families of the SS. It gives a very interesting perspective on clothing and fashion during the war.
On a more serious note, I just finished reading “The Dressmakers of Auschwitz” by Lucy Adlington. It’s a historical account of female camp prisoners who survived by sewing for the families of the SS. It gives a very interesting perspective on clothing and fashion during the war.
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 28, 2023 11:37 AM (rbKZ6)
311
I did enjoy the crime novels of Donald E Westlake.
The Hot Rock movie was pretty close to the book and possibly even funnier.
Posted by: Ciampino - Never rush to judgement at May 28, 2023
***
I still picture Robert Redford as Dortmunder, even though he is not described as looking in the least like RR. Redford's comic exasperation is perfect for Dortmunder.
Westlake pretty much invented the comic crime novel. (And the short story. I well recall one of his I read as a boy, "Anatomy of an Anatomy.") Yet he wrote a lot of other things, like the hardboiled crime series about professional thief Parker under the pen name Richard Stark. Have a look for those.
The Hot Rock movie was pretty close to the book and possibly even funnier.
Posted by: Ciampino - Never rush to judgement at May 28, 2023
***
I still picture Robert Redford as Dortmunder, even though he is not described as looking in the least like RR. Redford's comic exasperation is perfect for Dortmunder.
Westlake pretty much invented the comic crime novel. (And the short story. I well recall one of his I read as a boy, "Anatomy of an Anatomy.") Yet he wrote a lot of other things, like the hardboiled crime series about professional thief Parker under the pen name Richard Stark. Have a look for those.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:38 AM (omVj0)
312
Disney's live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel and a diverse cast, "reeks of obligation and noble intentions," Wesley Morris writes.
"Joy, fun, mystery, risk, flavor, kink — they’re missing."
You read that correctly. The critic is upset because TLM lacks kink.
It needs a kernel of kink.
Disney's live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel and a diverse cast, "reeks of obligation and noble intentions," Wesley Morris writes.
"Joy, fun, mystery, risk, flavor, kink — they’re missing."
You read that correctly. The critic is upset because TLM lacks kink.
It needs a kernel of kink.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at May 28, 2023 11:38 AM (63Dwl)
313
What do YOU do when you want to find an author new to you?
One way is to figure out who your authors read, admire, were influenced by. I'm reading an author I'd never even heard of until recently because another referenced one of his stories in his own.
One way is to figure out who your authors read, admire, were influenced by. I'm reading an author I'd never even heard of until recently because another referenced one of his stories in his own.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at May 28, 2023 11:39 AM (KFhLj)
314
Lots of fun movie talk and appropriate cocktail pairings.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 10:51 AM (wdHY0)
Thank you for telling us about this book! The review I read after seeing your comment mentioned a cocktail from "In a Lonely Place" which is my favorite movie.
I just finished ordering a copy.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 10:51 AM (wdHY0)
Thank you for telling us about this book! The review I read after seeing your comment mentioned a cocktail from "In a Lonely Place" which is my favorite movie.
I just finished ordering a copy.
Posted by: Oglebay at May 28, 2023 11:39 AM (j4NKg)
315
"I suppose I must shuffle off and do some chores. Yeah, I'm free tomorrow and can do some of them then, huh?"
Why put off to tomorrow what you can put off until the day after tomorrow?
Why put off to tomorrow what you can put off until the day after tomorrow?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023 11:40 AM (vg8N1)
316
I am currently reading Tricky Business by Dave Barry.
Its about a Mob owned Gambling Cruise ship.
In my opinion, funny as all get out.
Its about a Mob owned Gambling Cruise ship.
In my opinion, funny as all get out.
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 11:40 AM (T4tVD)
317
280 I have heard my wife's cousins, of Polish and German ancestry say "Are you coming with?"
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023
***
Old-time New Orleanians used to call grocery shopping "making groceries." Not selecting or picking up or buying, but making. I suspect that came from some French, Spanish, or maybe even German construction. It might even come from Irish, Yiddish, or Italian. We've had big populations of all of those here at various times and mixing together.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:16 AM (omVj0)
----
'Are you coming with' is commonly used here in S. IL.
Going shopping in Italian isi fact 'making expenditure' (fare la spesa).
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023
***
Old-time New Orleanians used to call grocery shopping "making groceries." Not selecting or picking up or buying, but making. I suspect that came from some French, Spanish, or maybe even German construction. It might even come from Irish, Yiddish, or Italian. We've had big populations of all of those here at various times and mixing together.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:16 AM (omVj0)
----
'Are you coming with' is commonly used here in S. IL.
Going shopping in Italian isi fact 'making expenditure' (fare la spesa).
Posted by: Ciampino --- Never rush to judgement at May 28, 2023 11:42 AM (qfLjt)
318
Disney's live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel and a diverse cast, "reeks of obligation and noble intentions," Wesley Morris writes.
"Joy, fun, mystery, risk, flavor, kink — they’re missing."
You read that correctly. The critic is upset because TLM lacks kink.
It needs a kernel of kink.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr
A kinky Colonel Klink ?
"Joy, fun, mystery, risk, flavor, kink — they’re missing."
You read that correctly. The critic is upset because TLM lacks kink.
It needs a kernel of kink.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr
A kinky Colonel Klink ?
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 11:44 AM (T4tVD)
319
I have a book to write based on a true story but I'll never write it. It's about a genius level Priest with a super ego who thinks little of parishioners and was even quoted as saying, "A seat for every ass." He knew of my computer prowess and tried (successfully) to one-up me with his knowledge. Long story short, a series of pipe bombings occurred in the area, the epicenter of the events just so coincidentally being the location of his church. Being a hunter, the priest had access to ammo to make a bomb(s). The police released a sketch of the suspect from a passenger on the same bus as the suspect. Shortly after this Priest posted a self portrait on his web page from the same exact angle and lighting. A short Photoshop trip and morph level was about 99%. There's a lot more coincidences too long to spell out.
It's a long cold case now because the bombings stopped after 9/11/2001 when the terror penalties went through the roof. He's deceased now so no longer any chance to be tried in a court of law. But to me it speaks to the arrogance of psychotics who seem to enjoy displaying their super abilities and staying ahead of law enforcement.
I have a book to write based on a true story but I'll never write it. It's about a genius level Priest with a super ego who thinks little of parishioners and was even quoted as saying, "A seat for every ass." He knew of my computer prowess and tried (successfully) to one-up me with his knowledge. Long story short, a series of pipe bombings occurred in the area, the epicenter of the events just so coincidentally being the location of his church. Being a hunter, the priest had access to ammo to make a bomb(s). The police released a sketch of the suspect from a passenger on the same bus as the suspect. Shortly after this Priest posted a self portrait on his web page from the same exact angle and lighting. A short Photoshop trip and morph level was about 99%. There's a lot more coincidences too long to spell out.
It's a long cold case now because the bombings stopped after 9/11/2001 when the terror penalties went through the roof. He's deceased now so no longer any chance to be tried in a court of law. But to me it speaks to the arrogance of psychotics who seem to enjoy displaying their super abilities and staying ahead of law enforcement.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at May 28, 2023 11:44 AM (enJYY)
320
I will be anxiously awaiting Ace’s next Death’s Head post on McCarthy totally caving on the Debt Ceiling scam.
A truly amazing Failure Theater….
A truly amazing Failure Theater….
Posted by: TexasJew at May 28, 2023 11:45 AM (7OF7k)
321
311- Westlake pretty much invented the comic crime novel. (And the short story. I well recall one of his I read as a boy, "Anatomy of an Anatomy.") Yet he wrote a lot of other things, like the hardboiled crime series about professional thief Parker under the pen name Richard Stark. Have a look for those.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:38 AM
He’s also someone that I look for at book sales. I’ve never read anything by him but, from descriptions, I think I would thoroughly enjoy his work.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:38 AM
He’s also someone that I look for at book sales. I’ve never read anything by him but, from descriptions, I think I would thoroughly enjoy his work.
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 28, 2023 11:45 AM (rbKZ6)
322
Darned if I know how a diverse culture without a seafaring tradition or any connection to the sea is supposed to somehow show seafaring mythology.
I guess Hans Christian Anderson was not a real writer. Is the Little Mermaid sculpture still there in Denmark?
I guess Hans Christian Anderson was not a real writer. Is the Little Mermaid sculpture still there in Denmark?
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 11:45 AM (MIKMs)
323
Simon Bolivar's last letter predicted that Venezuela and Colombia would become so broken with factionalism and self interest that it would become a wasteland, totally destroyed, ruled by mobs and petty tyrants, and cast so low that even the Europeans wouldn't deign to try to control it again.
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 11:30 AM (xhaym)
---
Lots of South American history and politics mixed into Joseph Conrad's Nostromo. It was a big of a slog for me, but as with other books, a second reading might improve my judgement.
That's another aspect of reading - I tend to read books more than once if I like them. I don't really understand people who can just whizz through the latest best-sellers. My mother was like that. My father and I are much more deliberate about what we read and often revisit books. Mom was pretty much one-and-done. I think she has a single small bookshelf. I had a larger book collection by the time I was in high school.
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 11:30 AM (xhaym)
---
Lots of South American history and politics mixed into Joseph Conrad's Nostromo. It was a big of a slog for me, but as with other books, a second reading might improve my judgement.
That's another aspect of reading - I tend to read books more than once if I like them. I don't really understand people who can just whizz through the latest best-sellers. My mother was like that. My father and I are much more deliberate about what we read and often revisit books. Mom was pretty much one-and-done. I think she has a single small bookshelf. I had a larger book collection by the time I was in high school.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:45 AM (llXky)
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 28, 2023 11:46 AM (ZCCyW)
325
I have heard my wife's cousins, of Polish and German ancestry say "Are you coming with?"
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023
***
Old-time New Orleanians used to call grocery shopping "making groceries." Not selecting or picking up or buying, but making. I suspect that came from some French, Spanish, or maybe even German construction. It might even come from Irish, Yiddish, or Italian. We've had big populations of all of those here at various times and mixing together.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:16 AM (omVj0)
----
'Are you coming with' is commonly used here in S. IL.
Going shopping in Italian isi fact 'making expenditure' (fare la spesa).
Posted by: Ciampino
_______________
"Please?" instead of "excuse me?" or "come again?" seems to be limited to the Cincinnati-Dayton Ohio area. Never looked up if that has German roots.
Reminds me of the German "Kommen Sie mit?
Posted by: Chatterbox Mouse at May 28, 2023
***
Old-time New Orleanians used to call grocery shopping "making groceries." Not selecting or picking up or buying, but making. I suspect that came from some French, Spanish, or maybe even German construction. It might even come from Irish, Yiddish, or Italian. We've had big populations of all of those here at various times and mixing together.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:16 AM (omVj0)
----
'Are you coming with' is commonly used here in S. IL.
Going shopping in Italian isi fact 'making expenditure' (fare la spesa).
Posted by: Ciampino
_______________
"Please?" instead of "excuse me?" or "come again?" seems to be limited to the Cincinnati-Dayton Ohio area. Never looked up if that has German roots.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at May 28, 2023 11:47 AM (wso9P)
326
289 To find good authors, read books about the genre you're interested in, how it began and evolved, etc. Or read biographies of, or essays by, your favorite authors and find out who impressed and influenced *them*.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:20 AM (omVj0)
Great advice.
I think in general, the best thing to do is to go backwards in time.
Maybe even start again with the Classics.
Shakespeare can be daunting for some. But an audio recording (Arkangel!) and a text to follow and some historical research on the subjects is absolutely worth it.
There's really nothing in any modern author that isn't in Shakespeare.
Same with the Arthurian legends.
And any history book written btwn 1870 and 1915 will be stunning.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:20 AM (omVj0)
Great advice.
I think in general, the best thing to do is to go backwards in time.
Maybe even start again with the Classics.
Shakespeare can be daunting for some. But an audio recording (Arkangel!) and a text to follow and some historical research on the subjects is absolutely worth it.
There's really nothing in any modern author that isn't in Shakespeare.
Same with the Arthurian legends.
And any history book written btwn 1870 and 1915 will be stunning.
Posted by: Thesokorus at May 28, 2023 11:47 AM (1b+TJ)
327
Darned if I know how a diverse culture without a seafaring tradition or any connection to the sea is supposed to somehow show seafaring mythology.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 11:45 AM (MIKMs)
---
This was part of my critique of Amazon's "We Haz Rangz" production. I wrote a longer version on Bleedingfool.com, but the gist is that ethnicity matters. If you want a "diverse" cast, having the choices make sense. Don't just throw random black and brown dwarves into the mix, having them be clans that are black and brown.
A remote pre-industrial farming village shouldn't look like an Apple ad.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 11:45 AM (MIKMs)
---
This was part of my critique of Amazon's "We Haz Rangz" production. I wrote a longer version on Bleedingfool.com, but the gist is that ethnicity matters. If you want a "diverse" cast, having the choices make sense. Don't just throw random black and brown dwarves into the mix, having them be clans that are black and brown.
A remote pre-industrial farming village shouldn't look like an Apple ad.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:49 AM (llXky)
328
He’s also someone that I look for at book sales. I’ve never read anything by him but, from descriptions, I think I would thoroughly enjoy his work.
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 28, 2023
***
He was one of the most versatile of a group of young crime writers in the late '50s and early '60s in NYC, including Lawrence Block, whom I also recommend highly. A number of Westlake's books, both comic and serious, have been made into movies; his storytelling translates well to film.
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 28, 2023
***
He was one of the most versatile of a group of young crime writers in the late '50s and early '60s in NYC, including Lawrence Block, whom I also recommend highly. A number of Westlake's books, both comic and serious, have been made into movies; his storytelling translates well to film.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:49 AM (omVj0)
329
Posted by: Divide by Zero at May 28, 2023 11:44 AM (enJYY)
That sounds like best-seller and movie bait, if you can carry it off.
Give it whirl. No reason not to write that book. Just disguise it as a novel.
That sounds like best-seller and movie bait, if you can carry it off.
Give it whirl. No reason not to write that book. Just disguise it as a novel.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 11:50 AM (RJQ8g)
330
"Please?" instead of "excuse me?" or "come again?" seems to be limited to the Cincinnati-Dayton Ohio area. Never looked up if that has German roots.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at May 28, 2023
***
Don't German speakers often tack a "Bitte?" on the end of a sentence? Maybe that's the source of it.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at May 28, 2023
***
Don't German speakers often tack a "Bitte?" on the end of a sentence? Maybe that's the source of it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:50 AM (omVj0)
331
"Please?" instead of "excuse me?" or "come again?" seems to be limited to the Cincinnati-Dayton Ohio area. Never looked up if that has German roots.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at May 28, 2023 11:47 AM (wso9P)
---
Obvious cultural marker is how people react to a sneeze. "Bless you!" vs "Gesundheit!"
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at May 28, 2023 11:47 AM (wso9P)
---
Obvious cultural marker is how people react to a sneeze. "Bless you!" vs "Gesundheit!"
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:50 AM (llXky)
332
291 Someone mentioned golf books upthread. James Bartlett has written a series of Murder mysteries set in a golf environment. He knows the game and as a former sports writer/editor has so.e fun insights into the tournament setting. Fun reading.
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:22 AM
“A Course Called Ireland” by Tom Coyne is great!
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:22 AM
“A Course Called Ireland” by Tom Coyne is great!
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 28, 2023 11:52 AM (rbKZ6)
333
Now chore time really does beckon. Thanks, Perfessor and the rest of you, for a fine Book Thread!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:52 AM (omVj0)
334
I recently read the first three of those Parker novels. I agree about their quality. That's not even my usual type of book/subject, and I liked them enough that I'll definitely read more in the series.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at May 28, 2023 11:53 AM (KFhLj)
335
***
There's really nothing in any modern author that isn't in Shakespeare.
Same with the Arthurian legends.
And any history book written btwn 1870 and 1915 will be stunning.
Posted by: Thesokorus at May 28, 2023 11:47 AM (1b+TJ)
Absolutely concur and well said.
When I get bored with what I've been reading, I always go back to something classical, or from my childhood, which is almost as far back. It gets me re-grounded.
There's really nothing in any modern author that isn't in Shakespeare.
Same with the Arthurian legends.
And any history book written btwn 1870 and 1915 will be stunning.
Posted by: Thesokorus at May 28, 2023 11:47 AM (1b+TJ)
Absolutely concur and well said.
When I get bored with what I've been reading, I always go back to something classical, or from my childhood, which is almost as far back. It gets me re-grounded.
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:53 AM (YGqO/)
336
Now on to what it takes to provision a ship in 1812?
Fascinating.
If you own the original do you own the copyright? Could you re(?)publish the book?
Posted by: Reforger
I assume so. The book was in a glass case at the library so I only saw the first page, but it is 263 pages long so it undoubtedly gets into serious detail.
It is not THE original but one of a limited number that were printed in 1815. Copyright Dec. 24, 1814, by Bradford and Inskeep.
There is a volume 2 that I will be hunting as soon as I have this one in hand on Tuesday.
Fascinating.
If you own the original do you own the copyright? Could you re(?)publish the book?
Posted by: Reforger
I assume so. The book was in a glass case at the library so I only saw the first page, but it is 263 pages long so it undoubtedly gets into serious detail.
It is not THE original but one of a limited number that were printed in 1815. Copyright Dec. 24, 1814, by Bradford and Inskeep.
There is a volume 2 that I will be hunting as soon as I have this one in hand on Tuesday.
Posted by: Sharkman at May 28, 2023 11:53 AM (InP/Q)
337
Thanks for another fine Book Thread, Skwerlie!
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 11:53 AM (wdHY0)
338
My Low German or Plautdeutch speaking family say do you want to come with, they also ask you to plug out the electrical cord.
Posted by: NL at May 28, 2023 11:54 AM (eGTCV)
339
Don't German speakers often tack a "Bitte?" on the end of a sentence? Maybe that's the source of it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
____________________
Yes, but why isn't it used in St. Louis, Milwaukee, Texas or other fly-over areas with heavy German ancestry?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
____________________
Yes, but why isn't it used in St. Louis, Milwaukee, Texas or other fly-over areas with heavy German ancestry?
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at May 28, 2023 11:54 AM (wso9P)
340
C.S. Harris' Sebastion St. Cyr mysteries. A customer talked me into giving them a try. They take place in England's Defence during the Napoleonic Wars.
Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around at May 28, 2023 11:55 AM (B7rlW)
341
And any history book written btwn 1870 and 1915 will be stunning.
Posted by: Thesokorus at May 28, 2023 11:47 AM (1b+TJ)
---
When writing Walls of Men, I needed a single narrative to tie all the military developments together, and I found a book originally written in the 1920s and updated through WW II. It was great.
By the time I was about done with the first draft, I decided to do a second pass, so I got history from 2010 and read through it. It already felt dated - the female author kept making asides (reminiscent of Barbara Tuchman) about how if women could have just been treated equally, everything would have been better, etc.
You know, because modern people are so much smarter about how society should be organized.
Yet I doubt than illiterate Chinese peasant from 400 BC would have any trouble telling a man from a woman.
Posted by: Thesokorus at May 28, 2023 11:47 AM (1b+TJ)
---
When writing Walls of Men, I needed a single narrative to tie all the military developments together, and I found a book originally written in the 1920s and updated through WW II. It was great.
By the time I was about done with the first draft, I decided to do a second pass, so I got history from 2010 and read through it. It already felt dated - the female author kept making asides (reminiscent of Barbara Tuchman) about how if women could have just been treated equally, everything would have been better, etc.
You know, because modern people are so much smarter about how society should be organized.
Yet I doubt than illiterate Chinese peasant from 400 BC would have any trouble telling a man from a woman.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:56 AM (llXky)
342
328- He was one of the most versatile of a group of young crime writers in the late '50s and early '60s in NYC, including Lawrence Block, whom I also recommend highly. A number of Westlake's books, both comic and serious, have been made into movies; his storytelling translates well to film.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:49 AM
I often get the feeling that some authors, like John Grisham, style their writing precisely as a screenplay. Doesn’t bother me as long as it’s a good story.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at May 28, 2023 11:49 AM
I often get the feeling that some authors, like John Grisham, style their writing precisely as a screenplay. Doesn’t bother me as long as it’s a good story.
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 28, 2023 11:57 AM (rbKZ6)
343
Thanks again, Perfesser!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at May 28, 2023 11:57 AM (llXky)
344
If you'd like to sample Parker without getting into a series (delightful though his series books are), check out his novel WILDERNESS -- nifty thriller, fast read, and why it hasn't been filmed before now is a riddle for the ages.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 28, 2023 11:58 AM (a/4+U)
345
That sounds like best-seller and movie bait, if you can carry it off.
Give it whirl. No reason not to write that book. Just disguise it as a novel.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 11:50 AM
Thanks, but I'll probably never do it. Or I'll start, map out every chapter, write the first two chapters and get bored with the subject. It's what I do. So I have respect for those with stick-to-it genes.
That sounds like best-seller and movie bait, if you can carry it off.
Give it whirl. No reason not to write that book. Just disguise it as a novel.
Posted by: naturalfake at May 28, 2023 11:50 AM
Thanks, but I'll probably never do it. Or I'll start, map out every chapter, write the first two chapters and get bored with the subject. It's what I do. So I have respect for those with stick-to-it genes.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at May 28, 2023 11:59 AM (enJYY)
346
“A Course Called Ireland” by Tom Coyne is great!
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 28, 2023 11:52 AM (rbKZ6)
Moonbeam,
Great tip. I'm buying that for my son-in-law who loves golfing Ireland.
Thanxs!
“A Course Called Ireland” by Tom Coyne is great!
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 28, 2023 11:52 AM (rbKZ6)
Moonbeam,
Great tip. I'm buying that for my son-in-law who loves golfing Ireland.
Thanxs!
Posted by: Diogenes at May 28, 2023 11:59 AM (YGqO/)
347
Well, noon has come to the compound so I guess I have to put some pants on and start working.
Posted by: Trimegistus at May 28, 2023 12:00 PM (QZxDR)
348
Thanks, but I'll probably never do it. Or I'll start, map out every chapter, write the first two chapters and get bored with the subject. It's what I do. So I have respect for those with stick-to-it genes.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at May 28, 2023 11:59 AM (enJYY)
Maybe gather all the info and give it to someone else to write?
Posted by: Divide by Zero at May 28, 2023 11:59 AM (enJYY)
Maybe gather all the info and give it to someone else to write?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 12:00 PM (Angsy)
Posted by: JT at May 28, 2023 12:01 PM (T4tVD)
350
I've been reading one that is on-topic for the weekend.
Ernie Pyle's War. A collection of his dispatches. I think there's a volume two, also. It's somehow simultaneously humbling, sobering, entertaining, and enjoyable. It's easy to see why he was popular. It's neat to see the reality of things written, too, like when he's discussing soldiers so worried about being shot in a creepy, still night that they're constantly whispering the codeword and how silly the code word was and that America would laugh to hear it, but he couldn't share it. And I appreciated that they told his story right up front and how he died.
Well worth the read.
Ernie Pyle's War. A collection of his dispatches. I think there's a volume two, also. It's somehow simultaneously humbling, sobering, entertaining, and enjoyable. It's easy to see why he was popular. It's neat to see the reality of things written, too, like when he's discussing soldiers so worried about being shot in a creepy, still night that they're constantly whispering the codeword and how silly the code word was and that America would laugh to hear it, but he couldn't share it. And I appreciated that they told his story right up front and how he died.
Well worth the read.
Posted by: Remember believing that they found the 9/11 hijackers passport in the rubble? at May 28, 2023 12:01 PM (QCAe2)
351
WE HAZ A NOOD
Posted by: Skip at May 28, 2023 12:01 PM (xhxe8)
352
Diogenes- I tend to find great books in the most unexpected places. I found that Course Called Ireland” at an Ollies. I can’t pass up a table full of books and end up with very eclectic selections!
Posted by: Moonbeam at May 28, 2023 12:02 PM (rbKZ6)
Posted by: OrangeEnt at May 28, 2023 12:02 PM (Angsy)
354
Bolivar described it as "plowing the sea."
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 28, 2023 11:46 AM (ZCCyW)
"Those who serve revolution plow the sea"
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 28, 2023 11:46 AM (ZCCyW)
"Those who serve revolution plow the sea"
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 12:02 PM (xhaym)
355
Thanks, but I'll probably never do it. Or I'll start, map out every chapter, write the first two chapters and get bored with the subject. It's what I do. So I have respect for those with stick-to-it genes.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at May 28, 2023 11:59 AM (enJYY)
Oh, that's too bad, because it would be a great true crime book, for those of us who like that sort of thing.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at May 28, 2023 11:59 AM (enJYY)
Oh, that's too bad, because it would be a great true crime book, for those of us who like that sort of thing.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at May 28, 2023 12:04 PM (OX9vb)
356
"Those who serve revolution plow the sea"
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 12:02 PM (xhaym)
Yup. He would not be surprised at all by today's South/Central America.
Posted by: Kindltot at May 28, 2023 12:02 PM (xhaym)
Yup. He would not be surprised at all by today's South/Central America.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at May 28, 2023 12:06 PM (ZCCyW)
357
Thanks for the thread, Perfessor. Missed most of it due to errands this morning, but content and comments were nifty as usual.
Bests to all.
Bests to all.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at May 28, 2023 12:16 PM (a/4+U)
358
"If you own the original do you own the copyright? Could you re(?)publish the book?"
expires 70 years after death of original author, or in some cases 95 years after publication.
expires 70 years after death of original author, or in some cases 95 years after publication.
Posted by: birddog at May 28, 2023 12:57 PM (uAI4S)
359
"Also, how can you really describe a place, if you've not lived there for a long time?"
My first visit to Belize was brief(under sail), only a 3 day rest, respite, took on water and provisions, the only people I met spoke french or had french accents. It was several years later that I returned and found Belize was NOT French....at all.
My first visit to Belize was brief(under sail), only a 3 day rest, respite, took on water and provisions, the only people I met spoke french or had french accents. It was several years later that I returned and found Belize was NOT French....at all.
Posted by: birddog at May 28, 2023 01:01 PM (uAI4S)
360
Back to give a yeeeeehaw! to "Guts and Glory: the American Civil War" by Ben Thompson, a collection of vignettes of daring-do and colorful personalities-- and it's illustrated! Very fun reading.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 01:50 PM (wdHY0)
361
51 ... "I would add just one more to this excellent list: Albrecht Durer's watercolor "The Great Piece of Turf", in which the great German artist painted a chunk of turf cut from an ordinary meadow. It beautifully illustrates dozens of plants in a single image; in fact, an entire book could be written about that one painting."
Just got back so this is very late. But thank you Nemo for the Durer reference. It really is spectacular.
Just got back so this is very late. But thank you Nemo for the Durer reference. It really is spectacular.
Posted by: JTB at May 28, 2023 01:55 PM (7EjX1)
362
For many years, my description of my own household has involved a time-travel station of the LaBrea Tar Pits where some things randomly surface.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 09:24 AM (MIKMs)
---
"'Floop', suggested the tar pit." -- from "Bored of the Rings, which resurfaced in my pile a few years ago.
Posted by: mustbequantum at May 28, 2023 09:24 AM (MIKMs)
---
"'Floop', suggested the tar pit." -- from "Bored of the Rings, which resurfaced in my pile a few years ago.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at May 28, 2023 01:56 PM (wdHY0)
363
Regarding where to find new authors, I often find them in the movie credits. If I enjoy the movie, I'll look up the source material and read it. Sometimes the movie expands the story, such as "It's A Wonderful Life," sometimes the movie is better ("The Devil Wears Prada"), sometimes the movie is pretty faithful to the story, and very often the only thing the novel and the movie have in common is the title.
Posted by: March Hare at May 28, 2023 02:04 PM (WOU9P)
364
(*!%^@*# I missed a great book thread. Not only was I quoted, but there was a lot of talk about something that seems to be essential to the kind of books I like: a backbone of honor, of what it means and should mean to be a man or woman.
It's why I couldn't get into Westlake (pretty much all crooks, except for one fired cop who mopes too much), or MacDonald (boat bum finds stuff for pay to get by, eh, find a better purpose, Travis). It's why I gave up on the Alex McNight series (stop whining, dude).
I guess it's also why Spenser is working for me, and Mike Hammer and Nero Wolfe and Matthew Scudder. It's in every Correia book.
And it's part of why I have trouble finding new authors I like. Sometimes it takes a few books to really sort out, and it's not something that turns up in reviews much.
It's why I couldn't get into Westlake (pretty much all crooks, except for one fired cop who mopes too much), or MacDonald (boat bum finds stuff for pay to get by, eh, find a better purpose, Travis). It's why I gave up on the Alex McNight series (stop whining, dude).
I guess it's also why Spenser is working for me, and Mike Hammer and Nero Wolfe and Matthew Scudder. It's in every Correia book.
And it's part of why I have trouble finding new authors I like. Sometimes it takes a few books to really sort out, and it's not something that turns up in reviews much.
Posted by: Splunge at May 28, 2023 03:09 PM (IKlwI)
365
Hmm, the book spines have been set flush with the front of the bookcase, to ... cover the dust?
Posted by: m at May 28, 2023 04:48 PM (AOrJZ)
366
More than $15k can be earned online by performing straightforward tasks from home. In the previous month, I got $18376. Even a young child may do this job and make money because it is so simple to complete and has higher pay than typical office occupations. Everyone needs to try this task by using the information on this page. www.Richepay.com
Posted by: Jennifer Harris at May 29, 2023 04:00 AM (Pu2Cz)
367
I work online, go to school full-time, and have earned $64,000 so far this year. Through an online business opportunity I learned about, I've made a bunch of money. It's really extremely user-friendly, so I'm really delighted I found out about it. I work in this field. BONUS: Good luck.
Click here for the richsalary website. www.richsalary.com
Click here for the richsalary website. www.richsalary.com
Posted by: Zara at May 29, 2023 09:01 AM (BrM9u)
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