Sunday Morning Book Thread - 06-11-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

(ht: Marcus T)

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, especially if you are wearing these pants...

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, enjoy a fruit cocktail with your breakfast, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

Today's pic comes from a recommendation from Marcus T. The Bodleian Libraries support the University of Oxford in England. Like the Library at Trinity University in Dublin, the main Bodleian Library is a "library of deposit," meaning at least one copy of all books printed in the UK must be sent there--similar to the Library of Congress here in the USA. The Bodleian Libraries together hold a massive repository of over 13 million printed items. Like many of the libraries of Europe, it's been around for centuries, so there's no telling what sort of long-forgotten mysterious tomes are housed within the archives.

GRRRL POWER!...DONE WELL!

NOTE: This will be rather long, so feel free to jump down to the comments below if you'd like to skip the following essay!

A couple of weeks ago, ace asked Christopher R. Taylor for a link describing the "rules" for writing in today's Hollywood culture. Naturally, Christopher R. Taylor promptly responded with the link because the Moron Horde is just that good:

The Feminist Heroine's Journey

Although the article above targets the writing we see in stories for movies and television, I have no doubt that there is a concerted effort to enforce similar writing in popular literature.

I thought it might be interesting to do a character study of the series I've been reading the past few weeks, as it features a young woman as the main protagonist. How well does this protagonist compare to the rules as outlined in the link above? Let's find out together. The books in question are: Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, and Mistress of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts, published between 1988 and 1993. The setting is loosely based on feudal Japan with some additional Eastern mysticism thrown into the mix. Belief in reincarnation is embedded into the culture's religious practices. Slavery is a normal part of this society. The Empire rules a vast territory and the Emperor commands absolute power within his domain, enforced by the Great Ones, magicians of awesome power, existing outside the laws of society, yet responsible for maintaining internal stability. A major background detail is that the Emperor is apparently incapable of fathering a male heir, though he has countless daughters borne by his extensive harem of wives and concubines (over 500 and counting!). Thus, much of the political conflict centers around Houses jockeying for power just in case the Emperor dies (he's fairly young) and there is a power vacuum.

First. The patriarchy is real and must be treated as such. The female protagonist is oppressed by it. This is not optional.

This rule is in force if only because the culture is so heavily based on feudal Japan. Noble women have only two main jobs: secure a political alliance through marriage and bear a healthy son to take over as heir when he comes of age. However, both tradition and law allow for a woman to become the Lady of a noble House when there are no more male heirs. This is how Mara becomes Lady of House Acoma. Her father and brother are both killed in battle through treachery from another House. At the time, Mara was attempting to escape oppression by joining a female religious sect (similar to a nunnery). She's quite literally prevented from finalizing her vows when news is brought to her that she is the only Acoma noble left alive. As a Lady, she has all the power of a Lord, though the expectation is still for her to find a suitable husband to become the Lord of her House and then bear his male heirs. Until that happens, she is due all the respect and courtesy of a Lord of her standing.

Second. She is already the key to a better world. She has all the skills she'll need, inherently. She's the Avatar, you just got to deal with it!

No. Mara is *very* aware that she is not prepared to take over the duties of her House. She's only seventeen years old and she has little training in maintaining a large and expansive noble estate. All she has are the lessons she was taught by her father and her tutors, along with her own wits and courage, both of which are considerable, but they do not make her infallible. She is very lucky more than once, but she also makes key missteps that place her and her House in grave danger later on. It takes a long time--several years--before she acquires the confidence, knowledge, and poise necessary for her station.

Third. Her biggest challenge isn’t defeating the antagonist, it's defeating disbelief in her. Men, in particular, won't believe she's as amazing as she really is.

Partially true. As a Lady of a House in a male-dominated society, it's natural that most of the men she encounters will underestimate her, based on her youth, her inexperience, and yes, her gender. However, as she overcomes obstacles, she demonstrates her guts and guile often enough that her enemies start taking her very seriously indeed. The Assembly of Magicians, the single most powerful political faction in the Empire, see her as a direct threat to their absolute rule. No one, not even the Emperor, can overrule the will of the Assembly, as their first charge is the stability of the Empire. Anything that threatens to overthrow that stability will be dispatched swiftly, with prejudice. Mara's strategic decisions threaten to upend millennia of stability. By the end of the second book, she's established herself as a terrifyingly effective ruler in her own right, not to be underestimated.

Fourth: She is better than any male mentor figure. There is nothing that she can be taught by a man regardless of his age, experience, or expertise. The guidance he gives is just another example of mansplaining and must be shot down hard by her. If there is a male mentor then he is the first man that must be defeated.

No. In order for her House to recover and flourish, Mara surrounds herself by numerous male mentors who teach her how to operate her family's holdings, how to maneuver in the Game of the Council, and how to rebuild her House's military strength. She even finds a trusted slave from an alien world (Midkemia, based on feudal Europe) to provide her with guidance and advice. The slave helps her reconnect with her femininity by treating her like a proper lady from his world, instead of as an object to be traded for political favors. Mara explicitly acknowledges this fact in Mistress of the Empire. Both male and female mentors (her nurse and the alien, insectoid cho-ja queen) guide Mara through the perilous world of Tsurani politics. She would never have become the dominant force for change in Tsurani culture without male mentors.

Fifth: She escapes the patriarchy and enters a new world that forces her to prove herself.

Somewhat true. After Mara's disastrous first marriage, she becomes much more reluctant to find a husband, preferring to remain as Lady of her House. When she does remarry, it's for political gain, though she does trust and respect her second husband, and grows to love him deeply. Her second husband--unlike the first--is NOT made into a proper Lord of House Acoma, instead remaining as a consort, with secondary power inside the House's internal political structure. She then has to face new challenges in this role, including leaving the Empire entirely to try and find additional supporters for change outside the boundaries of the Empire.

Sixth: She now breaks the chains that held her back. Usually by confronting her chief male oppressor.

True, but in context, it makes perfect sense that the trajectory of Mara's journey would lead her to this point. In the first two books, her main opponent is House Minwanabi, the mortal enemy of House Acoma. She spends much of her time scheming against their influence in the Imperial Court. They are one of the most powerful families, being descended from the first Five Families of the Empire. It isn't until the end of the second novel that her efforts finally yield results.

Seventh: She is briefly overwhelmed but then bounces back. This is where she levels up her already enormous power.

Somewhat true, but the context matters. Again, the end of the second book establishes Lady Mara of House Acoma as a true force within the Empire. Her efforts on behalf of the Emperor result in her being named as a Servant of the Empire, an honor bestowed only twenty times or so over the past two thousand years. She is adopted into the Imperial family and any offense against her is considered an offense against the Emperor himself. The Assembly of Magicians also declares that she is protected. Can't level up much more than that...or can she?

Eighth: She defeats her male oppressor.

Once again, true to an extent, but the context matters. Mara selected her first husband because she thought he would be more tractable than his older brother. She quickly found out her husband was an abusive, alcoholic asshole who was smarter--or at least more cunning--than most people thought. It takes some time before Mara is able to exploit her husband's weakness, eventually causing her husband to commit ritual suicide for dishonoring himself before his own father as well as the Warlord of the Empire. Mara is only able to defeat male oppressors because she is able to find their weakness and exploit it somehow. She is NOT capable of defeating anyone in open conflict, being a small, petite woman with no combat training whatsoever. She uses the laws and traditions of the Empire as her sword and shield.

Ninth: She is now an independent woman who will never need a man. And she must continue her journey alone. Any other person in her life will hold her back. She will never be a wife or a mother. Those things would all hold her back. If she finds love at all, it's with another woman.

Of all the criteria on this list, it's this one that is defied most, I think. Although Mara grew up mock wrestling with her older brother, she is NOT a tom boy. She very much enjoys being a woman, and knows that she will always be heavily reliant on men to perform services and duties on her behalf. She LOVES being a mother to her children, doting on them constantly, even as she attends to the affairs of her House. She also relies constantly on her Midkemian slave to check some of her harsher impulses and prevent her from making key mistakes. When she chooses to disregard his advice, she tends to regret it. In fact, ignoring the advice of the men around her nearly costs her her life at the end of the second novel, and does result in the death of her beloved nurse, whom she has viewed as her surrogate mother since childhood. Arguably, the society in which she lives *requires* her to be a wife and mother in order to advance her cause. Her husband and children can provide a small measure of protection against rival Houses while she plays the political Game of the Council.

Tenth: Realized self-actualization. She was always a goddess and just needed to believe how awesomely amazing she always was herself.

No. Just no. Mara is a highly intelligent, forceful, and creative woman, who realizes that the society in which she was born into needs significant change. At no time does she believe that she is a goddess, and just needs to unleash the heroine inside herself to change the world. It's a long, hard slog with many setbacks and tragedies along the way. The series takes place over the course of a couple of decades, starting when she was just a seventeen-year-old girl about to join a nunnery for the rest of her life. It takes a tremendous amount of effort, luck, and skill to overcome the challenges the gods set before her, and she could never have done it all on her own. She relies extensively on a network of military might and espionage to keep her family name alive. If anything, it's her belief in the skills and abilities of *others* which lays the foundation for her success. She gives men hope who might never have found it. She raises up the downtrodden and powerless to positions of power and prestige as a reward for their faithful service.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed this series much more than I thought I would. The advantages of age and experience, I suppose. The story of Lady Mara of House Acoma shows the RIGHT way to tell a "GRRRL POWER!" story, with a courageous, intelligent female protagonist who knows her own limitations and strives to overcome them through wisdom and compassion. Growing up in a male-dominated society obsessed with personal honor means she has to find creative ways to defy both tradition and the law in order to accomplish her goals. That she does so to become the most powerful woman in Imperial history is a testament to her abilities over time, not the result of a last minute boss-battle with the representative of the male patriarchy who is keeping her down. Indeed, when Mara does have a final confrontation against the Assembly of Magicians, she knows her only chance of survival is through rhetoric, not strength of arms or magic. Modern writers interested in telling a quality story with a female protagonist could learn a lot from this collaborative effort from Janny Wurts and Raymond E. Feist.

(ht: Quarter Twenty)

BOOKS BY MORONS

Enclosed is information of my recent publication in The Clockwork Tree Conspiracy, titled ... The Quicker the Wit. [Amazon Link - PS]

Amongst the desert tribes, God gave his followers a word to guide their lives. The Siraen worshipers have made a religion of the one command; Struggle. In the world of Îdra, in all lives big and small, war is a constant threat, while peace is a vague promise. God's mind is unreachable.

Led by their new goblin king, Kothak Dhûrz, the uruk-hai army is driven by hunger and terrible purpose. Their land is desolate; the horde must find a new nest. So the horde marches into the dark underground, bringing choking fire and sharpened iron.

A fledgling alliance of dwarves and gnomes stands together against the dark army. Sworn allies, fighting to defend a fortress city built out of shared need. The interminable struggle seems hopeless and unless something changes, the People of the Books will see their world consumed by hunger and fire. The battles between Khuzdul and Uruk-hai will never end when defeated Uruk-hai can still retreat to their unassailable Gloom.

A Great Evil has escaped its prison and fled to a distant land far to the south. The Winter Queen has found sanctuary in icy lands of endless twilight. There she plots to reclaim her past glory and seek vengeance on her past captors. The Winter Queen's imprisonment has filled her with a terrible purpose and she has declared enmity against God and his Creation. She will break the world with a gift. She promises forever.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

Recently I've been reading the cookbook Tasting History, based on the YouTube channel of the same name. It's a fun channel. The guy who runs it, Max Miller, has probably never even touched a weedwhacker, if you get my drift, but his show is entertaining and he does the research. The few errors I've caught him out in are of the "we had to oversimplify because this is a 10-minute video and half of it's about cooking" variety.

I've always been a fan of the Romans and now I have enough recipes to do a full-bore Roman dinner. It would be appropriate to do it in August (geddit?) but I'm inclined to wait for cooler weather to do a big meal of unfamiliar dishes.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 04, 2023 09:25 AM (QZxDR)

Comment: I've seen a few of those videos. They are indeed entertaining, giving you a historical context for the recipes and what it must have been like to cook them back in those days. Modern cooking technology and techniques have come a long way since Roman times...

I'm currently reading The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

I read it in high school, and I've been wanting to revisit it for a few years.

I'm, maybe, a third of the way through the first entry, and I really like the attention to detail, the guarded world building, and the steady pace. I feel like I'm the hands of someone who really knows what they are doing.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, watching some more Best Pictures at June 04, 2023 11:54 AM (LvTSG)

Comment: I picked up the first two books in an omnibus volume at a library book sale last year and it's been in my TBR pile ever since. It's supposed to be one of the landmark series of science fiction stories. I do have GURPS New Sun, which allows you to play a role-playing game set in that world.

I've started reading it and the early parts seem to be a combination of Jack Vance's Dying Earth--as there are references to a dying sun as well as massive changes to the Earth (now called "Urth") over countless eons--and Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast with the descriptions of an ancient, complex Citadel where strange rituals are performed that have lost all meaning, but are still necessary.

I read Jack Carr's latest in his James Reece series, Only The Dead. The dead body count is high even for this series, but while reading I kept asking myself, "I wonder if this is real?" Such as, is there a senator on the Senate Intelligence Committee who is a mole for the Russians? There certainly is a cabal of the elites of the world, think World Economic Forum, who have no allegiance to any particular nation-state. but who are only interested in accruing more wealth and power while keeping the endless war going but keeping it from going nuclear and ruining their game. It's this type of cabal that Reese is fighting in this book. A wonderful thriller.

Posted by: Zoltan at June 04, 2023 09:09 AM (xwsCW)

Comment: How much of this is fact? How much is fiction? The more we learn about the antics of the WEF, you have to wonder if they've just been stealing their material from spy thrillers and dystopian science fiction novels.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (807 Moron-recommended books so far!)

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

• Mistress of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts -- Mara of House Acoma faces her biggest challenges yet: eliminating the largest society of assassins in the Empire, as well as unraveling the mysteries behind the power of the Great Ones.


• The Book of the New Sun Volume 1 - Shadow and Claw by Gene Wolfe -- The first part is an interesting mix of Jack Vance's Dying Earth and Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast.
  

That's about all I have for this week. Thank you for all of your kind words regarding the Sunday Morning Book Thread. This is a very special place. You are very special people (in all the best ways!). The kindness, generosity, and wisdom of the Moron Horde knows no bounds. Let's keep reading!

If you have any suggestions for improvement, reading recommendations, or discussion topics that you'd like to see on the Sunday Morning Book Thread, you can send them to perfessor dot squirrel at-sign gmail dot com. Your feedback is always appreciated! You can also take a virtual tour of OUR library at libib.com/u/perfessorsquirrel. Since I added sections for AoSHQ, I now consider it OUR library, rather than my own personal fiefdom...

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 06-04-23 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Hello book people!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at June 11, 2023 08:59 AM (kGAbD)

2 hiya

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 09:00 AM (T4tVD)

3 Happy Sunday

Posted by: rhennigantx at June 11, 2023 09:00 AM (BRHaw)

4 For you fans of Ballantine Books adult fantasy line, here is a terrific rundown of their titles:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqr1wsiYhQw


How many titles did you have? I saw many covers I remembered from my own shelves and from the racks at my favorite book store growing up. Wish I still had them!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at June 11, 2023 09:01 AM (kGAbD)

5 Nice First Eris !

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 09:01 AM (T4tVD)

6 So, parts of Crimea are full of knowledge!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 09:02 AM (Angsy)

7 I continued my short story streak with "The Year's Best Military and Adventure SF, Volume 5" by Baen (of course it's Baen -- does anybody else extrude mil SF product with such gleeful abandon?).

My two favorite stories were by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Felix R. Savage.

Savage's "The Scrapyard Ship" finds shady business partners Mike and Dolph stranded on a backwater with a junker spacecraft. It's written in a softboiled detective voice ("'Come in', she said with about as much warmth in her voice as a LOX tank.") and I loved the MST3Kish aliases (Will Slaughtermore! Crash Hardlander!). Our protags of course have dubious resumes and are not what they seem.

Rusch's "Once on the Blue Moon" concerns a precocious eleven-year-old girl's attempt to foil the plans of space pirates who have taken over the old liner Blue Moon. Unreformed brat Colette is so devious you almost feel sorry for the perps.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at June 11, 2023 09:02 AM (kGAbD)

8 Thanks JT!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at June 11, 2023 09:03 AM (kGAbD)

9 Tolle Lege
Finished David Walder's Nelson. The biggest issue with the great Admiral I really didn't know about was his affair with Lady Hamilton and the life with him, her and her older husband, what a mess.
Well into TJM' s Colonial Nightmare

Posted by: Skip at June 11, 2023 09:03 AM (xhxe8)

10 Eye didn't kneed to see those pants, but at least it seems a woman is wearing them....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 09:03 AM (Angsy)

11 I don't think the Pants guy owns a weedwhacker. (if you catch my drift....)

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 09:03 AM (T4tVD)

12 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at June 11, 2023 09:04 AM (7EjX1)

13 Thanks JT!
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 09:05 AM (T4tVD)

14 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes.

I've always been a fan of the Romans and now I have enough recipes to do a full-bore Roman dinner. It would be appropriate to do it in August (geddit?) but I'm inclined to wait for cooler weather to do a big meal of unfamiliar dishes.

Posted by: Trimegistus at June 04, 2023 09:25 AM (QZxDR)

That reminds me of a book I have, Madeline Pelner Cosman's Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony. It's a discussion of what people ate in the Middle Ages, how the food was prepared and how it was served. At the end of the book are multiple recipes for modern cooks to try, as well as suggestions for turning your home or gathering place into a mediaeval dining hall.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 11, 2023 09:05 AM (AW0uW)

15 This week I read Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is the second volume of the Final Architecture trilogy. This space opera continues with Idris searching for a weapon with which to fight the Architects, who have returned after an eighty-year absence, and who have begun destroying habited planets again. Lords of Uncreation completes the trilogy.

Posted by: Zoltan at June 11, 2023 09:05 AM (xwsCW)

16 I don't like that flood of knowledge image. Those books are gonna get wet!!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at June 11, 2023 09:06 AM (PiwSw)

17 I would be more impressed with 'these pants' if the eyes opened and closed as each leg moved forward. Otherwise, they are just another 'look at me, aren't I kicky' move of young folks.

Posted by: JTB at June 11, 2023 09:07 AM (7EjX1)

18 Good Sunday morning, horde!

"Tasting History" arrived for me at the library yesterday, so I'll be perusing that this afternoon.

Me, on the way to the grocery store: "Oh, wait, we have to stop at the library, I have a book on hold."

Mr. Dash: "Another one???"

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 09:07 AM (OX9vb)

19 Well into TJM' s Colonial Nightmare

I finished it last week and need to post a review. It's very well done and his portrayal of Washington as a young man in search of himself and his place in the world is excellent. To quote myself, "If George Washington wasn't exactly the man [TJM] portrays. . .well, he should have been."

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 11, 2023 09:07 AM (AW0uW)

20 I think the hamilton affair was common knowledge, of course nelson's name is verboten in the uk for reasons,

Posted by: no 6 at June 11, 2023 09:09 AM (PXvVL)

21 Much of the link about the rules of writing for modern female characters also applies to movies, as described by The Critical Drinker. He is more profane, but it's essentially the same idea, and he describes why the results are so predictably boring.

https://tinyurl.com/3ceefxza

Posted by: Archimedes at June 11, 2023 09:09 AM (eOEVl)

22 There is a movie Lasy Hamilton I am fairly sure but can't say remember much of it, can't wait to see it again someday.

Posted by: Skip at June 11, 2023 09:09 AM (xhxe8)

23 I just finished A.H. Lloyd's Battle Officer Wolf. Great stuff, and I would like to read more, especially to find out of the Corporate Karen gets her comeuppance. Because it is a Moral Imperative* for her to get her comeuppance.



*for those who saw the Val Kilmer movie "Real Genius"

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at June 11, 2023 09:10 AM (PiwSw)

24 Nelson lineage died out as his only offspring was z illegitimate girl from Lady Hamilton.

Posted by: Skip at June 11, 2023 09:11 AM (xhxe8)

25 Much of the link about the rules of writing for modern female characters also applies to movies, as described by The Critical Drinker. He is more profane, but it's essentially the same idea, and he describes why the results are so predictably boring.

https://tinyurl.com/3ceefxza
Posted by: Archimedes at June 11, 2023 09:09 AM (eOEVl)
---
I meant to add that, so thanks for posting this in the comments!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 11, 2023 09:11 AM (BpYfr)

26 First off, what has happened to this site? All the text on my phone has shrunk since Wednesday. It's nearly unreadable.

OK, to books. I finished the first arc of the 1970s Black Panther feature, and that's all I care to read. Although the writer, Don McGregor, introduced characters that have become mainstays in subsequent Panther stories, this arc ran on too long (12 parts) and put the Panther through hell. Every issue saw him being cut or gashed horribly. It these comics had been colored in the '80s, they would have run out of red.

The next story, I have read, had the Panther coming up against the KKK in Georgia. Yawn.

Thank goodness for Christopher Priest.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 09:12 AM (uIu2G)

27 Critical Drinker just yesterday released a video on the Modern Female Protagonist that hit most of the same points.

https://youtu.be/xPE7-PRL0M8

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at June 11, 2023 09:13 AM (9yUzE)

28 This looks like a fun read for those of us who've dreamed of establishing our own domain: "Micronations: the Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations":

https://tinyurl.com/bdhc88y8

My grand plan of becoming Imperatrix of Beaver Island is still in the planning stage.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at June 11, 2023 09:13 AM (kGAbD)

29 First. The patriarchy is real and must be treated as such
----
This has always begged the question. What does it even mean?

I think the biggest problem in feminist fiction is that it is based on an impossible precondition that society can be completely reorganized without regard to religion, tradition and biology and somehow it will not only work, but be an improvement.

It's sort of like artificial gravity on space ships or faster than light travel - two things we have no idea of how we would achieve, but they are a necessary precondition for film adaptations, so we just handwave them away.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:14 AM (llXky)

30 My grand plan of becoming Imperatrix of Beaver Island is still in the planning stage.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at June 11, 2023 09:13 AM (kGAbD)

Can I be First Minister of Whining and M&Ms?

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at June 11, 2023 09:16 AM (PiwSw)

31 My grand plan of becoming Imperatrix of Beaver Island is still in the planning stage.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at June 11, 2023 09:13 AM (kGAbD)

I look forward to relocating!

I am amused by this assurance in wiki's description: "The book is written in a light-hearted and humorous tone."

Sort of a "Do Not Try This At Home" warning.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 09:17 AM (OX9vb)

32 It's sort of like artificial gravity on space ships or faster than light travel - two things we have no idea of how we would achieve, but they are a necessary precondition for film adaptations, so we just handwave them away.

Artificial gravity is doable by spinning the spacecraft, so as to generate a centrifugal force that mimics gravity.

Faster than light travel is a different story.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 11, 2023 09:18 AM (eOEVl)

33 Decided to go ahead and finish reading the juvenile modern western novel, "Tick Tock and Jim, Deputy Sheriffs." It was an easy read, just over two hundred pages.

I think it would work for pre-teen boys, or adventurous pre-teen girls who don't mind a "boy" story. The horse doesn't speak or anything like that, but it does show a bit of internal motivation in its mind interacting with the villains and when it's lost on its own.

Jim runs a delivery service with his horse, and he stumbles onto a dropped box on the side of a road, two men come back for it and take it from him, leading to an adventure and detective story.

Book is from the late 40s, so you'd probably have to find it on resale sites. As such, the adults aren't stupid, just normal parent types, and they do know what they're doing. The kids aren't smarter than the adults, they way society used to be portrayed.

Recommend, if anyone might be interested in that kind of story.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 09:18 AM (Angsy)

34 Am a little ways into Cormac McCarthy's "The Passenger" and liking it a lot.

In the opening, a scene written all in italics, there's this joke:

Mickey Mouse is in divorce court. The judge asks, "Mr Mouse, do I have it correct that you wish to divorce your wife because she is mentally unstable?"

"No, your honor, that's not what I said," goes Mickey.

"Go on," the judge says.

"I said she was fucking Goofy!"

Posted by: Mr Gaga at June 11, 2023 09:19 AM (4ZE6o)

35 I'm still working my way through Ford Madox Ford's mammoth biography by Max Saunders, and the feminist angle is interesting to me because it shows how truly *anti-female* "feminist" reforms are in practice.

I've gotten up to 1911, and Ford is openly living with Violet Hunt while still married to his wife Elsie. He wants a divorce so he can remarry, but she will not agree. "No fault" divorce did not exist, so he couldn't just quit unilaterally. Elsie could sue him for divorce, and he gave her plenty of grounds on the basis of adultery, but she refused to do it.

In fact, she never did. Because she was the wronged party, the decision to dissolve the marriage rested with her. What that did was ensure her continued financial support (she could and did sue him for that).

That's a lot of grrrl power.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:19 AM (llXky)

36 Slowly making my way thru first vol. of Churchill's "HOESP". Up to Longshanks and Bannockburn. All those names I've heard given context.

Posted by: BignJames at June 11, 2023 09:20 AM (AwYPR)

37 Have you read any of the Tomoe Gozen saga by Jessica Amanda Salmonson? It's the first thing I thought of when reading this post. I should read them again and see how they hold up.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 11, 2023 09:20 AM (ouTlx)

38 So, in the reading room pictured above, are you dammed if you do and dammed if you don't?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at June 11, 2023 09:20 AM (odVni)

39 Artificial gravity is doable by spinning the spacecraft, so as to generate a centrifugal force that mimics gravity.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 11, 2023 09:18 AM (eOEVl)
---
Yes, and the depictions of that are few and far between. I give Babylon 5 credit for having the Earth Alliance ships use revolving sections. The Narn just strap themselves in.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:21 AM (llXky)

40 I finished
"We Few: US Special Forces in Vietnam"
By: Nick Brokhausen

This is a memoir of a recon soldier working closely with the Montagnard during the closing period of the Vietnam conflict. I found it engrossing. The ending is disturbing, because losing a war often is that way.

Glad I missed out on that whole bit.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at June 11, 2023 09:22 AM (6zBSC)

41 Family book club read, started this week: Black River by Matthew Spencer. A gritty crime drama set in Australia. Daughter and I have no recollection of ever reading a book set in Australia, so this was her choice.

So far, it's good. I haven't read this author before, so it's either very transparent and easy to figure out, or he's very good at making one think so. I hope for the latter.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 09:22 AM (OX9vb)

42 Hello, have you people never heard of dilithium crystals?

When we find those we will have warp speed. This is known.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 11, 2023 09:23 AM (RIvkX)

43 First off, what has happened to this site? All the text on my phone has shrunk since Wednesday. It's nearly unreadable.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 09:12 AM (uIu2G)

Get a computer to view it on....

Posted by: Chicken Mary, Chicken Annie at June 11, 2023 09:23 AM (Angsy)

44 This is a memoir of a recon soldier working closely with the Montagnard during the closing period of the Vietnam conflict. I found it engrossing. The ending is disturbing, because losing a war often is that way.

Glad I missed out on that whole bit.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at June 11, 2023 09:22 AM (6zBSC)
---
Talking with my 'Nam vet uncle a few weeks ago, I remarked that he was only 0-1, whereas my generation is 0-2. He laughed.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:23 AM (llXky)

45 Hello, have you people never heard of dilithium crystals?

When we find those we will have warp speed. This is known.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 11, 2023 09:23 AM (RIvkX)
---
Aren't they supposed to be brought to us by Jewish space aliens with pointy ears? Or are we now off that timeline?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:25 AM (llXky)

46 Well, I finished reading the DareDevil (by Frank Miller) Omnibus comic book. Now I need to re-watch the DareDevil movie (director's cut, of course). I always knew the movie took certain images directly from that run, but after actually reading it, I noticed they also took at least one line of diologue directly from the comic. Now I'm curious to see exactly how much came directly from the source material...

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 11, 2023 09:27 AM (Lhaco)

47 Yes, and the depictions of that are few and far between. I give Babylon 5 credit for having the Earth Alliance ships use revolving sections. The Narn just strap themselves in.

I've never seen B5, so can't speak to that, but I remember 2001, in which the crew members are running around a spinning track. I'm sure there are many earlier mentions as well.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 11, 2023 09:28 AM (eOEVl)

48 43 First off, what has happened to this site? All the text on my phone has shrunk since Wednesday. It's nearly unreadable.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 09:12 AM (uIu2G)

Get a computer to view it on....
Posted by: Chicken Mary, Chicken Annie at June 11, 2023 09:23 AM (Angsy)

Or turn the phone sideways. Only 200% more scrolling!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 09:28 AM (OX9vb)

49 I think the only other Ford Madox Ford reader on this thread was CN, but if you want a good sample of his work, read The Good Soldier which is still in print.

I find reading Ford's biography fascinating because it gives so much insight into the relationship between experience and fiction. Joseph Conrad figures prominently as to many other standout authors of that era.

This has only cemented my belief that in order to write truly compelling stuff, you need to write what you know and it helps to get out and LIVE. So many authors grow up in suburbia and imbibe nothing but tropes from birth. I think that's why contemporary writing is so blah.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:28 AM (llXky)

50 Book folk! I'll go back up to read Christopher's essay in a moment, but I wanted to check in. This week I finished two non-series crime novels from early in the career of John D. MacDonald, and they were as good as anything else of his I've read: Dead Low Tide from 1953, and The Empty Trap from 1957. Oddly, in the latter there's no indication that it's a later printing, but the dates in the novel are all in 1963 up to about 1967! I suppose the original ms. must have had 1953 to '57, and Fawcett Gold Medal Books "updated" it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 09:28 AM (omVj0)

51 My dad also worked with the Montagnards when he was in Vietnam and used to tell a really gross story involving a ritual using a communal drink composed in part of urine.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 11, 2023 09:29 AM (RIvkX)

52 The ending is disturbing, because losing a war often is that way.

Glad I missed out on that whole bit.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at June 11, 2023 09:22 AM (6zBSC)

We didn't "lose." Traitors gave the victory away.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 09:30 AM (Angsy)

53 I've never seen B5, so can't speak to that, but I remember 2001, in which the crew members are running around a spinning track. I'm sure there are many earlier mentions as well.

Posted by: Archimedes at June 11, 2023 09:28 AM (eOEVl)
---
And the lunar shuttle stewardess wore grippy shoes.

Babylon 5 holds up quite well, though you can (and should) just skip the fifth season. Nice mix of hard science and mysticism.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:31 AM (llXky)

54 I just read through the topics on CRT's grrrl power list. As a 29 yo female who is retired from a reasonably accomplished career, I can't think of any list of premises that I would find more tedious and predictable in a book or movie.

But I've known for a long time that I'm not the intended audience for either Hollywood or legacy publishing.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at June 11, 2023 09:32 AM (fTtFy)

55 There's a cure for feminist fiction, and it's found on the opera stage: Die Zauberflote! I just renewed my acquaintance last week, and was very happy to find out that even in the newest production, there is no way to change its symbolism of darkness/superstition/female vs. light/wisdom/male -- because the MUSIC won't allow it! (Thank you, Herr Mozart, and the angels play your greatest hits for the Almighty in Heaven.) Of course, the story has always had a place for women worthy of enlightenment (got to get that female half of the chorus in there!), and this new production adds a very sweet image at the end of Sarastro forgiving and healing the Queen of the Night. But there will never be a misandrist butchering of this masterpiece, heck no! (NB: As of this writing, the hottest man in showbiz is Ben Bliss of the Metropolitan Opera. Fight me!)

We apologize for the interruption, and now return you to your regularly scheduled book discussion.

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at June 11, 2023 09:32 AM (SPNTN)

56 We didn't "lose." Traitors gave the victory away.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 09:30 AM (Angsy)
---
Still counts as an L either way. Funny how zero of the stories about recruitment and retention problems note the crippling morale effect of the Afghan debacle.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:32 AM (llXky)

57 We didn't "lose."
I agree, but
The author concludes that the result is the same.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at June 11, 2023 09:34 AM (6zBSC)

58 I didn't get much reading done this week but it was a stellar week for accumulating books, many inspired by the Book Thread.

- TJM's "Colonial Nightmare". Just started but so far I really like the way he sets up the characters and context of the place and time. This will be a fun read.
- "Music of The Lord of the Rings Films" by Doug Adams. (No, not THAT Doug Adams.) This is an in-depth study of how Howard Shore developed the music for the films and what made it so effective. It is for LOTR and music nerds but I expect to really enjoy it.
- The Time of the French in the Heart of North America: 1673 - 1818". French settlement in the Old Northwest from the French point of view. An interesting subject (with family connections) of an interesting time.
- Journal of a Cruise" by Admiral David Porter. Sharkman piqued my interest in the book and made me envy his winning that auction for a leather bound copy. I lucked out and found a hardcover version by the Naval Institute Press. I've always had luck with the quality of their editions so I was pleased to find it.

to be continued ...

Posted by: JTB at June 11, 2023 09:35 AM (7EjX1)

59 OK, folks, I've got a golf tourney tomorrow, so I'd better get my things together. See you all on Tuesday.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at June 11, 2023 09:35 AM (AW0uW)

60 This is a somewhat esoteric question, but the Horde is an esoteric group. Does anyone know of a good reference book on surplus arms being imported into the US? I did a little bit of digging around and most of it seems to be gun control scolds denouncing Merchants of Death.

I know a little bit about Interarms and various waves of surplus arriving here, but I'd like to dig a little deeper as it were.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:36 AM (llXky)

61 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes.

I've always been a fan of the Romans and now I have enough recipes to do a full-bore Roman dinner. It would be appropriate to do it in August (geddit?) but I'm inclined to wait for cooler weather to do a big meal of unfamiliar dishes.
Posted by: Trimegistus at June 04, 2023 09:25 AM (QZxDR)

Years ago, I bought a cookbook titled, "Great British Cooking: A Well-Kept Secret".

In it, the was a recipe from the 14th Century .for a dish called, "Hindle Wakes", which involved chicken and prunes as the main ingredients.

It was a very...alien tasting sort of dish. Totally not attuned to the modern palate. The spicing basically was salt and pepper. Along with vinegar since in the 14th century spices which we take as norms would've been hideously expensive. So, more or less like Japanese cuisine, vinegar played(I guess) a major role in flavoring dishes.

End result: I made it twice and no one really liked it. Not even me, though I gave it a second chance. It wasn't horrible or anything. It just was an "uncomfortable" meal that seemed to be either missing something or was 'just wrong".

Though I think it's worth trying.

Posted by: naturalfake at June 11, 2023 09:37 AM (fb7jX)

62 *so we just handwave them away.*

Like the national debt?

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 09:37 AM (DhOHl)

63 I want to give a shout out to Poliwog the Ette, who, late in last week's post, correctly deduced that I had started to read a manga called 'A Bride's Story.' Basically, I saw some of the comic's art, couldn't resist, and bought a bundle of the books on ebay.

Having now read the first five volumes, I can report that the art was everything I had hoped for! Super-detailed renderings of daily life on the central Asian steppes. (Usually I only see that culture drawn when Conan is pillaging it. Or protecting it from being pillaged....) The costumes are glorious! The horses look amazing, the panoramic landscapes are cool, the city life is incredibly detailed. Again, it was everything I wanted.

The story.....well it was better than I expected, but I wasn't expecting much. The manga is a romance/slice-of-life story about a boy and a young woman, and of how they adjust to life after their arranged marriage. Parts of the story are genuinely amusing. But other parts are boring, and some parts are downright awkward and uncomfortable.

But the story is never too terrible for too long, and the art carries it over any rough spots. Overall, I'm glad I bought it.

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 11, 2023 09:37 AM (Lhaco)

64 MPPP plays in golf tournaments? Like Chi-Chi Rodriguez?

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 11, 2023 09:38 AM (RIvkX)

65 I've never seen B5, so can't speak to that, but I remember 2001, in which the crew members are running around a spinning track. I'm sure there are many earlier mentions as well.
Posted by: Archimedes at June 11, 2023

***
I think Kubrick had the spin-for-gravity routine in 2001.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 09:39 AM (omVj0)

66
Is it just me, or have the fictional tales about world domination begun to uncomfortably resemble real life events?

Please refer to Alex Jones for details.

Posted by: irongrampa at June 11, 2023 09:40 AM (KATBx)

67 I know a little bit about Interarms and various waves of surplus arriving here, but I'd like to dig a little deeper as it were.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:36 AM (llXky)
===

Try Armscontrol.org

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 11, 2023 09:40 AM (RIvkX)

68 Chai-Chai Rod-Dri-Gway.

Posted by: Les Nessman at June 11, 2023 09:41 AM (uIu2G)

69 so many books...so little time...

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at June 11, 2023 09:42 AM (CcOog)

70 That reminds me of a book I have, Madeline Pelner Cosman's Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony. It's a discussion of what people ate in the Middle Ages, how the food was prepared and how it was served. At the end of the book are multiple recipes for modern cooks to try, as well as suggestions for turning your home or gathering place into a mediaeval dining hall.
-------------
Any unicorn recipes??

https://tinyurl.com/5df25x98

[Link for picture only; not political threadjacking.]

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at June 11, 2023 09:42 AM (Vwz3I)

71 Been reading "The Forgotten 500" by Gregory A. Freeman. Details the plan and execution of rescuing downed B-24 crewmen in Serbia.
Of particular interest as a friends Grandpa was a 40 mission belly gunner vet from the bombing runs into the oil fields in Romania.
He used to say he used up all of his lifetimes worth of body heat on those runs. Thus why he always wore a heavy jacket, even in 110° summer days.

Posted by: Reforger at June 11, 2023 09:44 AM (B705c)

72 I joined "Reedsy" a couple of weeks ago to see what kind of writing help I could find there. I found a link to a site, "Horror Tree," that has links to various writing contests. There was a link to a contest ending June 15, for Propagule Magazine.

It looks like they want strange stories, they pay $5 for 1k words up to $20. If anyone's interested.

https://propagule.submittable.com/submit

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 09:44 AM (Angsy)

73 Just finished the last of the Terminal list series by Jack Carr.... Highly recommend

Posted by: It's me donna at June 11, 2023 09:45 AM (bs+z0)

74 Ciampino's Rescue kitties

https://is.gd/WQ5JcT
There's another photo update #79 at the link.
Take a look if interested. Make sure to click on
"See Older Updates" as well if it's your first time.
https://is.gd/WQ5JcT

ALSO LIVE STREAMING!! - Biscuits' BABIES ON WEBCAM

https://www.twitch.tv/kittenwatch

Posted by: Ciampino - On a coffee mug: Sorry I'm booked at June 11, 2023 09:45 AM (qfLjt)

75 I have the latest "Saga of the Forgotten Warrior" novel but I haven't started it. I was waiting for the Audible so that Mrs Hades and I could listen to it whilst traveling, but it doesn't look like it will be out soon enough for that.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at June 11, 2023 09:46 AM (CcOog)

76 It looks like they want strange stories, they pay $5 for 1k words up to $20. If anyone's interested.

https://propagule.submittable.com/submit

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023

***
OrangeEnt, you sent me a revision of your story, but I didn't get to it on Friday. I'll read it tomorrow.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 09:47 AM (omVj0)

77 Book puns?
Why is John Milton a terrible guest at game nights? Because when he’s around, there’s a pair of dice lost.

(I'm not hiding yet)

More groaners?

Posted by: Ciampino - What do you call 20 mockingbirds? Two kilo mockingbird. at June 11, 2023 09:49 AM (qfLjt)

78 This is a somewhat esoteric question, but the Horde is an esoteric group. Does anyone know of a good reference book on surplus arms being imported into the US?

You might ask on the gun thread this evening. Likely suspects would be whig, JTB, and Ed L.

Posted by: Oddbob at June 11, 2023 09:50 AM (nfrXX)

79 Currently I'm reading Frames, the first of Loren D. Estleman's mystery series about Valentino, a film archivist in modern (ca. 2007) LA who turns detective. (He's not related to or descended from Rudolph Valentino, but he looks a little like the actor. Older people recognize the name, but younger people don't unless they are serious film buffs.) The first novel opens with him buying a decrepit historic movie palace in the city, as a place to live. He discovers two things in the building: what may be the complete version of von Stroheim's thought-to-be-lost silent, Greed . . . and a decades-old skeleton revealed by a collapsed basement wall.

MP4, are you familiar with this series? It's modern day, but deals extensively with historical films from the '20s and later.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 09:52 AM (omVj0)

80 I'm on page 135 of some book titled "Long Live Death: The Keys To Victory in the Spanish Civil War". Chapter title "Italy Goes All In: The CTV". An interesting book. The 1930s certainly set the field for world-wide holocaust to follow. A. H. (so far in the book) gives a brief mention of the political turmoil in France; the Balkans were bubbling, and the US was in full isolationist mode. But Spain went straight to the knife, an existential affair that one can see dimly in the modern period-piece Spanish telenovelas. "Long Live Death" is an essential guide, a welcome survey, to the military and naval campaigns of the SCW. The Nationalist side, and its leadership finally have their story told. Well done, A. H.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 09:52 AM (rj6Yv)

81 @77 --

Oh, you want to talk puns?

I refer you to "The Pun Also Rises," about the origins of the pun.

Another of my unfinished books.

The guilt, it do build up.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 09:53 AM (uIu2G)

82 I finished a book by Thomas Perry this week, A Small Town, I needed something that I could read at intervals and still retain the plot without missing a beat. It was a good read, lots of action. I may have to reread The Butcher's Boy, and Metzger's Dog, two of his novels that I enjoyed many years back. I am off to get my haircut, I hope that you all enjoy a lovely day.

Posted by: Debby Doberman Schultz at June 11, 2023 09:54 AM (a4EWo)

83 The newly minted Mrs. Exile and I finally finished Eye of the World (fantasy, book 1 of Wheel of Time) while relaxing on a beach. We started the book when we first met and then life interrupted Robert Jordan’s wordy adventure.

We still promptly checked out the second book.

Posted by: Corona exile-back_in_exile at June 11, 2023 09:54 AM (Yftzv)

84 Ss far as cooking, this woman is a master at cooking on a fireplace:

https://youtu.be/T6dtwh7WoRQ

The channel is now called Frontier Patriot, if you like it. I love to read old cookbooks but am not inspired to try medieval cooking.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 11, 2023 09:54 AM (ouTlx)

85 Last time I checked the Mexican cartels have weapons intended for Ukraine.
Which can only mean that Ukraine is selling them.
Not to mention the weapons we left in Afghanistan...

Posted by: gourmand du jour at June 11, 2023 09:55 AM (6zBSC)

86 To compliment the Feminist Heroine's Journey article linked in the post, here's Nerdrotic's summary of the 'Her-o's Journey;' She starts off awesome, and her challenge is to realize how awesome she already is.

Amir, the (initial) bride in the 'A Brides' Story' manga I just read, utterly fails both versions of the journey. Nonetheless, she is one of the most amusing examples of the 'girl with superpowers' trope I've seen in quite some time. Granted, she doesn't really have superpowers, just basic steppe nomad skills: She's a master with a bow and arrow, and an expert horse-rider, at least compared to her village-dwelling in-laws. This story works because it plays her uniqueness for laughs, as opposed to mary-sue style glorification.

Best example: Amir makes a friend, and said friend gives her some bread to add to the family dinner. Amir has no return gift at hand, so she rushes inside to fetch her bow, and then shoots a goose out the sky while standing on her front porch. She then gives the goose to her befuddled friend (who watched the whole thing) and quips that "They're very tasty roasted."

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 11, 2023 09:55 AM (Lhaco)

87 More groaners?
-----------
At least Milton's mom wasn't a Trollope.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at June 11, 2023 09:56 AM (Vwz3I)

88 continued from 58 ...
The "Journal of a Cruise" book Sharkman discussed led to a similar one: "Memoirs of Service Afloat During the War Between the States" by Raphael Semmes, Captain of the Confederate raider Alabama. Still waiting on that one but it's naval history and I'm in the mood for an unreconstructed rebel's viewpoint.

The local library actually had two books I was looking for" "The Secret Language of Color" mentioned on the thread and one about habitat for local nature. That one is a little too greenie-weenie for my taste but the approach is sound.

The accumulation of the last seven days could keep me reading for weeks at this point. Please keep your book suggestions and interesting observations to a minimum for a month or so until I catch up. Thank you.

Posted by: JTB at June 11, 2023 09:56 AM (7EjX1)

89 I also finished one of Loren D. Estleman's Amos Walker private-eye stories, one with a dynamite title: You Know Who Killed Me. Walker's stories have chronicled Detroit and its horrendous decline since 1980. Now, it seems, he spends more of his time (sensibly) in the suburbs than in Detroit proper. His Iroquois Heights (fictitious?) is drawn as even more corrupt than Chandler's Bay City, his name for Santa Monica.

Estelman is one of the few modern PI writers who can turn a phrase as well as Chandler did.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 09:58 AM (omVj0)

90 4 For you fans of Ballantine Books adult fantasy line, here is a terrific rundown of their titles:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqr1wsiYhQw

Posted by: All Hail Eris

Y'know, that same video popped up on my feed a couple times this week, I was just waiting for a time to watch it. I doubt I'll have read too many of those books, but we'll see....

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 11, 2023 09:58 AM (Lhaco)

91 The accumulation of the last seven days could keep me reading for weeks at this point. Please keep your book suggestions and interesting observations to a minimum for a month or so until I catch up. Thank you.
Posted by: JTB at June 11, 2023 09:56 AM (7EjX1)
----
"Request denied!" -- The Management

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 11, 2023 09:58 AM (BpYfr)

92 The protagonist in the novel I am writing now (almost finished, beta readers solicited) is a strong woman, but not the modern archetype. She's smarter than most, but not all, of the people around her. She's very good at her job, but she's been doing it for eighty years. And she makes mistakes, some of which get people killed, including people she cares about.

Hence the trigger warning I asked about last week.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at June 11, 2023 09:58 AM (9yUzE)

93 Wolfus--

I read "Frames" quite a while ago and remember liking it. I need to re-read it.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at June 11, 2023 09:58 AM (fTtFy)

94 "...and then shoots a goose out the sky while standing on her front porch. She then gives the goose to her befuddled friend (who watched the whole thing) and quips that "They're very tasty roasted."
Posted by: Castle Guy at June 11, 2023 09:55 AM (Lhaco)

That's a horror story!

Posted by: The Aflac Duck at June 11, 2023 09:58 AM (PiwSw)

95 I'm reading a book called A Princess of Roumania which is a kind of a fantasy novel. The titular princess comes from a parallel universe in which magic works and is stashed in this world for reasons that, well, honestly I'm not too clear on. There are some sort of political machinations that are going on. I guess.

It's not really to my taste. The novelist, Paul Park, has written a book full of long descriptive passages and the dialog often reads as if it's a transcript from a movie. Multiple characters will often have different conversations going on the same page, and it would be much easier to follow if it was taking place on a screen instead of on a page. I suppose if I was the sort of someone who turned books into movies in my head it would be okay, but that's not how I read stories.

It flows pretty well, though, so it's not a difficult read. The thing is, I'm almost done with the book which brings the story to a definite middle. However, I haven't really followed the plot up to that point so I'm not encouraged to even consider the sequels.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 11, 2023 09:59 AM (iZEhM)

96 One can imagine the memos received by federal investigators making queries: "Shut up" and "Close out", "Denied","Report to this office", "Incomplete", "Hearsay", etc., etc.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 09:59 AM (rj6Yv)

97 For you fans of Ballantine Books adult fantasy line, here is a terrific rundown of their titles:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqr1wsiYhQw

Posted by: All Hail Eris

Y'know, that same video popped up on my feed a couple times this week, I was just waiting for a time to watch it. I doubt I'll have read too many of those books, but we'll see....
Posted by: Castle Guy at June 11, 2023 09:58 AM (Lhaco)
---
I also watched that video recently. The history of publishing has some interesting successes and failures. Arkham House was created solely to keep Lovecraft's writings alive...Without it, he probably would have faded into obscurity.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 11, 2023 10:00 AM (BpYfr)

98 I know a little bit about Interarms and various waves of surplus arriving here, but I'd like to dig a little deeper as it were.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 09:36 AM (llXky)

I think Classic Firearms talks about what they get. The CMP if you want to know about US surplus returned from foreign gov'ts.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 10:00 AM (Angsy)

99

made this
recommendation before:
I tried many browsers on
phone, to compare.

STARGON
(Chinese browser)
has been outstanding
(+ also OPERA GX)
very nimble + versatile.

Problem-Solved with
responsive browser!
I tried + deleted many
popular browsers.

Posted by: zigzag at June 11, 2023 10:00 AM (O1MpD)

100 In college my group of friends put on medieval feasts that were a lot of fun. I had a cookbook, and another friend was a good cook. We would serve food in trenchers, hollowed-out round bread loaves, and I always had one "weird" course that could never be found in modern cooking. Sometimes it was so good I kept cooking it for myself. The salad with dried fruit and dressing made with brown sugar and vinegar was another surprising crowd favorite (it sound horrible but somehow the flavors came together). Oh, and we had to make almond milk from scratch because you couldn't buy it in stores back then. Now we have it on tap at Costco...

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at June 11, 2023 10:00 AM (lA5hY)

101 I got tired of the Jesse Stone character, not because the character changed with different authors taking over, but too much of the same. So I went back to Frederick Forsythe and started with 'The Fourth Protocol'. Nothing like the movie (Michael Caine, Brosnan), which is an excellent screenplay and well acted, except for the theme. Very good book. Then I tried a few others that I hadn't read and couldn't get into them. However 'The Veteran and Other Stories', 4 short stories, was very good. I have already read and/or seen the movies of "The Dogs of War", "The Day Of The Jackal" (purchased at Jan Smuts as reading on my flight JHB-Rome-NYC on Boxing Day 1973).
Now I'm reading "The Odessa File" - seen the movie.

Posted by: Ciampino - Brontë? What a breath of fresh Eyre at June 11, 2023 10:02 AM (qfLjt)

102 Wolfus--

I read "Frames" quite a while ago and remember liking it. I need to re-read it.
Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at June 11, 2023

***
Estleman also writes very good Sherlock Holmes pastiches -- his first published novel, in the '70s, was Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula -- and some of the best modern Westerns out there. He's been in the biz for nearly 50 years.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 10:02 AM (omVj0)

103 The newly minted Mrs. Exile…

Assuming that means what I think it means, congratulations. Are you the Moron formerly known as “In Exile?”

Posted by: Oddbob at June 11, 2023 10:03 AM (nfrXX)

104 The next story, I have read, had the Panther coming up against the KKK in Georgia. Yawn.

Thank goodness for Christopher Priest.
Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 09:12 AM (uIu2G)

I sometimes wonder if stories like that always felt played-out and trite, or if readers actually thought they were meaningful at the time. But, yeah, nowadays there are few things more boring than raaaaaacicisism-is-bad.

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 11, 2023 10:04 AM (Lhaco)

105 Alabama vs. Kearsarge, bookmarked from one of CBD's French paintings last week.

https://donhollway.com/alabama-kearsarge/

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at June 11, 2023 10:04 AM (Vwz3I)

106
Catturd ™

@catturd2

The people who turn the wrenches to make this country work love Trump … I’m talking about the farmers, truckers, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, the people who move dirt and the people who build things. The backbone of America absolutely loves President Trump. The media can paint him as a villain all they want but everywhere President Trump goes he’s treated like a rockstar by the people.

Posted by: MikeN at June 11, 2023 10:05 AM (DiDqL)

107 . . . The novelist, Paul Park, has written a book full of long descriptive passages and the dialog often reads as if it's a transcript from a movie. Multiple characters will often have different conversations going on the same page, and it would be much easier to follow if it was taking place on a screen instead of on a page. I suppose if I was the sort of someone who turned books into movies in my head it would be okay, but that's not how I read stories. . . .

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 11, 2023

***
If I tried to pull that in a story, my writing group people would be all over me. I do picture a novel as a film as I read, but even then it's got to be clear what's going on.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 10:05 AM (omVj0)

108 OrangeEnt, you sent me a revision of your story, but I didn't get to it on Friday. I'll read it tomorrow.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 09:47 AM (omVj0)

Ok!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 10:06 AM (Angsy)

109 I wish I was an archetype!

Posted by: george costanza at June 11, 2023 10:06 AM (Vwz3I)

110 Why do royalty and nobility hold such fascination?

Is it because these are fabulously wealthy people who don't have to work for a living?

Or is it the detailed genealogy, particularly as to the order of succession?

Or both?

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 10:06 AM (uIu2G)

111 I'm currently reading YAZ by Carl Yastremski and Gerald Eskenazi.

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 10:07 AM (T4tVD)

112 The Nationalist side, and its leadership finally have their story told. Well done, A. H.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 09:52 AM (rj6Yv)
---
Glad you liked it! Last night I rewatched The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and for the first time realized it was about the Spanish Civil War, not the US one.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:08 AM (llXky)

113 It was from either Classic or Interarms that I received (via the FFL dealer, of course) my Star PD chambered in .45 ACP. A fine little pistol that was light and worked near-flawlessly. But the firearm reviewers were right. It was built for the standard military FMJ cartridge. After I traded the Star for a Colt, the guy who bought the Star promptly loaded it with +P ammo, and, boy, was he surprised.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 10:08 AM (rj6Yv)

114 Thanks for The Book Thread , Perfesser !

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 10:09 AM (T4tVD)

115 I got tired of the Jesse Stone character, not because the character changed with different authors taking over, but too much of the same. . . .
Posted by: Ciampino - Bront�? What a breath of fresh Eyre at June 11, 2023

***
The high-water mark of Parker's own Jesse Stone novels was the one depicting his affair with Parker's female PI, Sunny Randall. Though that might have been issued in the Sunny series rather than as a Jesse novel. Spenser's long-time lady friend Susan Silverman appears as a psychotherapist in one of the Sunny Randalls, too -- maybe even the same one.

Amazing, though, how perfectly Tom Selleck embodies the character in the TV-movies, though JS is drawn as being in his thirties when the series begins, and Selleck is older.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 10:09 AM (omVj0)

116 Why do royalty and nobility hold such fascination?

Is it because these are fabulously wealthy people who don't have to work for a living?
Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 10:06 AM (uIu2G)
----
A big part of it is that royalty are the few historical figures that have any sort of personal documentation. If you want to know what life was like in 14th Century France, you'll lean heavily on these sources.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:10 AM (llXky)

117 Last night I rewatched The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and for the first time realized it was about the Spanish Civil War, not the US one.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023

***
There was a Spanish CW in the late 1800s too? If it were the 1937 one, we should expect to see German Stuka dive bombers, and Robert Jordan on his mission to "blow the bridge"!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 10:12 AM (omVj0)

118 If you want to know what life was like in 14th Century France, you'll lean heavily on these sources.
---------------
Happy Hours are here again!

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at June 11, 2023 10:12 AM (Vwz3I)

119 My daughter has a supplemental reading assignment for AP English. She has 4 books to choose from. 2 on racism, one on "gurl" power, and one about overcoming poverty/dysfunctional family life. Guess which one had the adult content warning?

Posted by: lin-duh at June 11, 2023 10:12 AM (UUBmN)

120 Please keep your book suggestions and interesting observations to a minimum for a month or so until I catch up. Thank you.
Posted by: JTB at June 11, 2023 09:56 AM (7EjX1)
----
"Request denied!" -- The Management
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 11, 2023 09:58 AM (BpYfr)

LOL. I have a bundle of scraps of paper upon which I've written titles suggested as many as ten (? how long has book thread been happening) years ago. There will be no catching up, ever.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 10:14 AM (OX9vb)

121 My daughter has a supplemental reading assignment for AP English. She has 4 books to choose from. 2 on racism, one on "gurl" power, and one about overcoming poverty/dysfunctional family life. Guess which one had the adult content warning?
Posted by: lin-duh at June 11, 2023

***
Have her read David Westheimer's Von Ryan's Express and in her report extol the virtues of the U.S. military in the conflict with Italy and Germany. That'll make her unpopular with the teacher.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 10:14 AM (omVj0)

122 I think Classic Firearms talks about what they get. The CMP if you want to know about US surplus returned from foreign gov'ts.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 10:00 AM (Angsy)
---
I have a theory that a lot of Spanish Civil War weapons in the US didn't come from Spain, but from France. When Franco invaded Catalonia in late '38, resistance collapsed very quickly, and huge numbers of Republican soldiers fled across the border, bringing their weapons with them. There are photos of just piles of riles being gathered by French troops. I bet a bunch of that came over here, I'm just trying to figure out how I can document it.

A lot of arms trade stuff seems to focus on that it's bad, so bad, run by bad bad bad people. I just want the bare facts, not a morality lecture.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:15 AM (llXky)

123 A big part of it is that royalty are the few historical figures that have any sort of personal documentation. If you want to know what life was like in 14th Century France, you'll lean heavily on these sources. - AH Lloyd

The anomaly is that the best-documented person of the 15th century was a peasant girl born in a backwater village named Domremy.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 10:15 AM (rj6Yv)

124 The Carlist Wars (Spanish: guerras carlistas, Basque: karlistadak) were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. [...]

The Third Carlist War (1872–1876) began in the aftermath of the deposition of one ruling monarch and the abdication of another. Queen Isabella II was overthrown by a conspiracy of liberal generals in 1868, and left Spain in some disgrace. The Cortes (Parliament) replaced her with Amadeo, the Duke of Aosta (and second son of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy). Then, when the Spanish elections of 1872 resulted in government violence against Carlist candidates and a swing away from Carlism, the Carlist pretender, Carlos VII, decided that only force of arms could win him the throne. Thus the Third Carlist War began; it lasted for four years, until 1876.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at June 11, 2023 10:16 AM (Vwz3I)

125 The anomaly is that the best-documented person of the 15th century was a peasant girl born in a backwater village named Domremy.
Posted by: mrp

The musical scales were named for her.

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 10:16 AM (T4tVD)

126 As mentioned above, I've been reading Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. It's a very strange story. Wolfe uses the narrative device of a "translated memoir" of the main character who lives in the far, far distant future. Thus, the "original" story has many words and phrases that would make no sense to us, so Wolfe "translates" the story into the closes analog he can find.

So it becomes a bit of a game to determine which words might be real and which ones are complete fake...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 11, 2023 10:16 AM (BpYfr)

127 The protagonist in the novel I am writing now (almost finished, beta readers solicited) is a strong woman, but not the modern archetype. She's smarter than most, but not all, of the people around her. She's very good at her job, but she's been doing it for eighty years. And she makes mistakes, some of which get people killed, including people she cares about.

Hence the trigger warning I asked about last week.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at June 11, 2023 09:58 AM (9yUzE)

cough "AoS online writer's group" cough.
h/t WA

Perfessor?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 10:17 AM (Angsy)

128 I don't know. I just don't see archetype coming from you.

Posted by: Jerry Seinfeld at June 11, 2023 10:17 AM (DhOHl)

129 Whoa! That's a whole lotta mansplainin'!

And the Lord sayeth, "Taketh a man's seed, taketh the seed and have babies!"

And they all struggled thru life happily ever after!

Posted by: Dr. Bone at June 11, 2023 10:18 AM (KVGVf)

130 Mornin', all!

Question for the Reading Horde: What do you look for in your reading furniture?

I have fallen out of the habit of reading for fun because if I pick up a good book, nothing happens that needs to happen until I'm finished. I read A Canticle For Liebowitz in one day. I want to read, but my furniture is no longer comfortable for it, whether that be because I'm older (not Taylor Lorenz old, or anything, and not Lizzo heavy either) or because it is older. I need to get some new stuff, but thanks to financial constraints I have time to figure out what I want.

So tell me what you love!

Posted by: Catherine at June 11, 2023 10:19 AM (ZSsrh)

131 There was a Spanish CW in the late 1800s too? If it were the 1937 one, we should expect to see German Stuka dive bombers, and Robert Jordan on his mission to "blow the bridge"!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 10:12 AM (omVj0)
---
There were two Spanish civil wars in the 19th Century ("the Carlist wars") which were about the royal succession.

What I meant was that the aesthetic and mood are more appropriate to Spain than the far western US. Troops fighting waaay out west didn't have massive artillery parks or build huge fortified lines, it was mostly raids and skirmishes.

The whole aesthetic is of a European war fought by conscripts, not rangy American volunteers out west.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:19 AM (llXky)

132 128 I don't know. I just don't see archetype coming from you.
Posted by: Jerry Seinfeld at June 11, 2023 10:17 AM (DhOHl)

Face it, George, you're not archetype-worthy.

Posted by: Elaine Benes at June 11, 2023 10:19 AM (PiwSw)

133 *A lot of arms trade stuff seems to focus on that it's bad, so bad, run by bad bad bad people.*

This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: Daddy Warbucks at June 11, 2023 10:19 AM (DhOHl)

134 @122 --

"The Dogs of War" has a section on acquiring weapons.

Even the black market is more complicated than movies make it out to be.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 10:21 AM (uIu2G)

135 110 Why do royalty and nobility hold such fascination?

Is it because these are fabulously wealthy people who don't have to work for a living?

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 10:06 AM (uIu2G)

Wealth, and the lifestyle that comes with it, is inherently interesting to read about. And from a fiction/narrative perspective, royal characters have time to do story-stuff, without worrying about boring work-stuff interrupting the narrative. Also, all their decisions have higher stakes (the fate nations, and such) than non-royalty.

Posted by: Castle Guy at June 11, 2023 10:21 AM (Lhaco)

136 112
Glad you liked it! Last night I rewatched The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and for the first time realized it was about the Spanish Civil War, not the US one.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:08 AM (llXky)
----
I don't think they had Mountain Men as scouts in Spain. Nor Graycoats and Bluecoats. Yes it was shot in Spain but is supposed to take place somewhere in the SE US. Note the Army scene outside the hotel window while he's cleaning his gun. I don't remember the Spaniards fighting with cavalry.

Posted by: Ciampino - You're nothing but a Wilde thing at June 11, 2023 10:21 AM (qfLjt)

137 The anomaly is that the best-documented person of the 15th century was a peasant girl born in a backwater village named Domremy.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 10:15 AM (rj6Yv)
---
Yes, when information is found on non-nobles, it's a big deal.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:21 AM (llXky)

138 *Yes, when information is found on non-nobles, it's a big deal.*

It helps if you keep a diary.

Posted by: Anne Frank at June 11, 2023 10:23 AM (DhOHl)

139 Catherine

Check out yard sales and Estate Sales.

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 10:24 AM (T4tVD)

140 SPIRIT SINISTER:

Well; be it so. My argument is that War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading. So I back Bonaparte for the reason that he will give pleasure to posterity.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at June 11, 2023 10:24 AM (Vwz3I)

141 I don't remember the Spaniards fighting with cavalry.

Italians fought in every war in Europe for centuries. All Italian war movies are about the Italian experience of war, not about the war supposedly depicted.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at June 11, 2023 10:25 AM (jYCXf)

142 Regarding female heroes in books...I would assume that a number of these books were written with male protagonists, but the publishers sent them back saying "Make your lead a woman and we'll talk."

I get a number of "free or cheap" ebook emails, and every time I look at, say, a science fiction novel and the description starts out, "Ex-mercenary Josephine leads her tough band of space marines" I just move on.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at June 11, 2023 10:25 AM (CHHv1)

143 What I meant was that the aesthetic and mood are more appropriate to Spain than the far western US. Troops fighting waaay out west didn't have massive artillery parks or build huge fortified lines, it was mostly raids and skirmishes.

The whole aesthetic is of a European war fought by conscripts, not rangy American volunteers out west.
-AH Lloyd

I think the biggest battle waay out West, even more westerly than Pea Ridge, AR, was the Battle of Glorietta Pass. Not much of a battle compared to the engagements in the East, but decisive enough to close out Confederate ambitions in the West.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 10:25 AM (rj6Yv)

144 I don't think they had Mountain Men as scouts in Spain. Nor Graycoats and Bluecoats. Yes it was shot in Spain but is supposed to take place somewhere in the SE US. Note the Army scene outside the hotel window while he's cleaning his gun. I don't remember the Spaniards fighting with cavalry.

Posted by: Ciampino - You're nothing but a Wilde thing at June 11, 2023 10:21 AM (qfLjt)
---
Obviously, it's supposed to be set in the US, but the crew was Spanish (or Italian) so their sense of the civil war was the one they knew best. The US troops are super-spiffy for a bunch of cowboy volunteers, and there's I think some irony because blue was the color of the Falange (note the roadside execution they carry out).

I don't mean it was a purposeful metaphor or anything, just that it was influenced by the Spanish perspective. I've got a blog post that goes into more detail in my nick.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:26 AM (llXky)

145 So tell me what you love!
Posted by: Catherine at June 11, 2023 10:19 AM (ZSsrh)

No furnature here. 4 my pillow King size pillows in the corner of the bed againt the headboard, adjust to liking and a hot pad in the small of my back. Read until unconcious.

Posted by: Reforger at June 11, 2023 10:27 AM (B705c)

146
I don't think they had Mountain Men as scouts in Spain. Nor Graycoats and Bluecoats. Yes it was shot in Spain but is supposed to take place somewhere in the SE US. Note the Army scene outside the hotel window while he's cleaning his gun. I don't remember the Spaniards fighting with cavalry.
Posted by: Ciampino - You're nothing but a Wilde thing

New Mexico, 1962, Battle of Glorieta Pass are loosely the setting for TGTB&TU. That Tuco shouts, "Hurrah for General Lee!" and "Down with General Grant!" at a time (February 1862) when neither man had made his bones in their respective forces is one measure of how loosely based on historical facts the whole enterprise is.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 10:27 AM (pNxlR)

147 When I have trouble sleeping I sometimes read comments on Amazon for books that might interest me, especially books on history written by the participants. That was one of the things that made me order a copy of the Raphael Semmes book. The more the complaints about how primitive/offensive/evil and so on the author is, compared to the commenter's snowflake views, the more likely I am to enjoy and find it valuable.

BTW, if you want some smiles and laughs, read the reviews of the Deplorable Gourmet. There is some funny stuff there.

Posted by: JTB at June 11, 2023 10:27 AM (7EjX1)

148 >My argument is that War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading.
::
I've read somewhere that Jews divide history into two parts:
1) Wars
2) The Time Between Wars

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 10:29 AM (DhOHl)

149 >>"The Dogs of War" has a section on acquiring weapons.

>>Even the black market is more complicated than movies make it out to be.


Prelude to Terror connects a lot of dots. Not surprisingly, Adnan Khashoggi is at the center of it.

Posted by: JackStraw at June 11, 2023 10:29 AM (ZLI7S)

150 Tuco shouts, "Hurrah for General Lee!" and "Down with General Grant!"
-----------
ding ding ding

Posted by: Uncle Tio at June 11, 2023 10:29 AM (Vwz3I)

151 Oh, and the Spanish cavalry was a factor, especially early in the Spanish Civil War when the fronts were very fluid. The Moroccan Regulares were particularly feared and effective.

Once things settled down, they were useful as scouts and patrols.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:29 AM (llXky)

152 3/4 through the Leonardo Da Vinci biography. I now wish I hadn't read it and continued with my knowledge of him limited to conventional wisdom. I don't think the author intended on downgrading people's opinion of Da Vinci.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 10:30 AM (YKqKD)

153 Does someone need a pillow?

Posted by: Mike Lindell at June 11, 2023 10:31 AM (DhOHl)

154 JT now we know where 15th Century Lesbian Poetry came from

Posted by: Skip at June 11, 2023 10:32 AM (xhxe8)

155 154 JT now we know where 15th Century Lesbian Poetry came from
Posted by: Skip at June 11, 2023 10:32 AM (xhxe

Castle Anthrax.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at June 11, 2023 10:33 AM (PiwSw)

156 So tell me what you love!
Posted by: Catherine at June 11, 2023 10:19 AM (ZSsrh)


I have a hand-made mission style big-ass rocking chair that my grandmother gave to me. No upholstery on it, so I have some lawn furniture-type cushions over the slatted seat, which makes it comfortable to sit in and read, but not so comfortable that I fall asleep in it.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 10:33 AM (OX9vb)

157 My guilty pleasure this week has been Prehistoric: A Dinosaur Anthology by Hunter Shea et al, a collection of stories concerning dinosaurs and such. Several stories are quite good if you like dinosaur rampages; however, this being 2023, there's one real turd in the punch bowl. Cult of the Cretaceous by the aforementioned Hunter Shea is about a queer government agent who has bred and trained armored Ankylosaurs to attack a radical Christian compound who have attacked elementary schools to bring on the Apocalypse. You know, like Christians are prone to do.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 10:33 AM (FVME7)

158 See you later.

I need my late-morning snooze now or I'll be too upset for my afternoon snooze.

Posted by: andycanuck (Vwz3I) at June 11, 2023 10:34 AM (Vwz3I)

159 Da Vinci (and others) -- Can't remember who it was who said "One should never meet a man whose work one admires -- the man is always so much less than the work." I've read a number of biographies of writers whose work I like, and more often than not I've come away with a large helping of didn't-need-to-know-quite-that-much.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 11, 2023 10:35 AM (a/4+U)

160 A lot of arms trade stuff seems to focus on that it's bad, so bad, run by bad bad bad people. I just want the bare facts, not a morality lecture.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:15 AM (llXky)

Scant chance of that in this climate, A.H.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 10:36 AM (Angsy)

161 "The Dogs of War" has a section on acquiring weapons.

Even the black market is more complicated than movies make it out to be.

Posted by: Weak Geek at June 11, 2023 10:21 AM (uIu2G)
---
Yeah, and the fact that Sam Cummings worked for the CIA makes any attempt to track Interarms' operations a serious exercise in sifting through polemics to find actual data.

Getting copies of Small Arms of the World and Handguns of the World showed me how much those folks rely on those reference books today. I'm just wondering if there's a similar book on US imports that serious collectors use.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:37 AM (llXky)

162 Speaking of that gal from Domremy, I have a copy of Mark Twain's Joan of Arc. It's been sitting on my shelf unread for several years. Have any of you read this? Should I move it up in the TBR queue?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 10:37 AM (OX9vb)

163 Da Vinci (and others) -- Can't remember who it was who said "One should never meet a man whose work one admires -- the man is always so much less than the work." I've read a number of biographies of writers whose work I like, and more often than not I've come away with a large helping of didn't-need-to-know-quite-that-much.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 11, 2023 10:35 AM (a/4+U)
---
Ford Madox Ford is so screwed up that his biography is quite entertaining. The guy is a hot mess, staggering from scandal to scandal. I had no idea his personal life was so messy.

And therefore interesting.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:38 AM (llXky)

164 I enjoyed Peter Tsouras' "Britannia's Fist" alternative-history trilogy. The third volume really puts the "steam" in "Steampunk" . Highly entertaining.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 10:38 AM (rj6Yv)

165 Morning Hordemates! And especially you MoMe-era who avoided the SWAT teams.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 11, 2023 10:38 AM (e4fEA)

166 One example from the book that made me look at Da Vinci in a different light is he was a moron in that 'no math allowed'. Da Vinci wasn't able to grasp mathematics, specifically Algebra even though he had one of the best mathematicians of the era helping to teach him.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 10:38 AM (YKqKD)

167 So tell me what you love!

Posted by: Catherine at June 11, 2023 10:19 AM (ZSsrh)

Rocker recliner. Rock for a while, recline for a while. Only get up for bathroom breaks.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 10:39 AM (Angsy)

168 >>>Da Vinci (and others) -- Can't remember who it was who said "One should never meet a man whose work one admires -- the man is always so much less than the work." I've read a number of biographies of writers whose work I like, and more often than not I've come away with a large helping of didn't-need-to-know-quite-that-much.

Posted by: Just Some Guy

>The worst part is when you find out this dude is banging your wife! Or maybe that's the best part?

Posted by: Dr. Bone at June 11, 2023 10:39 AM (KVGVf)

169 Scant chance of that in this climate, A.H.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 10:36 AM (Angsy)
---
I'm assuming what I want will be out of print. Maybe someone in the 80s did a guide to surplus arms.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:39 AM (llXky)

170 Chris Plante tells the story of how near the end of his time working as a Pentagon reporter for CNN he was embarrassed to admit the organization he worked for. In social settings he would describe his occupation as a dealer in small arms to West African nations.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 10:41 AM (DhOHl)

171 One example from the book that made me look at Da Vinci in a different light is he was a moron in that 'no math allowed'. Da Vinci wasn't able to grasp mathematics, specifically Algebra even though he had one of the best mathematicians of the era helping to teach him.
Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 10:38 AM (YKqKD)
---
To be fair, he didn't have Common Core math to guide him!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 11, 2023 10:41 AM (BpYfr)

172 'The Highwaymen' movie has a great scene about acquiring weaponry.....

Posted by: goatexchange at June 11, 2023 10:42 AM (APPN8)

173 148 >My argument is that War makes rattling good history; but Peace is poor reading.
::
I've read somewhere that Jews divide history into two parts:
1) Wars
2) The Time Between Wars

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 10:29 AM (DhOHl)

----
Reminds me of this Steve McQueen maxim:
"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting"

Posted by: Ciampino - Forever Jung. at June 11, 2023 10:44 AM (qfLjt)

174 Speaking of that gal from Domremy, I have a copy of Mark Twain's Joan of Arc. It's been sitting on my shelf unread for several years. Have any of you read this? Should I move it up in the TBR queue? - Dash my lace wigs

I have. Samuel Clemens claimed that it was his favorite book. Well researched and accurate in regards to the main, historically documented events, but still solidly in the historical fiction genre. Clemens also includes information about the D'Arc coat of arms and the post-war history of the family, as well as the destruction of St. Joan of Arc's artifacts in Orleans during the French Revolution. A good read!

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 10:45 AM (rj6Yv)

175 *and more often than not I've come away with a large helping of didn't-need-to-know-quite-that-much.*

Like the video clip posted last night of Paul Anka berating his fellow musicians. Yeesh.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 10:46 AM (DhOHl)

176 "I've read somewhere that Jews divide history into two parts:
1) Wars
2) The Time Between Wars"

I've heard another way
1) They tried to kill us all!
2) We lived!

Posted by: gourmand du jour at June 11, 2023 10:46 AM (6zBSC)

177 153 Does someone need a pillow?
Posted by: Mike Lindell at June 11, 2023 10:31 AM (DhOHl)

No thanks. I got four already.... actually eight.
Now that I think about it. They are all I use now. No more memory foam crap.
Thank you Mike. Between getting stuck hanging upside down with gravity boots for 4 hours and getting My Pillow pillows, my neck problems are mostly gone.

Posted by: Reforger at June 11, 2023 10:47 AM (B705c)

178 My good buddy has a hell of a collection of guns from WW1 and prior that he inherited from his father. As a young man in the 1930's his father obtained a lot of them from a surplus store in NJ/NY that had obtained them from the government in a bulk purchase.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 10:48 AM (YKqKD)

179 Mark Twain's Joan of Arc.
That's a good read, and somewhat totally unlike all of his other books.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at June 11, 2023 10:48 AM (6zBSC)

180 1) They tried to kill us all!
2) We lived!

LOL

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 10:48 AM (DhOHl)

181 I've been watching the French series Murder In . . . One episode concerns the present day effects of the Spanish Civil War which leads to three murders. Of course, the Republians were the good guys, victims of the evil Franco.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 10:51 AM (FVME7)

182 Thank you folks! I have an older wooden rocker I might look for cushions for. And I love the rocker recliner we have that is likely older than I am. I wonder is getting a new one will net me the current one my husband usually occupies or the new one? Hmmm.

Posted by: Catherine at June 11, 2023 10:52 AM (ZSsrh)

183

Weak Geek!

sending my advice
to Tiny-Print trouble.

try STARGON browser.
It handles mu.nu set-up
very well.

Posted by: zigzag at June 11, 2023 10:53 AM (bgGFI)

184
Like the video clip posted last night of Paul Anka berating his fellow musicians. Yeesh.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 10:46 AM (DhOHl)
---
Did they get enough shirts? Did they slice it like a hammer?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:53 AM (llXky)

185 Like the video clip posted last night of Paul Anka berating his fellow musicians. Yeesh.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 10:46 AM (DhOHl)
---
Did they get enough shirts? Did they slice it like a hammer?
-AH Lloyd

Man, that's an old AOSHQ war horse meme. One of Ace's best.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 10:55 AM (rj6Yv)

186
Earlier this week I rewatched Charlie Wilson's War after having read George Crile's book on which the movie was based in between my two viewings of the film.

I have no dog in a "The book or the film -- which was better?" fight for this one. The story was fascinating in itself. Its ultimate outcome in the US having supported and armed Afghan forces, some of whom took revenge on us on 9/11, is a lesson that I suspect still hadn't been taken to heart in DC.

I was astonished to see that the screenplay for the movie was written by Aaron Sorkin, for whom I have great contempt for his smugly self-referential and all-knowing snippets of dialogue voiced by his clearly progressive characters in his other works (An American President and The West Wing, for example). That characteristic was dialed back considerably here. I also found Philip Seymour Hoffman's acting non-irritating, if not actually good, in the role of Gust Avrakotos (many of his performances rub me the wrong way -- see Twister for a prime example).

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 10:55 AM (pNxlR)

187 Gene Wolfe is quite good at what he does. He's technically brilliant and thematically ambitious. He's a big dude physically and mentally.

It's not reader friendly stuff though and it's not meant to be.

I've read a lot of his work, re-read some more than once. But it isn't my thing at all. It's too sweeping and inscrutable. It feels anti-reader to me.

I think his Soldier in the Mist series is the most ambitious. And it is really impressive. And it was fun for me because I know something about that period and occult/esoteric undercurrents. But whew is it an effort at times.

Wolfe is nominally a Catholic and claims to be serious about it. But, his work, after sufficient onion layers have been peeled away us concerned with things like the Kabbala and other esoteric things.

At this point, I think he is something like a "perennialist" and that while he is serious about his Catholicism and is Orthodox, he thinks that it is just one path of many to a supra-Religious true undrrstanding.

I vastly prefer R A Lafferty. He can do in a short story what Wolfe does in 2,000 pages. Very similar subject matter but stylistically and conclusion opposite. I THINK.

Posted by: Thesokorus at June 11, 2023 10:56 AM (3FShF)

188 Any man that wears a T-shirt on stage spends a night in the box.

Posted by: Cool Hand Anka at June 11, 2023 10:56 AM (PiwSw)

189 I've been watching the French series Murder In . . . One episode concerns the present day effects of the Spanish Civil War which leads to three murders. Of course, the Republians were the good guys, victims of the evil Franco.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 10:51 AM (FVME7)
---
That bias was the genesis of Long Live Death. I got so sick of reading pro-Republic schlock over and over again.

What made it even worse was none of those authors actually talked about THE WAR. I mean "war" was in the title, but Franco just mysteriously won because Nazis and Fascists.

Also: when a Communist regime develops a country and raises the standard of living, that excuses their crimes. When Franco did it, it was proof of his evil or something.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at June 11, 2023 10:57 AM (llXky)

190 I have a large sheepskin on my rocker. Seems to be enough.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 11, 2023 10:59 AM (ouTlx)

191 I think the biggest battle waay out West, even more westerly than Pea Ridge, AR, was the Battle of Glorietta Pass. Not much of a battle compared to the engagements in the East, but decisive enough to close out Confederate ambitions in the West.
Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 10:25 AM (rj6Yv)

There was a Civil War battle at Picacho Peak in Arizona, not far north of Tucson.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 11, 2023 11:02 AM (wWe2i)

192 A good read!
Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 10:45 AM (rj6Yv)

Thanks, mrp! I think I'll put that one on the nightstand.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 11:03 AM (OX9vb)

193 I was always interested in how after world war 2, the soviets sent millions of arms all across the globe to Asia, Africa and South America and I have never seen any hard information on how they did it, who did it and why no one was hauled up to The Hague for having done it after the fall of the ussr for crimes against humanity.

The horror, the horror…

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at June 11, 2023 11:04 AM (R/m4+)

194 The most damning proof that historians and the press are mostly Leftists is that the victors didn't write the history of the Spanish Civil War.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 11:06 AM (YKqKD)

195 Been on phone all through this thread and finally on my tablet, doubt any picture doesn't do justice on the woodworking in that library.

Always heard good things on Charlie Wilson's War book, never had a chance to read it.

Posted by: Skip at June 11, 2023 11:06 AM (xhxe8)

196 I was always interested in how after world war 2, the soviets sent millions of arms all across the globe to Asia, Africa and South America and I have never seen any hard information on how they did it, who did it and why no one was hauled up to The Hague for having done it after the fall of the ussr for crimes against humanity.

The horror, the horror…
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at June 11, 2023 11:04 AM (R/m4+)

We let them blockade Berlin in 1948 and responded with airlifts. They knew they could get away with anything without real consequences and so they did.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 11:08 AM (YKqKD)

197 "Music of The Lord of the Rings Films"

-
I decided that I wanted kick ass epic music to accompany my reading of the dinosaur rampage stories mentioned above and gave Miklos Rozsa's film scores a try. I quite enjoyed them.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 11:08 AM (FVME7)

198 I have been reading a sea novel series by Perry Comer (no relation to the crooner) recently. The books are not labeled as to order so it is a bit confusing trying to figure out the sequence to read them in.

It is interesting because most of the characters are at least nominally Christian, which is very appropriate for someone in the mid 18th century (set during the US revolutionary war). Almost no sea novels even remotely mention religion and if they do, its usually in a negative or at least dismissive light.

Modern atheist writers do not tend to grasp how incredibly important the religious life and worldview was in the past, how pervasive and present it was. So you get books about a medieval knight who never mentions God, never goes to worship, never swears by saints, and if there's ever any presence of the church, its a wicked monk or worldly priest.

So its refreshing to have this perspective in the books.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:09 AM (0hOvj)

199 Late to the party here fellow book lovers but I have an excuse.
Just read Wolfus's comment about Tom Selleck. I watched the Jesse Stone movies before I read a Jesse Stone book and it was one of those times wher it worked perfectly. I could "hear" the dialog in Selleck's voice as well as a number of the other characters. Also the back and forth clever dialog became even more amusing having watched the interplay.
The actors truly represents the personalities from the book.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 11, 2023 11:09 AM (t/2Uw)

200 In the early 90s Frelimo, the troops in Moçambique, had not been paid in months and one could go to the border femce with Eastern Transvaal and swap a loaf of bread for an AK-47.

Posted by: Ciampino -- Forever Jung. at June 11, 2023 11:10 AM (qfLjt)

201 Just finished Tim Willocks' novel The Religion.

It's a gory, lurid first person fictional account of the Siege if Malta where the Knights Hospitaller held off a vast Ottoman army.

Gory and Lurid are understatements. I almost bailed in the very beginning because the violence felt pornographic. And I really like Abercrombie's stuff.

I'm glad I didn't stop though. It isn't actually pornographic because that was what those people were like. They did live at fever pitch and ran risks we seem incapable of as a matter of course.

"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." Rev 3-16 kjv

The whole earth, perpetually steeped in blood, is nothing but an immense altar on which every living thing must be sacrificed without end, without restraint, without respite until the consummation of the world, the extinction of evil, the death of death. - Joseph de Maistre

Those two quotes are the book. It's a really profound meditation on the feeling of the time and on Christianity.

It's also a great read as just a mad violent bloody account of a mad violent bloody battle.

I've been thinking about this book a lot after finishing it.

Posted by: Thesokorus at June 11, 2023 11:11 AM (IadJe)

202 We let them blockade Berlin in 1948 and responded with airlifts. They knew they could get away with anything without real consequences and so they did.
Posted by: polynikes

Truman, in his memoirs, said that they knew the US was abandoning the East to Russia, but the American public had lost its taste for war.
Didn't raise him in my estimation.

Posted by: MkY at June 11, 2023 11:11 AM (cPGH3)

203 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 11, 2023 11:11 AM (u82oZ)

204 I watched the 1937 Captains Courageous movie last week. The book is my all time favorite book. I think they did a better job than most in bringing it to the big screen.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 11:12 AM (YKqKD)

205 Did they get enough shirts? Did they slice it like a hammer?
-AH Lloyd

Man, that's an old AOSHQ war horse meme. One of Ace's best.
Posted by: mrp

Never forget. Never forgive.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 11:12 AM (FVME7)

206 O/T

Went to look a house yesterday with the Grands. Nice place. Priced way to high. 460 thou.
Asked the oldest Grand what he thought, he's 6.
"Well I really like the dirt yard, I can ride my motorcycle all around so I give the dirt a 10 out of 10. I didn't like the bathtub so I give that a 1 out of 10... so I give it a 9 out of 10. Let's buy it."

Wife and I are still giggling over that one this morning. Average the bathtub with the yard and make a decission. To be six again..

Posted by: Reforger at June 11, 2023 11:13 AM (B705c)

207 Wow, this really is A Smart Military Blog™.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 11:13 AM (DhOHl)

208 Mr Coldcuts passed away after a long career at aos.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 11:13 AM (YKqKD)

209 Space, by James Michener.
Michener writes some loooong books.

Posted by: boynsea at June 11, 2023 11:14 AM (cx155)

210 198
Modern atheist writers do not tend to grasp how incredibly important the religious life and worldview was in the past, how pervasive and present it was. So you get books about a medieval knight who never mentions God, never goes to worship, never swears by saints, and if there's ever any presence of the church, its a wicked monk or worldly priest.

So its refreshing to have this perspective in the books.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:09 AM (0hOvj)
----
Modern books and films have the protagonists being neutral about faith, usually not atheists but definitely agnostics. Mustn't offend anyone by mentioning God.

Posted by: Ciampino - Past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense at June 11, 2023 11:16 AM (qfLjt)

211 This may be an unpopular thing to say here, but the blurb above for "The Quicker The Wit" rubs me the wrong way. It appears to me that the author just casually appropriates Tolkien's term "Uruk-hai", and plops it into his/her novel.

Now gnomes, dwarves, elves, and goblins are all generic and in the public domain, but Orcs, and Uruk-hai are Tolkien trademarks, and should be respected as such. And one can write a perfectly good fantasy novel without such blatant "borrowing".

Rant off.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 11, 2023 11:17 AM (wWe2i)

212 130 Question for the Reading Horde: What do you look for in your reading furniture?
...
So tell me what you love!
Posted by: Catherine at June 11, 2023 10:19 AM

I have 3 reading chairs: 1) A nice manual recliner/rocker upholstered in microfiber, over which I have flung a fake bearskin, very cuddly; that's in the living room. 2) A well-padded accent chair in paisley, with a fan-shaped back, and a custom 11" footrest below, positioned beside a south-facing window with a huge tree outside. 3) A wicker lounge hanging from a steel frame by a single-point chain, with a big thick cushion lining most of it and a soft mat just underneath for my toes, which is the crown of my lanai.

Thank you for this opportunity to reflect on how lucky I am to live here!

Posted by: werewife, princess of Delray Beach at June 11, 2023 11:17 AM (SPNTN)

213 I did not do much reading this week. Smoke made me sick and just felt off.
However I read Lauel K Hamilton's book Smolder which was a total waste of time. Started. Nora Robert's new book Identity and put it down after 75 pages. Done with both authors. I like Robert's. Magical stuff but even that has gotten repetitive.
Going back to Science fiction and Mysteries.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at June 11, 2023 11:17 AM (t/2Uw)

214 There was nothing civil about it.

Posted by: The War Between The States at June 11, 2023 11:18 AM (DhOHl)

215
Went to look a house yesterday with the Grands. Nice place. Priced way to high. 460 thou.
Asked the oldest Grand what he thought, he's 6.
"Well I really like the dirt yard, I can ride my motorcycle all around so I give the dirt a 10 out of 10. I didn't like the bathtub so I give that a 1 out of 10... so I give it a 9 out of 10. Let's buy it."

Wife and I are still giggling over that one this morning. Average the bathtub with the yard and make a decission. To be six again.
----
Hilarious.

Posted by: Ciampino -- Past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense at June 11, 2023 11:19 AM (qfLjt)

216 The most damning proof that historians and the press are mostly Leftists is that the victors didn't write the history of the Spanish Civil War.

Yeah that old canard about victors writing the history is only partly true. The fact is, the people who write history are the ones who write history, and they usually are left-leaning. Win, lose, they are the ones who document it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:20 AM (0hOvj)

217
Speaking of that gal from Domremy, I have a copy of Mark Twain's Joan of Arc. It's been sitting on my shelf unread for several years. Have any of you read this? Should I move it up in the TBR queue? - Dash my lace wigs

Back in my junior year in high school, I read practically all of Clemens' books, Joan of Arc among them. My point in doing so was to gather material for the research paper required for that year's English class. My topic was, "Mark Twain, Social Historian" and I mined all of his works for examples to support that thesis.

Having said that, "Joan of Arc" was an eminently forgettable minor work in his canon. A Missouri farm boy, Clemens "married up" with Olivia Langdon, daughter in a prominent family (to Clemens' way of thinking) from Elmira, NY.

The man felt socially and educationally inferior to members of the Eastern upper middle class and higher ranks. He sought their approval by turning from writing works based on his own experiences to writing "refined" works of which his "betters" would approve (foremost among these were his own wife and daughters). He tried to appeal to his time's Karens in his writing. "Joan of Arc" is such a work.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 11:20 AM (pNxlR)

218 190 I have a large sheepskin on my rocker. Seems to be enough.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 11, 2023 10:59 AM (ouTlx)

Oh, that would be cozy and comfy. I'd need a big one. This chair is seriously big--I have about three inches on either side of me when I sit in it.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 11:21 AM (OX9vb)

219 Twain thought Joan of Arc his best work.

I have an allergic reaction to Twain.

Can't stand him.

Posted by: Thesokorus at June 11, 2023 11:22 AM (IadJe)

220 Modern books and films have the protagonists being neutral about faith, usually not atheists but definitely agnostics.

Yeah, and while I can give them more of a break in modern books because we are in a more atheist or agnostic culture, it is unreasonable to NEVER have any religious voices unless they are a weird fringe alien like a Rabbi or some religious nut who was the bad guy.

I liked that Captain America was represented as Christian in the movies. It was subtle, but it was there, at least in the first few.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:23 AM (0hOvj)

221 the author just casually appropriates Tolkien's term "Uruk-hai",

-
And it's unnecessary. The term Antifa is in the public domain.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 11:24 AM (FVME7)

222 I have an allergic reaction to Twain.

Twain is clever and very smart, but he spends almost all of that energy on being cynical, bitter, sarcastic, and snide. And it makes his books difficult to read. His "social commentary" is almost entirely "Everyone sucks and everything is awful"

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:25 AM (0hOvj)

223 119 My daughter has a supplemental reading assignment for AP English. She has 4 books to choose from. 2 on racism, one on "gurl" power, and one about overcoming poverty/dysfunctional family life. Guess which one had the adult content warning?
Posted by: lin-duh at June 11, 2023 10:12 AM

Tell her to read Clarence Thomas’ biography or books by/about Thomas Sowell. She can knock out racism and poverty in one read! Jason Riley’s biography of the latter (“Maverick” should be required reading but it never works that way.

Posted by: Moonbeam at June 11, 2023 11:25 AM (rbKZ6)

224
My favorite reading place is a Pawley's Island rope hammock on our porch at our vacation place in Sussex County.

We own such a hammock up here, too, but we had to "retire" one of the two oak trees between which we suspended it. I guess I should get to work to figure out how to put it back in service herr.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 11:26 AM (pNxlR)

225 The man felt socially and educationally inferior to members of the Eastern upper middle class and higher ranks. He sought their approval by turning from writing works based on his own experiences to writing "refined" works of which his "betters" would approve (foremost among these were his own wife and daughters). He tried to appeal to his time's Karens in his writing. "Joan of Arc" is such a work.

I read it for the first time about five years ago, well, well past my days as a junior in high school. Try reading it again as an adult.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 11:27 AM (rj6Yv)

226 Oops! Lin-duh! I guess she has no choice in the matter!

Posted by: Moonbeam at June 11, 2023 11:27 AM (rbKZ6)

227 That Feminist Hero's Journey thing unlocked in my mind why modern movies, TV, and books are written the way they are. This is literally the rules that script doctors use to make a modern work "correct" in their minds.

It also makes the works incredibly dull and predictable. But this is no joke, they really do this to fix scripts so the women are powerful and fierce kweens who don't need no man.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:27 AM (0hOvj)

228 I guess she has no choice in the matter!

This is partly why some of my grades suffered in school, because I would just pick another book and write about it and shrug at the teacher.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:28 AM (0hOvj)

229 And it's unnecessary. The term Antifa is in the public domain.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 11:24 AM (FVME7)

Heh!

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at June 11, 2023 11:28 AM (wWe2i)

230 209 Space, by James Michener.
Michener writes some loooong books.
Posted by: boynsea at June 11, 2023 11:14 AM (cx155)

Space is big. Really big.

Posted by: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at June 11, 2023 11:29 AM (PiwSw)

231 Rudyard Kipling is arguably one of the greatest writers in history.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 11:29 AM (YKqKD)

232
Twain is clever and very smart, but he spends almost all of that energy on being cynical, bitter, sarcastic, and snide. And it makes his books difficult to read. His "social commentary" is almost entirely "Everyone sucks and everything is awful"
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor
.
He became a dreadful cynic and snob. I admitted him in my early 20s, but I can not abide I'm today.

His behavioral path was followed, too, by many whom I considered great friends in my 20s. I cannot abide them today, either.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 11:30 AM (pNxlR)

233 John Maxwell has what he calls his Thinking Chair.

https://tinyurl.com/ytst7je2

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 11:31 AM (DhOHl)

234 Dang, Perfesser Squirrel. You leave anything in your head or did you pour it all out here?

Posted by: Eromero at June 11, 2023 11:32 AM (DXbAa)

235 Space, by James Michener.
Michener writes some loooong books.
Posted by: boynsea at June 11, 2023 11:14 AM (cx155)

Speaking of; I watched the 7-hour ISS spacewalk yesterday with two astronauts installing and deploying a large solar array on the station.

Everything is choreographed down to the most minute detail. Even how many turns a bolt gets weather loosening or tightening. Every handhold the astronauts use to move from one place to another is prescribed. Sometimes boring but extremely fascinating to watch.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at June 11, 2023 11:33 AM (BdMk6)

236 He tried to appeal to his time's Karens in his writing. "Joan of Arc" is such a work.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 11:20 AM (pNxlR)

Roughing it is his best work, I think. I stomp on his old stomping grounds, Carson City/Virginia City and can visualize being stuck in a snow storm storm on main street as well as watching Tahoe burn from a boat. I've hiked and rode the trails he followed here. Whatched Jackass rabbits flop like jackasses after being shot. Toured his office at the Territorial Enterprise. Drank in the bar where "mark twian" was concieved.

I should burn through that one again just for shits and giggles.

Posted by: Reforger at June 11, 2023 11:33 AM (B705c)

237 226 Oops! Lin-duh! I guess she has no choice in the matter!
Posted by: Moonbeam at June 11, 2023 11:27 AM (rbKZ6)

She could read both, and reference the better book as a comparison when she trashes the required one.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 11:34 AM (OX9vb)

238 I get a number of "free or cheap" ebook emails, and every time I look at, say, a science fiction novel and the description starts out, "Ex-mercenary Josephine leads her tough band of space marines" I just move on.

How would this grab you?

"Midnight Morrigan used to be the Chief Intelligence Officer of the Red Scorpion Fleet. That was before the Battle of Carpathia. Deathlord Damocles rejected her tactical advice, and the conquest turned into a quagmire.

Scapegoated for the Horde's defeat, she's been kicked down to a job on a second-rank battle cruiser. Her only chance of regaining her former status is to eliminate the rebel resistance to the Scorpion Imperium - by any means necessary.

She’s not evil, she’s morally ambiguous."

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at June 11, 2023 11:35 AM (9yUzE)

239 Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at June 11, 2023 11:33 AM (BdMk6)

We as a country still have the ability even if we don't have the same motivation to be exceptional.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 11:35 AM (YKqKD)

240 Time to move from Grandma's chair to the porch swing and watch the storm arrive. Thank God rain is coming!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 11:36 AM (OX9vb)

241 >>Yeah that old canard about victors writing the history is only partly true. The fact is, the people who write history are the ones who write history, and they usually are left-leaning. Win, lose, they are the ones who document it.

Very few on either side tell the entire story because most don't even know it. After the Church Committee exposed much of the CIA's abuse it went even further underground. And what happened then put the US on a path resulted in 9/11.

Posted by: JackStraw at June 11, 2023 11:37 AM (ZLI7S)

242 Those pants:

"My eyes are… 'way down here!"

Posted by: mindful webworker - eye yi yi at June 11, 2023 11:39 AM (R9NnH)

243
He tried to appeal to his time's Karens in his writing. "Joan of Arc" is such a work.

The shortening of posts' lengths caused me to misleadingly truncate that first sentence. It ought to have been "He tried to appeal to his time's Karens in his later writings."

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Roughing It I still find appealing. The remainder of his works, not so much.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 11:39 AM (pNxlR)

244 I have a large sheepskin on my rocker. Seems to be enough.
Posted by: Notsothoreau

Somewhere there's a sheep running around naked.

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 11:40 AM (T4tVD)

245 I get a number of "free or cheap" ebook emails, and every time I look at, say, a science fiction novel and the description starts out, "Ex-mercenary Josephine leads her tough band of space marines" I just move on.

Yeah, and endless "DCI Tifanny Quince has to face her own fears as a danger from her past arises again in a serial killer case which strikes deep into her life" books.

I don't mind female protagonists, but I have found very, very few modern writers who can give me one I'll tolerate because of the feminist hero's journey crap.

One I found that I very much enjoyed is the Maggie Sullivan mystery series by Ruth M Meyers. 1940s dame who doesn't forget she's a woman and cleverly uses being a woman in ways a male detective couldn't take advantage of, like getting shop keeper girls to chat with her when they would clam up around a guy.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:40 AM (0hOvj)

246 Been doing more reading, for a change.

The Legion of Time by Jack Williamson. 1952. Meh.

The Meaning of Luff and Other Stories by Matt Hughes. 2013. Superb. These collected short stories are part of the excellent Archonate series, stories of the penultimate age of Earth. Has a hard-boiled detective fiction meets Jack Vance zest. His use of the English language is most amusing and deft. I enjoy the entire series, based on his writing, plots, and characterizations.

Posted by: NaCly Dog (u82oZ) at June 11, 2023 11:40 AM (u82oZ)

247 "He used to say he used up all of his lifetimes worth of body heat on those runs. Thus why he always wore a heavy jacket, even in 110° summer days."

My mom's cousin was a B17 pilot. Said he used up all of his luck and didn't fly for very many years after the war.

Posted by: Tuna at June 11, 2023 11:40 AM (gLRfa)

248 Sounds like a movie. Time Karens: Woking the Wrongs of History!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 11:42 AM (FVME7)

249 Twain is clever and very smart, but he spends almost all of that energy on being cynical, bitter, sarcastic, and snide. And it makes his books difficult to read. His "social commentary" is almost entirely "Everyone sucks and everything is awful"
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:25 AM (0hOvj)

Even more so than Ambrose Bierce? Clemens wrote for his audiences. He was renowned as a raconteur, and his public appearances were very popular. Heck, Hal Holbrook made a ton of money playing "Mark Twain" on the stage. And then there are the Mark Twain Prizes for American Humor.

Clemens' book "Joan of Arc" is not a comedy romp. It is reverential, almost to an extreme, with a subject both heroic and sublimely beyond the reach of rational explanation. Certainly not a populist tract for class and economic advancement.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 11:43 AM (rj6Yv)

250 Time to move from Grandma's chair to the porch swing and watch the storm arrive.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at June 11, 2023 11:36 AM (OX9vb)

Got one heading my way, according to radar...should be here in next hour.

Posted by: BignJames at June 11, 2023 11:44 AM (AwYPR)

251 230 209 Space, by James Michener.
Michener writes some loooong books.
Posted by: boynsea at June 11, 2023 11:14 AM (cx155)

Space is big. Really big.

Posted by: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at June 11, 2023 11:29 AM (PiwSw)
----
I did enjoy "The Tell". Taught me a few things too.
What is "Space" about?

Posted by: Ciampino - Synonym rolls: just like grammar used to make at June 11, 2023 11:45 AM (qfLjt)

252 She’s not evil, she’s morally ambiguous.

-
Southern Sister Resister - Wordsmith #IAmTheStorm
@ResisterSis20
She was experienced, qualified & ready to serve the American people.
Her unforgivable sins in 2016 were having the nerve to be a Woman & a Clinton.
She warned everyone about Trump. She was right. Few listened, & here we are.
#FreshStrong
#TrumpIndicted

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 11:46 AM (FVME7)

253 I did enjoy "The Tell". Taught me a few things too.

Posted by: Ciampino - Synonym rolls: just like grammar used to make at June 11, 2023 11:45 AM (qfLjt)

First Michener book I read.

Posted by: BignJames at June 11, 2023 11:46 AM (AwYPR)

254 My nics are all puny today.

Posted by: Ciampino -- Synonym rolls: just like grammar used to make at June 11, 2023 11:46 AM (qfLjt)

255
Space is big. Really big.

Posted by: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Kamala Harris has entered the chat.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 11:47 AM (pNxlR)

256 I really enjoyed the Day of the Triffids book by Wyndham, and he wrote a bunch of stuff that was turned into movies, such as The Midwich Cuckoos (turned into Village of the Damned). So I got a couple of his books to read, to see if they are as good as Triffids.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:47 AM (0hOvj)

257 252 She’s not evil, she’s morally ambiguous.

Now do Chelsea.

Posted by: Webb Hubbell at June 11, 2023 11:48 AM (DhOHl)

258 251 James Michener's Iberia. Greatest gazpacho recipe evah is included. And, Chris Christie's "The No Shame Inny" is moving up on Amazon.

Posted by: bill in arkansas, not gonna comply with nuttin, waiting for the 0300 knock on the door at June 11, 2023 11:48 AM (rLD7a)

259 My nics are all puny today.
Posted by: Ciampino -- Synonym rolls: just like grammar

Needledick nics ?

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 11:49 AM (T4tVD)

260 Active in my reading queue? Charles Stross's "The Atrocity Archives" (Laundry Files Book 1).

After seeing Glenn Reynolds reference the "Deep Sevens" on Instapundit more than once, I finally decided to figure out what he was talking about and all fingers pointed towards Stross's book series.

I'm about 50 pages in and enjoying it considerably. If you're a fan of Lovecraft or any other writings that reference alternate universes, heck, even Men in Black, you'll probably like it.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at June 11, 2023 11:49 AM (ZSK0i)

261 96% of U.S. Climate Data Is Corrupted

-
Mistakes were made but that doesn't mean it's not settled science.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 11:50 AM (FVME7)

262 First Michener book I read: "The Source". Started reading it when I was twelve. I was thirteen when I finished it.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 11:51 AM (rj6Yv)

263 Read a sa.ple of John Ringo's The Last Centurion. Fun.
I'm going to have to buy it.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 11, 2023 11:53 AM (e4fEA)

264
96% of U.S. Climate Data Is Corrupted

Mistakes were made but that doesn't mean it's not settled science.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Come over here and sit next to me ...

-- U.S. Covid-19 pandemic dara

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 11:53 AM (pNxlR)

265 Anti-Police Seattle Ice Cream Shop Sues City for Not Providing Them Enough Police Protection During CHAZ/CHOP Saga

-
I guess they want to have their ice cream and eat it too.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 11:53 AM (FVME7)

266 Hillary will never be President.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 11:54 AM (YKqKD)

267 A.H. Lloyd, Bannerman did catalogs and some descriptions of imports they were willing to sell, Golden State Arms Co put out catalogs and listings of import firearms in the 50's and 60's, which are very good, Edward C Ezell did Handguns of the World, and Century International Arms did a huge amount in importing in the 80's abd 90's and they had experts on what they were importing, you may want to contact them for back copy.

I bet if you offered Century to write up it all as a coffee table book they might be interested.

Posted by: Kindltot at June 11, 2023 11:56 AM (xhaym)

268 First Michener book I read: "The Source". Started reading it when I was twelve. I was thirteen when I finished it.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 11:51 AM (rj6Yv)

I think that's what I read as well, not "The Tell"....Tell Makor was the subject. I'm confused, but not surprised.

Posted by: BignJames at June 11, 2023 11:56 AM (AwYPR)

269 96% of U.S. Climate Data Is Corrupted

Yeah, that's based on a study by the Heartland Institute in which they examined nearly 200 weather stations and found that they were improperly placed and gathering false information.

Watt's Up With That blog did a terrific long-term series examining weather stations one at a time showing where they were and how their placement was necessarily giving erroneous data. Surrounded by concrete and blacktop, next to hot air exhaust vents, etc. They were reporting unusually high temperatures constantly because they were being baked by overheated air and sun reflection.

The fact check on the 96% study by the way is hilarious. It baldly asserts that there is global warming, then says "yes these stations are reporting erroneously but ITS STILL TRUE" and declared the study false.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:57 AM (0hOvj)

270 251

I did enjoy "The Tell". Taught me a few things too.
--
Screwed up - it was "The Source" of course. It's all about a Tell hence my 29 yearold confusion.

Posted by: Ciampino -- Synonym rolls: just like grammar used to make at June 11, 2023 11:57 AM (qfLjt)

271 Even more so than Ambrose Bierce?

The king of snark. The scurge of the Bay Area. Nobody was spared his wrath. No even his boss.
One thing that would be the coolest would be for his missing trunk to show up again. Lost after he went missing in Mexico.

Posted by: Reforger at June 11, 2023 11:57 AM (B705c)

272 I really enjoyed the Day of the Triffids book by Wyndham, and he wrote a bunch of stuff that was turned into movies, such as The Midwich Cuckoos (turned into Village of the Damned). So I got a couple of his books to read, to see if they are as good as Triffids.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 1

***
His Out of the Deeps is quite creepy. I think its UK title was The Kraken Wakes.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 11:57 AM (omVj0)

273 Mind boggling big

Posted by: Skip at June 11, 2023 11:57 AM (xhxe8)

274 Even more so than Ambrose Bierce?

The king of snark. The scurge of the Bay Area. Nobody was spared his wrath. No even his boss.
One thing that would be the coolest would be for his missing trunk to show up again. Lost after he went missing in Mexico.
Posted by: Reforger at June 11, 2023

***
Gerald Kersh wrote a short story, "The Oxoxoco Bottle," that tells "the untold story" of where and how Bierce vanished.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 11:59 AM (omVj0)

275 His Out of the Deeps is quite creepy. I think its UK title was The Kraken Wakes.

That is one I got, I have started it but only one chapter in. One thing I like about Wyndham is that his sci fi isns't so much about the monster as it is about what the monster does to the people around it and how it affects society. Day of the Triffids was turned into a monster movie, but in truth the triffids were a minor part of the story. Everyone being struck blind on the planet at once was the main story.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 11:59 AM (0hOvj)

276 I think that's what I read as well, not "The Tell"....Tell Makor was the subject. I'm confused, but not surprised.
Posted by: BignJames at June 11, 2023 11:56 AM (AwYPR)

I think back, and my personal opinion is that it's Michener's best novel, at least amongst the ones I've read.

Posted by: mrp at June 11, 2023 12:00 PM (rj6Yv)

277 *96% of U.S. Climate Data Is Corrupted*

*Come over here and sit next to me ...

-- U.S. Covid-19 pandemic data*

::

Any more room on that bench?

Posted by: Twitter bots at June 11, 2023 12:00 PM (DhOHl)

278 Mind boggling big
Posted by: Skip at June 11, 2023 11:57 AM (xhxe8

I posted some numbers when discussed on another previous thread. It trucking is mind boggling.

A light year is about 6 trillion miles . The circumference of the observable Universe is about 93 billion light years.

Posted by: polynikes at June 11, 2023 12:00 PM (YKqKD)

279
What if our space was one bubble in a Venn diagram? What are the other bubbles, then?

-- Kamala Harris, Venntrepreneur Deluxe!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at June 11, 2023 12:01 PM (pNxlR)

280 Reading "The Wall" book 3 of Adrian Goldsworthy's latest trilogy featuring Flavius Ferox, centurion and general kick ass specialist. The now retired Ferox is looking for some peace and quiet but, alas, that is not to be. Couple of chapters in and I'm hooked.

Posted by: Tuna at June 11, 2023 12:01 PM (gLRfa)

281 WE HAZ A NOOD

Posted by: Skip at June 11, 2023 12:01 PM (xhxe8)

282 Golden State Arms Co Guns Catalogs cued to military long arms

https://tinyurl.com/ptaf5tcm

Posted by: Kindltot at June 11, 2023 12:01 PM (xhaym)

283 Warming up out thar.....

Posted by: JT at June 11, 2023 12:01 PM (T4tVD)

284 The saddest part of Sunday morning again. Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 11, 2023 12:01 PM (Angsy)

285 Greta Thunberg Graduates High School at 20 After Surviving Apparent Climate Apocalypse

-
Whoa! She saves the world and graduates from high school only two years late!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 12:02 PM (FVME7)

286 "I bet if you offered Century to write up it all as a coffee table book they might be interested.*

Speaking of furniture, I wrote a coffee table book about coffee tables.

Posted by: Kosmo Kramer at June 11, 2023 12:04 PM (DhOHl)

287 Whoa! She saves the world and graduates from high school only two years late!

She's so smart and full of knowledge that they held her back 2 years? Okay

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023 12:05 PM (0hOvj)

288 Space, by James Michener.
Michener writes some loooong books.
Posted by: boynsea at June 11, 2023 11:14 AM (cx155)
* * * *
That he does. I've read about a half dozen of his later novels, but not Space. In the past, I have delighted in the lengthy tomes, but now that I am slogging through his book Alaska, I find myself thinking it's way too long.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at June 11, 2023 12:05 PM (vfKOf)

289 96% of U.S. Climate Data Is Corrupted

So the data is "hot" garbage?

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at June 11, 2023 12:05 PM (PiwSw)

290 Gerald Kersh wrote a short story, "The Oxoxoco Bottle," that tells "the untold story" of where and how Bierce vanished.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 11:59 AM (omVj0)

I think I have come across at least three theories about what happened to him. Been a few (10... 12) years since I was reading about it.
One theory is Poncho Villa himself executed Bierce for pissing him off.

I'll look sometime and see if that book was part of my research. If not I will try and find a copy. And it's battle not bottle right?

Posted by: Reforger at June 11, 2023 12:06 PM (B705c)

291 That is one I got, I have started it but only one chapter in. One thing I like about Wyndham is that his sci fi isns't so much about the monster as it is about what the monster does to the people around it and how it affects society. Day of the Triffids was turned into a monster movie, but in truth the triffids were a minor part of the story. Everyone being struck blind on the planet at once was the main story.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at June 11, 2023

***
The best SF isn't about the monster or the threat alone; it's about how it affects people and how people adjust (and if necessary, change society) to adapt to whatever it is.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 12:06 PM (omVj0)

292 Thanks for the dandy Book Thread, Perfesser!

A great job as always, and the Moron interaction never fails to amaze me with the depth of knowledge and humor on so many subjects!

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at June 11, 2023 12:07 PM (vfKOf)

293 I'll look sometime and see if that book was part of my research. If not I will try and find a copy. And it's battle not bottle right?
Posted by: Reforger at June 11, 2023

***
No, "Bottle." I may have misspelled the Mexican name. But it was a short story. It popped up in one of Alfred Hitchcock's 1950s or '60s suspense anthologies -- Stories My Mother Never Told Me, I think.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 11, 2023 12:08 PM (omVj0)

294 "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski Reportedly Commits Suicide in Jail at 81

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at June 11, 2023 12:10 PM (FVME7)

295 Thanks Perfesser. Glad you were able to use the graphic. Hopefully we'll meet in person at a MoMe sometime.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 12:11 PM (DhOHl)

296 Southern Sister Resister - Wordsmith #IAmTheStorm
@ResisterSis20

Love how the "Resistance" is entirely made up of people who support the dominant political party and the authoritarian state.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at June 11, 2023 12:28 PM (9yUzE)

297 That Kersh story should be available in THE BEST OF GERALD KERSH, still available (I think) from Faber in paper and ebook. Should also be available in his collection MEN WITHOUT BONES.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at June 11, 2023 12:33 PM (a/4+U)

298 I only read one pair of pants in my life but 23 books.Erudite am I.

Posted by: safristi at June 11, 2023 12:43 PM (FSBXk)

299 "A Passage of Arms (1959)" by Eric Ambler is a pretty good description of how to deal with an arms cache if you happen to find one.

Posted by: Jake-ZA at June 11, 2023 12:43 PM (6mOjj)

300 @lin-duh :

Wondering if one of the books on your daughter’s list I’d “The Glass Castle,” by Jeanette Walls. One of the things that struck me when I read it was that homelessness was a choice her parent’s (mother, primarily) made and how that fact was summarily dismissed by Ms. Wall’s professor.

Posted by: March Hare at June 11, 2023 12:52 PM (WOU9P)

301 I heard someone say recently that you don't become homeless because you run out of money. You become homeless because you run out of relationships.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at June 11, 2023 12:54 PM (DhOHl)

302 Reading this week:

Still working through Agee’s “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.” Also reading “The Secret, Book & Scone Society” by Ellery Adams, a “cosy” mystery set in New England. Then listening to “Mastering the Art of French Murder” by Colleen Cambridge, which takes place in 1949 Paris. Julia Child is an important character, but not the heroine. This story is proving to be a great diversion while exercising.

Thought I needed a change from my usual reading, which is heavy on sf.

Posted by: March Hare at June 11, 2023 01:02 PM (WOU9P)

303 #300–
Dammit, need an edit option stat!

“I’d” should be “is;” “parent’s” should be “parents.”

Posted by: March Hare at June 11, 2023 01:05 PM (WOU9P)

304 Currently in the middle of "Silk Road" - Colin Falconer. Am I just too hyper aware of the "girl boss" trend in modern fiction? The story revolves around a Frankish knight, a Dominican priest and a Tartar princess traveling the Silk Road to see the Great Khan. The plot is rather formulaic though constructed well from a grammatical standpoint but the "strong female" character is the stereotypical one dimensional, arrogant, abrasive, disgruntled "I'm pissed I was born a woman because I am better than any man" character. Has anyone else read this? Does it get better?

Posted by: TheOtherJay at June 11, 2023 01:08 PM (a1Bh/)

305 Currently reading "Abbot in Darkness" by D.J. Butler.

It's a "Mankind stretching out to the great frontier" sort of book that looks at the situation of a man, his wife, their children, and their dog having gone deeply into debt and struck out for a frontier world to make their way, a life for themselves, and their fortune. Having been saddled with a disease that denied him access to fly with the equivalent of the space navy, he is now trained as an accountant, and gets the opportunity as his first assignment to uncover corruption and theft as an auditor for a large trading company.

His wife has let him sell her collection of heirloom jewels from her family to give them initial capital (the debt was incurred for his training and just to get them all there.) He has instead put them into hock, and hopes to buy those back within a year with his first trades.

... And then things quickly start to go pear-shaped.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at June 11, 2023 01:09 PM (nRMeC)

306 The Book of the New Sun is phenomenal. It deliberately draws on Vance's The Dying Earth. Like most of Wolfe's work, it is written in the first person, and the narrator may not be wholly reliable. From Severian's perspective, we are deep in Clarke's Law territory. Super-science seems magical and little effort is expended teasing apart the mechanical and mystical. The writing is beautiful. The characters rich. If it proves to be your cup of tea, The Book of the Long Sun is his take on the generation ship story.

Posted by: Rork at June 11, 2023 01:17 PM (EgYu9)

307 re Thesokorus @187, "Gene Wolfe is..."

Sorry to be the nitpicker but I feel compelled to point out that Gene Wolfe is, alas, now in the "was" category. Born in 1931, he died in 2019.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at June 11, 2023 02:22 PM (2SWLc)

308 Posted by: Castle Guy at June 11, 2023 09:37 AM (Lhaco)

Bride Story caused me to try to find out what a standard selection of household goods needed for a Steppe marriage would consist of. Unfortunately, I wasn't successful. It also made me more interested in Baltic band (strap) weaving as the bands would be useful in creating hanging storage like that found in yurts. The series also influenced my already existing interests in embroidery and baking decorated breads.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at June 11, 2023 02:49 PM (nC+QA)

309 271 Reforger on Ambrose Bierce:
"One thing that would be the coolest would be for his missing trunk to show up again. Lost after he went missing in Mexico."

When you wrote that you hope Bierce's "trunk" will turn up, I hope you meant his footlocker, not his legless, armless corpse.

Posted by: Dr. Weevil at June 11, 2023 05:44 PM (3tblX)

310
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. https://Getmoney012.blogspot.com

Posted by: Theresa Hayes at June 12, 2023 04:16 AM (0gw/7)

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