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Sunday Morning Book Thread - 03-03-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
(HT: TRex)
PIC VIDEO NOTE
If you are serious about researching a subject, you will most likely acquire a similar range of resources, though maybe not to the same degree as this guy. It's impressive. PLOT-CENTERED STORIES V. CHARACTER-CENTERED STORIES Some stories can be classified as "plot-centered" in that the plot of the story is much more important than the characters or setting. Other stories, of course, can be considered "character-centerd" and focus on the all of the human interactions with the plot largely serving as a background against which the characters interact with each other. A good example of a "plot-centered" story is E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series. The plot is about two ancient warring powers colliding with each other across galaxies in attempt to dominate each other. A cosmic battle of good versus evil, really, with the titular Lensmen serving the cause of good. However, the characters are pretty one-dimensional and not very interesting. I honestly can't remember any of the main characters in the story, but I do recall enjoying the insane arms race that develops over the course of the series. At the end of the books, the two warring fations are casually tossing anti-matter planets at each other between galaxies. By contrast, Mrs. Dalloway, a novel by Virginia Woolf set in London in the 1920s, is a good example of a "character-centered" story. It's mostly about a woman organizing a party for some people she has met over the course of her life. It's *extremely* character-focused as we follow the titular character about her day's activities. There is no "plot" other than the events that take place at her party later that evening, when the characters interact with each other and become reacquainted after so many years apart. Or meet for the first time. Most stories will probably fall on a spectrum between plot and characters. The series I've been reading for the past several weeks--Malazan Books of the Fallen is much more character-centered than most epic fantasy. Half the time I forget what the plot of the current book actually is until the climax. They are very long books and much of each one is taken up with the Malazan Army moving from Ponit A to Point B where they get to have an awesome battle. We discussed the Jack Reacher series last week in the comments. I think those types of series tend to be more plot-focused than character-focused. Reacher is already at his peak capabilities. However, we do get to see how he affects the character development of those he meets along his journeys. He's basically a ronin, a masterless warrior who wanders the land, attempting to fix other peoples' problems, even when he'd prefer not to get involved. A central core tenet of his character is doing what is right, no matter the personal cost. Murder mysteries can be a complex mix of both character and plot. The mystery is set up in such a way that we, the reader, are vested in discovering the solution to the mystery, which baffles the characters in the story. In the meantime, the detective has to unravel all of the tangled relationships that led to the murder in the first place to identify the correct killer. Which do you prefer? Plot over character? Or vice versa? Or does it just depend on the writer/story? For me, I think it just depends on the writer and the story. Some writers do great with plot, but suck at characters, while others have difficulty maintaining their plots but have fascinating characters. Both writers can still entertain me.
[T]his is a personal library of a man who is the world's foremost expert on Ferrari history. The collection is immense and extremely well organized. It is a pure research library. This is a "behind the scenes" clip walking through the library. There are other interview clips on the same channel on subject matter, but this one is more of a library tour:
and
Hello, and welcome to Friday's ONT. I just finished reading Doomsday Recon, and I have to say, it was great. Not my usual fare, but it's very well written, kinda Clancy meets Tolkien. From the blurb: The year is 1989. America has just invaded Noriega's Panama. And Specialist Bennett's platoon of Cav Scouts are in country...with, frankly, not a whole lot to do. Until the freak rainstorm that somehow transports the entire platoon--Humvees, weapons, and all--to another world. A world controlled by a wicked Aztec god. The Land of the Black Sun. In a heartbeat, the Scouts find themselves fighting for their lives against savage beasts, witches, zombies, subhuman tribes seeking sacrifices...and even themselves. Fuel runs low, ammo grows scarce, and their only allies are a tribe of all-female warriors and a single fledgling sorceress with a decidedly mean streak. Sorry for steppin' on any toes, Perfessor, but I really did enjoy the book. On with the memes! I'll start with this one because you definitely could run into these guys in the Land of the Black Sun. -- WeirdDave
Writing a good time travel adventure story is hard. In the first example from WeirdDave, it sounds like they are really transported to an alternate dimension and have to survive a world where magic is entirely too real and brutally savage. The second example from Shy Lurking Voter also has the military unit transported to an alternate Earth. This is a bit of a cheat to get around all of the paradoxes that occur with "true" time travel, when the hero goes back into the actual past of our own reality and then has to adjust to the time and place. And hopefully not screw up the present too badly. Question for the Horde: Who do you think would have an easier time adjusting? A person from the distant past (>200 years) who is transported to the current year? Or someone from the current era being transported into the past (again, >200 years or so)? Defend your answer... STORY SEED - TXMOME Time Travel Adventure Given the tremendous wealth of knowledge, experience, and skills possessed by the Moron Horde, imagine yourself at the TXMOME, which is located on a ranch outside of Corsica, Texas. Suddenly, a storm appears on the horizon unlike any storm anyone has ever witnessed. It sweeps over the TXMOME, raining destruction amongst us, enough to force us to seek shelter, but not so much as to totally wreck the ranch. When it's over just as suddenly as it's begun, we take stock of the situation. Unbeknownst to us, we have been swept along through the ethers of time, either back to the past to a pre-industrial America, or to the future in a post-apocalyptic world following a global civilizational collapse.
So Taylor Anderson wrote a very good alternate history series called Destroyermen about a WW2 destroyer and crew transported to an alternate Earth. Read the whole series and liked it a lot. Didn't realize he has a second series called Artillerymen about Mexican-American War era US soldiers transported to the same world. In the middle of the second book right now and enjoying it a lot. Reminds me somewhat of William R Forstchen's Lost Regiment series. Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at February 25, 2024 09:20 AM (e/Osv)
- Which direction along the time stream would you write this story? Forward to the future or back to the past? Why?
- How much emphasis would you put on a plot-centric story versus a character-centric story?
- Plot-Centric -- We have to solve the external challenges of food/water/shelter/community/etc...
- Character-Centric -- Much of the story involves the personal relationships and internal struggles of us adapting to a new way of life
Comment: We really do tend to take our freedoms for granted most of the time. Many of those freedoms are under siege, or could actually be considered extinct at this point, thanks to the inexorable Left and their mad designs to eradicate human freedom (and life!). I know I do not feel free to speak my mind where I work. If I say the wrong thing to the wrong person or the wrong person overhears me, I will be fired. It's not even up for debate. We need books like this to remind us of what we once had and that it's possible to reclaim them again in the future.
When we talk about the need to preserve western civilization, that includes the freedoms we enjoy. In Inventing Freedom, author Daniel Hannan traces the history of many of our freedoms to England, and the English speaking world that was colonized and created by them. The Anglo-Saxons created the idea and the very term common law. Even after the Norman conquest, the people of England required their kings to follow the law of the land. While most of Europe gave the state the right to determine inheritance, England accepted the will of the deceased, which led to the trusts and foundations that underpin civic society and respect the ownership of property. In 1381 the Peasants Revolt demanded King Richard allow all people the right to buy, sell, hunt and fish as they pleased. These represent just the early stages of the broad range of rights that a people are entitled to, and are not a gift from government. Hannan traces the history of freedom from these early stages to its fullest flowering in America in a clear and trenchant manner, and certainly debunks any idea that rights and freedoms come from government. Hannan has a strong command of facts, and displays them masterfully as usual Posted by: Thomas Paine at February 25, 2024 09:19 AM (9X5dH)
Comment: Urban fantasy stories set in various cities around the world are pretty popular. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files explores the seedy underworld of Chicago and F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack series does the same for New York City for the most part. I think they can be fun as the writers put otherwise ordinary people into very weird situations and then the "everyman" has to adapt or die. Of course, Harry Dresden is a wizard from the get-go, but Repairman Jack is just an ordinary, but resourceful and capable, guy who often finds himself way over his head. I can imagine the same thing here with a hapless detective findiing out the world is much, much stranger than he first imagined, but then gains skills and abilities that help him deal with the hidden nastiness underlying civilization. More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)
This week I'm reading Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovich. It's about the secret Metropolitan Police squad investigating supernatural mysteries in modern London. Emphasis on _modern_ London -- the book is very multi-culti, but I think that's deliberate as one of the themes is the clash between modern cosmopolitan London and traditional England. I understand there's a Netflix or Amazon series based on it, but I haven't watched. Recommended. Posted by: Trimegistus at February 25, 2024 09:42 AM (78a2H)
- The Painter's Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett -- Ever since I read American Elsewhere, I've been a huge fan of Bennett. He has a very fresh, bold style of storytelling that appeals to me. Often involving cosmic horror, which is also a plus.
- Dragonlance - Defenders of Magic 2 - The Medusa Plague by Mary Kirchoff -- I'm just filling up a gap in my Dragonlance collection since I have the first book in the series. This will also be a good "fluff" series I can use to decompress from reading Malazan, a much darker and more intense reading experience.
- Dragonlance - Defenders of Magic 3 - The Seventh Sentinel by Mary Kirchoff -- Again, just completing the series...
Comments
(Jump to bottom of comments)1
Tolle Lege
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024 08:59 AM (fwDg9)
2
Knew it was going to be snuck in early yet didn't start anything new
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024 09:00 AM (fwDg9)
3
You got lucky, Cox. If I'd missed the Book Thread, who knows what form my revenge would have taken.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:01 AM (0eaVi)
4
That guy stole Dr. Jill's pants.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 03, 2024 09:02 AM (OX9vb)
5
Those pants are fine. I would wear them to the Garden Club barbecue in my back yard.
Posted by: Grandma at March 03, 2024 09:03 AM (vFG9F)
6
Currently still re-reading Elemental Masters series by Mercees Lackey
Posted by: vic at March 03, 2024 09:04 AM (A5THL)
7
Was going to read Animal Farm but wife took it before I could open it. Also a series on Vietnam I want , pricey but why not?
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024 09:04 AM (fwDg9)
8
Huh huh huh. He said titular.
Posted by: Beavis at March 03, 2024 09:05 AM (sNc8Y)
9
Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 09:05 AM (zudum)
10
Didn't get much reading time this past week, as I was too busy writing. But that project's done and I managed a bookstore raid on Saturday, so next week I hope to have lots of stuff to talk about.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:06 AM (78a2H)
11
As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...(which are in desperate need of a weed whacker or at least some RoundUp!)
What are you talking about? Those pants are great! I'd wear them with my snap-crotch polo, so it won't come untucked. In fact, maybe I could wear it and no pants, and no one would notice...
https://tinyurl.com/5n8mcd8t
What are you talking about? Those pants are great! I'd wear them with my snap-crotch polo, so it won't come untucked. In fact, maybe I could wear it and no pants, and no one would notice...
https://tinyurl.com/5n8mcd8t
Posted by: Moron Analyst at March 03, 2024 09:07 AM (JCZqz)
12
Well were living through animal farm two legs bad fout legs good
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:07 AM (PXvVL)
13
a somewhat popular niche time travel story: A military unit is transported back in time and has to learn to survive.
***
I love this trope!
Must check WD's rec
***
I love this trope!
Must check WD's rec
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 03, 2024 09:07 AM (L4her)
14
Regarding the MoMe time travel scenario . . . Am I the only person who occasionally looks around a coffeeshop or a fast food joint and wonders how that group (including myself) would manage if suddenly cast into an alien world? Or is this another one of those Roman Empire things that everyone does?
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:08 AM (78a2H)
15
The 'these pants' make me think of drapes in a lady's boudoir. This is not a compliment. But the Beatle boots (for those who remember them) are gear as long as I don't have to wear them.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 09:09 AM (zudum)
16
Seems to me that some of the Horde would do fine in the past. They can hunt, fish, butcher, cook, and build.
I would be worthless. I can change a tire and check oil. The end.
I would be worthless. I can change a tire and check oil. The end.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 09:09 AM (p/isN)
17
The man modeling the polo onesie is daring the photographer to laugh.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:09 AM (78a2H)
18
hiya
Posted by: JT at March 03, 2024 09:10 AM (T4tVD)
19
imagine yourself at the TXMOME ... Unbeknownst to us, we have been swept along through the ethers of time, either back to the past to a pre-industrial America, or to the future in a post-apocalyptic world following a global civilizational collapse.
We would absolutely rule the world in terms of food, booze, and firepower. And 80s music, if SMH made it that year.
We would absolutely rule the world in terms of food, booze, and firepower. And 80s music, if SMH made it that year.
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 09:10 AM (sNc8Y)
20
Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class
Rob Henderson
I read this yesterday. A really good read with some very troubling issues.
The last part of the book rakes over many liberal ideas and more importantly points out their ideas for the masses are not at all how they live.
I recommend.
Rob Henderson
I read this yesterday. A really good read with some very troubling issues.
The last part of the book rakes over many liberal ideas and more importantly points out their ideas for the masses are not at all how they live.
I recommend.
Posted by: rhennigantx at March 03, 2024 09:10 AM (ENQN6)
21
I read A Daughter of Zion, the second book in The Zion Chronicles series by Bodie Thoene. It's 1948 and as Israel moves toward statehood, the Haganah must fight both Arabs and the British, who are mostly anti-Zionist. The main concern is smuggling food and weapons into the Old City to be able to defend it once the British withdraw. An interesting story and learning some history.
Posted by: Zoltan at March 03, 2024 09:10 AM (sb+96)
22
Seems to me that some of the Horde would do fine in the past. They can hunt, fish, butcher, cook, and build.
I would be worthless. I can change a tire and check oil. The end.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 09:09 AM (p/isN)
---
Like you, I am mostly worthless, but I am teachable. I can learn from the others...
I would be worthless. I can change a tire and check oil. The end.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 09:09 AM (p/isN)
---
Like you, I am mostly worthless, but I am teachable. I can learn from the others...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 09:10 AM (BpYfr)
23
Put me in the plot-centered category. I like mysteries, and they're all plot.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 09:11 AM (p/isN)
24
I just finished "Reckless," the first book in the graphic novel series of the same name by the writer/artist team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. The protagonist, Ethan Reckless, is a freelance troubleshooter with a checkered background and an 800 number. He's picky about whom he helps.
The series began in this decade, but the book is set in the 1980s; Brubaker is fixated on the past. The series is up to five books.
Although it's described as a graphic novel -- it is definitely not a trade collection -- it's more like illustrated prose. The panels serve as colorful background for Reckless' narration.
Still, it's a good story, and I'm glad our library has them all.
The series began in this decade, but the book is set in the 1980s; Brubaker is fixated on the past. The series is up to five books.
Although it's described as a graphic novel -- it is definitely not a trade collection -- it's more like illustrated prose. The panels serve as colorful background for Reckless' narration.
Still, it's a good story, and I'm glad our library has them all.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 09:11 AM (p/isN)
25
the Haganah must fight both Arabs and the British, who are mostly anti-Zionist.
So, nothing's changed, then.
So, nothing's changed, then.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:13 AM (0eaVi)
26
-- Which do you prefer? Plot over character? --
They're both necessary. Neither is sufficient in isolation. Moreover, they must be properly mated to one another. That is: the characters as the author conceives and depicts them must be people who:
1. Would plausibly have the problems that animate the plot;
2. Would plausibly do what the plot's events motivate them to do.
No stew worth eating has only one ingredient.
They're both necessary. Neither is sufficient in isolation. Moreover, they must be properly mated to one another. That is: the characters as the author conceives and depicts them must be people who:
1. Would plausibly have the problems that animate the plot;
2. Would plausibly do what the plot's events motivate them to do.
No stew worth eating has only one ingredient.
Posted by: Francis W. Porretto at March 03, 2024 09:13 AM (Nmmyc)
27
Am I the only person who occasionally looks around a coffeeshop or a fast food joint and wonders how that group (including myself) would manage if suddenly cast into an alien world?
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:08 AM (78a2H)
Hm. I've never done that, that I recall, but I think I'll start.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:08 AM (78a2H)
Hm. I've never done that, that I recall, but I think I'll start.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 03, 2024 09:14 AM (OX9vb)
28
There is a strangeness about Matthew Damon's family that Clive Strickland is trying to discover when he witnesses Matthew murdered in his study, and Clive is left locked in with the victim by the killer. This is the setting of Scandal at High Chimneys by John Dickson Carr. The story is a Victorian period piece, where the characters and settings are carefully matched to real Victorian England. In fact, the investigator Jonathan Whicher was a real detective of the time, and the Victorian belief that criminality is passed down through the blood is a strong theme throughout the book. This story is full of vague clues and insinuations that stymie Clive as he tries to exonerate himself and follow Whicher's reasoning in solving the case. One of Damon's children is adopted, and is the child of a murderer, but which one - and is evil indeed hereditary? This is a well researched and clever mystery that keeps the reader in suspense until the very end.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 09:14 AM (jhF5n)
Posted by: vic at March 03, 2024 09:14 AM (A5THL)
30
The man modeling the polo onesie is daring the photographer to laugh.
His mom: "Go to medical school, learn a trade", work hard in school".
Model then: "Nah, I've got a good bod, Imma be a male model and get to wear the newest coolest clothes. Easy money, and everyone will want to be me".
Model now: Imma kill my old self.
His mom: "Go to medical school, learn a trade", work hard in school".
Model then: "Nah, I've got a good bod, Imma be a male model and get to wear the newest coolest clothes. Easy money, and everyone will want to be me".
Model now: Imma kill my old self.
Posted by: The man modeling the polo onesie at March 03, 2024 09:14 AM (CsUN+)
31
The head of the british garrison evelyn barker was having an affair with kay antonius the wife of one of the lead bedouin leaders that puts operation agatha in more perspective
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:16 AM (PXvVL)
32
The back story to the king david hotel bombing
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:17 AM (PXvVL)
33
I'm continuing with Volume 1 of Foote's The Civil War. It will take a few months to complete all three volumes because every couple of pages I stop and think about how certain situations could apply to the present and what the response might be.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 09:18 AM (zudum)
34
I'd read either character or plot based works. Doesn't matter to me if it keeps my interest.
Don't care much for "dropped into the past" stories, because they can't do anything to change the timeline without destroying the present. So, a bit unbelievable for me.
Don't care much for "dropped into the past" stories, because they can't do anything to change the timeline without destroying the present. So, a bit unbelievable for me.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:19 AM (0eaVi)
35
I've often said that come the zombie apocalypse, it's guys like me that die first. If there's a library available, I can research things we'd need to know -- otherwise I'm useless.
Some years ago, I'd have said that the fella from modern times would do better if suddenly dropped into the past -- he knows, at least, what he can't do if cut off from his modern conveniences. The fella from the past dropped into modern times would have little idea of what is even possible and where the lines that mustn't be crossed happen to be now. But these days, with so many people seemingly unable to deal with the world at all without their smartphones, I'm not sure any more.
Some years ago, I'd have said that the fella from modern times would do better if suddenly dropped into the past -- he knows, at least, what he can't do if cut off from his modern conveniences. The fella from the past dropped into modern times would have little idea of what is even possible and where the lines that mustn't be crossed happen to be now. But these days, with so many people seemingly unable to deal with the world at all without their smartphones, I'm not sure any more.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 09:19 AM (q3u5l)
36
Along the lines of a time travel book where the main characters have to adapt to a new time frame while carrying out a mission, you might check out The Proteus Operation by James Hogan. In the world of 1975, the US is fighting against a dominant Third Reich, which has won the war. After consulting the British monarch in exile in Ottawa, they decide to go back in time to help out the one person who might have prevented the calamity. Hogan was not great with characters, but his books were plot-rich.
Posted by: MichiCanuck at March 03, 2024 09:20 AM (yw91Q)
37
Presumably you would create a new branch reality
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:20 AM (PXvVL)
38
Oh i remember that one
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:21 AM (PXvVL)
39
a somewhat popular niche time travel story: A military unit is transported back in time and has to learn to survive.
=====
Eric Flint? Of Baen Free Library fame? I remember some of those as being very enjoyable. Another classic author is Connie Willis.
=====
Eric Flint? Of Baen Free Library fame? I remember some of those as being very enjoyable. Another classic author is Connie Willis.
Posted by: mustbequantum at March 03, 2024 09:22 AM (MIKMs)
40
Presumably you would create a new branch reality
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:20 AM (PXvVL)
Impossible. There are no multiverses, there's only one universe, and we're in it.
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:20 AM (PXvVL)
Impossible. There are no multiverses, there's only one universe, and we're in it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:22 AM (0eaVi)
41
Henry James once said something like: "What is character but how someone responds to events? What is plot but the expression of character?"
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:22 AM (78a2H)
42
So looking at 1st part of Vietnam War history, Triumph Forsaken by Mark Mayar is first but very pricey as said on Kindle, $35, looking at used real books for 1/2 price maybe
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024 09:23 AM (fwDg9)
43
Not much reading this week, but I'm still reading about stuff people eat.
"A new article of traffic is about to be introduced into the China market from India, namely, salted rats. A correspondent of the Calcutta Citizen, writing from Kurrachee, declares that he is determined to export 120,000 salted rats to China. The genius with whom the idea originated, it would appear, is sanguine; so much so, that he considers himself ‘on the fair road to fortune.’ "
"A new article of traffic is about to be introduced into the China market from India, namely, salted rats. A correspondent of the Calcutta Citizen, writing from Kurrachee, declares that he is determined to export 120,000 salted rats to China. The genius with whom the idea originated, it would appear, is sanguine; so much so, that he considers himself ‘on the fair road to fortune.’ "
Posted by: Grandma at March 03, 2024 09:23 AM (vFG9F)
44
I agree that the Lensmen series is plot driven but I think 'Doc' Smith had fun with the main characters, especially the various second stage lensmen, and how the human characters changed over the course of the books.
There is much less character change in the Skylark series except for DuQuesne.
There is much less character change in the Skylark series except for DuQuesne.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 09:24 AM (zudum)
45
Oh it is remarkable and maddening they farked up the war even before the marines landed at pleiku
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:24 AM (PXvVL)
46
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 09:18 AM (zudum)
It's impressive that he wrote that in longhand I believe.
Makes me wonder how long did it take for him to write all of it.
It's impressive that he wrote that in longhand I believe.
Makes me wonder how long did it take for him to write all of it.
Posted by: dantesed at March 03, 2024 09:24 AM (88xKn)
47
Yay Book Thread!
I'm almost finished with St. Augustine's Confessions and the experience of reading it has convinced me of the occasional need to read two books concurrently. This is because some books are simply too complex to be read in bed.
I mean, I've done this before with academic/work stuff, reading for work and for pleasure, but sometimes even the "fun" stuff is just too much at the end of a day.
I'm thinking of lighter fare, and also finally getting back to writing. It looks like the grandkids are getting a rotational schedule where they are gone on certain weekends, so perhaps I could brainstorm while they're tearing the house apart and then sit and write when I have blissful peace and quiet.
I'm almost finished with St. Augustine's Confessions and the experience of reading it has convinced me of the occasional need to read two books concurrently. This is because some books are simply too complex to be read in bed.
I mean, I've done this before with academic/work stuff, reading for work and for pleasure, but sometimes even the "fun" stuff is just too much at the end of a day.
I'm thinking of lighter fare, and also finally getting back to writing. It looks like the grandkids are getting a rotational schedule where they are gone on certain weekends, so perhaps I could brainstorm while they're tearing the house apart and then sit and write when I have blissful peace and quiet.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:24 AM (llXky)
48
Oops off old wrinkled sock.
Posted by: fd at March 03, 2024 09:25 AM (vFG9F)
49
Hello, my bookie-wookies.
I learned a new word: CHORF - Cliquish, Holier-than-thou, Obnoxious, Reactionary Fanatics, i.e., the literati who look down their patrician noses at popular literature that people actually want to read. Often found presiding over award panels.
I learned a new word: CHORF - Cliquish, Holier-than-thou, Obnoxious, Reactionary Fanatics, i.e., the literati who look down their patrician noses at popular literature that people actually want to read. Often found presiding over award panels.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:25 AM (3e3hy)
50
Morning book worms.
16 Seems to me that some of the Horde would do fine in the past. They can hunt, fish, butcher, cook, and build.
I would be worthless. I can change a tire and check oil. The end.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 09:09 AM (p/isN)
With the skills and knowledge present within the Horde we got yer back. I personally have worked in well over 20 trades and if I can't fix it, it isn't broken.
16 Seems to me that some of the Horde would do fine in the past. They can hunt, fish, butcher, cook, and build.
I would be worthless. I can change a tire and check oil. The end.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 09:09 AM (p/isN)
With the skills and knowledge present within the Horde we got yer back. I personally have worked in well over 20 trades and if I can't fix it, it isn't broken.
Posted by: Reforger at March 03, 2024 09:26 AM (YMQbv)
51
In fact had diem not have been hit they might never have beem a wider war
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:26 AM (PXvVL)
52
There's a fun story by -- I think -- Poul Anderson which body-slams the whole "people from the past would be helpless in our world" trope. A trio of Romans are brought forward to the 20th century. Not Consuls or generals, but a prostitute, a crook, and some other lowlife. All three escape the time lab and manage quite well. The prostitute becomes a millionaire's mistress, the crook makes himself a gang boss and political kingmaker in a major city, and I forget what the third one does. When the scientist finally tracks them down they refuse to return to their own time.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:27 AM (78a2H)
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at March 03, 2024 09:27 AM (KglbO)
54
I think modern people would die quickly from the poor sanitation of yesteryears.
I have started Foote's vol 1 of the Civil War. Fortunately, I have the e book version from QPL so I get to read and stare at my iPad.
I have started Foote's vol 1 of the Civil War. Fortunately, I have the e book version from QPL so I get to read and stare at my iPad.
Posted by: Jamaica at March 03, 2024 09:28 AM (IG7T0)
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 09:28 AM (p/isN)
56
Impossible. There are no multiverses, there's only one universe, and we're in it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:22 AM (0eaVi)
---
Yeah, I'm sick of the concept. It basically renders the narrative completely plastic, destroys any permanence of the events and therefore my interest.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:22 AM (0eaVi)
---
Yeah, I'm sick of the concept. It basically renders the narrative completely plastic, destroys any permanence of the events and therefore my interest.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:28 AM (llXky)
57
Reading A Voyage To Arcturus. A trippy late nineteenth century science fiction work.
I found out about it from watching a YouTube channel called Media Dead Cult. I highly recommend that channel if you read a lot sci-fi or fantasy books.
I found out about it from watching a YouTube channel called Media Dead Cult. I highly recommend that channel if you read a lot sci-fi or fantasy books.
Posted by: MAGA_Ken at March 03, 2024 09:30 AM (++4z6)
58
Hugh everett came up with it, of coirse when you cross over you ruin in the trek mirror universe was one thing
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (PXvVL)
59
In my opinion, plot drives the book, and characters reveal hints as to which way the plot will go, so when done well, they both contribute.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (jhF5n)
60
The head of the british garrison evelyn barker was having an affair with kay antonius the wife of one of the lead bedouin leaders that puts operation agatha in more perspective
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:16 AM (PXvVL)
===
And British officers commanded the Arab Legion.
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:16 AM (PXvVL)
===
And British officers commanded the Arab Legion.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (RIvkX)
61
With the skills and knowledge present within the Horde we got yer back. I personally have worked in well over 20 trades and if I can't fix it, it isn't broken.
=====
Just an oddity I ran into online looking for tshirts -- WalMart has an entire section devoted to celebrating millwrights. Hmmm.
=====
Just an oddity I ran into online looking for tshirts -- WalMart has an entire section devoted to celebrating millwrights. Hmmm.
Posted by: mustbequantum at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (MIKMs)
62
I think modern people would die quickly from the poor sanitation of yesteryears.
Posted by: Jamaica at March 03, 2024 09:28 AM (IG7T0)
---
A lot more is known about sanitation today, even on a basic level. Medically we are even more advanced, and every US serviceman gets a level of medical training that exceeds that of medics as late as WW II.
Now if grids go down, etc., the urban centers are going to be in a fix. My office building, for example, would be uninhabitable without constant HVAC intervention.
Posted by: Jamaica at March 03, 2024 09:28 AM (IG7T0)
---
A lot more is known about sanitation today, even on a basic level. Medically we are even more advanced, and every US serviceman gets a level of medical training that exceeds that of medics as late as WW II.
Now if grids go down, etc., the urban centers are going to be in a fix. My office building, for example, would be uninhabitable without constant HVAC intervention.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (llXky)
63
While I love a good alternate history, I agree that "multiverse" or "branching timelines" makes time travel stories less effective. Your choices don't matter.
Niven wrote a story about what happens when that is scientifically proven to be true: one result is an epidemic of spur-of-the-moment suicides as people decide it doesn't matter if they pull the trigger.
Niven wrote a story about what happens when that is scientifically proven to be true: one result is an epidemic of spur-of-the-moment suicides as people decide it doesn't matter if they pull the trigger.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (78a2H)
64
...some books are simply too complex to be read in bed.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:24 AM (llXky)
Truly. I like lighter reading for bedtime. Unless I'm having a hard time falling asleep--then I might grab something drier and more complex.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:24 AM (llXky)
Truly. I like lighter reading for bedtime. Unless I'm having a hard time falling asleep--then I might grab something drier and more complex.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 03, 2024 09:32 AM (OX9vb)
65
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
― Robert A. Heinlein
Posted by: rhennigantx at March 03, 2024 09:32 AM (ENQN6)
66
1989. The year I graduated from high school. Yikes.
In our storm time travel, the past. So we can fix things and get it right. I know, that messes up the entire universe. But a do over would be fantastic.
In our storm time travel, the past. So we can fix things and get it right. I know, that messes up the entire universe. But a do over would be fantastic.
Posted by: Piper at March 03, 2024 09:33 AM (ZdaMQ)
67
Yeah, I'm sick of the concept. It basically renders the narrative completely plastic, destroys any permanence of the events and therefore my interest.
I'm OK with the multiverse as an enabling device for a story since, in a sense, all fiction is speculative fiction. I have a problem when The Multiverse becomes The Story or when real people (looking at you, math and theoretical physics PhDs) pretend that it's something to take seriously.
I'm OK with the multiverse as an enabling device for a story since, in a sense, all fiction is speculative fiction. I have a problem when The Multiverse becomes The Story or when real people (looking at you, math and theoretical physics PhDs) pretend that it's something to take seriously.
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 09:33 AM (sNc8Y)
68
Good morning fellow literary enthusiasts.
Have not been doing as much reading as usual. Not quite sure why. I just started the third book in the Three Body series titled Death's End. Like the last two, it takes a little time to get into the story and he changes the format a bit with short chapter asides. But they are integral to the story telling.
I think those of you that are former military would find these books interesting. He posits insights into strategy and politics in the dealings with aliens that ring true in today's events. For example he talks about deterrence and how it can work initially but then loses effectiveness as time goes by. How distrust of an enemy never really goes away. How technology makes even small countries powers that can significantly affect world events.
Have not been doing as much reading as usual. Not quite sure why. I just started the third book in the Three Body series titled Death's End. Like the last two, it takes a little time to get into the story and he changes the format a bit with short chapter asides. But they are integral to the story telling.
I think those of you that are former military would find these books interesting. He posits insights into strategy and politics in the dealings with aliens that ring true in today's events. For example he talks about deterrence and how it can work initially but then loses effectiveness as time goes by. How distrust of an enemy never really goes away. How technology makes even small countries powers that can significantly affect world events.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 03, 2024 09:33 AM (t/2Uw)
69
I much prefer time travel stories that have to work around what is known, or at least what people say they saw in the past. Rowling's Prisoner of Azkaban does a great job of that, where Harry et al sneaking around in the past overlaps with the story as it develops.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:34 AM (78a2H)
70
In my opinion, plot drives the book, and characters reveal hints as to which way the plot will go, so when done well, they both contribute.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (jhF5n)
---
It's kind of a chicken/egg thing, and when it works, it's hard to tell, because the characters should be able to change the plot (unless your plot is just how they react to outside forces).
In that case, the characters have to be really interesting, otherwise you're essentially watching people ride the plot bus.
Modern writers seem particularly enslaved to this mode of thing, forcing characters to do uncharacteristic things precisely because the plot demands it and they can't think of how to make it happen any other way.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (jhF5n)
---
It's kind of a chicken/egg thing, and when it works, it's hard to tell, because the characters should be able to change the plot (unless your plot is just how they react to outside forces).
In that case, the characters have to be really interesting, otherwise you're essentially watching people ride the plot bus.
Modern writers seem particularly enslaved to this mode of thing, forcing characters to do uncharacteristic things precisely because the plot demands it and they can't think of how to make it happen any other way.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:34 AM (llXky)
71
The dropped into the past story can be interesting, but you don't need to actually time travel. Imagine a solar flare or EMP taking out the cellular network. The modern world would instantly drop into the past, with a large number of people unable to navigate back home, much less maintain society.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 09:34 AM (jhF5n)
72
Impossible. There are no multiverses, there's only one universe, and we're in it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:22 AM (0eaVi)
===
One universe with infinite dimensions
Amirite??
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:22 AM (0eaVi)
===
One universe with infinite dimensions
Amirite??
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 03, 2024 09:34 AM (RIvkX)
73
I don't recall that particular Poul Anderson, but in his novel The High Crusade, an alien ship lands here in the days of old when knights were bold and gets taken by said knights.
My first thought is that the guy from the past dropped into the future gets a massive dose of future shock, and may not be able to deal with it. But someone from a few hundred years back couldn't afford to be as dumb as some of our contemporary fellow humans seem to be; he might get by nicely after all.
My first thought is that the guy from the past dropped into the future gets a massive dose of future shock, and may not be able to deal with it. But someone from a few hundred years back couldn't afford to be as dumb as some of our contemporary fellow humans seem to be; he might get by nicely after all.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 09:34 AM (q3u5l)
74
Which do you prefer? Plot over character? Or vice versa? Or does it just depend on the writer/story?
In general, I think character matters more than plot? It's more obvious in film...James Bond or Indiana Jones are interesting (or, at least, fun) characters. If the story they're in has a mediocre plot, it's still enjoyable. A flat, boring character in a great story is much more detrimental.
Although, thinking of book examples, I keep coming back to random sci-fi and fantasy stories (I don't read too much)...Footfall by Niven, various Turtledove things...I don't recall anything amazing in most of the characters, but the worlds/situations created were memorable and interesting, and I wanted to see how things resolved.
Is a mediocre murder mystery with Sherlock Holmes doing Holmsey-things more enjoyable than a kick-ass mystery with inspector Jeb! (and not a comedy)? Tough call.
In general, I think character matters more than plot? It's more obvious in film...James Bond or Indiana Jones are interesting (or, at least, fun) characters. If the story they're in has a mediocre plot, it's still enjoyable. A flat, boring character in a great story is much more detrimental.
Although, thinking of book examples, I keep coming back to random sci-fi and fantasy stories (I don't read too much)...Footfall by Niven, various Turtledove things...I don't recall anything amazing in most of the characters, but the worlds/situations created were memorable and interesting, and I wanted to see how things resolved.
Is a mediocre murder mystery with Sherlock Holmes doing Holmsey-things more enjoyable than a kick-ass mystery with inspector Jeb! (and not a comedy)? Tough call.
Posted by: Moron Analyst at March 03, 2024 09:35 AM (JCZqz)
75
Damn shame the Dresden Files TV series only lasted one season. It was a fun watch.
Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at March 03, 2024 09:35 AM (5YmYl)
76
My weighty tome right now is Murakami's "1Q84". It's 1984. An assassin, whose business demands keeping abreast of current affairs, starts noticing some suspicious gaps in her memory concerning important events. Little things like the police switching to new uniforms and firearms, but also big deals like a fierce gun battle between radicals and the SDF that she doesn't recall reading about, and a joint US-USSR moon base being built which for sure would have made an impression. There are two moons in the sky, our main satellite and a smaller greenish moon. She comes to the conclusion that there has been a shift in her reality, and calls this new reality 1Q84 (Q for Question Mark). She'll just have to adapt herself to this new world.
This sounds really cool, and it is, but "1Q84" is a beautifully written slog, and I kept reading waiting for something to happen. The doorstop edition we have was published as a trilogy in Japan.
This sounds really cool, and it is, but "1Q84" is a beautifully written slog, and I kept reading waiting for something to happen. The doorstop edition we have was published as a trilogy in Japan.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:35 AM (3e3hy)
77
Ordered a hard back version of Triumph Forsaken, best if want to use it for reference often
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024 09:36 AM (fwDg9)
78
My fun read is "Footfall" by Niven and Pournelle, which is both an alien invasion story and a survival story.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:37 AM (3e3hy)
79
In contrast to the Civil War reading, I've been reading some poetry. "Sea Fever" by Masefield, "Ulysses" by Tennyson, and "The White Horse" by Chesterton. The poets are so effective at provoking an emotional response in the reader and bringing such vivid images to the mind. Reading them aloud lets me enjoy each word and technique.
Question for the Horde who read poetry often. After spending time with poems, especially ballads with the cadence, alliteration and internal rhymes, I find myself thinking like that. Mostly a phrase dealing with a feeling or a pithy description. Anybody else do that?
Question for the Horde who read poetry often. After spending time with poems, especially ballads with the cadence, alliteration and internal rhymes, I find myself thinking like that. Mostly a phrase dealing with a feeling or a pithy description. Anybody else do that?
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 09:37 AM (zudum)
80
Its scarey to see how airtight modern builde are. HVAC and elevators go out, most cities are uninhabitable. If cities are your target, the water supply would go first, then, bridges. over the
Susquehana, Delaware, Hudson, Husatonic and Connecticut
Susquehana, Delaware, Hudson, Husatonic and Connecticut
Posted by: Jamaica at March 03, 2024 09:39 AM (IG7T0)
81
I'm OK with the multiverse as an enabling device for a story since, in a sense, all fiction is speculative fiction. I have a problem when The Multiverse becomes The Story or when real people (looking at you, math and theoretical physics PhDs) pretend that it's something to take seriously.
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 09:33 AM (sNc8Y)
---
One of the curses of our age are scientists who come up with unprovable theories and then insist they are true while mocking people of faith.
As in: it's somehow more rational to believe in space aliens than God.
Also: the same scholars who demand a level of proof from holy scripture that no other contemporaneous document can meet who also rush to embrace the most crack-pot, thinly-sourced manuscripts calling those scriptures in to question.
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 09:33 AM (sNc8Y)
---
One of the curses of our age are scientists who come up with unprovable theories and then insist they are true while mocking people of faith.
As in: it's somehow more rational to believe in space aliens than God.
Also: the same scholars who demand a level of proof from holy scripture that no other contemporaneous document can meet who also rush to embrace the most crack-pot, thinly-sourced manuscripts calling those scriptures in to question.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:39 AM (llXky)
82
Mornin', all!
I'd like to recommend to the Horde a book about warrior monks rescuing new Christians from authoritarian governments on other planets in the future. It's a rollicking good read and (ahem) professionally proofread; so it will at least be easier to read. Check it out, especially if you have a young boy in your life who needs real heroes!
https://www.amazon.sg/Stigmata-Invicta-Carl- Michael-Curtis/dp/1736202723
(remove space) Happy Sunday!
I'd like to recommend to the Horde a book about warrior monks rescuing new Christians from authoritarian governments on other planets in the future. It's a rollicking good read and (ahem) professionally proofread; so it will at least be easier to read. Check it out, especially if you have a young boy in your life who needs real heroes!
https://www.amazon.sg/Stigmata-Invicta-Carl- Michael-Curtis/dp/1736202723
(remove space) Happy Sunday!
Posted by: Catherine at March 03, 2024 09:39 AM (RZmWs)
83
Damn shame the Dresden Files TV series only lasted one season. It was a fun watch.
The books started out fun but got progressively darker and less fun (at least until Skin Game which was kind of a throwback). The TV series probably would have done the same.
The books started out fun but got progressively darker and less fun (at least until Skin Game which was kind of a throwback). The TV series probably would have done the same.
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 09:40 AM (sNc8Y)
84
This sounds really cool, and it is, but "1Q84" is a beautifully written slog, and I kept reading waiting for something to happen.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:35 AM (3e3hy)
True on both accounts. I've been meaning to read another Murakami since I read that one, but it's been over ten years and I haven't worked myself up to the commitment.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:35 AM (3e3hy)
True on both accounts. I've been meaning to read another Murakami since I read that one, but it's been over ten years and I haven't worked myself up to the commitment.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at March 03, 2024 09:40 AM (OX9vb)
85
Perfesser, thanks for the mention!
On your question about modern folk to the past or past folk to the present, I'm going to side step a bit.
Taylor Anderson and William Forstchen (and even Eric Flint in 1632) take groups from eras where people actually knew how to work with ther hands to create things. I fear our current generation knows little about creating or building things not sure some of them even know how to "work"). Many of the horde here could probably make ends meet if transported to the past, but I fear Gen Z wouldn't know how to survive without a working cellphone.
-SLV
On your question about modern folk to the past or past folk to the present, I'm going to side step a bit.
Taylor Anderson and William Forstchen (and even Eric Flint in 1632) take groups from eras where people actually knew how to work with ther hands to create things. I fear our current generation knows little about creating or building things not sure some of them even know how to "work"). Many of the horde here could probably make ends meet if transported to the past, but I fear Gen Z wouldn't know how to survive without a working cellphone.
-SLV
Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at March 03, 2024 09:40 AM (e/Osv)
86
American Prometheus is in my Amazon cart 📙
Posted by: Don Black at March 03, 2024 09:41 AM (oCjPU)
87
"Mostly a phrase dealing with a feeling or a pithy description. Anybody else do that?
Posted by: JTB"
I do that when reading the works of Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby.
Posted by: JTB"
I do that when reading the works of Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby.
Posted by: fd at March 03, 2024 09:42 AM (vFG9F)
88
In our storm time travel, the past. So we can fix things and get it right. I know, that messes up the entire universe. But a do over would be fantastic.
Posted by: Piper at March 03, 2024 09:33 AM (ZdaMQ)
If you were given the opportunity to really go back and undo something that really could have changed your life... well then... I wanted to date a girl in junior high school, but was too afraid to ask because I thought she was a member of a certain set of girls, so I didn't. A couple of years later, I find her on a class page in FB. Someone had asked a question about friendships in school, and she said she didn't have any, she felt shut out. I could have asked, and who knows? But. If I went back in time and asked her, too many other people who now exist would not. I would, in effect, be stealing their lives from them. I don't have a right to do that. That's one reason to not like those kinds of stories.
Posted by: Piper at March 03, 2024 09:33 AM (ZdaMQ)
If you were given the opportunity to really go back and undo something that really could have changed your life... well then... I wanted to date a girl in junior high school, but was too afraid to ask because I thought she was a member of a certain set of girls, so I didn't. A couple of years later, I find her on a class page in FB. Someone had asked a question about friendships in school, and she said she didn't have any, she felt shut out. I could have asked, and who knows? But. If I went back in time and asked her, too many other people who now exist would not. I would, in effect, be stealing their lives from them. I don't have a right to do that. That's one reason to not like those kinds of stories.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:43 AM (0eaVi)
89
I'm reading "Falkenberg's Legion". Halfway through and it's pretty disappointing so far. I don't like sci-fi that really isn't sci-fi. This is just military fiction on another planet which isn't very different from Earth. It could just as easily take place in Asia or Africa or South America. They don't even have any gee-whiz weapons - just transport helicopters and guns and artillery. There's literally nothing sci-fi about it except that they arrived in a spaceship.
It reminds me of old-time pulpy sci-fi where every story could just as easily have been set on a freighter in the South Seas.
It reminds me of old-time pulpy sci-fi where every story could just as easily have been set on a freighter in the South Seas.
Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at March 03, 2024 09:43 AM (5YmYl)
90
One form of plot-driven stories than can work are character portraits. I have no read Piece of Cake, but I own the TV adaptation (which I understand is actually better than the book). Unlike most war stories, this isn't about people but instead a squadron. The only constant characters are the administrative staff and you watch how it changes as the first year of WW II unfolds. It is a very different perspective, enhanced by the fact that characters live and die without having a lot of agency about it, and most of them do die, reflecting fighter losses from the Battle of Britain.
My sense is that the novel was supposed to bust myths about The Few, but it's hard to do that when 75% of them are dying and more keep volunteering.
My sense is that the novel was supposed to bust myths about The Few, but it's hard to do that when 75% of them are dying and more keep volunteering.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:44 AM (llXky)
91
Atop my TBR pile is "Education of a Wandering Man" Louis L'Amour's Memoir.
ead it again.
I read it many many moons ago and will r
ead it again.
I read it many many moons ago and will r
Posted by: JT at March 03, 2024 09:45 AM (T4tVD)
92
Third time around for reading William L. Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".
Posted by: Lars at March 03, 2024 09:45 AM (kJH1Z)
93
Ahhhhh Ferrari, one of my dream cars.
Book wise, because I just watched Dune part 2 last night, I downloaded the first 3 books into my Kindle.
I read the books many years ago when I was a teenager. Now that I am the ripe old age of 29 I want to reread them and see what the movies kept or discarded or adapted.
I did the same with the LOTR movies.
To me the only movie I have seen that was pretty faithful to the book was The Hunt for Red October IMHO.
Book wise, because I just watched Dune part 2 last night, I downloaded the first 3 books into my Kindle.
I read the books many years ago when I was a teenager. Now that I am the ripe old age of 29 I want to reread them and see what the movies kept or discarded or adapted.
I did the same with the LOTR movies.
To me the only movie I have seen that was pretty faithful to the book was The Hunt for Red October IMHO.
Posted by: Scuba Dude at March 03, 2024 09:45 AM (f0/sc)
94
...but I fear Gen Z wouldn't know how to survive without a working cellphone.
I was going to ask if that premise had been done but now that I think about it, isn't that sort of the premise to "Night of the Comet?" 1980s valley girls instead of Gen Z but pretty similar.
I was going to ask if that premise had been done but now that I think about it, isn't that sort of the premise to "Night of the Comet?" 1980s valley girls instead of Gen Z but pretty similar.
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 09:46 AM (sNc8Y)
95
I mentioned SF writers being consultants to the government in "Footfall" as they have been pondering the fallout from alien invasions for years.
"They took their places in the lecture room, but they tended to sit for a moment, then get up and gather in clumps. Most of them talked at once. Working with the science fiction people was an educational experience. They had no reverence for anything or anyone, except possibly Mr. Anson*, and they argued with him, they just didn't call him names."
*a thinly veiled Robert A(nson) Heinlein
"They took their places in the lecture room, but they tended to sit for a moment, then get up and gather in clumps. Most of them talked at once. Working with the science fiction people was an educational experience. They had no reverence for anything or anyone, except possibly Mr. Anson*, and they argued with him, they just didn't call him names."
*a thinly veiled Robert A(nson) Heinlein
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:46 AM (3e3hy)
96
OrangeEnt --
And the attempt to make that change, combined with a growing awareness of what would be destroyed by making it, wouldn't make a bad story at all.
And the attempt to make that change, combined with a growing awareness of what would be destroyed by making it, wouldn't make a bad story at all.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 09:47 AM (q3u5l)
97
46 ... "It's impressive that he wrote that in longhand I believe.
Makes me wonder how long did it take for him to write all of it."
Shelby Foote didn't just write longhand, he used a dip pen and bottled ink. He favored a specific nib, an Esterbrook 313 Probate. When finding these nibs became hard he bought out the whole supply at a NYC stationers so he would never run out.
BTW, it took him about twenty years to write all three volumes.
Makes me wonder how long did it take for him to write all of it."
Shelby Foote didn't just write longhand, he used a dip pen and bottled ink. He favored a specific nib, an Esterbrook 313 Probate. When finding these nibs became hard he bought out the whole supply at a NYC stationers so he would never run out.
BTW, it took him about twenty years to write all three volumes.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 09:47 AM (zudum)
98
It's been true crime week. Last week, I read "Killers of the Flower Moon" and I'm almost done with "The Devil in the White City." Thanks to the readers who recommended those books and to the perfesser for curating the list. I consult it for the ILL books that I request every other week from the minimalist library in my hometown.
A I read "Killers," I could see what was coming and why it was coming and thought, why would Congress hand over so much control to a bunch of random white guys with no interest in the health and safety of their wards? There were undoubtedly a lot of donations going up the money pipeline to political scumbags. It was a sad and predictable story.
A I read "Killers," I could see what was coming and why it was coming and thought, why would Congress hand over so much control to a bunch of random white guys with no interest in the health and safety of their wards? There were undoubtedly a lot of donations going up the money pipeline to political scumbags. It was a sad and predictable story.
Posted by: huerfano at March 03, 2024 09:47 AM (Q4KYm)
99
Good Morning Book Threadists!®
I just turned the last page ofThe House of Earth and Shadow, the third and final book of the "Cresent City" series by Sarah Mass last night.
I give it a 7 out of 10. By far the best book in the series.
If you're looking for a big fantasy trilogy, I recommend this series. It's got magic, shape-shifters, angels and galactic parasites with a God complex.
My biggest beef is the casual way the author injects technology into her magic based world. It just happens. On day they had candles, the next month they have computers and Iphones.
Technology is hard.
I just turned the last page ofThe House of Earth and Shadow, the third and final book of the "Cresent City" series by Sarah Mass last night.
I give it a 7 out of 10. By far the best book in the series.
If you're looking for a big fantasy trilogy, I recommend this series. It's got magic, shape-shifters, angels and galactic parasites with a God complex.
My biggest beef is the casual way the author injects technology into her magic based world. It just happens. On day they had candles, the next month they have computers and Iphones.
Technology is hard.
Posted by: p0indexterous at March 03, 2024 09:47 AM (QBwMV)
100
Never really liked time travel books or time travel movies. I did like the recent movie with Chris Pratt The Tomorrow War but that may be because I just really like Chris Pratt.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 03, 2024 09:47 AM (t/2Uw)
101
The graphic novel "Pax Romana" by Jonathan Hickman is a time travel story. The Vatican sends a modern military unit into the past.
I've owned this for years but never have started it. Bought on fan newspaper recommendation. Perhaps now is the time; my afternoon is free.
I've owned this for years but never have started it. Bought on fan newspaper recommendation. Perhaps now is the time; my afternoon is free.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (p/isN)
102
One universe with infinite dimensions
Amirite??
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 03, 2024 09:34 AM (RIvkX)
Hmmm. Let's see. Forward and backward. Left and right. Up and down. That's three. Plus, the spiritual dimension, which we can't access until we're dead. Of course, once you get there, you can't go back and tell anyone....
Amirite??
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 03, 2024 09:34 AM (RIvkX)
Hmmm. Let's see. Forward and backward. Left and right. Up and down. That's three. Plus, the spiritual dimension, which we can't access until we're dead. Of course, once you get there, you can't go back and tell anyone....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (0eaVi)
103
The books started out fun but got progressively darker and less fun (at least until Skin Game which was kind of a throwback). The TV series probably would have done the same.
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 09:40 AM (sNc8Y)
-----
I believe Skin Game's tone was intentional because the next couple of books in the series get dark again.
I've noticed that good authors who write long series (or just long books) that have an overall dark tone will also include moments of levity to lighten the mood from time to time. Erickson does this a lot in Malazan, especially when thing are about to get very, very dark indeed.
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 09:40 AM (sNc8Y)
-----
I believe Skin Game's tone was intentional because the next couple of books in the series get dark again.
I've noticed that good authors who write long series (or just long books) that have an overall dark tone will also include moments of levity to lighten the mood from time to time. Erickson does this a lot in Malazan, especially when thing are about to get very, very dark indeed.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (BpYfr)
104
Third time around for reading William L. Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".
Posted by: Lars at March 03, 2024 09:45 AM (kJH1Z)
===
My favorite parts are the corruption and cooption of the media, academia, law enforcement, and the judiciary.
Posted by: Lars at March 03, 2024 09:45 AM (kJH1Z)
===
My favorite parts are the corruption and cooption of the media, academia, law enforcement, and the judiciary.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (RIvkX)
105
I could have asked, and who knows? But. If I went back in time and asked her, too many other people who now exist would not. I would, in effect, be stealing their lives from them. I don't have a right to do that. That's one reason to not like those kinds of stories.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:43 AM (0eaVi)
---
Funny, I had a discussion about that with some of my friends not long ago. There was a very cute girl who we all held in awe, none dared to approach her, but senior year I had a class with her, got to know her, and the myth was broken. The following spring break, a bunch of us called each other to reconnect and I asked her on a date. She accepted, then backed out and the question arose, what if I'd made a stronger play?
My answer is that it would have been disastrous, because I likely would have been complacent, happy and completely dull. I needed challenges, adversity, crazy drama and I like my kids (most of the time) and where I am. Indeed, I've gone well beyond any reasonable expectations I had back then, which is a blessing.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:43 AM (0eaVi)
---
Funny, I had a discussion about that with some of my friends not long ago. There was a very cute girl who we all held in awe, none dared to approach her, but senior year I had a class with her, got to know her, and the myth was broken. The following spring break, a bunch of us called each other to reconnect and I asked her on a date. She accepted, then backed out and the question arose, what if I'd made a stronger play?
My answer is that it would have been disastrous, because I likely would have been complacent, happy and completely dull. I needed challenges, adversity, crazy drama and I like my kids (most of the time) and where I am. Indeed, I've gone well beyond any reasonable expectations I had back then, which is a blessing.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:49 AM (llXky)
106
Damn shame the Dresden Files TV series only lasted one season. It was a fun watch.
Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at March 03, 2024 09:35 AM (5YmYl)
Maybe they got burned out doing it?
Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at March 03, 2024 09:35 AM (5YmYl)
Maybe they got burned out doing it?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:50 AM (0eaVi)
107
>>The dropped into the past story can be interesting, but you don't need to actually time travel. Imagine a solar flare or EMP taking out the cellular network. The modern world would instantly drop into the past, with a large number of people unable to navigate back home, much less maintain society.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 09:34 AM
The Postman by David Brin is one of my favorites.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 09:34 AM
The Postman by David Brin is one of my favorites.
Posted by: huerfano at March 03, 2024 09:51 AM (Q4KYm)
108
Hmmm. Let's see. Forward and backward. Left and right. Up and down. That's three. Plus, the spiritual dimension, which we can't access until we're dead. Of course, once you get there, you can't go back and tell anyone....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (0eaVi)
====
Up, Up, and Away!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (0eaVi)
====
Up, Up, and Away!
Posted by: The Fifth Dimension at March 03, 2024 09:51 AM (RIvkX)
109
I reread Tolkien's "Farmer Giles of Ham". It's one of his short pieces where he was just having fun. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 09:52 AM (zudum)
110
My first thought is that the guy from the past dropped into the future gets a massive dose of future shock, and may not be able to deal with it. But someone from a few hundred years back couldn't afford to be as dumb as some of our contemporary fellow humans seem to be; he might get by nicely after all.
Posted by: Just Some Guy
That was the premise of Time After Time, by Karl Alexander, which was a more popular movie than book. H.G. Wells invites a group of people to dinner and to show them his time machine. Unbeknownst to him, one of the guests is actually Jack the Ripper, who uses it to go into the future. Fortunately, Jack lets the machine return, and Wells is forced to follow him and try to stop him. Jack finds a society he fits in quite nicely, while Wells is shocked.
Posted by: Just Some Guy
That was the premise of Time After Time, by Karl Alexander, which was a more popular movie than book. H.G. Wells invites a group of people to dinner and to show them his time machine. Unbeknownst to him, one of the guests is actually Jack the Ripper, who uses it to go into the future. Fortunately, Jack lets the machine return, and Wells is forced to follow him and try to stop him. Jack finds a society he fits in quite nicely, while Wells is shocked.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 09:52 AM (jhF5n)
111
To me the only movie I have seen that was pretty faithful to the book was The Hunt for Red October IMHO.
Posted by: Scuba Dude at March 03, 2024 09:45 AM (f0/sc)
---
This brings to mind the old "movies better than the book" discussion. Though not strictly a movie, the TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited is hands-down the greatest, most faithful book adaptation. I've read the book, watched the show, read the book again - it's seamless.
Posted by: Scuba Dude at March 03, 2024 09:45 AM (f0/sc)
---
This brings to mind the old "movies better than the book" discussion. Though not strictly a movie, the TV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited is hands-down the greatest, most faithful book adaptation. I've read the book, watched the show, read the book again - it's seamless.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:53 AM (llXky)
112
A little about Petrolatum V. Nasby:
Today Nasby is little known. That’s because his brand of political satire is not easily accessible to the modern reader. Like his near-contemporary Mark Twain, Nasby writes in backwoods dialect, a favorite literary device of nineteenth century writers. But as hard as some modern readers find the Missouri regionalisms used by Twain’s Huck Finn, Nasby’s backwoods Ohio argot is even more challenging to the modern ear and eye.
Yet, with patience and a willingness to sound out the occasional word, Nasby’s language, and especially his spelling, are hilarious."
Today Nasby is little known. That’s because his brand of political satire is not easily accessible to the modern reader. Like his near-contemporary Mark Twain, Nasby writes in backwoods dialect, a favorite literary device of nineteenth century writers. But as hard as some modern readers find the Missouri regionalisms used by Twain’s Huck Finn, Nasby’s backwoods Ohio argot is even more challenging to the modern ear and eye.
Yet, with patience and a willingness to sound out the occasional word, Nasby’s language, and especially his spelling, are hilarious."
Posted by: fd at March 03, 2024 09:53 AM (vFG9F)
113
I thought the Fifth Dimension was the Twilight Zone.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 09:53 AM (q3u5l)
114
wth
"Petroleum" V. Nasby
"Petroleum" V. Nasby
Posted by: fd at March 03, 2024 09:54 AM (vFG9F)
115
...some books are simply too complex to be read in bed.
=====
Along with not reading in leather library chairs that I inevitably slip slide out of, I don't read hardcover books in bed. I doze off and find myself beaned by a weighty tome. Klutziness limits some pleasures.
=====
Along with not reading in leather library chairs that I inevitably slip slide out of, I don't read hardcover books in bed. I doze off and find myself beaned by a weighty tome. Klutziness limits some pleasures.
Posted by: mustbequantum at March 03, 2024 09:54 AM (MIKMs)
116
Once you have kids of your own, any ideas about revisiting your own past quickly turn into horror stories.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:54 AM (78a2H)
117
I really liked the Dresden TV series and was surprised it didn't get more seasons. There were so many successful fantasy and sci fi series it just didn't make sense.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 03, 2024 09:54 AM (t/2Uw)
118
I mean, if you want to read Brideshead Revisited, you could just watch the show. It's that faithful. The only (tiny) variance that I could find is that the TV show omits details of Rex Mottram's military career. It makes him a (slightly) more sympathetic character, but I get that they had time constraints.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:55 AM (llXky)
119
Once you have kids of your own, any ideas about revisiting your own past quickly turn into horror stories.
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:54 AM (78a2H)
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And grandkids! There are many like them, but these ones are mine!
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:54 AM (78a2H)
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And grandkids! There are many like them, but these ones are mine!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:55 AM (llXky)
120
111 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:53 AM
Never read the book or watched the movie. Not my genre.
But you have me intrigued and may try both.
Never read the book or watched the movie. Not my genre.
But you have me intrigued and may try both.
Posted by: Scuba Dude at March 03, 2024 09:56 AM (f0/sc)
121
entire section devoted to celebrating millwrights. Hmmm.
Posted by: mustbequantum at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (MIKMs)
As there should be, and one for Foundrymen, and one for Engineers, and one for...
I sometimes take jobs far below my skillset just for fun.
Hire on as a grinder and then out weld everyone... back when I could see.
Laborer on a paving crew and then rebuild their paver in the field.
Luber on a minesite and start telling mechanics how to fix stuff.
"I've forgotten more about "it all" then most people will ever know"
Posted by: mustbequantum at March 03, 2024 09:31 AM (MIKMs)
As there should be, and one for Foundrymen, and one for Engineers, and one for...
I sometimes take jobs far below my skillset just for fun.
Hire on as a grinder and then out weld everyone... back when I could see.
Laborer on a paving crew and then rebuild their paver in the field.
Luber on a minesite and start telling mechanics how to fix stuff.
"I've forgotten more about "it all" then most people will ever know"
Posted by: Reforger at March 03, 2024 09:56 AM (LNl9z)
122
I was watching a video of what went wrong in the Alien franchise of movies.
They mention the success of the first two movies and then all the problems the 3rd had and one hilarious point - Sigourney Weaver demanded that the humans in the movie not have guns because she was opposed to people being armed.
Now...this is an actress whose career was partially launched by Aliens 2 which is...full of guns...but more to the point she is making movies in an SF future where there are malevolent aliens that want to destroy the human race and can generally only be stopped by...guns.
They mention the success of the first two movies and then all the problems the 3rd had and one hilarious point - Sigourney Weaver demanded that the humans in the movie not have guns because she was opposed to people being armed.
Now...this is an actress whose career was partially launched by Aliens 2 which is...full of guns...but more to the point she is making movies in an SF future where there are malevolent aliens that want to destroy the human race and can generally only be stopped by...guns.
Posted by: Anakin Skywalker at March 03, 2024 09:56 AM (ibTVg)
123
The Postman was a great short story which Brin expanded into a mediocre novel, which got adapted into a bad movie. Orson Scott Card's short story Ender's Game had (in my opinion) a similar trajectory.
If you write a great short story, STOP!
If you write a great short story, STOP!
Posted by: Trimegistus at March 03, 2024 09:57 AM (78a2H)
124
I just picked up Doomsday Recon yesterday based on watching its author, Ryan Williamson, hilariously posting on X all week.
He pitched a reboot of The Wizard of Oz that involves a company of Rangers being sent back to OZ by tornado to rescue Dorothy and Toto. To be called Oscar Zulu (OZ, get it?), he just tossed the idea of as a joke but people are responding to it in droves. I'd love to read something like that.
Started reading Lisa Scottoline's legal thrillers last week, starting with Everywhere That Mary Went, now on Legal Tender. She's a lefty so there are always groan-worthy comments by her characters, but the writing and characters are great otherwise. Read her first one when it came out my second year of law school in 1993, and ended up reading about 5 of her books before life got busy. Looked her up this year and she's written 30 novels and a mess of nonfiction, so I need to get to work if I'm to catch up.
He pitched a reboot of The Wizard of Oz that involves a company of Rangers being sent back to OZ by tornado to rescue Dorothy and Toto. To be called Oscar Zulu (OZ, get it?), he just tossed the idea of as a joke but people are responding to it in droves. I'd love to read something like that.
Started reading Lisa Scottoline's legal thrillers last week, starting with Everywhere That Mary Went, now on Legal Tender. She's a lefty so there are always groan-worthy comments by her characters, but the writing and characters are great otherwise. Read her first one when it came out my second year of law school in 1993, and ended up reading about 5 of her books before life got busy. Looked her up this year and she's written 30 novels and a mess of nonfiction, so I need to get to work if I'm to catch up.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 03, 2024 09:58 AM (/RHNq)
125
Hmmm. Let's see. Forward and backward. Left and right. Up and down. That's three. Plus, the spiritual dimension, which we can't access until we're dead. Of course, once you get there, you can't go back and tell anyone....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (0eaVi)
---
The spirit world is accessible by the living. Very much so, but most of us have been taught not to look for it and then not to believe what we see. It is difficult to retrain one's mind and regain that sight, but children have a natural affinity for it. My wife and I have striven to push them to keep that link, and I think we have been successful. They are much more open to spiritual things and aware of them as well.
Holy water really does make the bumps in the night stop, btw.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (0eaVi)
---
The spirit world is accessible by the living. Very much so, but most of us have been taught not to look for it and then not to believe what we see. It is difficult to retrain one's mind and regain that sight, but children have a natural affinity for it. My wife and I have striven to push them to keep that link, and I think we have been successful. They are much more open to spiritual things and aware of them as well.
Holy water really does make the bumps in the night stop, btw.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:58 AM (llXky)
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 09:59 AM (sNc8Y)
127
On movies faithful to the original book, I saw a German adaptation of Count of Monte Cristo many, many years ago that was absolutely faithful to the book. The native German that I was watching it with declared that it was "kitsch", basically shiny, but cheap.
That's when I had the realization that most of Dumas' stories were basically just soap operas before TV.
-SLV
That's when I had the realization that most of Dumas' stories were basically just soap operas before TV.
-SLV
Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at March 03, 2024 09:59 AM (e/Osv)
128
And the attempt to make that change, combined with a growing awareness of what would be destroyed by making it, wouldn't make a bad story at all.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 09:47 AM (q3u5l)
JSG, I had that idea pre-planned, but pretty much abandoned it, just because nothing would have changed. I would have done it from the perspective of one person overlooked on the last day who was given "time" to roam around in because everyone else was either in the good place or the bad place. Sort of a Q character who could interact with people in the past and offer them the opportunity to change things. Of course, they'd all have to decide in the end to not do it because it would cause chaos for other people.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 09:47 AM (q3u5l)
JSG, I had that idea pre-planned, but pretty much abandoned it, just because nothing would have changed. I would have done it from the perspective of one person overlooked on the last day who was given "time" to roam around in because everyone else was either in the good place or the bad place. Sort of a Q character who could interact with people in the past and offer them the opportunity to change things. Of course, they'd all have to decide in the end to not do it because it would cause chaos for other people.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 10:00 AM (0eaVi)
129
We interrupt this Sunday Morning Book Thread with an important Sunday Morning Book Thread update:
I'm now 2/3 of the way through the FINAL book of Malazan Book of the Fallen -- The Crippled God.
The Malazan Army is slowly working its way across the impassable Glass Desert, attempting to reach the lands of the Forkrul Assail on the other side. Where they will then show those alien bastards what Malazan justice means.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Sunday Morning Book Thread shenanigans.
I'm now 2/3 of the way through the FINAL book of Malazan Book of the Fallen -- The Crippled God.
The Malazan Army is slowly working its way across the impassable Glass Desert, attempting to reach the lands of the Forkrul Assail on the other side. Where they will then show those alien bastards what Malazan justice means.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Sunday Morning Book Thread shenanigans.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 10:00 AM (BpYfr)
130
A failed comics series from the '80s, Lady Pendragon, had as its starting point some pulse that wiped out all electronics and replaced them with magic.
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 10:00 AM (p/isN)
131
Mark Twain, 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' is another we haven't mentioned.
Posted by: mustbequantum at March 03, 2024 10:00 AM (MIKMs)
132
Not for everyone, too much feminism for most, however I've been reading Laurie King's Russell/Holmes mysteries. Yes, Mary Russell is a feminist in the 1920's and an equal to Sherlock Holmes when it comes to deduction, however she's not strident about women not needing men. She actually marries one. Unlike the stronk woman she does go up against men in physical fights and gets her ass kicked a lot. My only disappointment was with the portrayal of Mrs. Hudson. Books 1 & 2, than 9 & 10 were my favorites.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at March 03, 2024 10:01 AM (2NHgQ)
133
Never read the book or watched the movie. Not my genre.
But you have me intrigued and may try both.
Posted by: Scuba Dude at March 03, 2024 09:56 AM (f0/sc)
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It's really that good. Jeremy Irons is terrific in the role that launched his career. It's a good date watch, lots of interpersonal drama.
It is also two stories in one. The one just about everyone sees is about a dysfunctional English noble family in the years between the wars. Excellent drama.
The deeper story is one of conversion to the Christian faith. Many people don't even see it, but it is very much there and why Waugh wrote it.
But you have me intrigued and may try both.
Posted by: Scuba Dude at March 03, 2024 09:56 AM (f0/sc)
---
It's really that good. Jeremy Irons is terrific in the role that launched his career. It's a good date watch, lots of interpersonal drama.
It is also two stories in one. The one just about everyone sees is about a dysfunctional English noble family in the years between the wars. Excellent drama.
The deeper story is one of conversion to the Christian faith. Many people don't even see it, but it is very much there and why Waugh wrote it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:03 AM (llXky)
134
I've noticed that good authors who write long series (or just long books) that have an overall dark tone will also include moments of levity to lighten the mood from time to time. Erickson does this a lot in Malazan, especially when thing are about to get very, very dark indeed.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (BpYfr)
It's called, catharsis, Perf....
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 09:48 AM (BpYfr)
It's called, catharsis, Perf....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 10:03 AM (0eaVi)
135
Texas MoMe folks going back or forward in time. Damn, that could go either way. I picture more of a plot-driven story as the huge depth and variety of knowledge of the Horde is brought to bear on the situations that arise. But we have such characters in the group a lot of humor could come out at the different approaches and ways of expressing them. Too good an opportunity to miss.
Imagine CBD in that circumstance. In the past he could help develop the first sous vide device and how it helped the soldiers at Valley Forge get the most out of their rations. In the future he could make sure to restore an appreciation of paintings. And imagine CBD, using a quill, writing about first world problems in 200 BC or the 18th century.
Imagine CBD in that circumstance. In the past he could help develop the first sous vide device and how it helped the soldiers at Valley Forge get the most out of their rations. In the future he could make sure to restore an appreciation of paintings. And imagine CBD, using a quill, writing about first world problems in 200 BC or the 18th century.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:03 AM (zudum)
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:04 AM (Q0kLU)
137
Still working my way through Richard Condon's Prizzi books.
Currently on "Prizzi's Glory", the third book in the series of 4 books concerning the Prizzi mafia family.
The clever thing here is that while there's plenty of violence and illegal shenanigans and graft and politician/police buying, the glue holding the story together is the hitman Charley's romances and the problems they cause within a mafia context.
Sorta like if Dobie Gillis was a hitman.
They're fun. Check them out.
Currently on "Prizzi's Glory", the third book in the series of 4 books concerning the Prizzi mafia family.
The clever thing here is that while there's plenty of violence and illegal shenanigans and graft and politician/police buying, the glue holding the story together is the hitman Charley's romances and the problems they cause within a mafia context.
Sorta like if Dobie Gillis was a hitman.
They're fun. Check them out.
Posted by: naturalfake at March 03, 2024 10:04 AM (nFnyb)
138
I think it would be fun to bring someone like Samuel Johnson into the 21st century and see his reaction to all of the changes technological and otherwise and explain them all to him.
Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at March 03, 2024 10:05 AM (hsWtj)
139
And imagine CBD, using a quill, writing about first world problems in 200 BC or the 18th century.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:03 AM (zudum)
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Heh. First CENTURY problems...
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:03 AM (zudum)
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Heh. First CENTURY problems...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 10:05 AM (BpYfr)
140
That's when I had the realization that most of Dumas' stories were basically just soap operas before TV.
Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at March 03, 2024 09:59 AM (e/Osv)
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Oh, Dumas knew what he was doing. At one point he describes as castle as being so creepy it could have featured in an Anne Radcliffe novel. I lol'd.
Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at March 03, 2024 09:59 AM (e/Osv)
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Oh, Dumas knew what he was doing. At one point he describes as castle as being so creepy it could have featured in an Anne Radcliffe novel. I lol'd.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:06 AM (llXky)
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 10:07 AM (p/isN)
142
"expanded into a mediocre novel, which got adapted into a bad movie. Orson Scott Card's short story Ender's Game had (in my opinion) a similar trajectory.
If you write a great short story, STOP!"
--------
Or expand it into a multi-volume series, re-name Ender "Harry Potter", and profit!
If you write a great short story, STOP!"
--------
Or expand it into a multi-volume series, re-name Ender "Harry Potter", and profit!
Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at March 03, 2024 10:07 AM (5YmYl)
143
Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes.
I got nothing.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:04 AM (Q0kLU)
---
That's okay, I've got plenty for everyone!
*charges the bolt*
I got nothing.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:04 AM (Q0kLU)
---
That's okay, I've got plenty for everyone!
*charges the bolt*
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:07 AM (llXky)
144
And imagine CBD, using a quill, writing about first world problems in 200 BC or the 18th century.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:03 AM (zudum)
-----
Complaining about the difficulty of catching a batch of street Arabs in his steam-powered Scoop to work in the cast iron skillet factory.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:03 AM (zudum)
-----
Complaining about the difficulty of catching a batch of street Arabs in his steam-powered Scoop to work in the cast iron skillet factory.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 10:08 AM (3e3hy)
145
I am reading "Benjamin Franklin", by Carl Van Doren. It was first published in 1938.
For the longest time I thought that I was reading "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin".
It pays to read the title page and the table of contents!
-- LeBaron James, Avid Devourer of Tables of Contents
...
Anyway, I be am up to the 1750s, and Franklin is in his mid-40s. The Franklin stove is on the books, and the electricity experiments are on the books (his son, who purportedly assisted him with the famous experiment with the kite in a thunderstorm, was not a child at that time, despite many tales saying that he was). Of course, his adventures in printing and publishing are ongoing.
He is beginning to try rouse Pennsylvanians to give some thought to their own defense against the French and Indians, but the Quakers have a pretty firm hold on the colony's populace's minds regarding war, so it is proving to be a tough slog.
The writing is interesting enough so far, but not enthralling. I have to confess that Franklin is a founding father whose story I have long found to be less interesting than those of his contemporaries.
I am reading "Benjamin Franklin", by Carl Van Doren. It was first published in 1938.
For the longest time I thought that I was reading "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin".
It pays to read the title page and the table of contents!
-- LeBaron James, Avid Devourer of Tables of Contents
...
Anyway, I be am up to the 1750s, and Franklin is in his mid-40s. The Franklin stove is on the books, and the electricity experiments are on the books (his son, who purportedly assisted him with the famous experiment with the kite in a thunderstorm, was not a child at that time, despite many tales saying that he was). Of course, his adventures in printing and publishing are ongoing.
He is beginning to try rouse Pennsylvanians to give some thought to their own defense against the French and Indians, but the Quakers have a pretty firm hold on the colony's populace's minds regarding war, so it is proving to be a tough slog.
The writing is interesting enough so far, but not enthralling. I have to confess that Franklin is a founding father whose story I have long found to be less interesting than those of his contemporaries.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:08 AM (xG4kz)
146
Hey!
Has anyone here read the Navarre Bible?
It's the sort of thing I'm thinking that might appeal to me as it leans heavily on what I regard as the Catholic Church's big strength and that is centuries of informed biblical scholarship?
If you've read it or some of it, how did you like it/ Informative, interesting, too dry, too scholarly???
Hey!
Has anyone here read the Navarre Bible?
It's the sort of thing I'm thinking that might appeal to me as it leans heavily on what I regard as the Catholic Church's big strength and that is centuries of informed biblical scholarship?
If you've read it or some of it, how did you like it/ Informative, interesting, too dry, too scholarly???
Posted by: naturalfake at March 03, 2024 10:08 AM (nFnyb)
147
A traffic sign in the Audubon neighborhood was hacked and changed to warn drivers of raccoons.
The sign displayed the message, 'Angry raccoons ahead.'
If it was OTTER I would have guessed it was 1 of us.
The sign displayed the message, 'Angry raccoons ahead.'
If it was OTTER I would have guessed it was 1 of us.
Posted by: rhennigantx at March 03, 2024 10:09 AM (ENQN6)
148
Im Italican
Posted by: rhennigantx at March 03, 2024 10:09 AM (ENQN6)
149
WUT?
WUT?
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:09 AM (xG4kz)
150
I learned a new word: CHORF - Cliquish, Holier-than-thou, Obnoxious, Reactionary Fanatics, i.e., the literati who look down their patrician noses at popular literature that people actually want to read. Often found presiding over award panels.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:25 AM (3e3hy)
"My books are water. The classics are wine.
Everybody drinks water."
- Mark Twain
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:25 AM (3e3hy)
"My books are water. The classics are wine.
Everybody drinks water."
- Mark Twain
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:09 AM (Q0kLU)
Posted by: naturalfake at March 03, 2024 10:09 AM (nFnyb)
152
And imagine CBD, using a quill, writing about first world problems in 200 BC or the 18th century.
Posted by: JTB
I could see him writing a post by quill, complaining about rust spots on his cast iron stove.
Posted by: JTB
I could see him writing a post by quill, complaining about rust spots on his cast iron stove.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 10:10 AM (jhF5n)
Posted by: naturalfake at March 03, 2024 10:10 AM (nFnyb)
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:10 AM (xG4kz)
155
I liked John D. MacDonald's first Travis McGee novel, The Deep Blue Good-By, well enough to read the second, The Nightmare In Pink. I quite liked it. The plot caught me by surprise (despite the fact that it is similar to several PI plots of the era). Regarding the plot v. character issue, McGee has both although, rather like MacDonald himself, we don't know much about how or why McGee lowered himself to become a beach bum.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:10 AM (FVME7)
Posted by: fd at March 03, 2024 10:10 AM (vFG9F)
157
Heh. First CENTURY problems...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 10:05 AM (BpYfr)
---
Dear Flavius,
Today one of the footman carrying my sedan chair tripped over a stone, almost tossing me to the ground. Naturally I had him killed on the spot, but that left me with only three bearers. I had to wait until midday until another bearer arrived and by then I was famished. I flogged Vacco for failing to bring me a snack along with the bearer, and when we did reach the villa, the party had started without me, and the larks' tongue sandwiches were all gone!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 10:05 AM (BpYfr)
---
Dear Flavius,
Today one of the footman carrying my sedan chair tripped over a stone, almost tossing me to the ground. Naturally I had him killed on the spot, but that left me with only three bearers. I had to wait until midday until another bearer arrived and by then I was famished. I flogged Vacco for failing to bring me a snack along with the bearer, and when we did reach the villa, the party had started without me, and the larks' tongue sandwiches were all gone!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:11 AM (llXky)
158
Italican onslaught!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:12 AM (llXky)
159
Krebs, the barrel has a box of chocolates waiting inside for you!
Posted by: naturalfake
Yeah, you can't fool me -- they're Baby Ruth bars.
*gathers up protective gear and heads toward the entrance*
Oh, fook, WHAT'S THAT SMELL?
Krebs, the barrel has a box of chocolates waiting inside for you!
Posted by: naturalfake
Yeah, you can't fool me -- they're Baby Ruth bars.
*gathers up protective gear and heads toward the entrance*
Oh, fook, WHAT'S THAT SMELL?
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:12 AM (xG4kz)
160
Some of the sexiest words ever?
‘I am a….librarian.’ Said by Rachel Weisz in The Mummy.
‘I am a….librarian.’ Said by Rachel Weisz in The Mummy.
Posted by: Eromero at March 03, 2024 10:12 AM (DXbAa)
161
I learned a new word: CHORF - Cliquish, Holier-than-thou, Obnoxious, Reactionary Fanatics, i.e., the literati who look down their patrician noses at popular literature that people actually want to read. Often found presiding over award panels.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:25 AM (3e3hy)
---
I prefer the term Yard Sign Calvinists. Same folks.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 09:25 AM (3e3hy)
---
I prefer the term Yard Sign Calvinists. Same folks.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:14 AM (llXky)
162
Started reading Lisa Scottoline's legal thrillers last week, starting with Everywhere That Mary Went, now on Legal Tender. She's a lefty so there are always groan-worthy comments by her characters, but the writing and characters are great otherwise.
I met Lisa Scottoline at a writers' convention once. She's a combination of Stifler's mom and an AWFL.
I met Lisa Scottoline at a writers' convention once. She's a combination of Stifler's mom and an AWFL.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:14 AM (Q0kLU)
163
The Barrel will dine well today!
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 10:14 AM (3e3hy)
164
CHORF reminds me of the Movie thread last night about the Oscars.
Posted by: fd at March 03, 2024 10:15 AM (vFG9F)
165
I, too, mostly read mystery novels (and non-fiction). As mentioned above, the plot has to be consistent with what the characters are like. Best illustration I can think of Christie's "The Body in the Library." In the novel, there's a secret relationship between two characters (a male and a female) that drives the plot. In the BBC revisionist version, they predictably changed the relationship to one between two female characters. Whatever--but they left the actual personalities the same as they were in the novel so that the mechanics no longer worked. It just made no sense for the invented lesbian to act as she did.
Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at March 03, 2024 10:15 AM (FEVMW)
166
155 I liked John D. MacDonald's first Travis McGee novel, The Deep Blue Good-By, well enough to read the second, The Nightmare In Pink. I quite liked it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:10 AM (FVME7)
Love how MacDonald always incorporates a color in the titles of his Travis McGee novels.
Glen Cook does something similar with his Garrett, PI fantasy books. First in that series is "Sweet Silver Blues". All the book titles feature a metal. Really good series in my opinion.
-SLV
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:10 AM (FVME7)
Love how MacDonald always incorporates a color in the titles of his Travis McGee novels.
Glen Cook does something similar with his Garrett, PI fantasy books. First in that series is "Sweet Silver Blues". All the book titles feature a metal. Really good series in my opinion.
-SLV
Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at March 03, 2024 10:15 AM (e/Osv)
167
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:58 AM (llXky)
I meant to remain in it. Of course there are contacts between both worlds. But you'd better test them and make sure who you're dealing with.
I meant to remain in it. Of course there are contacts between both worlds. But you'd better test them and make sure who you're dealing with.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 10:16 AM (0eaVi)
168
160 -
"I am a ... librarian." Rachel Weisz.
Not bad, not bad at all.
But still not quite up to Dorothy Malone's bookstore clerk in the Bogart version of The Big Sleep.
"I am a ... librarian." Rachel Weisz.
Not bad, not bad at all.
But still not quite up to Dorothy Malone's bookstore clerk in the Bogart version of The Big Sleep.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 10:17 AM (q3u5l)
169
This Corsicana storm? Would we still have our modern firearms such as are common at MoMe? Because that would be like The Guns of The South by Harry Turtledove
Posted by: Eromero at March 03, 2024 10:17 AM (DXbAa)
170
Now I see that stupid f'ing Cox twenty-hour internet outage took my cool hashtag away. Punks.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 10:17 AM (0eaVi)
171
*looks around*
At least this is giving me some guidance as to what ideas I can do without in this year's projects to put some sheds on our lands.
*writes*
"There's no point having a container for night soil unless you can empty it from at least a second story window on the heads of passers by."
Hey! Who broke the wifi?!!!
*looks around*
At least this is giving me some guidance as to what ideas I can do without in this year's projects to put some sheds on our lands.
*writes*
"There's no point having a container for night soil unless you can empty it from at least a second story window on the heads of passers by."
Hey! Who broke the wifi?!!!
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:18 AM (xG4kz)
172
But still not quite up to Dorothy Malone's bookstore clerk in the Bogart version of The Big Sleep.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 10:17 AM (q3u5l)
---
"Say, I've got a bottle rye in my pocket..."
Great scene.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 10:17 AM (q3u5l)
---
"Say, I've got a bottle rye in my pocket..."
Great scene.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:18 AM (llXky)
173
I'm lying under the blankets with my dog's head on my legs and listening to The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova.
It's about her attempt to become a poker champion with a year of intense learning and play.
I find poker fascinating in theory but I've never played.
According to the book the worst way to begin playing poker is with a winning streak because that will deceive you into thinking you're good when you're just lucky.
It's about her attempt to become a poker champion with a year of intense learning and play.
I find poker fascinating in theory but I've never played.
According to the book the worst way to begin playing poker is with a winning streak because that will deceive you into thinking you're good when you're just lucky.
Posted by: Northernlurker at March 03, 2024 10:19 AM (xcrUy)
174
Some of the sexiest words ever?
‘I am a….librarian.’ Said by Rachel Weisz in The Mummy.
One of the last movies to do a good job with a semi-realistic female co-lead in an action movie. Her character is fully feminine and she cannot do with Brendan Frasier can do but adds her own skills and abilities to help them succeed.
‘I am a….librarian.’ Said by Rachel Weisz in The Mummy.
One of the last movies to do a good job with a semi-realistic female co-lead in an action movie. Her character is fully feminine and she cannot do with Brendan Frasier can do but adds her own skills and abilities to help them succeed.
Posted by: 18-1 at March 03, 2024 10:20 AM (ibTVg)
175
I cannot recommend Paul Theroux's "Burma Sahib" enough. I read as regards authors that the flame dies well before the person, but at 82, I think this is his best.
Eric Blair is 19, fresh out of Eton, unusually tall, introspective, when he sails for Burma from London in 1923, to begin a 5-year tour he has committed to in order to serve as a policeman in the Raj.
Britain has been in the Indian subcontinent for 200 years, and 60,000 Brits rule about 300 million natives.
Eric has tried writing poetry that he has shown to no one, writes stiff meaningless letters home to his mother, and is ashamed of the some of his extended family, an uncle and great aunt, plus cousins, that are in-country, because some are Indian, some half-caste.
There is violence, sex, deception, intrigue, plotting, but mostly it is Blair, coming to realize how much he hates the way things work, with the natives under the oppressive thumb of the Raj.
He begins to think of an alternate self, a man named George. After a while he adds a surname. Orwell.
Think "1984," and this all as its influence.
Available for free through Libby Overdrive, downloadable to your phone, tablet, or reader.
Eric Blair is 19, fresh out of Eton, unusually tall, introspective, when he sails for Burma from London in 1923, to begin a 5-year tour he has committed to in order to serve as a policeman in the Raj.
Britain has been in the Indian subcontinent for 200 years, and 60,000 Brits rule about 300 million natives.
Eric has tried writing poetry that he has shown to no one, writes stiff meaningless letters home to his mother, and is ashamed of the some of his extended family, an uncle and great aunt, plus cousins, that are in-country, because some are Indian, some half-caste.
There is violence, sex, deception, intrigue, plotting, but mostly it is Blair, coming to realize how much he hates the way things work, with the natives under the oppressive thumb of the Raj.
He begins to think of an alternate self, a man named George. After a while he adds a surname. Orwell.
Think "1984," and this all as its influence.
Available for free through Libby Overdrive, downloadable to your phone, tablet, or reader.
Posted by: Mr Gaga at March 03, 2024 10:20 AM (KiBMU)
176
I met Lisa Scottoline at a writers' convention once. She's a combination of Stifler's mom and an AWFL.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing
She signed a book ("Dead Ringer") I was buying for a girlfriend at Third Place Books in Kenmore, Washington in 2004, and she said: "You have a nice smile" to me as she signed it, so I have a special place in my heart for her, she having complimented my looks more than either of my ex-wives.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing
She signed a book ("Dead Ringer") I was buying for a girlfriend at Third Place Books in Kenmore, Washington in 2004, and she said: "You have a nice smile" to me as she signed it, so I have a special place in my heart for her, she having complimented my looks more than either of my ex-wives.
Posted by: Sharkman at March 03, 2024 10:20 AM (/RHNq)
177
Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes.
I got nothing.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:04 AM (Q0kLU)
I have a marketing idea for you.
I got nothing.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:04 AM (Q0kLU)
I have a marketing idea for you.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 10:20 AM (0eaVi)
178
Spent the other day helping my friend / muse get her book ready for sale (I'll be asking the Perfesser to make a note about it). Am bogged down on my own; the plot is going completely away from me and, I also am in one of my usual periods of anhedonic depression.
I was looking over the bookshelves and thought I should finish Around the World On A Bicycle by Thomas Stevens. In 1884 he rode out from San Francisco on a high-wheeler, made it to Boston and then went on from there around the world to Japan.
It's actually 2 volumes together and over 900 pages, but I enjoyed it. Don't know why I stopped.
https://tinyurl.com/yx74w6r5
I was looking over the bookshelves and thought I should finish Around the World On A Bicycle by Thomas Stevens. In 1884 he rode out from San Francisco on a high-wheeler, made it to Boston and then went on from there around the world to Japan.
It's actually 2 volumes together and over 900 pages, but I enjoyed it. Don't know why I stopped.
https://tinyurl.com/yx74w6r5
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:21 AM (Q0kLU)
179
I suppose if I were to write a TXMOME time travel story,
it'd be set in the future. Just for something a bit less well trod..
There's already a gajillion guy goes back in time with modern knowledge or technology/weaponry-
starting, at the very least, with Twain's "A connecticut Yankee in King Aurthur's Court"
I suppose if I were to write a TXMOME time travel story,
it'd be set in the future. Just for something a bit less well trod..
There's already a gajillion guy goes back in time with modern knowledge or technology/weaponry-
starting, at the very least, with Twain's "A connecticut Yankee in King Aurthur's Court"
Posted by: naturalfake at March 03, 2024 10:22 AM (nFnyb)
180
Don't know why I stopped.
He arrived at the Atlantic Ocean and the bridge across it had not yet been completed?
No?
Can I have another guess?
Don't know why I stopped.
He arrived at the Atlantic Ocean and the bridge across it had not yet been completed?
No?
Can I have another guess?
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:24 AM (xG4kz)
181
Victorian belief that criminality is passed down through the blood is a strong theme
-
Like Joe and Hunter.
-
Like Joe and Hunter.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:24 AM (FVME7)
182
Morning, Book Folken,
There is a strangeness about Matthew Damon's family that Clive Strickland is trying to discover when he witnesses Matthew murdered in his study, and Clive is left locked in with the victim by the killer. This is the setting of Scandal at High Chimneys by John Dickson Carr. The story is a Victorian period piece, where the characters and settings are carefully matched to real Victorian England. . . . This is a well researched and clever mystery that keeps the reader in suspense until the very end.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024
***
One of Carr's later books, I think? The Sixties?
There is a strangeness about Matthew Damon's family that Clive Strickland is trying to discover when he witnesses Matthew murdered in his study, and Clive is left locked in with the victim by the killer. This is the setting of Scandal at High Chimneys by John Dickson Carr. The story is a Victorian period piece, where the characters and settings are carefully matched to real Victorian England. . . . This is a well researched and clever mystery that keeps the reader in suspense until the very end.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024
***
One of Carr's later books, I think? The Sixties?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 10:25 AM (omVj0)
183
If you've read it or some of it, how did you like it/ Informative, interesting, too dry, too scholarly???
Posted by: naturalfake at March 03, 2024 10:08 AM (nFnyb)
---
I have not read it, but I've found that a great deal of "hot takes" on the Bible by modern scholars were actually refuted centuries ago, so going with a Catholic (or Orthodox) commentary is wise.
Plus, you get more books! Maccabees is kind of important. A few years ago my wife (raised Baptist) came across them and said it made a huge difference in her understanding of the Gospels. Well, yeah.
Posted by: naturalfake at March 03, 2024 10:08 AM (nFnyb)
---
I have not read it, but I've found that a great deal of "hot takes" on the Bible by modern scholars were actually refuted centuries ago, so going with a Catholic (or Orthodox) commentary is wise.
Plus, you get more books! Maccabees is kind of important. A few years ago my wife (raised Baptist) came across them and said it made a huge difference in her understanding of the Gospels. Well, yeah.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:25 AM (llXky)
184
Like Joe and Hunter.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:24 AM (FVME7)
---
Delaware Gothic.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:24 AM (FVME7)
---
Delaware Gothic.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:27 AM (llXky)
185
Rhodes Scholars apply for the position themselves? So they are not hand children of the anointed?
Color me disappointed.
Rhodes Scholars apply for the position themselves? So they are not hand children of the anointed?
Color me disappointed.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:27 AM (xG4kz)
186
Picked up: Hawkeye; an omnibus collection from the library. It's classified as a YA book so it, like every other comic/comic based book is in the "Teen" section of the library.
When I went down there(yes, it's in the basement), it was such a creepy experience; all of the librarians and most of the kids stared at me the entire time I was there. After awhile I realized that they all thought I was some sort of creep.
So I grabbed my comic book and left.
The book is a real heavyweight. It's the first time I've picked up an omnibus comic and I gotta admit I never realized that ink weighs so much.
When I went down there(yes, it's in the basement), it was such a creepy experience; all of the librarians and most of the kids stared at me the entire time I was there. After awhile I realized that they all thought I was some sort of creep.
So I grabbed my comic book and left.
The book is a real heavyweight. It's the first time I've picked up an omnibus comic and I gotta admit I never realized that ink weighs so much.
Posted by: p0indexterous at March 03, 2024 10:28 AM (QBwMV)
187
Political aside but I can't resist. Poll shows Steve Garvey Republican leading senate race. This means an actual Republican in their jungle primary with a chance to beat the odious Adam Schiff.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 03, 2024 10:28 AM (t/2Uw)
188
One of Carr's later books, I think? The Sixties?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
Yes, a later book. 1959.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius
Yes, a later book. 1959.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 10:29 AM (jhF5n)
Posted by: BignJames at March 03, 2024 10:29 AM (AwYPR)
190
Don't care much for "dropped into the past" stories
-
There is a thing on YouTube and elsewhere in which people in old paintings, photographs etc. appear to be looking at cell phones. Proof of time travel.
-
There is a thing on YouTube and elsewhere in which people in old paintings, photographs etc. appear to be looking at cell phones. Proof of time travel.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:29 AM (FVME7)
191
Political aside but I can't resist. Poll shows Steve Garvey Republican leading senate race. This means an actual Republican in their jungle primary with a chance to beat the odious Adam Schiff.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 03, 2024 10:28 AM (t/2Uw)
---
That means they have to change the rules again.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at March 03, 2024 10:28 AM (t/2Uw)
---
That means they have to change the rules again.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:30 AM (llXky)
192
I finished "Five Years After" by William Forstchen. Not bad, but I found myself wanting to know more about what was going on in Matherson's head when he came up with his solution and how he felt in the aftermath. It felt like the conclusion was a bit rushed and the author needed a bit of "deus ex machina" to get himself out of the conundrum.
I've started reading "The Case for Christian Nationalism" by Stephen Wolfe. I downloaded it on Kindle because Canon Press had a great deal on it last year. Hopefully I'll get to finish it before they drag me to to camps for "owning" a copy.
I've started reading "The Case for Christian Nationalism" by Stephen Wolfe. I downloaded it on Kindle because Canon Press had a great deal on it last year. Hopefully I'll get to finish it before they drag me to to camps for "owning" a copy.
Posted by: PabloD at March 03, 2024 10:32 AM (wEicy)
193
There is a thing on YouTube and elsewhere in which people in old paintings, photographs etc. appear to be looking at cell phones. Proof of time travel.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:29 AM (FVME7)
Huh? Network not available.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:29 AM (FVME7)
Huh? Network not available.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 10:32 AM (0eaVi)
194
I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories about 40 years ago in my teen years. I downloaded "Sherlock Holmes- The Ultimate Collection" onto my Kindle a while ago, and I am enjoying revisiting Holmes and Watson after all these years. It's not part of my regular reading, rather it's a delightful little time killer if I'm sitting on a tarmac, or near the end of vacation and don't want to start an all new book, but I want to do a little reading. One Sherlock story is a nice little snack.
Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at March 03, 2024 10:32 AM (d9Cw3)
195
49 ... "I learned a new word: CHORF - Cliquish, Holier-than-thou, Obnoxious, Reactionary Fanatics, i.e., the literati who look down their patrician noses at popular literature that people actually want to read. Often found presiding over award panels."
AHE, This is why I pay no attention to 'award winning' whatevers, don't give a hoot in hell about the Noble Prize choices, and why viewer numbers for televised award show are fewer each year.
In line with being transported into the past, I would love to see these literati deal with the reality of a raw frontier where their opinions don't matter. Since they would all be dead very quickly, it would be a short story. Maybe a pamphlet.
AHE, This is why I pay no attention to 'award winning' whatevers, don't give a hoot in hell about the Noble Prize choices, and why viewer numbers for televised award show are fewer each year.
In line with being transported into the past, I would love to see these literati deal with the reality of a raw frontier where their opinions don't matter. Since they would all be dead very quickly, it would be a short story. Maybe a pamphlet.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:32 AM (zudum)
196
In line with being transported into the past, I would love to see these literati deal with the reality of a raw frontier where their opinions don't matter. Since they would all be dead very quickly, it would be a short story. Maybe a pamphlet.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:32 AM (zudum)
3 x 5 card?
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:32 AM (zudum)
3 x 5 card?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 10:33 AM (0eaVi)
197
Huh? Network not available.
Posted by: OrangeEnt
"Still no fooking signal?!??!!!!!"
*drops device down a well*
Huh? Network not available.
Posted by: OrangeEnt
"Still no fooking signal?!??!!!!!"
*drops device down a well*
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:33 AM (xG4kz)
198
There is a thing on YouTube and elsewhere in which people in old paintings, photographs etc. appear to be looking at cell phones. Proof of time travel.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
That's nothing. In the movie The Ten Commandments, one of the centurions is wearing a wristwatch. That proves it.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
That's nothing. In the movie The Ten Commandments, one of the centurions is wearing a wristwatch. That proves it.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 10:34 AM (jhF5n)
199
Ugh.
Posted by: naturalfake
Just checking: if you comment on a barrel worthy faux pax without clearing the issue do you get a barrel tour too?
Posted by: naturalfake
Just checking: if you comment on a barrel worthy faux pax without clearing the issue do you get a barrel tour too?
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at March 03, 2024 10:35 AM (HAWIe)
200
WRT time travel - sure, if I could live the life (and love life) of a wealthy late 19th - early 20th century Englishman.
I would never want to live my own life over again. I don't like it much even now.
I would never want to live my own life over again. I don't like it much even now.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:35 AM (Q0kLU)
201
Greetings, O Book Thread!
My current series, 2/3 done, is a parallel Earth story. I love the trope and the possibilities it carries, but BOY is it hard to categorize in the current system. As others pointed out, there is this nebulous cloud that also includes actual time travel (people going back to the historical past, e.g. Flint's 1634) , alternate realities (going to places that may look like Earth but have dragons/magic/elves), and true parallel Earth, where history changed somewhere in the past so the results are different (this is my story ...). Amazon and the rest don't really have a good way (yet) to sort out those differences and it is important because the readership for each is very different.
So, question for the Horde: if you were looking for Parallel Earth stories, how would you search for them?
And for the Tales of the Lost MoMe, my version would have a) a still built within the first week, b) communication with the locals established rapidly as many Morons communicate fluently in Point-and-Grunt, and c) eventual Moron takeover of the local area that spills out of the beautiful opportunity to FINALLY determine the outcome of crossbow vs. longbow
My current series, 2/3 done, is a parallel Earth story. I love the trope and the possibilities it carries, but BOY is it hard to categorize in the current system. As others pointed out, there is this nebulous cloud that also includes actual time travel (people going back to the historical past, e.g. Flint's 1634) , alternate realities (going to places that may look like Earth but have dragons/magic/elves), and true parallel Earth, where history changed somewhere in the past so the results are different (this is my story ...). Amazon and the rest don't really have a good way (yet) to sort out those differences and it is important because the readership for each is very different.
So, question for the Horde: if you were looking for Parallel Earth stories, how would you search for them?
And for the Tales of the Lost MoMe, my version would have a) a still built within the first week, b) communication with the locals established rapidly as many Morons communicate fluently in Point-and-Grunt, and c) eventual Moron takeover of the local area that spills out of the beautiful opportunity to FINALLY determine the outcome of crossbow vs. longbow
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at March 03, 2024 10:36 AM (nXhai)
202
Only author I ever met was David McCullough, whose terrific voice narrates much of Ken Burns' "The Civil War."
'Twas at the Allen County Public Library, about 1993, the author there to speak of his new book, "Truman," which I had not read.
I went to see him and hear his presentation, and also to have him sign my trade paperback copy of "The Johnstown Flood." I was born in Johnstown, but the family, just mom dad and I, left before I turned one.
Note the length of these Sunday Morning Book Thread posts, compared to most of our AOS threads. We're wordy, us bookies.
'Twas at the Allen County Public Library, about 1993, the author there to speak of his new book, "Truman," which I had not read.
I went to see him and hear his presentation, and also to have him sign my trade paperback copy of "The Johnstown Flood." I was born in Johnstown, but the family, just mom dad and I, left before I turned one.
Note the length of these Sunday Morning Book Thread posts, compared to most of our AOS threads. We're wordy, us bookies.
Posted by: Mr Gaga at March 03, 2024 10:36 AM (KiBMU)
203
I liked John D. MacDonald's first Travis McGee novel, The Deep Blue Good-By, well enough to read the second, The Nightmare In Pink. I quite liked it. The plot caught me by surprise (despite the fact that it is similar to several PI plots of the era). Regarding the plot v. character issue, McGee has both although, rather like MacDonald himself, we don't know much about how or why McGee lowered himself to become a beach bum.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024
***
AW, I think that's not really accurate. McGee says several times during the saga that he is "taking [his] retirement in stages instead of all at once." He owns his houseboat (won in an epic poker game, we're told), so he's hardly a bum. True, exactly what led him into this life we're never told or shown. But his lifestyle of living on a houseboat in a warm climate and working when the money gets low, then playing for a time, is the kind of vision a lot of people would love to have.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024
***
AW, I think that's not really accurate. McGee says several times during the saga that he is "taking [his] retirement in stages instead of all at once." He owns his houseboat (won in an epic poker game, we're told), so he's hardly a bum. True, exactly what led him into this life we're never told or shown. But his lifestyle of living on a houseboat in a warm climate and working when the money gets low, then playing for a time, is the kind of vision a lot of people would love to have.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 10:37 AM (omVj0)
204
A good example of a "plot-centered" story is E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series. The plot is about two ancient warring powers colliding with each other across galaxies in attempt to dominate each other.
Ah, yes. I read those in the gap years between junior high and high school. They have been dropped into my personal La Brea Tar Pit of "Books That I'll Never Bother to Read Again".
A good example of a "plot-centered" story is E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series. The plot is about two ancient warring powers colliding with each other across galaxies in attempt to dominate each other.
Ah, yes. I read those in the gap years between junior high and high school. They have been dropped into my personal La Brea Tar Pit of "Books That I'll Never Bother to Read Again".
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:37 AM (xG4kz)
205
194 ... "I downloaded "Sherlock Holmes- The Ultimate Collection" onto my Kindle "
I treasure my hardcover Holmes collections and have given some as gifts. But it is one of those where I have a version on Kindle for convenience. Same with LOTR, complete Robert E. Howard and a few others.
I treasure my hardcover Holmes collections and have given some as gifts. But it is one of those where I have a version on Kindle for convenience. Same with LOTR, complete Robert E. Howard and a few others.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:38 AM (zudum)
206
Buck - I read my first Sherlock Holmes story back in college as part of a writing class, and I was instantly hooked. Went out and bought a complete set and devoured the thing. It's in a box somewhere, but the next time I move I'll have to dig it out and re-read it.
As for new acquisitions, I picked up a two-volume set of "A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old / New Testament" (one volume for each). The local Christian book store had a table set up at a church as part of a lecture series, and the owner was offering substantial discounts. Good supplemental material as I do another "Bible in a year" reading plan.
As for new acquisitions, I picked up a two-volume set of "A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old / New Testament" (one volume for each). The local Christian book store had a table set up at a church as part of a lecture series, and the owner was offering substantial discounts. Good supplemental material as I do another "Bible in a year" reading plan.
Posted by: PabloD at March 03, 2024 10:39 AM (wEicy)
207
That's nothing. In the movie The Ten Commandments, one of the centurions is wearing a wristwatch. That proves it.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 10:34 AM (jhF5n)
---
Well, that and Romans being in Egypt a thousand years before Rome was founded.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 10:34 AM (jhF5n)
---
Well, that and Romans being in Egypt a thousand years before Rome was founded.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:40 AM (llXky)
208
We're wordy, us bookies.
Posted by: Mr Gaga
"Are you gonna bet or not, Mac?"
-- a bookie of the First Kind
We're wordy, us bookies.
Posted by: Mr Gaga
"Are you gonna bet or not, Mac?"
-- a bookie of the First Kind
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at March 03, 2024 10:40 AM (xG4kz)
209
OrangeEnt
3x5 card?
Nah. More likely a post-it note.
Used to pay more attention to things like the National Book Award, Pulitzer, and Nobel. Mostly back in my bookstore and librarian days. But those days are long gone, and it's been a LONG time since I felt like many of the recipients were talking to low-lifes like me.
3x5 card?
Nah. More likely a post-it note.
Used to pay more attention to things like the National Book Award, Pulitzer, and Nobel. Mostly back in my bookstore and librarian days. But those days are long gone, and it's been a LONG time since I felt like many of the recipients were talking to low-lifes like me.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 10:40 AM (q3u5l)
210
"WRT time travel - sure, if I could live the life (and love life) of a wealthy late 19th - early 20th century Englishman."
Does that include or exclude drawing the short straw of being the smallest, most effeminate boy in the boarding halls at Eton? ;-)
Does that include or exclude drawing the short straw of being the smallest, most effeminate boy in the boarding halls at Eton? ;-)
Posted by: PabloD at March 03, 2024 10:44 AM (wEicy)
211
In the movie The Ten Commandments, one of the centurions is wearing a wristwatch. That proves it.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 10:34 AM (jhF5n)
That story was repeated most recently in the DeMille bio Empire of Dreams. The problem is that no one other than DeMille has ever seen the offending watch.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 10:34 AM (jhF5n)
That story was repeated most recently in the DeMille bio Empire of Dreams. The problem is that no one other than DeMille has ever seen the offending watch.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at March 03, 2024 10:44 AM (Q0kLU)
212
209 Used to pay more attention to things like the National Book Award, Pulitzer, and Nobel.
For me it was watching the Hugo and Nebula award winners. Boy, that went sideways a few years ago. Still respect Larry Corriea and Sarah Hoyt (among others) for standing firm.
For those that missed it, was the SF-gate that followed gamergate. Woke vs normie.
-SLV
For me it was watching the Hugo and Nebula award winners. Boy, that went sideways a few years ago. Still respect Larry Corriea and Sarah Hoyt (among others) for standing firm.
For those that missed it, was the SF-gate that followed gamergate. Woke vs normie.
-SLV
Posted by: Shy Lurking Voter at March 03, 2024 10:44 AM (e/Osv)
213
One Sherlock story is a nice little snack.
Posted by: Buck Throckmorton
Yes, Sherlock Holmes stories are fantastic. I can see why Doyle was forced to resuscitate the character. I got into John Dickson Carr stories that way - Carr wrote the first authorized Holmes stories not by AC Doyle, along with Doyle's son Adrian, based on cases mentioned in the originals but never written.
Posted by: Buck Throckmorton
Yes, Sherlock Holmes stories are fantastic. I can see why Doyle was forced to resuscitate the character. I got into John Dickson Carr stories that way - Carr wrote the first authorized Holmes stories not by AC Doyle, along with Doyle's son Adrian, based on cases mentioned in the originals but never written.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at March 03, 2024 10:45 AM (jhF5n)
214
I could see a TXMOME time travel story involving
CBD sent back to the 1st Continental Congress.
He tries to impress Our Founding Fathers by inventing the Manhattan using Molasses Rum, Sarsaparilla, and a Quince.
But, is hung as a British Spy while trying to invent the Cocktail glass, when he says it should be the shape and size of Martha Washington's left tit.
CBD sent back to the 1st Continental Congress.
He tries to impress Our Founding Fathers by inventing the Manhattan using Molasses Rum, Sarsaparilla, and a Quince.
But, is hung as a British Spy while trying to invent the Cocktail glass, when he says it should be the shape and size of Martha Washington's left tit.
Posted by: naturalfake at March 03, 2024 10:46 AM (nFnyb)
215
I was more fond of the right one.
Posted by: Ben Franklin at March 03, 2024 10:48 AM (NBVIP)
216
Well, time to go. Thanks again, Perfesser!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 10:48 AM (llXky)
217
SLV -
Stopped paying much attention to the Hugos and Nebulas as well.
Some of it is the feeling I have that the writers aren't talking to me any more, and some it is that now in my mid-70s I'm finding that I just don't want to discover any new writers and especially any new series. I'm spending more reading time revisiting.
Stopped paying much attention to the Hugos and Nebulas as well.
Some of it is the feeling I have that the writers aren't talking to me any more, and some it is that now in my mid-70s I'm finding that I just don't want to discover any new writers and especially any new series. I'm spending more reading time revisiting.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 10:49 AM (q3u5l)
218
Actually, I've found a group of young back to the landers on Twitter. The problem I see is that they think you do remote work and just live off grid. Kinda pointless to argue with them but I'm trying to convince them that it's an option that may not be available much longer.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at March 03, 2024 10:49 AM (yeEu9)
219
"Don't see the book you want on the shelf? Write it."
~ Beverly Cleary
~ Beverly Cleary
Posted by: Quarter Twenty at March 03, 2024 10:51 AM (NBVIP)
220
Stopped paying much attention to the Hugos and Nebulas as well.
Plenty of SF authors were left to extreme left back in the day...but then you could also read libertarian or conservative or just largely a-political authors. And whatever the politics of the author straight up political tracts in fiction form were frowned on.
Now? Most of the industry is dreck. Give me a library book sale with old books from the 50s-70s instead...
Plenty of SF authors were left to extreme left back in the day...but then you could also read libertarian or conservative or just largely a-political authors. And whatever the politics of the author straight up political tracts in fiction form were frowned on.
Now? Most of the industry is dreck. Give me a library book sale with old books from the 50s-70s instead...
Posted by: 18-1 at March 03, 2024 10:54 AM (ibTVg)
221
Actually, the Norse sagas are about family traits leading to tragedy. Violent men have violent children, etc.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at March 03, 2024 10:54 AM (yeEu9)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 10:55 AM (FVME7)
223
Having a smart phone that was fully capable ain't a time warp today and back hundreds years ago and you would have ruled the world.
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024 10:55 AM (fwDg9)
224
I do like time travel stories
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024 10:56 AM (fwDg9)
225
Hmmm, looks like I slept through the first 200 comments of the thread. Oh, well, maybe I'll contribute next week.
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 03, 2024 10:56 AM (Lhaco)
226
Having a smart phone that was fully capable ain't a time warp today and back hundreds years ago and you would have ruled the world.
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024
***
Until it came time to recharge the phone . . .
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024
***
Until it came time to recharge the phone . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 10:56 AM (omVj0)
227
Good morning Perfesser and Hordemates,
This week I read The Very Last War by WH Hawthorne.
If Mr Hawthorne isn't a "ron, then he should be. It seemed like whole sections of dialogue between some of his characters had been lifted from this very blog. It is a fun story, well written, about the typical attack on America and it goes from there. Fun, funny, probably in some aspects, and this being a smart military blog, there are a few suspensions of disbelief needed there, but it is worth the read.
As he says, It'll be fun, seriously.
This week I read The Very Last War by WH Hawthorne.
If Mr Hawthorne isn't a "ron, then he should be. It seemed like whole sections of dialogue between some of his characters had been lifted from this very blog. It is a fun story, well written, about the typical attack on America and it goes from there. Fun, funny, probably in some aspects, and this being a smart military blog, there are a few suspensions of disbelief needed there, but it is worth the read.
As he says, It'll be fun, seriously.
Posted by: Diogenes at March 03, 2024 10:57 AM (W/lyH)
228
Used to pay more attention to things like the National Book Award, Pulitzer, and Nobel. Mostly back in my bookstore and librarian days. But those days are long gone, and it's been a LONG time since I felt like many of the recipients were talking to low-lifes like me.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 10:40 AM (q3u5l)
Imagine how I feel.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 10:40 AM (q3u5l)
Imagine how I feel.
Posted by: Hugo Gernsback at March 03, 2024 10:57 AM (0eaVi)
229
There is one value to 'prestigious' awards for anything. They tell me what should be avoided for entertainment or ignored as bullshit science. The NY Times best seller list and Hugo award winners are prime examples. They do point the way to folks I want to read like Sabrina Chase.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:57 AM (zudum)
230
114 wth
"Petroleum" V. Nasby
Posted by: fd at March 03, 2024 09:54 AM (vFG9F)
----
More like Vaseline V. Nasby.
Or is it Petrolatum Vaseline Nasby? Vaseline Vaseline N.?
LOL
"Petroleum" V. Nasby
Posted by: fd at March 03, 2024 09:54 AM (vFG9F)
----
More like Vaseline V. Nasby.
Or is it Petrolatum Vaseline Nasby? Vaseline Vaseline N.?
LOL
Posted by: Ciampino - Slippery fellow at March 03, 2024 10:58 AM (qfLjt)
231
Until it came time to recharge the phone . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 10:56 AM (omVj0)
You could have one of those foldable solar chargers...maybe.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 10:56 AM (omVj0)
You could have one of those foldable solar chargers...maybe.
Posted by: BignJames at March 03, 2024 10:59 AM (AwYPR)
232
you do remote work and just live off grid.
Posted by: Notsothoreau
Oh, that'll work. I wonder if they expect Amazon and Wholefoods to deliver to their off-grid haven?
Will they have propane or live where solar panels work every day of the year? Will those solar panels be delivered by air to their 'forest of solitude'?
Posted by: Notsothoreau
Oh, that'll work. I wonder if they expect Amazon and Wholefoods to deliver to their off-grid haven?
Will they have propane or live where solar panels work every day of the year? Will those solar panels be delivered by air to their 'forest of solitude'?
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at March 03, 2024 11:00 AM (HAWIe)
233
Just thrpwng in that I finished Pacific Crucible, maybe the best history I've read of the sea war in the Pacific, although it ends with the Battle of Midway in early June 42. So that was a bit of a surprise.
Posted by: who knew at March 03, 2024 11:01 AM (4I7VG)
234
The back story to the king david hotel bombing
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:17 AM (PXvVL)
It was lesbians all the way down?
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 03, 2024 09:17 AM (PXvVL)
It was lesbians all the way down?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 03, 2024 11:01 AM (tkR6S)
235
Having a smart phone that was fully capable ain't a time warp today and back hundreds years ago and you would have ruled the world.
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024
***
Until it came time to recharge the phone . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
A smarphone without a tower radio to connect to is a worthless lump.
Having a smart phone that was fully capable ain't a time warp today and back hundreds years ago and you would have ruled the world.
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024
***
Until it came time to recharge the phone . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
A smarphone without a tower radio to connect to is a worthless lump.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 03, 2024 11:02 AM (63Dwl)
236
A smarphone without a tower radio to connect to is a worthless lump.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot
It would, of course, still connect across the space time continuum!
A smarphone without a tower radio to connect to is a worthless lump.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot
It would, of course, still connect across the space time continuum!
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at March 03, 2024 11:04 AM (HAWIe)
237
Until it came time to recharge the phone . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
A smarphone without a tower radio to connect to is a worthless lump.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 03, 2024 11:02 AM (63Dwl)
You guys sure are complicating things.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
A smarphone without a tower radio to connect to is a worthless lump.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 03, 2024 11:02 AM (63Dwl)
You guys sure are complicating things.
Posted by: BignJames at March 03, 2024 11:04 AM (AwYPR)
238
Raymond Chandler was infamous for saying that Sherlock Holmes was mostly great dialog and an attitude, or something close to that. Sort of true. Many authors who followed Doyle outdid him in dazzling plotting and thunderous surprises. I don't think Holmes ever faced a true locked-room puzzle like JD Carr's, either. But Doyle blazed the path. Carr has acknowledged his debt to Doyle many times. Ellery Queen's "negative clue," the item that should be present but is not, goes back to Doyle's famous "dog in the nighttime" clue.
What Doyle did better than anybody before him was to embody an archetype and make it a figure people love. And his writing is swift and economical, too.
What Doyle did better than anybody before him was to embody an archetype and make it a figure people love. And his writing is swift and economical, too.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:04 AM (omVj0)
239
Modern military unit gets sent to the far future:
Forgotten Ruin: An Epic Military Fantasy Thriller
https://tinyurl.com/4bhxusd5
A company of US Army Rangers is supposed to take a time travel hop of only five years into the future, but when they land they discover 10,000 years have passed.
Then the Orcs show up.
And then things start to get weird.
Forgotten Ruin: An Epic Military Fantasy Thriller
https://tinyurl.com/4bhxusd5
A company of US Army Rangers is supposed to take a time travel hop of only five years into the future, but when they land they discover 10,000 years have passed.
Then the Orcs show up.
And then things start to get weird.
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at March 03, 2024 11:05 AM (CFtGR)
240
Regarding the question of "If you (or a group) were dropped into the past how would you survive?" Poul Anderson did a classic story dealing with this "The Man Who Came Early". An American soldier stationed on Iceland is dropped into 10th Century Iceland. He speaks modern Icelandic so he can talk to people. Once he realizes what has happened to him he thinks he can do the "Connecticut Yankee" program. But it does not take him long to figure out that it is simply impossible (especially in an impoverished backwater like Iceland). In despair he says "You haven't got the tools to make the tools to make the tools." In the end his ignorance of the culture of the period gets him killed.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at March 03, 2024 11:08 AM (jjfDF)
241
129 We interrupt this Sunday Morning Book Thread with an important Sunday Morning Book Thread update:
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 10:00 AM (BpYfr)
----
Did you take your pants off for that interlude?
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 03, 2024 10:00 AM (BpYfr)
----
Did you take your pants off for that interlude?
Posted by: Ciampino - Slippery fellow or what at March 03, 2024 11:08 AM (qfLjt)
242
I would be set either way, if the TxMoMeet goes to the past or the future.
Given all the talent at the MoMeet, filled with accomplished people with a great deal of confidence (and I tag along) the story would be character driven. If we have a certain Canadien / Arizonian, we could rebuild civilization.
A certain instructor can defend it, and we would have plenty of tasty, tasty cattle to eat and breed.
I would be the research assistant, because I would be the only one with a CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (60th edition) in the book backpack.
Given all the talent at the MoMeet, filled with accomplished people with a great deal of confidence (and I tag along) the story would be character driven. If we have a certain Canadien / Arizonian, we could rebuild civilization.
A certain instructor can defend it, and we would have plenty of tasty, tasty cattle to eat and breed.
I would be the research assistant, because I would be the only one with a CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (60th edition) in the book backpack.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 03, 2024 11:09 AM (u82oZ)
243
I think the TX MOME story should be travel to the future
Morons defeat aliens & zombies, reestablish the USA, except of course renaming it Peruvia
Morons defeat aliens & zombies, reestablish the USA, except of course renaming it Peruvia
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at March 03, 2024 11:11 AM (L4her)
244
Regarding the question of "If you (or a group) were dropped into the past how would you survive?
The modern prospective is "people in the old days were stupid" and therefore it is common for modern audiences to assume that a person from the future would do well in a previous age.
But...the people then weren't stupid. Yes they were ignorant of some of our modern elements of science and technology but...as in your specific example so are most modern people.
The modern prospective is "people in the old days were stupid" and therefore it is common for modern audiences to assume that a person from the future would do well in a previous age.
But...the people then weren't stupid. Yes they were ignorant of some of our modern elements of science and technology but...as in your specific example so are most modern people.
Posted by: 18-1 at March 03, 2024 11:12 AM (ibTVg)
245
135
And imagine CBD, using a quill, writing about first world problems in 200 BC or the 18th century.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:03 AM (zudum)
----
Complaining about the horseshit flying in his face when riding a chariot at speed?
And imagine CBD, using a quill, writing about first world problems in 200 BC or the 18th century.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 10:03 AM (zudum)
----
Complaining about the horseshit flying in his face when riding a chariot at speed?
Posted by: Ciampino - No horse nappies at March 03, 2024 11:13 AM (qfLjt)
246
Defend your answer...
Starting to sound like homework!
Next Friday half the Horde is gonna go "Dang! I got a paper due Sunday!"
Starting to sound like homework!
Next Friday half the Horde is gonna go "Dang! I got a paper due Sunday!"
Posted by: Diogenes at March 03, 2024 11:13 AM (W/lyH)
247
Regarding the "Christian Faith" theme in "Brideshead Revisited", it is very specifically Catholic. The Flyte family are Catholic, not Anglican, which made them outliers in Edwardian Britain. Evelyn Waugh converted to Catholicism in 1930; Brideshead was published in 1945.
Posted by: Storm of Ale at March 03, 2024 11:13 AM (i14/a)
248
226 Having a smart phone that was fully capable ain't a time warp today and back hundreds years ago and you would have ruled the world.
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024
***
Until it came time to recharge the phone . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 10:56 AM (omVj0)
That was the final plot-point of "Nora's Saga" a recent indy-comic-book. A girl got iseki-ed into the past, and needed her smart-phone for her scheme to get home. Her battery winding down provided a bit of a ticking-clock for the story. And when the battery finally did die, she managed to partially recharge it by jury-rigging it to a potato-battery.
Not sure if that would actually re-charge a phone, but it was a clever idea. Even if potatoes were as anachronistic to the time period as her smartphone was.
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024
***
Until it came time to recharge the phone . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 10:56 AM (omVj0)
That was the final plot-point of "Nora's Saga" a recent indy-comic-book. A girl got iseki-ed into the past, and needed her smart-phone for her scheme to get home. Her battery winding down provided a bit of a ticking-clock for the story. And when the battery finally did die, she managed to partially recharge it by jury-rigging it to a potato-battery.
Not sure if that would actually re-charge a phone, but it was a clever idea. Even if potatoes were as anachronistic to the time period as her smartphone was.
Posted by: Castle Guy at March 03, 2024 11:13 AM (Lhaco)
249
Poul Anderson did a good series of time travel stories about "The Time Patrol". The central character is a 20th Century American recruited to the Time Patrol. The organization is dedicated to keeping people from changing history, intentionally or otherwise. As the series goes on the hero starts to wonder whether the Patrol is protecting the one true history or "a" history that happened to lead to the far future superhumans who set up the Time Patrol.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at March 03, 2024 11:14 AM (jjfDF)
250
As you say "No Morons were harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread.", which we appreciate. But then you go and force the poor squirrel to read Mrs. Dalloway.
Posted by: who knew at March 03, 2024 11:16 AM (4I7VG)
251
I did mention a time warp connection
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024 11:18 AM (fwDg9)
252
Speaking of late 19th-early 20th century Englishmen . . . at the library last week I picked up a collection of E.M. Forster's short stories. His style is a bit wordier than I'm used to, but clear. Of course his "The Machine Stops" (1909!) was a novelette-length choice for The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, that 1970s three-volume collection of highly-prized SF tales from before the Hugo Award days. Forster, I think, liked to include elements of the fantastic in his stories, at least the short pieces. In the first story, "The Story of a Panic," there is a hint of the supernatural.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:19 AM (omVj0)
253
>>>The modern prospective is "people in the old days were stupid" and therefore it is common for modern audiences to assume that a person from the future would do well in a previous age.
>Never underestimate the impact of modern-day treachery. Ruthlessness and debauchery have made grand leaps from a simple time of christian fellowship.
>Never underestimate the impact of modern-day treachery. Ruthlessness and debauchery have made grand leaps from a simple time of christian fellowship.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at March 03, 2024 11:19 AM (EEgXH)
254
I've liked plenty of books that are mostly plot.
Isaac Asimov stands out to me here, in that his characters seem to have been clumsily constructed by a teenager, and his dialog stilted and artificial. I enjoy his books because the environments in which the plots play out are interesting, and the plots themselves are clever and thoughtful.
Frank Herbert is a step up. The characters are very well done, when he puts in the effort. The dialog is, in my opinion, awful but fun to laugh at, and good for narrative purposes. The environments and plots are, at their best, absolutely brilliant.
Then we have plot plus environment plus characters. Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books are standouts in this area. Reading these books makes me want to have a job in the brownstone, just to be there, and hear the conversations. I yearn to know, not only what the solution to the mystery will be, but how Wolfe will discover it, and what he will do when he discovers it, and how he will handle the police, and how he will trap the perp, right down to what word choices he will make.
I guess I don't read much character-over-plot literature.
Isaac Asimov stands out to me here, in that his characters seem to have been clumsily constructed by a teenager, and his dialog stilted and artificial. I enjoy his books because the environments in which the plots play out are interesting, and the plots themselves are clever and thoughtful.
Frank Herbert is a step up. The characters are very well done, when he puts in the effort. The dialog is, in my opinion, awful but fun to laugh at, and good for narrative purposes. The environments and plots are, at their best, absolutely brilliant.
Then we have plot plus environment plus characters. Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books are standouts in this area. Reading these books makes me want to have a job in the brownstone, just to be there, and hear the conversations. I yearn to know, not only what the solution to the mystery will be, but how Wolfe will discover it, and what he will do when he discovers it, and how he will handle the police, and how he will trap the perp, right down to what word choices he will make.
I guess I don't read much character-over-plot literature.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024 11:19 AM (oBPoz)
255
Poul Anderson did a good series of time travel stories about "The Time Patrol". The central character is a 20th Century American recruited to the Time Patrol. The organization is dedicated to keeping people from changing history, intentionally or otherwise. As the series goes on the hero starts to wonder whether the Patrol is protecting the one true history or "a" history that happened to lead to the far future superhumans who set up the Time Patrol.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at March 03, 2024
***
Yes! As a blurb on one of the editions puts it, "If the Time Patrol exists, it must by necessity be operating now!"
One of the tales features a detailed, altered world history that emerged because Hannibal defeated Rome.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at March 03, 2024
***
Yes! As a blurb on one of the editions puts it, "If the Time Patrol exists, it must by necessity be operating now!"
One of the tales features a detailed, altered world history that emerged because Hannibal defeated Rome.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:21 AM (omVj0)
256
Been reading a lot about Winston and Clementine Churchill.
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill
Visions of Glory, 1874–1932 by William Manchester
Churchill: Young Man in a Hurry, 1874-1915 by Ted Morgan.
and
Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell
The Clementine biography has a lot of information I did not know. Very entertaining. A warts and all telling of two complex people, their complex marriage, and how the two of them tried to overcome the many faults of Winston without extinguishing the virtues.
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill
Visions of Glory, 1874–1932 by William Manchester
Churchill: Young Man in a Hurry, 1874-1915 by Ted Morgan.
and
Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell
The Clementine biography has a lot of information I did not know. Very entertaining. A warts and all telling of two complex people, their complex marriage, and how the two of them tried to overcome the many faults of Winston without extinguishing the virtues.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 03, 2024 11:21 AM (u82oZ)
257
And in the category of "Book News We Thought We'd Never See":
The Last Dangerous Visions is up for pre-order at Amazon. Listing is there under books, and there should be a Kindle pre-order listing soon.
The Last Dangerous Visions is up for pre-order at Amazon. Listing is there under books, and there should be a Kindle pre-order listing soon.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 11:22 AM (q3u5l)
258
Just started Peter Hamilton's Salvation series.
No clue where it is going yet, but four aliens that look like humans (of course) surreptitiously come to earth via Altair (to hide their origin, which even they are unaware of). That's the first few pages.
Jump to a super secret human expedition to an exoplanet that has a mysterious artifact. The leader knows that one of the team is an alien, but which one? Callum and Yuri, have a history from 20 years ago, but they are working together. Why? And what was their problem?
Jump to an unspecified time where a young boy and other members of their year are training (a la Ender's Game). They are the first year of being actual boys and girls permanently, instead of their mentors who physically change genders every 4000 days. They were bred because boys are more able to defend their home. (Girls are present also, presumably mostly for their smarts(?) - it is unclear. In their history class, they learn about the Five Saints, and the real story of what happened, which, for now involves Callum and Yuri.
And now we jump to Callum and Yuri. What is interesting about this earth is that there are portals (think Stargates) run by the (cont)
No clue where it is going yet, but four aliens that look like humans (of course) surreptitiously come to earth via Altair (to hide their origin, which even they are unaware of). That's the first few pages.
Jump to a super secret human expedition to an exoplanet that has a mysterious artifact. The leader knows that one of the team is an alien, but which one? Callum and Yuri, have a history from 20 years ago, but they are working together. Why? And what was their problem?
Jump to an unspecified time where a young boy and other members of their year are training (a la Ender's Game). They are the first year of being actual boys and girls permanently, instead of their mentors who physically change genders every 4000 days. They were bred because boys are more able to defend their home. (Girls are present also, presumably mostly for their smarts(?) - it is unclear. In their history class, they learn about the Five Saints, and the real story of what happened, which, for now involves Callum and Yuri.
And now we jump to Callum and Yuri. What is interesting about this earth is that there are portals (think Stargates) run by the (cont)
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at March 03, 2024 11:22 AM (ufFY8)
259
Then we have plot plus environment plus characters. Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books are standouts in this area. Reading these books makes me want to have a job in the brownstone, just to be there, and hear the conversations. I yearn to know, not only what the solution to the mystery will be, but how Wolfe will discover it, and what he will do when he discovers it, and how he will handle the police, and how he will trap the perp, right down to what word choices he will make.
I guess I don't read much character-over-plot literature.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024
***
My favorite combo as well, and Stout I've loved since I was a teen. A good part of that character and flavor comes from Archie's breezy narration.
I guess I don't read much character-over-plot literature.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024
***
My favorite combo as well, and Stout I've loved since I was a teen. A good part of that character and flavor comes from Archie's breezy narration.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:23 AM (omVj0)
260
Somehow an earlier run at The Witcher had me bailing after one book. Now I'm on the 7th of 8 books and enjoying it very much. Very strong characters, clever and resonant dialog, set in a vivid and chaotic environment. The reader really can't tell what sort of story is being told; it keeps you off balance and frequently surprised.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024 11:23 AM (oBPoz)
261
Connexion Company. You can just walk though a system of portals and get to anywhere in the world, solar system, and beyond.
Freaky deaky.
Freaky deaky.
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at March 03, 2024 11:23 AM (ufFY8)
262
the Haganah must fight both Arabs and the British, who are mostly anti-Zionist.
So, nothing's changed, then.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:13 AM (0eaVi)
Hang on. We got some supplies to drop. We just know the poor starving people will get them.
-US Air Force
So, nothing's changed, then.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:13 AM (0eaVi)
Hang on. We got some supplies to drop. We just know the poor starving people will get them.
-US Air Force
Posted by: Diogenes at March 03, 2024 11:24 AM (W/lyH)
263
Very strong characters, clever and resonant dialog, set in a vivid and chaotic environment. The reader really can't tell what sort of story is being told; it keeps you off balance and frequently surprised.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024 11:23 AM (oBPoz)
Agreed. The sorceresses were catty, funny bitches, and Gerald rarely turned down a piece of ass.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024 11:23 AM (oBPoz)
Agreed. The sorceresses were catty, funny bitches, and Gerald rarely turned down a piece of ass.
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at March 03, 2024 11:25 AM (ufFY8)
264
Hang on. We got some supplies to drop. We just know the poor starving people will get them.
-US Air Force
Posted by: Diogenes at March 03, 2024 11:24 AM (W/lyH)
Yeah, that was bullshit.
Saw that on the news last night.
-US Air Force
Posted by: Diogenes at March 03, 2024 11:24 AM (W/lyH)
Yeah, that was bullshit.
Saw that on the news last night.
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at March 03, 2024 11:26 AM (ufFY8)
265
On the other hand, character-driven stories can be fascinating to me. Last week I finished The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the 1962 basis for the film with Maggie Smith, which I've never seen. The story is dryly funny and yet dramatic, featuring a heading-for-middle-age teacher (the title character) at a girls' school in the 1930s, and the group, "the Brodie set," of six girls who are her particular protegees and satellites, and who are fascinated with Miss Brodie's affair with one of the two male teachers at the school.
Sometimes a novel like that will bore me, but this one never did.
Sometimes a novel like that will bore me, but this one never did.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:26 AM (omVj0)
266
Also read Collapse, by Jared Diamond.
This contains well told stories especially relevant to islands and isolated cultures. Extrapolating to the planet Earth does not work well. For a prescriptive book, it is entertaining rubbish.
He references Tainter's foundational work The Collapse of Complex Societies 4 times. But he misses the mechanistic point.
He talks about many resources, but does not focus on the key resource for a modern society. He ignores energy production and use. Plus he believes humans can thwart climate change with the right policies. Fail.
This contains well told stories especially relevant to islands and isolated cultures. Extrapolating to the planet Earth does not work well. For a prescriptive book, it is entertaining rubbish.
He references Tainter's foundational work The Collapse of Complex Societies 4 times. But he misses the mechanistic point.
He talks about many resources, but does not focus on the key resource for a modern society. He ignores energy production and use. Plus he believes humans can thwart climate change with the right policies. Fail.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 03, 2024 11:27 AM (u82oZ)
267
259 My favorite combo as well, and Stout I've loved since I was a teen. A good part of that character and flavor comes from Archie's breezy narration.
Absolutely. Archie is everything -- a lens through which to see Wolfe and the world outside the brownstone, a street-smart guy who has to handle a lot of situations through resourcefulness and charm and quick thinking. It's just fun reading things from his perspective. He's arguably the protagonist of every story.
Absolutely. Archie is everything -- a lens through which to see Wolfe and the world outside the brownstone, a street-smart guy who has to handle a lot of situations through resourcefulness and charm and quick thinking. It's just fun reading things from his perspective. He's arguably the protagonist of every story.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024 11:27 AM (oBPoz)
268
Sometimes a novel like that will bore me, but this one never did.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:26 AM (omVj0)
So she was a One?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:26 AM (omVj0)
So she was a One?
Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at March 03, 2024 11:28 AM (ufFY8)
269
I don't think the Pants guy owns a weedwhacker. Despite the tattoos.
Posted by: JT at March 03, 2024 11:28 AM (T4tVD)
270
My sister-in-law started and managed a very successful book store in Berkeley named "Mrs. Dalloway's". It is now quite famous. She sold it about a year ago.
Posted by: Ordinary American at March 03, 2024 11:28 AM (xHR2G)
271
One of the curses of our age are scientists who come up with unprovable theories and then insist they are true while mocking people of faith.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:39 AM (llXky)
The entire field of string theory just remembered a previous engagement and had to go.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at March 03, 2024 09:39 AM (llXky)
The entire field of string theory just remembered a previous engagement and had to go.
Posted by: Candidus at March 03, 2024 11:28 AM (+B0EC)
272
@255, Another favorite story from Anderson's "Time Patrol" series is "The Sorrow of Odin the Goth". A big part of what the Time Patrol does is researching human history (you cannot protect history if you don't know what history was). One such research is investigating the history of the Goths before they migrated west. Especially the history that gave rise to certain key myths. Eventually the researcher realizes that he, by his appearances and what seem to be minor interventions, is creating the history and thus the myths.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at March 03, 2024 11:30 AM (jjfDF)
273
Character-driven yet plotted: Francis Iles's Before the Fact, the basis for Hitchcock's Suspicion. The personalities of Lina, the viewpoint character, and her charming sociopath husband Johnnie are superbly drawn, and the story (culminating in a couple of murders) could not have happened if they had not been the people they were.
The book was published in 1932 and chronicles the meeting, marriage, and life of Lina & Johnnie over some ten years -- so the story must begin about 1920. It's therefore contemporary with a big chunk of Downton Abbey. Watching that, you can see what kind of clothes Lina and the others wear, what kind of cars they had, etc.
The book was published in 1932 and chronicles the meeting, marriage, and life of Lina & Johnnie over some ten years -- so the story must begin about 1920. It's therefore contemporary with a big chunk of Downton Abbey. Watching that, you can see what kind of clothes Lina and the others wear, what kind of cars they had, etc.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:30 AM (omVj0)
274
Archie is everything -- a lens through which to see Wolfe and the world outside the brownstone, a street-smart guy who has to handle a lot of situations through resourcefulness and charm and quick thinking. It's just fun reading things from his perspective. He's arguably the protagonist of every story.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024
***
He's been called the "only tolerable Watson since the original." I was surprised to find that, while JD Carr admired Wolfe and Stout's work, he did not care much for Archie.
Archie also changes. In the pre-WWII days, he would often say things like "He don't know." After some years with Wolfe, he speaks and writes in a more educated fashion, while never losing that distinctly American flavor.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024
***
He's been called the "only tolerable Watson since the original." I was surprised to find that, while JD Carr admired Wolfe and Stout's work, he did not care much for Archie.
Archie also changes. In the pre-WWII days, he would often say things like "He don't know." After some years with Wolfe, he speaks and writes in a more educated fashion, while never losing that distinctly American flavor.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:34 AM (omVj0)
275
271 The entire field of string theory just remembered a previous engagement and had to go.
Posted by: Candidus at March 03, 2024 11:28 AM (+B0EC)
I find it funny that, if I understand it correctly, string theory is a theory about what a string theory would look like if we had one.
Posted by: Candidus at March 03, 2024 11:28 AM (+B0EC)
I find it funny that, if I understand it correctly, string theory is a theory about what a string theory would look like if we had one.
Posted by: Splunge at March 03, 2024 11:35 AM (oBPoz)
276
Sometimes a novel like that will bore me, but this one never did.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024
*
So she was a One?
Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at March 03, 2024
***
Jean herself, you mean? I dunno. She's described as fairly attractive, with "a fine Roman head." One of "her girls," the prettiest one, grows up to be an actress; and another, the one she says has "instinct," is described numerous times as "famous for sex" (though we don't get any specifics on that).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024
*
So she was a One?
Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at March 03, 2024
***
Jean herself, you mean? I dunno. She's described as fairly attractive, with "a fine Roman head." One of "her girls," the prettiest one, grows up to be an actress; and another, the one she says has "instinct," is described numerous times as "famous for sex" (though we don't get any specifics on that).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:37 AM (omVj0)
277
The assumption is that people in the past were stupid compared to the technology of today and the modern man would do well. Except they weren't stupid. Even uneducated people had to have skills just to survive. Fire starting, which wood for which purpose, growing and preserving food, dealing with illness and injury without modern medicine, are just a very few items. Modern technology is so complex and interdependent on many sources and skills that recreating their advantages, over the means of the past, wouldn't be doable.
Posted by: JTB at March 03, 2024 11:37 AM (zudum)
278
Yeah, that was bullshit.
Saw that on the news last night.
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at March 03, 2024 11:26 AM (ufFY
Guns or butter? Hmmm, looks like we're all out of butter!
Saw that on the news last night.
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at March 03, 2024 11:26 AM (ufFY
Guns or butter? Hmmm, looks like we're all out of butter!
Posted by: Hamas' Friends in High Places at March 03, 2024 11:38 AM (0eaVi)
279
Archie also changes. In the pre-WWII days, he would often say things like "He don't know." After some years with Wolfe, he speaks and writes in a more educated fashion, while never losing that distinctly American flavor.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:34 AM (omVj0)
Now, imagine Archie speaking like James Kirk... if that series ever took off.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:34 AM (omVj0)
Now, imagine Archie speaking like James Kirk... if that series ever took off.
Posted by: Hamas' Friends in High Places at March 03, 2024 11:41 AM (0eaVi)
280
One thing I always enjoyed about buying used books - particularly at library sales - is the stuff you find inserted between the pages. I once found a bookmark that had a pressed flower from the Israeli desert. Another time, I found a leather bookmark that came from a gift shop in a British cathedral (can't remember which one). And then there was the time I found a promotional advertisement for a brand of cigarettes, which included a photo of Jean Harlow and instructions for playing a particular hand of Bridge (a beautiful color, two-sided print)
It's also been interesting to find out things about the previous owner of a book. I bought several books in a Miami used bookstore 30 years ago that pertained to the struggle against communism and saw from the handwriting on the title pages, that they had been presented by Henry Regnery to Frances Budenz, the wife of Louis Budenz, who had been an American Communist Party member, but who had renounced communism in the mid-1940s and become a vocal anti-communist.
It's also been interesting to find out things about the previous owner of a book. I bought several books in a Miami used bookstore 30 years ago that pertained to the struggle against communism and saw from the handwriting on the title pages, that they had been presented by Henry Regnery to Frances Budenz, the wife of Louis Budenz, who had been an American Communist Party member, but who had renounced communism in the mid-1940s and become a vocal anti-communist.
Posted by: Paco at March 03, 2024 11:41 AM (njExo)
281
Thanks for The Book Thread, Perfessor !
Posted by: JT at March 03, 2024 11:42 AM (T4tVD)
282
String Theory is about as believable as Neal deGrasse Tyson. Except String Theory didn't sexually assault non-consenting females.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at March 03, 2024 11:43 AM (EEgXH)
283
I find it funny that, if I understand it correctly, string theory is a theory about what a string theory would look like if we had one.
It's physics as introduced by Rod Serling: "Imagine, if you will..."
It's physics as introduced by Rod Serling: "Imagine, if you will..."
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 11:44 AM (sNc8Y)
284
Used book shop finds were often delightful. I no longer have it, but once upon a time I found (in the late lamented Hanley's Book Shop, Rogers Park, Chicago) a copy of Wilson Tucker's THE LONG LOUD SILENCE. Signed by Tucker to I forget whom, with the comment "Hey, did you pay for this?"
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 11:44 AM (q3u5l)
285
Weren't they always going on about string theory in Quantum Leap? (And how many of the people Sam leapt into would find themselves completely screwed after Sam bailed?)
Well, the so-called real world beckons.
Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.
Have a good one, gang.
Well, the so-called real world beckons.
Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.
Have a good one, gang.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 11:47 AM (q3u5l)
Posted by: Sharkman at March 03, 2024 11:49 AM (/RHNq)
287
Now, imagine Archie speaking like James Kirk... if that series ever took off.
Posted by: Hamas' Friends in High Places at March 03, 2024
***
I've seen that pilot film on YooToob! Shatner would have made a fine Archie. He embodied that line of AG's when someone asks him snottily, "You like yourself, don't you?" Archie replies, "Certainly. I side with the majority."
Imagine an alternate TV world where that pilot became an hour-long series, with William Conrad as Wolfe (no beard, though) and Bill Shatner as Archie. Could have been a classic.
Now, imagine Archie speaking like James Kirk... if that series ever took off.
Posted by: Hamas' Friends in High Places at March 03, 2024
***
I've seen that pilot film on YooToob! Shatner would have made a fine Archie. He embodied that line of AG's when someone asks him snottily, "You like yourself, don't you?" Archie replies, "Certainly. I side with the majority."
Imagine an alternate TV world where that pilot became an hour-long series, with William Conrad as Wolfe (no beard, though) and Bill Shatner as Archie. Could have been a classic.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:55 AM (omVj0)
288
Hmm, looks like the Book Thread ended a bit early today. Thanks, Perfessor.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 11:55 AM (0eaVi)
289
Imagine an alternate TV world where that pilot became an hour-long series, with William Conrad as Wolfe (no beard, though) and Bill Shatner as Archie. Could have been a classic.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:55 AM (omVj0)
No Star Trek though. Anyway, gotta go!
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:55 AM (omVj0)
No Star Trek though. Anyway, gotta go!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 11:56 AM (0eaVi)
290
" Signed by Tucker to I forget whom, with the comment "Hey, did you pay for this?"
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 11:44 AM (q3u5l)"
---
Big guffaw at the breakfast table over that one!
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 03, 2024 11:44 AM (q3u5l)"
---
Big guffaw at the breakfast table over that one!
Posted by: All Hail Eris at March 03, 2024 11:57 AM (3e3hy)
291
Poul Anderson did a good series of time travel stories about "The Time Patrol". The central character is a 20th Century American recruited to the Time Patrol. The organization is dedicated to keeping people from changing history, intentionally or otherwise.
That is similar to Asimov's The End of Eternity.
wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Eternity
Poul Anderson did a good series of time travel stories about "The Time Patrol". The central character is a 20th Century American recruited to the Time Patrol. The organization is dedicated to keeping people from changing history, intentionally or otherwise.
That is similar to Asimov's The End of Eternity.
wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Eternity
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 03, 2024 11:57 AM (63Dwl)
292
What gets me about most actors who have played Archie: They have almost all given him a hint of Noo Yawk accent, even as strong as Lionel Stander's Brooklyn. Archie was from Ohio, people. He would have spoken more like a Midwesterner. Even Tim Hutton's wonderful performance has a tiny hint of it (which could be explained by Archie living and working in NYC for so long).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 11:58 AM (omVj0)
293
Sen. JD Vance SCORCHES Mitch McConnell: “You Can’t Have Another Republican Leader Who Seems to Ooze Hatred and Dismay for the Very People Who Vote – Republican”
Posted by: rhennigantx at March 03, 2024 11:58 AM (ENQN6)
294
did we manage to get through an entire book thread without a Tolkien discussion?
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at March 03, 2024 11:58 AM (CFtGR)
295
Imagine an alternate TV world where that pilot became an hour-long series, with William Conrad as Wolfe (no beard, though) and Bill Shatner as Archie. Could have been a classic.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024
*
No Star Trek though. Anyway, gotta go!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024
***
Well, the Wolfe series I imagine could well have ended before 1966. But in that alternate reality, maybe Lloyd Bridges accepts the role of Kirk! And Richard Carlson goes on to play Ellery Queen. . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024
*
No Star Trek though. Anyway, gotta go!
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024
***
Well, the Wolfe series I imagine could well have ended before 1966. But in that alternate reality, maybe Lloyd Bridges accepts the role of Kirk! And Richard Carlson goes on to play Ellery Queen. . . .
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 12:00 PM (omVj0)
296
did we manage to get through an entire book thread without a Tolkien discussion?
Well, thanks for ruining it. There was a mention of orcs above, but not Tolkien orcs.
Well, thanks for ruining it.
There was a mention of orcs above, but not Tolkien orcs. Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 12:00 PM (sNc8Y)
297
Heh. I was at the kitchen sink, pouring myself a coffee, when something caught my eye. It was a red mylar balloon, shaped like a Valentine heart, with a longish ribbon on, floating off into the wild blue yonder. Was not hard to imagine a tearful toddler about half a block away.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 03, 2024 12:01 PM (tkR6S)
298
Well, thanks for ruining it. There was a mention of orcs above, but not Tolkien orcs.
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 12:00 PM (sNc8Y)
Serious question: did the term "Orc" predate Tolkien, or is the word his invention?
Posted by: Oddbob at March 03, 2024 12:00 PM (sNc8Y)
Serious question: did the term "Orc" predate Tolkien, or is the word his invention?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at March 03, 2024 12:03 PM (tkR6S)
299
Another Tolkien book was mentioned way up there somewhere
Posted by: Skip at March 03, 2024 12:07 PM (fwDg9)
300
Three hundred! (Just to say we did it)
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 03, 2024 12:14 PM (omVj0)
301
Think of a Rolex or a high end Swiss watch...
Plot is the setting.
Characters are the cog wheels of the watch.
Plot is the setting.
Characters are the cog wheels of the watch.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at March 03, 2024 12:17 PM (8sMut)
302
My thanks to you for the weekly post and a special thanks to WeirdDave for the recommendation of "Doomsday Recon". Got it on audible and really am enjoying it. I come here for such.
Posted by: Pamazon at March 03, 2024 12:22 PM (fIB4m)
303
Impossible. There are no multiverses, there's only one universe, and we're in it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:22 AM (0eaVi)
This is an odd attitude from a fiction writer.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at March 03, 2024 09:22 AM (0eaVi)
This is an odd attitude from a fiction writer.
Posted by: Kindltot at March 03, 2024 12:23 PM (D7oie)
304
There are no multiverses, there's only one universe, and we're in it.
Posted by: OrangeEnt
Whether we like it or not.
Posted by: OrangeEnt
Whether we like it or not.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 12:31 PM (FVME7)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 12:39 PM (FVME7)
306
Sad news, everyone.
PJ Media
@PJMedia_com
CNN Appears on the Verge of an Epic Collapse
. . . .
The struggling network is now desperately trying to get out of its death spiral, and step one is to cut costs by axing the remaining big name talents who have extremely large salaries.
https://tinyurl.com/23ndhrz6
-
We'll always have MSNSDAP.
PJ Media
@PJMedia_com
CNN Appears on the Verge of an Epic Collapse
. . . .
The struggling network is now desperately trying to get out of its death spiral, and step one is to cut costs by axing the remaining big name talents who have extremely large salaries.
https://tinyurl.com/23ndhrz6
-
We'll always have MSNSDAP.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? at March 03, 2024 12:45 PM (FVME7)
307
Alberta Oil Peon @298, I believe Tolkien took the word "orc" from Old English. In "The Hobbit" he almost always refers to "goblins" but I think for LOTR he wanted a word that did not have lingering overtones of Victoria fairytale cuteness that "goblins" had.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at March 03, 2024 02:28 PM (jjfDF)
Posted by: Weak Geek at March 03, 2024 02:30 PM (p/isN)
309
Speaking of time travel and alternate worlds, I'd like to recommend a series: The Girl Who Saved the World by G. Phillies. I read the first 3 books in quick succession, and the 4th and final book is coming out next month.
This is an epic tale of high fantasy. It takes place in an alternate Earth where people with superpower are relatively common (a few "personas" per thousand or so), and some of these are actually magicians. Through the eyes of Eclipse, a young but very powerful persona, we slowly discover that this world is in the grip of mass delusions and cycles of wars and cataclysms that seems to be inflicted by a group of arch-foes, the Eternal Lords. Eclipse will have to break the cycle, vanquish increasingly dangerous enemies, and free the world of the invisible chains permeating people's minds.
On her way to rescuing her world, she will travel to our Earth, disrupting part of a civilization-ending attack and wrecking a few places in the process. And she'll have to do a bit of time-travel as well.
This is a delightful tale of super-powered heroes, high fantasy, forbidden knowledge, and defeating eon-old enemies of mankind. Recommended.
This is an epic tale of high fantasy. It takes place in an alternate Earth where people with superpower are relatively common (a few "personas" per thousand or so), and some of these are actually magicians. Through the eyes of Eclipse, a young but very powerful persona, we slowly discover that this world is in the grip of mass delusions and cycles of wars and cataclysms that seems to be inflicted by a group of arch-foes, the Eternal Lords. Eclipse will have to break the cycle, vanquish increasingly dangerous enemies, and free the world of the invisible chains permeating people's minds.
On her way to rescuing her world, she will travel to our Earth, disrupting part of a civilization-ending attack and wrecking a few places in the process. And she'll have to do a bit of time-travel as well.
This is a delightful tale of super-powered heroes, high fantasy, forbidden knowledge, and defeating eon-old enemies of mankind. Recommended.
Posted by: Leenooks Geek at March 03, 2024 03:29 PM (sYcat)
310
Plot or character? The engineer in me biases me toward plot, but I've taken enough English Lit classes to be swayed a bit to the character side.
Just read _Black Chamber_ by S.M. Stirling. It's a good meld of both featuring a female protagonist in an Alt-history spy adventure set in a WWI world where the fork occurs with Taft dying of a heart attack late in the Republican primary of 1911, leasing to Teddy Roosevelt as president in 1917.
Just read _Black Chamber_ by S.M. Stirling. It's a good meld of both featuring a female protagonist in an Alt-history spy adventure set in a WWI world where the fork occurs with Taft dying of a heart attack late in the Republican primary of 1911, leasing to Teddy Roosevelt as president in 1917.
Posted by: buddhaha at March 03, 2024 10:19 PM (KUUwP)
311
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Just wanted to say I love reading through үour blog and look forwarɗ to all your posts!
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Posted by: newer at March 05, 2024 04:17 AM (JUziW)
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