Sunday Morning Book Thread - 08-25-2024 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

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

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, sharpen those #2 pencils, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

This is an artist's depiction of Unseen University's Library, located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, on Terry Pratchett's Discworld. At the center is the Librarian--and yes, he's an orangutan. A magical accident transformed into an ape (not a monkey!). He actually prefers his current form and resists all attempts at changing him back. He's discovered that while there are books too dangerous for Man to read, apes don't have that limitation. He's also able to navigate the intricacies of "L-Space" which links all libraries together via complicated quantum entanglement.

WHERE DOES PUNCTUATION COME FROM?

Since school started for me this past week, why not have a little history lesson today? We take modern punctuation for granted, but it wasn't always there to help us navigate our reading. In fact, spaces might just be the most important form of punctuation there is, as without them, all words blend together making it very difficult to decipher. The ancient Greeks and Romans used ALLCAPSWITHNOSPACESORPUNCTUATION. Everyone was forced to read out loud because that was about the only way to decipher what was being said. Punctuation was introduced as a way of helping the reader SPEAK the words, rather than read them.

Early Christianity had quite a bit of influence on spacing and punctuation because the early Christians wanted to spread the Gospel to anyone and everyone. They standardized quite a bit of the structure of various languages, particularly Latin, of course, because of that desire and need.

The appearance of punctuation does vary quite a bit among languages, though their function may remain consistent. Spanish is famous for its upside down question marks and exclamation points, for example. French uses a double-angled-bracket for quotation marks. And so forth. I have no idea how punctuation works in Asian languages like Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, though I suppose they must have some form of it.

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1 BOOK MARKETING TACTIC EVERY AUTHOR CAN DO

It may seem counter-intuitive, but I think the YouTuber above is correct in that giving away your books/stories for FREE may be the best marketing tool you have. Word-of-mouth is a very powerful tool, especially in today's interconnected world on social media. Consider the following scenario:
Last year, one of you Morons recommended some books by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. I liked your recommendation, but wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money on a book just on the off-chance that I might enjoy it. I suppose I could have looked for a cheap copy on Kindle or something. However, I happened to go to a local library book sale where books were dirt cheap. I picked up four or five books by Preston & Child for less that $5. Not a bad investment. Then I read one of them. And devoured the rest. After that, I wanted more, more, more. So within a short span of time, I had spent over $200 or so on the rest of their books. All because I picked up one of their books for a low, low price of $1 or less.

That is not an outlier, either. Looking back over my past buying patterns, I can think of dozens of authors whose books I have bought because I either found a copy of one of their books for free, or checked out their books from the library and wanted to read more. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is a prime example. I found a copy of The Eye of the World for free at a library's community swap shelf, where people brought in books to be swapped out for other books. From the prologue, I was hooked. I ended up giving away a couple of copies of this book to friends to get them to read it and they also enjoyed it.

The second part of the equation, though, is that the book has to be actually GOOD. That means in addition to writing it, you have revise, edit, and proofread it to death. Giving out free copies is also an excellent way to receive feedback so that you know where to direct your efforts in improving your story. But you also will need to engage in deliberate practice to improve your mastery of the craft of storytelling. As the YouTuber above points out, his first book wasn't his best. But he worked HARD to improve his writing and now he's helping many other authors improve THEIR writing.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

OK, Koontz fans, I read my first Dean Koontz selection this week: Watchers. What a great book! Genetic researchers created an extraordinarily smart dog. He escaped from the lab, and changed the life of the man who found him, and some other characters as well. The man also changed the life of the dog. Alas, a terrible monster also escaped the lab.
Throughout the story, the dog is hunted by the monster and the NSA. Oh, and there's a bonus assassin, who also wants the dog. And there's a wee bit of romance.
It's a fine story. Picked up Odd Thomas for my next read.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 18, 2024 09:17 AM (OX9vb)

Comment: As you can see below, I broke down and purchased Watchers based on the recommendations of you Morons. That's one of the cool things about this place--we can always find something interesting to read because we trust each other to give us quality recommendations. Not all of them will pan out, but that's OK. We explore our horizons anyway. I've been cycling through a few other authors between Koontz books, but I promise I will get to this one eventually (still have quite a few others in the queue...).

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This week I read a graphic novel: "Ghost of the Badlands" written by Razorfist (the YouTuber) and illustrated by George Alexopoulos. It's essentially The Shadow (the old pulp character) in the old west, with heavy (heeeeeeeeavy) Christian overtones.
Our main character is a bandit who survives when the rest of his posse is massacred. He was spared because....Well, he doesn't have a heart of gold, but he does have a little bit of a conscious. So, the Ghost recruits him, and sends him to infiltrate another evil gang, to help facilitate their downfall.
Its not clear why the Ghost needed our main character's help, as he is willing and able to gun down plenty of baddies on his own....But its a fun story. I recommend it.
It's funny, I've read two sperate 'old-west vengeful gun-men from God' comics in recent years, (the other being "Wraith of God) and both books have been amongst my favorites. There's just something about that genre...
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 18, 2024 09:41 AM (Lhaco)

Comment: The "Weird West" is an unusual subgenre of fiction, being a blend of urban fantasy, wild west, and Native American mysticism. I'm not familiar with Raz¨o;rfist's take on this genre, but it sounds a bit similar to R.S. Belcher's Golgotha series, which is one of the strangest series of books I've ever read. It's a kitchen sink of myths, legends, tall tales, and more. All surrounding the town of Golgotha, Nevada, built over a Hellmouth of sorts.

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Read "Default" by Gregory Makoff this week. The non-fiction book is about the sovereign debt default saga for Argentina that stretched from 2001 to 2016. As with any event, the headlines don't tell the whole story, so learning about a lot more of the specifics was interesting.
Sovereign defaults are unique because there is no bankruptcy court. Lending to emerging market or developing countries historically involved other countries, organizations like the IMF and World Bank and commercial banks. After a series of big defaults in the 1970s and early 1980s, commercial banks largely pulled back. Emerging market bonds started as a way to repackage bad bank loans and get them off of bank balance sheets. That change had lots of implications and the Argentina saga played that out.
Sovereign defaults aren't going away and they have many political, social, and geopolitical cross-currents. The Catholic Church 2025 Jubilee plans to feature debt forgiveness, so we'll likely hear more chatter from those who want to reduce or cancel debt loads for Emerging/developing market countries.
Posted by: TRex at August 18, 2024 09:50 AM (IQ6Gq)

Comment: I've mentioned before that I find global finance bewildering. But it is important, of course, because our global economy relies upon some form of trade and commerce in order to function. We may be reaching a tipping point where the largest, most powerful nations have officially run out of money--both their own and all that they have borrowed. The global "reset" is going to suck, but I suspect most of us will get through it in some fashion...unless the burning times do come and we turn into Reavers just to keep what we have.

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (1000+ Moron-recommended books!)

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WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

Watchers by Dean Koontz -- This has been recommended more than once around here. Might as well read it, since I've acquired a taste for Dean Koontz's particular brand of horror and suspense.

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

The Taking by Dean Koontz

Dean Koontz fully embraces cosmic and body horror with this story. A small California mountain town is gripped in terror when a mysterious rain brings with it a full-blown alien invasion. Turns out the rest of the world is also infected by the parasitic, alien lifeforms that are devouring the population of earth in favor of its own ecology. I actually reminds me quite a bit of P.C. Hodgell's Perimal Darkling in the way the alien life is portrayed, blending the animate and inanimate into a terrifying hybrid of terrestrial life. Only dogs and children (a Koontz trademark) seem to be spared for unknown reasons. Pretty gruesome stuff, but there is a message of hope at the end...

Salvation Sequence Book 3 - The Saints of Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton

In the previous entry, the seemingly-benevolent Olyix revealed their true colors by abducting most of the human population of Earth to take them on a journey through tie to the end of the universe to meet God. Thousands of years later, the remnants are starting to fight back against a foe that is all but impervious to human technology. Can the humans find the source of the Olyix invasion and strike a blow that will cripple or destroy these bastards?

Peter F. Hamilton does *not* think small when it comes to far out science fiction. His stories are full of incredibly weird and bizarre ideas about future physics. Here we have a situation where humanity has harnessed the power of gravity to the point where they can launch a neutron star through a wormhole as a weapon to be used against the Olyix. It's a callback to E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen saga where the two opposing sides hurl antimatter planets at each other across entire galaxies, just because they can.

The Word and the Void Book 3 - Angel Fire East by Terry Brooks

Knight of the Void John Ross teams up with Nest Freemark again in the third and final chapter of The Word and the Void. This time, John's visions have led him to a strange entity known as a "gypsy morph," a powerful creature born of magic that lives only for a short time and requires protection until it can release its magic safely. However, the Void has other plans for the gypsy morph and sends the ancient demon Findo Gask to capture or destroy the gypsy morph.

I was a bit ambivalent about reading this, since I know the ending is setting up the beginning of the end for mankind. Evil will soon take over the world in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy, which bridges the timeline between The Word and the Void and the original Shannara series. All John and Nest can do is fight a rearguard action to preserve what little hope will remain in the world after they are gone.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 08-18-24 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Your pop quiz on Ancient Egyptian Algebra starts in 5 minutes.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2024 08:59 AM (fwDg9)

2 Didn't read any Tall Short Stories last week. Thought I was having kitchen work done. Oops, this week.

Back later.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 25, 2024 08:59 AM (0eaVi)

3 Good morning horde. Thank you Perfessor!

Posted by: TRex at August 25, 2024 09:00 AM (IQ6Gq)

4 Happy Sunday

Posted by: rhennigantx at August 25, 2024 09:01 AM (gbOdA)

5 But sadly worse week for reading for me, too much work

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2024 09:01 AM (fwDg9)

6 Mornin' book fags!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:02 AM (kpS4V)

7 The ancient Greeks and Romans used ALLCAPSWITHNOSPACESORPUNCTUATION

-

Still practiced in modern times by Ben Rothisberger.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 09:02 AM (dzvif)

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

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 09:04 AM (zudum)

9 I've started "Angels of Doom." Never heard of it? Its original title was "She Was a Lady." Finally, to establish it outwardly as part of a series, it became "The Saint Meets His Match."

In this prewar novel, Simon Templar -- fresh with a royal pardon from "The Avenging Saint" -- joins Scotland Yard to smash a gang that helps criminals to escape the law. It's led by a woman who wants revenge on the police for the disgrace and death of her father, a senior Yard official who was found to have taken bribes. However, he might have been framed. Simon has pledged to stop her -- but he might have an ulterior motive.

(continued)

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 25, 2024 09:04 AM (H4dJ8)

10 Good morning again dear morons and thanks perfesser

Punctuation is for closers.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 25, 2024 09:05 AM (RIvkX)

11 Those pants. I mean...

"The Cooter out of Space" by H.P. Lubecraft

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:05 AM (kpS4V)

12 (From post #9)

The chapters have titles (the Prof touched on this last week). Chapter One: "How Simon Templar Met Jill Trelawney, and There Were Skylarking and Song in Belgrave Street."

I like chapter titles, possibly because they make a book seem classic. Just plain numbers is dull.

P.S. I likely won't post much today, because I have a lot of driving ahead of me. But once I get home, I'll catch up on every comment.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 25, 2024 09:05 AM (H4dJ8)

13 I managed to work "chthonic" into a comment past week and felt pretty good about myself.

Posted by: fd at August 25, 2024 09:06 AM (vFG9F)

14 The upside-down question marks and exclamation marks in Spanish are like reading the nic before reading the comment.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 25, 2024 09:09 AM (RIvkX)

15 Read about half of the short stories in that Niven compendium before I had to return it. All good, but my favorites were the slaver weapon story and one about a couple enjoying their last night on earth before a fiery dawn envelopes them. That one reminded me of the protagonist observing New York being slowly engulfed by rising tides in "When Worlds Collide".

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:09 AM (kpS4V)

16 I read Horse by Geraldine Brooks. As is her brilliant novel, People of the Book, Brooks writes a captivating story with a lot of history emmeshed. She brings together the stories of a thoroughbred racing champion of the 1850's and 60's, Lexington; his groom and eventual trainer, the slave Jarret; Lexington's skeleton found in a dusty attic in the Smithsonian labeled "Horse"; and the paintings done of Lexington by Thomas J. Scott. Brooks is becoming one of my favorite authors. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work.

Posted by: Zoltan at August 25, 2024 09:10 AM (j3TlD)

17 Read "Default" by Gregory Makoff this week. The non-fiction book is about the sovereign debt default saga for Argentina that stretched from 2001 to 2016. As with any event, the headlines don't tell the whole story, so learning about a lot more of the specifics was interesting.

I recall being in Buenos Aires in 2004 on business, one of my colleagues and I ate at one of those all you can eat churasco steakhouses. After currency conversion, $9 American for both of us.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 09:11 AM (mrFSL)

18 I don't read other peoples' made up shit, i consume my own made up shit.

Posted by: SFGoth at August 25, 2024 09:11 AM (KAi1n)

19 Yay book thread! This week I finished James H. Hallas' Saipan - The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II.

I mentioned last week that it has a few irritating tics, chiefly the weird foreshadowing style wherein the author writes: "This would come to haunt them later," rather than "This haunted them later."

I myself had this problem in the early drafts of Long Live Death and resorted to search/replace to hunt down every instance of the word "would." This book suffers heavily from the lack of it.

it is also heavy on in-person recollections gathered from an immense number of sources, which is both a blessing and a curse. Yes, first-person accounts humanize the story with horrific and humorous incidents, but in Saipan it is used to such an extent that it bogs down the narrative.

Cornelius Ryan and Walter Lord used this method to masterfully illustrate their works, but they also confined it to a manageable number of eyewitnesses. Hallas has so many stories going that I lost track of who was who. At the end of the book where he did a "where are they now?" summation, I had no idea who these people were. (cont)

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 09:12 AM (llXky)

20 Oh yeah, that last story was "Inconstant Moon".

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:12 AM (kpS4V)

21 Still practiced in modern times by Ben Rothisberger.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 09:02 AM (dzvif)

IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE I AM USUALLY QUITE GOOD AT SPACING AND PUNCTUATION!

Posted by: Ben Roethlisberger at August 25, 2024 09:12 AM (y31cs)

22 Double Book Review:

Took time off from reading "The Life of Lenin" to quickly read "Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life." The book's author, Jason Hanson, is a former CIA officer and president of Spy Escape and Evasion. However, the company's website redirects you to this landing page at UltimateSpyWeek.com:

https://tinyurl.com/yyss2bry

Not only that but the book's official website URL, SpySecretsBook.com seems to have been snatched up by someone else. Don't bother linking there.

Anyhoo, the book is very basic, truly for beginners. There are chapters on situational awareness, organizing minimal survival kits and materials, escaping zip ties, rope, duct tape and handcuffs, home and travel safety, and minimal defensive manouvers and techniques.

I'm a beginner. While I already own some of the essential materials which Jason recommends keeping on hand (I even have a tactical pen - but I forget where I placed it), I did order a few things which the book recommend. Thank goodness the planes with my Amazon orders are still sneaking in under Hizballah's radar!

(cont.)

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at August 25, 2024 09:13 AM (bboj0)

23 I also read Under Occupation by Alan Furst. Not much action in this novel of the Resistance in occupied France in 1942. Not the author's best effort.

Posted by: Zoltan at August 25, 2024 09:13 AM (j3TlD)

24 (cont.)

The book is an excellent "For Dummies" kind of book (I am a fan of Dummies publications when I know very little on a subject). If you're interested in this subject but are past the introductury stage, skip this book.

There is also a chapter on body language detection. Again, it's basic. If you want to read a good book on this subject, I highly recommend "What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People," by former FBI agent Joe Navarro. I'm convinced that if anyone trains themself thoroughly using this book as a guide, he/she will be much more alert when observing family, friends or strangers. Just be careful what you wish for!

And now... off to my afternoon swim, hopefully siren-free!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at August 25, 2024 09:13 AM (bboj0)

25 I picked up a book I'd started about six months ago and then lost track of: _American Traveler_, a bio of the early American explorer/tourist John Ledyard. Interesting guy. You'd think that an American born in the mid 18th century would do his exploring in North America, but Ledyard looked the other way. He shipped out as a Royal Marine on Cook's Pacific expedition (thereby missing most of the Revolution), and later tried to cross Asia by land.

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 25, 2024 09:14 AM (78a2H)

26 (cont) That being said, it is quite a page-turner in parts and gives an excellent overview of the campaign, the controversies and the reality of Pacific island combat. While aware of the broad outlines of the campaign, the granular details were particularly interesting to me, especially regarding the Japanese actions and situation, which was not as simple as many of us believe.

Put simply, the Japanese military was not set up for sustained combat operations in the islands. They lacked medical facilities food and ammo stocks, and any plan other than dying in place, which - contrary to mythology - most of them would rather not do.

Medical care was rudimentary at best, and the chief assumption was that no one would return to duty, they'd just die. The Japanese then operationalized this by grenading unconscious wounded they could not take with them and encouraging the lucid ones to pull the pin when American medical staff tried to treat them.

This - and other stone-cold tactics like employing civilians as actual human shields - is why the combat became so savage. (cont)

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 09:16 AM (llXky)

27 The reversed letters in Cyrillic alphabet have no relation to the unreversed letters in Roman.

Backwards R
я
is pronounced "ya"

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 25, 2024 09:17 AM (RIvkX)

28 Good morning Perfessor, Horde

"An Illinois town is gripped in terror when a Democrat convention brings with it a full-blown alien invasion." You see? Change a few words and fiction becomes current events.

Posted by: callsign claymore at August 25, 2024 09:17 AM (kWPvZ)

29 Good Sunday morning, horde. Slow reading this week. I been tarrrrd.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 25, 2024 09:18 AM (OX9vb)

30 Based on comments in an earlier book thread, I acquired a copy of The Long Way Home by Ed Dover. This is the story of Pan Am clipper NC18602. En route from Hawaii to New Zealand in December 1941, the flight hears a radio broadcast that the Japaese have just struck Pearl Harbor. The plane is the most advanced seaplane in existence and as such, it is vital to get it home and away from the enemy. That means now going west, all the way around the world.

With no money, no good charts, and limited access to 100 octane avgas, the crew must fly across Australia, to India, to Bahrain, across Africa, cross the Atlantic to Brazil, and then fly north to the US. The story is full of incidents like surprising an enemy sub in the Indian ocean, landing on the Congo river, rebuilding engines, and hoping to avoid being shot down by the enemy or even friendly forces due to radio silence. This is one of those little known war stories that are almost too improbable to believe. Dover interviewed many of the surviving crew to come up with a very accurate and thrilling story that speaks to the determination of these men.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 09:19 AM (rvx4r)

31 Went looking for and bought what I thought was Orange Kent's Tall Short Stories last week, before he expounded on it's descriptin. It wasn't. It's a single story told in a series of incidences, by a British guy, John A. Shepherd.
It's holding my interest, but not at all what I was looking for.

Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 09:20 AM (4780s)

32 Oook!

Posted by: Unseen University Librarian at August 25, 2024 09:20 AM (fQmeC)

33
I like chapter titles, possibly because they make a book seem classic. Just plain numbers is dull.

P.S. I likely won't post much today, because I have a lot of driving ahead of me. But once I get home, I'll catch up on every comment.
Posted by: Weak Geek at August 25, 2024

***
Morning, Book Folken! A happy drive for you, WG.

Chapter titles can be fun for reader and writer. David McDaniel, in his Man From U.N.C.L.E. original tie-in novels, adapted the show's technique of capping each act of the show with a quote from that act, and did the same thing with his chapters. That's such an old thing now that it's new again. I borrowed it for two of my mystery novels, and since I like funny dialog, a lot of the chapter headings are comic. "Is That a Boy Dog?" and "I'll Have His Kidneys for Hood Ornaments" are two examples.

McDaniel, in his Rainbow Affair, changed it up to do the even more old-fashioned style WG mentioned in his comment 12. It fit that book well.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:20 AM (omVj0)

34 Joe R. Lonsdale, Cherie Priest, Devon Monk, and Mike Resnick all wrote some nifty Weird West tales combining steampunk, SF, and western elements.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:20 AM (kpS4V)

35 BOOKZZZZ

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 25, 2024 09:20 AM (Ydd86)

36 (cont) We can see clear parallels in modern conflicts, and as in WW II, there is a moral and legal case that those violating the laws war deserve none of their protections. Americans are lambasted for using the atomic bomb, but the Japanese put a lot of effort into trying to spread the bubonic plague both in China and among American troops.

They were not nice people.

Yet assuming that this was part of the Japanese character is a mistake. During my research for Walls of Men, I was fascinated to learn that early modern Japan was an examplar of rules-based warfare, and earned widepread praise for their care and treatment of prisoners of war and scrupulous respect for the customs of the age, even firing salutes to fallen enemy commanders. Barbarism was a choice, then as now.

Anyhow, I do recommend the book, but only those those who can handle extremely grisly details of combat.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 09:21 AM (llXky)

37 I continue reading Count of Monte Cristo and continue to love it. Back in junior and senior high school I would have been up most of the night thinking 'I'll just read one more page'. Umpty-ump years later my approach has changed. Now I tend to read a chapter or two then sit back and think about how the story is so effective, why I'm enjoying it, etc. That approach lets me appreciate the book even more even if the pace of reading isn't so hasty. Also, the book is so much better than any of the many, many movies made from it.

This is the first 1,000 plus page novel I've read in a long time (except for LOTR of course) and I'm pleased I'm staying with it and not getting side lined constantly. It's also been a shield against the political crap going on.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 09:23 AM (zudum)

38 Eris, re: Larry Niven, "Soft WEapon" is one of his best adventures. The characters in "Inconstant Moon," he's said, were based on himself and his wife Marilyn when they were younger. By the way, the new Outer LImits adapted the story in the late '90s with Michael Gross, Michael J. Fox's TV dad, as the lead, and relocated it to a smaller town than LA -- but it maintained the flavor and emotion all the way.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:24 AM (omVj0)

39 Re-read Heart of Darkness for first time in fifty plus years or so. Still does nothing for me. The horror! The horror!
Also started Train's Innocents Abroad. Enjoying it, but remembering that Twain sure thought a lot of himself. Justified, but still.

Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 09:24 AM (4780s)

40 Thanks for the dandy book thread, Perfessor! And happy new school year to you!

I finished my Jane Austen novel and liked it very much. Back to reading brain candy for the time being. It's a good offset to the work project I have going on.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at August 25, 2024 09:25 AM (CiNoz)

41 Next fun read will be a collection of time travel stories by David Drake entitled "Dinosaurs and Dirigibles". He had me at dinosaurs and dirigibles.

Real brain food!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:25 AM (kpS4V)

42 Wolfus, I pondered watching that adaptation but didn't want to spoil the mood of the story I'd just read.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:27 AM (kpS4V)

43 Annual alert. The 2025 Old Farmers Almanac comes out this this Tuesday. I already have my copy ordered. It's a yearly indulgence I've followed for over 60 years. My grandfather got me hooked on it.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 09:27 AM (zudum)

44 I follow Robwords regularly. I find it fascinating. In fact, through that channel I stumbled on the concept of Anglish, which is English stripped of French and Latin words.
I find it sore bewitching.

Posted by: Northernlurker , wondering where his phone is at August 25, 2024 09:27 AM (FfSAJ)

45 This is the first 1,000 plus page novel I've read in a long time (except for LOTR of course) and I'm pleased I'm staying with it and not getting side lined constantly. It's also been a shield against the political crap going on.
Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 09:23 AM (zudum)
---
Sometimes it's nice to just immerse oneself in an epic story, enjoying the ride.

You almost don't want it to end....

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 25, 2024 09:28 AM (BpYfr)

46 Cute kitty is distracting me from reading. Cats like to do that.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:28 AM (kpS4V)

47 Weird West:

I don't read a lot in the category, but the first thing I can recall running across was a paperback I found in high school (mid-60s) called The Ghosts of Manacle, by Charles G. Finney (the same guy who did The Circus of Dr Lao). I remember nothing about the book now except that it was a collection of weird stories set in a small town in Arizona? New Mexico? Sorry for lack of detail, but hey, I've slept since then...

Good morning, horde.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 09:29 AM (q3u5l)

48 Cute kitty is distracting me from reading. Cats like to do that.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:28 AM (kpS4V)
---
Distracting is better than preventing.

Allie has been jumping up on my desk and plopping herself on top of my open book. She seems to think it's more comfortable than the hard desk.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 25, 2024 09:29 AM (BpYfr)

49 My grandparents got the Farmer’s Almanac every year.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 25, 2024 09:30 AM (4Med0)

50 Wolfus, I pondered watching that adaptation but didn't want to spoil the mood of the story I'd just read.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024

***
Give it a little while and then try it. I think they did a fine job of capturing LN's mood of "The world is going to end, how do we spend our last hours?" and "Maybe it's NOT going to end." Only LN would have thought to give that story that turn, I think. Though I have not read a lot of apocalyptic fiction.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:30 AM (omVj0)

51 I finished off another comic book collection this week: "The Master of Kung Fu Omnibus 2." I skipped volume 1 and jumped straight to volume 2 because 2 was (and still is) available for almost half of cover price, while 1 was only available at full price. Once again, budget influences my reading habits.

The book stars Shang Chi, who I doubt has anything in common with the recent movie 'inspired' by the comics. Comic-book-Chi is a man out of time; he was raised in an isolated Chinese temple by traditional/stereotypical kung-fu-monks. He's not terribly impressed with the modern world, but has vowed to fight the forces of evil, and has nominally teamed up with MI-6 in order to do so.

(continued because I ran out of space)

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 09:33 AM (Lhaco)

52 I have been making good progress with "The Last Gentleman" by Walker Percy.

Yeah. It became interesting.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at August 25, 2024 09:33 AM (+H2BX)

53 Oh i remember that one

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 25, 2024 09:33 AM (PXvVL)

54 FWIW The United States of America translated to Anglish would be something like The Knitted Fiefdoms of Amerksland.

Posted by: Northernlurker , wondering where his phone is at August 25, 2024 09:34 AM (FfSAJ)

55 Re-read Heart of Darkness for first time in fifty plus years or so. Still does nothing for me. The horror! The horror!
Also started Train's Innocents Abroad. Enjoying it, but remembering that Twain sure thought a lot of himself. Justified, but still.
Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 09:24 AM (4780s)
---
In my first reading of Heart of Darkness, I enjoyed parts of it, but felt the payoff did not equal the setup.

I subsequently came to realize that I was looking for the wrong sort of payoff. The "horror" is a moral one, and it's not limited to Kurtz. Marlowe's tale highlights the absurdity and evil of Belgium's exploitation of Africa and the moral corruption that results, reaching even into Belgium itself.

The Uplifters didn't Uplift, they used their tools and science to plumb new depths of depravity.

I wish Coppola has seen that when he did "Apocalypse Now", because the proper ending should have been Kurtz dying and Willard reporting back that he was perfectly sane, and the reports were all lies.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 09:34 AM (llXky)

56 Northernlurker @45, regarding the concept of Anglish, this sounds like something Poul Anderson had fun with in a piece he wrote called "Uncleftish Beholding". "Uncleftish Beholding" means "Atomic Physics" and is an introduction to the subject in a version of English we probably would be speaking if there had never been a Norman Conquest.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at August 25, 2024 09:35 AM (aYnHS)

57 (continued from 52, a review of the comic book Master of Kung Fu omnibus 2)

The book starts off awesome; Chi travels to Hong Kong to do some espionage stuff, and fights a local kung fu guy. Then there's a looooong story of our hero and all his supporting cast thwarting a Jame-Bond-style plot to end the world. Alas, the book falls off after that, as we loose the main artist and our hero is menaced by a series of cheesy villains who have little to do with spy stuff, and nothing to do with kung fu. But the book picks up again at the end, with another long story that goes back to Hong Kong.

I'd give the book a conditional recommendation. Parts of it a really good, parts of it are kinda cheesy...

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 09:35 AM (Lhaco)

58 I splurged on a second copy of "Mariner" by Malcolm Guite. It is an exploration of Coleridge's life, the influences that led to his poetry and philosophy, the historical and cultural aspects of the time, and how it is pertinent today. Love this stuff., I got the second copy to highlight all the passages, and there are a LOT of them, worth exploring further. At some point I will go through the highlights and follow the rabbit holes they open up but want to do so at a relaxed pace instead of letting it distract me from everything else.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 09:36 AM (zudum)

59 Northernlurker @45, regarding the concept of Anglish, this sounds like something Poul Anderson had fun with in a piece he wrote called "Uncleftish Beholding". "Uncleftish Beholding" means "Atomic Physics" and is an introduction to the subject in a version of English we probably would be speaking if there had never been a Norman Conquest.
Posted by: John F. MacMichael at August 25, 2024

***
You always learn something new when you read Poul Anderson. James Blish and L. Sprage de Camp, too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:37 AM (omVj0)

60 The Feline Overlord of the House prefers these days to park on my computer table and sleep on the mousepad or my hand (which plays absolute hob with my typing if I'm trying to work), and forcing me to put the keyboard in my lap (where it is right now). And she can't be off to one side of the table -- no, gotta be in the middle of my main work area. And if I'm trying to watch a movie on the screen while sitting on the couch across the room? She's just big enough to block the subtitles. She hasn't started trying to get between me and books or the Kindle yet, but I'm sure that's next.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 09:37 AM (q3u5l)

61 I had mentioned I was reading an edition of “A Farewell to Arms” that included all the alternate endings and “The Perfessor” suggested I say what my favorite ending is. Hemingway had told George Plimpton in a 1958 interview that he had written the ending 39 times, but there are actually 47 listed, though some are quite similar. In the book a WWI ambulance driver, Frederic Henry, is wounded and falls in love with a nurse, Catherine, who later becomes pregnant and (Spoiler Alert) after they spend a few blissful months together she dies in childbirth.
Most of the endings were handwritten, a few were typed. They varied in length from a few sentences to a page. They ended in different places, some in the hospital room immediately after her death, some when Henry awakes the next morning and remembers what has happened. The ending Hemingway settled on was the simplest, with Henry walking back to the hotel in the rain, but there were a few versions I found preferable, as I wanted more information and closure. (cont.)

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at August 25, 2024 09:38 AM (hsWtj)

62 That was L. Sprague de Camp.

In fact I have one of his nonfiction books here, Great Cities of the Ancient World. Looking forward to dipping into it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:38 AM (omVj0)

63 Part II - I liked endings 27 and 33-35 the best if anyone ever reads the edition, the Hemingway Library Edition, Scribner 2012, and I settled on #33, the serialized version, as it seems the most poignant. Henry describes the moment he wakes the next morning, and for a second forgets Catherine has died: “…and that was the last time it was ever that way,” clinging to how he felt when he thought she was alive.
Ending 27 gives a lot of detail, including a followup on the members of Henry’s military unit, which I was interested in, though he emphasized it was unimportant in the context of his loss. Ending 34 was suggested by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “The world breaks everyone…those it does not break it kills,” killing the very good more quickly, meaning Catherine. Fitzgerald submitted it with a complimentary review, but Hemingway wrote “Kiss my ass” at the bottom.
There is a “Nada ending” that is empty and fatalistic, three versions of a “Religious ending” with references to God, that it is OK to love God but there is “nothing you can do about it”. The baby lives in three versions, which also is made to seem academic in the wake of Henry’s grief. (cont.)

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at August 25, 2024 09:39 AM (hsWtj)

64 Allie has been jumping up on my desk and plopping herself on top of my open book. She seems to think it's more comfortable than the hard desk.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 25, 2024 09:29 AM (BpYfr)
---
Mittens and I have a dance we go through when I'm reading or writing. She'll try to push through to my lap, and I have to gently assist her to the proper position on my legs. This is easier during cool weather months when I deploy a fuzzy blanket to keep my feet warm.

She lovers herself some fuzzy blanket.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 09:39 AM (llXky)

65 On someone here's recommendation, I went looking for Zelazny's Amber series.
Because I could also use a small stepstool, I bought a ten chronicles in on book paperback, 1200+ pages.
I've started it, am enjoying it, and maybe beginning to realize I might have read some of it back in the day. All good, new to this version of me.

Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 09:39 AM (4780s)

66 Part III - He states in three versions of a “Funeral ending” that he wouldn’t write about the undertakers, etc., and took his own advice with the final, simplest ending. The “Morning after” ending included several versions where he wakes in his hotel room and an electric light that had been left on triggers his memory of events. More details in different versions elicit more pain, perhaps leading to the decision to economize in the interest of a beneficial numbing. The amount of material Hemingway ended up leaving out is indicative of his “iceberg” writing style, with simplicity of prose masking a complexity of meaning. He writes in ending 30, “in writing you have a certain choice that you do not have in life,” then crosses it out, economizing even on the concept of economy. He writes in ending 35, “You can stop your life the way you stop a story,” which in his case proved prophetic, and if you “try too much to remember things you wear them out and lose them,” another explanation of his “res ipsa loquitor” approach. This observation is followed by a long reminiscence of Catherine that ended up being included earlier in the narrative. (cont.)

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at August 25, 2024 09:40 AM (hsWtj)

67 Always thought to read Hesrt of Darkness

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2024 09:41 AM (fwDg9)

68 Part IV - This ending concluded with the Fitzgerald part. Ending 38 is also poignant: after he expels the nurses from Catherine’s hospital room even though she has died, “I thought if we were alone we would still be together. But it was not like that.” This version ended in mid-sentence. Like many endings this one ended in the hospital room so it could have been incorporated with another ending such as Fitzgerald’s.
Ending 46 was different: “See Naples and die…you will live to hate its guts if you live there,” as if Italy had somehow killed her. There is a great resonance between the dynamics of an Italian retreat earlier and Catherine’s failed pregnancy, underscoring the novel’s hidden complexity. I also liked ending 47: “You can stop your life…but you do not stop it…it stops for a while by its-self and then it goes on again.” Powerlessness and futility are a recurring theme of many endings, such as the irrelevance of the baby’s survival or his unit’s fate. The whole novel is characterized by the same themes. (cont.)

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at August 25, 2024 09:41 AM (hsWtj)

69 Because I could also use a small stepstool, I bought a ten chronicles in on book paperback, 1200+ pages.
Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 09:39 AM (4780s)
---
That's also the version I read. Yeah, it's 1200 pages, but the pacing is pretty quick so you hardly notice it.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 25, 2024 09:42 AM (BpYfr)

70 Part V - Hemingway also listed several alternate titles, including “I have committed Fornication but that was in Another Country and Besides the wench is dead.” Gotta go with the end product on that one. I found an urge to trivialize as my own way of dealing with the painful subject matter. I kept thinking this novel must have inspired Monty Python’s WWI sketch with John Cleese as the overacting padre: “I had two arms once, two good arms. I laughed when they sawed them off!” A Farewell To Arms, get it? I know, sophomoric.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at August 25, 2024 09:42 AM (hsWtj)

71 Good morning all.
Managed to read two books this week even though I have become obsessed with X.
Quick read was Ilona Andrew's new novella Sanctuary. It introduces a whole new pantheon and all new characters but seems to be set in the same on and off magical Atlanta that her Kate Daniels reside. The new gods and characters are Slavic so difficult to remember who is what and who has what powers.
I like Andrews but wouldn't pay money for this novella.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 25, 2024 09:42 AM (t/2Uw)

72 Okay, after talking a lot about comics, its time to see if I can post some art from one (tinyurl, don't fail me now!) So here's some work from Paul Gulacy, the primary artist from Master of Kung Fu Omnibus 2. Sometimes his art was stiff and probably rushed (the perils of the monthly grind) but when he took the time, he could create some awesome work that really hit the 70's genre vibe.

https://tinyurl.com/darknessddd
https://tinyurl.com/gulancy2
https://tinyurl.com/gulancy3

Its kinda sad the Shang Chi comic gave us characters like Leiko Wu and Black Jack Tarr, but the Shang Chi movie gave us Marvel's Katie. I'll bet there wouldn't have been youtube videos mocking the very concept of a Leiko action figure, the way they did for Marvel's Katie....

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 09:43 AM (Lhaco)

73 Re-read Heart of Darkness for first time in fifty plus years or so. Still does nothing for me. The horror! The horror!
Also started Train's Innocents Abroad. Enjoying it, but remembering that Twain sure thought a lot of himself. Justified, but still.
Posted by: From about That Time

Funny, I didn't enjoy it the first time, but I recently read it again, and found it much more interesting. I didn't really grasp the understated bureaucratic morass when I was a teen.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 09:43 AM (ldxYn)

74 I knew of English classic literature but somehow was not forced to read it during high school or college, so I am catching up. Read Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and was very pleased with it. In my opinion, Austen's writing is superior to that of Charlotte Bronte's and I've enjoyed the contrast. In S&S, the story follows the courtship and marriages of two sisters who are on the lower tier of England's upper class. For them, their father's untimely death left them with a place to live (but not to own) and with a small fortune. A suitable marriage is of utmost importance in this class, and appearances and manners are all-important. The life choices made by the main characters shape their futures. The man thought to be a good catch turns out to be a cad with a shady past and one who made an early choice of wealth over morality, hurting many other ladies along the way. The sisters at the center of the story eventually marry, choosing to follow their hearts and life's lessons learned along the way.

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at August 25, 2024 09:45 AM (CiNoz)

75 Listened to Sanctuary by Iloba Andrews (novella)

Great narrator for Roman - as a side character in previous books I hadn't liked him.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 25, 2024 09:45 AM (Ydd86)

76 As Perfessor pointed out, the book thread can be dangerous to our time and budgets. So many mentions and recommendations to tempt us.

But sometimes the stars align in our favor at the used book store. I was able to get all but two of the Patrick O'Brian series, in fine condition and with those gorgeous covers, for a buck apiece. I now have almost every historical novel written by Bernard Cornwell, mostly hardcover and in great condition. Again, about a dollar each. No idea why the store had them so cheap but I didn't want to argue. I consider the Cornwell books to be an investment for future reading since I already know I like his writing. If I need to stay occupied during a nuclear winter, I'm covered.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 09:47 AM (zudum)

77 G'morn, y'all. Sunny and hot days - finally, August, just in time for September.

I may be experiencing a second childhood. Woke up this morning with that grade-school song in my head.
🎶Good morning to you! Good morning to you!
Here we are as a species, with bright shining fe........

No, wait. That's not it.

Maybe I'm experiencing a second adolescence.

Posted by: mindful webworker - speculative fact at August 25, 2024 09:48 AM (uRNeM)

78 Ending 34 was suggested by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “The world breaks everyone…those it does not break it kills,” killing the very good more quickly, meaning Catherine. Fitzgerald submitted it with a complimentary review, but Hemingway wrote “Kiss my ass” at the bottom. . . .
Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at August 25, 2024

***
NR, I have to say I like Fitzgerald's line very much. It would have made a good epigraph for the entire novel, or a good first sentence as well as a last.

That said, I have never read that Hemingway novel, and am not a wild fan of FSF's longer works either, so I am floundering here. (Though I was caught up in FSF's The Last Tycoon and was startled when it broke off unfinished, though I knew that was coming.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:49 AM (omVj0)

79 Ilona , not Iloba

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 25, 2024 09:49 AM (Ydd86)

80 I also read Primal Mirror by Nalini Singh, the newest book in her Psy-Changeling series. This series is a pretty unique combination of Sci-Fi and Paranormal Romance impossible to describe in a book review and needs to be read from the beginning. I pretty much like everything she writes and she writes in a number of genres and unlike some other prolific writers still has my interest.
If you read her, you will like this one too.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 25, 2024 09:50 AM (t/2Uw)

81 I've seen some of the Story Grid guy's vids. It seems a lot of "BookTubers" have a couple of books out, then they spend their time telling you how to write and get best sellers. Wonder why they don't take their own advice and write instead of making videos?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 25, 2024 09:51 AM (0eaVi)

82 I also re-read Innocents Abroad a few months ago, and what struck me was how irreverent the American tourists were. I liked that. Seems like nowadays when you see fellow Americans abroad they act like every museum is a holy place, and every roadside attraction is a life-changing experience.

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 25, 2024 09:52 AM (78a2H)

83 Funny, I didn't enjoy it the first time, but I recently read it again, and found it much more interesting. I didn't really grasp the understated bureaucratic morass when I was a teen.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024

***
I read it as an adult, though many years ago. I kept waiting for something to happen. Apocalypse Now, the parody in Seinfeld, and the homage in Buffy the Vampire Slayer were terrific uses of the core material, though.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:52 AM (omVj0)

84 It's a kitchen sink of myths, legends, tall tales, and more. All surrounding the town of Golgotha, Nevada, built over a Hellmouth of sorts.

Oh, you mean, Sparks.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 25, 2024 09:52 AM (0eaVi)

85 art V - Hemingway also listed several alternate titles, including “I have committed Fornication but that was in Another Country and Besides the wench is dead.” Gotta go with the end product on that one.
Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at August 25, 2024 09:42 AM (hsWtj)
---
I think "A Farewell to Arms" works because it combined the worldwide disgust with the Great War with a personal rejection of it. Hemingway's plot in many ways epitomizes what a great many soldiers wanted to to: find a lover and check out of the war.

The Italian Front was particularly nasty and pointless in terms of tactics and losses.

Making it even more effective is that Hemingway himself was such a combative personality, yet he also understood the circumstances where otherwise hardened fighters would lose faith in a cause, and a normal cowardly act like desertion would seem the only reasonable course.

I find a similar sentiment in my friend's father, a WW II vet who passed this spring. He was wounded in WW II, stayed in the service through Korea but when it looked like he was going to Vietnam, he retired because it was "a sh!tty little war" and he saw no point to it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 09:52 AM (llXky)

86 So if anyone pays attention to my ramblings, they may remember that months back I read a comic called "Deadly Hands of Kung Fu" and hated it, while today I raved about "Master of Kung Fu." I feel the need to justify myself.

While the books are broadly similar, Deadly was a black and white anthology that featured several bland 70's kung fu-inspired characters. The stories were usually short, stand-alone, pretty cheesy, and bland (kung fu guy beats up street thug). The book never developed any momentum; it was a chore to finish each story, and it was hard to pick up the book again for the next story.

Master, by contrast, followed a single character, with stories that lead directly into the next issue. It was rare that I didn't read 2 or more issues in a sitting. Also, the volume I read was created a few years after Deadly, and by that time the author had given the character a clear direction: the hero was more than just a kung fu guy, he was a kung fu spy, with a supporting cast and everything!

It took me nearly two years to finish reading Deadly. I ran through Master is less than two months. What a difference a little direction makes....

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 09:52 AM (Lhaco)

87 Oook!
Posted by: Unseen University Librarian at August 25, 2024 09:20 AM

*pushes banana into USB port*

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 09:53 AM (stKIu)

88 But sometimes the stars align in our favor at the used book store. I was able to get all but two of the Patrick O'Brian series, in fine condition and with those gorgeous covers, for a buck apiece. I now have almost every historical novel written by Bernard Cornwell, mostly hardcover and in great condition. Again, about a dollar each. No idea why the store had them so cheap but I didn't want to argue.

Posted by: JTB

The one benefit of our modern non-reading society is that great books can be acquired cheaply these days.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 09:53 AM (ldxYn)

89 Read heart of darkness because I was experimenting with downloading from Guttenberg to my various kindles, of which I have three, a very old Fire, a middle aged paperwhite, and a newer Fire. Each seem to need a different formatting, and each seem to hide the file in different places.
It's taken some work, but I've stuck to it, needing to hide in older times for awhile.

Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 09:53 AM (4780s)

90 I like chapter titles, possibly because they make a book seem classic. Just plain numbers is dull.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 25, 2024 09:05 AM (H4dJ

Aw, crap!

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 25, 2024 09:54 AM (0eaVi)

91 I'm of two minds about high school literature courses. On the one hand, I agree that most of the books are "too old" for the kids -- they were written for adults and they're about adults. The kids find them boring and opaque and conclude that all "literature" is boring and opaque.

On the other hand, if you don't introduce kids to the greatest works of our civilization in school, when will they get exposed to them? It's a conundrum.

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 25, 2024 09:55 AM (78a2H)

92 Sending the history of punctuation to my daughter. Thank you!

Posted by: Piper at August 25, 2024 09:55 AM (CM7zZ)

93 Vmom, which book does he appear in? I didn't recognize him. The myriad minor characters were just confusing. It just seemed like the authors were just setting things up for an actual novel. I really like the Kate Daniels and Hidden Legacy series so will probably keep on.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 25, 2024 09:55 AM (t/2Uw)

94 7 The ancient Greeks and Romans used ALLCAPSWITHNOSPACESORPUNCTUATION

-

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 09:02 AM (dzvif)

And they when they reached the end of the line, they went straight to next line, even if it split a word in half. We owe so much to the innovations of the medeval scribes. Reading must have been a nightmare before them...

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 09:55 AM (Lhaco)

95 Decided to start Bleak House on my flight west.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 09:56 AM (stKIu)

96 Sharon, did you see on Ilona Andrews site that they sold a new series to Tor for a lot of $$$?

I am excited- pretty much love all their books- but also apprehensive, as Tor is the wokest of woke.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 25, 2024 09:56 AM (Ydd86)

97 Annual alert. The 2025 Old Farmers Almanac comes out this this Tuesday. I already have my copy ordered. It's a yearly indulgence I've followed for over 60 years. My grandfather got me hooked on it.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 09:27 AM (zudum)

Let us know what the wooly worm forecast is.

Posted by: BignJames at August 25, 2024 09:57 AM (AwYPR)

98 I read it as an adult, though many years ago. I kept waiting for something to happen. Apocalypse Now, the parody in Seinfeld, and the homage in Buffy the Vampire Slayer were terrific uses of the core material, though.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:52 AM (omVj0)
---
I think part of this sense comes from our contemporary need for a huge, shocking reveal. If you think about it, the revelation that Kurtz has "gone native" is pretty shocking and the description of him claiming the jungle and opening his jaws as if he would consume it all is quite horrific.

One could even say it's a victim of its own success because the concept of a Westerner building a cannibalistic headhunter empire to feed European greed is now a pretty stale trope.

It's sort of like "Citizen Kane," which was so creative, so innovative that everyone has copied it so it looks pretty lame now.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 09:58 AM (llXky)

99 If you've ever toured Italy you know how hilariously bad the Roman inscription carvers were at spacing and planning. Apparently a lot of them didn't think to write out the letters in charcoal on the stone before picking up the chisel.

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 25, 2024 09:58 AM (78a2H)

100 Measure twice. Chisel once.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 09:59 AM (stKIu)

101 Decided to start Bleak House on my flight west.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState

I hope your trip goes well. Alaska, yes? I just returned from there, and it was brilliant. Got to see the northern light in summer, due to the solar peak going on.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 09:59 AM (tX5ZJ)

102 I'm of two minds about high school literature courses. On the one hand, I agree that most of the books are "too old" for the kids -- they were written for adults and they're about adults. The kids find them boring and opaque and conclude that all "literature" is boring and opaque. . . .

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 25, 2024

***
If I am ever in an alternate universe where I am teaching, say, tenth or eleventh grade English? The kids will get The Haunting of Hill House and Sweet Thursday, and maybe Richard Bradford's Red Sky at Morning. One is scary, the other two funny with a romantic subplot.

Maybe Watership Down, though that's a long book and intimidating to look at. If you get to the part exploring rabbit abnormal psychology and then make the acquaintance of General Woundwort, though, you're hooked.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:59 AM (omVj0)

103 Did some writing this week, finished reading one book, and started another. Read Brandon Croker's adventure novel "Burma Road" and can't really recommend. A promising set up and first couple of chapters, but a fizzle, basically. All "tell" and no "show." I kept mentally rewriting it, for better impact.
Re-read Michael Z. Williamson's "A Long Time Until Now" - which a sci-fi set-up, but has a very vivid turn of "show".
Highly recommend Dover's "The Long Way Home", mentioned above. It would make an absolutely awesome adventure movie or miniseries!

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at August 25, 2024 10:00 AM (Ew3fm)

104 I can't remember getting a huge amount from high school literature classes re: grasp of the great works beyond deciding that I liked the Shakespeare tragedies we were assigned but found his comedies boring except for 'The Tempest'. But I was well into my nothing-but-sf-will-do reading decade then, so not much else was sinking in.

But if nothing else, I knew the names of a whole bunch of writers whose work I'd have to revisit later.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 10:00 AM (q3u5l)

105 Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 09:20 AM (4780s)

Where did you find that? What's it about?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 25, 2024 10:01 AM (0eaVi)

106 I think part of this sense comes from our contemporary need for a huge, shocking reveal. If you think about it, the revelation that Kurtz has "gone native" is pretty shocking and the description of him claiming the jungle and opening his jaws as if he would consume it all is quite horrific.

One could even say it's a victim of its own success because the concept of a Westerner building a cannibalistic headhunter empire to feed European greed is now a pretty stale trope.

It's sort of like "Citizen Kane," which was so creative, so innovative that everyone has copied it so it looks pretty lame now.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024

***
The storytelling, the basic events, are fascinating. But Conrad's writing style is pretty dense. Amazing that English, which he handled so well, was not his first language (or even his second? Not sure).

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:01 AM (omVj0)

107 Highly recommend Dover's "The Long Way Home", mentioned above. It would make an absolutely awesome adventure movie or miniseries!
Posted by: Sgt. Mom at August 25, 2024

***
I need to look for it. It sounds, though it's nonfiction, like a Nevil Shute novel writ large.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:02 AM (omVj0)

108 That library pic - had to throw it up on the big screen and double the image size to fully appreciate it. I like the desk the big guy is sitting on.

A magical accident transformed into an ape

Trying to parse the incomplete sentence. An accident was transformed? Like, the kind of accident my dog does? Or is it some unspecified being accidentally transformed? This kind of thing can hang my not yet caffeinated mind up for hours.

the intricacies of "L-Space" which links all libraries

Does that include home libraries? What about the bookshelf in the "throne room"?

Posted by: mindful webworker - print isn't dead, but it's kinda sickly at August 25, 2024 10:02 AM (uRNeM)

109 This week's Kindle read was "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Cat" by Patricia Srigley.
Sherlock Holmes is depressed by Dr. Watson leaving 221B for the joys of married life. So he gets a cat. Not just any cat, but the smartest cat in London.
General farcical silliness, but surprisingly engaging.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at August 25, 2024 10:02 AM (6cZhR)

110 I'm of two minds about high school literature courses. On the one hand, I agree that most of the books are "too old" for the kids -- they were written for adults and they're about adults. The kids find them boring and opaque and conclude that all "literature" is boring and opaque.

On the other hand, if you don't introduce kids to the greatest works of our civilization in school, when will they get exposed to them? It's a conundrum.
Posted by: Trimegistus at August 25, 2024 09:55 AM (78a2H)
---
What is chosen and how it is presented is essential. The Catcher in the Rye sucks and should be dropped. Mark Twain, Shakespeare - these are essentials.

Context is key, and good instruction unlocks the meanings of the stories so the kids appreciate them. The alternative is rote-cramming it without any idea of what's going on.

My high school did a great job of this, and we were able to dig deep into a lot of good books. Alas, my kids had a far less beneficial experience.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:02 AM (llXky)

111 Wolfus Aurelius @60 "You always learn something new when you read Poul Anderson. James Blish and L. Sprage de Camp, too." Very true!

My personal favorites of de Camp's work are his historical novels. I think "The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate" is the best of these. It begins with the demand of Xerxes, the Persian King of Kings, for an immortality potion from his personal wizard. The wizard has been stalling on this until Xerxes announces he is thinking of introducing a new motivational program: one involving the use of red hot iron on underperforming wizards. Suddenly the wizard proclaims he has had a breakthrough! He now has a formula for the potion but there is a question of getting the ingredients. They include the blood of a dragon, the ear of a king and the heart of a hero. Xerxes asks where are they going to get these? The wizard points out that if they can find someone who can get the dragon's blood and the royal ear, well, they can provide the third item as well. Just then their conference is interrupted by an appeal on behalf of the warrior Bessas whom Xerxes had sentenced to death by impalement. Now Xerxes realizes he has the perfect candidate for the job!

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at August 25, 2024 10:03 AM (aYnHS)

112 Looking at the article on punctuation, I'm reminded of possibly one of the most insane things I've run into: Quantum Grammar, created by noted nut job David Wynn-Miller. Pour yourself a large drink before reading:

https://tinyurl.com/mryswyuf

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 10:04 AM (stKIu)

113 I'm of two minds about high school literature courses. On the one hand, I agree that most of the books are "too old" for the kids -- they were written for adults and they're about adults. The kids find them boring and opaque and conclude that all "literature" is boring and opaque. . . .

Posted by: Trimegistus

There was never a danger of me not reading voraciously, but some of the novels I was required to read I probably would not have started, and those led me to expand the variety of books I read now. So on balance, it benefited me.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 10:05 AM (shKYE)

114 Good morning Book People and thank you, Perfessor, for the Book Thread. Between a 3-day retreat and then a week-long vacation, I haven't been able to read the Book Thread in real time for a while. I always manage to catch up at some point, as I really enjoy all your insights and recommendations.

Although I've picked up a few different books, nothing has held my attention lately. Alas!

Posted by: KatieFloyd at August 25, 2024 10:05 AM (uH0O0)

115 Sharon, I wish could remember what book Roman first shows up with.
It was early on, I think, one of those creepy characters hanging out in the forest like the witches,

For sure he is in Andrea's book Gunmetal Magic, sort of a foil against Raphael.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 25, 2024 10:06 AM (Ydd86)

116 Looking at the article on punctuation, I'm reminded of possibly one of the most insane things I've run into: Quantum Grammar, created by noted nut job David Wynn-Miller. Pour yourself a large drink before reading:

https://tinyurl.com/mryswyuf
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 10:04 AM (stKIu)
---
I was looking for something challenging to put on my final exam this semester...Thanks!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 25, 2024 10:06 AM (BpYfr)

117 I love de Camp's Complete Compleat Enchanter

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 25, 2024 10:07 AM (Ydd86)

118 Looking at the article on punctuation, I'm reminded of possibly one of the most insane things I've run into: Quantum Grammar, created by noted nut job David Wynn-Miller. Pour yourself a large drink before reading:

https://tinyurl.com/mryswyuf
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024

***
He sounds like his mother was frightened by Finnegan's Wake while she was carrying him.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:08 AM (omVj0)

119 I joined several morons here who recently quit the WSJ. I was thirty+ year subscriber, but the Leftist news bias, the support for open borders, and the gratuitous Trump bashing finally got to me.

Good riddance.

Posted by: JM in Ill -- Behold the Manchurian Candidate at August 25, 2024 10:10 AM (rOcA1)

120 I've been reading Cormac McCarthy's latest, The Passenger.

Posted by: ghost of hallelujah at August 25, 2024 10:11 AM (sJHOI)

121 I know writer’s block exists, but right now I’m experiencing reader’s block. This is not a good thing.

Posted by: Eromero at August 25, 2024 10:12 AM (DXbAa)

122 I'm reminded of possibly one of the most insane things I've run into: Quantum Grammar, created by noted nut job David Wynn-Miller. Pour yourself a large drink before reading:

https://tinyurl.com/mryswyuf
Posted by: RedMindBlueState

It looks like he was writing in Fortran.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 10:14 AM (5V5IT)

123 46 ... "Sometimes it's nice to just immerse oneself in an epic story, enjoying the ride.

You almost don't want it to end...."

Yep! That was my reaction to LOTR and Treasure Island. Both had definite endings but I wasn't ready for to move on. I read Treasure Island in second grade and even my grade school mind was occupied with questions: What did Jim do with his share of the treasure? What happened with Long John Silver? Did he ever reappear in Jim's life? Who was the next victim to get Blind Pew's black spot? (That Wyeth illustrations of Blind Pew still makes me shudder.)

Come to think of it, I would still like those questions answered.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 10:15 AM (zudum)

124 I know writer’s block exists, but right now I’m experiencing reader’s block. This is not a good thing.

Posted by: Eromero at August 25, 2024 10:12 AM (DXbAa)

Nothing much holds my interest.

Posted by: BignJames at August 25, 2024 10:16 AM (AwYPR)

125 You're so terrified of books, I can't believe you have a thread like this. Book goes "boo". Lol

Posted by: Sid at August 25, 2024 10:17 AM (DF8Wn)

126 I read Hell in a very Small Place in absolutely 9th or 8th grade. Way to early but did cement my brain Communists were evil.

Posted by: Skip at August 25, 2024 10:17 AM (fwDg9)

127 Eromero - "I know writer’s block exists, but right now I’m experiencing reader’s block. This is not a good thing."

Yes! That's it exactly. Not sure what to do about it but hoping in passes quickly - for both of us.

Posted by: KatieFloyd at August 25, 2024 10:17 AM (MvrEF)

128 This week I finished Ross MacDonald's early Lew Archer novel, The Way Some People Die (1951). I've never been a big fan of his work anyway, but thought I would give it one more try. It's Chandler-esque, of course -- Chandler was still writing at the time -- but Archer is a much less vivid character than Philip Marlowe. And RM introduces so many characters, most with names but some without, that you begin to wonder what is going on here.

There is a decent solution to the mystery. Archer uses a fact planted much earlier in the story to manage this, so that part is fair play. But Chandler's Lady in the Lake is a better mystery all around.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:17 AM (omVj0)

129 103 Watership Down is superb. The animated movie is also very good.

Posted by: callsign claymore at August 25, 2024 10:17 AM (kYLs4)

130 The storytelling, the basic events, are fascinating. But Conrad's writing style is pretty dense. Amazing that English, which he handled so well, was not his first language (or even his second? Not sure).
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:01 AM (omVj0)
---
Yeah, third language, after Polish and French. We used to have a pretty strong pro-Conrad faction here, along with an Evelyn Waugh fan club.

I'm planning on re-reading Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy this November.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:18 AM (llXky)

131 If I need to stay occupied during a nuclear winter, I'm covered.
Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 09:47 AM (zudum)

Be careful with your glasses.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 25, 2024 10:18 AM (0eaVi)

132 I seem to recall that Dr Evil's father claimed to have invented the question mark.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 10:19 AM (WvWnE)

133 Finished Patrick Chile's' "The Long Run" or " First Responder Makes First Contact". A fun romp with our heroine learning the ins and outs of interstellar emergency medicine. I believe there must be a sequel coming as the book leaves a couple of storylines open.

Started on Gregg Hurwitz's latest Orphan X novel, "Lone Wolf". What starts as a simple search for a missing dog almost immediately turns into a nightmarish murder investigation involving another deadly assassin and an AI mogul. Just about half way in right now but it's already raising some uncomfortable questions about the uses of AI in modern society. This is my favorite crime thriller series right now. Looking forward to how Evan pieces this puzzle together.

Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 10:19 AM (oaGWv)

134 Found Tall Short Stories on Thriftbooks. Juggling a number of books, so not too far in.
It's a narrative of a somewhat agorophobic Englishman with a local football fanatic wife venturing out to the games with her. First his game experiences, and now into something on other football fans experiences, with unnatural aspects developing.
As I said, It's holding my interest, but not at all a compilation of funny short stories.

Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 10:19 AM (4780s)

135 I know writer’s block exists, but right now I’m experiencing reader’s block. This is not a good thing.
Posted by: Eromero at August 25, 2024 10:12 AM (DXbAa)
---
I had something similar, but it was almost entirely situational. Now that the person responsible for the disruptions in the household has moved out, I'm able to devour books with wild abandon again.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:20 AM (llXky)

136 03 Watership Down is superb. The animated movie is also very good.
Posted by: callsign claymore at August 25, 2024

***
'Tis one of the great adventure novels of all time! If you mean the 1979 animated film, yes, it is a great adaptation. I tried watching some of the recent multi-part TV series, and had trouble following it, though I know the story well. All the rabbits were drawn to look alike and it had the same "everything must be muted and grayish" look of modern live-action movies. I didn't even make it to the appearance of General Woundwort.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:21 AM (omVj0)

137 I know writer’s block exists, but right now I’m experiencing reader’s block. This is not a good thing.

Posted by: Eromero at August 25, 2024 10:12 AM (DXbAa)

I've been in a reading slump, too. I have shelves full of books, a kindle full of books, a local library where I can get just about anything. A wealth of reading material, and nothing is grabbing me.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 25, 2024 10:23 AM (OX9vb)

138 Oh yeah, that last story was "Inconstant Moon".
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:12 AM (kpS4V)

I recall that. I thought it ended on a hopeful not for the protagonists. The solar flare was diminishing, and probably would not cook the Western Hemisphere, but a huge shock wave and tsunami was expected. So they escaped to the High Sierras to ride it out.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 25, 2024 10:23 AM (0sq2f)

139 Re: my 129: I will say that Ross MacDonald's handling of characters, even the minor ones, is very good. Still I'd rather read John D. MacDonald.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:23 AM (omVj0)

140 I know writer’s block exists, but right now I’m experiencing reader’s block. This is not a good thing.
Posted by: Eromero

Depending on mood, I have found that switching from history to mystery or mystery to novel helps.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 10:24 AM (bUqgU)

141 know writer’s block exists, but right now I’m experiencing reader’s block. This is not a good thing.
Posted by: Eromero

I had or should I say have the same problem. Haven't been able to read consistently since my husband passed away. Lack of concentration I guess but I'm making myself pick up a book at night and read a couple of chapters.

Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 10:24 AM (oaGWv)

142 Someone fart?

Posted by: BignJames at August 25, 2024 10:24 AM (AwYPR)

143 Reader's block --

Been there, done that, and on a number of occasions. The idea of picking up a full-length work seems about as appealing then as a plate of liver (YMMV on that). I find that dipping into collections of short stories or essays, and sometimes poetry, works to get past the block.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 10:24 AM (q3u5l)

144 I've just "finished" a long reread of Pratchett's Discworld series minus the Tiffany Aching "young adult" arc again.

I somehow decided to avoid the "young adult" efforts of Sir Terry long ago but I somehow ended up reading "Nation" a couple years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So now I've decided to take the plunge on the Tiffany Aching arc and stated reading "Wee Free Men" which is a silly title.

Posted by: pawn at August 25, 2024 10:24 AM (QB+5g)

145 Oh yeah, that last story was "Inconstant Moon".
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 09:12 AM (kpS4V)

I recall that. I thought it ended on a hopeful not for the protagonists. The solar flare was diminishing, and probably would not cook the Western Hemisphere, but a huge shock wave and tsunami was expected. So they escaped to the High Sierras to ride it out.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 25, 2024

***
The narrator concludes, "Maybe our descendants will colonize Europe and Africa."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:24 AM (omVj0)

146 Paul Johnson, "History of the American People", "Intellectuals, "Modern Times". For a preview of a Kamala dictatorship, "Kolyma Tales", Varlam Shalamov.

Posted by: Charles Martel at August 25, 2024 10:25 AM (EBbHR)

147 Hardly ever post. Love the book thread. I can't tell you how many books and authors you've introduced me to. Vince Milan being my favorite. Just finished Running With The Demon, another great recommendation and something I wouldn't have found without you. Marked Watchers for next. Love Dean Koontz, and a dog! I think you'll love Odd Thomas. I did.

Anyway, keep up the great work!

Posted by: jerseydevilrider at August 25, 2024 10:26 AM (PepNr)

148 Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 10:15 AM (zudum)

We always think of the island in Treasure Island as being tropical, but the description in the book sounds more like something off the coast of the Carolinas. Which, wouldn't be impossible, I guess.

Treasure Island is also one of the books explored in the mobile game Sherlock, although I haven't gotten there yet in the main story arc. I recently finished the exploration of Around the World in 80 Days and am on Alladin.

The monthly events have been going through Tom Sawyer, starting with Aunt Polly's cottage and Tom's brother Sid, who I had entirely forgotten was a character, having disappeared at the same time as two of H.G. Wells' nephews. This month is the third, and final, setting in Tom Sawyer and Indian Joe is the antagonist.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 25, 2024 10:26 AM (s9EYN)

149 1 I like chapter titles, possibly because they make a book seem classic. Just plain numbers is dull.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 25, 2024 09:05 AM (H4dJ
----

I like the old 18th Century run-on summations like "Chapter the Third: in which young lord M diddles a doxy, evades an angry mob, and is dragooned into service by the Royal Fusiliers"

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 10:26 AM (kpS4V)

150 Way to spoil the story, fellas!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 10:27 AM (kpS4V)

151 The Catcher in the Rye sucks and should be dropped.

Theory pulled from a warm dark place and worth what you paid for it:

Public school lit teachers think they are doing their students a service by making them read Catcher because they distain their students like they distain Holden Caulfield so they assume that the students will "identify" with him. Which, as we all know, is the highest achievement -- to "see someone who looks like me" in some book or movie or whatever.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 10:28 AM (/y8xj)

152 I like the old 18th Century run-on summations like "Chapter the Third: in which young lord M diddles a doxy, evades an angry mob, and is dragooned into service by the Royal Fusiliers"
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024

***
Sort of like the previews of next week's show we used to get at the end of TV episodes.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:28 AM (omVj0)

153 Tuna, in an interview Patrick Chiles said there will be a Book 2, out sometime in the spring of 2025.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at August 25, 2024 10:28 AM (PiwSw)

154 they assume that the students will "identify" with him. Which, as we all know, is the highest achievement -- to "see someone who looks like me" in some book or movie or whatever.
Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024

***
Even when I was Holden's age I wouldn't have identified with him. Josh, the clever and witty narrator of Bradford's Red Sky at Morning, would have been more my speed (and was when I discovered the book as an adult) -- and probably more the speed of most young people.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:30 AM (omVj0)

155 137 Yes, the 70s movie.

At first blush, a saga about rabbits sounds laughable. But holy cow, can Adams tell a compelling tale.

Posted by: callsign claymore at August 25, 2024 10:30 AM (kYLs4)

156 Tuna, in an interview Patrick Chiles said there will be a Book 2, out sometime in the spring of 2025.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper

Thanks. Looking forward to it.

Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 10:30 AM (oaGWv)

157 I like the old 18th Century run-on summations like "Chapter the Third: in which young lord M diddles a doxy, evades an angry mob, and is dragooned into service by the Royal Fusiliers"
Posted by: All Hail Eris

That is Candide in a nutshell. A wag could read the chapter titles in five minutes and produce a passable book report. Of course, they would miss all of the humor.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 10:30 AM (bMV3R)

158 Started on Gregg Hurwitz's latest Orphan X novel, "Lone Wolf".
Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 10:19 AM (oaGWv)

I hadn't heard of this author, or series. I think spy novels might draw me in. Just downloaded the initial Orphan X on kindle. And it comes with an audio version, so I'll try listening while I cook the dog food this afternoon.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 25, 2024 10:31 AM (OX9vb)

159 Vmom, haven't visited the site in a while so will have to go check it out. I could see what they were setting up in this novella but not sure it will live up to the other great male/female alpha leads in her other series.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 25, 2024 10:32 AM (t/2Uw)

160 Strangely, I don't recall ever having to read Catcher for school. Read it not long after I graduated hs, didn't think much of it, and have no wish to revisit it. Maybe I will some time before I check out, but it's way down on the list.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 10:33 AM (q3u5l)

161 137
'Tis one of the great adventure novels of all time! If you mean the 1979 animated film, yes, it is a great adaptation. I tried watching some of the recent multi-part TV series, and had trouble following it, though I know the story well. All the rabbits were drawn to look alike and it had the same "everything must be muted and grayish" look of modern live-action movies. I didn't even make it to the appearance of General Woundwort.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:21 AM (omVj0)

If you're talking about the Netflix series from a few years back, it may be good that you bailed out before Woundwort. I seem to recall scenes in 'Efrafa' taking place in a squarish irrigation ditch with nothing above it. They ignored everything about it being militantly naturalistic and disguised....

I love the Watership Down novel, but I've yet to find any satisfactory adaptation. Even the 70's film didn't do it for me...

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 10:33 AM (Lhaco)

162 So now I've decided to take the plunge on the Tiffany Aching arc and stated reading "Wee Free Men" which is a silly title.
Posted by: pawn at August 25, 2024 10:24 AM (QB+5g)

Silly, but accurate. Didn't read the last in the series, but enjoyed the first couple. Now I point out the "Ships!" when I see them in a picture or grazing in a field.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 25, 2024 10:33 AM (s9EYN)

163 I'm of two minds about high school literature courses.

-
Back when I used to work for a living, I defended a black juvenile male (can't use the "B" word) charged as an adult on an armed robbery charge. There was reasonable doubt in my mind but not in the minds of the jury. He was sentenced to a youthful offenders program in the Department of Corrections which, among other things, emphasized education. When he had been in a good while, I got a report on him. He was excelling at Shakespeare! Did not see that coming.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 25, 2024 10:33 AM (L/fGl)

164 Looking at the article on punctuation, I'm reminded of possibly one of the most insane things I've run into: Quantum Grammar, created by noted nut job David Wynn-Miller. Pour yourself a large drink before reading:

https://tinyurl.com/mryswyuf

If he had been a black, Marxist, feminist Harvard professor that would have gotten him tenure and some kind of Presidential appointment.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 10:34 AM (/y8xj)

165 I didn't identify with Holden because he's a damned idiot.

Posted by: Trimegistus at August 25, 2024 10:35 AM (78a2H)

166 I hadn't heard of this author, or series. I think spy novels might draw me in. Just downloaded the initial Orphan X on kindle. And it comes with an audio version, so I'll try listening while I cook the dog food this afternoon.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!

I've listened to most of the Orphan X novels. The narrator, Scott Brick, is very good. As a matter of fact, I hear his voice for the various characters as I'm reading the latest book.

Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 10:35 AM (oaGWv)

167 That is Candide in a nutshell. A wag could read the chapter titles in five minutes and produce a passable book report. Of course, they would miss all of the humor.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 10:30 AM (bMV3R)

I read the entirety of Candide and still managed to miss the humor. Satire is definitely not my favorite genre.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 25, 2024 10:36 AM (s9EYN)

168 As I said, It's holding my interest, but not at all a compilation of funny short stories.
Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 10:19 AM (4780s)

It seems that title is well used. Not surprised you stumbled on the wrong one.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 25, 2024 10:37 AM (0eaVi)

169 I was never forced to read "Catcher in the Rye" in school. Maybe one day I'll read it. Like if I was starving in a garret, reading a page at a time then tossing each page into the stove..,

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 10:37 AM (kpS4V)

170 Thought Holden was a fool too. He should have just screwed Sunny. He would have been a lot better off.

Posted by: occam's brassiere at August 25, 2024 10:38 AM (x1GVi)

171 I like the old 18th Century run-on summations like "Chapter the Third: in which young lord M diddles a doxy, evades an angry mob, and is dragooned into service by the Royal Fusiliers"
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 10:26 AM (kpS4V)
---
I think those weren't previews so much as guides for easy reference later. It was basically an index made by the author as he went along, and since books were treasured items, being able to find a passage without excess wear was essential.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:38 AM (llXky)

172 The trouble with satire is you have to be rather intimately connected to what is being satirized to appreciate it.

Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 10:39 AM (4780s)

173 132 ... "Be careful with your glasses."

You made me smile remembering that episode with Burgess Meredith. Fortunately, I have cheap reading glasses all over the house and in the car. And if I hold the book at arms length I can read without the cheaters.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 10:39 AM (zudum)

174 I read the entirety of Candide and still managed to miss the humor. Satire is definitely not my favorite genre.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 25, 2024 10:36 AM (s9EYN)
---
Try Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh. You can't miss it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:39 AM (llXky)

175 I'm kind of amazed that you all can remember stuff you read in High School. I usually just have memories of whether I liked or disliked certain books. I know my love of Shakespeare dates from High School because we were able to take field trips to see it performed and the eloquence of the language spoken captured me.
I also refused to read Heart of Darkness. Think it was the only book I ever bought the Cliff notes for because I just could not get into it.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 25, 2024 10:40 AM (t/2Uw)

176 Speaking of the ancient Romans, Fly Me To the Moon in Latin.

https://is.gd/rFqH9h

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 25, 2024 10:41 AM (L/fGl)

177 YzBvHtEkmXO

Posted by: KtconZkudAlGNrRm at August 25, 2024 10:41 AM (eHoOC)

178 I read the entirety of Candide and still managed to miss the humor. Satire is definitely not my favorite genre.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 25, 2024 10:36 AM (s9EYN)

Candid was not my favorite by a long shot. I finished that book thinking Voltaire was an egotistical poncy Frenchman.

Posted by: Napoleon XIV at August 25, 2024 10:42 AM (AiZBA)

179 The trouble with satire is you have to be rather intimately connected to what is being satirized to appreciate it.
Posted by: From about That Time at August 25, 2024 10:39 AM (4780s)

Exactly. It doesn't hold up unless the base story is crafted so well that missing all the references isn't a problem.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 25, 2024 10:42 AM (s9EYN)

180 >>We always think of the island in Treasure Island as being tropical, but the description in the book sounds more like something off the coast of the Carolinas. Which, wouldn't be impossible, I guess.

Many people in the British Virgin Islands insist that Norman Island was the inspiration for Treasure Island.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 25, 2024 10:42 AM (LkLld)

181 HqtbxKkoOVMid

Posted by: IySCxzcqLaY at August 25, 2024 10:42 AM (DSUkO)

182 I was never forced to read "Catcher in the Rye" in school. Maybe one day I'll read it. Like if I was starving in a garret, reading a page at a time then tossing each page into the stove..,
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 10:37 AM (kpS4V)
---
The only point in reading it is so you can throw vicious, informed bon mots about how awful it is.

My chief recollections are the use of the word "phoney" and how the description created a mental picture of a bleak, washed-out world without anything nice in it. My mind recoiled from such an unpleasant image.

Stephen King's descriptions remind me of it and I avoid him for the same reason.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:43 AM (llXky)

183 I'm currently on Eric Ambler's The Schirmer Inheritance. It opens with a Prussian soldier in 1807, a deserter, who takes up with a young woman and with her flees and sets up their lives. He changes his name and that of his older son, but not his younger. In the '30s, one of his descendants dies leaving 3-4 million dollars. A young fledging attorney in 1957 is assigned to find an heir and travels to Paris as part of the search. What happens next? I don't know, but Ambler is famous for his spy and intrigue stories (he influenced Ian Fleming to a degree), so I'm willing to go along.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:43 AM (omVj0)

184 So now I've decided to take the plunge on the Tiffany Aching arc and stated reading "Wee Free Men" which is a silly title.
Posted by: pawn at August 25, 2024 10:24 AM (QB+5g)

Silly, but accurate. Didn't read the last in the series, but enjoyed the first couple. Now I point out the "Ships!" when I see them in a picture or grazing in a field.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 25, 2024 10:33 AM

I enjoyed those. How can one not enjoy the Feegles?

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 10:44 AM (stKIu)

185 Sharon @176,

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger on that. These days I can recall reading a book in high school or college but not remembering much detail; I remember that I liked or disliked it, but not always much of the content. Makes revisiting some of 'em a lot more fun.

Read HoD in college, but didn't like it much until revisiting it as a bit more of an adult a couple of decades later.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 10:44 AM (q3u5l)

186 You made me smile remembering that episode with Burgess Meredith. Fortunately, I have cheap reading glasses all over the house and in the car. And if I hold the book at arms length I can read without the cheaters.
Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 10:39 AM (zudum)

Wife does the same, but still loses them.

"You mean the ones right here," I say to her.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 25, 2024 10:45 AM (0eaVi)

187 Many people in the British Virgin Islands insist that Norman Island was the inspiration for Treasure Island.
Posted by: JackStraw at August 25, 2024 10:42 AM (LkLld)

So, in the Americas at least. I was surprised by that in the book, since adaptations always imply it's somewhere in the eastern hemisphere.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 25, 2024 10:45 AM (s9EYN)

188 If he had been a black, Marxist, feminist Harvard professor that would have gotten him tenure and some kind of Presidential appointment.
Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 10:34 AM

Most likely. That shite is not much crazier that Critical (fill in the blank) Theory.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 10:47 AM (stKIu)

189 It looks like he was writing in Fortran.

With a bit of a refresher, I could understand that.

Fun trivia. I think they fixed it in F77 but before that, numeric constants were just names for memory locations and you could assign to them. E.g. you would code "4 = 3" and for the reminder of the program, wherever you used the symbol '4' it would have the value 3.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 10:47 AM (/y8xj)

190 I enjoyed those. How can one not enjoy the Feegles?
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 10:44 AM (stKIu)

Right?

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 25, 2024 10:47 AM (s9EYN)

191 Don't feel like the Lone Ranger on that. These days I can recall reading a book in high school or college but not remembering much detail; I remember that I liked or disliked it, but not always much of the content. Makes revisiting some of 'em a lot more fun.

Read HoD in college, but didn't like it much until revisiting it as a bit more of an adult a couple of decades later.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024

***
I recall little besides titles of what I was expected to read in HS and college -- except for Haunting of Hill House. The stuff I read on my own, Ellery Queen and Rex Stout, Dorothy L. Sayers, Alistair Maclean, Glendon Swarthout, and others, I recall quite well -- though if you asked me to *relate* the complete story of some of them, I'd be flummoxed as to details.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:48 AM (omVj0)

192 Open Blogger, would you please tell me how to send you links to my books, so the Ace of Spades horde of madmen can discover I exist? Thank you.

Posted by: Smallish Bees at August 25, 2024 10:48 AM (8YkR5)

193 I'm kind of amazed that you all can remember stuff you read in High School. I usually just have memories of whether I liked or disliked certain books. Cliff notes for because I just could not get into it.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 25, 2024 10:40 AM (t/2Uw)
---
I had some great English classes in high school. We'd go through a book or play and then watch a film of it and dissect it. Crazy to talk of it today, but we watched Apocalypse Now in class after reading Heart of Darkness, and critiqued the adaptation.

In AP English we had an assignment of taking an author from our anthology and doing a presentation. One kid read Conrad's The Lagoon with Peter Gabriel playing in the background. Awesome.

I presented Tolkien's contrasting descriptions - Cerin Amroth vs Minas Morgul. The teacher objected on the grounds that we didn't read Tolkien, but I pointed out "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" was Tolkien's translation, so I got a pass.

That was when Tolkien was still regarded as fringe hippy crap, so something of a win on my part.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:49 AM (llXky)

194 High school reading --

I see references to Cliff's Notes here on the thread from time to time, but I'm wondering how many of us got through the occasional book report thanks to the old Classics Illustrated comics.

I usually read the book assigned, but there were times when Classics Illustrated saved my bacon in high school.

Wish I still had 'em to give to the grandtots.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 10:49 AM (q3u5l)

195 "A small California mountain town is gripped in terror when a mysterious rain brings with it a full-blown alien invasion."

That was the plot of 'Chubby Rain' the low budget scifi movie Steve Martin tricked Eddie Murphy into starring in the move Bowfinger.

Does the book end with "Gotcha suckers!"

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at August 25, 2024 10:50 AM (0IZBG)

196 164 ... "I'm of two minds about high school literature courses."

Too much of public school 'literature courses' consist of exposing the students to the material, told to read it, report on it, etc. But seldom is there any context or discussion about why the material has been so effective for so many years or even centuries, what is the context of the composition, and so on. (I doubt the teachers are know enough to do that anyway.) Yeah, a few exceptional students may see past the homework aspect and delve for more but most will not. That is a built in failure of the system. It's just a version of "see Spot run" designed for older students.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 10:52 AM (zudum)

197 I read "Hillbilly Elegy " this last week.

It was a very good read. JD will represent Americans with humility and loyalty given the chance. What an impressive young man.

Posted by: nurse ratched, certified weirdo at August 25, 2024 10:53 AM (k05yp)

198 Sharon, I have a hard time remembering my required reading from high school. I more easily remember what I read by choice. Rock biographies (No One Here Gets Out Alive, and a biography of Grace Slick), a good bit of Stephen King ('Salem's Lot, Carrie, The Shining), Donald Westlake heist novels, lots of comedians' books (Erma Bombeck, Carol Burnett, David Brenner, Dave Barry), LOTR, art history, Walt Whitman, Shakespeare...

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at August 25, 2024 10:53 AM (OX9vb)

199 I enjoyed those. How can one not enjoy the Feegles?
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 10:44 AM (stKIu)
---
I had to do a double take because I thought that was a reference to Peter Jackson's ghastly "Meet the Feebles."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:53 AM (llXky)

200 Crazy to talk of it today, but we watched Apocalypse Now in class after reading Heart of Darkness, and critiqued the adaptation.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:49 AM

We must have had the same English teacher.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 10:53 AM (stKIu)

201 I remember my junior year in high school we had to read "The Scarlet Letter", "Moby Dick" and "The Red Badge of Courage". Oh boy did I dislike English class that year.

Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 10:53 AM (oaGWv)

202 . Love this stuff., I got the second copy to highlight all the passages, and there are a LOT of them, worth exploring further. At some point I will go through the highlights and follow the rabbit holes they open up but want to do so at a relaxed pace instead of letting it distract me from everything else.
Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 09:36 AM (zudum)

I keep a legal pad and pen handy when reading non-fiction, for notes.

Posted by: sal at August 25, 2024 10:53 AM (0w7qT)

203 Did some reading this week. Got past the intro to Plato's Republic (almost have the book in the Kindle edition I've got and harder to understand than the first 20 pages or so of the actual book. Started Francis Parkman's book on the Oregon Trail. Well written, interesting and he even crosses path's with the Donner party.

Posted by: who knew at August 25, 2024 10:54 AM (+ViXu)

204 Yay book thread! This week I finished James H. Hallas' Saipan - The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II.

-
Historian John Toland wrote a WWII novel that included Saipan, Gods of War, about a Japanese and an American family. Although his style of writing is more given to nonfiction, I found the book moving.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 25, 2024 10:54 AM (L/fGl)

205 I remember my junior year in high school we had to read "The Scarlet Letter", "Moby Dick" and "The Red Badge of Courage". Oh boy did I dislike English class that year.
Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024

***
My head would have exploded.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 10:55 AM (omVj0)

206 I’m sorry I got carried away on my Hemingway review. I thought it’d be two posts not five. I figured once I’d written all that I might as well share it.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at August 25, 2024 10:56 AM (tHZw2)

207 Historian John Toland wrote a WWII novel that included Saipan, Gods of War, about a Japanese and an American family. Although his style of writing is more given to nonfiction, I found the book moving.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 25, 2024 10:54 AM (L/fGl)
---
One of my first 'chapter books' was Toland's The Flying Tigers. Bought it through the school book order in 4th Grade. Probably be considered child abuse today.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:56 AM (llXky)

208 I read Treasure Island in second grade and even my grade school mind was occupied with questions: What did Jim do with his share of the treasure? What happened with Long John Silver? Did he ever reappear in Jim's life? Who was the next victim to get Blind Pew's black spot? (That Wyeth illustrations of Blind Pew still makes me shudder.)

Come to think of it, I would still like those questions answered.
Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 10:15 AM (zudum)

There was a latter-day sequel written, titled "Return To Treasure Island", by H.R. Callahan (possibly). I have it, somewhere, in paperback. Web search came up blank, kept bringing up another book, much more recent, by a different author.

The book got the "tone" of Stevenson's writing quite well. Livesey and Jim entrust their share of the loot to Squire Trelawney, who invests it in the South Seas bubble, and breaks them. They have enough money left to buy the old Hispaniola...

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 25, 2024 10:56 AM (6eAks)

209 HqtbxKkoOVMid

-
Hey! This is a family blog!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 25, 2024 10:58 AM (L/fGl)

210 I remember my junior year in high school we had to read "The Scarlet Letter", "Moby Dick" and "The Red Badge of Courage". Oh boy did I dislike English class that year.
Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 10:53 AM (oaGWv)
---
I'd have traded for that over Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities.

A little Dickens goes a long way for me.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:58 AM (llXky)

211 195
I see references to Cliff's Notes here on the thread from time to time, but I'm wondering how many of us got through the occasional book report thanks to the old Classics Illustrated comics.

I usually read the book assigned, but there were times when Classics Illustrated saved my bacon in high school.

Wish I still had 'em to give to the grandtots.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 10:49 AM (q3u5l)

If you're talking about the Marel Classics, I have an omnibus of those. Some of them are surprisingly literal adaptations. The Treasure Island issue included the plotline about Jim rowing back to the Hispanola in one of those tiny round rafts to set the ship adrift....and that's something that gets cut from every other adaptation I can remember...

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 10:58 AM (Lhaco)

212 I’m sorry I got carried away on my Hemingway review. I thought it’d be two posts not five. I figured once I’d written all that I might as well share it.
Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at August 25, 2024 10:56 AM (tHZw2)
---
No apology needed for length. Just see that you don't get Bold or let the Italicans in the thread.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:59 AM (llXky)

213 173 ... "The trouble with satire is you have to be rather intimately connected to what is being satirized to appreciate it."

Oh my, yes! I remember a freshman college level class where some students were absolutely horrified after reading "A Modest Proposal" by Swift. They had no idea what he was addressing or even what satire was at that point. You would think exposure to Mad Magazine might have given them a clue.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 11:00 AM (zudum)

214 In almost all Roman inscriptions points were used to separate words. See Pantheon In the oldest Latin documents and books, dating from the end of the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 2nd century AD, words were divided by points, and a change of topic was sometimes indicated by paragraphing: the first letter or two of the new paragraph projected into the margin. At the Arabs or Chinese aren’t getting false credit …

Posted by: TG Sam at August 25, 2024 11:00 AM (ud9p9)

215 The Scholastic book order forms that got sent around in my school days rarely had anything that piqued my interest. One had a Man From U.N.C.L.E. tie-in novel, not one of David MacDaniel's, and I was pleased to see it; but I already had it. Other books seemed to be for girls or for sports fanatics of either sex. I liked a baseball story, but football confused and bored me as much then as it does today.

I wanted to read Western, spy, or war adventure as well as mystery. My true science-fiction period lay in the future -- so I might have overlooked Heinlein's juveniles or other SF writers' work if they were offered.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:01 AM (omVj0)

216 I feel like I should be glad that I never read Catcher in the Rye. Sounds like I would have hated it...

The thing I remember most about high school reading is being assigned Of Mice and Men. Read it fast, really enjoyed it....right up until the end. Hated the ending, and never felt to the urge to revisit the story.

During that time, I read a lot of 90's paperback sci-fi and fantasy novels instead, and even if I don't remember most of these days, I enjoyed them at the time.

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 11:01 AM (Lhaco)

217 I read "Hillbilly Elegy " this last week.

It was a very good read. JD will represent Americans with humility and loyalty given the chance. What an impressive young man.
Posted by: nurse ratched, certified weirdo at August 25, 2024 10:53 AM (k05yp)

Still reading it. I'm a slow reader. But it's a fascinating memoir. The more I learn about him, the more impressed I am.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Telling War Stories at August 25, 2024 11:02 AM (Ad8y9)

218 skywch, I saw your sweet note about "Asher Lev". Thank you! Glad it worked for you.

Posted by: sal at August 25, 2024 11:02 AM (0w7qT)

219 The Marvel Classics are after my comics time (were those the ones that included some Poe illustrated by Gahan Wilson?) -- the older ones from the 50s and 60s are the ones I had. You can still find some of those on the web and at Internet Archive, I think. Their Macbeth and other Shakespeare adaptations actually used text from the plays in the dialog balloons if memory serves. The series included little-seen Jules Verne and Victor Hugo titles as well as the expected classics from Stevenson, Conrad, Hawthorne, etc.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 11:03 AM (q3u5l)

220 I'd have traded for that over Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities.

A little Dickens goes a long way for me.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

We got "Great Expectations " in our senior year which was dedicated to British literature. "Macbeth" also.

Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 11:03 AM (oaGWv)

221 The thing I remember most about high school reading is being assigned Of Mice and Men. Read it fast, really enjoyed it....right up until the end. Hated the ending, and never felt to the urge to revisit the story.

During that time, I read a lot of 90's paperback sci-fi and fantasy novels instead, and even if I don't remember most of these days, I enjoyed them at the time.
Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024

***
I'd consider assigning that in my hypothetical English class. Short, fast-moving, and with a downer of an ending, which would teach students that not every story has to end on a sunny note or with everything resolved.

I think one of my teachers offered Steinbeck's "The Pearl" as an assignment option. Personally I think his short story "The Snake" might have been a better choice.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:05 AM (omVj0)

222 One of my first 'chapter books' was Toland's The Flying Tigers. Bought it through the school book order in 4th Grade. Probably be considered child abuse today.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

I liked a number of his books including The Rising Sun and The Last Hundred Days.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 25, 2024 11:05 AM (L/fGl)

223 I usually read the book assigned, but there were times when Classics Illustrated saved my bacon in high school.

The daughter of a friend is a high school English Lit teacher (AP English, mind you) and last year she was telling us about a quiz she gave to students who had been assigned "A Christmas Carol" which takes, what, an hour or so to read. She reported that over half the class failed the exam. Her comment was something like "If they had watched the Muppets version, it would have been enough to pass."

Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 11:05 AM (/y8xj)

224 At the Arabs or Chinese aren’t getting false credit …
Posted by: TG Sam at August 25, 2024 11:00 AM (ud9p9)
---
Chinese uses characters that represent concepts rather than phonetic sounds and there are new different modes of using them. The 'classical' mode is five character groups and is heavily based on literary symbolism, whereas modern ones are four character and more literal.

That is why it is so difficult to understand and also translate Western concepts into Chinese. Until the literal characters were used, one could not easily introduce a new concept. This is why translating the Bible into Mandarin was so difficult, and the Catholic missionaries determined that it was easier to teach the Chinese Latin than render the Bible in Mandarin.

Protestant missionaries completed the project in the 19th Century, but the result was inexact, which indirectly caused the Taiping Rebellion, the deadliest war of that era.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 11:07 AM (llXky)

225 Got me thinking about John Toland so I looked him up and found this . . .

He recalled in 1961 that in his early years as a writer he had been "about as big a failure as a man can be". He claimed to have written six complete novels, 26 plays, and a hundred short stories before completing his first sale, a short story for which The American Magazine paid $165 in 1954.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 25, 2024 11:07 AM (L/fGl)

226 Mr. S found a newish period (1880s) mystery series featuring a Stronk Empowered Woman, who is thrown into partnership with a Total Hunk with a Dark Past.

The mystery part was pretty intriguing and she is not a bad writer.
We have decided to each write down how we think the stories will go, read the books and see how accurate we are.
One of us will win what we call a Fake Bet.

Posted by: sal at August 25, 2024 11:08 AM (0w7qT)

227 A little Dickens goes a long way for me.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:58 AM (llXky)

Not that long.

Posted by: Disappointed Lady at August 25, 2024 11:08 AM (0eaVi)

228 One of my first 'chapter books' was Toland's The Flying Tigers. Bought it through the school book order in 4th Grade. Probably be considered child abuse today.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 10:56 AM

I think I still have that somewhere. Also ordered through Scholastic round about 4th grade.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 11:08 AM (stKIu)

229 his first sale, a short story for which The American Magazine paid $165 in 1954.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever!

A lot of money in 1954.

Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 11:08 AM (oaGWv)

230 The Chinese themselves found it easier to go to Japanese translations, since Japanese was more flexible yet drew upon a similar character system.

Yes, there was a time when Japan actively sponsored China's development, reasoning that a second Asian power capable of resisting the West would increase their chance of remaining independent.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 11:09 AM (llXky)

231 220 The Marvel Classics are after my comics time (were those the ones that included some Poe illustrated by Gahan Wilson?) -- the older ones from the 50s and 60s are the ones I had. You can still find some of those on the web and at Internet Archive, I think. Their Macbeth and other Shakespeare adaptations actually used text from the plays in the dialog balloons if memory serves. The series included little-seen Jules Verne and Victor Hugo titles as well as the expected classics from Stevenson, Conrad, Hawthorne, etc.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 11:03 AM (q3u5l)

(Checks the omnibus) There is a Poe issue with three of his stories, but Gaham Wilson is not listed as the illustrator.

Alas, I don't think I have anything from the 50's in my collection.

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 11:09 AM (Lhaco)

232 Christmas Carol" which takes, what, an hour or so to read. She reported that over half the class failed the exam. Her comment was something like "If they had watched the Muppets version, it would have been enough to pass."
Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024

***
That story has been adapted so many times to visual media that I have trouble imagining anybody could be unfamiliar with it, at least in outline. And this was *AP* English? Jeez.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:10 AM (omVj0)

233 In 5th grade the teacher played a recording of the part of Innocents Abroad where Twain describes how his party deals with their guides and I was hooked. Reread the book a couple of years ago and (just like the first time) loved until they got to the Holy Land and then it kind of peters out.

Posted by: who knew at August 25, 2024 11:12 AM (+ViXu)

234 216 ... "The Scholastic book order forms that got sent around in my school days"

I loved those things in second and third grade, even though as you said, the selection seemed weighted toward 'girl' or bland sports stuff. But I got my first copy of "Hound of the Baskervilles" that way. Also, Shirley Jackson's "Raising Demons" although that wasn't really aimed at kids. But it did introduce me to Jackson's writing. I think I still have that very tattered title on the shelves.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 11:12 AM (zudum)

235 That story has been adapted so many times to visual media that I have trouble imagining anybody could be unfamiliar with it, at least in outline. And this was *AP* English? Jeez.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:10 AM (omVj0)

Not familiar with the term. Is "AP English" the smart class or the dummy class?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 25, 2024 11:12 AM (6eAks)

236 Or "Jeezum crickets," as an old buddy of mine used to say.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:12 AM (omVj0)

237 He recalled in 1961 that in his early years as a writer he had been "about as big a failure as a man can be". He claimed to have written six complete novels, 26 plays, and a hundred short stories before completing his first sale, a short story for which The American Magazine paid $165 in 1954.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Covfefe Today, Covfefe Tomorrow, Covfefe Forever! at August 25, 2024 11:07 AM (L/fGl)
---
A neat example of why older writers are so much better. They had to earn it, even if they were part of a literary circle. Indeed, the other members were often vicious critics and prone to jealousy.

Compare that with today's nepotistic diversity hires.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 11:12 AM (llXky)

238
Not familiar with the term. Is "AP English" the smart class or the dummy class?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 25, 2024

***
Advanced Placement English. I don't know about now, but the dummy class would once have been called "Remedial" English.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:13 AM (omVj0)

239 The only book I remember reading in AP English is "Anna Karenina."

I've not revisited it. Oh, and we also read a lot of TS Elliot. Yuck.

Posted by: nurse ratched, certified weirdo at August 25, 2024 11:14 AM (k05yp)

240 I actually read something worthwhile this week: Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me by Wilfred Reilly. I don't have my BA because I am incapable of passing a science or math course. But I was fortunate enough to complete what course work I did in '69 so little in this book surprised me.

But for the unlucky, most of this information will come as a total surprise. I already had a sneaking suspicion this misinformation was being disseminated by listening to my kids. Sad to say, I wasn't able to counter half of it because I never heard it. My adult offspring still have heads full of mush.

Posted by: Livia Drusilla at August 25, 2024 11:15 AM (NcHb9)

241 And this was *AP* English? Jeez.

Yes. The point of her story really was that they were smart kids but they just didn't want to do the work. Because up until then, they've never had to.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 11:15 AM (/y8xj)

242 Advanced Placement English. I don't know about now, but the dummy class would once have been called "Remedial" English.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:13 AM (omVj0)

I was in a dummy class my junior year...it was babysitting.

Posted by: BignJames at August 25, 2024 11:15 AM (AwYPR)

243 After Team Yankee, read Company Commander by Charles MacDonald.

The most riveting part of the book was the defense of his company of the Elsenborn Ridge against a very strong attack, by the German's best armored divisions. Our infantry, surprised, outnumbered, against veteran troop, stopped the attack. We used an awful lot of artillery shells to make the Germans quit.

We paid a high price in casualties, but their heroism was rewarded.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at August 25, 2024 11:15 AM (u82oZ)

244 Not familiar with the term. Is "AP English" the smart class or the dummy class?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 25, 2024 11:12 AM

Advanced Placement. Can get you college credit if you take the exam and do well enough.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 11:16 AM (stKIu)

245 Gahan Wilson not the illustrator for the Poe?

Wonder if Marvel was involved with some of the ones I remember from the early 60s? I didn't have a full run of the CI comics, so don't recall a Poe. Will have to look up that omnibus and see if it includes the ones I recall.

Thanks.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 11:16 AM (q3u5l)

246 Also, Shirley Jackson's "Raising Demons" although that wasn't really aimed at kids. But it did introduce me to Jackson's writing. I think I still have that very tattered title on the shelves.
Posted by: JTB

Remember reading "The Lottery" in junior high. Can't remember what grade it was but it did creep me out to the point where I've never felt the need to revisit it or read anything else of Jackson's.

Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024 11:16 AM (oaGWv)

247 "The Scholastic book order forms that got sent around in my school days"
*
I loved those things in second and third grade, even though as you said, the selection seemed weighted toward 'girl' or bland sports stuff. But I got my first copy of "Hound of the Baskervilles" that way. Also, Shirley Jackson's "Raising Demons" although that wasn't really aimed at kids. But it did introduce me to Jackson's writing. I think I still have that very tattered title on the shelves.
Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024

***
I don't recall seeing them that early. By the time they popped up in my jr. high, I'd read the bulk of Sherlock Holmes anyway. Jackson's Raising Demons and Life Among the Savages came later for me, but I think I'd have liked them when I was 14 or so. Erma Bombeck, Jackson's literary descendant in that genre, was popular in newspaper syndication then; and I'd read Jean Kerr's Please Don't Eat the Daisies that year too.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:17 AM (omVj0)

248 203 ... "I keep a legal pad and pen handy when reading non-fiction, for notes."

I did that in my high school and college days. I really believe that taking those notes, instead of just reading the material, helped keep a good GPA.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 11:17 AM (zudum)

249 Oh, and we also read a lot of TS Elliot. Yuck.
Posted by: nurse ratched, certified weirdo at August 25, 2024 11:14 AM

I was never a big T.S. Elliot fan.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 11:17 AM (stKIu)

250 AP classes are supposed to be similar to entry level college classes. You take an exam at the end of the year. Graded 1-4. A 3 and above means you passed and you get college credits.

My Marine passed the AP Physics exam as a junior. Smart little shit who refused to apply himself and wasn't ready for college, so he went to the Marines.

Now he's ready to go to school.

Posted by: nurse ratched, certified weirdo at August 25, 2024 11:17 AM (k05yp)

251 198 I read "Hillbilly Elegy " this last week.

It was a very good read. JD will represent Americans with humility and loyalty given the chance. What an impressive young man.
Posted by: nurse ratched, certified weirdo at August 25, 2024 10:53 AM (k05yp)
----

I'm on the list for a library copy. I'm pleased that I have to wait! It looks like a popular request.

I saw the movie again recently. Really good, especially Glenn Close as MeMaw.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 25, 2024 11:18 AM (kpS4V)

252 Advanced Placement English. I don't know about now, but the dummy class would once have been called "Remedial" English.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:13 AM (omVj0)
---
While it had its weak points, my high school had great academic offerings and the AP English and History courses were solid college prep. When I crossed the street to the University side of town, I had a clear leg up on many of my fellow students.

That being said, my kids went into the same building and got a far weaker education. I was quite disappointed.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 11:18 AM (llXky)

253 I was never a big T.S. Elliot fan.

"Prufrock" is pure, distilled, medical grade cynicism. Whether that makes it a good poem or a bad one is up to the reader. Which is what makes it, IMO, a great poem.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 11:19 AM (/y8xj)

254 Not familiar with the term. Is "AP English" the smart class or the dummy class?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 25, 2024 11:12 AM (6eAks)

AP stands for Advanced Placement. It's for the smart kids.

This late-tread talk is sending me down a rabbit hole of trying to find images of old Scholastic Catalogs, and seeing what I remember. I found one page with both "A Wrinkle in Time" and "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," each for less that $2.50. Inflation has been a ruinous thing...

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 11:20 AM (Lhaco)

255 Advanced Placement English. I don't know about now, but the dummy class would once have been called "Remedial" English.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:13 AM (omVj0)

Oh. I was thinking "Absolutely Pathetic".

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 25, 2024 11:20 AM (6eAks)

256 Remember reading "The Lottery" in junior high. Can't remember what grade it was but it did creep me out to the point where I've never felt the need to revisit it or read anything else of Jackson's.
Posted by: Tuna at August 25, 2024

***
Raising Demons and Life Among the Savages are funny stories, collections of pieces she'd sold to magazines about comic life with her husband and children. No scary demons or anything.

That said, some of her other short stories are pretty creepy. There is one called "The Summer People" which is unsettling, even though you don't know exactly what the danger is. I've read that it's supposed to be a threat to the protagonists of being killed by the locals because they, the couple, have stayed on in the New England town after Labor Day; but I'm not sure about that.

Critics get funny ideas. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" has been analyzed as a supernatural story, a tale of schizophrenia, or a feminist screed against controlling husbands, depending on the writer's viewpoint.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:21 AM (omVj0)

257 Just starting "Service Model" by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which is described as "MurderBot meets Redshirts," which is right up my alley.

Tchaikovsky is a great SF writer so I'm sure I shall enjoy it. Shall report back next Sunday.

Posted by: Sharkman at August 25, 2024 11:22 AM (T+iDR)

258 248 ... Good morning Wolfus,

I don't recall the Scholastic Book program offered after 4th grade in our local school system. Certainly not in junior high. Being such a book nut even then I think I would remember if it had been available.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 11:23 AM (zudum)

259 Grandson earned so many college credits that as a new freshman, he is 30% done with his degree. A great boon to his folks and us.

Posted by: sal at August 25, 2024 11:24 AM (0w7qT)

260 In fact I have one of his nonfiction books here, Great Cities of the Ancient World. Looking forward to dipping into it.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 09:38 AM (omVj0)

That is a very good book, I have a copy of it on my shelves. de Camp, Alan E Nourse and their wives went for a trip to the middle east, and de Camp got to write it off as research. He wrote Great Cities from it, as well as a trio of historical fiction: The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate, about a Persian noble's voyage to Africa, The Golden Wind, about the first discovery of the Monsoon winds to India and circumnavigation of Africa, Bronze God of Rhodes which is about creating one of the 7 wonders of the world, and An Elephant for Aristotle, which is about dragging an elephant from India to Greece at the end of Alexander's reign as things are falling apart from neglect of Alexander's court.

The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate is my favorite of those novels

Posted by: Kindltot at August 25, 2024 11:25 AM (D7oie)

261 "Prufrock" is pure, distilled, medical grade cynicism. Whether that makes it a good poem or a bad one is up to the reader. Which is what makes it, IMO, a great poem.
Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 11:19 AM

I concur. I enjoyed Prufrock. A friend of my sister once wrote a parody of it called The Love Song of the Stanford Student. The refrain was "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western Culture's got to go". It was pretty clever.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 11:25 AM (stKIu)

262 And when I said trio, I actually meant "tetrad" because I forgot one book to begin with.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 25, 2024 11:26 AM (D7oie)

263 Grandson earned so many college credits that as a new freshman, he is 30% done with his degree. A great boon to his folks and us.

Posted by: sal at August 25, 2024 11:24 AM (0w7qT)

Wow, smart and motivated.

Posted by: BignJames at August 25, 2024 11:27 AM (AwYPR)

264 Next up is a biography of Elon Musk.

Posted by: nurse ratched, certified weirdo at August 25, 2024 11:28 AM (MLPVw)

265 258 ... "Vance subsequently wrote an essay describing his path to Catholicism that is quite interesting."

A.H.,
Thanks for that link. Vance's writing in Hillbilly Elegy impressed me.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 11:28 AM (zudum)

266 I'd recommend L. Sprague de Camp's Lest Darkness Fall to those who like time travel novels.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 25, 2024 11:28 AM (9XWKq)

267 Not familiar with the term. Is "AP English" the smart class or the dummy class?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

AP is advanced placement. I didn't have to take any English at university due to my score on the test in high school.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 25, 2024 11:30 AM (2Xrn+)

268 I'm reading "Extinction" by Douglas Preston of "Preston and Child" fame.

I used to read all of their novels until I got tired of them several years ago, buuuuuuut "Extinction" gets pretty great reviews so I thought I'd give it a read.

No spoilers. "Extinction" is basically "Jurassic Park" with Ice Age critters. Preston has some people pooh-pooh the idea that what they're doing is JP but yeah, it is. "Critters" get loose and start akillin'.

Has all the strengths and weaknesses of a P&C joint.
Crisp, propulsive writing. But writing that will never surprise or delight you (hot as fire, cold as ice type writing).
Plot laid out in logical steps and clues to guide you. But, you'll be way ahead of the plot in the first few chapters, if you've ever read any P&C books. If characters say they'd never do something, they're doing it. If they say something can't be there, it's there.
So, you're waiting for what you know is going to happen, which slows down the rush of a good action novel, until about 3/4 in. YMMV.

That said, I'm enjoying "Extinction" it's a fun popcorn book. Kinda woke but that's to be expected.

A bit like an American International production of "Jurassic Park".

Posted by: naturalfake at August 25, 2024 11:34 AM (eDfFs)

269 That Marvel Classics omnibus showing at Amazon has a cover that looks like the same style of art I remember from the 50s-60s Classics Illustrated, but what I can see of the Marvel titles at Internet Archive looks like newer adaptations rather than reprints of the old ones. Darn it.

Some of the ones I remember can be seen in the Amazon Kindle store by searching classics illustrated gnc publications. They're not all up there, but these are the versions I remember.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 11:41 AM (q3u5l)

270
Grandson earned so many college credits that as a new freshman, he is 30% done with his degree. A great boon to his folks and us.

Posted by: sal at August 25, 2024 11:24 AM

One of my grandsons got a scholarship every year in college. First, based on his SAT score, then on scholastic achievement every year.

Yeah, the dummy was home-schooled. Daughter has two more who will be entering college next year. Should be interesting to see if they can pull that off too.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at August 25, 2024 11:42 AM (RKVpM)

271 You want Ice Age critters? John Varley's Mammoth is time travel with an opening mystery baked in. A human corpse some 40K years old is discovered in a glacier. The kicker? It's wearing a 21st-century LED watch. . . .

And things get more entertaining from there. Varley is one of the true Heinlein disciples like Spider Robinson, and he tells his stories as well as the master did.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:42 AM (omVj0)

272 Well, reality is beginning to rear its annoying head.

Thanks for the thread, Perfessor.

And bests to all here.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 11:46 AM (q3u5l)

273 "Prufrock" is pure, distilled, medical grade cynicism.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 11:19 AM

Yup. But it is a really enjoyable poem, regardless of its "generation perdu" vibe.

I don't think it is as important as many think, but its pure poetry resonates with me.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 25, 2024 11:46 AM (d9fT1)

274 Too much of public school 'literature courses' consist of exposing the students to the material, told to read it, report on it, etc. But seldom is there any context or discussion about why the material has been so effective for so many years or even centuries, what is the context of the composition, and so on. (I doubt the teachers are know enough to do that anyway.) Yeah, a few exceptional students may see past the homework aspect and delve for more but most will not. That is a built in failure of the system. It's just a version of "see Spot run" designed for older students.
Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 10:52 AM (zudum)

I'm glad you weren't my HS teacher. My teacher would assign a book report, we'd read it in class and then she'd ask,"Did you enjoy reading it?" And that was that.

She believed that reading was for enjoyment and self-fulfillment, not mind-numbing analysis.

Posted by: Dr Pork Chops & Bacons at August 25, 2024 11:46 AM (g8Ew8)

275 I also like (most of) "Practical Cats." It's hard to believe those came from the same pen. Like if Dr. Seuss and H.P. Lovecraft were secretly the same person.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 11:47 AM (/y8xj)

276 You want Ice Age critters? John Varley's Mammoth is time travel with an opening mystery baked in. A human corpse some 40K years old is discovered in a glacier. The kicker? It's wearing a 21st-century LED watch. . . .

And things get more entertaining from there. Varley is one of the true Heinlein disciples like Spider Robinson, and he tells his stories as well as the master did.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:42 AM (omVj0)

Oopsie!

Posted by: Timex' Ad Agency at August 25, 2024 11:49 AM (6eAks)

277 Yes, it is getting to be that time. Thanks, Perfesser!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at August 25, 2024 11:50 AM (llXky)

278 Some of the ones I remember can be seen in the Amazon Kindle store by searching classics illustrated gnc publications. They're not all up there, but these are the versions I remember.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 25, 2024 11:41 AM (q3u5l)

The 'look inside' feature for some of those title is incredibly un-helpful. But "The Last of the Mohicans' preview does show some pretty nice art.

Posted by: Castle Guy at August 25, 2024 11:52 AM (Lhaco)

279 Morning Hordemates

Posted by: Diogenes at August 25, 2024 11:53 AM (W/lyH)

280
If you are liking Pleistocene critters, David Drake helped write out a shorter book, The Hunter Returns by J. Kjelgaard.
I read it when I had been reading his science fiction, but is worth reading. It is all North American

Posted by: Kindltot at August 25, 2024 11:54 AM (D7oie)

281 Yes, we must head off into the rest of Sunday, but secure in the knowledge gained on another Book Thread!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 25, 2024 11:57 AM (omVj0)

282 I have been loading mags so gone for a bit but wanted to stop back and say how much I enjoy the conversation even if sometimes I don't agree.
Hillbilly Elegy was not a quick read but oh so worthwhile. It gave me hope that maybe there are actually some politicians who actually love the country more than their pockets.Can't ecommend this book enough as it is extremely well written story as well as being extremely timely.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at August 25, 2024 11:57 AM (t/2Uw)

283 275 The Cat in the Hat meets the Rats in the Walls.

* shudder *

Posted by: callsign claymore at August 25, 2024 11:57 AM (qhKWV)

284 Have a great week, everyone

Posted by: callsign claymore at August 25, 2024 11:58 AM (qhKWV)

285 also like (most of) "Practical Cats." It's hard to believe those came from the same pen. Like if Dr. Seuss and H.P. Lovecraft were secretly the same person.
Posted by: Oddbob at August 25, 2024 11:47 AM

*snort*

It's like reading Roald Dahl's children's stories and then reading Pig.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 11:59 AM (stKIu)

286 Man, if only the great Timex in the sky had broken. We could keep the book thread going. Thanks, Perfessor.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 25, 2024 11:59 AM (0eaVi)

287 Writing books reminds me of the early computers including pre-IBM Compatibles. Those terrible 40-column screens then gave way to 80-column screens. This from the Tech thread:
Although, I do recall that every rack for the systems had a monitor and keyboard hooked up to a KVM switch. In my day, that was a CRT monitor... probably green.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 25, 2024 08:13 AM (Q4IgG)

Do you remember when we went to amber CRT screens? Such a pleasure over the dull green. And 80-columns. And those early word-processing programs (not apps - apps sounds so stupid).

Posted by: Ciampino - I don't recognize you people anymore #02 at August 25, 2024 12:02 PM (qfLjt)

288 CBD is up.

Posted by: Nazdar at August 25, 2024 12:02 PM (9XWKq)

289 There be a nood.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 25, 2024 12:03 PM (Q4IgG)

290 Nood Kennedys.*

*you're welcome

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 25, 2024 12:03 PM (stKIu)

291 NOOD

Posted by: Ciampino - I don't recognize you people anymore #03 at August 25, 2024 12:04 PM (qfLjt)

292 274 ... "I'm glad you weren't my HS teacher. My teacher would assign a book report, we'd read it in class and then she'd ask,"Did you enjoy reading it?" And that was that.

She believed that reading was for enjoyment and self-fulfillment, not mind-numbing analysis."

Agreed that reading in general should be for enjoyment. But high school literature classes should teach about how and why the poetry or prose is effective. That's class work, not casual reading. An appreciation of the power of words would, hopefully, lead to more enjoyment of wider reading.

Posted by: JTB at August 25, 2024 12:06 PM (zudum)

293 I'll make a rare (for me) recommendation.

Emergence by David R Palmer.

https://tinyurl.com/bd79cr7d

I would do the kindle version as the rest are out of print.

Yes the writing is intentionally that way, writer is experimenting with tossing 'useless words' out of most of the book, so the 200 pages is more like 500 of content. It's interesting AND a good story

Posted by: Evil_Bun_Bun at August 25, 2024 12:15 PM (EaPWM)

294 Late to the thread as usual (attending Mass and subsequent breakfast with Grandson #2 intervenes as usual). However, a quick report on a book that A.H.Lloyd had recommended a few weeks ago:

The Secrets of Atlantis by Otto Muck. The author was a German engineer (who developed the snorkel for the U-Boats and worked at Peenemunde during the late unpleasantness with a certain mustached villain). The book is an English translation published in 1978; apparently based on a German book published in 1976. Muck died in 1956 so I'm not certain if the German book was a reprint or published posthumously -- the English version doesn't say.

Anyhow, the author contends that a giant asteroid collided with Earth in the vicinity of current-day Puerto Rico. This caused Atlantis to drop into the Atlantic Ocean; the Azores Islands would have been mountain tops in Atlantis.

As A.H.Lloyd stated, the book is surprisingly rational. Some of Muck's speculations are plausible and cause you think he has a point. But he does sometimes go into some wackiness (such as declaring a certain date for the catastrophe - all based on the Mayan calendar). The book is a fairly interesting read.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at August 25, 2024 12:22 PM (pJWtt)

295 I haven't given up on Stendhal's The Red and the Black. The 19 year old has left the tutoring job in the home of the town mayor, and the 30-something wife/lover. He has matriculated at a seminary where the other students hate him because he is just so smart.
Slow going. I jumped on Youtube to see what others have to say about this. Mixed bag. This book will not return to my bookshelf.

Posted by: sinmi at August 25, 2024 01:38 PM (edUhQ)

296 I'm trulү enjoʏing the design and layout of your website.
It's a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant foг mе to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your tһeme?
Outѕtanding work!

Posted by: therapy at August 25, 2024 01:39 PM (VkYYh)

297 The Myth-Adventures books used phony quotations at the start of each chapter. Wish I could remember an example.

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 25, 2024 01:59 PM (IsZVX)

298 @111 --

*adds another entry to Recommendations list*

Posted by: Weak Geek at August 25, 2024 09:05 PM (p/isN)

299 OpenBlogger wrote: "That means in addition to writing it, you have revise, edit, and proofread it to death."

Unintentionally hilarious, and proving his point.

Posted by: bradc at August 26, 2024 02:16 AM (9yMS5)

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