Not afraid to visit the weird private world of Frank.
“All our lives are symbols. Everything we do is part of a pattern we have at least some say in. The strong make their own patterns and influence other people's, the weak have their courses mapped out for them. The weak and the unlucky, and the stupid.”
@LibraryBoy: Harrison Bergeron. Best short story ever?
I have to admit that I have never read any of his short stories, @WetRats! But it's looking like Welcome to the Monkey House is next on the agenda, anyway (as soon as I finish God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater), so I'll be correcting that oversight soon.
@LibraryBoy: Harrison Bergeron. Best short story ever?
Not a bad choice, but my vote goes to Terry Bisson’s “Bears Discover Fire.”
I'm not familiar with that one. What collection is it in?
I first read it in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine back in 1990. It was reprinted in the 8th volume of Year’s Best SF (the one edited by Dozois) and here.
@LibraryBoy: Harrison Bergeron. Best short story ever?
Yes. Yes it was. I read it in high school and was so moved by it, it's become part of my psychotic upbringing. :)
What was fun was teaching the lesson it brings to a bunch of my collegiate peers who'd never heard of it. Jaw. Hit floor. Then again, I was using it alongside the lyrics to Rush's The Trees as an example of how absolute equality isn't necessarily a good thing.
I think they were confused as to whether I was a hippie or a Nazi. :)
@LibraryBoy: Harrison Bergeron. Best short story ever?
I have to admit that I have never read any of his short stories, @WetRats! But it's looking like Welcome to the Monkey House is next on the agenda, anyway (as soon as I finish God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater), so I'll be correcting that oversight soon.
For those with Kindles, Vonnegut's stuff is discounted very often. I've probably picked up at least a half dozen titles for just a couple bucks, and that's without even buying each one that's been on sale.
I've only ever read Slaughterhouse Five, and that was many years ago. Once I finish a couple other books, I'll have to start in on what I've accumulated.
@LibraryBoy: Harrison Bergeron. Best short story ever?
Yes. Yes it was. I read it in high school and was so moved by it, it's become part of my psychotic upbringing. :)
What was fun was teaching the lesson it brings to a bunch of my collegiate peers who'd never heard of it. Jaw. Hit floor. Then again, I was using it alongside the lyrics to Rush's The Trees as an example of how absolute equality isn't necessarily a good thing.
I think they were confused as to whether I was a hippie or a Nazi. :)
They still are. :)
I also rank Dianne Moon Gompers as one of the most frightening "villains" I've ever encountered.
@LibraryBoy: Harrison Bergeron. Best short story ever?
Yes. Yes it was. I read it in high school and was so moved by it, it's become part of my psychotic upbringing. :)
What was fun was teaching the lesson it brings to a bunch of my collegiate peers who'd never heard of it. Jaw. Hit floor. Then again, I was using it alongside the lyrics to Rush's The Trees as an example of how absolute equality isn't necessarily a good thing.
I think they were confused as to whether I was a hippie or a Nazi. :)
They still are. :)
I also rank Dianne Moon Gompers as one of the most frightening "villains" I've ever encountered.
Read this last night, and I'll certainly say that she can get shit done!
I just finished Big Superhero Action by Raymond Embrack. I can't remember if this has been discussed here or not so I won't say to much. Sometimes advertising on a podcast works (Tell 'Em SteveDave), and I got this one for $0.99 from Barnes and Noble for the Nook.
edited: After I posted this I came up with a better way to describe Big Superhero Action. It's like a men's adventure book (Bolan, or the Executioner) with superheroes. I enjoyed it.
If anyone else checked it out please let me know what you thought.
Wrapped up Blood and Bone by Ian Cameron Esslemont. Definitely not my favorite of the Malazan books. There were characters that I grew to enjoy, but the overall subject of this particular adventure just didn't grab me.
Currently reading Chaos by James Gleick. For years I've heard it was this great science book, one that would even grip someone not into science... but it's just not doing it for me. I'm really surprised it's recommended so often as a good, mainstream science book, because so far I just find it to be one chapter after another about scientists graphing things on computers. I'm not seeing how this would be of interest to the general public, yet it was a bestseller. Maybe it's just me. My wife, who's more into science than me, tried and failed to get through it, but I'm about halfway through, so I intend to finish it. A book would have to be really, really bad for me to not read the whole thing once I've started.
Currently reading Chaos by James Gleick. For years I've heard it was this great science book, one that would even grip someone not into science... but it's just not doing it for me. I'm really surprised it's recommended so often as a good, mainstream science book, because so far I just find it to be one chapter after another about scientists graphing things on computers. I'm not seeing how this would be of interest to the general public, yet it was a bestseller. Maybe it's just me. My wife, who's more into science than me, tried and failed to get through it, but I'm about halfway through, so I intend to finish it. A book would have to be really, really bad for me to not read the whole thing once I've started.
I've had a similar experience with The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, in which he lays down the science behind string theory. The book has done an excellent job of making me feel like a complete dunderhead.
Currently reading Chaos by James Gleick. For years I've heard it was this great science book, one that would even grip someone not into science... but it's just not doing it for me. I'm really surprised it's recommended so often as a good, mainstream science book, because so far I just find it to be one chapter after another about scientists graphing things on computers. I'm not seeing how this would be of interest to the general public, yet it was a bestseller. Maybe it's just me. My wife, who's more into science than me, tried and failed to get through it, but I'm about halfway through, so I intend to finish it. A book would have to be really, really bad for me to not read the whole thing once I've started.
I've had a similar experience with The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, in which he lays down the science behind string theory. The book has done an excellent job of making me feel like a complete dunderhead.
I like to think I'm fairly smart, and I certainly don't have trouble reading other complex books, but I've learned that when a science book just sticks to dry explanation, without injecting some stories or humanity, my attention just wanders off. Chaos keeps talking about computer graphs placing dots in places one wouldn't expect, and for some reason that's supposed to be important. Maybe it is, I don't know, but it doesn't make for compelling reading.
And I particularly have trouble with physics books. I haven't taken physics since high school, and for whatever reason, my brain seems unwilling to catalog the basic facts about physics, so every book I pick up feels like its throwing unknown terms at me. As I sit here, I couldn't tell you what a neutron, proton, quark, etc is, and I just read Tao of Physics last year.
Lets face it, Hunger Games IS Battle Royale with fewer cute girls in school uniforms! A nice story and all, with a comfortable underlying critique of world government but my joy in it was the different amusing ways to die. By book three the love premise struggle was getting pretty tired. Reading Olaf Stapeldons StarMaker, and Last & First Men. For about the 5th time. Way ahead of his time, progressive, inventive, hugely influential, just excellent stuff.
Just finished up A Curious Man, the biography of Robert L. Ripley. I was astounded to learn just how famous he became, and how he was one of the very first syndicated cartoonists. And he was seriously troubled, which seems to be the common factor of genius cartoonists.
I'm now reading ANOTHER history of the Hatfield and McCoys feud. This will by my fourth.
Recently wrapped up Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. I found it to be an enjoyable read. It had elements which reminded me of Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard books (which I really enjoyed). I'm now getting close to wrapping up Scalzi's Ghost Brigades, which I'm finding to be less entertaining than Old Man's War was. After wrapping up Ghost Brigades, it's back to the Mistborn for the Well of Ascension.
Just finished Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett. Couldn't put it down. I stayed up past 1am the other day finishing it up... I regretted that decision the next day. I was useless at work.
I'm currently reading Zealot: the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth, next up is a guilty pleasure, Dan brown the lost symbol. Not something I would usually read but for some reason I love his books
Just finished reading Supergods by Grant Morrison. It's a history of the superhero comic interspersed with a kind of potted biography of the author. It's a sprawling, ambitious work, written by someone who has played no small part in the shaping of the modern superhero. The book can be tough sledding, but when Mr Morrison hits, he's spot on. My favourite quote is his meditation on the enduring appeal of the Marvel and DC universes:
"And now there were two healthy universes living and growing inside our own. The DC universe was a series of islands separated by years, suddenly discovering each other and setting up trade routes. And there was Marvel's beautifully orchestrated growth and development. Two living virtual worlds had been grown and nurtured inside conventional space-time. These were not closed continua with beginnings, middles, and ends; the fictional "universe" ran on certain repeating rules but could essentially change and develop beyond the intentions of its creators. It was an evolving, learning, cybernetic system that could reproduce itself into the future using new generations of creators who would be attracted like worker bees to serve and renew the universe."
Comments
What was fun was teaching the lesson it brings to a bunch of my collegiate peers who'd never heard of it. Jaw. Hit floor. Then again, I was using it alongside the lyrics to Rush's The Trees as an example of how absolute equality isn't necessarily a good thing.
I think they were confused as to whether I was a hippie or a Nazi. :)
They still are. :)
I've only ever read Slaughterhouse Five, and that was many years ago. Once I finish a couple other books, I'll have to start in on what I've accumulated.
I can't remember if this has been discussed here or not so I won't say to much. Sometimes advertising on a podcast works (Tell 'Em SteveDave), and I got this one for $0.99 from Barnes and Noble for the Nook.
edited: After I posted this I came up with a better way to describe Big Superhero Action. It's like a men's adventure book (Bolan, or the Executioner) with superheroes. I enjoyed it.
If anyone else checked it out please let me know what you thought.
And I particularly have trouble with physics books. I haven't taken physics since high school, and for whatever reason, my brain seems unwilling to catalog the basic facts about physics, so every book I pick up feels like its throwing unknown terms at me. As I sit here, I couldn't tell you what a neutron, proton, quark, etc is, and I just read Tao of Physics last year.
Reading Olaf Stapeldons StarMaker, and Last & First Men. For about the 5th time. Way ahead of his time, progressive, inventive, hugely influential, just excellent stuff.
I'm now reading ANOTHER history of the Hatfield and McCoys feud. This will by my fourth.
"And now there were two healthy universes living and growing inside our own. The DC universe was a series of islands separated by years, suddenly discovering each other and setting up trade routes. And there was Marvel's beautifully orchestrated growth and development. Two living virtual worlds had been grown and nurtured inside conventional space-time. These were not closed continua with beginnings, middles, and ends; the fictional "universe" ran on certain repeating rules but could essentially change and develop beyond the intentions of its creators. It was an evolving, learning, cybernetic system that could reproduce itself into the future using new generations of creators who would be attracted like worker bees to serve and renew the universe."
:((
Miami, Detroit, or the Southwest?
Doesn't really matter.
I loved the way the different locales felt distinct, and the culture clashes that often resulted.
I don't know of another writer who did a better job of putting you in the heads of stupid people. Especially stupid people who think they're clever.