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[survivor]

Finished reading The Invention of Morel. A very good short sci-fi mystery novel about an escaped convict stuck in an island. The book relies heavily on the plot twist involving the guests on the island, but I think when you go beyond that, it's still an interesting work about isolation and loneliness. Also finished reading A Contract with God. My first time reading a comic by WIll Eisner. It was pretty good and I found it unique how Eisner used a lot of one panel pages.

As for the book club thing, I'm about 45% into A Little Life, so massive. One thing I wasn't expecting when I first started reading it is what period of their the characters life is the book covering. I really thought we would be spending the majority of it on high school and their 20s. But instead it's full of middle aged problems.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

GAFfer whatevermort (James Smythe) has had his novel, Way Down Dark, optioned for film by Studio 8 according to Deadline. Awesome news!

Holy crap that's awesome!

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

I don't think I've ever seen a good cover from Baen.

 

[Ashes]

Suggestions in this thread would be great. I know last month some asked for Go Set A Watchman and I remember Ashes recommend Three Men in a Boat.

I am currently reading the Three Men in a boat. And it is actually really really good. Even to my self - a person, who freely admits to not knowing what funny is, even you hit me with a funny stick.

but then again, maybe that's not entirely a good thing...

It'd be funny if it was up for the running next month when for the second month running, the people recommending it, don't read it.

Moby-Dick and Leaves of Grass both predate The Brothers Karamazov, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written only four years after it, and all three stand up as far more modern works of literature, communicate more with less, and are far more complex and plausible interpretative models of reality than any Dostoevsky work I've read.

huh? The two works you quote are about as dated as can be. Having said that what sort of modern interpretation of reality are you gaging from Moby dick? I'd be quite interested to hear it.

I've read The Brothers Karamazov quite recently - and it fundamentally tackles the issues of faith and doubt. Don't see how you can't find a modern interpretation to that. People talk about religion just as often as they have always done.
I read Moby Dick a long long time ago, but to my mind it was a seminal work of its time, tackling the issues of its day, e.g. religion, whaling industry etc...

 

[Mumei]

As for the book club thing, I'm about 45% into A Little Life, so massive. One thing I wasn't expecting when I first started reading it is what period of their the characters life is the book covering. I really thought we would be spending the majority of it on high school and their 20s. But instead it's full of middle aged problems.

I think Cyan would really be able to relate, you know?

 

[Atraveller]

I've finished reading The Martian, certainly not what I was expecting, but it's still interesting enough to keep me reading.

Watney is awfully cheerful for a man stranded on Mars, I wonder if the movie adaption would change that.

 

[kswiston]

Where are the hands holding the title coming from oO

Falling Free features humans that have been genetically engineered for life in null gravity (hence the title). They have a second set of arms in place of their legs.

 

[You Know Nothing]

Really enjoyed Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. The ending was fine but didn't feel all that conclusive. Now about that supposed sequel, it's been over ten years and still no sign. When will GRRM?

Oh, and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making was utterly whimsical and charming too.

 

[Mumei]

((

So mean.

:3

Really enjoyed Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. The ending was fine but didn't feel all that conclusive. Now about that supposed sequel, it's been over ten years and still no sign. When will GRRM?

Oh, and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making was utterly whimsical and charming too.

Basically, you should read everything I recommend.

 

[Ashes]

(( So mean.

:3

Get a room.

Thanks, Aidan! I'm pretty thrilled - even if nothing ever comes of it, they're a great studio, and the conversations about possibilities for the movie have been mind-bogglingly fun!

Woot¬!


----

I just came in to say something predictable.. Go Set a Watchmen... isn't all that... yet.
The critics might just be right in the short term...
I'm not gonna finish it probably.. till the end of the year. Which is a shame.. Almost makes me determined to finish it before the month is done...

 

[Mumei]

Get a room.

We already have one! <3

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

I just finished The Atlantis Gene by AG Riddle.

Conspiracies! There are hidden agencies everywhere, mysteries in Antarctica, gun bang bang, vast revelations, etc etc

Sci-fi thriller that starts out pretty promising in the first act but then drops off in coherence by the second. It was a pity, too, because up to that point it was doing well - villains with hidden schemes but generally straightforward motivations, an insanely fast pace, and an interesting premise.

By act two, the motivations of the villains becomes far less clear and poorly explained, the pace suddenly becomes too fast (wait, how long as it been since the last Chapter jump? Where are we now? What's going on?), and the backstory hits exposition hard in a confusing way. By act three, the revelations began to make less and less sense to me, even after the book had explained them multiple times. I actually liked the book more when it was all hidden away, because while the revelations weren't bad from a plotting standpoint, their explanations were so confusing I spent most of the book's end trying to figure out exactly what had happened and why.

Spoiler

Basically every character in the backstory is still alive through alien tubes and they all come back to shoot at each other. Because the bad guys want to go blow up an ancient race they've never seen and know nothing about? Well up to hours (or was it years?) before blowing them up where they see a hologram or something. So then the narrative jumps decades to deliver every character, most of which we've met under other names and eras and barely remember aside from them being evil or something, into Antarctica, and throw them all into a motive soup I feel I may never quite emerge from.

I liked the world and the characters, generally, and I feel the book had a lot of promise unfulfilled by an unpolished draft. Not going to bother with the sequels.

 

[Dresden]

Finished 'Between the World and Me' by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Really appreciated it, but as someone more familiar with the term when it references young undocumented immigrants, the usage of 'dreamers' as those caught in the Dream (which he employs pejoratively, as in, a shameful, violent delusion relying on the construct of race) took me somewhat off-guard. It still fits, of course; they seek a way into the Dream, and the price paid by asians, by latinos, is marginalization rather than brutalization, slights vs murder.

Anyway: intensely personal stuffl. It's a letter to his son - a son that has read this multiple times already, apparently, which must have been an odd experience, but also a loving one - and in the letter he describes his youth, his education, love, son, etc. The conversation with (i don't know why i'm spoiler tagging this, but i shall and you cannot stop me)

Spoiler

Ms Jones

had me near tears.

---

Will be reading Jhereg by Steven Brust next. The prospect of reading a physical book is intimidating to say the least but I shall somehow survive it, once it arrives.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Finished Understanding Nonviolence

It is a nice collection of academic essays on nonviolence. While enjoyment and engagement may vary on some of them (due to the writing mainly, some dont really have stories chronically activists narratives making them pretty sleep inducing), I found each one to be interesting on its own. The most memorable ones too me were ones that involved narratives detailing the struggles of groups trying to remain nonviolent. Of those the one involving the Nashville sit in situation proved to be the most memorable. There was something about the deep level of thought put into the sit in that made it several leagues above some of the other cases in the book (like displaced people trying to have their state recognized, or the Polish people story). Second memorable was the one on Rural Movements and Economic Policy with Brazil people occupying unoccupied farmland and using it to take away from people who werent using it. The detail to how this played out was very interesting and highly memorable.

In terms of the arguments presented most were ones that anyone would agree with. I think there is clearly still room in the future to address the use of social media and other forms of media for nonviolence. I did agree with the writer in that clicktivism can be counterproductive for movements and is usually more focused on people on the west feeling good about themselves but then not really doing anything. Interesting enough, I loved how the book continued to stress that most movements are successful when the people have formed close connections with one another and that feel feel personally connected to them and to others. It helps keep people in the cause and gives them courage to push forward. Online aid can only go but so far.

So all in all it is a good collection of essays on nonviolence. Some of them are more interesting than others but the nine chapters do well at hitting points across the board.

 

[Dresden]

GAFfer whatevermort (James Smythe) has had his novel, Way Down Dark, optioned for film by Studio 8 according to Deadline. Awesome news!

awesome, grats!

The Translation Wars in The New Yorker.

ah, thanks for that. Couldn't recall the name or place of it.

Pfft. Don't let a little thing like that put you off!

when I close my eyes all I see are round little stair-tubes speckled like oil rigs against a piss-yellow sky. I do remember enjoying it so hopefully I can get back into it after Jhereg.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

huh? The two works you quote are about as dated as can be. Having said that what sort of modern interpretation of reality are you gaging from Moby dick? I'd be quite interested to hear it.

I've read The Brothers Karamazov quite recently - and it fundamentally tackles the issues of faith and doubt. Don't see how you can't find a modern interpretation to that. People talk about religion just as often as they have always done.
I read Moby Dick a long long time ago, but to my mind it was a seminal work of its time, tackling the issues of its day, e.g. religion, whaling industry etc...

Uh, Moby-Dick is pretty widely acknowledged as a work that has continually refreshed its literary, political, philosophical, and artistic relevance as the decades have churned on. It's an almost immaculately-crafted book on every level, from the minor observations of the way the men relate to one another, to the great poetic heights of its best scenes, to the realistic use of humor to build sympathy (see: Ishmael and Queequeg at the boarding house in the beginning), to the philosophical probing of Ishmael's observations, etc. I mean, if you haven't gleaned it yourself, I don't really know what to tell you, but I can say that the PBS program "Into the Deep: America, Whaling, and the World" (now on Youtube) did an absolutely great job of capturing the book's depths and virtuosity, and the final scene of the documentary "Mr. Untouchable", about the 80s drug kingpin Nicky Barnes, shows one man who found an absolutely cogent way of paralleling his own experience with that of Captain Ahab.

As for Huck Finn - there is no work of literature I can think of that channels such humor, such a cogent depiction of the comic side of the human condition, such astute political analysis (and higher philosophical probing stemming from it), all filtered through a very realistic depiction of a young teen's perception of the world around him. Twain was a masterful novelist, and compared to the wan "humor" of men like Dave Eggers and David Sedaris in the past 15-20 years, he seems like a man on the cutting edge of comedy.

 

[TheKaeptain]

Snowman,

Please never stop talking about Moby-Dick.

 

[Nymerio]

Falling Free features humans that have been genetically engineered for life in null gravity (hence the title). They have a second set of arms in place of their legs.

Oooh it's that quaddie race from Labyrinth. Gotcha.

 

[Ashes]

Uh, Moby-Dick is pretty widely acknowledged as a work that has continually refreshed its literary, political, philosophical, and artistic relevance as the decades have churned on. I

I'll be sure to read the book anew with fresh eyes this year or next. I'm a little disappointed in that you merely talked of it as a seminal work that gets talked about year after year. Did you think I didn't know this?

I was genuinely expecting you to talk about 'models of reality' as you put it.
I'd say something like Beloved by Toni Morrison is a more modern take on the - let's call it the Moby dick era -; though she has the advantage of being closer to our time.

Instead, I got a spiel of a seminal work being revisited through the decades. Cool. I'm glad you like it. From what I can recall it was a great book.

Finished Understanding Nonviolence

It is a nice collection of academic essays on nonviolence. While enjoyment and engagement may vary on some of them (due to the writing mainly, some dont really have stories chronically activists narratives making them pretty sleep inducing), I found each one to be interesting on its own. The most memorable ones too me were ones that involved narratives detailing the struggles of groups trying to remain nonviolent. Of those the one involving the Nashville sit in situation proved to be the most memorable. There was something about the deep level of thought put into the sit in that made it several leagues above the interesting chart than some of the other cases in the book (like displaced people trying to have their state recognized, or the Polish people story). Second memorable was the one on Rural Movements and Economic Policy with Brazil people occupying unoccupied farmland and using it to take away from people who werent using it. The detail to how this played out was very interesting and highly memorable.

In terms of the arguments presented most were ones that anyone would agree with. I think there is clearly still room in the future to address the use of social media and other forms of media for nonviolence. I did agree with the writer in that clicktivism can be counterproductive for movements and is usually more focused on people on the west feeling good about themselves but then not really doing anything. Interesting enough, I loved how the book continued to stress that most movements are successful when the people have formed close connections with one another and that feel feel personally connected to them and to others. It helps keep people in the cause and gives them courage to push forward. Online aid can only go but so far.

So all in all it is a good collection of essays on nonviolence. Some of them are more interesting than others but the nine chapters do well at hitting points across the board.

Ooh... So want to read this now. Cheers.

 

[Cade]

Grats mort! that's exciting :O

I'm still slogging my way through Wizard and Glass. It's good, maybe the best yet, but I keep getting my time sucked away by other stuff.

 

[Caddywompus]

(Off the top of my head) I read:

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman,
The Martian by Andy Weir, and
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

solely because of GAF recommendations.

I had to dig this up to quote because it made be grab The Forever War based solely on how much I loved the other two recommendations from GAF. I'm sure it will be a preemptive thank you.

The Martian I recently finished so it's still fresh in my mind. The book took an Apollo 13 like disaster and combined them with elements of survival reality shows or MacGyver. Even though, at times, the explanations of science and math were a little long winded, the creativity behind these solutions just drew me in. The nerdy invention segments were broken up with a humorous outlook on the whole dire situation. Eventually, his sarcastic inner thoughts grew on me because they were honestly jarring at first. That may have just been introduced poorly into the Mission Log style in which the book is mainly presented.

Annihilation created such a eerie tone for both the reader and main character not understanding what's actually going on. That unknown element where anything could happen in this world was unnerving. The author nailed that first book but the second (Authority) was a huge disappointment. The entire book felt like a drawn out prologue to the third book, which I never picked up because the second book left such a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Alpende]

I've been reading Metro 2033 and I like it, it obviously gives you more backstory about the metro itself, what goes on there and it's inhabitants. Sometimes the writing bugs me, a lot of sentences start with 'And', gets annoying fast.

 

[RELAYER]

I didn't say that his work "fails to hold up", period. I said his work fails to hold up as modern relative to other authors from a similar period. Moby-Dick and Leaves of Grass both predate The Brothers Karamazov, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written only four years after it, and all three stand up as far more modern works of literature, communicate more with less, and are far more complex and plausible interpretative models of reality than any Dostoevsky work I've read. That doesn't mean Dostoevsky is NOT good, however. In fact, he's quite a bit better than any contemporary acclaimed author I've read, and at his best, he was a writer who could wrangle with serious philosophical issues with grace and chew a deep concept down to its core, in a good way. Nobody can fault the 19th Century Russkies for ambition and balls.

Somehow this explanation just makes your point even more obscure.
You originally said "fails to hold up in many ways".
"Fails to hold up as modern" is babbling nonsense.

I mean your main point was that he doesn't delve deep enough into his characters because he judged them as a Christian, which is just total drivel.

As for moralizing - seriously, a Google search will of course reveal what is meant by such a commonly-used word. There's not necessarily anything wrong with a work of art being didactic, in the macro, but when the thing being preached comes across as a dated oversimplification - like Dostoevsky's interpretation of Christianity and the nature of "sin" in the human experience - it's natural to take notice and point that out. And when said moralizing is done via an excessively bulky (and not in the expansive Whitmanian sense) and sometimes conventional and predictable narrative, as Dostoevsky is prone to, it's just as natural to say that this is a flaw. Being flawed is not the same thing as being bad, just as not holding up as modern relative to other notable contemporaries is not the same thing as not holding up at all.

There's our favorite word "dated" again!
I realize that words are in dictionaries, but your post was so garbled that I figured the only way to really find out what you meant by it was to ask you personally. Unfortunately, you still didn't explain what you mean by it, you basically just restated that you don't like it. As I expected you seem to mean it as a code word for "He was a Christian". OK.

Could you try to explain what "modern" means?
As far as I can tell, it's a synonym for "good" in your posts.

 

[TTG]

Moby Dick is about as modern as using the fat of an animal to illuminate a bedroom, BAM!

I'm reading The Big Short and it's kind of great. I almost never read non fiction, but when I do, I seem to stumble on to real treasures. Last time it was Homicide by David Simon and while this doesn't have anywhere near the emotional impact of that, it's still very fascinating.

 

[Mumei]

Finished 'Between the World and Me' by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Really appreciated it, but as someone more familiar with the term when it references young undocumented immigrants, the usage of 'dreamers' as those caught in the Dream (which he employs pejoratively, as in, a shameful, violent delusion relying on the construct of race) took me somewhat off-guard. It still fits, of course; they seek a way into the Dream, and the price paid by asians, by latinos, is marginalization rather than brutalization, slights vs murder.

Anyway: intensely personal stuffl. It's a letter to his son - a son that has read this multiple times already, apparently, which must have been an odd experience, but also a loving one - and in the letter he describes his youth, his education, love, son, etc. The conversation with (i don't know why i'm spoiler tagging this, but i shall and you cannot stop me)

Spoiler

Ms Jones

had me near tears.

I just started reading it yesterday. I'm only about 40 pages in, and it's quite good so far. I've read a lot of what he's written about his own history and I've read a lot of the books that he says has informed his thinking on these issues, so for me this is more of a synthesis than new information. But it's an interesting read nonetheless.

Spoiler

What happened to the observation about Baldwin, Morrison, and Paris? I found it interesting!

Will be reading Jhereg by Steven Brust next. The prospect of reading a physical book is intimidating to say the least but I shall somehow survive it, once it arrives.

You're adorable, you know that?

when I close my eyes all I see are round little stair-tubes speckled like oil rigs against a piss-yellow sky. I do remember enjoying it so hopefully I can get back into it after Jhereg.

That does sound rather off-putting, but the book is fun!

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Really enjoyed Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. The ending was fine but didn't feel all that conclusive. Now about that supposed sequel, it's been over ten years and still no sign. When will GRRM?

Oh, and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making was utterly whimsical and charming too.

Got the audiobook from the library and when I came home yesterday my son was sitting on the couch listening to it. Like, it's summer vacation and you could be outside playing but you're going to sit here because the book has you so enthralled. It was hilarious. I asked my wife why he wasn't in his room listening, playing with Lego or something, and she said that they tried that but he just sat there and listened, while holding one Lego in his hand and not moving. He loves reading and gives it his full attention so I guess listening is no exception.

 

[Mumei]

Got the audiobook from the library and when I came home yesterday my son was sitting on the couch listening to it. Like, it's summer vacation and you could be outside playing but you're going to sit here because the book has you so enthralled. It was hilarious. I asked my wife why he wasn't in his room listening, playing with Lego or something, and she said that they tried that but he just sat there and listened, while holding one Lego in his hand and not moving. He loves reading and gives it his full attention so I guess listening is no exception.

Sorry, but for which book? And how old is he?

 

[commish]

Seveneves spoilers:

Spoiler

Yea, people surviving underground was an obvious turn. I think he felt like natives on Earth also needed some diversity, so he added the sea people. On the whole, everything past the time skip was underwhelming(well, maybe apart from the cool armor). On one hand, I want a sequel because most of the book is good bordering on great and the initial event is compelling and still a mystery. On the other hand, he's dug himself some holes to climb out of. I don't like the racial division via genetic modification, that whole deal felt ham fisted. I never bought their ability to terraform a whole planet considering where things left off in the cleft. Stephenson bungled some fundamental elements when he projected the story into the future, maybe they're not beyond salvage, but I don't see obvious solutions.

More Seveneves Spoilers.

Spoiler

That armor was pretty damn cool, haha. I'd take a sequel as well, but I definitely agree that the racial/genetic stuff was way, way too hamfisted. Good lord. By the end it just got to be a bit too much. But I think the world he built has a lot of potential, so a sequel would be fun. Not really his style, though. I can definitely see a TV show on HBO being made out of this book, and it would be amazing.

 

[Mumei]

I really like the endpapers on the UK edition...

 

[Deleted member 125677]

Relayer, replying with stuff like: "Babbling nonsense" and "total drivel" in response to a well phrased and reasonably argued post is pretty disrespectful and frankly quite annoying to witness

And I say this as someone who agrees with your main point, Dostoievsky has aged like wine

 

[aidan]

I had to dig this up to quote because it made be grab The Forever War based solely on how much I loved the other two recommendations from GAF. I'm sure it will be a preemptive thank you.

The Forever War is the best of the three I listed, so you're in for a treat.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Sorry, but for which book? And how old is he?

Oh, forgot to edit out the non-relevant part. It's "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making" and he's 10. Just coming off a huge dragon kick so he's starting to branch out. Found a copy of "Where the Sidewalk Ends" yesterday at a garage sell and finished it by dinner time.

 

[trikster40]

Currently reading The Martian by Andy Weir. Highly recommend!!

Next up is The Cuckoo's Calling, the detective novel by JK Rowling. Heard nothing but good things.

 

[wbsmcs]

Finally finishing up Shogun (I believe I posted back in the April thread when I started it)...100 pages to go and it has been marvellous. Really well done storytelling, detailing of culture, and character interactions. It's a long book, but never was a chore for me to read.

Going to be starting up

and there seems to be a bit of controversy over it from reading the past few posts. I wish I was able to read it while the book club for it was active. Looking forward to starting it.

 

[Mumei]

Oh, forgot to edit out the non-relevant part. It's "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making" and he's 10. Just coming off a huge dragon kick so he's starting to branch out. Found a copy of "Where the Sidewalk Ends" yesterday at a garage sell and finished it by dinner time.

Well, he should be pleased to know that there are currently three more books out, then. And I loved Where the Sidewalk Ends at that age. I still remember snatches of poems from his collections, which is more than I can say for most poetry that I read as a child.

 

[cLOUDo]

what to read after finish "the martian"?
an amazing book

 

[Mumei]

what to read after finish "the martian"?
an amazing book

Have you read The Vorkosigan Saga?

 

[NEO0MJ]

Man, I don't know why I can't stick to reading the book of the new sun, so frustrating >.<
Does anyone have any tips on how to get yourself to stick to reading?

On the other hand I did some other reading. First up, Barton Bigg's Hedgehogging.

I had a good time with this. It offers a nice look into the crazy world of hedge funds and high risk trading, the sort of lives people there live and how they view things. To someone like me it seems like they live in an entirely different reality. Pretty educational too regarding history, the economy, and politics. I found it interesting how it seemed so obvious to a lot of them that the 20008 crash was coming, though I doubt they expected the severity.

After that I finished reading Naoki Urasawa's Pluto.

What a great story. I don;t know much about the original story that inspired it as I only watched some of the original Astro Boy anime and its remake but it didn't mater at all and won't effect your enjoyment of this story. It deals with a lot of heavy subjects and asks tough questions about hate, war, and what it means to actually be human. Cliche subjects I know but they were handled beautifully. Art was amazing and I just had to admire some pages for more than a few seconds.

I need something clarified about the story, though. In chapter 6...

Spoiler

how did Ali get to Amsterdam and why did he kill Gesicht? Was it because of his involvement in the war or something else? I feel that I missed something. I assumed he was being controlled but it seems too convoluted to drag him there in hopes that seeing him phases Gesicht.

 

[Mumei]

Man, I don't know why I can't stick to reading the book of the new sun, so frustrating >.<
Does anyone have any tips on how to get yourself to stick to reading?

Oh, yes. You should PM charlequin and ask for advice on sticking to The Book of the New Sun.

After that I finished reading Naoki Urasawa's Pluto.

What a great story. I don;t know much about the original story that inspired it as I only watched some of the original Astro Boy anime and its remake but it didn't mater at all and won't effect your enjoyment of this story. It deals with a lot of heavy subjects and asks tough questions about hate, war, and what it means to actually be human. Cliche subjects I know but they were handled beautifully. Art was amazing and I just had to admire some pages for more than a few seconds.

I need something clarified about the story, though. In chapter 6...

Spoiler

how did Ali get to Amsterdam and why did he kill Gesicht? Was it because of his involvement in the war or something else? I feel that I missed something. I assumed he was being controlled but it seems too convoluted to drag him there in hopes that seeing him phases Gesicht.

I love Pluto! It's too bad that I haven't read it in, like, five or six years and can't remember the part you're talking about well enough to tell you anything helpful. But I love it!

 

[ajfoucault]

Best book on fitness. Hands down. Halfway through it.

 

[thomaser]

So has anyone read this?

Wikipedia in printed form. Printed out by this guy, Michael Mandiberg:

7473 volumes, 5,2 million pages. And yes, you can buy it for the low, low price of $500000 at http://printwikipedia.lulu.com/. If you only want a sample, you can buy single volumes.

 

[aidan]

Should we break it to that guy that his edition of Wikipedia is already out of date?

 

[Haly]

The real money is in the updated editions for each entry.

 

[old manatee]

That guy looks like Wikipedia. He blends right into the background.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Anyone read Bombs Away: The Hot War by Harry Turtledove? The premise sounds interesting but I don't know if I want to jump in now or when the series wraps up, especially with how The War That Came Early ended with such ambiguity.

 

[Hrothgar]

So has anyone read this?

Wikipedia in printed form. Printed out by this guy, Michael Mandiberg:

7473 volumes, 5,2 million pages. And yes, you can buy it for the low, low price of $500000 at http://printwikipedia.lulu.com/. If you only want a sample, you can buy single volumes.

I'll stick to my 20-volume 1979 WP Encyclopedia, haha.

 

[Piecake]

So has anyone read this?

Wikipedia in printed form. Printed out by this guy, Michael Mandiberg:

7473 volumes, 5,2 million pages. And yes, you can buy it for the low, low price of $500000 at http://printwikipedia.lulu.com/. If you only want a sample, you can buy single volumes.

I did. I'd was decent. 3/5. Lots of information, but a little dry.

 

[Epcott]

Reading Seveneves...

So tempted to read those spoilers. This book has me paranoid of a future ELE and our lack of preparedness.

 

[j0hnny_385]

Reading Seveneves...

So tempted to read those spoilers. This book has me paranoid of a future ELE and our lack of preparedness.

Couldn't bring myself to finish it (the last part). Everything up until that point was good, but then it became just too much. :/
Dry & uniteresting.
Still looking for s good synopsis of the last part, if anyone has it, plz share.

Finished The Martian in a day and a half. Loved it. Can't wait to see the film version.

Started Abomination today by our boy Whitta.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Somehow this explanation just makes your point even more obscure.
You originally said "fails to hold up in many ways".
"Fails to hold up as modern" is babbling nonsense.

I mean your main point was that he doesn't delve deep enough into his characters because he judged them as a Christian, which is just total drivel.

We, as a species, have a better understanding of how and why humans behave as they do, and a more nuanced understanding of many issues political and philosophical, as well as the way in which humans relate to those issues in their day-to-day lives, than we did in the 19th Century. The way Dostoevsky depicts these things, while accomplished artistically in many respects, has more in common with a typical educated man of his own time and has not weathered the intellectual developments of the intervening 1.5 centuries as well as the works I mentioned, and there are more and more apparent flaws in the artistry, from an over-reliance on contrivance and melorama to a relative lack of dramatic complexity to simple things like narrative bloat. The problem is not that the perspective of the story is Christian, but that the manner of conveying his particular interpretation of Christianity is conveyed through a depiction of reality that is more simplified and shows less fidelity than, again, the works I mentioned.

There's our favorite word "dated" again!
I realize that words are in dictionaries, but your post was so garbled that I figured the only way to really find out what you meant by it was to ask you personally. Unfortunately, you still didn't explain what you mean by it, you basically just restated that you don't like it. As I expected you seem to mean it as a code word for "He was a Christian". OK.

Could you try to explain what "modern" means?
As far as I can tell, it's a synonym for "good" in your posts.

Seriously, Google the word moralizing and the first thing it turns up:

"comment on issues of right and wrong, typically with an unfounded air of superiority"

The last part of this is, of course, the part that is the issue, a fact that would be obvious to someone actually wishing to engage in a discussion rather than simply preen. There's nothing wrong with being a Christian, nor with a work of art being Christian in perspective, but the manner in which Dostoevsky chooses to convey these ideas was to depict reality in what the intellectual probings of the species in the intervening years has shown to be an oversimplified, often inaccurate way in order to demonstrate the validity of his bluntly-expressed declamations.

So no, I'm not saying that "modern" means "good" - there's plenty of shit that has cropped up in the interim, no question - but given the last 1.5 centuries of artistic and intellectual progress, it most certainly connotes "better", for the interplay and availability of ideas and styles allows its practitioners to keep the best, excise the worst, find new connections, refine the old, all that good stuff.

Edit: BTW, in saying that I "don't like" this or that, you clearly ignore where I said earlier that despite thinking Melville's work far superior, I actually enjoy Dostoevsky more, for reasons I listed. But I suspect you'll continue to be obtuse, so have fun. I'm out.