Another favorite author of mine is Connie Willis. Today is her birthday.
She writes mostly science fiction, although I have seen some straight-up historical fiction and a book of holiday stories to her credit. She doesn't shy away from big ideas and the style of her prose makes her works easy to read.
My favorite book by Willis is called Bellwether. It is a science fiction story in the sense that the protagonist - Dr. Sandra Foster - is a scientist who studies fads. Everyone who comes into contact with her seems to be a bit loopy, as she looks for solutions to her personal and professional problems. That's a long way from the laser beams and forehead aliens most people associate with sci fi. It has more in common with 30 Rock than Star Wars.
"Schwartzchild Radius," "The Last of the Winnebagos," "A Letter from the Clearies" and "And Come from Miles Around" are all pretty great. Her short story "At the Rialto" is the perfect blend of story (a PhD finds herself unable to get a room for an academic conference) and subject matter (the instability inherent in the rules of particle physics).
I've read a lot by Willis - mostly the short stories, and Bellwether. The Doomsday Book is what I'd like to read next, but most of her works are on the shelf waiting.
Happy Birthday!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The State I'm In
Today is Brian's birthday. He is the creator of The State I'm In blog, as well as a frequent commenter at the Reader.
Truth be told, he's one of the the oldest friends I have, having first met him in the early 1980's when we attended the same grade school. He had recently obtained the Pac Man game cartridge for the Atari 2600, and I was lying about having recently obtained the Pac Man game cartridge for the Atari 2600. And a friendship was born.
Keeping with the writer's theme, he is today a successful playwright and dramatist in his own right.
Stop by his web page and say hello, won't you?
Truth be told, he's one of the the oldest friends I have, having first met him in the early 1980's when we attended the same grade school. He had recently obtained the Pac Man game cartridge for the Atari 2600, and I was lying about having recently obtained the Pac Man game cartridge for the Atari 2600. And a friendship was born.
Keeping with the writer's theme, he is today a successful playwright and dramatist in his own right.
Stop by his web page and say hello, won't you?
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Best Reads of 2010
Welcome to my Best Reads of 2010 entry.
Most people do a top 10 list; mine is only a top 5. "Why?" you ask. Well, for years I have kept a journal of everything I read. Unfortunately, my journal went into storage inadvertantly in about September 2009. I failed to keep track of my reads in any other journal, and work was busy until mid-May. So there was a lot of lost data. Also, to be fair, if I fleshed it out to 10, half of them would be Philip K. Dick books, and I've written enough about him already (and I'm sure I will write more!)
To shorten up an already too-long story, I could do a top 10, but it would be composed of basically everything of book-length I read this year. So I'm only doing a top 5 this year.
Without further delay:
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba - This is the true story of a young boy from Malawi. Too poor to afford basic schooling, he taught himself the science necessary to build his family a windmill. (Out of scavanged parts and a bicycle generator, no less.) With the windmill, he brought electricity to his central African home, and helped keep excess water out of his father's fields. It is a little slow at first, but it really picks up about Chapter 9. This story is a heartwarming tale of the triumph of the human spirit.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - Crime fiction of the highest order, this book by the late Larsson is a pageturner of the best kind.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - If I had to classify this one, I suppose it would be cyber science fiction. It is about 14 years old, but has aged really well. (Mostly. It's take on the internet is ambitious for its time, but does manage to resemble the online world of Half Life, World of Warcraft, etc.) This book takes place 20 minutes into the future - again, my favorite kind of sci fi - and it is a really insightful take on the power of language. It's also a real pageturner. A+. (PS - I love my Cosa Nostra Pizza t-shirt.)
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein - First, forget the Paul Verhoven movie. Absolute crap. The book gets a bad rap in some quarters as a fascist, pro-military jingoistic orgy. I suppose. I liked it though, and thought it was very well written, and well thought-out. You may not agree with his politics (and I probably don't) but you can't say it isn't philisophically consistent. I wish he had written ten books like this.
1984 by George Orwell - easily my favorite book. You can read why here.
Honorable Mention:
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson
Most people do a top 10 list; mine is only a top 5. "Why?" you ask. Well, for years I have kept a journal of everything I read. Unfortunately, my journal went into storage inadvertantly in about September 2009. I failed to keep track of my reads in any other journal, and work was busy until mid-May. So there was a lot of lost data. Also, to be fair, if I fleshed it out to 10, half of them would be Philip K. Dick books, and I've written enough about him already (and I'm sure I will write more!)
To shorten up an already too-long story, I could do a top 10, but it would be composed of basically everything of book-length I read this year. So I'm only doing a top 5 this year.
Without further delay:
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba - This is the true story of a young boy from Malawi. Too poor to afford basic schooling, he taught himself the science necessary to build his family a windmill. (Out of scavanged parts and a bicycle generator, no less.) With the windmill, he brought electricity to his central African home, and helped keep excess water out of his father's fields. It is a little slow at first, but it really picks up about Chapter 9. This story is a heartwarming tale of the triumph of the human spirit.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - Crime fiction of the highest order, this book by the late Larsson is a pageturner of the best kind.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - If I had to classify this one, I suppose it would be cyber science fiction. It is about 14 years old, but has aged really well. (Mostly. It's take on the internet is ambitious for its time, but does manage to resemble the online world of Half Life, World of Warcraft, etc.) This book takes place 20 minutes into the future - again, my favorite kind of sci fi - and it is a really insightful take on the power of language. It's also a real pageturner. A+. (PS - I love my Cosa Nostra Pizza t-shirt.)
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein - First, forget the Paul Verhoven movie. Absolute crap. The book gets a bad rap in some quarters as a fascist, pro-military jingoistic orgy. I suppose. I liked it though, and thought it was very well written, and well thought-out. You may not agree with his politics (and I probably don't) but you can't say it isn't philisophically consistent. I wish he had written ten books like this.
1984 by George Orwell - easily my favorite book. You can read why here.
Honorable Mention:
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Currently Reading: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
After considering a whole shelf of possible next reads, I decided to take some of my hard-earned Christmas cash (I didn't earn it! That's the joke!) and buy Charles Yu's How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.
I've read the first six chapters, and am not disappointed thus far. It does appear to be mind-bending fiction, which is of course, my favorite kind.
I've read the first six chapters, and am not disappointed thus far. It does appear to be mind-bending fiction, which is of course, my favorite kind.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sarah Vowell
Happy birthday to Sarah Vowell, author of The Wordy Shipmates and a favorite here at the Reader!
A favorite quote: "Being a nerd, which is to say going too far and caring too much about a subject, is the best way to make friends I know."
Sarah Vowell
The Partly Cloudy Patriot
A favorite quote: "Being a nerd, which is to say going too far and caring too much about a subject, is the best way to make friends I know."
Sarah Vowell
The Partly Cloudy Patriot
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Quote of the Week
"As we turned to leave, I noticed that the elves seemed agitated. At the door, I looked back to see several of them trying gently to keep the old man in his bed. Color had temporarily filled his cheeks, and he struggled to his feet. Grinning impishly, he motioned for silence and then bent to elf-ear level. He whispered, 'Boys, we're back.' The little men looked mortified."
-Red Ranger Came Calling by Berkeley Breathed
And a very Merry Christmas to everyone who has bothered to read my humble musings this fall!
Friday, December 24, 2010
UBIK and Inception
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
If you don't want the book UBIK or the movie Inception spoiled, please stop reading now.
But feel free to bookmark this page and read it later!
When I first read Philip K. Dick's UBIK, I thought, "someone should really make a movie out of this." When I saw Inception for the first time last week, I thought, "wow. Somebody did." That somebody being Christopher Nolan.
In the interest of full disclosure, the two are not the same. There are similar themes, though, and some really neat instances of congruent storytelling.
First up is worldbuilding. Both stories take place in realities very similar to our own. (My favorite kind of science fiction; not the sci fi of laser blasters and warp drive, but the kind of sci fi that takes place 20 minutes into the future.) People still go to work. Corporations still make billion-dollar deals. People fall in love. And they die. But both stories have one or two technologies which are no where near their infancies in the universe in which we actually live.
In UBIK, corporations employ people with special abilities: telepaths, precogs, people who have telekinetic powers. And when a person dies, if they have the money, they can have their body frozen in a special kind of mausoleum where they enjoy a "second life." They can still be communicated with, as long as the tissues of the brain remain somewhat intact. The cold helps preserve it longer.
In Inception, it is possible to access the dreams of another. This is done in the name of big business and usually done in order to steal ideas. Sometimes, though, it is necessary to implant an idea. There are rules, of course. Time and space take on different qualities. It is possible to dream within a dream. If you are hurt, you feel it. If you die within a dream, you wake up.
While these aspects of these stories may at first seem similar, the fundamental story behind each is not: UBIK is largely the story of a man, Genn Runciter, who is trying to figure out what the hell went wrong on his last corporate mission. A bomb goes off. Then some of his colleagues mysteriously die off, aging rapidly as if they had drank from the False Grail. His boss' likeness starts showing up on coinage. It is my favorite kind of story: the ontological mystery.
Inception is a story that is part caper, part tragedy; but I dare to say it is, in the end, the simpler story archetype of the two: the story of a man, Dominick Cobb (Leo DiCaprio), trying to overcome his own inner demons. Both stories play with one of my favorite themes: "what is real, and how do we know it is real?"
Both stories also had the one quality I love and hate about unique fiction: I love it so much, I can't wait for it to be over, even though I know when it is over, I'll be sad about it because I know I'll never be able to read it again for the first time.
The end of both stories is very satisfyingly left ambiguous, and I won't spoil that for you here. The bottom line, though, is that if you liked Inception, you will probably like UBIK. If you liked UBIK, you will probably like Inception. And if you don't like sci fi in general, thanks for reading this far. You are probably lost.
A Quote from UBIK: "It was a tranquil sight, these faithfuls, coming as they did so regularly to pay homage. They brought messages, news of what took place in the outside world; they cheered the gloomy half-lifers in these intervals of cerebral activity. And they paid Herbert Schoenheit von Vogelsang. It was a profitable business, operating a moratorium."
A Quote from Inception: "Well dreams, they feel real while we're in them, right? It's only when we wake up that we realize how things are actually strange. Let me ask you a question, you, you never really remember the beginning of a dream do you? You always wind up right in the middle of what's going on."
If you don't want the book UBIK or the movie Inception spoiled, please stop reading now.
But feel free to bookmark this page and read it later!
When I first read Philip K. Dick's UBIK, I thought, "someone should really make a movie out of this." When I saw Inception for the first time last week, I thought, "wow. Somebody did." That somebody being Christopher Nolan.
In the interest of full disclosure, the two are not the same. There are similar themes, though, and some really neat instances of congruent storytelling.
First up is worldbuilding. Both stories take place in realities very similar to our own. (My favorite kind of science fiction; not the sci fi of laser blasters and warp drive, but the kind of sci fi that takes place 20 minutes into the future.) People still go to work. Corporations still make billion-dollar deals. People fall in love. And they die. But both stories have one or two technologies which are no where near their infancies in the universe in which we actually live.
In UBIK, corporations employ people with special abilities: telepaths, precogs, people who have telekinetic powers. And when a person dies, if they have the money, they can have their body frozen in a special kind of mausoleum where they enjoy a "second life." They can still be communicated with, as long as the tissues of the brain remain somewhat intact. The cold helps preserve it longer.
In Inception, it is possible to access the dreams of another. This is done in the name of big business and usually done in order to steal ideas. Sometimes, though, it is necessary to implant an idea. There are rules, of course. Time and space take on different qualities. It is possible to dream within a dream. If you are hurt, you feel it. If you die within a dream, you wake up.
While these aspects of these stories may at first seem similar, the fundamental story behind each is not: UBIK is largely the story of a man, Genn Runciter, who is trying to figure out what the hell went wrong on his last corporate mission. A bomb goes off. Then some of his colleagues mysteriously die off, aging rapidly as if they had drank from the False Grail. His boss' likeness starts showing up on coinage. It is my favorite kind of story: the ontological mystery.
Inception is a story that is part caper, part tragedy; but I dare to say it is, in the end, the simpler story archetype of the two: the story of a man, Dominick Cobb (Leo DiCaprio), trying to overcome his own inner demons. Both stories play with one of my favorite themes: "what is real, and how do we know it is real?"
Both stories also had the one quality I love and hate about unique fiction: I love it so much, I can't wait for it to be over, even though I know when it is over, I'll be sad about it because I know I'll never be able to read it again for the first time.
The end of both stories is very satisfyingly left ambiguous, and I won't spoil that for you here. The bottom line, though, is that if you liked Inception, you will probably like UBIK. If you liked UBIK, you will probably like Inception. And if you don't like sci fi in general, thanks for reading this far. You are probably lost.
A Quote from UBIK: "It was a tranquil sight, these faithfuls, coming as they did so regularly to pay homage. They brought messages, news of what took place in the outside world; they cheered the gloomy half-lifers in these intervals of cerebral activity. And they paid Herbert Schoenheit von Vogelsang. It was a profitable business, operating a moratorium."
A Quote from Inception: "Well dreams, they feel real while we're in them, right? It's only when we wake up that we realize how things are actually strange. Let me ask you a question, you, you never really remember the beginning of a dream do you? You always wind up right in the middle of what's going on."
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Just Finished: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
First off, let me say up front that I understand Huck Finn's importance in the history of literature, and respect it as the achievement it is. Written in 1885, it was a "novel" in the modern (21st Century) sense of the word. It dealt with themes of coming of age, understaning morality, and coming to terms with slavery in America, a mere 20 years after slavery had ended; many, if not most people who read Huck Finn when it first came out had lived through the Civil War, and so the story was relatable on a very human level.
That being said, I didn't really like it. For all of its merits, it is on some level, the story of a redneck boy, an unfair racial stereotype and a couple con men. The con men subplot is resolved off the page, and there are significant portions of the book when I had no idea where Jim had gone. There were other parts that weren't clearly written, and I had no idea what was going on. Other parts tended to drag. The closer I got to the end, the more effort it took to finish it.
In the end, I'm glad I finally read it. If you are in high school now and reading this blog, I urge you to read it now. Get it over with. It's not that great, even though it is a classic.
UPDATE/December 23, 2010, 3:30 pm: I haven't decided what I will be reading next. Probably Iain Banks' Transition, but I haven't made a final decision yet.
That being said, I didn't really like it. For all of its merits, it is on some level, the story of a redneck boy, an unfair racial stereotype and a couple con men. The con men subplot is resolved off the page, and there are significant portions of the book when I had no idea where Jim had gone. There were other parts that weren't clearly written, and I had no idea what was going on. Other parts tended to drag. The closer I got to the end, the more effort it took to finish it.
In the end, I'm glad I finally read it. If you are in high school now and reading this blog, I urge you to read it now. Get it over with. It's not that great, even though it is a classic.
UPDATE/December 23, 2010, 3:30 pm: I haven't decided what I will be reading next. Probably Iain Banks' Transition, but I haven't made a final decision yet.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Reading and Writing Goals 2011
Every year I try my hand at some ambitious laundry list of goals for the coming year. This year, I've decided to come up with some more moderate goals for the next year. These are my reading and writing goals for 2011.
1.) Write six short stories. That's right, one every other month. I know it doesn't sound moderate, but that is 50% of my original proposal of one every month. Possibly even using one or more of Max Barry's suggestions.
2.) Read one short story a week, from January until May. Frequent readers know I've been stockpiling short story collections for this very purpose. I've found even more collections since my last post. Hello, Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger. One a week is certainly do-able, and I'm not going to freak out if I don't.
3.) Read one novel or book every month from June until December. This is where I got in trouble in the past. You should see my reading goals for 2009. I identified no less than a dozen books to read and left plenty of wriggle room to read more. In some alternate universe, I'm still reading in 2009. Realistically, for 2011, I figure this means one book by Ian Fleming (probably Thunderball, which was on the 2009 list!), one by Stanislaw Lem (probably Solaris), and one from my ongoing "read everything I was supposed to but didn't" project (to be determined).
4.) Finish The Stand. If I keep to my projected pace, that shouldn't be a problem.
5.) Use Amazon less and my local library more. 'Nuff said.
6.) Keep up with the Reader. I've enjoyed writing it, and hope to do so for the forseeable future, trying to keep to a M-W-F schedule, with a QOTW every Saturday.
That's pretty much it. I want to read, but I also want to be realistic about it.
And a very happy (early) New Year, everyone!
1.) Write six short stories. That's right, one every other month. I know it doesn't sound moderate, but that is 50% of my original proposal of one every month. Possibly even using one or more of Max Barry's suggestions.
2.) Read one short story a week, from January until May. Frequent readers know I've been stockpiling short story collections for this very purpose. I've found even more collections since my last post. Hello, Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger. One a week is certainly do-able, and I'm not going to freak out if I don't.
3.) Read one novel or book every month from June until December. This is where I got in trouble in the past. You should see my reading goals for 2009. I identified no less than a dozen books to read and left plenty of wriggle room to read more. In some alternate universe, I'm still reading in 2009. Realistically, for 2011, I figure this means one book by Ian Fleming (probably Thunderball, which was on the 2009 list!), one by Stanislaw Lem (probably Solaris), and one from my ongoing "read everything I was supposed to but didn't" project (to be determined).
4.) Finish The Stand. If I keep to my projected pace, that shouldn't be a problem.
5.) Use Amazon less and my local library more. 'Nuff said.
6.) Keep up with the Reader. I've enjoyed writing it, and hope to do so for the forseeable future, trying to keep to a M-W-F schedule, with a QOTW every Saturday.
That's pretty much it. I want to read, but I also want to be realistic about it.
And a very happy (early) New Year, everyone!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Lunar Eclipse
There was a total lunar eclipse last night. It was cloudy here, so I missed it.
It is exceedingly rare for an eclipse to fall on the solstice, or so I'm told, the last time being about 370 years ago.
That fact reminded me of the short story "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury. OK, not exactly, but you get the idea. Follow the links to find a copy of the short story. (I used to hate the short film in grade school, but now that I'm older, I find the deeper meaning in both the film and the short story.)
It is exceedingly rare for an eclipse to fall on the solstice, or so I'm told, the last time being about 370 years ago.
That fact reminded me of the short story "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury. OK, not exactly, but you get the idea. Follow the links to find a copy of the short story. (I used to hate the short film in grade school, but now that I'm older, I find the deeper meaning in both the film and the short story.)
Monday, December 20, 2010
Patron Saint
I've looked into it, and there is, apparently, no patron saint of reading.
There is a patron saint for writers, St. Francis de Sales. Which kind of makes sense if you think about it; there would be no reason to venerate the act of reading when the upper castes completely controlled the dissemination of information up until the invention of moveable print in about 1440. Technology changed all that, right up to the 1960's and Catholic Mass being allowed to be held in languages other than Latin. That continuum continues to change, with consequences up to this very day.
I therefore have no choice but to proclaim a patron saint for this very website.
Meet Mr. Henry Bemis.
He loved to read. Dickens. George Bernard Shaw. Browning, Shelley, Keats. Shakespeare. You name it.
It was his love, and it was his undoing.
You can read the original here.
Good day, fellow readers.
There is a patron saint for writers, St. Francis de Sales. Which kind of makes sense if you think about it; there would be no reason to venerate the act of reading when the upper castes completely controlled the dissemination of information up until the invention of moveable print in about 1440. Technology changed all that, right up to the 1960's and Catholic Mass being allowed to be held in languages other than Latin. That continuum continues to change, with consequences up to this very day.
I therefore have no choice but to proclaim a patron saint for this very website.
Meet Mr. Henry Bemis.
He loved to read. Dickens. George Bernard Shaw. Browning, Shelley, Keats. Shakespeare. You name it.
It was his love, and it was his undoing.
You can read the original here.
Good day, fellow readers.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Quote of the Week
"I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun. I put them on and went out of the room."
-Philip Marlowe, Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
-Philip Marlowe, Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
Friday, December 17, 2010
John Kennedy Toole
Today is John Kennedy Toole's birthday. He was born on this date in 1937.
Sadly, Toole committed suicide in 1969 and was never a published author in his own lifetime.
Years later, his mother found his manuscript for A Confederacy of Dunces and managed to get it published. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981, 12 years after the author's death. I've heard it is very, very funny. It is currently on my shelf waiting to be read.
Sadly, Toole committed suicide in 1969 and was never a published author in his own lifetime.
Years later, his mother found his manuscript for A Confederacy of Dunces and managed to get it published. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981, 12 years after the author's death. I've heard it is very, very funny. It is currently on my shelf waiting to be read.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
NPR on the Future of Books and Reading
Philip K. Dick
Besides being Arthur Clarke's birthday, December 16 is also notable as Philip K. Dick's birthday.
The prolific Dick authored hundreds of novels and short stories over his lifetime; readers of this blog know I consider him a new favorite of mine, having recently read VALIS, UBIK, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Man in the High Castle.
There are many of his novels currently on my bedside table waiting to be read; I will likely start A Scanner Darkly or The Galactic Pot Healer next. I'd like to read the short story The Electric Ant if I can get my hands on it.
Dick died on March 2, 1982.
The movie Blade Runner was based on his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and released in June 1982; he has since enjoyed a fame in death that he only began to appreciate in life, with story credits for the movies Total Recall, Minority Report, Screamers, Paycheck and next year's The Adjustment Bureau to his credit.
The prolific Dick authored hundreds of novels and short stories over his lifetime; readers of this blog know I consider him a new favorite of mine, having recently read VALIS, UBIK, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Man in the High Castle.
There are many of his novels currently on my bedside table waiting to be read; I will likely start A Scanner Darkly or The Galactic Pot Healer next. I'd like to read the short story The Electric Ant if I can get my hands on it.
Dick died on March 2, 1982.
The movie Blade Runner was based on his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and released in June 1982; he has since enjoyed a fame in death that he only began to appreciate in life, with story credits for the movies Total Recall, Minority Report, Screamers, Paycheck and next year's The Adjustment Bureau to his credit.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
NPR on the Future of Books, Part 1 and 2
NPR has been running a series this week on the future of books. It is pretty impressive and if you haven't heard it on-air, you should check it out online.
Part 1 was yesterday, and it dealt with the future of bricks-and-mortar bookstores.
Today was Part 2, and it looks at the future of multi-platform books and young adult literature.
I will continue to post links this week, as time allows.
Part 1 was yesterday, and it dealt with the future of bricks-and-mortar bookstores.
Today was Part 2, and it looks at the future of multi-platform books and young adult literature.
I will continue to post links this week, as time allows.
Arthur C. Clarke
Tomorrow is Arthur C. Clarke's birthday.
Clarke may be the author I can credit with giving me a love for science fiction. (Well, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Gene Roddenberry too, but this is a blog about reading, so ACC gets the nod for written science fiction.) I've read all four of the 2001 books (they all have their moments), and part of The Lost Worlds of 2001, the out of print account of the making of the book and film. The short story The Sentinel is particularly good.
I've also read The Songs of Distant Earth, The Hammer of God, Childhood's End and The Last Theorem. Rendevous with Rama is the only book of his currently on my shelf waiting to be read.
Clarke died in 2008.
Favorite Quote: "For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something." - from 2001: A Space Odyssey
UPDATE: The Reader had its 500th visitor last night. Thanks for visiting, everybody! I hope you are having as much fun reading it as I am writing it!
Clarke may be the author I can credit with giving me a love for science fiction. (Well, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Gene Roddenberry too, but this is a blog about reading, so ACC gets the nod for written science fiction.) I've read all four of the 2001 books (they all have their moments), and part of The Lost Worlds of 2001, the out of print account of the making of the book and film. The short story The Sentinel is particularly good.
I've also read The Songs of Distant Earth, The Hammer of God, Childhood's End and The Last Theorem. Rendevous with Rama is the only book of his currently on my shelf waiting to be read.
Clarke died in 2008.
Favorite Quote: "For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something." - from 2001: A Space Odyssey
UPDATE: The Reader had its 500th visitor last night. Thanks for visiting, everybody! I hope you are having as much fun reading it as I am writing it!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Short Stories
The busy season is almost upon us at work. That means that I will be less likely to be reading novels (except The Stand, of course) between late January and the end of May.
So my strategy the last few years has been to read short stories during that time span. I had the idea a couple weeks ago to gather together all of my books of short stories into one place so I could see what I have to choose from for next year.
I thought I had 3 or 4 books of short stories. It turns out, I have about 20; this includes works by Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming, Raymond Chandler, Isaac Asimov, Connie Willis, William Gibson, Robert Heinlein, and Kim Stanley Robinson, as well as anthologies of time travel stories, post-apocalyptic stories, and artificial intelligence stories. Which is to say nothing of the individual short stories I may have accumulated over time.
I was going to stock up, but turns out, I already did.
So my strategy the last few years has been to read short stories during that time span. I had the idea a couple weeks ago to gather together all of my books of short stories into one place so I could see what I have to choose from for next year.
I thought I had 3 or 4 books of short stories. It turns out, I have about 20; this includes works by Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming, Raymond Chandler, Isaac Asimov, Connie Willis, William Gibson, Robert Heinlein, and Kim Stanley Robinson, as well as anthologies of time travel stories, post-apocalyptic stories, and artificial intelligence stories. Which is to say nothing of the individual short stories I may have accumulated over time.
I was going to stock up, but turns out, I already did.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Quote of the Week
"Why do only the awful things become fads? I thought. Eye-rolling and Barbie and bread pudding. Why never chocolate cheesecake or thinking for yourself?"
-Connie Willis, Bellwether
-Connie Willis, Bellwether
Friday, December 10, 2010
Currently Reading: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
After finishing VALIS and The Wordy Shipmates, I have decided to commit to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck Finn is yet another in a long list of books I'm playing twenty years of catchup with. I was supposed to read it in high school (and college) but didn't. Time to make like Dr. Sam Beckett and put right what once went wrong.
Maybe I need to write up a list for the blog of everything that qualifies for my little project here.
Just finished (for the first time) in the last few years
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming*
1984 by George Orwell
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?*
The Man in the High Castle*
On the shelf, waiting to be read
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Sea Wolf by Jack London
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Nature's Metropolis by William Cronon
*Was never actually assigned to me in high school or college, but it did sit on my shelf for 20+ years.
I would include the following as well, but I had a lousy college professor whose style of teaching ruined these for me:
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsen
I think the only books (or plays) I was assigned to read in high school that I actually read were Oedipus Rex, Animal Farm and Julius Caesar. Those all have something in common. Hint: they aren't exactly epics.
Yeah, I'm a fraud.
But I'm doing my best to make up for it.
Maybe I need to write up a list for the blog of everything that qualifies for my little project here.
Just finished (for the first time) in the last few years
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming*
1984 by George Orwell
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?*
The Man in the High Castle*
On the shelf, waiting to be read
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The Sea Wolf by Jack London
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Nature's Metropolis by William Cronon
*Was never actually assigned to me in high school or college, but it did sit on my shelf for 20+ years.
I would include the following as well, but I had a lousy college professor whose style of teaching ruined these for me:
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsen
I think the only books (or plays) I was assigned to read in high school that I actually read were Oedipus Rex, Animal Farm and Julius Caesar. Those all have something in common. Hint: they aren't exactly epics.
Yeah, I'm a fraud.
But I'm doing my best to make up for it.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Just Finished: The Wordy Shipmates
It took me a little longer than I thought it would, but I just finished The Wordy Shipmates, an examination of 17th Century New England by the always charming Sarah Vowell.
Shipmates is a look into an obscure corner of American History: the era of the first white settlers to what would eventually become Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. I learned a lot by reading it - namely, that Thanksgiving wasn't a yearly ritual, it had to be earned; that Pilgrims and Puritans aren't the same thing; that the Pilgrims wanted to separate from the Church of England, while the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony wanted to reform it from within; and that the Puritans gave us the New World traditions of democratic elections and the "acceptibility" of the slaughter of Native Americans.
Vowell uses her trademark blend of insightful historical inquiry and biting social commentary, with a side of pop culture, throughout.
If I had one complaint about this book, it would be the (seeming) repetitiveness of the New England names: Winthrop, Williams, Cotton, Hutchinson. Maybe it was the strong theological subject matter or maybe it was the fact that I felt so removed historically from the people of 17th century New England; either way the result was the same: I felt that Shipmates wasn't her best work. That honor would go to The Partly Cloudy Patriot for its variety and quality of the essays within. I also liked Assasination Vacation better than Shipmates, probably for its macabre sense of history, and the fact that I had visited a lot of the places she described.
Sarah Vowell is an amazing writer. In fact, the strongest conclusion I had after thinking about it for a while was that she would make an amazing history professor: smart, funny, relatable, good with primary source materials. Unfortunately, I'm well past school and she probably makes more money writing history commercially than she ever could at a university.
Either way, I'm glad I read it, and I'm looking forward to reading her new book Unfamiliar Fishes when it comes out next year.
Favorite Quote: "The United States is often called a Puritan nation. Well, here is one way it emphatically is not: Puritan lives were overwelmingly, fanatically literary...the country that became the U.S. bears a closer family resemblance to the devil-may-care merchants of New Amsterdam than it does to Boston's communitarian English majors."
Shipmates is a look into an obscure corner of American History: the era of the first white settlers to what would eventually become Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. I learned a lot by reading it - namely, that Thanksgiving wasn't a yearly ritual, it had to be earned; that Pilgrims and Puritans aren't the same thing; that the Pilgrims wanted to separate from the Church of England, while the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony wanted to reform it from within; and that the Puritans gave us the New World traditions of democratic elections and the "acceptibility" of the slaughter of Native Americans.
Vowell uses her trademark blend of insightful historical inquiry and biting social commentary, with a side of pop culture, throughout.
If I had one complaint about this book, it would be the (seeming) repetitiveness of the New England names: Winthrop, Williams, Cotton, Hutchinson. Maybe it was the strong theological subject matter or maybe it was the fact that I felt so removed historically from the people of 17th century New England; either way the result was the same: I felt that Shipmates wasn't her best work. That honor would go to The Partly Cloudy Patriot for its variety and quality of the essays within. I also liked Assasination Vacation better than Shipmates, probably for its macabre sense of history, and the fact that I had visited a lot of the places she described.
Sarah Vowell is an amazing writer. In fact, the strongest conclusion I had after thinking about it for a while was that she would make an amazing history professor: smart, funny, relatable, good with primary source materials. Unfortunately, I'm well past school and she probably makes more money writing history commercially than she ever could at a university.
Either way, I'm glad I read it, and I'm looking forward to reading her new book Unfamiliar Fishes when it comes out next year.
Favorite Quote: "The United States is often called a Puritan nation. Well, here is one way it emphatically is not: Puritan lives were overwelmingly, fanatically literary...the country that became the U.S. bears a closer family resemblance to the devil-may-care merchants of New Amsterdam than it does to Boston's communitarian English majors."
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Greetings New Readers
I just had my first readers from Australia and the Philippines. Welcome!
It's your move, South America and Africa!
It's your move, South America and Africa!
Monday, December 6, 2010
New Links
I've added a couple links at the side:
Book Blogs is an organization dedicated to people who blog about books. I'm hoping that by joining this group, I can increase traffic at the Reader. There is a nifty button at the bottom of the column, too.
Good Reads is kind of the nuts and bolts of what I'm trying to accomplish at the (more prosaic) Reader - a collection of the actual titles on my actual shelf, and a short review of each. It is going to take a while to get everything keyed in, but it is a pretty neat concept, so I think it will be worth it.
Check them out!
PS - I have attained my reading goals for December for The Stand. I'm considering resting it a while, although I may continue reading it in the hopes of finishing it earlier than anticipated.
Book Blogs is an organization dedicated to people who blog about books. I'm hoping that by joining this group, I can increase traffic at the Reader. There is a nifty button at the bottom of the column, too.
Good Reads is kind of the nuts and bolts of what I'm trying to accomplish at the (more prosaic) Reader - a collection of the actual titles on my actual shelf, and a short review of each. It is going to take a while to get everything keyed in, but it is a pretty neat concept, so I think it will be worth it.
Check them out!
PS - I have attained my reading goals for December for The Stand. I'm considering resting it a while, although I may continue reading it in the hopes of finishing it earlier than anticipated.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Quote of the Week
Two good ones this week! I couldn't pick between them:
"What he did not know then is that it is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane."
And:
"I've always told people that for each person there is a sentence - a series of words - which has the power to destroy him. When Fat told me about Leon Stone I realized (this came years after the first realization) that another sentence exists, another series of words, which will heal the person. If you're lucky, you will get the second; but you can be certain of getting the first: that is the way it works."
-Philip K. Dick, VALIS
"What he did not know then is that it is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane."
And:
"I've always told people that for each person there is a sentence - a series of words - which has the power to destroy him. When Fat told me about Leon Stone I realized (this came years after the first realization) that another sentence exists, another series of words, which will heal the person. If you're lucky, you will get the second; but you can be certain of getting the first: that is the way it works."
-Philip K. Dick, VALIS
Friday, December 3, 2010
The Empire never ended
I finished VALIS on Wednesday: this book is a masterwork of religion, history and philosophy. I'm not sure I can completely understand it, short of a PhD in those disciplines. Philip K. Dick was either completely brilliant, or thoroughly mad. Possibly both.
I don't think this is for PKD beginners, but once you've read even just a few of his books, it is nothing to be afraid of. (I used to think his novels were impenetrable. They're not. It's just a matter of getting used to his style.) Also, I'm not particularly religious, but PKD's take on how all religions are unified was a fascinating journey to watch unfold.
Interestingly, while the book was featured at least a couple times on the tv show Lost, I think it bears at least a passing resemblance to some of the themes in that other great mid-00's sci fi tv show, Battlestar Galactica; especially Chapter 7. In Chapter 7, the protagonist Horselover Fat discovers that early christians knew how to reconstitute themselves after death, and that it had been going on since before humans came to Earth. It's not a complete 1:1 ratio, but the themes of death, resurrection, and monotheism central to the cylon characters is all there, and it may enhance my understanding of that show as a result.
Also, I'm basically where I want to be on The Stand. After being behind for most of November, it seems like I could be finished with what I want to read in December by the end of the weekend.
Good stuff. Now to finish The Wordy Shipmates...
I don't think this is for PKD beginners, but once you've read even just a few of his books, it is nothing to be afraid of. (I used to think his novels were impenetrable. They're not. It's just a matter of getting used to his style.) Also, I'm not particularly religious, but PKD's take on how all religions are unified was a fascinating journey to watch unfold.
Interestingly, while the book was featured at least a couple times on the tv show Lost, I think it bears at least a passing resemblance to some of the themes in that other great mid-00's sci fi tv show, Battlestar Galactica; especially Chapter 7. In Chapter 7, the protagonist Horselover Fat discovers that early christians knew how to reconstitute themselves after death, and that it had been going on since before humans came to Earth. It's not a complete 1:1 ratio, but the themes of death, resurrection, and monotheism central to the cylon characters is all there, and it may enhance my understanding of that show as a result.
Also, I'm basically where I want to be on The Stand. After being behind for most of November, it seems like I could be finished with what I want to read in December by the end of the weekend.
Good stuff. Now to finish The Wordy Shipmates...
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wolfram Alpha
I added a link to Wolfram Alpha this week, over on the side of the blog.
Ask it if entropy can be reversed, I dare you. Or, "shall we play a game?"
It has much more useful applications too. Those are just a couple of my favorites.
Ask it if entropy can be reversed, I dare you. Or, "shall we play a game?"
It has much more useful applications too. Those are just a couple of my favorites.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Goodbye, Aberfan.
We lost a member of our family last week.
Our dog, Xeena, was sick - the vet didn't know with what. She had been relatively healthy over the summer, when she weighed 30 pounds, although a routine checkup indicated the beginnings of congestive heart failure. In October, she had a seizure while she was at the kennel one weekend. After that, she began favoring her back left leg. By mid-October, she was down to 25 pounds; we thought she had a UTI, but after 2 rounds of antibiotics, nothing helped. Then I noticed during the last weekend, she hadn't eaten. I took her to the vet for another exam the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and she was down to 22 pounds.
It may have been a neurological condition, or kidney failure, or cancer; it was probably cancer. We could have run a whole bunch of expensive tests to determine exactly what it was, but in the end, considering the likely diagnosis, and the fact that she was 14 years old, even after running the tests there probably wasn't a whole lot we could have done for her.
She was supposed to go to the kennel for the holiday weekend; she just wasn't strong enough. We were afraid she would have another seizure, or worse, that she would die alone, surrounded by strangers in an unfamiliar place.
And so it was time.
The day before Thanksgiving, we had her euthanized at the vets. She died in relative comfort, surrounded by her family.
It was the hardest decision I've ever made. My heart is still furious with my head over it, even though I know it was the right thing to do. If she wasn't suffering last Wednesday, she was going to be soon.
After some time had passed this weekend, I was able to reflect on the whole thing. It turns out I was more attached to her than I ever realized.
It put me in a mind to read a short story I had read a couple years ago, "The Last of the Winnebagos" by Connie Willis. It is a story that takes place in the near-future; a future a lot like ours, except that a virulent disease has wiped out all the dogs on earth.
It is kind of like that subgenre of sci fi termed "post-apocalyptic" except that so many post-apocalyptic stories are stories of survival; this one is more about how people react when they are faced with loss. And that was exactly the kind of story I needed over the weekend.
The story is about a photojournalist who never got a picture of his own dog, Aberfan, before he died. Most dogs died of the disease, but Aberfan died after getting hit by a car. Years later, he sees a jackal by the side of the road - hit by someone on the highway - and it triggers some pretty harsh memories and sets into motion his own journey of self-discovery. He sets out to talk to the girl who hit Aberfan with her Jeep, to see if he can find Aberfan in the look on her face when he finally reconnects, and confronts her about it.
Instead, he finds out something about himself. He accidentally gets a picture of himself, and finds the truth of his emotions in an unguarded moment: "And it was all there, Misha and Taco and Perdita and the look he gave me on the way to the vet's while I stroked his poor head and told him it would be all right, that look of love and pity I had been trying to capture all these years. The picture of Aberfan."
The same look of heartbreak I saw as Xeena rode on my lap to the vet, for the last time.
So goodbye, Aberfan.
And goodbye, Xeena. You were a good dog. We love you, and we will miss you.
Now if you will excuse me, I think I have something in my eye.
Our dog, Xeena, was sick - the vet didn't know with what. She had been relatively healthy over the summer, when she weighed 30 pounds, although a routine checkup indicated the beginnings of congestive heart failure. In October, she had a seizure while she was at the kennel one weekend. After that, she began favoring her back left leg. By mid-October, she was down to 25 pounds; we thought she had a UTI, but after 2 rounds of antibiotics, nothing helped. Then I noticed during the last weekend, she hadn't eaten. I took her to the vet for another exam the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and she was down to 22 pounds.
Xeena in 2004. Happier times.
It may have been a neurological condition, or kidney failure, or cancer; it was probably cancer. We could have run a whole bunch of expensive tests to determine exactly what it was, but in the end, considering the likely diagnosis, and the fact that she was 14 years old, even after running the tests there probably wasn't a whole lot we could have done for her.
She was supposed to go to the kennel for the holiday weekend; she just wasn't strong enough. We were afraid she would have another seizure, or worse, that she would die alone, surrounded by strangers in an unfamiliar place.
And so it was time.
The day before Thanksgiving, we had her euthanized at the vets. She died in relative comfort, surrounded by her family.
It was the hardest decision I've ever made. My heart is still furious with my head over it, even though I know it was the right thing to do. If she wasn't suffering last Wednesday, she was going to be soon.
After some time had passed this weekend, I was able to reflect on the whole thing. It turns out I was more attached to her than I ever realized.
It put me in a mind to read a short story I had read a couple years ago, "The Last of the Winnebagos" by Connie Willis. It is a story that takes place in the near-future; a future a lot like ours, except that a virulent disease has wiped out all the dogs on earth.
It is kind of like that subgenre of sci fi termed "post-apocalyptic" except that so many post-apocalyptic stories are stories of survival; this one is more about how people react when they are faced with loss. And that was exactly the kind of story I needed over the weekend.
The story is about a photojournalist who never got a picture of his own dog, Aberfan, before he died. Most dogs died of the disease, but Aberfan died after getting hit by a car. Years later, he sees a jackal by the side of the road - hit by someone on the highway - and it triggers some pretty harsh memories and sets into motion his own journey of self-discovery. He sets out to talk to the girl who hit Aberfan with her Jeep, to see if he can find Aberfan in the look on her face when he finally reconnects, and confronts her about it.
Instead, he finds out something about himself. He accidentally gets a picture of himself, and finds the truth of his emotions in an unguarded moment: "And it was all there, Misha and Taco and Perdita and the look he gave me on the way to the vet's while I stroked his poor head and told him it would be all right, that look of love and pity I had been trying to capture all these years. The picture of Aberfan."
The same look of heartbreak I saw as Xeena rode on my lap to the vet, for the last time.
So goodbye, Aberfan.
And goodbye, Xeena. You were a good dog. We love you, and we will miss you.
Now if you will excuse me, I think I have something in my eye.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Mark Twain
A very happy 175th birthday to Mr. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, otherwise known as Mark Twain. He of course needs no introduction.
I read the first eight chapters of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a senior in high school. I'm going to (start over and) finish it, probably sooner rather than later.
Happy Dodransbicentennial, American Icon!
I read the first eight chapters of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a senior in high school. I'm going to (start over and) finish it, probably sooner rather than later.
Happy Dodransbicentennial, American Icon!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Reader Comments
Hey, everybody. It was pointed out to me today that you have to have a blogger id to post comments; I loosened up the settings to allow anyone to post a comment. (Still moderated, of course. Stupid spammers.)
Quietly Disgruntled
...also, a Happy Birthday goes out to Quietly Disgruntled.
One of my two most frequent (ok, only) commenters, he is a budding author in his own right, thanks to NaNoWriMo.
Happy Birthday!
One of my two most frequent (ok, only) commenters, he is a budding author in his own right, thanks to NaNoWriMo.
Happy Birthday!
Madeleine L'Engle
Author Madeleine L'Engle was born on this day in 1918. She authored dozens of books, and is well known for her "young adult" fiction, especially A Wrinkle In Time. Wrinkle is a charming little book about mad science and the importance of family and is a great introduction to the concept of the tesseract. I read it a few years ago, and lent my copy of it to my nephew earlier this year.
It is definitely worth a read, no matter what your age is.
L'Engle died in 2007.
It is definitely worth a read, no matter what your age is.
L'Engle died in 2007.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Alan Lightman
Today is author Alan Lightman's birthday; he is also a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His books Einstein's Dreams and Good Benito are both pretty sharp.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Quote of the Week
"These are the moments I live for. I put up with all the other crap just to get seconds like this. The moments when you know the world is a better place than advertised."
-Jakita Wagner in Planetary #4 by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday
PS - "Quote of the Week" just indicates a favorite literary quote of mine that I decided to post online that week. It doesn't necessarily mean it was a phrase used in lit that actual week.
-Jakita Wagner in Planetary #4 by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday
PS - "Quote of the Week" just indicates a favorite literary quote of mine that I decided to post online that week. It doesn't necessarily mean it was a phrase used in lit that actual week.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
A Brief Interruption
I'm thinking about taking the weekend off from reading VALIS. Since it is also the Thanksgiving weekend, I think it would be appropriate to instead read Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates instead.
Sarah Vowell is an author, actress and all-around renaissance woman. I have also read her books Assasination Vacation and The Partly Cloudy Patriot. She's funny, erudite and easy to read. And considering the fact that The Wordy Shipmates is about the early days of Puritanism in the new world, it may be a perfect fit for the holiday weekend.
I'm also taking Thursday and Friday off from the blog, but will return on Saturday, when I will resume our regularly scheduled programming!
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Sarah Vowell is an author, actress and all-around renaissance woman. I have also read her books Assasination Vacation and The Partly Cloudy Patriot. She's funny, erudite and easy to read. And considering the fact that The Wordy Shipmates is about the early days of Puritanism in the new world, it may be a perfect fit for the holiday weekend.
I'm also taking Thursday and Friday off from the blog, but will return on Saturday, when I will resume our regularly scheduled programming!
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Masterpiece Years
Read this fascinating article about Anne R. Dick's new memoir over at the New York Times about Philip K. Dick and the years she was married to him - including the era in which he wrote The Man in the High Castle.
I finished The Man in the High Castle back in September, and I'm still wondering whether I read the book, or whether I'm merely a character in a book, reading that book, in an alternate universe, being read by someone else. Seriously.
You should probably check that one out too.
I finished The Man in the High Castle back in September, and I'm still wondering whether I read the book, or whether I'm merely a character in a book, reading that book, in an alternate universe, being read by someone else. Seriously.
You should probably check that one out too.
Sinclair Lewis
Last night I bought a copy of Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, based mostly on the recommendation of Amazon.com, as it is thematically related to 1984.
It was something of a discovery for me, as I hadn't really noticed Sinclair Lewis before. I'm not stupid, but it is entirely possible that I mistook him for Upton Sinclair. Either way, I read the introduction to It Can't Happen Here and found it encouraging.
According to the introduction, his early works such as Main Street, Babbitt, and Elmer Gantry dealt with themes that "hold a mirror up to the parochialism and provincialism" of the time and his readers "flinched at his representations of their middle-class lives."
I think I need to look into this Sinclair Lewis; I like what I've heard so far...
It was something of a discovery for me, as I hadn't really noticed Sinclair Lewis before. I'm not stupid, but it is entirely possible that I mistook him for Upton Sinclair. Either way, I read the introduction to It Can't Happen Here and found it encouraging.
According to the introduction, his early works such as Main Street, Babbitt, and Elmer Gantry dealt with themes that "hold a mirror up to the parochialism and provincialism" of the time and his readers "flinched at his representations of their middle-class lives."
I think I need to look into this Sinclair Lewis; I like what I've heard so far...
Monday, November 22, 2010
Internet Favorites
Hey, everybody! Yesterday I reorganized the righthand column on the blog. It was just a small change - I added a list of links to some of my favorite internet websites.
First up is Amazon.com. There's no two ways about it: I have a very serious Amazon.com addiction. (One of the reasons I started this blog was to give myself a forum in which I could discuss books, instead of just buying more!) I find it hard to believe anyone sophisticated enough to find my blog doesn't know what Amazon.com is all about, so let's just leave it at that for now.
I read io9.com everyday. It is a website dedicated to science and science fiction - two things I love to read about. It is updated frequently and challenges me to think in different ways about the world all the time. Please to enjoy.
Next up is NPR Books. I listen to NPR everyday in the car going to and from work. Their take on books (and music, IMHO) has been on fire since early summer. Case in point: the recent story they did about Kristin Kimball and her book, The Dirty Life. It's a real-life Green Acres story, from girly-girl to hog butcher. Check it out.
The Prairie Archives in Springfield, Illinois is one of the finest used book stores in Central Illinois.
The Rochester Public Library is my local public library.
Sporcle is an internet-based quiz website; their slogan is "mentally challenging diversions" and they aren't kidding. It is addictive as hell! Knowledge is power - and fun! What are you waiting for?! Visit today!
TV Tropes is another addictive website dedicated to the tropes commonly found in today's fiction and literature. (Don't let the name fool you, it has entries for just about every medium of fiction.)
Rounding out my list of favorites is Wired.com. Science fiction is born at the cutting edge of technology, and that's what you will find at Wired.com: all the latest news, updated frequently, about the newest technology of the day.
So anyway, enjoy the links, and check back soon for my latest.
First up is Amazon.com. There's no two ways about it: I have a very serious Amazon.com addiction. (One of the reasons I started this blog was to give myself a forum in which I could discuss books, instead of just buying more!) I find it hard to believe anyone sophisticated enough to find my blog doesn't know what Amazon.com is all about, so let's just leave it at that for now.
I read io9.com everyday. It is a website dedicated to science and science fiction - two things I love to read about. It is updated frequently and challenges me to think in different ways about the world all the time. Please to enjoy.
Next up is NPR Books. I listen to NPR everyday in the car going to and from work. Their take on books (and music, IMHO) has been on fire since early summer. Case in point: the recent story they did about Kristin Kimball and her book, The Dirty Life. It's a real-life Green Acres story, from girly-girl to hog butcher. Check it out.
The Prairie Archives in Springfield, Illinois is one of the finest used book stores in Central Illinois.
The Rochester Public Library is my local public library.
Sporcle is an internet-based quiz website; their slogan is "mentally challenging diversions" and they aren't kidding. It is addictive as hell! Knowledge is power - and fun! What are you waiting for?! Visit today!
TV Tropes is another addictive website dedicated to the tropes commonly found in today's fiction and literature. (Don't let the name fool you, it has entries for just about every medium of fiction.)
Rounding out my list of favorites is Wired.com. Science fiction is born at the cutting edge of technology, and that's what you will find at Wired.com: all the latest news, updated frequently, about the newest technology of the day.
So anyway, enjoy the links, and check back soon for my latest.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Quote of the Week
"Ad Graecas literas totum animum applicui; statimque, ut pecuniam acceptero, Graecus primum autores, deinde vestes emam."
"I have turned my entire attention to Greek. The first thing I shall do, as soon as the money arrives, is to buy some Greek authors; after that, I shall buy clothes."
-Desiderius Erasmus, Letter to Jacob Batt, April 12, 1500
"I have turned my entire attention to Greek. The first thing I shall do, as soon as the money arrives, is to buy some Greek authors; after that, I shall buy clothes."
-Desiderius Erasmus, Letter to Jacob Batt, April 12, 1500
Friday, November 19, 2010
The Long Read
I like to read an epic every year or so, too; then I pace myself and knock it out in about a year. In 2009, I read Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, which by the way, is a great book about codes (both computer and signals intelligence). There are three or four main stories, but they take place in the present day world of computer programming and the World War II era at Bletchley Park and in the Philippines.
For a variety of reasons, I kind of fell away from that last year, but have picked up again recently. I am currently reading Stephen King's The Stand, with a projected end date of December 2011. It's good so far. I'm about a third of the way in. I'm way too busy to read only The Stand. If I tried to tackle it all at once, I'd probably get bored and abandon it. But I really want to finish it - both because I really want to read it, and I really want to feel that sense of accomplishment.
For a variety of reasons, I kind of fell away from that last year, but have picked up again recently. I am currently reading Stephen King's The Stand, with a projected end date of December 2011. It's good so far. I'm about a third of the way in. I'm way too busy to read only The Stand. If I tried to tackle it all at once, I'd probably get bored and abandon it. But I really want to finish it - both because I really want to read it, and I really want to feel that sense of accomplishment.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Currently Reading
Currently Reading: VALIS by Philip K. Dick. I read the first chapter tonight. It really got my attention.
I've read a lot of Dick this year. Besides VALIS, I have read The Man in the High Castle, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik. He is officially one of my favorite writers of science fiction, maybe of any genre of fiction.
I've read a lot of Dick this year. Besides VALIS, I have read The Man in the High Castle, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Ubik. He is officially one of my favorite writers of science fiction, maybe of any genre of fiction.
Just Finished: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much
November 17, 2010 - I just finished The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett. This was an intriguing, yet somewhat unsatisfying true story of John Gilkey (the man in the title) and Ken Sanders, the former head of security for the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. Gilkey would obtain books through...unconventional means. Sanders was responsible for putting him in jail. It was a riveting story 75% of the way through. The end of the book lacked the solid resolution I was hoping for. A fascinating look at the seedy underside of the rare book trade.
Favorite Quote: "...Gilkey is typical of many book collectors. It is his crimes and his unwavering, narcissistic justification of them that sets him apart."
I'm not entirely certain what I'm going to read next.
Favorite Quote: "...Gilkey is typical of many book collectors. It is his crimes and his unwavering, narcissistic justification of them that sets him apart."
I'm not entirely certain what I'm going to read next.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Book Review: 1984
Book Review: 1984
I was a lousy student in high school. I won't say how long ago that was, but it was a while ago. I got decent grades - decent enough to get me into college. But the tragedy of it was I never really applied myself. If I had applied myself, I might have made the leap from being an adequate student to being an outstanding one.
For the last three or four years I have been playing catch-up, trying to get to everything I was supposed to read years ago but never actually did.
I just finished reading George Orwell's 1984 for the first time last Wednesday night. I found it to be prescient, internally logical, and convincing. It is, as of last Wednesday, my very favorite book. I hope to return to it again, and I hope the world around me when I do bears less of a resemblance to the world of 1984, but only time will tell.
Favorite quote: "But after reading it he knew better than before that he was not mad. Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad." George Orwell, 1984
Monday, November 15, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Welcome to the Rochester Reader
Hello and welcome to the Rochester Reader web log. I am your anonymous host, the eponymous “Rochester Reader.” I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for a long time now, and after careful consideration, I have decided that this is the most appropriate form it can take: a blog about books.
I like to read. No, that’s not quite right: I LOVE to read. I have to read, every day, just as the shark has to keep swimming to live. I keep track of what I’ve read, and sometimes I write reviews. I have kept them in my sad little notebook since 2007. And up until now, no one has ever read my reviews.
This blog will start slow – I admit I have a lot to learn when it comes to web publishing. My intentions are to start with what I’m reading, maybe tell a story or two, and then get into some other ideas I have for the blog. Most of all, I hope I can help someone – anyone – find a love of reading.
Check back later for more posts. This is going to be good.
-the Reader
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