"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
Saturday, December 18, 2010
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.
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