April 21, 2013

Sunday Morning Book Thread 04-21-2013: Miscellaneous Observations [OregonMuse]
— Open Blogger


bring me another smurf.jpg
AlextheChick: The Early Years


Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to the randomly scattered, yet with deeper, hidden patterns Sunday Morning Book Thread here at the award-winning AoSHQ.

I don't have a big 'theme' for the book thread this time, so here are some random, book-related items that have been knocking around inside my head this week.


On the Reading of Exhausting Books

In the comments of last week's thread, Molly k. wrote:

I had been thinking about Gulag Archipelago since the day it was featured in the "reading part" of the thread. I found a used copy on Ebay and it showed up yesterday. I got through the first 40 pages last night before I fell asleep. It has potential I think but it's a slow read. The writing in the book I got is so small I almost need a magnifier to read it.

I wanted to reply to this last week, but since I am still unable to post a comment, I couldn't. So I hope Molly is here to read this. Here is what I say about that: Yes, I agree. Archipelago a slow read, and can be very tedious. At least, parts of it. For example, in the chapter on getting arrested by the commie authorities, Solzhenitsyn goes into mind-numbing detail concerning who got arrested, when they got arrested, how they got arrested, what sorts of arrests characterized different years of the post-tsarist, commie era, interspersed with eyewitness accounts of atrocities committed by the authorities, and also some of Solzhenitsyn's biographical details. This last bit is important. You can skim through much of this stuff if you like, but be careful, because without warning, Solzhenitsyn will suddenly start talking about himself, how he came to run afoul of the Soviet authorities, how he was sent to prison, etc. So you don't want to miss out on that. Also, he makes a number of references to Russian history and literature, and expects the reader to know what he's talking about. I stumbled many times over these things.

Solzhenitsyn is doing this for a reason, and not because he's a Russian writer who writes long, tedious books. He wants Lenin's/Stalin's/Krushchev's/etc. atrocities to be recorded for the sake of history so they won't be forgotten. Frequently, what he has put into print in the Archipelago series exists no one else. If it weren't for him, the commies would have succeeded in covering it up, keeping it hidden, and eventually, flushing it down the memory hole. So all of these details that read so tediously to us are vitally important to have in there, so they may be kept alive, so that the world may remember, and evil may be confronted with its own fruits.

I encourage you to stick with it. If necessary, limit your reading to a little bit at a time. I think you'll find it's worth the effort.


sirota mofified.jpg
Mr. Sirota Insists Upon Himself


Dead Symbols

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” This is the opening line of William Gibson's authoritatively famous cyberpunk novel Neuromancer. Whole essays have been written about what an awesome opening line and what an awesome novel it is, but I can't agree. It all seems so dated now. Remember when that sort of thing seemed so cool and hip? But think about that line. It only makes sense if you're old, written as it was in the days of analog television and local stations that went off the air after midnight. In these days of 24/7 cable and satellite HDTV, I think that the image of a dead television channel is less and less capable of carrying the weight that Gibson intended.

Cyberpunk pretty much shot its wad a couple of decades ago, am I right? After the movie Blade Runner, that was just about it. From what I see, people are fascinated a lot more by stories about vampires and zombies than they ever were about grimly dystopian cities with neural net electronic gizmos.

I read Neuromancer a number of years ago, back when i was told it was cool and hip, and I remember almost nothing about it now. I think it's a novel whose time has come - and gone.


Battle of the Brits

Objective criticism is probably the most difficult task anyone can ever do. Whether it's about a book, a movie, a poem, a painting, or whatever, it is extremely hard to separate "this is bad" from "I don't like this".

OK, so at this point, I think I'm ready to argue that Terry Pratchett is a better writer and deserves more honor than P.G. Wodehouse. In my view, Pratchett's characters are better developed, funnier, and his books have more variety. The tendency that prolific writers have to struggle against is doing the Same Old Thing again and again. Because coming up with fresh, new ideas is hard and writers can be lazy like the rest of us. Also, if you find something that works, you want to keep on doing it. That's a human tendency, too. I will grant that all writes rely on formula to a certain extent, and Pratchett certainly isn't exempt, but as far as the Same Old Thing goes, nobody milks the cow quite like Wodehouse. If you cut up his series of 'Jeeves' books into chapters, put them in a big box, and then accidentally drop the box, you would have a hard time figuring out what chapter went where, they all read so much alike.

I read Wodehouse and I smile. I read Pratchett and I laugh out loud.


Books For Morons

Longtime Ace reader and infrequent commenter Anwyn (who, by the way, has her own blog) e-mailed me earlier this week to recommend Ken' Wheaton's novel Bacon and Egg Man, which she thinks morons would enjoy. Why? Because

It is a snappy, hilarious read that brings up serious issues without taking itself any too seriously...Wes lives in the northeast corner of what used to be the United States. New York and its surrounding blue-state cohorts have seceded, and in the resulting Federation, original Bloomberg’s original soda ban has led to the illegality of fat and sugar and basically everything that tastes good...Wes lives the life of an average guy who works a job, makes a living at it, and keeps to himself. But he’s a drug dealer and a user—not only does he get bacon, eggs, real milk and butter, ribeyes, sausage, and yes, soda for his clients, he eats them himself...

And soon he gets caught.

In other words, we're not just living in a nanny state. We're living in a nanny Bloomberg state, which is far worse. You can read the rest of her review here. She also says (in her e-mail, not in the review):

Also, it ties right in to this post of Ace's because in this vision of the future, all the media is Gawker. Or Google, for media "utilities" like real-time weather or webcam views of pretty much anywhere. But mostly Gawker. Umpteen channels of Gawker.

Because that's just what everybody needs. More Gawker.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, rumors, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at aoshqbookthread@gmail.com.

So what have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as we all know, life is too short to read lousy books.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:04 AM | Comments (206)
Post contains 1258 words, total size 8 kb.

1 I just finished "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn and am now reading one of her previous books, "Sharp Objects."

Posted by: Travis at April 21, 2013 07:08 AM (9WkMB)

2 I'm here because I know Moo Moo doesn't read books. THAT much is obvious.

Posted by: Sean Bannion at April 21, 2013 07:09 AM (iOEg6)

3 "I wanted to reply to this last week, but since I am still unable to post a comment"



This is really absurd.  You need to contact Andy or Maet.  They seem to be able to unstick people quickly. 



Posted by: Tami[/i][/b][/u][/s] at April 21, 2013 07:09 AM (X6akg)

4 I was mostly reading the news this week unfortunately.

I did read Pohl's "Merchants of Venus" but I reviewed that *last* Sunday (PM). Something about it seemed off, so I looked the guy up. Yep. Communist League until Ribbentrop-Molotov. True-believer Marxist, in short.

Posted by: boulder hobo at April 21, 2013 07:10 AM (QTHTd)

5 Am reading M. T. Anderson's "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing - Traitor to the Nation - Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves." Excellent writing, and humor. Other than that, revisionist history as re the American Revolution, with a diversity theme. Spoken by a black teenager, extremely well educated and musically trained, the language and cadences of late eighteenth century America spot-on.

Posted by: The littl shyning man at April 21, 2013 07:12 AM (PH+2B)

6 Is there a prize for being the LAST commenter on the previous thread?

Posted by: goathead at April 21, 2013 07:14 AM (bWQXp)

7 Totally disagree about cyberpunk. I am too young to relate to dead stations, but still very much enjoy William Gibson, and I think his contributions to the genre of scifi in general can't be overstated. Going beyond Neuromancer, it's really pretty remarkable to see how adept he is at recognizing future trends. Also, you can't post a rebuttal, so nany nany boo boo.

Posted by: Lauren at April 21, 2013 07:14 AM (wsGWu)

8 OregonMuse....

Excellent point about Gulag. Solzhenitsyn is acting as the first historian, not just an author.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 21, 2013 07:15 AM (/WLC3)

9 Finished Papal Stakes.  It was a fair book, but not as good as the first two in this sub-series of the 1632 series.  The problem was that it was very slow in parts but it recovered towards the end.  It is a fairly hefty book for those that read fast and therefore want some meat on those bones.  I have now started a fantasy book that I picked for 99 cents on one of those daily deals; The Obsidian Dagger.

Posted by: Vic at April 21, 2013 07:16 AM (53z96)

10 Nice point on the Gulag Archipelago, I'd add that you owe it to yourself and the fallen to read it as slowly or as quickly as you can but to read it and keep it.

Everything you need to know about the liberal mind is in that book.

Gonna go look for some 9 milly,

happy reading

Posted by: sven10077@sven10077 at April 21, 2013 07:18 AM (LRFds)

11 I am reading "The Shakespeare Guide to Italy" which isn't really about the guy we think of as Shakespeare. But, it is fascinating! I just finished Shakespeare by Another Name by Mark Anderson. I think old Will from Stratford is another hoax perpetrated by a totalitarian government - Elizabeth's Tudor England. Okay - Have at it!

Posted by: Janetoo at April 21, 2013 07:18 AM (R+fMx)

12 LOL, on Russian writers, everyone I have ever read has been a slow read.  They take 40 pages to describe how a blade of grass waves in the wind.

Posted by: Vic at April 21, 2013 07:18 AM (53z96)

13

"Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot"' by Starr Smith is a good read about the actor's WW 2 experiences. Written after his death the stories are from those who served with him.

 

Already a movie star and pilot, Stewart enlisted in the Army as a Private in March 1941. He ended the war as a full Colonel in command of the 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 8th Air Force. Before he flew B-24 bombers from England he was a B-17 bomber instructor in Idaho. Officially credited with 20 combat missions he also flew about 20 that were not credited. After the war he transferred to the reserves and retired in 1967 as a one star general.

 

One disappointing part of the book is a very short reference to a combat mission Stewart flew in 1966 on a B-52 over South Vietnam while on active duty. I had to find info about that mission on the web.

 

With the exception of the WW 2 era film about Band Leader Glenn Miller, who died December 1944 when his plane crashed, Stewart never made a WW 2 war movie. He said Hollywood never got it right. He rarely talked about his wartime experience and never allowed Hollywood to capitalize on his war record.

Posted by: ExSnipe at April 21, 2013 07:19 AM (PBm/l)

14 Can't talk about Wodehouse, never read any of his stuff, but Pratchett is good.

Posted by: Vic at April 21, 2013 07:19 AM (53z96)

15 I have had Gulag Archipelago (vol 1) on request at my local library for about 6 weeks. I actually, unknowingly, requested vol. 3 the first time and received only to realize that I missed vol 1 & 2. So as soon as vol 1 gets returned by whoever has it. A long time ago I read 'A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' will probably reread that, as well

Posted by: ghostofhallelujah at April 21, 2013 07:20 AM (XvrTA)

16 15 GhostofHallelujah,

radical moonbats will disappear the book....

The GA is on a hate list for 'college progressives'

they are into petty bullshit passive aggressive games as seen at bookstores nationwide.

Posted by: sven10077@sven10077 at April 21, 2013 07:22 AM (LRFds)

17 I've read virtually all the Jeeves books, but have never even picked up a Terry Pratchett book. I'll start one tomorrow.

Posted by: Lincolntf at April 21, 2013 07:23 AM (ZshNr)

18 Speaking of slow reads, I've been reading Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" off and on for years.  I'm currently on Volume 5 but until making this post I literally hadn't picked it up for months.


On what I *have* read, I finished William T Vollman's "Europe Central" which was written very much in the manner of the Serbian writer Danilo Kis's samizdat works (the book was dedicated to him in a manner which I obviously thought was fitting) which used to infuriate the Soviets because they were written in a very Borgesian factual manner which also incorporated real characters.  It dealt with German and Russian people involved in WW2 and how they got the rug pulled out from under them by both Hitler and Stalin.  It is a bunch of interconnected short stories where characters from one will subsequently show up being viewed from a different perspective.  A major presence throughout the book was Dmitri Shostakovich, who was continually being threatened by Stalin for his art and refused to knuckle under.  Highly recommended if you like the sort of thing it was, which not everybody will.  I found it fascinating.


Following that I knocked off a novella by Denis Johnson called "Train Dreams" which my youngest Hatette recommended.  It was like an understated tall tale about this guy logging in the Northwest who bad things seem to happen to as he ambles his way through life.  It is very well written and kept me spellbound for the short time it took me to finish it (a day and a half and I'm a *very* slow reader).  It was originally published in the Partisan Review and everybody who read it liked it so much that they talked him into publishing it as a stand alone book.


I just started "Phi:  A Voyage from the Brain to the Soul" by Giulio Tononi, which is a fictional work that has Galileo interacting with more modern scientists on the nature of the soul.  I just started it and learned about it from a review in the WSJ which fascinated me.  I think it's done somewhat in the manner of Godel, Escher, Bach which was highly recommended to me by a number of people, including fellow morons, but for some reason had a hard time getting into and put it down for a while.  That might be because of my state of mind at the time and I'll try to pick it up subsequently.  Anyway the current book is gorgeously illustrated and annotated which makes it quite the aesthetic experience.


Oh and also for books that I've been reading for a long time; I made some headway last night into "Freedom at Midnight" by Larry Collins and Dominiwue LaPierre about the partition of Pakistan.  I keep putting it aside because I get involved with other books but I think I'll stay with it to the end this time.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 07:24 AM (86Ex2)

19 Just finished Jack Ludlow's trilogy about the conquest of southern Italy by the Norman's, specifically the de Hautville brothers. I'm not really a fan of his writing but the story itself is one worth reading as it has long been ignored by historical novelists. A good read about events just prior to the first crusade. It starts with "Mercenaries", then "warriors", and ends with "Conquests".

Posted by: hobbes at April 21, 2013 07:26 AM (GQLx0)

20 Haven't read Gulag. I need to put it on my list. Way back when, I took a Russian Lit course as well as an Introductory Russian Language course. The language about killed me but the lit has stayed with me. I remember the prof saying that a key theme in the lit was the Motherland as almost a Christ figure. Suffering, betrayal, redemption. Even post revolution.

Posted by: Ragamuffin at April 21, 2013 07:27 AM (fzFF6)

21 Speaking of slow reads, I've been reading Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" off and on for years. I'm currently on Volume 5 but until making this post I literally hadn't picked it up for months.


Yes very slow read,  I struggled through it until I got to the part where he blamed Christians for the fall and I closed it up and took it back to the library.

Posted by: Vic at April 21, 2013 07:27 AM (53z96)

22 Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 11:24 AM (86Ex2)

Collins and LaPierre wrote a great book called "O Jerusalem," about the fight for Jerusalem during Israel's war of independence.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 21, 2013 07:28 AM (/WLC3)

23 And before I forget OM I love that pic.

Posted by: Vic at April 21, 2013 07:28 AM (53z96)

24 OT: Who's watching the Borgias? They just jumped into the incest this season. What's next? The blond chick rolling around with Jeremy Irons?

Posted by: waldo at April 21, 2013 07:28 AM (y2XjR)

25 Pic reminds me of yesterday. Niece turned 1 yesterday and would not smash her smash cake. Maybe it was too pretty, or she was just tired and she'llmget to it today. (it really was a pretty cake-Alice in Wonderland Tea Party theme.)

Posted by: RWC at April 21, 2013 07:29 AM (Wl/Ht)

26 The morons have been asking for nude AtC photos for awhile.  This place always satisfies.

Posted by: pep at April 21, 2013 07:30 AM (6TB1Z)

27 Well folks, gotta run but I will be back in a few hours to catch up.

Posted by: Vic at April 21, 2013 07:32 AM (53z96)

28 I finished two books over vacation "Civilization, the West and the Rest" by Niall Ferguson. Quite good, history and economics. This I bought in paperback.

I also read "The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc" Vols. I and II. by Mark Twain. These were ebooks on my iPhone. Free. Tough reading. Not humorous except in small doses. But good reading nonetheless.

Posted by: navybrat at April 21, 2013 07:33 AM (t1VIV)

29 Collins and LaPierre wrote a great book called "O Jerusalem," about the fight for Jerusalem during Israel's war of independence.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 21, 2013 11:28 AM (/WLC3)



They're very good writers.  I picked this up when I found out from my son in law that his grandfather was almost killed in the partitioning of Pakistan.  Reading this certainly points out the carnage that people endured (shocking that the rock worshipers have been such disruptive murdering pieces of shit) and also what a fucking weirdo Gandhi was in ways that the entertainment/education fuckheads have sanitized.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 07:33 AM (86Ex2)

30 I agree re Neuromancer.   In the end the "truth-value" of fiction matters.   Is the world the author depicts real or likely to become real?   Is the nightmare the thing we really ought to fear?   High-tech dystopias write cool, and used to read cool, but not anymore, because that's not what's going to happen.   The dystopias of the future are going to be decidedly low-tech affairs, after the system crashes, where human beings kill each other for food and bottled water.   In other words, much more like The Walking Dead than Blade Runner.   

Posted by: The Regular Guy at April 21, 2013 07:34 AM (34Hju)

31 I'm reading "Intellectuals" by Paul Johnson, as recommended here a couple of weeks ago. Quick Review: It's Assholes all the way down!!

Posted by: Mr. Dave at April 21, 2013 07:35 AM (k5zTJ)

32 I love both Pratchett and Wodehouse. Sure, some of the Jeeves books can be repetitive, but so can some of Pratchett if you read enough. I never got "Lords and Ladies", for example, but I still think "Going Postal" is a total scream even for re-reading. As for Wodehouse, read the short story "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend". It is a gem--one of the perfect short stories (like "Omnilingual" by H. Beam Piper, for science fiction). Also the "Mulliner Nights" collection of short stories. Uncle Fred is *clearly* a Moron in good standing, and I suspect Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo is a primordial version of Val-U-Rite.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 07:36 AM (wfSF5)

33 Taking Game of Thrones with me to Iceland. Worst case I'll buy something at the airport if it bores the shit out of me

Posted by: Zakn at April 21, 2013 07:37 AM (zyaZ1)

34 Cyberpunk, being linked into a certain moment's vision of technology, had its expiration date built in.

Posted by: zsasz at April 21, 2013 07:37 AM (MMC8r)

35 By the way, if you want to read a truly great novel, read The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford.   Wow!   I can't remember when the sentence-by-sentence writing of a novel was more surprising and exciting.   It's almost a century old now (it came out in 1915, I believe).   I can't believe I hadn't read it before now.

Posted by: The Regular Guy at April 21, 2013 07:37 AM (34Hju)

36 What makes Neuromancer seem really dated now is that it takes place in a future in which World War III happened in the past.

Posted by: Heh at April 21, 2013 07:37 AM (1jM8S)

37 Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 11:36 AM (wfSF5) Hey Sabrina, who does your editing and cover work?

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 07:37 AM (l86i3)

38 Instapundit has a link for a free Kindle download of Gerald O'Neill's The High Frontier for today only.

http://tinyurl.com/chm3akr
 
You may have heard of this man, if you recall hearing of O'Neill space colonies or cylinders. He was a space settlement activist.

Posted by: GnuBreed at April 21, 2013 07:39 AM (cHZB7)

39 I have a suggestion for a theme for next week - the political motivation behind the pussification of science fiction. It used to be the case that somewhere between 10-25 percent of sci-fi was libertarian/conservative/classical liberal in vision. Now the sci-fi / fantasy racks are dominated by fantasy and sci-fi written by chicks. The balance is the churned out alternative history and Cory Doctorow endorsed party line crap. Can we start by separating out fantasy and sci-fi? I noticed that Barnes and Noble has sections titled "Teen Paranormal Romance", "Teen Romance", "Teen Fiction". If they can get that granular for teens can't we al least get the real sci-fi separated from the Harlequin sword-fighting mages on horseback?

Posted by: motionvew at April 21, 2013 07:39 AM (6Tbb5)

40 Yes very slow read, I struggled through it until I got to the part where he blamed Christians for the fall and I closed it up and took it back to the library.

Posted by: Vic at April 21, 2013 11:27 AM (53z96)



Gibbon commits a number of howlers which updated footnotes gleefully point out.  He was extremely well read in putting this together but some of the blind spots point out the dangers of being an autodidact.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 07:40 AM (86Ex2)

41 I had trouble getting started reading The Gulag Archipelago, too. Best advice: stick with it. You'll get used to the tempo and tone of his writing, and if you're like me, at some point you won't want to put it down. I took mine to work, kept it open in a drawer of my toolbox and read it at break time and lunch.

Posted by: antisocialist at April 21, 2013 07:40 AM (eGr8Z)

42 I prefer Varlam Shalamov "Kolyma Tales"  to Solzhenitsyn. Shalamov is better writer who spent 17 years in Gulag (more then Solzhenitsyn).




Posted by: redmonkey at April 21, 2013 07:41 AM (OmxJU)

43 By the way, if you want to read a truly great novel, read The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. Wow! I can't remember when the sentence-by-sentence writing of a novel was more surprising and exciting. It's almost a century old now (it came out in 1915, I believe). I can't believe I hadn't read it before now.

Posted by: The Regular Guy at April 21, 2013 11:37 AM (34Hju)



I'll second that.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 07:41 AM (86Ex2)

44

29 Capt Hate,

 

Glenn Beck often talks about Gandhi in a good way. I agree, I don't think he and others have read about his non peaceful acts. They only read the good parts about him.

Posted by: ExSnipe at April 21, 2013 07:41 AM (PBm/l)

45 #19  hobbes, I enjoyed that series of books also,  a good read.

I recently read  "The Quest for the Lost Roman Legions", by Tony Clunn. He's a British Army officer that was fascinated by the the German destruction of the Roman legions under Varus in the Teutoberg Forest. After many years of painstaking walking the ground with a metal detector and plotting recovered items, tens of thousands of artifacts were discovered to pinpoint the location of the battle. Germany has built a museum there, near Osnabruck. It's a Roman Custer's Last Stand writ large.

Posted by: JHW at April 21, 2013 07:41 AM (B38OD)

46 Dude! There are easier paths to baby fresh breath than a 2,000 Flushes bowl cleaner mint.

Posted by: Jeff Spicoli at April 21, 2013 07:42 AM (OZoBY)

47

Re Niall Ferguson... read his book The Ascent of Money.  

 

Re Paul Johnson... Intellectuals is a great read and reminds us that, if a politician or political theorist treats the people closest to him like shit, then what he says politically shouldn't be trusted.   (A rule applicable to the past two Democratic Presidents.) 

Posted by: The Regular Guy at April 21, 2013 07:43 AM (34Hju)

48 If you like psychological suspense/crime fiction, I just discovered an author who I think is fantastic - Michael Robotham. He's British, I think.  So far, I've read, "Say You're Sorry" and "Lost" and I've enjoyed both. Not action/gory thrillers but good plot twists and an engaging writing style. "Say You're Sorry" was hard to put down once I started.

Posted by: jeannebodine at April 21, 2013 07:44 AM (LBBS3)

49 Right now I'm reading "The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to The Great War". It's pretty good, considering most books I've found about World War I are very dry and statistical. This one is the stories of 12 immigrants who either enlist or are drafted to serve in WWI. Not so dry and statistical.

Posted by: antisocialist at April 21, 2013 07:45 AM (eGr8Z)

50 Most of my reading these days is stuff I don't want to read, but have to.  But I did pick up a little booklet the other day, and have enjoyed it so far.

It's called "Instruction Manual  for Ruger SR-Series." 

SR9, nothing better out there at that price, and many priced higher that  aren't as good. 

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2013 07:46 AM (BeSEI)

51 43 By the way, if you want to read a truly great novel,
read The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. Wow! I can't remember when
the sentence-by-sentence writing of a novel was more surprising and
exciting. It's almost a century old now (it came out in 1915, I
believe). I can't believe I hadn't read it before now.

Posted by: The Regular Guy at April 21, 2013 11:37 AM (34Hju)

I'll second that.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 11:41 AM (86Ex2)



I just looked that up on Amazon.  The Kindle edition is free.


http://tinyurl.com/ce4pnfz

Posted by: Tami[/i][/b][/u][/s] at April 21, 2013 07:47 AM (X6akg)

52 Always amazed at how much reading some people get done. I did read a campaign manager's handbook over the last two weeks. But that's not the kind of reading we talk about here, is it.

Posted by: Truman North at April 21, 2013 07:48 AM (EsTrr)

53 14 Can't talk about Wodehouse, never read any of his stuff, but Pratchett is good. Posted by: Vic at April 21, 2013 11:19 AM (53z96) Can't talk about Pratchett, never read any of his stuff. but Wodehouse is good. Heh.

Posted by: real joe at April 21, 2013 07:48 AM (PD2ad)

54 44 -

Gandhi was a punk.  And he was a lawyer, so that's two strikes...

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2013 07:49 AM (BeSEI)

55 Oh, sure, don't anybody put "new one up" in the morning thread. Just leave the room empty. The echo gave it away. Well, pthhhht. I've got things to do, bookworms. Have a day.

Posted by: A. Mindful Webworker - too smart for words at April 21, 2013 07:49 AM (U13jb)

56 Probably,that rumor about Lucrezia, is likely overstated, then again the likes of Machiavelli, which informs the series, 'slattered' in Captain's words, the character of Catherina Sforza, rather liberally, think of Nico, like Steve Schmidt, with better hair.

Posted by: luigi vercotti at April 21, 2013 07:49 AM (Jsiw/)

57 motionview Now the sci-fi / fantasy racks are dominated by fantasy and sci-fi written by chicks. (gives 'ette Stare-O-Death) AtC? May I take the Ravage for a little run, s'il vous plait? Just kidding. I know what you mean. Why do you think I went indie? The legacy publishers didn't want my two-fisted tales of space adventure where the humans win. Sucks to be them...

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 07:50 AM (wfSF5)

58 52 -

I read somewhere that work will make you free, so you've got that going for you.  Which is nice. 

Posted by: BurtTC at April 21, 2013 07:50 AM (BeSEI)

59 Yesterday I signed up for a free promotional offer through Amazon Audible Books (Audible.com) and got two free audiobooks downloaded to my Kindle Fire.   14.95 a month but I can cancel at anytime which I intend to do before the 30 day trial period.  I downloaded the audio Bible and also the latest novel by Elizabeth George, "Believing the Lie", an Inspector Thomas Lynley mystery.  I really like Ms. George's books.

Posted by: mama winger, maybe today at April 21, 2013 07:50 AM (P6QsQ)

60 Great pic of the baby, btw!

Posted by: A. Mindful Webworker - leaving now. Really. Honest. ... at April 21, 2013 07:50 AM (U13jb)

61 Pratchett always seems to think he's a lot funnier than I do. Having talked to him in person years ago, he's pretty fond of himself.

Posted by: zsasz at April 21, 2013 07:50 AM (MMC8r)

62 Just grabbed The Good Soldier for Kindle. As long as we are referencing WWI, don't forget A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. An all time favorite.

Posted by: real joe at April 21, 2013 07:50 AM (PD2ad)

63 Plus, cyberpunk is still "a thing." It's just not a very popular thing. But people still think about it and play games based on it. I guess the problem is, the future got here too fast.

Posted by: Truman North at April 21, 2013 07:50 AM (EsTrr)

64 What ho. What ho. What's everyone having a bally chin wag about today?

Posted by: TheQuietMan at April 21, 2013 07:51 AM (IXTKs)

65

54,

Exactly. Plus he wandered around in his underware. Prevert.

Posted by: ExSnipe at April 21, 2013 07:51 AM (PBm/l)

66 Ghandi II was way better than the first one.

Posted by: zsasz at April 21, 2013 07:52 AM (MMC8r)

67 OSP, my artist is Les Petersen (www.lespetersen.com.au) and he's a hoot. I don't know if my editor wants her name splashed all over the intertubes, but you can email me at firstname DOT lastname at the gmail thingy. She's pretty busy right now but she might know other good by-the-word editors.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 07:53 AM (wfSF5)

68 Wow the REAL Sabrina Chase, here amongst us mortals. That's neat!

Posted by: Truman North at April 21, 2013 07:55 AM (EsTrr)

69 I was doing some research for background info on a concept I was cinsidering writing about and then found out some asshole had already written my story. I say "asshole" because it was so damn good. At least he saved me a bunch of effort. The title is "Immortal" by Gene Doucette. If you ever wondered what one of our Morons would be like if he had walked the earth since he was a Cro-Magnon and couldn't die, this is the book for you. Would he be a wry, sarcastic bastard? Oh, yes. Would he drink a lot? Oh, VERY yes. Read this book or the terrorists win.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 21, 2013 07:55 AM (JDIKC)

70 If you like Wodehouse, and also are a mystery buff, be sure to read the Lord Peter Whimsey series of books by Dorothy L. Sayers.

Posted by: mama winger, maybe today at April 21, 2013 07:55 AM (P6QsQ)

71 GhostofHallelujah, radical moonbats will disappear the book.... The GA is on a hate list for 'college progressives' they are into petty bullshit passive aggressive games as seen at bookstores nationwide. Posted by: sven10077@sven10077 at April 21, 2013 11:22 AM (LRFds) Funny you mention that, my tiny local branch here in suburban Columbus, OH has only a couple of employees who have worked there forever. One is a older, hipster goatee'd prick who has his car plastered w/ Obama stickers and does weekly sing-a-longs with the kiddies and has self-recorded CDs in the music section where he sings about social justice and other commie bullshit. While another older lady (also has her car plastered w/ Obama stickers) who used to chastise my kids for pushing the handicap-door opener because they needed to "save energy" (I used to call her the Door Nazi) my kids were only 3 or 4 yrs old at the time. MY history with that scrunt goes back a few yrs, I had requested a book 'Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud, and Deception to Keep You Misinformed' by Chris Horner. When I went to the desk to inquire about it she started reading the title and became so disgusted she couldn't get through it. Sooooo to be dick, I pretended to have been distracted and asked her to read it again. She knew I was being a dick, and I knew she knew..it was that type of deal. I took pity and didn't wait for her to repeat the full title to me. These two assholes had the library decorated as a virtual shrine to their Marxist Messiah after the election last Nov (the whole bldg is only about 700 sq feet) atop all the shelves were displayed books about Dear Leader...When I went in their w/ my kids, I turned around some of the books so I didn't have to look at Preezy's smug face while I was in there.. As I recall the goatee'd prick gave a little derisive snort when I picked up Gulag Arch (vol. 3) Screw these totalitarian assholes. I'm going back there tomorrow and asking for vol 1 again

Posted by: ghostofhallelujah at April 21, 2013 07:56 AM (XvrTA)

72     I'm about half-way through "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer, a half-German/half-French soldier in the Wehrmacht during the 1942 to 1945 phase of the Eastern Front.  Although a minor controversy was sparked when some professional historians complained about some inaccurate details in the book, it still remains one of the must-reads for understanding what happened on the Eastern Front in WWII. 

    To me, it seems pretty authentic (and hard to put down).  After reading some of the more critical reviews, I thought, "C'mon, the author was sixteen years old when the book started and a whopping 19 when the war ended in 1945.  Does the fact that he got some names of equipment and places wrong really surprise anyone?"   Hell, I retired from the Air Force last year and already I'm having trouble remembering the names of guys in my squadron that I deployed overseas with as recently as two years ago.  Some stuff fades, some sticks forever (I'll never forget accidentally flying into Mexico while trying out the nav system on what we thought was the most technologically advanced helicopter in the world at the time.  Oops...)

     Sometimes, I think the demand that every fact and detail in a memoir be absolutely spot on gets a little out of control.  Unless you're an obsessive diary keeper, I think errors are going to be inevitable.  If I tried to write something based on my life, I shudder to think how much I would screw up the details.

Posted by: Pave Low John at April 21, 2013 07:57 AM (vSrwu)

73 There's a recent novel, by Alexandra Lapierre, "Love and Honor,' set in Dagestan, back in the mid 19th century, about a son of Imam Shamil, the Chechen war lord referred in Tolstoy, who was adopted by the royal family
and became a Russian prince.

Posted by: luigi vercotti at April 21, 2013 07:57 AM (Jsiw/)

74 Sci-Fi you can't go wrong with (above and beyond Heinlein):

David Palmer - Emergence
Alastair Reynolds - The entire Revelation Space universe (5 novels at present)
Dan Simmons - The Hyperion Cantos (4 novels)

Many more, but those three are my go-to after The Master (Heinlein).

Posted by: Captain Ned at April 21, 2013 07:58 AM (i+Fm3)

75 66 Ghandi II was way better than the first one. Posted by: zsasz at April 21, 2013 11:52 AM (MMC8r) ------------ I'm waiting for the "Ghandi II/Conan The Librarian" Blu-Ray release myself.

Posted by: Captain Whitebread, Designated Commenter at April 21, 2013 07:58 AM (5J54Q)

76 67 OSP, my artist is Les Petersen (www.lespetersen.com.au) and he's a hoot. I don't know if my editor wants her name splashed all over the intertubes, but you can email me at firstname DOT lastname at the gmail thingy. She's pretty busy right now but she might know other good by-the-word editors. Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 11:53 AM (wfSF5) Thanks hon, been working with createspace but they are really wanting to dig in my pocket $550 for a new cover, a bit steep I thought.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 07:59 AM (l86i3)

77 62 Thanks, I"ll have to put those on my "to read" list...

Posted by: antisocialist at April 21, 2013 07:59 AM (eGr8Z)

78

I had the privilege of taking a summer course on Solzhenitsyn in the summer of 1975 after release from USN active duty - English lit elective - several Russian Lit majors, a few Eng lit types, a few Poli Sci folks, and me, the Biochem guy. Edward Rozek, Ph.D. came several times - local Poli Sci prof and WWII survivor of Polish battles with Soviets and Nazis - very stark, very brutal time, and the texts reflect the same.

I would recommend Cancer Ward, as well - a droll and equally brutal view of what evolved in Medicine in that era.

Posted by: Tx Doc at April 21, 2013 08:01 AM (EwzGY)

79 Slowest book I've ever read was Jon Meacham"s "American Lion" supposedly a biography of  Andrew Jackson.  Not that the book was deep, it was because it was terrible and a chore to get through.  Meacham was editor of Newsweek.  That should tell you something.

Posted by: Libra at April 21, 2013 08:01 AM (q5QAW)

80 And I have to tell you, Sabrina is just great. Sabrina: I have to spend some time after my kids go to bed tonight looking at the FEC website and then I can tell you what I really need.

Posted by: Truman North at April 21, 2013 08:02 AM (EsTrr)

81 Sabrina Chase is SF, right? Any stand alone books? Gimme a recommendation to check out.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at April 21, 2013 08:06 AM (g0iT9)

82 The Field and Stream Reader.  Zane Grey.  Kermit Roosevelt. Lee Wulff. Nash Buckingham.  etc.  So there I was...

Posted by: Skookumchuk at April 21, 2013 08:08 AM (x4x3r)

83 Sabrina you had me at me at swash-buckling space opera and then almost lost me again with the frenchy talk. Best wishes.

Posted by: motionvew at April 21, 2013 08:08 AM (6Tbb5)

84 I wanted to reply to this last week, but since I am still unable to post a comment, I couldn't. So I hope Molly is here to read this.
MOLLY, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Molly, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless Workers' State about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, MOLLY, there is a Joe Stalin. He exists as certainly as love and state-compelled generosity and devotion to the State exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.

Posted by: new york times' editor at April 21, 2013 08:09 AM (mGBy8)

85 Two somewhat cyberpunk related novels that are worth a look are Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and a series of novels by Richard Morgan that start with Altered Carbon. Also, two thumbs up for the Reynolds Revelation Space Series.

Posted by: Noel Gallagher at April 21, 2013 08:11 AM (8Mr2R)

86

72 Pave Low John,

 

I read that book about 20 years ago. Pretty good from what I remember. I seem to remember he was quite honest about what his side and the "good Germans" did on the Eastern Front. But I could be wrong.

Posted by: ExSnipe at April 21, 2013 08:12 AM (PBm/l)

87 OSP, from what I understand of your Amy Lynn books you might be better served with the photo clip thriller/mystery type cover art, and you can get that for around $200. Don't discount a good cover--it is worth the investment. That's really what a (potential) customer first sees when they look at that Amazon page. I need original art because of my genre(s) and that's what readers expect to see. ( Examples of photomanipulated covers at extendedimagery.com, look in the predesigned section) Truman North-- (blush) (digs hole in ground with foot)

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 08:13 AM (wfSF5)

88 Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 12:13 PM (wfSF5) Thank you. I tried to E-mail you @ WWW.Sabrina.Chase@Gmail.com. It's not going through.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:15 AM (l86i3)

89 I'm reading "the Last Roman" by Edward Crichton.    It may have been recommended here, but I picked it up from the kindle freebie selection.   The premise is pretty goofy with 2017 soldiers getting sucked back to Caligula's reign but the story reads pretty well,  the Roman history is interesting.   I can set this book down but my subconscious churns on the story in my dreams. 

Posted by: PaleRider at April 21, 2013 08:15 AM (vL0Nv)

90 Thanks for the suggestions, Oregon Muse, esp on Terry Pratchett. I love Wodehouse, and I need more laughter in my life. I'll have to check out Bacon Egg Man too. That one sounds good.

Posted by: L, elle at April 21, 2013 08:16 AM (IMejC)

91 69 EoJ,
 
That theme has been explored many times in sci fi. You'd probably like This Immortal by Roger Zelazny as well.

Posted by: GnuBreed at April 21, 2013 08:16 AM (cHZB7)

92 87 OSP, from what I understand of your Amy Lynn books you might be better served with the photo clip thriller/mystery type cover art, and you can get that for around $200. That's exactly what EoJ said. I took some pics and I think they turned out well.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:16 AM (l86i3)

93 Regarding the Gulag Archipelago topic, here are a few highly readable books:
Tzouliadis, The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia; Dolgun, An American in the Gulag; Bardach, Man is Wolf to Man.

Anne Applebaum's Gulag: A History is also interesting; somewhat dry but complete and readable.

I haven't read Gulag Archipelago but One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is short and interesting.

I didn't read all preceding comments here so if this is duplicative, sorry about that.

cheers

chuck

Posted by: dhmosquito at April 21, 2013 08:17 AM (MGZg4)

94 If you want an easier way to get into Solzhenitsyn, start with One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and then move on to The First Circle. They're much shorter and more readable than Gulag. Then do Gulag Archipelago, because it's one of the most important books of the 20th Century. It seems to be turning out to be one of the most important books of the 21st Century too. It gets a little slow when Alexei is going into the finer points of Soviet law but it's worth it. My Dad got me into Solzhenitsyn when I was a teenager and I made some stupid, "Stalin was a cool guy" comment. Instead of giving me the slapping I so richly deserved, he made me read Ivan Denisovich. Dad was one of those awful, awful public school teachers it's so fashionable to hate around here.

Posted by: FART at April 21, 2013 08:18 AM (erQJO)

95 Regular readers of this column may recall my prior reviews of two novels by the Spanish author Arturo Perez-Reverte, The Club Dumas and The Flanders Panel. Today I review a third, entitled The Fencing Master. On Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/cnf64lu Quoth the publishers: The year is 1866 and revolution is brewing in Spain. The corrupt Bourbon queen, Isabella II, is slowly losing her grip on power as equally corrupt exiled politicians vie to be her successor in a new republic. Against this background of political upheaval, Don Jaime goes about his business, teaching a dying art to a dwindling number of students. But then Adela de Otero -- a woman with a mysterious past and an amazing talent for swordplay -- comes into his life, and Don Jaime's world is turned upside down. At first Don Jaime refuses to consider a woman as a student; but with her intricate knowledge of fencing and a mysterious, tiny scar at the corner of her mouth, Adela wins him over and proves to be an expert fencer, gifted, disciplined and determined. Soon she is winning Don Jaime's heart as well. Thus is set into motion a complex succession of plots and counter-plots analogous to the thrust and parry of a fencing match. Mysteries unravel to the final pages, as Don Jaime pursues his lifelong dream of discovering "the unstoppable thrust," not in politics, contemplation of his art or even romance, but on the floor of battle. My thoughts: This is a great book, at its heart the story of the autumn years of a modest, out-of-step gentlemen intent on reaching the finish line with his dignity and morality intact. That goal is complicated, however, by his solitary life in a rapidly changing world and, especially, the sudden appearance of a much younger woman who shows deference and appears to respect what the aging master holds dear. True to form, Perez-Reverte relates the macro story to a delightfully anachronistic endeavor that makes the reader ache for simpler times. In The Club Dumas it was antiquarian book collecting; in The Flanders Panel it's Renaissance painting. As the name suggests, in The Fencing Master the reader will learn the vocabulary and general strategies and tactics of the gentlemen's sport of fencing. Using swordplay as a metaphor for the thrusts and parries of the surrounding political intrigue is, for me anyway, a master stroke. As with this author's other works, strongly recommended for those so inclined. Rating: 4.25 out of 5.

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 08:18 AM (bS6uW)

96 OSP, no WWW in the email ;-) I will await your missive with bated breath...

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 08:19 AM (wfSF5)

97 OSP, no WWW in the email ;-) I will await your missive with bated breath... Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 12:19 PM (wfSF5) Sabrina.Chase@Gmail.com didn't work either. I'll try again.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:20 AM (l86i3)

98      86 ExSnipe,
 
     Yeah, some of it is pretty grim reading, especially the treatment of Soviet POWs.  They basically let them freeze and starve to death, he has one really eye-opening memory of a flat-top train car crowded with almost-naked Russian POWs.  With it being winter and all, the few survivors were huddled behind a huge pile of their dead comrades, trying to get out of the freezing wind created by the train's movement.  Not the kind of thing one would forget seeing, I imagine.

    Cyberpunk was a big reason behind why I wanted to be a military helo pilot.  I read Walter Jon Williams "Hardwired" back in high school and thought that flying a "Panzer" (low-altitude ground effect vehicle, used for smuggling in the novel) was the coolest thing I had ever read about in a novel.  Since "Panzers" don't really exist, I figured SOF helicopters would be the next closest thing.  Funny thing is, I read a lot of Williams and Sterling and other follow-on cyberpunk authors before I got around to reading Gibson, no idea how that happened. 

      Of course, I know people that read some of the thick-fantasy rip-offs of Tolkien (Jordan, Brooks, Goodkind, etc...) before they got around to the man who started it all.....

Posted by: Pave Low John at April 21, 2013 08:22 AM (vSrwu)

99 Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 11:36 AM (wfSF5)

Mr Mulliner FTW

But the greatest story might be "The Great Sermon Handicap" (in _Inimitable Jeeves_).

For my 2 cents, Wodehouse is the much better writer - he makes farce look easy, _almost_ 100% of the time.  Pratchett can come across as labored and silly, like D. Adams.

*ducks*
 

Posted by: pandelume at April 21, 2013 08:25 AM (TXzIm)

100 OSP, no WWW in the email ;-) I will await your missive with bated breath... Posted by: Sabrina Chase at April 21, 2013 12:19 PM (wfSF5) Oh screw it, here is my E-mail. Marshall.Jackson64@gmail.com

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:25 AM (l86i3)

101 Dad was one of those awful, awful public school teachers it's so fashionable to hate around here.

Posted by: FART at April 21, 2013 12:18 PM (erQJO)

Not if he made you read One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovitch!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 21, 2013 08:26 AM (/WLC3)

102    I read "Gulag Archipelago" a while ago, never finished it but definitely remembered his descriptions of the camps and the whole process of being arrested and sent off.  Apparently, Solzhenitsyn was shunned by the writing community when he toured the U.S. in the mid-70s, I guess he made all the hippies uncomfortable with his very presence.  Hard to complain about the "tyranny" that exists in the U.S. to a man who wrote about the gulag system from a survivor's point of view.


     Solzhenitsyn also wrote a pretty good novel about the First World War, "August 1914."  Pretty readable, has about 620 pages.  Hard to find, though, I stumbled on a copy in an indoor flea-market, grabbed it for 5 dollars. 

Posted by: Pave Low John at April 21, 2013 08:28 AM (vSrwu)

103 And before the Field and Stream Reader, it was re-reading two oldies - Nikolenka's Childhood and Tirant lo Blanc.

Posted by: Skookumchuk at April 21, 2013 08:29 AM (x4x3r)

104 My Dad got me into Solzhenitsyn when I was a teenager and I made some stupid, "Stalin was a cool guy" comment. Instead of giving me the slapping I so richly deserved, he made me read Ivan Denisovich.
Dad was one of those awful, awful public school teachers it's so fashionable to hate around here.

Posted by: FART at April 21, 2013 12:18 PM (erQJO)



Your dad sounds like he was a great guy (you're speaking of him in the past tense so I don't know if he's still among the living).  Just for the record, there were a couple teacher's at my daughter's public high school whom I respected a great deal because they had a lot of integrity and were committed to having the light go on in their students' heads.  The rest of them were useless union humps who had *other* priorities.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 08:29 AM (86Ex2)

105 One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovitch was the first great Russian novel(ette) I ever read. Crime and Punishment was the second. I haven't stopped reading them since. Dense, ponderous, but classic in every sense of the word.

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 08:29 AM (bS6uW)

106 So on new anti-collectivist science fiction I recommend: Dan Simmons Flashback and Neal Asher The Departure. Flashback among other non-leftist themes discusses the long term impact of immigration of people who do not share the dreams of Western civilization. The Departure is a hard sci-fi look at the end result of progressivism.

Posted by: motionvew at April 21, 2013 08:31 AM (6Tbb5)

107 I just got an interesting project at work. I work in a printing shop, and a customer came in on Friday with an old book. He wants me to scan the pages and print copies on our high-end inkjet printer. The book measures 24" wide by 9 5/8" high. It's bound in red leather with marbled endpapers. It doesn't appear to have a title. On the cover is the gold embossed seal of the Royal Arsenal. The book consists of 43 color lithographed drawings of military ordnance. They are dated between 1861 and 1867. Each is signed by E. M. Boxer, who does not appear to have a Wikipedia page of his own. However, I have found a couple of references to him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_primer#Boxer_primer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrapnel_shell#British_artillery_adoption The drawings at the second link are similar to what is seen in the book. The owner believes that it may be the only copy in existence.

Posted by: rickl at April 21, 2013 08:32 AM (sdi6R)

108 A couple of times, on the ONT, we've engaged in discussions about flying disasters, i.e., Concorde, Value Jet 592, etc... and how it always sees to be a series of failures, not a singular failure, which leads to the tragedy. One of the morons suggested I buy the book, Hit Parade of True Flying Stories, and I did. It arrived a few days ago and is a teeny-tiny little thing. I look forward to digging into this week. You don't suppose I can be charged with the overdue library fees from 1975 do you?

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 08:33 AM (piMMO)

109 OT but worth noting: Shannon Bream continues her lust-crazed efforts to destroy my marriage and lure me into her boudoir by coming on to me on national television. I stand strong, for now, but my resistance is ebbing.

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 08:34 AM (bS6uW)

110 108 Hi, NDH! That was me. Quite a difference between that little paperback and the book I just described in #107.

Posted by: rickl at April 21, 2013 08:35 AM (sdi6R)

111 That sounds like an awesome project, rickl. Enjoy!

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 08:36 AM (bS6uW)

112 another stupid interfaith memorial service in Boston right now -- this one is outside on the street I flipped the channel and am watching the informercial for the Genie Bra.

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 08:39 AM (vzLhi)

113 You don't suppose I can be charged with the overdue library fees from 1975 do you? I think most libraries cap overdue fees at $56,000, so you're totally safe.

Posted by: Truman North at April 21, 2013 08:39 AM (EsTrr)

114 OT but worth noting: Shannon Bream continues her lust-crazed efforts to destroy my marriage and lure me into her boudoir by coming on to me on national television. I stand strong, for now, but my resistance is ebbing. Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 12:34 PM (bS6uW) It seems fox babes either go for Battle hardened Navy SEALs or Metrosexual millionairs. Good luck.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:41 AM (l86i3)

115 Soothsayer, Disney is playing the Shake It Up movie where they all go to Japan for some reason. Totally less insipid than the interfaith party. Fun fact: the imam from the terrorists mosque, an un-named but indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial and member in good standing of the Muslix Brotherhood, was slated to speak. He was pulled at the last minute.

Posted by: Truman North at April 21, 2013 08:41 AM (EsTrr)

116 Soothsayer, Disney is playing the Shake It Up movie where they all go to Japan for some reason. Totally less insipid than the interfaith party. Most of those girls are over 18, just sayin.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:42 AM (l86i3)

117 Hi, NDH! That was me. Quite a difference between that little paperback and the book I just described in #107. *** thanks! No. It sounds like a TOTALLY different kind of book. I wonder what a book like such as you've described above would be worth.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 08:43 AM (piMMO)

118 I think most libraries cap overdue fees at $56,000, so you're totally safe. *** Whew! That was close! $60k was my limit.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 08:44 AM (piMMO)

119 Memorial for the fallen fire fighters from West, Texas to be held at Baylor on Thursday. Haven't heard if they are being Thatchered or if someone will attend.

Posted by: Ragamuffin at April 21, 2013 08:44 AM (fzFF6)

120 I really wish we could edit our own comments for grammatical errors.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 08:44 AM (piMMO)

121 If you're talking cyberpunk the best is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

Posted by: Kirk Turner at April 21, 2013 08:44 AM (aUkzm)

122 Disney shows are not as bad as they used to be. They are probably on par with ABC's TGIF lineup from 15-20 years ago; the writing may actually be better. And the politics is kept to a minumum. I let my kids watch. But we always take a moment to deconstruct any of the indoctrination that comes up.

Posted by: Truman North at April 21, 2013 08:45 AM (EsTrr)

123 >>112 Could I be any more of a festering hemorrhoid of a human being than I already am?

Posted by: Davey Sirota at April 21, 2013 12:37 PM (vbh31)<<



Not likely.

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 21, 2013 08:46 AM (SCTXH)

124 121 Memorial for the fallen fire fighters from West, Texas to be held at Baylor on Thursday. Haven't heard if they are being Thatchered or if someone will attend. Posted by: Ragamuffin at April 21, 2013 12:44 PM (fzFF6) Unpeople. Jesusland.

Posted by: Truman North at April 21, 2013 08:47 AM (EsTrr)

125 Memorial for the fallen fire fighters from West, Texas to be held at Baylor on Thursday. Haven't heard if they are being Thatchered or if someone will attend. *** Shannon Bream interviewed the West sheriff a few minutes ago and he said that one of the dead is a firefighter from Dallas who had been visiting and ran to the scene when the fire erupted. He could never have known what would happen when he arrived in West yet he likely knew the risk when he ran towards the danger. God Bless to each and every one.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 08:47 AM (piMMO)

126 It seems fox babes either go for Battle hardened Navy SEALs or Metrosexual millionairs. Good luck. Well, I was never the former, and I'll admit the latter is certainly problematic for a man of my humble origins. I am, however, doing what I can: http://tinyurl.com/bru8vem

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 08:49 AM (bS6uW)

127 Drudge cites Daily Mirror that BostonBombBros were part of a 12-man sleeper cell....there goes the 'disenfranchised yoots' angle.

Posted by: zsasz at April 21, 2013 08:49 AM (MMC8r)

128 Drudge cites Daily Mirror that BostonBombBros were part of a 12-man sleeper cell....there goes the 'disenfranchised yoots' angle. *** 10 soulmates is more than I can count in my circle.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 08:50 AM (piMMO)

129 Drudge cites Daily Mirror that BostonBombBros were part of a 12-man sleeper cell....there goes the 'disenfranchised yoots' angle.

Posted by: zsasz at April 21, 2013 12:49 PM (MMC8r)




MFM: A larger Tea Party conspiracy!!!!!!!

Posted by: TheQuietMan at April 21, 2013 08:50 AM (IXTKs)

130 Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 12:49 PM (bS6uW) I hope this isn't some twisted poem pinned to one of your severed ears.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:51 AM (l86i3)

131 I hope this isn't some twisted poem pinned to one of your severed ears. Was referring to the, pic. You're grumpy today, if you don't mind my saying so. Hope your move goes well, btw.

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 08:52 AM (bS6uW)

132 Nary a peep from the Westboro freaks, as far as I know. I would've guessed they would try to inject themselves, like Obama did, into Boston's aftermath.

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 08:53 AM (/v7wy)

133 >>10 soulmates is more than I can count in my circle.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 12:50 PM (piMMO)<<



I think you have more than 10 cellmates here at the HQ.



Oh, you said soul....

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 21, 2013 08:54 AM (SCTXH)

134 Drudge cites Daily Mirror that BostonBombBros were part of a 12-man sleeper cell....there goes the 'disenfranchised yoots' angle. clearly they were upset about the youtube video 'The Innocence of Muslims'

Posted by: ghostofhallelujah at April 21, 2013 08:55 AM (XvrTA)

135 Was referring to the, pic. You're grumpy today, if you don't mind my saying so. Hope your move goes well, btw. Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 12:52 PM (bS6uW) Oh, grumpy, that was funny, WTF is wrong with you. Your supposed to shoot back with an, "I didn't think of that" But no MFing no, istead you choose to call me grumpy , GRUMPY, NO SHIT YOU.... oh, i see what you mean

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:55 AM (l86i3)

136 Not a Christian? Probably ought to skip this. "The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church" by Marvin Rosenthal. Short Bio on the author is he grew up Jewish. Became a Christian and a noted Bible scholar. Headed up the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry for a number of years. Taught pre-trib rapture doctrine for approximately 35 years if memory serves. The studies of Robert Van Kampen, whose questioning studies while asking for Marv's help, led to Mr Rosenthal taking another look at what he had been teaching. Truth was more important to Marvin than his own ego and together they brought to light this view regarding the timing of the rapture in regards to the 70th week of Daniel. Must read for escatalogical truth seekers.

Posted by: teej at April 21, 2013 08:55 AM (K4AdI)

137 81 Sabrina Chase is SF, right? Any stand alone books? Gimme a recommendation to check out. --------- Her standalone books are "The Last Mage Guardian", "Firehearted", and "Scent of Metal". The first two fantasy, the last sci-fi. They're all good.

Posted by: Assault Citizen Anachronda at April 21, 2013 08:55 AM (U82Km)

138 Is it accurate to call them 'sleeper' cells?

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 08:55 AM (ZgBZU)

139 Oregon Muse -- Your take on the opening line of Neuromancer compels me to ask you to consider books with the best opening lines ever.  One bored day in the 'brary, when I knew there had to be something on the shelves that I'd like, I picked up  random books just to read the opening sentence.  I've found a bunch of great authors that way.

Posted by: RushBabe at April 21, 2013 08:56 AM (orY9d)

140

I remember the prof saying that a key theme in the lit was the Motherland as almost a Christ figure. Suffering, betrayal, redemption. Even post revolution. Posted by: Ragamuffin at April 21, 2013 11:27 AM (fzFF6)

 

Passionate love of their country (not necessarily love of whatever regime they are suffering under at the moment) appears to be characteristic of the Russians. That's always interested me, because life for the average Russian has never been easy.

 

I remember P.J. O'Rourke (I think it was O'Rourke) saying somewhere that the Russians were always baffled by American commies who would visit the USSR and trash the US. Of course, the Party welcomed the propaganda value of such tools, but privately, they had contempt for the American commies, because they couldn't imagine themselves going abroad and trashing Mother Russia, however much they hated the government.

 

 I've just started "Citizens" by Simon Schama, a history of the French Revolution. I'm interested in finding out just why it became so f'ed up compared to our revolution.

Posted by: Donna V. at April 21, 2013 08:56 AM (R3gO3)

141 Is it accurate to call them 'sleeper' cells? Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 12:55 PM (ZgBZU) Maybe just woke up cells?

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:56 AM (l86i3)

142 54 Burt TC,

Burt AtC is a lawyer...

Lawyering is a symptom not the disease(mostly)

Posted by: sven10077@sven10077 at April 21, 2013 08:56 AM (LRFds)

143 108 Niedermyer's DH,

    If you want to get up to speed on that concept, look up the phrase "causal chain of events" and how that applies to aircraft mishaps.  That was a big part of the Flight Safety Officer course I took a decade or so ago.  According to the AF Safety Center in NM, almost every mishap with military aircraft involves a chain of events, fairly harmless when they happen in isolation, that ultimately build up and result in a crash or mishap.  The whole idea of a safety program was to "break" the chain before it got to that end state. 

   Example:  Pilot #1 fights with the wife all night, doesn't get any sleep.  Pilot #2 is hung-over from a bachelor party.  They both forget to check the Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) that warn about the loss of weather reporting facilities at a destination they are flying to.  They notice some weather while enroute, try to check it with the closed facility, can't get an update.  They also seem to be having problems with their weather radar.  They don't want a delay, however, and decide to press on....right into a thunderstorm cell.  Aircraft has its wings ripped off, jet crashes. 

  As you can see, if one of the things had been "fixed" in the above scenario, the jet would have probably diverted around the thunderstorm area and safely landed somewhere else or turned around.  It was the "chain of events" that caused the crash, not any one single problem in itself.

Posted by: Pave Low John at April 21, 2013 08:57 AM (vSrwu)

144 LOL, I'm thick-skinned so fire away. Moving day pisses me off, too. Maybe that's why I only do it once a decade or so.

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 08:57 AM (bS6uW)

145 Yay, the M&M's car! Where's my favorite, the Cheerios car??

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 08:57 AM (qpM85)

146

'I am reading "The Shakespeare Guide to Italy" which isn't really about the guy we think of as Shakespeare.'

 

The Oxfordians believe that De Vere's first hand knowledge of Italy is one of the stronger points in defense of De Vere as author - since there's no known evidence that the Stratford Man ever did anything even as exotic as, say, travelling anywhere.

 

 

 

 

Posted by: Zombie Shane at April 21, 2013 08:58 AM (dScAL)

147 LOL, I'm thick-skinned so fire away. Moving day pisses me off, too. Maybe that's why I only do it once a decade or so. Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 12:57 PM (bS6uW) Thanks, yeah, it's gonna suck. But that's alright. My new house is really nice, that's something to look forward too.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 08:58 AM (l86i3)

148 But Menino told me the two bombers acted alone.

Posted by: boulder hobo at April 21, 2013 08:59 AM (QTHTd)

149 books with the best opening lines ever Stephen King's The Gunslinger: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 21, 2013 09:00 AM (bS6uW)

150 119 I wonder what a book like such as you've described above would be worth. Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 12:43 PM (piMMO) The owner said he paid $3000 for it. I guess there's only a niche market for it, unlike, say, a first edition of Dickens. I was originally planning to post it on the gun thread, but it's a book after all, so it belongs here as well.

Posted by: rickl at April 21, 2013 09:01 AM (sdi6R)

151 141

Is it accurate to call them 'sleeper' cells?

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 12:55 PM (ZgBZU)

 

Sleeper did bring us the Orgasmitron.

Posted by: Woody Allen at April 21, 2013 09:02 AM (YYyqq)

152 I was originally planning to post it on the gun thread, but it's a book after all, so it belongs here as well. Posted by: rickl at April 21, 2013 01:01 PM (sdi6R) That's awesome. Something that should prolly be sent to the museum of science and industry for all to see.

Posted by: Oldsailors Poet is no longer shamelessly hawking his book Amy Lynn available on amazon. at April 21, 2013 09:02 AM (l86i3)

153 153 books with the best opening lines ever Stephen King's The Gunslinger: The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. -------- Steel Beach: The penis as we know it is obsolete. The Martian: I'm pretty much fucked. Just started The Martian, so no opinion yet. Enjoyed Steel Beach, but that was many years ago.

Posted by: Assault Citizen Anachronda at April 21, 2013 09:04 AM (U82Km)

154

Another good author is Helen MacInnes - some of her books have been re-issued in both print and Kindle form; the rest will be released in August of this year on Kindle.

 

Good stuff for being between 50-70 years old; lots of relevance to some of the stuff that we are seeing today.

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, TX at April 21, 2013 09:04 AM (ADnWI)

155 Nary a peep from the Westboro freaks, as far as I know. *** Oh no! You just missed it. They IMMEDIATELY threatened, via twitter, to picket the funerals of the dead in Boston. I IMMEDIATELY tweeted back to say that I would buy a plane ticket exclusively for the purpose of participating in their beat-down if they did. https://twitter.com/WBCSays

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 09:05 AM (piMMO)

156 I don't think Boxer ever published anything in his own name.  Is it s Royal Artillery manual with his name on it, or a commercial book?

Posted by: Skookumchuk at April 21, 2013 09:05 AM (x4x3r)

157 Nary a peep from the Westboro freaks, as far as I know.

I would've guessed they would try to inject themselves, like Obama did, into Boston's aftermath.

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 12:53 PM (/v7wy)



They've never protested the rock worshipers because they hate the homos as much as Phelps' band of fuckheads.  Plus the religion of pieces might fire back.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 09:06 AM (86Ex2)

158 Holy crap, this weather is about to cause me to write Russian novels.  Snow today, tomorrow, and Tuesday.  Then again Thursday.  The hope on the horizon is that next weekend may be in the 50's.  Maybe even 60.  And sunny.    pleasepleasepleaseplease

Posted by: Muad'dib at April 21, 2013 09:07 AM (SCTXH)

159

I think it's time to say that "White Christian Males" are the new Jews.

The media, feminists, and faculty elite at any university can use any vague generalization against a WCM, any hateful diatribe or hyperbole with unquestioned authority even while it's veracity is presumed. Guilt and intention is presumed without question as though they (we) are all members of the original KKKlan or White Supremacist Nazi's.

The media will pick it up and parrot it as the Truth ad nauseum until it becomes reality because it conforms to their agenda. An agenda that originally was to defend minorities has morphed into full attack on Christians and especially White Male Christians even after illegal immigration has relegated them to another minority status.

To paraphrase a jewish survivor of WWII Germany: What will you do when they come for you and everyone else is already gone?

Posted by: MrObvious at April 21, 2013 09:08 AM (NlAiP)

160 They IMMEDIATELY threatened, via twitter, to picket the funerals of the dead in Boston.

I IMMEDIATELY tweeted back to say that I would buy a plane ticket exclusively for the purpose of participating in their beat-down if they did.


https://twitter.com/WBCSays

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 01:05 PM (piMMO)



I posted too quickly and failed to realize there's no depth to which these ghouls won't descend.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 09:08 AM (86Ex2)

161 Posted by: Pave Low John at April 21, 2013 12:57 PM (vSrwu) *** Scary scenario! But I see exactly what you're getting at.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 09:09 AM (piMMO)

162 You just missed it. They IMMEDIATELY threatened, via twitter, to picket the funerals of the dead in Boston. How did I miss that?? Incontheevable!

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 09:09 AM (E1X66)

163 Comments were flying at breakneck speeds last week. That's maybe why.

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 09:11 AM (E1X66)

164 How did I miss that??

Incontheevable!

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 01:09 PM (E1X66)



I think the MFM has been lowballing the Westboro vermin lately since conservatives are starting to fire back with how Phelps is a life long donk and a delegate to the 2000 convention for fat tub of shit ManBearPig.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 09:13 AM (86Ex2)

165 Their latest threat is for Topeka, KS Westboro Baptist ‏@WBCSays 1h WBC welcomes depraved/debauched Topekans arriving 2 be slopped w/feces-laced Blintzes @ Temple Beth Sodom pic.twitter.com/icYYs1NVa8

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 09:13 AM (piMMO)

166 nood and nobody says anything? that really chaps my bum

Posted by: soothsayerl'c at April 21, 2013 09:14 AM (E7Qlq)

167 gaming thread up

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 09:16 AM (piMMO)

168 146 It was the "chain of events" that caused the crash, not any one single problem in itself. Posted by: Pave Low John at April 21, 2013 12:57 PM (vSrwu) The short story in question is called "The Jet That Crashed Before Take-Off", and that's exactly what it was about: a sequence of seemingly trivial problems that led to a crash. It was originally published in Harper's magazine in 1957, and was collected in the paperback book that NDH mentioned in #108. I read it when I was about 10 years old. The Harper's article is behind a paywall, but the used paperback is easily available: http://tinyurl.com/ckt3a9s The author was a pilot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beirne_Lay

Posted by: rickl at April 21, 2013 09:20 AM (sdi6R)

169 "gaming thread up." Meh. Been there. Windy as a barky speech outside but I'm gonna go fishin'.

Posted by: teej at April 21, 2013 09:21 AM (e0nsQ)

170 Gibson himself has commented on how he completely blew the call on specific elements of technology in the Sprawl series, so he's got that going for him. Gibson's writing hit a nerve in the 1980s. For those of us who came of age in the reign of Ronaldus Magnus, it's of a piece with hair metal, Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, the K-Car, and the Commodore 64--the background noise of a fondly remembered time that maybe wasn't quite as good as we thought it was, but damn, it was fun.

Posted by: Cobalt Shiva at April 21, 2013 09:25 AM (OY/SZ)

171 160 I don't think Boxer ever published anything in his own name. Is it s Royal Artillery manual with his name on it, or a commercial book? Posted by: Skookumchuk at April 21, 2013 01:05 PM (x4x3r) I don't know what it is. It doesn't have a title. The seal of the Royal Arsenal is on the front cover, and the whole book is a collection of drawings. They're all signed by him. I haven't looked closely enough to determine whether the signatures were printed as part of the drawings, or whether he actually autographed them.

Posted by: rickl at April 21, 2013 09:27 AM (sdi6R)

172 To paraphrase a jewish survivor of WWII Germany: What will you do when they come for you and everyone else is already gone?

That was Niemoeller, a "Christian" minister from Germany justifying his policy of standing up for Communists during the McCarthy hearings.

He knew full well that the Communists wouldn't stand up for him if they were let loose, either. He was basically a Communist propagandist himself.

To de-Godwin a bit from this discussion: the Ayatollah Khomeini killed or exiled almost every Communist from Iran. This isn't one of the acts I condemn him for.

Posted by: boulder hobo at April 21, 2013 09:28 AM (QTHTd)

173 Pratchett is a bit irregular, and has a lot of filler content as well as what I think is an anti-religion position albeit constrained. That said, he can turn a phrase like nobody else writing fiction I have read. And as someone said above, I wind up laughing out loud much of the time. I hope to read all of his stuff, but it is hard to get at the used book store.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 21, 2013 09:31 AM (Cnqmv)

174 I've just started "Citizens" by Simon Schama, a history of the French Revolution. I'm interested in finding out just why it became so f'ed up compared to our revolution.

Posted by: Donna V. at April 21, 2013 12:56 PM (R3gO3)



It's a good book and answers your question pretty well.  It was written before Schama completely lost his mind and went completely lib in his outlook.  As it was, he still couldn't resist throwing in some snarky dicksuck comments about Reagan, all of which have been proven to be utter horseshit.



Although Citizens is loaded with facts, it's not his most well narrated book.  You might be interested in reading Jay Winik's "The Great Upheaval" to see the event portrayed in a much more readable manner in addition to getting greatly informed on what was going on in the US and Russia concurrently.  It was recommended to me by a fellow moron and is one of the best works of history I've ever read.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 09:32 AM (86Ex2)

175 I had a slog getting through Parts I and II of The Gulag Archipelago but couldn't put down Part III, "The Destructive Labor Camps." That part made a life long impression and is what I usually re-read from the entire book.

Posted by: geoffb at April 21, 2013 09:37 AM (d3wbb)

176

"I really wish we could edit our own comments for grammatical errors"

 

If we did that most of the comments would be blanks.

Posted by: harleycowboy at April 21, 2013 09:38 AM (+9AX9)

177 Ghandi II was way better than the first one.

Posted by: zsasz at April 21, 2013 11:52 AM (MMC8r)

 

***

 

I found Ghandi III (The Pacifist Strikes Back) to be a little too derivative and meandering.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at April 21, 2013 09:39 AM (pxDth)

178 182 You might be interested in reading Jay Winik's "The Great Upheaval" to see the event portrayed in a much more readable manner in addition to getting greatly informed on what was going on in the US and Russia concurrently. It was recommended to me by a fellow moron and is one of the best works of history I've ever read. Posted by: Captain Hate at April 21, 2013 01:32 PM (86Ex2) I actually have that, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I found it in a bargain bin in the frozen food aisle of my local supermarket, mixed in with diet and celebrity books, mass-market novels, and children's books. In hardcover.

Posted by: rickl at April 21, 2013 09:44 AM (sdi6R)

179 Gulag is about as fun to read as Grapes of Wrath, but with the big difference that it's worth the pain.

Posted by: LiveFreeOrDie at April 21, 2013 09:45 AM (4yFKY)

180

Greetings,   you pantsless   literary  buffs,  you.

 

I picked up  Vince Flynn's American  Assassin  at the Goodwill store the other day for $1.99 in hardcover. They had a really good selection of books, and   they were all the same price.

 

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at April 21, 2013 09:54 AM (+z4pE)

181 Must read for escatalogical truth seekers.

Posted by: teej at April 21, 2013 12:55 PM (K4AdI)

_________


Thanks teej for that recommendation.


Posted by: mama winger, maybe today at April 21, 2013 09:59 AM (P6QsQ)

182 Luv the AtC portrait. Also,  could someone translate the gaming thread post for me?

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at April 21, 2013 10:04 AM (+z4pE)

183

I've read the Gulag A'o, and yes, it is quite a slog and by the end of it you are really just reading the rest because books are sacred to you and you can't leave a classic unfinished.

 

Then you go pick up "A Day in the Life of John Dennison," also by Alexandr Solz'n, and you slap your forehead and say:  "Chto za huy!!!!, I could have just read this, and Koestler's "Darkness at Noon" and I would know all I need to know about Soviet Communism!"

Posted by: Sharkman at April 21, 2013 10:06 AM (03IDC)

184 Must be I'm the odd ball because I enjoyed all 3 parts of The Gulag Archipelago, the detail is what makes it a great book. All 3 parts are on my night stand and I frequently go back and reread specific chapters... I'm convinced that no one should be allowed to graduate from high unless they've read at least one part.

Posted by: ADK46er at April 21, 2013 10:11 AM (+Q4af)

185 On reading the Gulag;  Solzhenitsyn is a great writer and he wrote several great books that are easy to read, A Day In The Life f Ivan Denisovitch for example.  The Gulag is tough sledding because it is very detailed, which of course was being ignored by the West and suppressed by the USSR at the time.  Anyhow I would suggest building up to the Gulag by reading his other work first.

Posted by: Floyd Alsbach at April 21, 2013 10:19 AM (Ad13n)

186 Pratchett's writing is creative, but very uneven.  At times he can be very amusing, but at others he is tedious in a way that only a humorist who starts to Take Himself Seriously can be (see also: Douglas Adams).  If I never hear of or from Granny Weatherwax or her tedious pseudo-philosophy again, it will be too soon.

As others have noted, if all you have read of Wodehouse is Jeeves and Wooster, you are missing about 85% of his total output, and also some of his best work.  The Blandings Castle books are my particular favorites, but I know some Mr. Mulliner fans and some strong Uncle Fred proponents as well.  I am not a golfer, but I still laugh out loud when I re-read Heart of a Goof, his collection of golfing stories, for example.

Wodehouse passed away at the age of 94, in 1975, after writing over 90 books over the span of about 60 years (in fact he was, in the hospital at the end, in the middle of writing one more -- Sunset at Blandings).  In another 40 years, people will still be reading and enjoying his works, because they are so diverse and timeless, while Pratchett will be just a footnote in literary history, because he took one clever idea and rode it until its legs fell off.




Posted by: TH at April 21, 2013 10:27 AM (tcvYF)

187 I read the first two volumes of Gulag Archipelago a few years ago. Solzhenitsyn does a great job of describing the evils of a large central government (er, the gulag) and the bumbling stupidity of such a government (having bureaucrats in charge of agricultural policy etc.) Considering that we already have the bumbling stupidity here, it's kind of sobering.

Posted by: Chandler's Ghost at April 21, 2013 10:32 AM (9JS/n)

188 Can someone tell me about editing on the proof reader level these days?  I'm pretty good at catching their vs there and similar typos that spellchecker misses.   Not sure I would be real good at proofing as my mind tends to auto-correct some things.   Do you have to have special editing programs?   Is there a demand?    I like the security of my job but some days it is very tiresome working with whiny liberals. 

Posted by: PaleRider at April 21, 2013 10:42 AM (ql12X)

189

One of the best opening lines that I ever read in a book (and 1 that caused me to blow Dr. Pepper from my nose) was from one of those "The Destroyer" books:

 

"His name was Remo Williams, and all he wanted to do was help the homeless".

 

The book was written back in the mid 80's, when the media was trying to play down the success of Ronald Reagan's economic policies with constant stories about rampant homelessness. I don't know why, but that line has just stuck in my head for some reason.

 

Posted by: DaveKinNC at April 21, 2013 10:47 AM (/NgNT)

190 About "Gulag", it's important to remember, too, the circumstances under which it was written. Solzhenitsyn wrote it in bits and pieces, hiding each bit where he could, so the Soviet authorities couldn't seize and destroy his entire manuscript. Parts were smuggled into the West, other bits were circulated via hand-copying ("samisdat"). So if the book seems to be badly organized and to make abrupt jumps in topic, well, that's one reason why.

Another reason is that he was making a *legal* case against the Soviet authorities. As other survivors of the Gulag have noted, in particular Alexander Dolgun (who is cited in "Gulag" as the only man who survived the KGB interrogations and kept his sanity, and whose memoir, "An American in the Gulag", is a must-read for anyone who's interested in the Soviet terror-machine), the achilles heel of the Soviet apparachiks was their supposed legality. The Soviet legal code detailed exactly what sentences should be meted out for which crimes, and how prisoners were to be treated - rules that were trampled on by the regime - but being able to cite how the authorities ignored their own laws showed both that individual apparchiks had broken their own law, and brought into question the legitimacy of the entire regime.

By the way, I would suggest starting with Volume 3 rather than Volume 1. Solzhenitsyn finished that in the west, so it more tightly organized. Also, it's more personal; and parts of it, particularly the chapter "First Cell, First Love", are, strangely enough, quite funny.

If anyone asks why I *hate* the Left, I show them those books.

Posted by: Brown Line at April 21, 2013 10:57 AM (CIG73)

191 "Dad was one of those awful, awful public school teachers it's so fashionable to hate around here."

Your dad's students were lucky kids. Unfortunately, far too many of us have had to endure high-school teachers from the Randi Weingarten school of pedagogy: unionized nitwits whose notion of teaching was to preach left-wing cliches.

Posted by: Brown Line at April 21, 2013 11:04 AM (CIG73)

192 Posted by: PaleRider at April 21, 2013 12:15 PM (vL0Nv)


Just downloaded The Last Roman.  I like those kinds of books.

Thanks.

Posted by: Vic at April 21, 2013 11:15 AM (53z96)

193 Talking about Wodehouse's humor, I similarly really enjoy the Lucia and Mapp stories by E F Benson, pure silly escapism. They are public domain but have been slow to be available for eBook, but noticed recently all the novels collected together are 99 cents on Amazon.

Posted by: waelse1 at April 21, 2013 11:15 AM (CvOIm)

194

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, TX at April 21, 2013 01:04 PM (ADnWI)

 

Second the McInnes Reccommendation.  Read a lot of both her books ( a female spy/thriller author is fairly rare) and Alistair McClean's  (usually more than once) as a teenager because  my dad had them.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette, assault Hobbit at April 21, 2013 11:28 AM (wbeNt)

195

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at April 21, 2013 01:05 PM (piMMO)

 

Yep. It's quite telling that the freaks are threatening to disrupt the victim's funreal and not that of the jihadi bomber.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette, assault Hobbit at April 21, 2013 11:29 AM (wbeNt)

196 finished up "The Martian" this week-- thanks for the rec... excellent, suspenseful read-- working on "Terms of Enlistment" by Marko Kloos and i'm loving it-- cheap too like a buck two-ninty-eight or some such--

Posted by: tomc at April 21, 2013 11:55 AM (avEuh)

197 If anyone acted on my tepid recommendation of Dickens' Great Expectations, you have my sincere apology. I finally finished it last night. It's only redeeming feature was that it functioned very well as an absolutely non-habit forming sleep aid. Up thread Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash was mentioned. I really liked it, but thought Diamond Age was better. I loved Cline's Ready Player One, which come to think of it is the antithesis of Great Expectations.

Posted by: Matt in Maine at April 21, 2013 12:27 PM (t/+KI)

198 Re Stephenson's Snow Crash and Diamond Age both seemed pretty good, although very different. I just got a cheapo copy of his Zodiac and thought it was pretty good. If he writes from experience, he has done quite a lot. I am still slogging through REAMDE, but deliberately as I don't want to rush its reading.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 21, 2013 01:02 PM (Cnqmv)

199 All morons need to read fellow Moron Sabrina Chase's trilogy that started with 'The Long Way Home'. Awesome space opera that had me ordering the next one by the second chapter. Been a really long time since I've been so sucked in to a series.

I've been an AF pilot for 25 yrs and she did a GREAT job of nailing the personality of the heroine. I wonder if she has any inside info?

Thanks Sabrina, it was one sci-fi series that I can give to my (early) teenage daughters in the hope that it inspires them the way Heinlein did me back in the late 70's.

Posted by: Phat at April 21, 2013 01:05 PM (+OGrL)

200 1914 for me is much like The Gulag in terms of books which take a while to read, but pay off in the end. In the case of the year-titled work, it brings the same condemnation in detail of The Gulag to the Czarist regime at the beginning of WW I. No one in The West remembers Tannenberg anymore, but that battle pretty much doomed Nicholas I and brought Russia to the revolution, 

I've always really liked Neuromancer, which was fun in a SF noir way, and was sadly prescient in predicting the future. Of course back in the Eighties when Reagan ruled America, the "smart people" all embraced Cyberpunk as the hippest, coolest expression of Science Fiction, and swept the rest of it aside, so that anything other than cyberpunk was left to Harry Turtledove, Jerry Pournelle, and David Weber. (I exxagerate, but that's what a viewer might think anyway.) Then when the era of Ronaldus Magnus turned into the reign of WIlliamus Porkswordus, the "smart people" were quick to kick Cyberpunk to the curb. After all, there was NO chance that the era of End of History and Compassionate BIg Government would EVER lead the way to the Cyberpunk future, right? Well, now it's 2013, you guys tell me Gibson's world view hasn't beaten Clarke, Heinlein, and Roddenberry to become the Future Imperfect.



Posted by: exdem13 at April 21, 2013 01:18 PM (kfSXj)

201 Many months ago on a previous book thread someone recommended 'Night of the Avenging Blowfish' by John Welter.

I requested it from my library and, after a year, it finally arrived. It is HILARIOUS.

Absurdist humor that hits all of the right targets. It surprises me that this book has been out for almost 20 yrs and I'd never heard of it.

Thank you, Sunday Book Thread!

Posted by: Phat at April 21, 2013 01:28 PM (+OGrL)

202 My sole comment for the day: there's no actual evidence that anyone else was Shakespeare except...Shakespeare. The conspiracy mongering around him is about as accurate as the Alex Jones crap about 9/11.

Posted by: Kerry at April 21, 2013 01:32 PM (AYfPj)

203 "Solzhenitsyn is doing this for a reason, and not because he's a Russian writer who writes long, tedious books."

You mean Not only because he's a Russian writer who writes long, tedious books.


Posted by: West at April 21, 2013 01:43 PM (LHKGX)

204 To understand everything going on in today's USA, I'm reading Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind.

Also, tough going. I'm just accepting that I don't remember a whole lot of philosophy 101, not that that would help me. But it's easy to get his major point that we are veering far away from reason into passion, from the Enlightenment to the French Revolution.

Posted by: PJ at April 21, 2013 01:53 PM (ZWaLo)

205

The Gulag Archipelago also contains many stories of numerous heroic individuals. Vasily Grigoryevich Vlasov  and Georgi Tenno are two in particular. But their stories are woven in different chapters throughout the books. You really have to pay attention, but it will be well worth it.

Posted by: deepred at April 21, 2013 02:23 PM (rUiSC)

206

The Gulag Archipelago is slow....but it is the details that mean everything, i.e. the show trials of the thirties where the accused communists would admit to anything to save their families, yet they were all placed in the work camps-prisons or shot eventually.  I read Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak soon after and Russian writers are all slow, but then maybe something gets lost in translation.   The Gulag Archipelago should be required reading in High School.

I've been reading mindless pap on my Kindle...re-reading Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars series which I haven't read in 50 years.  I am also in the third book of Mongoliad.  I actually like them all and they have been free from AmaZon or the Kindle Library.

Posted by: Budahmon at April 21, 2013 05:00 PM (P6jbe)

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