jazzbo Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 I first read Gateway serialized in a magazine (Galaxy?). Was hard to wait month to month to read installments! Good stuff. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 Just finished Greybeard by Brian Aldiss. I rarely read Aldiss; he's an excellent writer, but usually not recommended material for someone dealing with depression. He makes the existentialists seem like rousing comedians... Quote
Serioza Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) I first read Gateway serialized in a magazine (Galaxy?). Was hard to wait month to month to read installments! Good stuff. computer psychoanalyst is particularly cool character. sometimes he mocks Robinette who responds with dark satire. Although story bouncing back and forth between Robin's adventures i really enjoyed reading. Edited February 4, 2009 by Serioza Quote
BruceH Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 I first read Gateway serialized in a magazine (Galaxy?). Was hard to wait month to month to read installments! Good stuff. Same here! Quote
BruceH Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 -my winter science fix-A Short History of Nearly Everything in my continuing struggle to become scientifically literate-yes that was me the Biology teacher caught snoring when the lights went down and the overhead projector snapped on. When I retire from school teaching, I definitely plan to study biology, physics and more history, just for the sheer pleasure found in exercising my curiosity. A very readable and informative book. Quote
sal Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) Im back to reading Robert Fisk's "The Great War for Civilisation". On top of it being 1000+ pages, its not the easiest nor the most pleasant reading, but its nice to read a chapter or two of it at a time in between other books. Its also one of the most informative and comprehensive history books Ive ever read. I feel like Im taking a college course, and I don't mean that in a negative way at all. After a couple more chapters of this one, I plan on reading Chuck Palahniuk's "Invisible Monsters". I recently finished Philip K Dick's "Confessions of a Crap Artist", which I mentioned in the Philip K Dick thread. Great read. Edited February 4, 2009 by sal Quote
ejp626 Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 Unfortunately, the copy of Bolano's The Savage Detectives I was going to start was missing the first 100 pages! Grrr! So I went back on the wait list at the library for that one. In the meantime, I got to the top of the list for Adiga's The White Tiger, which is the recent Booker winner. It is a fairly dark novel about a self-made entrepeneur from a village in India who gets his big break as a driver for a rich family. Reviews are generally positive, though there are some who feel he really wades into the muck too much and overdoes the backwardness of rural India. I'm enjoying it so far. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 The Owl in the Attic and Other Perplexities by James Thurber. I haven't read Thurber since I was in my twenties, and while I remember his stories being humorous (and his characters being even more humorous), I don't remember him being this side-splitting funny. Douglas Adams has nothing on this guy! Quote
jazzbo Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 Thurber was amazing. I have a 1000 page biography of him on my shelves. . . I really must read it one day. . . . Quote
sal Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 Unfortunately, the copy of Bolano's The Savage Detectives I was going to start was missing the first 100 pages! Grrr! So I went back on the wait list at the library for that one. In the meantime, I got to the top of the list for Adiga's The White Tiger, which is the recent Booker winner. It is a fairly dark novel about a self-made entrepeneur from a village in India who gets his big break as a driver for a rich family. Reviews are generally positive, though there are some who feel he really wades into the muck too much and overdoes the backwardness of rural India. I'm enjoying it so far. Eric, I happened to get both of these books using a Borders gift card given to me a couple months back. Haven't read either one, but heard lots of positive things about both. Please let us know what you think of them. Quote
ejp626 Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 Unfortunately, the copy of Bolano's The Savage Detectives I was going to start was missing the first 100 pages! Grrr! So I went back on the wait list at the library for that one. In the meantime, I got to the top of the list for Adiga's The White Tiger, which is the recent Booker winner. It is a fairly dark novel about a self-made entrepeneur from a village in India who gets his big break as a driver for a rich family. Reviews are generally positive, though there are some who feel he really wades into the muck too much and overdoes the backwardness of rural India. I'm enjoying it so far. Eric, I happened to get both of these books using a Borders gift card given to me a couple months back. Haven't read either one, but heard lots of positive things about both. Please let us know what you think of them. I just finished The White Tiger. It is a real page-turner! I didn't quite read it in one sitting, but maybe three. It's really interesting, has lots of local color (the detail this writer goes into about the lives of the poor servant class in India!), and is written with a kind of sardonic wit. It is also kind of Bizarro-world version of Crime and Punishment, which is made apparent about 15-20 pages in, but I don't want to go into detail here. At the same time, I don't think I would read it more than once. It's got one thing to say, says it brightly/sharply, and then slinks off. Maybe it would benefit from repeated readings, but I don't think so. It is more of a surface-type book. The Bolano looks like one you might want to read more than once (if anyone had the time of course). Far more consciously literary, has more depth, etc. I will be able to start this one more seriously later next week. Quote
jlhoots Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 Unfortunately, the copy of Bolano's The Savage Detectives I was going to start was missing the first 100 pages! Grrr! So I went back on the wait list at the library for that one. In the meantime, I got to the top of the list for Adiga's The White Tiger, which is the recent Booker winner. It is a fairly dark novel about a self-made entrepeneur from a village in India who gets his big break as a driver for a rich family. Reviews are generally positive, though there are some who feel he really wades into the muck too much and overdoes the backwardness of rural India. I'm enjoying it so far. Eric, I happened to get both of these books using a Borders gift card given to me a couple months back. Haven't read either one, but heard lots of positive things about both. Please let us know what you think of them. I just finished The White Tiger. It is a real page-turner! I didn't quite read it in one sitting, but maybe three. It's really interesting, has lots of local color (the detail this writer goes into about the lives of the poor servant class in India!), and is written with a kind of sardonic wit. It is also kind of Bizarro-world version of Crime and Punishment, which is made apparent about 15-20 pages in, but I don't want to go into detail here. At the same time, I don't think I would read it more than once. It's got one thing to say, says it brightly/sharply, and then slinks off. Maybe it would benefit from repeated readings, but I don't think so. It is more of a surface-type book. The Bolano looks like one you might want to read more than once (if anyone had the time of course). Far more consciously literary, has more depth, etc. I will be able to start this one more seriously later next week. I'm more than half-way through 2666 (approx. 900 pages total). It's well worth it IMHO. Quote
BillF Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus Classic stories from 1941-62 by Asimov, Pohl, Sheckley, Simak, Blish, Clarke, Aldiss, Ballard, etc. Quote
BruceH Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 (edited) The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus Classic stories from 1941-62 by Asimov, Pohl, Sheckley, Simak, Blish, Clarke, Aldiss, Ballard, etc. Are you re-visiting the science fiction of your youth, or just getting into it for the first time? That's not meant to be a snarky question as I myself have been revisiting the sf of my youth, off and on, for the last decade or more. Edited February 7, 2009 by BruceH Quote
poetrylover3 Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 How My Heart Sings-A Bill Evans bio. Quote
BillF Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus Classic stories from 1941-62 by Asimov, Pohl, Sheckley, Simak, Blish, Clarke, Aldiss, Ballard, etc. Are you re-visiting the science fiction of your youth, or just getting into it for the first time? That's not meant to be a snarky question as I myself have been revisiting the sf of my youth, off and on, for the last decade or more. I first read these in the seventies, when I was in my thirties. Does that count as "youth"? Quote
ghost of miles Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Posted February 7, 2009 James Naremore, THE MAGIC WORLD OF ORSON WELLES. Can't seem to get off this Welles kick! Quote
fasstrack Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 ...a current and excellent New Yorker article on James Baldwin, and his early tenure in Paris. Quote
jazzbo Posted February 8, 2009 Report Posted February 8, 2009 The manual to my new Roland TD-9S V-Drums kit. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted February 8, 2009 Report Posted February 8, 2009 I first read these in the seventies, when I was in my thirties. Does that count as "youth"? Looking back from 51, I'd say yes... Quote
BruceH Posted February 8, 2009 Report Posted February 8, 2009 The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus Classic stories from 1941-62 by Asimov, Pohl, Sheckley, Simak, Blish, Clarke, Aldiss, Ballard, etc. Are you re-visiting the science fiction of your youth, or just getting into it for the first time? That's not meant to be a snarky question as I myself have been revisiting the sf of my youth, off and on, for the last decade or more. I first read these in the seventies, when I was in my thirties. Does that count as "youth"? Maybe, maybe... I'd say anything that's 30 years or more ago probably does. I noticed that you recently read some classic Poul Anderson and James Blish (Cities In Flight) and I couldn't keep silent any longer. Back in the seventies, did you ever check out The Science Fiction Hall of Fame short story collection, or the giant Science Fiction Argosy anthology edited by Damon Knight? Quote
sidewinder Posted February 8, 2009 Report Posted February 8, 2009 The Enron Book - 'Smartest Guys In The Room' (NOT) Proves pretty conclusively that nothing whatsoever was learnt in the US as a result of that fiasco. Quote
BillF Posted February 8, 2009 Report Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus Classic stories from 1941-62 by Asimov, Pohl, Sheckley, Simak, Blish, Clarke, Aldiss, Ballard, etc. Are you re-visiting the science fiction of your youth, or just getting into it for the first time? That's not meant to be a snarky question as I myself have been revisiting the sf of my youth, off and on, for the last decade or more. I first read these in the seventies, when I was in my thirties. Does that count as "youth"? Maybe, maybe... I'd say anything that's 30 years or more ago probably does. I noticed that you recently read some classic Poul Anderson and James Blish (Cities In Flight) and I couldn't keep silent any longer. Back in the seventies, did you ever check out The Science Fiction Hall of Fame short story collection, or the giant Science Fiction Argosy anthology edited by Damon Knight? I hadn't heard of either of those, but have just bought a used copy of Science Fiction Hall of Fame on Amazon. Thanks for the tip! American publications have always been far less evident here than British ones, and that goes for SF authors, too. In my "real" youth, i.e. teenage years, I read Wells, Wyndham and some Clarke, and later Ballard when he came along. I didn't read any American SF until my thirties. I didn't get on to PKD until a few years ago and have read several of his recently, as well as lots of other American writing from the "classic era", as you have noticed! Edited February 8, 2009 by BillF Quote
BruceH Posted February 8, 2009 Report Posted February 8, 2009 The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus Classic stories from 1941-62 by Asimov, Pohl, Sheckley, Simak, Blish, Clarke, Aldiss, Ballard, etc. Are you re-visiting the science fiction of your youth, or just getting into it for the first time? That's not meant to be a snarky question as I myself have been revisiting the sf of my youth, off and on, for the last decade or more. I first read these in the seventies, when I was in my thirties. Does that count as "youth"? Maybe, maybe... I'd say anything that's 30 years or more ago probably does. I noticed that you recently read some classic Poul Anderson and James Blish (Cities In Flight) and I couldn't keep silent any longer. Back in the seventies, did you ever check out The Science Fiction Hall of Fame short story collection, or the giant Science Fiction Argosy anthology edited by Damon Knight? I hadn't heard of either of those, but have just bought a used copy of Science Fiction Hall of Fame on Amazon. Thanks for the tip! American publications have always been far less evident here than British ones, and that goes for SF authors, too. In my "real" youth, i.e. teenage years, I read Wells, Wyndham and some Clarke, and later Ballard when he came along. I didn't read any American SF until my thirties. I didn't get on to PKD until a few years ago and have read several of his recently, as well as lots of other American writing from the "classic era", as you have noticed! Funny, the British authors you mention were all available here in the States when I was growing up, and I read them all, especially Clarke. I liked his non-fiction too. Quote
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