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I've been listening to an audiobook of Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and I'm just terribly bored by it. Near half through and I feel like eventually it might get somewhere interesting but so far it's felt like mostly set up, or worse, filler.

 

Is it worth following through?

Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East, Vol. I

 

Baird T. Spalding

  On 10/28/2018 at 6:30 PM, auxien said:

I've been listening to an audiobook of Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and I'm just terribly bored by it. Near half through and I feel like eventually it might get somewhere interesting but so far it's felt like mostly set up, or worse, filler.

 

Is it worth following through?

I argued with my brother about this one just the other day. He loves it, but I say any book that manages to make moonmen chucking giant rocks at the earth just feel boring & preachy is doing something seriously wrong.

 

I've been reading a ton of old school spooky stuff for October: Poe, Stevenson, Lovecraft, Machen, Bradbury (Something Wicked), Henry James… Found a JC Oates collection titled Nite-Side that doesn't totally suck.

 

I hunted down The Greater Trumps based on somebody here's recommendation, but it's not my cuppa; too much "power of love will overcome all adversity", not enough grist behind the imagery for me. Felt a bit like A Wrinkle in Time, actually, or the sequel, I can't remember now.

 

Also bought Book of the New Sun 1/2; hope it lives up to the hype.

Edited October 29, 2018 by doorjamb

  On 10/29/2018 at 7:55 AM, doorjamb said:

 

  On 10/28/2018 at 6:30 PM, auxien said:

I've been listening to an audiobook of Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and I'm just terribly bored by it. Near half through and I feel like eventually it might get somewhere interesting but so far it's felt like mostly set up, or worse, filler.

 

Is it worth following through?

I argued with my brother about this one just the other day. He loves it, but I say any book that manages to make moonmen chucking giant rocks at the earth just feel boring & preachy is doing something seriously wrong.

 

I've been reading a ton of old school spooky stuff for October: Poe, Stevenson, Lovecraft, Machen, Bradbury (Something Wicked), Henry James… Found a JC Oates collection titled Nite-Side that doesn't totally suck.

 

I hunted down The Greater Trumps based on somebody here's recommendation, but it's not my cuppa; too much "power of love will overcome all adversity", not enough grist behind the imagery for me. Felt a bit like A Wrinkle in Time, actually, or the sequel, I can't remember now.

 

Also bought Book of the New Sun 1/2; hope it lives up to the hype.

I remember really liking the second Wrinkle In Time book, but I haven't re-read it in probably 20 years so I dunno if I could get into it these days. Machen is so perfect for this time of year (others as well of course, but the Machen I've read really hits the vibe for me). Heard lots of good about the Book of the New Sun stuff, in here as well as plenty of other places, one day I'll get around to it.

 

Thanks for the little insight to you/brother's impression of that Heinlein, if I can find something else soon I'll probably just drop it...if you remember it as being preachy and boring then it's only going to get more preachy from where I am and that doesn't sound good.

I mean, SF is often a narrative vehicle for cool or interesting ideas first, & a compelling story second—& hey, fair enough, not always a bad thing by any means. But, in Harsh Mistress, the ideas Heinlein seems most interested in kicking around are not the gravity/physics, the moontown tech, or anything like that, but instead his pet anarchist talking points (like, the anti-atomic family stuff gets an absurd amount of attention for having nothing whatsoever to do with the plot). It's not that he's wrongheaded, necessarily, but that's not what I'm looking for from the book (YMMV).

i've a question for anyone into mark fisher's stuff: i want to read his Capitalist Realism book - is it collected in the 900-ish pages long "k-punk" volume? or is it a standalone book?

currently reading thomas ligotti's The Conspiracy against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror" and loving it. it's darkly funny at just the right times and i've lol'd while reading it but it's also super dark at times if i think too hard. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-against-Human-Race-Contrivance/dp/0143133144/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6ZN5ZFY361177J38KN1P

 

here's a snippet i posted to instagram. 

 

 

oh, a while back i read another Nikola Barker book.. "wide open" and liked it a lot. i just like her style a lot and  so far just enjoy whatever story she's telling. i loved Darkmans.. should read that again when i can. 

Edited December 2, 2018 by ignatius

  Quote

 

Room to Dream

 

This is enticing!

 

I'm reading the fathermucking Bible because I never read the whole thing. I'm at Judges.

 

Deuteronomy had an interesting bit with God talking through a donkey. A lot of brutal genocidal battles commanded by God himself. Also a lot of really boring bureaucratic distribution of spoils and territory to a bunch of two dimensional characters who you know absolutely nothing about.

 

Joshua is pretty much the same as Deuteronomy except with Joshua as the conduit to God instead of Moses. There was a decent spy action sequence involving a prostitute and the city of Jericho though. Generally, Old Testament God is a MASSIVE asshole if you're not an Israelite. And he keeps reminding everyone about how he saved their asses in Egypt every third paragraph.

  On 12/5/2018 at 3:04 PM, paranerd said:

I'm reading the fathermucking Bible because I never read the whole thing. I'm at Judges.

Judges is my favorite; it's like Bible superheroes. Essentially: the Jews are being naughty, God has some guy do some magic to set them straight, they behave for a while, but later start acting up again, so God… tries the same trick a dozen more times? Yeah okay, that's cool, God. You do you.

  On 12/7/2018 at 7:29 AM, doorjamb said:

 

  On 12/5/2018 at 3:04 PM, paranerd said:

I'm reading the fathermucking Bible because I never read the whole thing. I'm at Judges.

Judges is my favorite; it's like Bible superheroes. Essentially: the Jews are being naughty, God has some guy do some magic to set them straight, they behave for a while, but later start acting up again, so God… tries the same trick a dozen more times? Yeah okay, that's cool, God. You do you.

 

Repetition is so common in these stories. It makes it a slog to read for the few interesting bits.

Grateful Dead Gear - Blair Jackson.

 

you don't have to enjoy the band to get a kick out of the way the author profiles developments in equipment, electronics, recording & PA's that moved live performance sound work forward light years. Whole instruments get biographies, the maker/brand origins nerd spaz is worth the ride, recording evolutions, good section on MIDI & new software, the counter-cultural freak show is left well in the background.

 

 

Mirror of the Marvelous - Pierre Mabille

 

the surrealists on myth is lush brain jizz, beardy mumblings crew alert & excellent brexit-bs poultice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  On 12/2/2018 at 8:37 PM, span said:

i've a question for anyone into mark fisher's stuff: i want to read his Capitalist Realism book - is it collected in the 900-ish pages long "k-punk" volume? or is it a standalone book?

 

No, it isn't included. k-punk is a collection of his blog posts and while some of them were later reworked into what became Capitalist Realism, the latter is a lot more refined. Go for that if you haven't read any of his work. 

Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. For years his writing has seemed right up my alley, but I always got turned off by the endless barrage of details and names. While I still find the prose a bit of a clunky read, it could very well be a translation issue. Nevertheless, "The Library of Babel" is one of the greatest short stories and concepts I have ever read. Recommended for that one alone.

 

Interviews with Francis Bacon. This had some really fascinating insights into the artist. There is a moment where he claims he wanted to paint a mouth full of teeth as beautifully as others can a sunset.


Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov. While I don't 100% love any of his books, the perfectly crafted writing aways leaves me impressed. As far as autobiographies go, this one did something unique by recollecting seemingly unimportant impressions and moments from childhood.

  On 12/26/2018 at 3:25 PM, gnarlybog said:

Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. For years his writing has seemed right up my alley, but I always got turned off by the endless barrage of details and names.

weird, Borges is one of the most straight to the point writers there are. Maybe it's just one particular story that sticks in your mind or something

 

I'm reading 'Patria', the de facto book of the year here in spain, sold a gorillion copies. A story about two families and basque separatist terrorism. As expected, it's pretty shit

Edited December 26, 2018 by span

Was worn out after reading the fascinating and disturbing, but grinding of Helter Skelter (how many Christian names, surnames, various nicknames of people involved depending on who's being quoted or reported by whom wtf)

 

Pulled myself out of limbo by reading Killing Floor by Lee Child, just enjoyed the book tbh, took me 4 days to finish. I've got access to borrow the whole collection so I'll think I'll read a few more.

Mona Lisa Overdrive. Read the whole trilogy and really bored of it now. Only chapter I really enjoyed so far was the assassin talking to the laser-equipped ghost in the alley.

I'm not reading this (yet) but I will probably have to at some point. Always been intrigued by this guy's art, and it sounds like this book is, basically, something pulled out of my dreamworld. 

 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riders_in_the_Chariot /10

  On 1/4/2019 at 8:58 PM, T3551ER said:

I'm not reading this (yet) but I will probably have to at some point. Always been intrigued by this guy's art, and it sounds like this book is, basically, something pulled out of my dreamworld.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sRKEgyZgW8

Damn. I should get this, always dug his work.

You're right, it's something coming straight from what I imagined as a kid when reading synopses of sci fi films I wasn't allowed to watch in TV guides.

I also saw that there's some video game to be released soon that basically steals his style. Sad.

 

The Gertrud character is an inspiration of mine. This book's take is quite different than mine on the decisions and fates of the character but I still like the book. It's an interesting background on Dreyer's meticulous research practices and his interest in trying to get past an author's own potential biases in an biographical take on a subject and trying to find more direct evidence of behavior from the subject themselves.

 

Just finished this and absolutely loved it. Easily the most interesting take on first contact I've read, although completely depressing. Brilliantly illustrates how quickly things could go wrong when entering a completely alien situation with an anthropocentric mindset. Loads of interesting detours on AI, reanimation, the nature of scientific progress etc, as well. This is only the second Lem I've read after Solaris but I'm completely hooked on his work now. Anyone else read this?

no, but you've sold me on it with the concepts

 

The Incal - re-reading/visually absorbing. Pure distilled joy.

 

The Tain - crimbo present of a different translation to the version i had as a kid visiting family in Armagh. Anarchic, surreal, utterly baffling at times & echoes of human mannerisms that transcend the centuries. That the whole farce starts as a "pillow-talk" matrimonial row, the outlandish feats by "your man" Cu Chulainn, the mnemonic maps of the Irish landscape & location name biographies, underpinned by a succinct & thorough interpretative intro that i wish i'd accessed earlier in life.

 

 

 

  On 1/7/2019 at 8:34 PM, romanticdude said:

 

  On 1/4/2019 at 8:58 PM, T3551ER said:

I'm not reading this (yet) but I will probably have to at some point. Always been intrigued by this guy's art, and it sounds like this book is, basically, something pulled out of my dreamworld.

 

Damn. I should get this, always dug his work.

You're right, it's something coming straight from what I imagined as a kid when reading synopses of sci fi films I wasn't allowed to watch in TV guides.

I also saw that there's some video game to be released soon that basically steals his style. Sad.

 

 

Yeah, heard the same thing (about the video game). Which is shitty shit shit - dude's stuff is so very unique/particular. . . and incredibly well done. Already decided that I'm going to ask for this for my birthday, pretty stoked. . . 

  On 1/12/2019 at 5:21 PM, misc said:

 

Just finished this and absolutely loved it. Easily the most interesting take on first contact I've read, although completely depressing. Brilliantly illustrates how quickly things could go wrong when entering a completely alien situation with an anthropocentric mindset. Loads of interesting detours on AI, reanimation, the nature of scientific progress etc, as well. This is only the second Lem I've read after Solaris but I'm completely hooked on his work now. Anyone else read this?

Yes, it's great alright. You should read The Futurological Congress next, has a cool thing where governments bomb each other with hallucinogenic weapons.

  On 1/16/2019 at 10:16 PM, T3551ER said:

 

  On 1/7/2019 at 8:34 PM, romanticdude said:

 

  On 1/4/2019 at 8:58 PM, T3551ER said:

I'm not reading this (yet) but I will probably have to at some point. Always been intrigued by this guy's art, and it sounds like this book is, basically, something pulled out of my dreamworld.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sRKEgyZgW8

Damn. I should get this, always dug his work.

You're right, it's something coming straight from what I imagined as a kid when reading synopses of sci fi films I wasn't allowed to watch in TV guides.

I also saw that there's some video game to be released soon that basically steals his style. Sad.

Yeah, heard the same thing (about the video game). Which is shitty shit shit - dude's stuff is so very unique/particular. . . and incredibly well done. Already decided that I'm going to ask for this for my birthday, pretty stoked. . .

Thanks for this recommendation. This is phenomenal.