Author Topic: What are you reading?  (Read 845482 times)

Listener

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Reply #400 on: April 17, 2008, 12:16:17 PM

Heinleinism?  I'm curious about what you mean by that...


Heinlein's outlook on politics, governments, family structures, and sex.


IC. I always found the family structure stuff the most interesting.  Politics and governments, not so much.  He took a rather absolutist Libertarian view in later years (or at least, that's what comes across in the last few novels)
Very much so. He's often quoted as saying that "you can only truly own what you can carry in both arms at a dead run".

If you can make it through The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, that's an excellent primer on his social and sexual politics. I wrote about it here and here, if you want more details.

I have honestly never hated a book so much.

Amusingly, not only did I just start my 3rd or 4th trip through "TCWWTW" last night, but I actually like it.  The ending is a little frustrating if you haven't read other Heinlein books (at my first reading I had not read "TMIAHM"), but I like Blert the cat.

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Reply #401 on: April 17, 2008, 01:00:52 PM
[Heinlein is] often quoted as saying that "you can only truly own what you can carry in both arms at a dead run".

I like (and have used as a signature) "You cannot enslave a free man; you can only kill him."


If you can make it through The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, that's an excellent primer on his social and sexual politics. I wrote about it here and here, if you want more details.

I have honestly never hated a book so much.

My issue with Cat is that it's pointless, and then there's the rush of an "ending".  The really bad one is To Sail Beyond the Sunset.  Somebody in another forum said she was starting it, and I told her "Put it down now.  Your time is too valuable." 

She pressed on to the end, but at least I did what I could.

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Reply #402 on: April 17, 2008, 01:03:29 PM
\
Amusingly, not only did I just start my 3rd or 4th trip through "TCWWTW" last night, but I actually like it.  The ending is a little frustrating if you haven't read other Heinlein books (at my first reading I had not read "TMIAHM"), but I like Blert the cat.

It's Pixel.  Not Blert.  "Blert" is just what the cat says.

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Windup

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Reply #403 on: April 17, 2008, 01:10:55 PM

Heinleinism?  I'm curious about what you mean by that...


Heinlein's outlook on politics, governments, family structures, and sex.


IC. I always found the family structure stuff the most interesting.  Politics and governments, not so much.  He took a rather absolutist Libertarian view in later years (or at least, that's what comes across in the last few novels)
Very much so. He's often quoted as saying that "you can only truly own what you can carry in both arms at a dead run".

If you can make it through The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, that's an excellent primer on his social and sexual politics. I wrote about it here and here, if you want more details.

I have honestly never hated a book so much.

I don't know that I'd go that far -- there is The Number of the Beast to consider, even among Heinlein novels, though I have to admit to not finishing it.  And I'm not sure I'd say The Cat Who Walks Through Walls represents his best thinking on the subject, though maybe where he ended up.  I think you're maybe being a little hard on him in the female characters department, though I agree that Cat's female lead was definitely not one of his better characters.  

Do you know anything about To Sail Beyond Sunset?  The blurb has always made it sound like a pseudo-sequel to Cat, so I've stayed away.  I'm starting to think maybe he really should have just called it a career after Time Enough for Love, which was frequently described as "Heinlein's last major work" when it was released.


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Reply #404 on: April 17, 2008, 01:21:47 PM
I like Blert the cat.
The cat is the only character I didn't want to eccoriate with a rusty spoon. Much as I liked Jubal Harshaw in Stranger in a Strange Land, Heinlein did him a great disservice by allowing him to be associated with this pile of crap.

I'm a great believer in the old saw that even bad books are book and therefore sacred, but I strongly believe an exception should be made in this case.

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Reply #405 on: April 17, 2008, 01:30:11 PM
Do you know anything about To Sail Beyond Sunset?  The blurb has always made it sound like a pseudo-sequel to Cat, so I've stayed away.  I'm starting to think maybe he really should have just called it a career after Time Enough for Love, which was frequently described as "Heinlein's last major work" when it was released.

I have not read Sunset. I have no desire to, either. In fact, these days, I tend to be very wary about picking up a new Heinlein.

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Reply #406 on: April 17, 2008, 02:32:21 PM
I just started Greg Bear's Eon today.  I'm hoping it lives up to its reputation.  I know Greg Bear's well-regarded and all, but the two novels of his I've read (Moving Mars and Slant) both left me feeling "eh". That said, Eon's first fifty pages have been promising.

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Reply #407 on: April 17, 2008, 06:22:26 PM
I just started Greg Bear's Eon today.  I'm hoping it lives up to its reputation.  I know Greg Bear's well-regarded and all, but the two novels of his I've read (Moving Mars and Slant) both left me feeling "eh". That said, Eon's first fifty pages have been promising.

Good luck.  I'd like to hear what you think.  I thought Eon was just OK.  Eternity lost me, I didn't like it at all. Never even tried Legacy.  I did like Moving Mars, though, and I have Slant and Forge of God sitting on the bookshelf waiting for my attention.  So I will eventually give Bear another try.

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Reply #408 on: April 17, 2008, 06:47:11 PM
I'm a huge Heinlein fan.  But I very much agree that he should have stopped after Time Enough for Love (although Friday was halfway decent).  Number of the Beast was little more than literary masturbation.  It was annoying to read.  And Cat Who Walked Through Walls... well, I usually finish a book when I've started it.  In this case though, I ended up throwing as far as I could when I was halfway through.  And since I was reading it while lounging in a pool, and "as far as I could" didn't manage to be as far as dry land... well, I never finished it.

I have no desire to read To Sail Beyond the Sunset.



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Reply #409 on: April 17, 2008, 11:35:40 PM

I'm a huge Heinlein fan.  But I very much agree that he should have stopped after Time Enough for Love (although Friday was halfway decent).  Number of the Beast was little more than literary masturbation.  It was annoying to read.  And Cat Who Walked Through Walls... well, I usually finish a book when I've started it.  In this case though, I ended up throwing as far as I could when I was halfway through.  And since I was reading it while lounging in a pool, and "as far as I could" didn't manage to be as far as dry land... well, I never finished it.

I have no desire to read To Sail Beyond the Sunset.


Yeah, as I've said elsewhere, I'm a pretty big RAH fan myself, but those three do seem to be a mistake.  If Time Enough for Love really had been "The capstone of a great career" (a cover-review pullout I happen to remember) we'd have missed Friday and Job: A Comedy of Justice (I'm surprised at how often it gets ignored), but would have been spared The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and To Sail Beyond Sunset (I include that last based on the opinions in this thread; I haven't read it myself).  A tough call, really...

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


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Reply #410 on: April 22, 2008, 11:58:21 AM
I just started Greg Bear's Eon today.  I'm hoping it lives up to its reputation.  I know Greg Bear's well-regarded and all, but the two novels of his I've read (Moving Mars and Slant) both left me feeling "eh". That said, Eon's first fifty pages have been promising.

Good luck.  I'd like to hear what you think.  I thought Eon was just OK.  Eternity lost me, I didn't like it at all. Never even tried Legacy.  I did like Moving Mars, though, and I have Slant and Forge of God sitting on the bookshelf waiting for my attention.  So I will eventually give Bear another try.

Finished Eon.  Thought it was decent but it didn't fill me with a sense of awe and wonder.  Posted additional thoughts over here.  Maybe I just don't get Greg Bear.  Something about his writing seemed to defuse the story's inherent "gee-whiz" aspect.

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Listener

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Reply #411 on: April 22, 2008, 04:45:30 PM

I'm a huge Heinlein fan.  But I very much agree that he should have stopped after Time Enough for Love (although Friday was halfway decent).  Number of the Beast was little more than literary masturbation.  It was annoying to read.  And Cat Who Walked Through Walls... well, I usually finish a book when I've started it.  In this case though, I ended up throwing as far as I could when I was halfway through.  And since I was reading it while lounging in a pool, and "as far as I could" didn't manage to be as far as dry land... well, I never finished it.

I have no desire to read To Sail Beyond the Sunset.


Yeah, as I've said elsewhere, I'm a pretty big RAH fan myself, but those three do seem to be a mistake.  If Time Enough for Love really had been "The capstone of a great career" (a cover-review pullout I happen to remember) we'd have missed Friday and Job: A Comedy of Justice (I'm surprised at how often it gets ignored), but would have been spared The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and To Sail Beyond Sunset (I include that last based on the opinions in this thread; I haven't read it myself).  A tough call, really...


I really like Friday.

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Reply #412 on: April 24, 2008, 05:14:28 PM
Read Neil Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants.  Fun, simple, little breezy read.  There wasn't a lot to it, but I enjoyed it.  (I'm not sure I've read one of Gaiman's books that I didn't like.)

So many books to choose from next...


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Reply #413 on: April 24, 2008, 07:18:21 PM
Read Neil Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants.  Fun, simple, little breezy read.  There wasn't a lot to it, but I enjoyed it.  (I'm not sure I've read one of Gaiman's books that I didn't like.)

I really wish that were being released in the States...



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Reply #414 on: April 24, 2008, 08:22:07 PM
Read Neil Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants.  Fun, simple, little breezy read.  There wasn't a lot to it, but I enjoyed it.  (I'm not sure I've read one of Gaiman's books that I didn't like.)

I really wish that were being released in the States...

I think it's coming out early next year in HC.  I live in the States and ordered it from amazon.co.uk. It cost a little extra, but it was only a pound ($2) to start with, so it still wasn't too bad.  I think with shipping and everything it was under $15 (not really sure how much the HB will cost, but I imagine it'll be close to that).  Kind of expensive for a flimsy 100 page paperback, I guess, but I wanted to read it :)


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Reply #415 on: April 24, 2008, 09:48:43 PM

I'm a huge Heinlein fan.  But I very much agree that he should have stopped after Time Enough for Love (although Friday was halfway decent).  Number of the Beast was little more than literary masturbation.  It was annoying to read.  And Cat Who Walked Through Walls... well, I usually finish a book when I've started it.  In this case though, I ended up throwing as far as I could when I was halfway through.  And since I was reading it while lounging in a pool, and "as far as I could" didn't manage to be as far as dry land... well, I never finished it.

I have no desire to read To Sail Beyond the Sunset.


Yeah, as I've said elsewhere, I'm a pretty big RAH fan myself, but those three do seem to be a mistake.  If Time Enough for Love really had been "The capstone of a great career" (a cover-review pullout I happen to remember) we'd have missed Friday and Job: A Comedy of Justice (I'm surprised at how often it gets ignored), but would have been spared The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and To Sail Beyond Sunset (I include that last based on the opinions in this thread; I haven't read it myself).  A tough call, really...


I really like Friday.


Yeah, I like that one a great deal myself. As I've mentioned elsewhere, he seems to overcome at least some of the perceived problems with his female characters with her.   

Have you read Job? I'm curious what you thought of it.

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Reply #416 on: April 24, 2008, 10:16:49 PM
It's been a while since I had a chance to post, mostly because I've been reading for school and it makes more sense to do an omnibus. In no particular order, what I've read the last few months, and far too short judgements on them.

Oedipus Rex — Creepy
King Lear — It's good to be the fool
Orestia — Interesting, Creepy.
Dream of the Rood — Boring.
Wife of Bath's tale & prologue, general prologue — Canterbury Tales — Lascivious.
Beloved — Scary. Very, Very, Scary. Good though. 
Huck Finn — Good.
The Great Gastby — Good.
The Awakening — Bleak, troubling.
The Namesake — Good, different.
The Epic of Gilgamesh — Interesting.
The Odyssey — I'm sorry, it's a good story but nothing puts me to sleep quicker than the Fagles translation, I don't know why.
The Laramie Project — Good, interesting, telling, sad.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — Good, different from the movie. Liked the movie a bit more, but I like character growth.
I Am America And So Can You — Relaxing, especially considering the above.
Laputa portion of Gulliver's Travels — No.


Short Fiction:
Cat 'n' Mouse — I didn't realize the New Yorker would actually run a sunday morning cartoon — Good.
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge — Tricksy.
Half a Day — Decent, didn't love.
Roman Fever — Funny.
The Cask of Amontillado — Creepy.
Say Yes — Sad.
Various Tales from Ovid (Ted Hughes) — Good.
The Death of Ivan Illich — I liked it, but too long.
That Evening Sun — Good.

And I know I'm leaving some off this list, a lot from short fiction. I'll come back tomorrow to add everything else.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


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Reply #417 on: April 25, 2008, 02:54:56 AM
I'm slowly finishing up Inversions (Iain M. Banks), and it's more involving than I recall.  No big Culture spaceships, but high court intrigue and parallel story structure galore.  To say much more would give too much away. 

It's been a while since I had a chance to post, mostly because I've been reading for school and it makes more sense to do an omnibus. In no particular order, what I've read the last few months, and far too short judgements on them.

<snip>
And I know I'm leaving some off this list, a lot from short fiction. I'll come back tomorrow to add everything else.


"Beloved — Scary. Very, Very, Scary. Good though."
   -I saw the movie before I knew it was a book; it took so many hard turns, I don't remember anything except:
[spoilers]the "dashing the brains out" scene and the creepy dead girl seducing Danny Glover.[/spoilers]

"The Awakening — Bleak, troubling."
   -Concur; you certainly don't read that one to cheer up.

"I Am America And So Can You — Relaxing, especially considering the above."
   -Every inch of that book is a joke that some people just won't ever get.

Short Fiction:
"Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge — Tricksy."
   -NOW maybe you'll understand my story!  :)  Presence of Mind
« Last Edit: April 26, 2008, 04:55:50 PM by Russell Nash »

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Listener

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Reply #418 on: April 25, 2008, 03:37:11 PM
Read Neil Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants.  Fun, simple, little breezy read.  There wasn't a lot to it, but I enjoyed it.  (I'm not sure I've read one of Gaiman's books that I didn't like.)

I really wish that were being released in the States...

I think it's coming out early next year in HC.  I live in the States and ordered it from amazon.co.uk. It cost a little extra, but it was only a pound ($2) to start with, so it still wasn't too bad.  I think with shipping and everything it was under $15 (not really sure how much the HB will cost, but I imagine it'll be close to that).  Kind of expensive for a flimsy 100 page paperback, I guess, but I wanted to read it :)

Ah.  I am going to preorder the fourth Mil Millington book from there; I guess I'll round out my Super Saver Shipping with OatFG.  Thank you for the notification that it's now out.  I must have missed that on the blog.

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Listener

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Reply #419 on: April 25, 2008, 03:40:00 PM

Quote from: Listener
I really like Friday.


Yeah, I like that one a great deal myself. As I've mentioned elsewhere, he seems to overcome at least some of the perceived problems with his female characters with her.   

Have you read Job? I'm curious what you thought of it.

I didn't get it at first, but I liked the idea of slipping from world to world a la the Many-Worlds idea explored in Cat.  I laughed a few times, and I enjoyed the idea of the book, but it wasn't one of his more memorable ones to me.

I liked the post-Rapture scenes in Heaven.  A dystopian view of the afterlife is always interesting to me; two of my favorite books are Waiting for the Galactic Bus and The Snake Oil Wars, both by Parke Godwin.

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Listener

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Reply #420 on: April 25, 2008, 03:40:16 PM
Now reading Gregory Maguire's Wicked for the second time.

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Reply #421 on: April 25, 2008, 07:24:09 PM
The Iliad by Homer



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Reply #422 on: April 25, 2008, 07:56:30 PM
Twilight
Duma Key

and some horrific yet necessary Financial Stuffs for Dummies book

I have always thought that my eyes (20/400, 20/300, astigmatic and deteriorating) were worsened by my constant reading as a kid. I wonder if it would have been better to experience just a fraction of those stories in audio, rather than using up my eyeballs.






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Reply #423 on: April 25, 2008, 08:01:45 PM
Twilight
Duma Key

and some horrific yet necessary Financial Stuffs for Dummies book

I have always thought that my eyes (20/400, 20/300, astigmatic and deteriorating) were worsened by my constant reading as a kid. I wonder if it would have been better to experience just a fraction of those stories in audio, rather than using up my eyeballs.
Unless you're one of those guys from Friction, you're fine. Human vision does not work like that.

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Reply #424 on: April 25, 2008, 11:43:06 PM
Twilight
Duma Key

and some horrific yet necessary Financial Stuffs for Dummies book

I have always thought that my eyes (20/400, 20/300, astigmatic and deteriorating) were worsened by my constant reading as a kid. I wonder if it would have been better to experience just a fraction of those stories in audio, rather than using up my eyeballs.


I think Wintermute is right about that; eyes do not "wear out" from use...

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."