Lovely stuff. 
I adore James Thurber and I pretty much adored E. B. White. Except for Charlotte's Web. I have a hard time with Charlotte's Web, but that's just me. 
I do adore Thurber, though. I must dig him out and have another go at him.
What are you reading?
Well, E. B. White did write a book with James Thurber called "Is Sex Necessary?" Lovely stuff. I adore James Thurber and I pretty much adored E. B. White. Except for Charlotte's Web. I have a hard time with Charlotte's Web, but that's just me.
I do adore Thurber, though. I must dig him out and have another go at him.
Lovely stuff. I adore James Thurber and I pretty much adored E. B. White. Except for Charlotte's Web. I have a hard time with Charlotte's Web, but that's just me. I do adore Thurber, though. I must dig him out and have another go at him.
Dig deeper.
Missed this the last time.... and just wanted to give you a hug.Impenitent wrote:Currently reading Queen Bees and Wannabees. Research on bringing up a teenage daughter. I've got my head deep in parenting books at the moment as I'm having a little crisis of confidence in my parenting skills.
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
great reading choice, themary, and hi there! Not that you're online anymore, being caught up in a good book and all......
I am reading . . . . the Norton Anthology of Science Fiction. Ursula K. LeGuin is one of the editors. I got it at the American Library here -- wanted as much escapist speculative fiction as possible within one binding.
And it turns out to have been an excellent choice -- must be 700 pages of short stories. A whole education in the Short Form!
They sort the stories chronologically, and I'm up to 1981.
happy sigh
I am reading . . . . the Norton Anthology of Science Fiction. Ursula K. LeGuin is one of the editors. I got it at the American Library here -- wanted as much escapist speculative fiction as possible within one binding.
And it turns out to have been an excellent choice -- must be 700 pages of short stories. A whole education in the Short Form!They sort the stories chronologically, and I'm up to 1981.
happy sigh
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Primula Baggins
- Living in hope
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That's a good anthology, Teremia. Enjoy! I think some of the greatest short stories ever were SF—something about the genre just suits brevity, big ideas in few words. My writer son is reading his way through the Hugo-winner anthologies and keeps emailing me to rave about this or that classic story. He had never read Nightfall, or The Star, or anything by Tiptree or Le Guin or even Ellison. . . .
Too bad I've not yet learned how to write in few words.
I just don't have time to be concise.
Oh, and I'm reading a stunning new piece of Tolkien scholarship by a writer I deeply respect (and who probably wishes I would get back to it now).
. . . As for you, Holby, you think you can scare me? Do ya, punk?
Too bad I've not yet learned how to write in few words.
I just don't have time to be concise.Oh, and I'm reading a stunning new piece of Tolkien scholarship by a writer I deeply respect (and who probably wishes I would get back to it now).
. . . As for you, Holby, you think you can scare me? Do ya, punk?
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Voronwë the Faithful
- At the intersection of here and now
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One of my treasured possessions! I also have scads of old, falling-apart paperback scifi books, collections of short stories and novels, etc. and every once in awhile I start from one end of the shelf and read to the other.Teremia wrote:great reading choice, themary, and hi there! Not that you're online anymore, being caught up in a good book and all......
I am reading . . . . the Norton Anthology of Science Fiction. Ursula K. LeGuin is one of the editors. I got it at the American Library here -- wanted as much escapist speculative fiction as possible within one binding.
They sort the stories chronologically, and I'm up to 1981.
happy sigh
Anyone ever read "Green Rain"? "Space Plague"? (It was first published as "Highways in Hiding" but that title didn't have the zip that "Space Plague" had.) "The Architect of Sleep"?
I better stop.
I'm betraying my vintage.
Dig deeper.
I grew up on something called, IIRC, "Every Boy's Book of Science Fiction Stories"!
One story haunted me especially, but I haven't ever found it again in adult life and of course as a child I didn't pay very close attention to the authors' names. Anyway, it was about people who were trained to teleport by being tortured -- such a lovely idea, no? Haunted me, as I said. I'd be curious to know what that story was.
Ring a bell, vison?
Also formative, in my case, was "The Space Child's Mother Goose." A BRILLIANT and creepy little book.
Check this out: a little example for you!
I think my favorite poem from The Space Child, however, was this profound little number:
Probable-Possible, my black hen,
She lays eggs in the Relative When.
She doesn't lay eggs in the Positive Now
Because she's unable to Postulate How.
One story haunted me especially, but I haven't ever found it again in adult life and of course as a child I didn't pay very close attention to the authors' names. Anyway, it was about people who were trained to teleport by being tortured -- such a lovely idea, no?
Haunted me, as I said. I'd be curious to know what that story was.Ring a bell, vison?
Also formative, in my case, was "The Space Child's Mother Goose." A BRILLIANT and creepy little book.
Check this out: a little example for you!
I think my favorite poem from The Space Child, however, was this profound little number:
Probable-Possible, my black hen,
She lays eggs in the Relative When.
She doesn't lay eggs in the Positive Now
Because she's unable to Postulate How.
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Voronwë the Faithful
- At the intersection of here and now
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I split off the discussion about Mansfield Park into a separate thread about Books by Jane Austen
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Re: What are you reading?
I had somehow never gotten around to reading Dune, despite always meaning to. And now that I finally have, recently having finished the first book, my main conclusion is - Frank Herbert was a bad writer.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
Re: What are you reading?
The only book I've read of his that I like is "Dune". The others were mostly disappointing.
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Voronwë the Faithful
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Re: What are you reading?
Tolkien didn't like Dune either (as I have mentioned before). I don't think I would call Frank Herbert a "good writer". I still love Dune very much, however.yovargas wrote:I had somehow never gotten around to reading Dune, despite always meaning to. And now that I finally have, recently having finished the first book, my main conclusion is - Frank Herbert was a bad writer.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Re: What are you reading?
Yeah, its not really about the writing. Its the world building that is impressive.
The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End
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elengil
- Cat-egorical Herbitual Creativi-Tea
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Re: What are you reading?
Just like movies - there can be movies that are arguably bad, or have bad aspects (writing, acting, etc) and yet we can still enjoy them nonetheless. If we only ever enjoyed perfect things we wouldn't ever enjoy anything at all.
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.
"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
was a 2020 planner.
"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
Re: What are you reading?
That's totally fair. I've certainly read plenty of enjoyable books with mediocre writing. But I find his language skills worse than mediocre.....one of the big things for me was that I found the dialogue super awkward and unnatural. Like it was written by someone who hasn't heard actual humans talk before. It made the majority of the conversation scenes a chore to get through.
I do think there's the skeleton of a really interesting story in there. I'm hoping for the movie they aren't afraid to rewrite things in a way that feels more natural and can put some better flesh on those story bones.
I do think there's the skeleton of a really interesting story in there. I'm hoping for the movie they aren't afraid to rewrite things in a way that feels more natural and can put some better flesh on those story bones.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
Re: What are you reading?
I don't remember finding Herbert a bad writer in the sense that he did not have the craft. The worldbuilding was vivid. Sandworms are pretty cool.
My memories of Dune are vague, but I think it was that dissonance when the writer clearly thinks they created a really cool and admirable character, who I think is either boring or just unpleasant. It's perfectly possible to write about an evil character, and make them complex or even sympathetic on some level, but when the reader feels very differently about the character than the author does, the book is sunk.
My memories of Dune are vague, but I think it was that dissonance when the writer clearly thinks they created a really cool and admirable character, who I think is either boring or just unpleasant. It's perfectly possible to write about an evil character, and make them complex or even sympathetic on some level, but when the reader feels very differently about the character than the author does, the book is sunk.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
Re: What are you reading?
I really liked Dune - the entire thought put into the clothing to not lose any Moisture just blew me away.
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude