Ben Babcock's profile

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320 reviews
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Ben is currently reading

	Ben Babcock is currently reading: The Women of Nell Gwynne's by Kage Baker bookshelves: currently-reading, to-buy, via-io9	my rating:
	9 hours, 43 min ago · see review
	Ben Babcock is currently reading: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! by Jonathan Goldstein bookshelves: currently-reading, from-library	my rating:
	9 hours, 44 min ago · see review
	Ben Babcock is currently reading: The God Engines by John Scalzi (Goodreads Author) bookshelves: currently-reading, own	my rating:
	Jul 27, 2010 11:49am · see review

Ben's recent updates

July 28

Ben Babcock is currently reading:
The Women of Nell Gwynne's
by Kage Baker
bookshelves: currently-reading, to-buy, via-io9

my rating:

9 hours, 43 min ago · see review

Ben Babcock is currently reading:
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!
by Jonathan Goldstein
bookshelves: currently-reading, from-library

my rating:

9 hours, 44 min ago · see review

Ben Babcock added a quote:
"We all have secret lives. The life of excretion; the world of inappropriate sexual fantasies; our real hopes, our terror of death; our experience of shame; the world of pain; and our dreams. No one else knows these lives. Consciousness is solitary. Each person lives in that bubble universe that rests under the skull, alone." — Kim Stanley Robinson

12 hours, 50 min ago · add quote

Ben Babcock marked as to-read:
The Earth Moves: Galileo and the Roman Inquisition (Great Discoveries)
by Dan Hofstadter
bookshelves: to-read

my rating:

21 hours, 15 min ago · see review

Ben Babcock read and liked Omar's review of Galileo's Dream:

"I had mixed feelings about this book - largely because of expectations I'd developed reading previous KSR books.

Without revealing anything critical about the plot, KSR has come up with a mechanism by which he exposes his readers to Galile...more I had mixed feelings about this book - largely because of expectations I'd developed reading previous KSR books.

Without revealing anything critical about the plot, KSR has come up with a mechanism by which he exposes his readers to Galileo Galilei's life in the 17th century while periodically pulling us forward to a time in roughly the 31st century.

I found KSR's take on the 17th century Galileo to be engaging and thought provoking in unexpected ways. I've been strongly affected by previous KSR books largely because of the way he's used epic scale stories unfolding in monumental settings as lens' into his equally vast, sweeping social and economic theories - all without losing the reader's intimate connections to characters that are carefully and intricately personalized. The 17th century thread in this book, however, eschews the panoramic setting in order to concentrate on Galileo's personal journey.

In my mind, he succeeds thoroughly in this approach. He draws the reader into his depiction of Galileo as a man wrestling to gain perspective on past personal traumas (many self-inflicted, through narcissism and blind privilege) while desperately trying to avoid future disaster. Meanwhile, he uses the events of the 17th century story line and some expositional elements of the 31st century story to give the reader a nice overview of the significance of Galileo's historical position, as the first human being known to have applied what we now call the scientific method. In short, humanity's first scientist.

Unfortunately, while the 31st century thread proves integral in advancing the 17th century storyline; it fails to compel, in and of itself. At first, it feels like a distraction. When it loses some of it's off-putting cartoonish-ness, it never succeeds in finding it's own draw. To me, it feels as though KSR came up with it as a way to develop the 17th century story; but was never able to come up with a good story to drive the 31st century thread forward.

In the end, however, I liked the book. I don't think it'll prove to have as much affect on me as the Mars trilogy did; but taken in the context of KSR's overall work, I see it as balancing the Mars Trilogy. While I never read the Three California's trilogy, I noticed the quality of his characterizations improved noticeably during the span of the Mars trilogy. This trend continues in the Science in the Capital cycle and seems (to me) to have reached a pinnacle with this book.(less) "

21 hours, 24 min ago · see review

Ben Babcock read and liked Amanda's review of Galileo's Dream:

"Publisher's Blurb (courtesy of Harper Voyager): Late Renaissance Italy abounds in alchemy and Aristotle, yet it trembles on the brink of the modern world. Galileo's new telescope encapsulates all the contradictions of this emerging reality. Then one ...more Publisher's Blurb (courtesy of Harper Voyager): Late Renaissance Italy abounds in alchemy and Aristotle, yet it trembles on the brink of the modern world. Galileo's new telescope encapsulates all the contradictions of this emerging reality. Then one night a stranger presents a different type of telescope for Galileo to peer through, enabling him to see the world of humans three thousand years hence. Galileo will soon find himself straddling two worlds, the medieval and the modern. By day his life unfurls in early seventeenth century Italy; by night he is transported through dimensions of time and space no other man of his time could possibly comprehend. Inexorably, Galileo faces trial for religious crimes in his own time, while in the new world he discovers, where science assures men that they can perform wonders, but does not tell them what wonders to perform, he is revered.

Galileo's Dream is, first and foremost, a masterclass in how to write historical fiction. Much of the novel is based in Renaissance Italy, following Galileo at what most consider to be the height of his fame before he is embroiled in disputes with the Church. Life in Italy, the importance of religion, the baby steps being taken towards scientific understanding - all of these are brought to glorious life, with wonderful descriptive passages and the use of Galileo's letters to enforce the events he was living through. I confess that I would have been hugely satisfied with an historical novel that purely explored the life and times of Galileo.

Kim Stanley Robinson, however, intersperses the historical passages with brief visits to the far-flung moons of Jupiter - Galileo travelling through both time and space to discover the colonised moons in 3020. To begin with, these passages felt as though they were shoehorned into the novel in a clumsy fashion, with the reader suffering the same confusion as the Galileo of this novel must have suffered. The passages set in the future were roughly sketched, the worldbuilding not living up to the meticulously researched historical sections. Eventually, you become used to the rough transitions, but I never enjoyed them, and I grew frustrated at the fact that each time Galileo returned from his future visits, his memory was partially cleared of events experienced in the future.

As well as the excellent historical sections, for me the greatest strength of this novel - the factor that gave it both humour and heart - was the stunning characterisation of Galileo Galilei. This is a man who infuriated many of his contemporaries - arrogant, stubborn, opinionated. A man who was liable to forget the day to day running of his household, who was able to commit his daughters to difficult lives. And yet also a visionary - a towering historical figure who gave so much to the world of science. All of this, and more, Kim Stanley Robinson manages to commit to paper - Galileo lives on through this novel.

Ultimately, then, Galileo's Dream is a richly rewarding read that I thoroughly enjoyed. My main issue with it is the pacing created by the dual storylines - this caused me no end of frustration because, at heart, I felt this should have been a straight historical novel. I would recommend this book to those who have even a passing interest in the progression of science. It is excellently written and the "frustrated genius" of Galileo takes centre stage.

Arthur Clarke thoughts: Hmm, Galileo's Dream is yet another solid entry into the short list of six books - and, once again (I feel I am constantly repeating myself in these short analyses) it is a completely different novel from the other five. It brings the science to science fiction, in this case - exploring actual science as well as taking us on a space opera journey to future worlds. It is massively deserving of its place as a finalist, not least of which because this novel shows the continual fascination with science that gave us science fiction in the first place (I think I have expressed that in a rather clumsy manner - but it is the truth that without men such as Galileo and Newton, we wouldn't have such a desire to look at what might be achieved through the use of science). Kim Stanley Robinson's enormous affection for his subject matter shines through, and gives us a novel which is possibly the most honest of the six. I don't think it will win - but I secretly want it to. (less) "

21 hours, 30 min ago · see review

Ben Babcock made a comment on Andrew 's review of The Great Gatsby

Ben wrote: "It's been too long since I read The Great Gatsby to say for sure (I think I read it in grade 12. . ....more "

21 hours, 32 min ago · see review

July 27

Ben Babcock made a comment in the group Goodreads Feedback—Goodreads voted Best Book Recommendation Service: Lifehacker topic:

Ben wrote: "According to the Lifehacker community, Goodreads is the best book recommendation service, winning ou...more "

Jul 27, 2010 06:01pm

Ben Babcock marked as to-read:
The Lifecycle of Software Objects
by Ted Chiang
bookshelves: to-read, via-io9

my rating:

Jul 27, 2010 12:45pm · see review

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Ben's favorite quotes

"Like all of my important memories, it has a potency that has influenced the pocket of time that holds it, so I can remember that particular Saturday afternoon, even though in many ways it was no different from any other. I can remember, for example, what van der Glick was wearing as she stepped out of the elevator, which was a dress covered with clownish polka dots. Rainie would make these heartbreaking stabs at femininity; indeed, she still does. It's not that she doesn't possess a woman's body now, and didn't posses a girl's body then. But clothes never seemed to fit her correctly, and the more girlish they were, the worse they would hang."
— Paul Quarrington (The Ravine)

tags: clothes, femininity, memories

1 person liked it

"Master Li, how are we going to murder a man who laughs at axes?" I asked.

We are going to experiment, dear boy. Our first order of business will be to find a deranged alchemist, which should not be very difficult. China," said Master Li, "is overstocked with deranged alchemists."
— Barry Hughart (Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was)

tags: alchemy, china, mad-scientists

1 person liked it

"We suddenly feel fearful and apprehensive, naked in our perishable flesh, and for just a moment we wish we could go back to being stone—crumbling in death rather than rotting, trapped inside an immobile prison of stone rather than reduced to immaterial souls like those that now rattled within our skulls. The moment passes. There is no point in regretting irreversible decisions—one has to live with them, and we try."
— Ekaterina Sedia (The Alchemy of Stone)

tags: death, decisions, mortality, regret, souls

2 people liked it

"In France, a chemist named Pilatre de Rozier tested the flammability of hydrogen by gulping a mouthful and blowing across an open flame, proving at a stroke that hydrogen is indeed explosively combustible and that eyebrows are not necessarily a permanent feature of one's face."
— Bill Bryson (A Short History of Nearly Everything)

tags: science

34 people liked it

"Soon after I began working for the Professor, I realized that he talked about numbers whenever he was unsure of what to say or do. Numbers were also his way of reaching out to the world. They were safe, a source of comfort."
— Yoko Ogawa (The Housekeeper and the Professor)

tags: mathematics, numbers, society

2 people liked it

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The Alternative World — 39 members — last activity 22 hours, 59 min ago
A private book discussion group focusing on science fiction, weird fiction, alternative history and fantasy of all flavors. Group membership is restr...more

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A place where members can work together to improve the Goodreads book catalog.

Activities include combining editions, fixing book and auth...more

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Welcome to the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club!

SciFi Czar: Brad
Fantasy Czar: Cindy

PLEASE NOTE: From now on I will delete any...more

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This is a place to give feedback about Goodreads. Feature ideas, bugs, or any other suggestion for improvement. The Goodreads staff monitors this gr...more

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Can't remember the title of a book you read a while back? Come post a description on our message board and we can try to help each other out.

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