John C. Wright's Blog, page 191

A capacity for incomprehension amounting almost to genius

Here is an article from Theodore Dalrymple concerning John Kenneth Galbraith.

From http://www.city-journal.org/2010/20_1_otbie-john-kenneth-galbraith.htmlTheodore Dalrymple The Galbraith Revival   A Canadian university recently asked me to deliver its annual John Kenneth Galbraith Lecture, named for the economist who for much of my youth was the most famous member of his profession in the world. His books sold by the million and were available everywhere in cheap paperback e...

Book Review: Gene Wolfe and Paul Johnson, plus a kind word about dragontraining

THE SORCERER’S HOUSE by Gene Wolfe. Perhaps the best book I’ve read all year. The book consists of a series of letters from and to an ex-convict named Bax, just out of jail, desperate for money and looking for a place to stay, who trespasses into an odd and empty mansion called Black House in a small town, only to discover, perhaps by coincidence, that he is (or is mistaken for) the true heir.

The house is larger than it seems, and certain windows and doors open up into places beyond the fiel...

He is Risen!

May a joyous and blessed Easter be your this day, and on every happy return of the day.

Wright's Writing Corner -- the Adverb War Continued Obstreperously but Obliquely

The Wednesday issue of the Weekly Writing Column has been delayed, so that we could present it to you on Maundy Thursday

An old classmate weighs in on the Adverb War: http://arhyalon.livejournal.com/115193.html
 The best new piece of advice on writing I know of comes from William Goldman via David Morrell’s book Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing. The whole book is invaluable – it’s the only one I’ve read all the way through and then immediately flipped back to chapter one and read again &ndash...

Expenables-- Awesomesauce or April Fool's Prank?

I came across this trailer on the internets (Thanks, Al Gore!) and I cannot tell if it is a Maundy Thursday prank or if this is for real.

Sly Stallone directs and stars in a guys-killing-commie-punks actioner with Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgen, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke and Terry Crews: and there are cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. By my count, that is eight badass he-men and one RINO.

I think the needle on my awesomometer just slammed against the pin and...

Finally! COUNT TO A TRILLION

At about four o'Clock in the morning this Morning, April Fool's Day, this year also falling on Maundy Thursday, I sent off my manuscript to my publisher. I don't know whether he is willing to buy the first third of a story without seeing how it ends, but other writers do stuff like this and get away with it, so keep your fingers crossed. 

I had told him I would get him something by Easter, in case he wanted to add it to the 2010 publishing schedule, and I made that deadline by four days. Of c...

Heinlein was a Fascist?

I just finished rereading Robert A. Heinlein’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, and I was left with an odd question lingering. Blazoned on the cover of my paperback edition boast the words “controversial best seller!” Why is this book controversial?

Science Fiction is something like a game or thought-experiment played with the reader: the author invents a counterfactual premise but uses the props and setting of the real universe to make the counterfactual seem as likely as possible. The game is to draw out ...

Heinlein was a Fascist

I just finished rereading Robert A. Heinlein’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, and I was left with an odd question lingering. Blazoned on the cover of my paperback edition boast the words “controversial best seller!” Why is this book controversial?

Science Fiction is something like a game or thought-experiment played with the reader: the author invents a counterfactual premise but uses the props and setting of the real universe to make the counterfactual seem as likely as possible. The game is to draw out ...

Anyone who wants to reveiw a book?

Mike Allen, the editor of CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 3 is putting out a call to any reviewers and bloggers who would like to read an advanced readers copy of CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 3 and review it. 

http://time-shark.livejournal.com/369394.html

Which Fictional Universe Would You Rather Live In?

John Scalzi weighs in on a question that frequently causes scientifictioneers to pause and ponder. Which fictional world would you like to live in?

http://www.filmcritic.com/features/2010/03/best-science-fiction-worlds/

I asked a very similar question recently, but I am not as funny as Mr. Scalzi, so my take was more sober, analytical, and, uh, dull. I also asked a slightly different question: which fictional Utopia would you prefer to raise a family in? My not-so-subtle point was that most fic...