Red’s
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(group member since Apr 06, 2014)
Red’s
comments
from the Literally Geeky group.
Showing 21-40 of 65
Ok, now I've got an image in my mind of Wilma Deering playing the part of Janey, who of course goes home with the Overlord...
Here's another thought of a (hopefully) non-spoilery bent: how are people visualising this book, by which I mean do you read it from a modern day perspective, and gloss over all the 1950s-isms (remembering the book was originally published in 1952 iirc), or do you have to do a little bit of mental processing to see the world as an alternate history - the technological development being as it would be if an alien race had taken over circa 1969? So, if you're reading from a modern day perspective, you can see the viewscreens and "electronic computers" in terms of their modern equivalents, and ignore the "radar ranges" etc, whilst if you're taking the alternative history view, you have to begin to engage in a bit of retro-futurism, as it were, where journalists would still have tape recorders and cameras requiring film in 2050. I'm personally doing the latter, but what are you doing (if I've made myself clear above)?
Beth wrote: "I'm not sure about the dinosaur one, but some of the others look interesting."Lara wrote: "WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY DINOSAUR CHOICE?"
I think what Beth meant to say was "I'm not sure about the dinosaur one, it might be too awesome for a mere mortal to actually read"...
/disaster averted
Lara, that would be AWESOME!
Just reading the introduction in the SF Gateway electronic version, and was put in mind of the discussion about kids at the end of the last hangout:"That Wyndham, like Clarke himself, was childless raises intriguing questions. It is almost as if it takes a writer unencumbered by the day-to-day emotional entanglement involved in actually raising kids to articulate a clearer perspective on what childhood means – and to fictionalize what the end of that childhood entails."
Perhaps those of us who are parents, and those who are not, and discuss the book in that context (once we've finished reading it, of course)?
Beth wrote: "*googles Battenburg*"Oh yes, the cake of cakes!
Battenburg - that is all...
If we're talking about scifi books I've read (relatively) recently, I'd be interested to know what people thought about A Calculated Life by Anne Charnock. But I'd equally be fascinated to revisit one of two books by Harry Harrison that I read over 25 years ago now that I thought were amazing at the time - The Technicolor Time Machine, and A Rebel in Time (with a preference for the latter, although I remember the former being very funny)
The kids call it social engineering nowadays, but to me it'll always be good old lying through your back teeth, with enough brass neck to carry it through - that's what I'd bring to the party.
I probably haven't read a book for a giggle for years (yes, I am that sad), but I always liked Harry Harrison on a humorous basis
Crap aliens or nerds - it's a fine line...Ez wrote: "http://www.strangerdimensions.com/201...
I don't want to say it's aliens, but after reading the 4th body problem.... It's aliens. Crap aliens.
(Via @Dimentoid)"
Hey, I post...very occasionally. Here's my review of The Three-Body Problem https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
No problem, I thought you "projected to the back of the ROOM!" in the finest thespian tradition.
Saw that myself - thought "hmm...."
Holy crap, that article is depressing! Doesn't half highlight the keen difference between giving offence and taking it though. Also: "The ultimate aim, it seems, is to turn campuses into “safe spaces” where young adults are shielded from words and ideas that make some uncomfortable" - isn't that what universities are supposed to do...? Also, the very concept of "trigger earnings" seems to be appropriating a very real psychological reaction to actual trauma, and devaluing it by putting it in the hands of people who are simply emotionally incontinent
Wish I hadn't read your thoughts on the formulaic nature of YA fiction, because I can't read Steelheart now without seeing that... I also find teen romance written by adults a little odd, or at least I did with Little Brother...Then again, maybe all this is the down side of having a cynical adult's view of things? I remember reading Le Guin's Earthsea stuff as a boy and feeling the main character in that was totally relatable, so what does my 45 year old self know?
Necropost!!!In the spirit of sharing, just seen this review of The Martian from Warren Ellis:
"THE MARTIAN, by Andy Weir, is imminently a Matt Damon film. It is probably going to be a fun film, if it sticks to the source material, because this was at once a relaxing and involving read. It doesn't demand too much other than that you sit back and watch the chirpy everyman-ish protagonist do gonzo planetary science. The guy is mostly likeable enough (if the author takes any serious missteps, it's in working too hard to make us like the guy, which occasionally has the inverse effect), and the situation treacherous enough (astronaut left on Mars with a limited time to live) to give you a rooting interest in seeing the story through, and Weir does indeed sail you through smoothly to the end. I mean, sure, it's Robinson Crusoe On Mars, but it does have the capacity to surprise and delight. It's short and will recharge your spirits."
Seems about right...that is all - move along now... ;)
I know the technical definition, but I've never quite understood this YA thing: whilst the protagonists are generally of a specific age range, none of the topics seem to be specifically of a young adult's "type", unless, of course, sci-fi and fantasy are being treated as a juvenile literary type, which is both wrong-headed and patronising. Am I missing something?
