Book Nerd Book Nerd’s Comments (group member since Dec 20, 2018)



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Jul 10, 2024 03:44AM

153021 The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
198 pages

The Vampyre by John William Polidori
The Vampyre by John William Polidori
72 pages

Group Total: 187,283
Jul 03, 2024 05:45AM

153021 I want to read this later this month too.
Jul 03, 2024 05:44AM

153021 Oh okay. But I don't think they're directly related.

Lesle wrote: "That is what I was thinking Inkspill. It would have been interesting to know what that conversation was like. Like how would one even start a random conversation like that? "Well I think both of you should write a ghost story""

I guess it's a reasonable thing to do in a world without tv and internet.
Jul 01, 2024 06:32PM

153021 I've read this before and I'll give it another read since it's quick.
I had a copy but I can't find it so I'll read it online.
What's the prequel?
153021 I think I have to find time to read Lonesome Dove before I read this.
Jul 01, 2024 06:28PM

153021 Mbuye wrote: "Book Nerd wrote: "First published in 1962, J.G. Ballard's mesmerizing and ferociously prescient novel imagines a terrifying future in which solar radiation and global warming have melted the polar ..."
Glad you're liking the ssf. I usually struggle to read other genres lol.

Bernard wrote: "He has a unique style which gives a new dimension to SF."
That's what I've heard. I've never read Ballard before, I'm looking forward to it.

Karin wrote: "I just put a hold on it and might read it, although I've read so much global warming stuff (fiction and nonfiction) I am not sure yet if I'll read it."
I understand. I get sick of hearing about climate change too.
Jun 30, 2024 08:16PM

153021 First published in 1962, J.G. Ballard's mesmerizing and ferociously prescient novel imagines a terrifying future in which solar radiation and global warming have melted the polar ice caps and Triassic-era jungles have overrun a submerged and tropical London. Set during the year 2145, the novel follows biologist Dr. Robert Kerans and his team of scientists as they confront a surreal cityscape populated by giant iguanas, albino alligators, and endless swarms of malarial insects. Nature has swallowed all but a few remnants of human civilization, and, slowly, Kerans and his companions are transformed—both physically and psychologically—by this prehistoric environment. Echoing Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness—complete with a mad white hunter and his hordes of native soldiers—this "powerful and beautifully clear" (Brian Aldiss) work becomes a thrilling adventure and a haunting examination of the effects of environmental collapse on the human mind.
153021 Anybody else read this? I really enjoyed it.
Jun 15, 2024 07:54AM

153021 Welcome back Anisha.
153021 Audrey wrote: "Do you have to read the other books in the series before this one?"

No, this is the best known book in the series and the one most people start with.
Jun 13, 2024 07:55PM

153021 The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

222 pages

Group Total: 169,044
153021 Well I'm glad you're liking the SFF. There's no wrong way to enjoy it.

ULG is talking a lot here about how gender and the constant mating urge affects society and what it would be like if we didn't have it most of the time.
Society has progressed a lot more slowly but is a lot more peaceful, though that could be mostly because they live on such a difficult planet.
153021 I haven't had the energy to read much lately but I read some of this last night.
I've gotten to the part where it basically turns into a wilderness survival story. I remember this is the part that I didn't like last time. I've enjoyed plenty of stories of wilderness survival before but it's just a weird, abrupt change from the politics and gender stuff.
153021 I read this before and didn't care for it that much.
Reading it again the idea that gender was suppressed to help them survive on a really harsh planet and that it may have ended war is really interesting.
153021 Ah ouija boards, the biggest villain in horror.
Jun 05, 2024 06:29AM

153021 Welcome Lady.
153021 The scary stuff really starts about a third of the way through the book. Before that I was mostly thinking that doctors in the 70s were so much more simple and helpful than they are now.
153021 The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants spend most of their time without a gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters.

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.
May 25, 2024 05:40PM

153021 Welcome Dave!
May 24, 2024 08:17AM

153021 (view spoiler)