Bobby’s Comments (group member since Mar 15, 2013)

Bobby’s comments from the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

There is only ONE!

http://www.matchflick.com/column/1640

If you don't feel like reading that long bit of ego-fest, it's when Darth Vader told Luke who he was. Wow, what a moment.

Ben wrote: "Everyone seems very kind to this book and I am glad it has given people so much pleasure...

But do people really not have a problem with the terrible writing, the over obvious lowest common denomi..."

I'm glad someone else said it! I had the same question! How many people on Earth could you save with a fraction of the money, effort and time to save this one guy?

And I did actually have the same problem with character, and Watney's completely uninteresting prose, and the constant incessant humor, which I know was supposed to be why his psyche was able to withstand such desperate circumstances but really? He never seemed -- god forbid -- worried or scared or furious, or really any kind of human emotion at all...

BUT

I kept turning the pages. One of the weirdest experiences I've had reading a book. Really, it feels like a missed opportunity. What would Ray Bradbury, Samuel R. Delany, Cormac McCarthy or Harlan Ellison done with a premise like that?

And the answer is...something different. This book is missing almost everything that I typically enjoy in a story because that's not Andy Weir's interest. Now, I admit, I think his humor is a cheat. I think (as Weir himself has said) that Watney's sense of humor is his own. It reads exactly as though some space nerd were at his desk in his spare bedroom-turned-into-office, thinking up problems to get his hero in and out of and going "Neat!" Actually, it started to get on my nerves and I almost put the book down and gave up.

Then the HAB blew up and he lost a bunch of his potatoes and I thought, "Well, I'll just see how he gets out of this..."

Jim wrote: "Off the top of my head:

A Clockwork Orange might be the best, but it was based on the US version of the book which left out the last chapter that changes everything. Still, it was e..."

G33z3r wrote: "Jim wrote: "I couldn't argue if someone picked 2001: A Space Odyssey..."

2001 is sort of a special case, though. The movie isn't really an adaptation of the book, nor is the book a novelization of..."

I was going to mention that, G33z! But I enjoy both the book and the movie so much I figured, "Eh, let it get all the accolades..."

Jim, I saw the Blade Runner when it first came out. What's hard for people to remember nowadays is that at the time, it didn't do that well and only received mixed reviews. I loved it even the first time and was pretty disappointed by the book. But I read it again later and, having discarded my preconceived notions, I enjoyed the book much more.

David wrote: "I also liked Kubrick's The Shining even though King hated it. I've never read The Shining so maybe it isn't true to the book. But it's a wonderful movie. I guess this is a long winded way of statin..."

I didn't like The Shining for two reasons. One was Jack Nicholson. The big problem with casting him in that part is that he already seems crazy. When they're first driving to the hotel and he's staring darkly ahead of him while his wife and son are talking -- he looks like a murder about to happen.

My other big problem with that movie is Shelly Duvall. Her acting is like being punished for a crime I didn't know I committed. Ten minutes into the movie I'm begging for somebody to kill her. So, if I don't like the dad and the mom, well, that's a substantial chunk of the movie. The two little girls, though? CREEPY AS HELL.

Since fantasy is also included I definitely feel like Fellowship of the Ring has to be in there. I'd read the book twice and was still tense. Great movie.

Jennifer wrote: "Starship Troopers. It's the only one that came over as downright, actively insulting to the original material."

That's too bad. I'd heard (just recently even) that it was a pretty good adaptation.

I'm sure The DaVinci Code couldn't possibly have been worse than that appallingly bad book.

Jonathan wrote: "Southern Louisiana, outside New Orleans"

I had no idea Amazon had it like that. Which is naive of me. I buy a lot from them. AS WELL. Because I'm a sick, twisted, book hoarding, word-addict.

Jonathan wrote: "I hope that's not the case. And with such great backing of books like the Martian, and hopefully this new release from Douglas Adams, that ember will flare a little more, or maybe I should say dis..."

Jonathan, what part of the country are you in?

Sebastian wrote: "Its out now already. Its on sale in Amazon and many other ebook retailers. You can also get hold of it by clicking on my profile and then clicking on my website.

Thank you for showing interest int..."

Red to Fade...nice title!

Sebastian wrote: "Hi Bobby, Thanks for your reply! The name of my book is called Red to Fade. The small blurb below is the storyline of Red to Fade.

In the year 2100, a large population of a peaceful new race, know..."

Sounds like fun, man! When it comes out, how can we get a hold of it?

G33z3r wrote: "Kivrin wrote: "Another paperback that I've owned forever! Enjoy! My fave quote (as a teenager)..."You can fly, but we control the lightning!" ..."

I remember the "control lightning" line, but the ..."

Spoken like a true "mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragger".

I just started Lucifer's Hammer as recommended by my ol' friend, G33z3r.

Michael wrote: ">Why not try accepting that with the same spirit of generosity you expect to receive?

Bobby, good post. I hope you had the good sense to catch Corey when he was fronting Galactic a couple years a..."

Holy smokes, Michael! He still sounds great! Awesome!

Sebastian wrote: "Hi Everyone! My name is Seb, I'm an IT geek turned writer. I released my first Sci Fi novel on the 18th of May. Its great to be a part of this group!"

Hey Sebastian! Congratulations! That's amazing! The best of luck to you! What's it called/about?

Kevin wrote: "Hello,

I'm Kevin, and I've primarily read science fiction books. Starting with the Dune series, then the Foundation series, progressing to some Margaret Atwood. To me, science fiction as well as f..."


What's up Kevin? I am also a huge Bradbury fan!!!

V.W. wrote: ""Today, however, it is extremely difficult to find anything to like... "

Isn't that exactly the point? Why is it so hard? What has changed? Do we just shrug and accept that "they don't make SF wri..."

Yeah, V-Dub, I'm sorry but I'm not feeling your pain. It feels to me like the puppies are upset because they're having to share the playing field. I'm fairly certain that if you were to go back through the history of science fiction, the vast majority of the winners of Hugo awards are of a demographic you feel more comfortable with. And frankly, a lot of the "puppies" arguments insinuates that the work that's winning isn't winning because it's quality writing but only because the writer's black, or gay, or a woman or a black gay woman, or whatever.

I don't know if you can appreciate how inherently unfair that assumption is. And how we (I am a straight, African/Mexican-American) hear that kind of thing all the time.

Years ago, there was a band named Living Color. They were a rock band but they were all black. Seemingly as soon as they made it big I immediately started hearing people say, "Well, you know why everybody is saying they're good." Which is brutal for an artist of color to have to listen to when so often our reality is that it is nigh-on impossible to get your foot in the door because of your color. I mean, there are hundreds, thousands of black rock bands who don't get anywhere -- because they're black. That was true back then, too.

I read some of Larry Correia's stuff. Honestly, and I realize this is not very generous of me, I'd have to have proof of "death threats". And death threats from who? Some pointy-ear-wearing, Klingon-speaking, Asian-American homosexual at World Con? I mean, shiver. That totally smacks of some specious argument you make when you feel like your base argument isn't strong enough. Like when Axl Rose used to say he didn't like homosexuals because one had grabbed his ass once.

But like I said, that's not very generous of me. And if that did happen, ridiculous as it would be, it's not cool.

I've been a fan of science fiction all of my life. I grew up on the old stuff, Bradbury, Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein, just like a lot of guys... and gals. If you're a person of color and you look at pop culture with a historical eye at all, we have to put up with a lot -- if we want to partake. You can just take the casual racism of American society or you can not participate. There's no other choice. If you like speculative fiction, you have to accept that a)you're probably not included in the vast majority of the fiction out there and b)if you are included by some of the keystones of the field, say, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard or Edgar Rice Burroughs, you're going to be roundly insulted at some point. So, when I hear the "puppies" whining about being excluded because of who they are, I feel like "Buddy, you don't know the half of it." Try being a black film student and having to sit through Birth of a Nation and then all the reasons why it's a great movie even though the entirety of it is telling you that you don't deserve to live.

It feels like all of a sudden to you but not to me. There were years and years and years when the only black science fiction authors out there were Samuel R. Delany and Octavia E. Butler and they came late.

I read one article by Correia where he's lamenting that some of Heinlein's works wouldn't win awards if published today. It's a ridiculous argument. Of course they wouldn't. We live in a post-Heinlein world. Art, culture, society -- it all changes. Yeah, people of color have more access than they used to. You're more likely to run into protagonists of fluid sexual orientation than you were before. The stories people tell are different now than they were fifty years ago.

No kidding.

Of course, that's true for everything. Dracula was a great movie when it came out, if you were to make it now, no, it wouldn't have the same impact. "Hound Dog" was a smash single when it came out, were it to be released now, it wouldn't make a ripple. That's not because those works of art suck but because they're fixed points in history and the human condition keeps moving.

Me, I'll never fall out of love with Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick or Roger Zelazny. But I think it's fantastic that now people like me can read a science fiction story about people like me and that those stories might even be honored by the general populace whereas before they would be completely ignored.

I mean, yeah, bro, you all have to share the field now. Other people are telling other stories and being recognized for their efforts. Why not try accepting that with the same spirit of generosity you expect to receive?

G33z3r wrote: "Bobby wrote: "I mean, I agree with you on almost everything. Her focus was different. You picked up the wrong book. That's not a fault with the book. ..."

Yeah. You may recall my review started wi..."

Fair enough, man. Oh yeah, and I wasn't saying that was the stuff I would miss the most, but more that is what would hit me first that I no longer had leading up to the dawning realization that I was thoroughly FUBAR.

On the other hand, I put A Canticle for Leibowitz on hold from the library and am totally looking forward to it. Especially because it seems like it's one of the pillars of science fiction, I can't believe I haven't read it, though I've heard of it forever.

"Orthogonal". Nice. And you call me "literary".

Simon wrote: "A mini score today...
Shards of Space by Robert Sheckley. 1962 collection of 11 shorts. I love Sheckley so I grabbed this with both hands.
Path Into the Unknown edited by Judith Merril. Collection ..."

Love finding treasures in an old book store. Tell me how Path Into the Unknown works out. Looks interesting.

J.W. wrote: "The first fantasy I ever read was the Hobbit, but it wasn't until I bumped into a copy of Elfstones of Shannara working a graveyard shift that my appetite for fantasy became unquenchable. That was ..."

I will say Stranger in a Strange Land sealed the deal for me. I don't know how old you were when you read it but I was somewhere in my early to mid-teens and that and Dune were earth-shattering.

And don't get me wrong, G33z, I'm excited to read all those books you mentioned as well. Lucifer's Hammer is already on my to-read list.