Excellent. Le Guin demonstrates the verbal prowess that earned her early science fiction honors. Her late“The unexpected is what makes life possible.”
Excellent. Le Guin demonstrates the verbal prowess that earned her early science fiction honors. Her later stuff reflects her hardening prejudices.
“Almost anything carried to its logical extreme becomes depressing, if not toxic.”
Better introduction than Le Guin’s Words Are My Matter. Read this; not that.
“The whole tendency to dualism that pervades human thinking may be found to be lessened, or changed on Winter. On Winter … one is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience.”
Le Guin reminds us that the issue is not being manly men or feminine women--nor fem men and manly women or whatever--but being totally human. Modern politics divides us into ever smaller categories, ignoring the vast commonality we share. What makes you and me alike (and different from whales, elephants and apes) is greater than how we differ.
“The life of every man is in the center of time. For he saw not what was nor what will be, but what is.”
She also makes the point that this culture counts time from the present, a thought-worthy construct. We live as if time started when we became aware of it, when six to ten years old. Everything before and after is speculation. Even history isn't real because we didn’t experience. We only really experience now. And that only now.
“The truth is a matter of the imagination.”
La Quin demonstrates her famous inability to understand (or care about) numbers and abstractions. Faster delivery of goods and services should have survival value in a harsh environment. “… in stationary orbit about three hundred miles over [the planet].” (Good luck achieving that orbit.)
“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what happens next.” ...more
“Place names are trivial. It’s the meaning we attach to them that counts.”
At some point successful authors conclude they can sell books based on their“Place names are trivial. It’s the meaning we attach to them that counts.”
At some point successful authors conclude they can sell books based on their name rather than the content. Apparently Clive Cussler reached that point when writing this book. It is the kind of fast-paced Indiana-Jones-type action adventure readers expect from Cussler, with all the technobabble and product placement appropriate to the genre.
I’m sure Grant Blackwood is a capable person, but someone should have proofread the text. It is rife with howling non sequiturs, of which a few are offered: “razed to the ground,” “cantering slowly,” “a sheaf of blueprints,” and “a scientist by nature and training” (both in 1677). My favorite paragraph included: “The single-engine Piper Cub …. Sitting on opposite sides of the aisle…. The engines began to wind down.” And that doesn’t touch the logical and plot contradictions.
“We won’t stumble into the hands of [redacted], I can assure you.” We know what will happen next. ...more
It may seem odd to review a book of songs, but I’ve been using it as a daily devotional guide. Works.
I first became aware of this book, originally pubIt may seem odd to review a book of songs, but I’ve been using it as a daily devotional guide. Works.
I first became aware of this book, originally published over a hundred years ago, sixty years ago. In a small Kansas church which had dozens of old copies. Every Sunday for several years we’d sing these simple songs of the faith accompanied by an old piano. (Okay, everything about this was old, except me. You’ve got that.)
I obtained this copy recently and started through it in order: singing (to myself) the hymns I knew, reciting the others as poems. I was surprised that I remembered more than half. Some I’m sure weren’t in the 1938 edition we used then.
It has much to recommend itself. Including the responsive scripture readings, which at the time I was so focused on saying the words in unison that I paid no attention to what I was saying.
A window, for me, into my youth and early life. ...more
“Ginny let herself be impressed once … and wound up vulnerable and look where that got her.”
I almost didn’t read this collection of posts. I’m not a H“Ginny let herself be impressed once … and wound up vulnerable and look where that got her.”
I almost didn’t read this collection of posts. I’m not a Harry Potter fan. I read a couple of the books and saw a few of the films, and never connected. So I figured Gailey would have nothing to say I’d be interested in. Wrong.
“These, I must teach to hate.”
I didn’t even know who one of these characters was, but Gailey creates a cogent, interesting essay on each; exploring who they are, what motivates them, and why we should care. Good job.
These posts are among the finalists in the 2017 Hugo Award Related Works. Now that I’ve read them all, I can affirm I liked this one best. Better than many much more famous names who were, IMHO, trading on their names as excuse for publishing drivel. ...more
“I thought I would create ‘enwonderment’ as a kind of analogous noun [to enlightenment and empowerment] that explains what science fiction is supposed“I thought I would create ‘enwonderment’ as a kind of analogous noun [to enlightenment and empowerment] that explains what science fiction is supposed to do.”
Another “related work” finalist for 2017 Hugo Awards. This one is at least a coherent whole, unlike almost all the others. A multi-day interview with Silverberg highlighting where he came from, how he got into writing, and where he is now.
“New experiences happen all the time, not always pleasant ones, but the ones that shape you, the ones that define you, happen early.”
“String theory … strikes me as theology rather than science.”
Far-ranging dialogue touches on art, horticulture, theory of art and films he likes. A Grand Master of Science Fiction, Silverberg also produced non-fiction on archeology, history and the world. And why he stopped writing.
“A lot of benefits have come from the twenty-first century, but I certainly don’t feel at home here.”
Silverberg represents an endangered specie: a California conservative. (He’s not a registered Republican because that effectively disenfranchises him in the Golden State.) His perspective is perhaps more interesting than his opinions.
“A number of [Hugo winners] strike me as astonishingly not-so-good books.”
Silverberg comes across as something of a curmudgeon, but the conversations are laced with humor and insight, too. We certainly don’t care about his daily routine. Interesting thoughts on the evolution of language in the last sixty years.
“What a writer needs is a reservoir of experience that he will manipulate using the craft at his command.… But very few writers write anything worthwhile in [their] later years.”
Eighty years old, Silverberg was very aware of his own mortality.
“It’s the battle against entropy that I will never win, but I will never cease.” ...more
“Every life is a tragedy. We are all going to die. There is no other ending, no matter the choices you make.”
Given this book’s title, no reader shoul“Every life is a tragedy. We are all going to die. There is no other ending, no matter the choices you make.”
Given this book’s title, no reader should be surprised to get a both-barrels blast of anger and defensiveness. That said, Hurley expresses herself well, aside from her gratuitous use of adjective and adverb forms of the f-word. There’s the making of two good books here: one focused on writing, the other on feminism.
“Who and what is good is highly dependent on who wins, and whose point of view we’re writing from.”
2017 Hugo Award finalist as a “related work.” Like most books in this category, it’s a compilation of old blogs thrown together. In this case, it’s a semi-coherent whole. Also, like most other related works, this work has little to do with science fiction and fantasy. Other than resume and bank account plumping, the whole category is a waste.
“The white-hot rage I felt at realizing the game was rigged against me from the start.”
Hurley gets lots of things wrong, but neither her point of view nor her sincerity can be doubted. She’s angry, with good reason, and much of it isn’t self-inflicted. Given her point of view, it hard not to hurt along with her. Which is her idea. And maybe to wake us up.
“Life is a series of unrelated incidents. It is the human mind that seeks to string them together … that gives events meaning.”
She makes many valid points. When you look through a polarized lens as she does, everything may look clear to you, but what you’re seeing isn’t necessarily the only--let alone the only true--view.
“I’m only really alive when I’m pissing people off any way.”
Relevant cover art.
“I don’t like people, generally.”
Perhaps she hangs with the wrong people, but apparently some of the worst are those who come after her, not who she chooses. So much anger, so little hope.
“Transforming you into everything you despise requires very little. It requires only that you hate.” ...more
“If you don’t know it’s impossible it’s easier to do.”
A few good insights into art and culture scattered among five hundred plus pages of drivel. Gai“If you don’t know it’s impossible it’s easier to do.”
A few good insights into art and culture scattered among five hundred plus pages of drivel. Gaiman writes very good drivel, but it’s still a hodge-podge of introductions, essays and reflections.
“Those of us who write fantasies for a living know that we are doing it best when we tell the truth. Truth is not in what happens but in what it tells us about who we are.”
The best single item was “Make Art Good,” his 2012 commencement address at the University of Arts in Philadelphia. Lots of life lessons for the rest of us.
“It’s time for creators to accept that we are becoming dandelions. Dandelions just let their seeds go to the wind, and do not mourn the seeds that do not make it.”
Another “related work” finalist for a 2017 Hugo award. This category will be hard to score because all of the entries are mediocre. Apparently related works is a giveaway to help authors pad their resumes. Gaiman needs no such padding. His body of work is solid and keeps getting better.
“Technology does nothing to dispel the shadows at the edge of things.”
A data point: to get good at fantasy and art (and presumably related fields) hanging out with other aficionados is essential. “Iron sharpens iron.” It also produces sparks, and apparently engenders comradery and love.
“Let go and enjoy the ride, because the ride takes you to some remarkable and unexpected places.” ...more
“Not only could a man’s eyes mislead him but his mind could deceive him as well.”
Gripping historical fiction about New York City 110 years ago, thoug“Not only could a man’s eyes mislead him but his mind could deceive him as well.”
Gripping historical fiction about New York City 110 years ago, though it reads like a fantasy set in another world. Hoffman weaves the lives two strangers to each other between the opening and closing historical horrific fires. Her historical details are exhaustive and apparently correct.
“To find someone, it was necessary to follow … the way that angels follow men’s lives on earth are said to do, chart each trespass without judgement, for judgement is never ours to give.”
Lots of stereotyping by gender, ethnicity, class, and religion--the easy route to character building. She seems sensitive to conditioned inferiority, though in my experience everyone feels inferior about something.
“He wondered if every criminal saw himself as the hero of his own story, and every thankless son convinced he’d been mistreated by his father.”
Hoffman’s plot involves Anglo-Saxon antagonists, but the real villains of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire were the owners, who were Russian immigrants just like the many casualties. Sometimes the worst crimes are committed by those we think of as “us,” yet we give them a bye in our rush to blame others, who are conveniently “them.”
“I had thought my father could work miracles. But I was wrong. He could only possess them.”
Quibbles: The male protagonist is reported to be 6’2” at age thirteen, despite a childhood of poverty. The first person chapters are Italicized. Hard to read, though it alerts the reader to potential unreliable narration.
“As he slept he prayed that no one would wake him, for it was in dreams that a man found his truest desires.”
Younger people have purer emotions, less experience. It makes for great drama and sad mistakes.
“Like every good man. He, too, has failed. He knows what it means to be a human being.” “To be a failure?” “To forgive. As he has forgiven you.” ...more
“God’s hand touches a man and that man turns into one whom others will follow though it be past the gates of Hell.”
Excellent old-fashioned historical“God’s hand touches a man and that man turns into one whom others will follow though it be past the gates of Hell.”
Excellent old-fashioned historical fiction/fantasy. Well-researched fourth century setting. Draws the reader into many aspects life. Invented a religion out of whole cloth, but used it to compare and contrast with existing ones.
“Despair was for afterwards. He still had work to do.”
Punctuation irregularities and errors, perhaps optical scanning glitches.
“Magic is ever a two-edged sword, oft times wounding the wielder.”
Why there’s a Spartan on the cover of the ebook edition is anyone’s guess.
“Had he wandered so far, into such foreignness? Had the God of his fathers no longer heard him?”
Broke oft abruptly. Cost them a star. Won’t try the follow-on volumes.
“Wisdom lies in nobody’s gift. We must each forge it for ourselves, alone. As best we can.” ...more
“You never know what will happen next, when once you get mixed up with wizards and their ‘friends.’”
This is a story for children, specifically for Tol“You never know what will happen next, when once you get mixed up with wizards and their ‘friends.’”
This is a story for children, specifically for Tolkien’s children motivated by the loss of a toy. More than that will spoil the telling. It’s oral tradition started long before any of his published works, though traces of Middle Earth can be gleaned from reading this final text.
“…on the stomach (where dragons are particularly tender.)”
It’s more profitable to compare this story with "Farmer Giles of Ham" in The Tolkien Reader and Smith of Wootton Major, not The Hobbit or The Lord of the RingsLord of the Rings. Violates some of the very principles he would elucidate within the decade in his address “On Fairy Stories” in The Tolkien Reader.
“…and saw off in the last West the mountains of Elvenhome.”
A fun read, and a rare look into the developing talent of one of the greatest story tellers of the twentieth century. This edition is fully annotated to help modern readers fully appreciate the tale.
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