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| bartist |
 Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 3:39 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 3:41 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 4:11 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Just finished reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, which was entirely fine and definitely readable. Made for a pretty good bathroom/subway/gov't office book. Family dysfunction. Some background history on the Stalin days. Nothing great,but entirely competent.
Next up: Hillary Clinton: Her Way, an unauthorized biography. After reading the introductory page, I decided to start mid-book with her as the First Lady. After I reach the end, then I'll go back to the early days stuff. The book was written in 2007/08, and came out with Hillary running against Obama. So it doesn't cover her Sec of State stint in the O Admin.
Should be a good read. hell, in the first page of the 1st lady section, it discusses what aides referred to as Hillaryland, how these aides were super-loyal and everything was professional and organized and leak-free, in contrast to Bill's WH. And I thought how Hillary's desire for control and curb leaks partly led to the fateful email server handling. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 8:29 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Jim Butcher took a break from The Dresden Files to write The Aeronaut's Windlass, and I'm embarrassed to say that I waited a year to read it, because I love it as much as anything he's written. He's got a society that lives in two-mile tall towers because the world below is full of hostile wildlife, including giant spiders. (Though their silk is incredibly precious.) He's found a way to fight naval war in the atmosphere, with ships that float with the assistance of (magical) crystals, but also have sails, engines and energetic shields. (I don't think airplanes were ever invented in this world.) Add to that a diverse group of very heroic and captivating people (and a sentient 40-pound cat with thumbs)* and a fascinating society and air pirates, and it's not only a lot of fun but well-deserving of its Hugo Nomination.
*Yes, it has talking cats, though not many people can understand them, let alone speak the language. I figure we get an aside about genetic engineering in a sequel. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 12:14 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| A friend just sent me a murder mystery he found in a thrift shop; it's part of a series that I thought was long over, as I haven't seen any since the last century. Jonathan Gash wrote (writes?) lovely mysteries concerning a shady Cockney antiques dealer named Lovejoy (also the title of the British TV series that didn't do them justice). Despite the stacks of unread books already on hand, I had to get started with this one, "Faces in the Pool," if only to reacquaint myself with the disreputable but lovable antihero. He's a "divvy" who can sense whether an antique is genuine, but he can also produce "antiques" for the right price (my favorite was his detailed description of creating an "ancient" Chinese manuscript page). This time he's been hired to steal a fake before the British Museum examines it and ruins the collector's reputation. I may stay up all night.... |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:09 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I've got a Gash around that I keep meaning to read.
I went out on my birthday to buy the Hugo-winning novel and the first of Robert Galbraith's Comoran Strike novels, and got home to realize I'd misremembered the author of the first (though the book I got is reputed to be really good) and bought the second Cormoran Strike novel, so went back and got the first one too. I like it so far, at page 114, and I've heard the novels get even better. This first one has quite a bit of setup, and the twists and turns haven't really started yet. Strike's a war veteran with half a leg gone and a load of bills, and he simultaneously gets a temp secretary who is quite efficient and a second client who wants an investigation into his sister's death. She was a famous supermodel who committed suicide (and I'm sure didn't, or we wouldn't have a mystery), and Strike initially balks at taking a case so well investigated, but finally decides to do a little investigating at high pay.
There's both wit and dark shadows, and I'm reassured the author knows exactly where she's going and how to get there. (Yes, I know what the author's real name is. The books so far in order are "The Cuckoo's Calling," "The Silkworm" and "Career of Evil".) |
Last edited by Syd on Tue Jul 31, 2018 9:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 7:07 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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| Finished The Silkworm, which is excellent, and, no, did not not guess the murderer in either novel (although, a few hours after finishing The Cuckoo's Calling, I realized Galbraith had told me who the murderer was long before the revelation. Way, before. In fact, by page thirty. She's really good at red herrings. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 10:16 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| I don't read many mysteries or police procedurals, but several (including here at 3EF) have mentioned Wallander, so I checked out "The Pyramid, and 4 other Wallander stories," which includes 3 stories that chronologically happen before the first Wallander novel (ca. 1990). The first is Wallander's first case, when he is just beginning his career in 1969. Not bad, and the style is lean - Mankell doesn't bother describing characters much, letting you visualize them from very simple descriptions and what they say. I will note that, Mankell being a Swede, we are always kept informed on Wallander's meals and snacks and his state of hunger. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 9:39 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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Just read a rather frightening review of a new Hitler biography, in the NY Times:"Hitler's Ascent: 1884-1939." It's the first of a two-volume set. The Times line that led me to it was a comment that the author describes him as "a clownish, deceitful narcissist who took control of a powerful nation thanks to slick propaganda and a dysfunctional elite that failed to block his rise." And if that sounds familiar, the review itself sounds like a blueprint for what's going on right now.
www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/books/hitler-ascent-volker-ullrich.html |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:58 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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"To the stolen girls of Chibok, Nigeria. May you awaken with the heart of Phoenix Okore and may your powerful flames illuminate your swift journey home." Nnedi Okorafor, dedication to The Book of Phoenix.
There are times when I don't give a damn about American politics. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2016 12:55 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| So, having seen "Arrival" (not to be confused with the Charlie Sheen stinker with "The" in front of it), I sought out Ted Chiang's story "Story of Your Life." Excellent. My brief research indicates that every time Chiang writes a short story, it wins some sort of award. I'm starting to see why. The story has quite a bit of philosophic speculation that's not found in the movie and goes into the linguistics in more depth, so it's well worth your time (linear or otherwise). |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2016 11:56 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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carrobin wrote: Just read a rather frightening review of a new Hitler biography, in the NY Times:"Hitler's Ascent: 1884-1939." It's the first of a two-volume set. The Times line that led me to it was a comment that the author describes him as "a clownish, deceitful narcissist who took control of a powerful nation thanks to slick propaganda and a dysfunctional elite that failed to block his rise." And if that sounds familiar, the review itself sounds like a blueprint for what's going on right now.
Hitler was one of the first politicians to make extensive use of airplanes for campaigning. Kind of like Trump using social media.
Both innovations let them communicate directly with the masses. And they both liked big rallies and whipping up the masses.
I like how Trump has already started saying a bunch of rally cries were just red meat for the masses and not to be taken seriously (most notably the Lock Her Up portion of the rallies).
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Syd wrote: "To the stolen girls of Chibok, Nigeria. May you awaken with the heart of Phoenix Okore and may your powerful flames illuminate your swift journey home." Nnedi Okorafor, dedication to The Book of Phoenix.
Nigeria just overran the last major stronghold of Boko Haram, so we'll see how things play out. Reports some of the girls died from attacks, disease, malnourishment.
It's spooky how various Muslim fundie groups go in for kidnapping and abusing women, sex slavery, etc. Pretty horrible. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2016 12:02 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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I'm halfway through The Heart is A Lonely Hunter, and it's entirely okay. It seems to be of its time, when writings about the poor and poor southerners was becoming popular in the wake of the Depression. Some of the writing is rather clunky.
It's a tale of 5 different people in a small poor southern town, all of which revolves around a saintlike guy who can't speak. McCullers often makes her point rather heavy-handedly, especially with regard to how others perceive Mr. Singer the mute and central character. For instance, we're told that Mick (a 10 year old girl) pictures Mr. Singer when she tries to imagine God. Not terribly subtle, and not an isolated instance. But more than that there are plenty o clumsy sentences as well. It's not a bad read, but I can understand why it's slipped into semi-obscurity. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:08 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| RIP Richard Adams, author of Watership Down and Shardik, age 96. (He got started late.) |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| knox |
| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 7:42 pm |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1245
Location: St. Louis
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I saw the stage version in London...then ate the cast.
The film adaptation of THIALH, with Alan Arkin, I recall liking more. Maybe sanded some of the book's rough edges. |
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