I'll probably return to this before trips to the neotropics. So far it seems like a good overview of some of the basics, though sadly no help in underI'll probably return to this before trips to the neotropics. So far it seems like a good overview of some of the basics, though sadly no help in understanding tropical plant diversity....more
Impossible-to-resist cover, plus I love Canticle for Leibowitz, but the naked misogyny was too much to finish. In one story a man and a woman realize Impossible-to-resist cover, plus I love Canticle for Leibowitz, but the naked misogyny was too much to finish. In one story a man and a woman realize they can read each others thoughts so he decides to rape her to propagate their unique gifts and she telepathically causes him to get hit by a bus, but the conclusion is that she's lonely without him.
Is it worth reading "The Darfstellar"? It won a Hugo, but that was in 1955......more
Lordy, could not deal. Usually I try to give a book 100 pages, but like 60 pages in there's a good 2-page description of a *board game* and that was pLordy, could not deal. Usually I try to give a book 100 pages, but like 60 pages in there's a good 2-page description of a *board game* and that was pretty much the end for me. Add to that the constant–CONSTANT–interruptions (there was not a quote without an em dash severing it), and the book was approaching unreadable. I think Delany's just not for me.
I picked this up because it was mentioned as a response to The Dispossessed in Among Others, but I don't think I made it to the part where it had anything to say about that book that I like so much. Alas....more
There are two pets on the cover but there are *three* pets as characters, which is just too many... unless some of them are suspects, which they're noThere are two pets on the cover but there are *three* pets as characters, which is just too many... unless some of them are suspects, which they're not....more
Not sure why I didn't see this coming but it turns out there is no time of day when I'm willing to read horror.Not sure why I didn't see this coming but it turns out there is no time of day when I'm willing to read horror....more
Capitalists scheming to retake the US after the revolution was a decent premise for one story, but ultimately I just couldn't deal with the misogynismCapitalists scheming to retake the US after the revolution was a decent premise for one story, but ultimately I just couldn't deal with the misogynism, which seems endemic in everything I've read by Wolfe so far. It's not even misogynism that might be worth thinking about, more like, "Clarice was a busty young thing and Mark could hardly concentrate on his control panel after she brushed past him on the way to powder her nose that one time." No more Wolfe for me, I guess....more
Could not tell if this was above my head or if my head was simply too porous to catch any of it. Sometimes I felt there was an important point being mCould not tell if this was above my head or if my head was simply too porous to catch any of it. Sometimes I felt there was an important point being made, but trying to summarize any of the pieces I read in later conversation proved almost completely fruitless. Like, he doesn't like Michael Pollan and thinks our obsession with food is... ridiculous? Dangerous? Something? American soldiers value their own lives above all else, including victory, making them like Greek heroes, which... undercuts any claims at moral legitimacy? Makes them monsters? Means they should adopt the weapons of their enemies so their victories have meaning to the defeated? I don't know.
The one exception was the hipster piece. I liked the definition of "hipster" as someone who fakes the renunciation of his privilege, or, as Grief puts it,
The hipster is that person, overlapping with the intentional dropout or the unintentionally declassed individual—the neo-bohemian, the vegan or bicyclist or skatepunk, the would-be blue-collar or postracial twentysomething, the starving artist or graduate student—who in fact aligns himself both with rebel subculture and with the dominant class, and thus opens up a poisonous conduit between the two.
Maybe I'll pick it up again. I certainly like the subject matter....more
I liked the creepily polite killer in A Good Man Is Hard to Find, but after like the third story or so about white southern racists I just couldn't deI liked the creepily polite killer in A Good Man Is Hard to Find, but after like the third story or so about white southern racists I just couldn't deal. They're white. They're southern. They're racist. I get it. If O'Connor was saying something novel about white southern racists, I missed it entirely. If I need to pick this back up again, someone please suggest a point of entry....more
Cole's an excellent writer, but his interests are more often than not too specific and too foreign for me to appreciate. It's a bit like reading BorgeCole's an excellent writer, but his interests are more often than not too specific and too foreign for me to appreciate. It's a bit like reading Borges without the fun of knowing that the subjects of all this critique are made up. I like the piece about James Baldwin in Switzerland though, and the notion of unsophisticated racism....more
Got about 30 pages in before putting it down. It's not "daring" or "original" or "exceptional" if it's just another book about sad people and their saGot about 30 pages in before putting it down. It's not "daring" or "original" or "exceptional" if it's just another book about sad people and their sad, broken marriages....more
Hit a story about the planet of the evil gay people and had to stop. Sometimes I can imbibe mid-century bigotry with adequate emotional removal and soHit a story about the planet of the evil gay people and had to stop. Sometimes I can imbibe mid-century bigotry with adequate emotional removal and sometimes I cannot. Had to chase it with some Aubrey-Maturin....more
I gave it 100 pages and decided I did not give a flying fig what was going on in Area X, what was going to happen to any of these characters, or why aI gave it 100 pages and decided I did not give a flying fig what was going on in Area X, what was going to happen to any of these characters, or why an author would spend so much time *just* cultivating a vague sense of unease....more
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