What are you reading right now?

rostasi · 07-20-2020, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

I just read the first book of Dune until I got to this page

What a ding dong sucker

That’s enough of that

He's kind of a main character, you know.

OccultHawk · 07-20-2020, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Why is that a ding dong sucker? Maybe you have better reasons but the way you're framing it just makes you look like a snob with inscrutable standards of snobbery.

Just didn’t find it engaging. I thought it was going to be sci-fi not a boringer LOTR

Maybe if I read it as a kid like you’re supposed to...

The Batlord · 07-20-2020, 05:23 PM

It's been well over a decade since I read it and I only read it the one time but just going off memory of the plot it's supposed supposed to be some kind of colonialist commentary, right? Civilized powers control the resources of a land where the indigenous population are seen as uncultured savages. Thinking about it now the whole second half of the book as I remember it sounds like obvious white savior schlock with the indigenous population ending up being the universe's greatest badasses with grit the effete colonialists can't recognize with the main character going native and becoming the biggest badass of them all. Maybe you're better off actually . I definitely remember trying to read the second book and the quality taking a steep nosedive off a cliff that made it unreadable.

OccultHawk · 07-20-2020, 05:35 PM

Quote:

supposed supposed to be some kind of colonialist commentary, right?

Yeah I got the Middle East energy symbolism - allegory

It seemed like he was trying really hard to develop the characters but it just wasn’t hitting the spot with me

Stranger in a Strange Land was published four years earlier and imo holds far more interest to a modern reader (at least if that reader is me)

SGR · 07-20-2020, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerspaceboy

I’m so excited! My friends know that I’m an avid proponent of copyleftism, the free software movement, Creative Commons, and related philosophies.

My research led me to a powerful collection of 48 essays by Richard Stallman - the renowned father of the free software movement. Stallman is the programmer who launched the GNU Project, founded the Free Software Foundation, and wrote the GNU General Public License.

I found his essays so captivating that I had to secure a physical copy for my library. As luck would have it, I found a pristine unread copy of the latest edition actually SIGNED and INSCRIBED by the author for just $4! I didn’t hesitate and ordered it on the spot.

This third edition features a new Forward by journalist and hacker, Jacob Appelbaum who was formerly a core member of the Tor project. It also includes the prior Forward from the first and second editions penned by famed Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig.

These are foundational documents in the realm of copyleftism and the history of free software. I’m astounded by my good fortune!

I'm jealous! Where did you get that?

And I'm curious as to what you think of Richard Stallman as a person (other than his massive contributions to the FSF, GNU and computing in general [I believe he wrote emacs, but I'm a vim guy])? He's said some pretty strange things.

The Batlord · 07-20-2020, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Yeah I got the Middle East energy symbolism - allegory

It seemed like he was trying really hard to develop the characters but it just wasn’t hitting the spot with me

Stranger in a Strange Land was published four years earlier and imo holds far more interest to a modern reader (at least if that reader is me)

I'd agree. Even back when I read Dune it didn't really live up to the hype even though I did like it, whereas Stranger in a Strange Land blew my mind. I remember you saying you either didn't like or didn't like and didn't finish Starship Troopers. I'd say that as another book with problematic politics that Starship Troopers is a much more engaging narrative that explores its ideas in a way that even while being worrying is still vastly interesting and challenging. And it's even more interesting considering that it was written by the same guy who wrote Stranger in a Strange Land. Like it's kinda hard to reconcile the views Heinlein espoused in both and that's amazing. You should give Starship Troopers another shot.

rostasi · 07-20-2020, 05:50 PM

Love the original series of six books. When I started reading it in 1969, I really
jumped into writing my own science fiction in a big way. In the mid-80s, I sat
with Herbert at a restaurant and we talked mostly about Zen and how much of
it appeared in the books.

His son and Kevin Anderson have left me with a sour taste with their handling
of the series of prequels, interquels, and sequels of their own, but I've tried to
ignore those whenever I reach for the original worlds. My sweetheart's a big fan
as well (and feels the same way about the books outside the original six).

OccultHawk · 07-20-2020, 06:01 PM

Quote:

I remember you saying you either didn't like or didn't like and didn't finish Starship Troopers

Oh I definitely finished it. I liked it just not 100% balls to the wall. I probably needed to concentrate on it more than I did to get as much as you did out of it.

That’s cool you enjoyed those books and got to meet the author Ros. I think it probably fans across better back then but what you got out of the book and I failed to is on me.

innerspaceboy · 07-20-2020, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoundgardenRocks

I'm jealous! Where did you get that?

And I'm curious as to what you think of Richard Stallman as a person (other than his massive contributions to the FSF, GNU and computing in general [I believe he wrote emacs, but I'm a vim guy])? He's said some pretty strange things.

Thanks! Whenever I decide to invest in a title, I research all existing editions on WorldCat and identify the exact edition I'd prefer to own, then I run the ISBN and other properties through one of a few preferred aggregate book marketplace search engines to search 150 million-plus listings for the best condition copy at the best price. I also have a few regional contacts for rare and antiquarian lit, but that wasn't necessary in this case.

This particular score came from a used bookseller on Alibris.

As for Stallman, I'm an avid free software user as I said but this book was my first introduction to the man, himself. I'm considering reading related titles focusing on Linus Torvalds next.

Cheers!

The Batlord · 07-20-2020, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Oh I definitely finished it. I liked it just not 100% balls to the wall. I probably needed to concentrate on it more than I did to get as much as you did out of it.

It's funny actually. The first time I read it in middle school I was someone who today would be totally at risk of becoming a gamergate MAGA fascist. I totally dug it as a schematic for building a better society and I was all about giving the vote only to veterans cause it sounded cool. Then after high school when I dropped that **** and having mostly the movie in my mind I decided that I'd misread the book and was a fool to mistake what the book was actually trying to say.

Then I reread the book recently and realized I'd read it kinda right the first time. It was expressing more nuanced ideas than I was capable of understanding back in the day but ultimately was still praising the experience of military service even if it wasn't explicitly praising fascism. And honestly I still haven't quite wrapped my head around exactly what it's saying cause I suspect that Heinlein is a weird ****ing guy who has anti-authoritarian ideas but still values his experience in the military and is possibly too wild in the head to parse it all himself.

I will say that it's potentially as dangerous a book as Atlas Shrugged though. If I ever have a kid I won't be comfortable with them reading it without talking to them about their ideas about it.

07-20-2020, 05:50 PM	#6887 (permalink)
rostasi . Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 4,007	Love the original series of six books. When I started reading it in 1969, I really jumped into writing my own science fiction in a big way. In the mid-80s, I sat with Herbert at a restaurant and we talked mostly about Zen and how much of it appeared in the books. His son and Kevin Anderson have left me with a sour taste with their handling of the series of prequels, interquels, and sequels of their own, but I've tried to ignore those whenever I reach for the original worlds. My sweetheart's a big fan as well (and feels the same way about the books outside the original six).