Ez’s
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(group member since Jul 29, 2013)
Ez’s
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from the Literally Geeky group.
Showing 101-120 of 287
Any space recommendations? Fiction or non-fiction? The Martian very much reminded me of Gene Krantz's 'Failure Is Not An Option', but y'know, sarcastic. Failure's Not An Option, Dumbass.
I rate books in terms of their genre and quality. A book can be a pretty decent example of its genre but not .... "life-changing". A child's book isn't necessarily going to be as complex as something for adults, but does that stop the Tiger Who Came to Tea from being a masterpiece? NO!Or, for example, Agatha Christie's Cards on the Table - it's my favourite Poirot, and a ripping detective novel, but at the same time it's dated, and the some of the characters are a bit wooden. It's not Lolita or anything, but then it's not meant to be.
I'm bridling a little against the constraints of the Goodreads system, like Red, but if something gets a single star, well, I bloody hated it and probably threw it at the wall more than once, and I read on a kindle! One star is reserved for books which are not only vile, but most likely pernicious and evil. Two is for simply being bored and a bit vexed. Five is something beautiful to behold, but four and three are ... some degree of, erm, good?
Does the speed at which you read affect your rating? If your time is finite and books a luxury are you more likely to be harsher to stories that waste it?
Spot of thread necromancy again, but when it comes to food and books I can't believe I failed to mention The Debt to Pleasure, a book that incidentally I'm pretty sure would be up Red Dog's alley. 
Written by John Lanchester, The Debt to Pleasure is the slightly dark memoir/cookbook of one Tarquin Winot, the ultimate end product upper middle-classes Englishness.
Winot is articulate, privileged, loquacious, and a gourmet, not, I repeat not, a 'foodie'. He's also one of the most compelling characters you'll ever read about and ultimately a consummate jammy git.
Possessing the same comic pomposity as Diary of A Nobody's Mr Pooter, Winot perceives himself thwarted and pricked by the needles of mediocrity at every turn. He narrates his ode to art and food and aestheticism in the humble knowledge that by putting pen to paper he has gifted the world with a masterpiece. Not that the world will appreciate it.
The Debt to Pleasure is wickedly delicious, except for the bits that ... aren't. As to that I'll just politely cough and say there's more to Tarquin than reminiscences upon Provence or recipes for stuffing shoulder of lamb with apricots, but for goodness' sake, pick this book up now and find that out for yourself!
... Kenneth Williams would have made a superb Winot.
Anyway, I was reminded of the whole shebag since I was tempted to buy the 'Books That Cook: The Making Of A Literary Meal', which seems lovely but ultimately a bit bland compared to Lanchester's Whitbread winning literary debut.
Seems like an apt day for some thread necromancy. So, Harper Lee is a about to have her second book published, 55 years after To Kill A Mockingbird hit the shelves - which is probably making GRRM cackle with possibilities. Let the bustards wait!
Mixed news though, because on the one hand Scout returneth, hurrah! On the other, Lee's lawyer has been accused of taking advantage of an old vulnerable lady who chose to live a reclusive lifestyle and not to let any of her literary output slip into the voracious hands of publishers.... that was until her sister, Lee's life long protector and lawyer, died some three months ago.
... Tangent, but I used to hope that JD Salinger and Lee met up annually for wordsmith hermit conventions...
I wish Tove Jansson had found the right head (and heart) space to have written one last Moomin book, or that Mrs Gaskell hadn't popped her clogs on Wives and Daughters, I'm glad Max Brod rescued Kafka's work for posthumous publication, but... this news leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
So, the month of tacky red underwear and garage flowers is almost upon us. While I'm not a fan of St Valentine's Day, at all, I do like a good romance, whether it ends happily, or not. Who are your top three romantic couples, functional or otherwise?
PS : For an alternative Valentine themed book, try the classic spooky mystery Picnic on Hanging Rock.
.... Oh, I love having to work hard to be bored.10/10 for effort.
As regards Red's comments, I'd like to point you all to theory that S is a tribute/attempt at the Glass Bead Game. https://whoisstraka.wordpress.com/201...... That is if you can bear to give any further time to this poor man's Kafka, all flash no bang, fiddly fiddly twaddle of a story.
Incidentally, The Glass Bead Game is another book I'd recommend.
There's something about a code isn't there, whether it's an undeciphered language (Harappan seals I'm looking at you), a weird statue in the CIA headquarters, wartime secrets, historical mysteries or a Serial killer's nutbag ravings, there's nothing quite like good puzzle to be solved. I've got a couple of book recommendations, and I'd love to hear yours, or leave your favourite code!
Simon Singh's The Code Book is an engaging read and a great entry into the world of code making and breaking.
The Voynich Manuscript by Gerry Kennedy and Rob Churchill offers some interesting insight into the controversial document. Is it gibberish or is it genuine?
Robert Harris' Enigma, is a fun little WWII spy thriller.
Lastly, if S has only served to whet your appetite, Elona Dunkin's The Mammoth Book of Secret Code Puzzles has a goodly number of challenges to crack.
Foucault's Pendulum (my ALL time favourite book of ALL TIME) is also a fine book, which people who liked S. may also enjoy.FOR ALL TIME.
There's a really good food blog - http://www.innatthecrossroads.com/ set up by folk who decided to make as many SOIAF recipes as possible, minus stuffed peacocks, and honey roasted dog. They even ended up publishing the official Game of Thrones cookbook.
Yup. Confirmed. It's for the footnotes... but (view spoiler).Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov. People who liked this book may be interested in Pale Fire too. Pale Fire is a very fine book.
Oooh Turkish delight.
Over at the Crooked Timber blog, an excellent incidental point was made about food in children's literature. Namely,
" It is part of that select canon of great children’s adventure books that is substantially about food. It is really a great feature of the story that the dwarves and the hobbit have no strategy, barely any tactics. Mostly it’s worries about logistics, punctuated by the next meal finally, gloriously materializing in the nick of time. That’s a great way to tell a story."
Enid Blyton, J.K Rowling, Roal Dahl - all food obsessed, while Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is punctuated by the lack of food. Are scrumptious snacks some sort of synaesthetic device to get kids salivating for more stories?
What's your favourite fictional food or feast? I'd love to try a Toffee Shock - from Enid Blyton's The Far Away Tree.
Anyone who likes S would do well to check out Italo Calvino's If On A Winter's Night A Traveller.If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
I agree with Aaron on the Harry Potter books, there was a lot of bloat that a less, hmmm, shall we say 'mercenary' editor could have cut.I own the Eragon set, I found it in a car boot sale for £2, but I haven't as yet got round to them. I will though, because...
I like big books, I cannot lie. There was some chat on twitter before about the Count Of Monte Cristo, which is quite the chunky doorstop, but I love it. I love it so much I had a serious debate with myself about the use of an exclamation mark there, but ultimatey erred on the side of caution.
The Count was published as a serial, which no doubt factored into Monsieur Dumas's decision to include yet another sub-plot, but sub-plots for the win! If your story is sprawling but strong, that's okay. Include all the characters, and the secret lives of their pets too. It's fine.
But... go easy on the mopy teenage wood-hoboing.
Yo, yo.So, just a wee heads up, but I'm not going to be able to make Literally Geeky tonight. First time ever, but real life... what ya gonna do?
I did want to say something about The Hobbit though....
'The Hobbit' occasionally comes in for short shrift when compared to its more serious big brothers, it's cosy at times (unless you're a pony) and it's aimed at a younger audience (though no less rich for it,) with its silly trolls and mean elves.
Then again, with Bilbo as an unreliable narrator recounting a fairytale to entertain his audience, what can you expect?
As far as children's books go, it's far from dumb or flighty: like its tubby little hero, it grows and grows, eventually becoming the kind of primer for would-be machinators that Machiavelli would be proud of.
Gollum, Smaug, Bilbo; these are still some of my favourite people of all time, and unlike some authors who create a truly wonderful character just to squander them (see Hannibal Lecter, Francis Urqhart for details), Tolkien went from strength to strength.
Even so, the more heroic Tolkien's prose becomes the more remote and rarefied the protagonist turns out to be; relatability certainly wasn't one of JRR's aims in creating his lays, but... Look, while you can imagine Fëanor, clad in his bling, throwing quite the hissy fit - "bugger the Valar!" and all that: it doesn't quite hit the same spot as Smaug telling Bilbo he has nice manners for a thief and a liar.
Also, the poems are shorter. Score one for The Hobbit there.
I remember buying the damn book at my junior school's short lived weekly bookshop - four shelves and a biscuit tin for the monies received. It had a glorious cover; gold runes and John Howe's Smaug; serpentine neck and twisted smile; scales reflecting the pile of gold beneath him. That cover eventually wore out from over-reading.
We were allowed to visit the so-called 'book shop' twice a week; once to look around (and price up) and then (there and) back again next day to buy. I remember going home and telling my Mum about the dragon book I wanted, and how excited she was for me because one of the most battered and beloved books on my parents shelves was The Lord of the Rings.
We read that together later in the year.
I'd always been keen on mythology, but The Hobbit was my first foray into fantasy and I never looked back. The Bakshi film, Farmer Giles of Ham, Silmarillion, History of Middle Earth, The Children of Húrin... I'm a big. Big. Fan. So to sum up, my life is all the richer for the dragons and the wraiths and gravitas with which Tolkien invented Middle Earth.
One last thing: for anyone who is both a Hobbit and Tove Jansson aficionado: she did some smashing illustrations for the Swedish version... a couple of which can be found here:
http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/06/...
I've read a lot of decent books this year, but very few that really knocked my socks off. Predominately this turned into the year of rogues, capers and spies - I started reading John Le Carré and I haven't stopped. Spy-craaaack!So....
I'm nutty about The Pirates! Especially The Pirates! In Adventures with Communists. I roared a hearty pirate laugh on nearly every page, and am now cultivating a beard as a result of Pirate-Captain envy.
I devoured The Name of the Wind and The Wiseman's Fear (twice! Oh, my stars! The foreshadowing, the conspiracies and, and, and... PM me and let's mull together). I loved both books but prefer the former, possibly due to ...(view spoiler).
Sue Townsend's paean to the Welfare State - Mr Bevan's Dream reminded me that almost nothing has changed between now and the 1980s, except the politicians have gotten shinier, proving that you can indeed polish a turd.
Simon Sebag Montfieore's Jerusalem is thoroughly researched and a well balanced history of the city, there's a lot that can be gained by sitting down to process this very elegant brick of a book. However, in terms of historical non-fiction, I was charmed by Stephen Alford's Watchers: Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I. PLOTS! - The Pirates! In Adventures with Elizabethan Plotters! Oh... how I wish.
Lastly, a special mention to The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes, which might not be as beautifully written a caper as the Lies of Locke Lamora (very good indeed, superlatively good in fact, capering galore), but The Palace Job doesn't take itself very seriously, and I liked the randy unicorn. Pairs well with fizzy wine, sipped from that pint glass you stole down the pub.
There you go. I heartily endorse all these books.
Clocks have gone back, the nights are drawing in, and the year is coming to a close. What are the best books of your year? They don't have to be recent publications, just something you've stumbled across during 2014.
Sci-fi ... I don't tend to read; Sci-Fact, I've enjoyed both Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell To Earth, and The Right Stuff enormously. I still want to be an astronaut when I grow up.
Yo,Back in the Longitude hangout I went off on a tangent about pickled palaeontologist spines and how the body of Utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham hangs out in University College London.
There's a great blogpost on what Bentham actually does (hint, not much), detailing how his body was preserved: http://www.critical-theory.com/jeremy...
(Via @2nerdyhistorygirls).
