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Just finished The Man in the High Castle. I found it to be a really thought-provoking meditation on the idea of authenticity. A few times I found myself thinking "drat this guy can write" and then surprising myself when I remembered that this is the same guy who wrote Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, which I found to be a bore. I've seen a few episodes of the show and wondered why use a film as a stand-in for The Grasshopper Lies Heavy but the ending of the novel pretty well cemented that it would have been too abstract to pull off. Though I still think the showrunners' decision to use real-world footage of post-war America is a strange touch of magical realism in a show whose source material is pretty squarely alternate history with nothing unnatural or magical or science fictiony at all, discounting the oracle which is used as more of a plot device than anything else.
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Sep 21, 2017 18:49
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Just finished Bob Altemeyer's The Authoritarians. It's a non-academic treatment of his work on authoritarian personalities. I would say I 70% liked it, and would 80% recommend it. I found the style offputting. I am not sure if it was edited in a real way, I read it as a pdf off a website (which the author allows), and am not sure if it was published in hard copy. Altemeyer lards his writing up with way too many parentheticals and attempts at self-deprecation that really aren't. That said, he is one of the recognized authorities on the subject and conducted a lot of well-regarded research over his career. This book was published in 2007 and has aged well. I wish he had written a tighter and more thoroughly edited book for laypeople, but it was probably a more efficient and fruitful exercise than plowing through his journal papers. If you're looking for a decent theory of why Trump has so many diehard followers it's not a bad read.
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Sep 21, 2017 20:19
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Kazak_Hstan posted:Just finished Bob Altemeyer's The Authoritarians. I'm glad that there's finally a book that explains the political success of Donald Trump
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Sep 22, 2017 00:43
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A human heart posted:I'm glad that there's finally a book that explains the political success of Donald Trump iirc from reading that book years ago, he wrote it to explain the election of Bush Jr.
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Sep 22, 2017 02:21
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A human heart posted:I'm glad that there's finally a book that explains the political success of Donald Trump What's the short explanation for how Trump got elected? That people like to follow others who are confident in themselves, regardless if they are an idiot or not?
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Sep 22, 2017 03:00
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clinton ran a terrible campaign and the choice between 'widely hated status quo neoliberal' and 'loud outsider promising change' was a no brainer for many people, hth
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Sep 22, 2017 04:09
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If you guys are interested in reading about campaigns you don't want to miss David F Wallace's article for the Stones back in 2000.
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Sep 22, 2017 04:45
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Just finished A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov. It's basically just an rear end in a top hat sociopath going around and ruining people's lives, and it's very darkly comedic.
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Sep 22, 2017 14:41
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The Grey posted:What's the short explanation for how Trump got elected? That people like to follow others who are confident in themselves, regardless if they are an idiot or not? chernobyl kinsman posted:clinton ran a terrible campaign and the choice between 'widely hated status quo neoliberal' and 'loud outsider promising change' was a no brainer for many people, hth There wasn't any kind of huge swing to Trump; he didn't perform better as a candidate than Romney did. He owes his victory entirely due to an overall lack of enthusiasm for another Clinton presidency. See: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/18/16305486/what-really-happened-in-2016
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Sep 22, 2017 18:48
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Trump makes liberals furious, which in turn makes conservatives really happy
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Sep 22, 2017 22:07
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cloudchamber posted:There wasn't any kind of huge swing to Trump; I wasn't trying to imply that there was
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Sep 22, 2017 23:12
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Poldarn posted:iirc from reading that book years ago, he wrote it to explain the election of Bush Jr. Yeah it was published in 2007. It has aged well.
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Sep 23, 2017 00:19
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VelociBacon posted:If you guys are interested in reading about campaigns you don't want to miss David F Wallace's article for the Stones back in 2000. seconding and it's also very "current political feels" as well
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Sep 23, 2017 01:39
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Nikita Khrushchev posted:Just finished A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov. It's basically just an rear end in a top hat sociopath going around and ruining people's lives, and it's very darkly comedic. Was it good?
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Sep 23, 2017 08:37
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Nikita Khrushchev posted:Just finished A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov. It's basically just an rear end in a top hat sociopath going around and ruining people's lives, and it's very darkly comedic. I would have expected you to have read this quite a while ago.
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Sep 23, 2017 08:54
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VelociBacon posted:Was it good? It's extremely good
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Sep 23, 2017 10:50
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Just finished We Will All Go Down Together by Gemma Files. I really enjoyed this "horror" novel (really more fantasy IMO--with witches, warlocks, warrior nuns, fallen priests, and faries), as it was set in Toronto, a town I know well so I could really envision it. It's set up as a series of short stories, that slowly introduce a large cast, and the world itself, and the underlying plot. I thought it was a very interesting device that allowed for quite varied story telling.
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Sep 24, 2017 03:37
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I read Pale Fire and I'm extremely impressed by Vladimir Nabokov's immersive world building, John Shade deserved death for failing Zembla
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Sep 25, 2017 14:36
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I just finished Lonesome Dove this weekend and I can't help but think that it's been a while since a book's affected me like this one has. Part III really did a number on me.
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Sep 25, 2017 16:20
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The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. A translated non-fiction epic saga from the 10th century about a Viking cheiftain named Red Orm. I believe the TV show Vikings heavily cribbed a bunch of this book, but I can't remember the details as I took a good 6month hiatus in the middle somewhere. It's got a really old school vibe to it, written in a matter-of-fact manner with some unintentional dry humor. Really excellent stuff if you're into the historical bits of that era. It's actually pretty astounding how far-traveled the Vikings were.
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Sep 26, 2017 18:56
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ROFLburger posted:I just finished Lonesome Dove this weekend and I can't help but think that it's been a while since a book's affected me like this one has. Part III really did a number on me. I read the first two in the series, Dead Man's Walk and Commanche Moon a long time ago. They were terrific, not sure why i didn't go further. Does Lonesome Dove live up to them?
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Sep 26, 2017 19:46
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Kazak_Hstan posted:I read the first two in the series, Dead Man's Walk and Commanche Moon a long time ago. They were terrific, not sure why i didn't go further. Does Lonesome Dove live up to them? I've only read Lonesome Dove so far, am reading the Streets of Laredo now. I've been told the whole series is great but that Lonesome Dove really stands out as the best 
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Sep 26, 2017 21:12
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robotsinmyhead posted:The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. A translated non-fiction epic saga from the 10th century about a Viking cheiftain named Red Orm. I believe the TV show Vikings heavily cribbed a bunch of this book, but I can't remember the details as I took a good 6month hiatus in the middle somewhere. The book isn't from the 10th century, it was published in 1941.
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Sep 26, 2017 23:00
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A human heart posted:The book isn't from the 10th century, it was published in 1941. lol also it doesnt make sense to call even the real sagas 'non-fiction'
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Sep 27, 2017 04:20
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OK well I took some info off the watch cover and that was what the book described itself as.
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Sep 27, 2017 11:35
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It's kind of weird that humour in a book inspired by the sagas would be described as unintentional, because they're pretty straightforwardly funny at times.
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Sep 27, 2017 12:12
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A human heart posted:It's kind of weird that humour in a book inspired by the sagas would be described as unintentional, because they're pretty straightforwardly funny at times. I didn't know how to describe the humor in the book. The characters say and do funny things sometimes, and there are situationally humorous things that happen, but the writing is fairly dry so it comes across like it wasn't on purpose.
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Sep 27, 2017 12:20
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quit being a loving child and read some real norse sagas
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Sep 27, 2017 14:15
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No time. I have to read more books about spaceships and magical wizards.
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Sep 27, 2017 14:22
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chernobyl kinsman posted:quit being a loving child and read some real norse sagas Real norse sagas are all a pain in the rear end to read
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Sep 27, 2017 16:02
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Just go with the next closest thing.
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Sep 27, 2017 18:25
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Attitude Indicator posted:Real norse sagas are all a pain in the rear end to read if you're very stupid perhaps
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Sep 27, 2017 18:49
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Dr. Pangloss posted:This was my exact experience and I still haven't gotten to the rest of the books. Haha me too! I also read the first book and liked it a lot, but yeah Post-Captain was like a terrible episode of Frasier that just kept going with tedious Victorian misunderstandings. Glad to know the series got better after that.
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Sep 27, 2017 19:56
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Time really is like a circle. The finishing post that started this saga bit: robotsinmyhead posted:The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson.
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Sep 27, 2017 21:16
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ulmont posted:Time really is like a circle. The finishing post that started this saga bit: I don't have time to read posts.
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Sep 28, 2017 01:51
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I'm not even sure what's real anymore.
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Sep 28, 2017 02:34
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BRISTOL PALINS BABY posted:The Great War series by Harry Turtledove. Alternate history providing a look at how World War I might have looked had the south won the Civil War. Turtledove is kind of repetitive but he is quickly becoming my favorite author. I've read about 10 books of his and I'm always looking forward to the next one. I was OBSESSED with those books when I was in early high school. I don't like how later on it becomes so much a 1:1 World War II allegory, but How Few Remain and that first Great War trilogy are both incredibly fun, if a bit dense, reads. As for myself, I just finished Devil in the White City because despite loving serial killers and architecture and history I somehow never got around to this 'til I was 25.
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Sep 29, 2017 14:33
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Xmaspast posted:I was OBSESSED with those books when I was in early high school. I don't like how later on it becomes so much a 1:1 World War II allegory, but How Few Remain and that first Great War trilogy are both incredibly fun, if a bit dense, reads. I too waited too long to read Devil in the White City, but it was fantastic. It's been a few years since I read it, so it might be time for another read. What did you think of it?
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Sep 29, 2017 19:10
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Dr. Pangloss posted:I too waited too long to read Devil in the White City, but it was fantastic. It's been a few years since I read it, so it might be time for another read. What did you think of it? Loved it. Absolutely devoured it. I work nights and when work is slow I often have a chance to read. Thankfully this week was slow. Every time I had a moment where I didn't have to do anything I'd pick it up. Hard to put it down when something did inevitably need doing.
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Sep 29, 2017 19:49
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I just finished The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin, and it was loving awesome. The world building was incredible, and the segments narrated in the second person really clicked for me.
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Sep 30, 2017 22:06
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