|
Rascar Capac posted:Yeah, Mostly Harmless is the only bad Hitchiker's book. It reads like Adams was depressed. IIRC that's because Adams was depressed
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2024 02:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 2, 2024 01:33 |
|
|
Rascar Capac posted:Yeah, Mostly Harmless is the only bad Hitchiker's book. It reads like Adams was depressed. He was, actually, and he didn't think it was fair to end the series on such a dark tone. Then he had a fatal heart attack before he could write another one. Which feels like a natural extension of the HHGTTG story to be perfectly honest.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2024 02:55
|
|
|
Captain Hygiene posted:I lucked out in enjoying audiobooks, between listening in bed and while doing low brainpower stuff, I get through hours a day that I wouldn't have time for if I had to sit down and read visually. I slogged through my last book club book as an audiobook and I was drowning. I felt like I couldn't retain it unless I was laser-focused on it. And it was Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed of all things. I really liked Left Hand of Darkness. Yngwie Mangosteen posted:If you have a lot of trouble processing audio only stuff, and don't have a reason already, maybe get checked for ADHD, it was one of the things my shrink said to convince me to test. ...this explains a lot.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2024 04:06
|
|
|
In hindsight it's pretty drat obvious exactly where Adams ran out of the script from the radio series and started going off on his own - halfway through Life, the Universe and Everything . There's a pretty abrupt tone shift from campy and fun to surreal and pretty bleak. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is just a weird book that contains little humour and feels disconnected from the previous ones. Mostly Harmless is, as someone said, just needlessly cruel.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2024 08:53
|
|
|
I wouldn't necessarily say it was terrible, but Lovecraft Country had a bit in it that made me think, 'was this written by a white guy?' then I looked it up and found out that it was, and that experience kinda turned me off the book entirely.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2024 12:13
|
|
|
Lovecraft's own work would probably elicit a similar response.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2024 13:08
|
|
|
Samovar posted:I wouldn't necessarily say it was terrible, but Lovecraft Country had a bit in it that made me think, 'was this written by a white guy?' then I looked it up and found out that it was, and that experience kinda turned me off the book entirely. Victor LaValle's Ballad of Black Tom is Lovecraftian horror written by a Black author and it's good.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2024 17:04
|
|
|
Yngwie Mangosteen posted:If you have a lot of trouble processing audio only stuff, and don't have a reason already, maybe get checked for ADHD, it was one of the things my shrink said to convince me to test.
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2024 18:39
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Holy poo poo. Welcome, friend. Come join us in the thread!
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2024 00:39
|
|
|
The coast is toast, maybe? Volcanos, from 1979-1981!    My ratings, from best to worst: The Fire Cloud: 4/4 (Mexico City in peril) Eruption: 3/4 (Dr Jon Dana battles volcanos across the world) Fire Mountain: 2/4 (Rainier blows up) The Genesis Rock: 1/4 (Corley somehow made a volcano under NYC boring!) Author Paul Patchick sued cheapie publisher Zebra in 1983 for not properly promoting Eruption: https://m.openjurist.org/743/f2d/675/patchick-v-kensington-publishing-corporation#google_vignette It was his only book. I don't know if these legal issues deferred him from further writing or if he only had the one epic in him anyways. Dr. Jerrold Coe has a new favorite as of 03:49 on Jun 1, 2024 |
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 03:42
|
|
|
 I would've picked up any one of those based on the covers alone.My current terrible book thing isn't based on any one book, but more of a trend I've noticed in the audiobook world. I still listen to a ton of those, and the latest thing I've been seeing has been the proliferation of "virtual voice" narration rather than hiring actual readers. It really sucks! I can understand some of the reasoning, it feels kind of similar to Kindle self-publishing in terms of providing a path for small authors to get their works out there, but the downside is that it's completely soulless and uninteresting. The examples I've heard feel like they'd completely drag down even high-tier writing. I think it'd be better just to stay in the print/ebook world than to release something like that. I just hope it's not the next bandwagon that everyone jumps on in the name of cheapness, I've already found a number of books that I was ready to put on my interest list, only to instantly nope out when I saw they listed the virtual voice.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 04:12
|
|
|
Captain Hygiene posted:
I'm working on a first draft right now and have a strong anti-AI policy for any art and a (potential) audiobook version. Staying with classic disaster novels, here's a few tsunami titles, 1975-1984:     Tidal Wave is really more of a crime thriller with a big wave in the background, as the Hawaiian Liberation Front plans a casino heist on Kuna (the smallest and most fictional of the Hawaiian islands). It's not bad but reads like a fix up. Plus it's really sleazy:  The Playboy cover for The Wave is pretty funny because the big wave is actually coming down the Columbia River from a big dam break, and Portland is the target, not Seattle.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 04:25
|
|
|
I don't really plan on reading Blood Meridian, and I don't listen to audiobooks, but I absolutely would listen to Tom Waits doing an audiobook of Blood Meridian.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 05:42
|
|
|
Ghost Leviathan posted:I don't really plan on reading Blood Meridian, and I don't listen to audiobooks, but I absolutely would listen to Tom Waits doing an audiobook of Blood Meridian. same, but temps perdu & lou reed
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:10
|
|
|
Ghost Leviathan posted:I don't really plan on reading Blood Meridian, and I don't listen to audiobooks, but I absolutely would listen to Tom Waits doing an audiobook of Blood Meridian. I'd listen to that man read Fifty Shades of Grey.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:10
|
|
|
anyway, im a little tired of airport thriller protagonists who are ~just like me~. ie theyre mentally ill and also have anxiety. its not a very good experience to read about their sensory overload five times in chapter one. also they hate crowds, and prefer to be alone. also, theyre bi.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:13
|
|
|
Carthag Tuek posted:anyway, im a little tired of airport thriller protagonists who are ~just like me~. ie theyre mentally ill and also have anxiety. its not a very good experience to read about their sensory overload five times in chapter one. also they hate crowds, and prefer to be alone. also, theyre bi. lol is this the new thing? I'm too busy reading 40 year old thrillers where the handsome scientist hero looks at himself in the mirror and describes himself for the reader.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:19
|
|
|
Changing times changing demographics
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:19
|
|
|
my protagonist is an incel lesbian scientist who does NOT look in the mirror
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:20
|
|
|
my protagonist wont stop loving
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:23
|
|
|
tbh i dont know if its a ~thing~ i just got really annoyed by a book i mean in general im all for being able to identify with the protagonist, just not in whatever random thriller. those are supposed to be escapism, no?
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:24
|
|
|
im so booked up on my backlog i got no time for whatever trash is being sold next to upcharged airport burgers. we'll see about them after i finish a few dozen artists bibliographies first
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:27
|
|
|
Dr. Jerrold Coe posted:lol is this the new thing? I'm too busy reading 40 year old thrillers where the handsome scientist hero looks at himself in the mirror and describes himself for the reader. He had sensory overload admiring his chiseled jawline and piercing azure eyes
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:28
|
|
|
Woolie Wool posted:He had sensory overload admiring his chiseled jawline and piercing azure eyes No no, he's not too handsome, like, he's maybe as good looking as Richard Chamberlain, and maybe he has too many laugh lines around his eyes, very relatable!
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:30
|
|
|
well-read undead posted:she sperged autistically down the stairs
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 06:31
|
|
|
lmao
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 09:58
|
|
|
Mr. Sunshine posted:In hindsight it's pretty drat obvious exactly where Adams ran out of the script from the radio series and started going off on his own - halfway through Life, the Universe and Everything . There's a pretty abrupt tone shift from campy and fun to surreal and pretty bleak. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is just a weird book that contains little humour and feels disconnected from the previous ones. Mostly Harmless is, as someone said, just needlessly cruel. Life, the universe and everything was a rejected dr who script and yeah when you know that you can tell
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 12:14
|
|
|
The Wicked ZOGA posted:Life, the universe and everything was a rejected dr who script and yeah when you know that you can tell Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was also a Dr Who script, but it's actually good and only ended up being a novel instead because a strike caused the production to halt before it was finished.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 12:52
|
|
|
Actually, it's two Doctor Who scripts in a blender. It's the setting and a supporting character from Shada, mixed with the plot of City of Death, with plenty of original stuff bridging the the two.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 13:19
|
|
|
Tiggum posted:Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency the titles of his books were cringy to me as a child in the 80s. theyre is terrible so i never read the books & i feel justified in that cause the people who like it are—————————————
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 16:11
|
|
|
I would suggest turning on your monitor
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 16:16
|
|
|
The Wicked ZOGA posted:I would suggest turning on your monitor It Was Never On ($1.99 if you have prime)
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 16:50
|
|
|
The Wicked ZOGA posted:Life, the universe and everything was a rejected dr who script and yeah when you know that you can tell I was reading Rivers of London and it's fine but there was something about it that reminded me of Douglas Adams. Something cutesy or gently quirky. Lo and behold, it turns out that the author was also a Dr Who scriptwriter. There's a real style to that stuff.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 17:14
|
|
|
Carthag Tuek posted:tbh i dont know if its a ~thing~ i just got really annoyed by a book I don't think whether or not you can identify with the protagonist is the main definition of escapism
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 18:42
|
|
|
Screaming Idiot posted:I'd listen to [Tom Waits] read Fifty Shades of Grey. I think I just became asexual.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 19:11
|
|
|
Improbable Lobster posted:I don't think whether or not you can identify with the protagonist is the main definition of escapism agreed, I don’t know why that’s relevant to me escapism means a book which focuses on vivid, experiential narration of action that pulls me along with the plot, even though it may be lacking in other literary merits
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 20:01
|
|
|
Subjunctive posted:agreed, I don’t know why that’s relevant A lot of escapism does rely on identifying with the protagonist. It is, for example, the big power of Ender's Game. Bullied boys identify with it extremely hard. It's not quite meant to be escapism, but it nails it super hard anyways.
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 20:49
|
|
|
Tiggum posted:Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was also a Dr Who script, but it's actually good and only ended up being a novel instead because a strike caused the production to halt before it was finished. I remember reading this years ago and liking it well enough, but "wow, this wants to be a Doctor Who episode so bad" was also my primary takeaway
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 22:43
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 2, 2024 01:33 |
|
|
Dang It Bhabhi! posted:I think I just became asexual. The Something Awful Forums > Post Your Favorite > PYF terrible book: I think I just became asexual
|
|
#
?
Jun 1, 2024 23:44
|
|