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I'm about halfway through The Dispossessed and I'm finding it a snoozefest. The setting is interesting but the story has never picked up. Are all of Le Guin's books like this? Also if I find it boring does that mean I'm stupid and just not 'getting it'?
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Mar 7, 2018 20:03
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Raere posted:I'm about halfway through The Dispossessed and I'm finding it a snoozefest. The setting is interesting but the story has never picked up. Are all of Le Guin's books like this? Also if I find it boring does that mean I'm stupid and just not 'getting it'? Yes, yes, and yes  LeGuin's books are all very anthropological, concerned with how people live and interact. You might like Earthsea better?
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Mar 7, 2018 20:37
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trip9 posted:Did you like A Closed and Common Orbit? I've heard that it's not as good... It's fantastic, actually. I put it at the top of my Hugo ballot that year. apophenium posted:I guess I need to read that drat book I read it years ago and feel like revisiting it at some point.
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Mar 7, 2018 21:17
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General Battuta posted:Yes, yes, and yes It feels like she wrote an essay entitled "Comparing and contrasting end stage capitalism and pseudo-anarchsim on a theoretical planet and its moon" and decided to shove a story in there. I guess I need to stick to pulps that my puny brain can understand.
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Mar 7, 2018 21:29
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Raere posted:It feels like she wrote an essay entitled "Comparing and contrasting end stage capitalism and pseudo-anarchsim on a theoretical planet and its moon" and decided to shove a story in there. Moon is a Harsh Mistress had just come out.
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Mar 7, 2018 21:48
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Hot take! Her books are about as fun to read as Ayn Rand's, but less important.
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Mar 7, 2018 22:55
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I’ve never seen anybody preface their own opinion with “hot take” and had it turn out to be anything other than idiotic so good on you for adding to the streak
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Mar 7, 2018 22:58
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Hey, Ayn Rand sucks but you can't argue that her works left a smaller cultural imprint than Leguin.
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Mar 7, 2018 23:07
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:If you are a Taltos fan, Brust has a new urban fantasy novel out now. Apparently his first one in a long time. Depends on how you consider the Incrementalists series (most recent 2017, with Skyler White). I liked this one, but I've read just about all of his stuff.
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Mar 7, 2018 23:08
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Also, Rand pretty much created Terry Goodkind, which is the fantasy genre equivalent of being personally responsible for the holocaust.
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Mar 7, 2018 23:09
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what's the title of the new Brust book?
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Mar 7, 2018 23:10
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:what's the title of the new Brust book? https://www.amazon.com/Good-Guys-Steven-Brust/dp/0765396378
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Mar 7, 2018 23:13
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ok i will read that thank you
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Mar 7, 2018 23:17
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Paul McAuley's stuff is either a hard-pass or massively interesting for me. The Quiet War novel mostly sucked, only the technobabble kept me reading it. Will not be touching the followup books unless totally new people are in them. On the other hand, I want more of McAuley's Jackaroo universe, it's kinda like a mix of A Canticle for Leibowitz & Iain Banks Culture series with Brims uplift universe & Robert Reed's Great Ship short stories used as crib notes.
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Mar 7, 2018 23:51
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Raere posted:It feels like she wrote an essay entitled "Comparing and contrasting end stage capitalism and pseudo-anarchsim on a theoretical planet and its moon" and decided to shove a story in there. You should read the Earthsea books. They’re short, tight, exciting stories with interesting and well drawn characters. They also obviously inspired Harry Potter so they will feel more comfortable. BananaNutkins posted:Hot take! Her books are about as fun to read as Ayn Rand's, but less important. Please list the LeGuin books you’ve read so I can understand the context of your staggeringly bad opinion
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Mar 8, 2018 00:21
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ulmont posted:Depends on how you consider the Incrementalists series (most recent 2017, with Skyler White). Is the Incrementalists any good? I’ve been temped, but past experience has shown that most collabs are... not good.
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Mar 8, 2018 00:25
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It makes me think of the trashy romantic lit version of david mitchell's the bone clocks.
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Mar 8, 2018 00:30
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Proteus Jones posted:Is the Incrementalists any good? I’ve been temped, but past experience has shown that most collabs are... not good. I really liked it. I haven't grabbed the second one yet, but I will eventually. Brust has only done a few collaborations, but a good track record. Gypsy was good, and Freedom & Necessity was easily the best novel to include Friedrich Engels as a character.
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Mar 8, 2018 00:41
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Raere posted:I'm about halfway through The Dispossessed and I'm finding it a snoozefest. The setting is interesting but the story has never picked up. Are all of Le Guin's books like this? Also if I find it boring does that mean I'm stupid and just not 'getting it'? I found it boring and thought her depiction of the capitalist society was a caricature. I didn't mind. The Left Hand of Darkness which felt more nuances but it's kinda boring too in terms of plot.
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Mar 8, 2018 02:26
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Neurosis posted:I found it boring and thought her depiction of the capitalist society was a caricature. I didn't mind. The Left Hand of Darkness which felt more nuances but it's kinda boring too in terms of plot. [looks outside] Hmm
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Mar 8, 2018 02:32
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Neurosis posted:I found it boring and thought her depiction of the capitalist society was a caricature. I didn't mind. The Left Hand of Darkness which felt more nuances but it's kinda boring too in terms of plot. Neurosis dresses up some awful politics by having very mild reactions to genre fiction that have political opinions he either disagrees or agrees with. He's not the thread's biggest but within acceptable bounds advocate for John C. Wright for nothing. Ask him about his opinions on Muslim immigration, or I don't know find them in GBS.
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Mar 8, 2018 04:08
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I'm halfway through the dispossessed right now and the capitalist society seems pretty bang on to me tbqh. Only silly thing so far is the whole "and women don't wear shirts with their formal wear" just to really rub in how patriarchal they are.
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Mar 8, 2018 04:13
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Neurosis posted:I found it boring and thought her depiction of the capitalist society was a caricature. I didn't mind. The Left Hand of Darkness which felt more nuances but it's kinda boring too in terms of plot. And why does Melville waste so much time on the boat before they find the white whale????
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Mar 8, 2018 04:47
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uberkeyzer posted:And why does Melville waste so much time on the boat before they find the white whale???? I still appreciated it but I'm guessing if someone finds the Dispossessed slow going Left Hand would be a similar experience.
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Mar 8, 2018 05:20
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Proteus Jones posted:Is the Incrementalists any good? I’ve been temped, but past experience has shown that most collabs are... not good. The writing was fine, the premise and world building were mediocre.
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Mar 8, 2018 05:50
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uberkeyzer posted:You should read the Earthsea books. They’re short, tight, exciting stories with interesting and well drawn characters. They also obviously inspired Harry Potter so they will feel more comfortable. The Wizards of Earthsea. It was alright. The Disposessed. It was boring, but I was able to care a little about one of the characters. The Left Hand of Darkness. Someone forgot to put a plot in this book. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. Probably her best. It was short enough that her sparse prose seemed poetic rather than sparse. Short enough that you don't realize how boring it is until it's over. Just because a book upholds political opinions I agree with doesn't make it an entertaining read. If I want to read lectures on capitalism I'm not turning to a genre book. MartingaleJack fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Mar 8, 2018 |
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Mar 8, 2018 14:33
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General Battuta posted:[looks outside] Hmm The sound of a man who sees a heavy rewrite in his future. I have to concur with the opinion that the more Le Guin used her writing to illustrate real world issues the more boring she became. That's true about almost every writer, though. No good story ever got told from a pulpit.
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Mar 8, 2018 16:30
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Jedit posted:The sound of a man who sees a heavy rewrite in his future. Ehh, that's true for some of her work (say, The Word for World is Forest) but The Dispossessed is a great story and a great intellectual exercise, it's just not a story that's going to interest all readers. Which is fine. Some people need more dramatic action in their space politics, some people are gonna get bored reading a thought piece about how a future space kibbutz could work, etc. The Dispossessed is largely intended to introduce anarchist ideas to a larger audience, so for someone deeply familiar with anarchist ideas already, it might seem a bit Little Golden Book - esque. I think plenty of great stories get told from pulpits (whatever your opinion of libertarianism, Moon is a Harsh Mistress is told from its pulpit; David Copperfield takes all sorts of political stances and is Dicken's greatest novel). Done correctly, the real-world issues give readers a reason to care about the story and make it relevant to themselves. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 16:51 on Mar 8, 2018 |
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Mar 8, 2018 16:47
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Proteus Jones posted:Is the Incrementalists any good? I’ve been temped, but past experience has shown that most collabs are... not good. I liked the first one but the sequel did not hold my interest by like chapter 3. Nothing specific to point to, just didn't grab me.
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Mar 8, 2018 18:50
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Ehh, that's true for some of her work (say, The Word for World is Forest) but The Dispossessed is a great story and a great intellectual exercise, it's just not a story that's going to interest all readers. Which is fine. Some people need more dramatic action in their space politics, some people are gonna get bored reading a thought piece about how a future space kibbutz could work, etc. The Dispossessed is largely intended to introduce anarchist ideas to a larger audience, so for someone deeply familiar with anarchist ideas already, it might seem a bit Little Golden Book - esque. I would say that the more a fantasy/sci-fi tries to relate to the real world, the more uninteresting it becomes for me. But I mainly read as an escape from the real world and the more fantastic, the better. Don’t bring reality into my fantasy world. It is not like I don’t appreciate the real world, since I do like reading about history and have a scientific degree, but it has also taught me exactly how tedious and mind numbing either can be, and I would prefer my sci-fi/ fantasy to be enjoyable and somewhat faster paced.
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Mar 8, 2018 19:10
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How do you write a fantasy story disengaged from the real world unless it only focuses on outdated power structures like feudalism or the politics of an imperial court?
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Mar 8, 2018 22:09
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Ccs posted:How do you write a fantasy story disengaged from the real world unless it only focuses on outdated power structures like feudalism or the politics of an imperial court? Hell, that’s the entire point of most fantasy
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Mar 8, 2018 23:05
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I'm reading Ian M. Banks' State of the Art right now and just got to the one with the guy rotting away in the sentient space suit. It was rad. BUT the other short stories before? Not so much. Its sad that none of the magazines he originallly sold to are still publishing.
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Mar 9, 2018 19:54
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BananaNutkins posted:I'm reading Ian M. Banks' State of the Art right now and just got to the one with the guy rotting away in the sentient space suit. It was rad. BUT the other short stories before? Not so much. Its sad that none of the magazines he originallly sold to are still publishing. That collection is really hit or miss imo.
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Mar 9, 2018 19:57
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Everybody read this story so you can try to help me figure out what the gently caress. It's real short.quote:They scanned the small craft. Nothing harmful detected, no extraordinary presences, nothing to give pause. Out of caution they kept the craft quarantined, alone at its dock, for several weeks, before finally sending a team in.
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Mar 9, 2018 20:51
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General Battuta posted:Everybody read this story so you can try to help me figure out what the gently caress. It's real short. I see two readings of that story: 1) his own reflection driving him crazy as his brain breaks down from lack of nutrients/ life support malfunction 3) something . . . else . . in the ship
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Mar 9, 2018 21:11
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General Battuta posted:Everybody read this story so you can try to help me figure out what the gently caress. It's real short. Not sure what's not to get. Hieronymous Alloy posted:I see two readings of that story: It's definitely the second, because whatever it is, it's contagious, that's what the very end is about. There is absolutely something. Well, perhaps less 'contagious' and more 'parasitic'. Note how he didn't see the smear until he touched the body.
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Mar 9, 2018 21:28
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it's the ship. That's why there's no blood and also why it didn't use the mag field to take off the helmet. The field is the smear. No idea about the transfer of consciousness wrt query though
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Mar 9, 2018 22:01
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So Ready Player One is really terrible. The movie can only improve on the source material.
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Mar 9, 2018 22:50
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Ccs posted:So Ready Player One is really terrible. The movie can only improve on the source material. The last place I heard talk like that was on a battlefield Battlefield Earth
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Mar 9, 2018 23:25
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