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How did you read Frankenstein and come away with the idea that Victor triumphed over adversity and you are meant to idolise him
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Jun 3, 2018 09:07
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Enfys posted:How did you read Frankenstein and come away with the idea that Victor triumphed over adversity and you are meant to idolise him That was more in reference to Vernes work but for Frankenstein money and time are both non-issues as months of inactivity passes him by without consequence. Even Journey to the centre of the earth involves a rich professor who's road is practically paved with money and servants. The amount of tools, supplies, machinery etc they have with them Batman style makes it hard to imagine how they even managed to carry it all. Actually I think "Batman through time" is a good way to describe a lot of Vernes work Katt fucked around with this message at 12:59 on Jun 3, 2018 |
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Jun 3, 2018 10:57
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:
Yeah, I'd suggest Dicken's David Copperfield for a good fictionalized depiction of life as a London working child. With Captain Nemo at least there is a heavy implication that he's Indian royalty abused by British colonialism and that's why he's taken to the seas, but a lot of the sections alluding to that were excised from most early English language translations, most of which are still the most common translations. Good set of quotes here on the translation differences: http://jv.gilead.org.il/evans/VerneTrans(article).html quote:Here, Verne’s chastizing commentary on the British rule in India is transformed into a glowing testimonial to their “civilizing” influence. The anti-colonial revolt is now attributed to ambitious and “designing” Indian princes who turned the ignorant masses against their enlightened foreign rulers. Incidentally, this same pro-British bias is also evident in the English translation of another Verne novel that focuses on India, The Steam House (1880), where sentences such as “Lord Clive, free of competitors and with nothing more to fear from Portugal or France, then undertook and assured the conquest of Bengale, over which Lord Hastings was named governor general” (I§3.34) become “Lord Clive’s brilliant successes having assured the English power in Bengale, Warren Hastings consolidated the empire Clive had founded” (I§3.35). So yeah it's a general problem with 19th century fiction, but with Jules Verne specifically the English translations generally cut out all his social commentary, so he's probably going to come across as particularly naive. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Jun 3, 2018 |
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Jun 3, 2018 13:47
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Skewed translations would explain a lot. I'm currently half way through "around the world in 80 days" and the amount of invectives used to describe Hindus is a little off putting. The book also paints a picture of India as a land of savages that routinely perform human sacrifices. That the country is barely held together by the British empire. I would have liked to see Nemo fleshed out a bit. Especially considering how much of that book is about fish. Nemo as a former Indian prince is an idea I like Katt fucked around with this message at 15:15 on Jun 3, 2018 |
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Jun 3, 2018 14:23
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I'm really not sure you're meant to idolise Phileas Fogg and the professor dude from the Journey to the centre of the Earth either. If anything, they're portrayed as rich eccentrics (like most of the gentlemen scientists of their era), and their only admirable characteristic is their curiosity and pig-headedness. Verne had a satirical streak in him, and he used it. His characters are just that - characters, not heroes. They are quite one-dimensional, but i vastly prefer his approach to character-building than the heroes populating more contemporary adventure novels. If anything, science is the hero in his books. It's science and rational mind that overcomes the adversities, often despite the people who wield it. And in his era it was mostly people from a privileged background who had that, well, privilege.
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Jun 3, 2018 17:25
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The opposite of all those rich scientists in the novels of the era was Griffin, the Invisible Man. He's a super scientist whose one constant problem is lack of money. It's the basis of that entire novel and continuously running out of money is what drives every beat of the story.
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Jun 4, 2018 05:23
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is there a thread for alan moore's jerusalem
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Jun 4, 2018 16:10
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An Apple A Gay posted:is there a thread for alan moore's jerusalem No. Most of the discussion for it was in the Lit thread when it was announced and a few weeks after the release, and a few postings in the various What Did You Finish threads. So make one.
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Jun 4, 2018 16:42
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How on earth did I end up with a degree in English comp/rhet yet reading a book on my own volition and free time is the single hardest thing for me to do? I get about a fifth of the way through a book and just stop reading. I deserve to be killed and it drives me loving crazy that I can't read.
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Jun 6, 2018 23:02
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Star Man posted:How on earth did I end up with a degree in English comp/rhet yet reading a book on my own volition and free time is the single hardest thing for me to do? I get about a fifth of the way through a book and just stop reading. What are the last few books you've abandoned?
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Jun 6, 2018 23:11
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Star Man posted:How on earth did I end up with a degree in English comp/rhet yet reading a book on my own volition and free time is the single hardest thing for me to do? I get about a fifth of the way through a book and just stop reading. I don't finish books either. You don't deserve death for this. As I understand it all of the forced reading for school will kill the desire to read for pleasure, so don't worry it. I rec going to a library and browsing in different sections from your usual places. Try some YA, try looking at literally everything in the new books section. Read a few pages of everything, see how you feel. Last bit: the book the Ghost Map, about the plague in London, was both well-written and interesting that I devoured it in a few days, which is rare for me.
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Jun 7, 2018 03:10
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If you stare at screens all day constantly jumping from reading forums/reddit/social media/other attention candy, you eventually lose the ability to sit down and concentrate on a single written thing for more than a couple minutes without it feeling like work.
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Jun 7, 2018 09:41
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Is there any antiquarian chat around here? I'm an Architect with a healthy love of "how it used to be done" and how we were builders as well. So I have a few older editions of books and ultimately would like to have some firsts, but aside from googling I haven't had much luck even finding anything to know what ballpark of cost I'd be playing in to get a first edition/printing copy of the ones I'm interested in.
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Jun 7, 2018 14:46
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xwing posted:Is there any antiquarian chat around here? I'm an Architect with a healthy love of "how it used to be done" and how we were builders as well. So I have a few older editions of books and ultimately would like to have some firsts, but aside from googling I haven't had much luck even finding anything to know what ballpark of cost I'd be playing in to get a first edition/printing copy of the ones I'm interested in. It's really hard to know without more specifics. Book collecting is kinda weird in that it's very niche-driven; things you would expect to be ridiculously valuable just aren't, but then if there's a movie or something, the value spikes dramatically. If you're looking for something like original Piranesi prints those might get kinda expensive: https://www.davidsongalleries.com/artists/antique/giovanni-battista-piranesi/ Reason being that they've been collected for a long time now and fall into the "art" category, not the "book" category. Even there it's kinda arbitrary though; a first edition folio of Audubon's Birds of North America might sell for seven million dollars, but a first edition folio of Audubon's Quadrupeds of North America might sell for only twenty thousand or so. You can look here for more of an idea of the general market: http://www.sothebys.com/en/departments/books-manuscripts.html Like I said, though, it's weird. I remember seeing the original manuscript of How the Grinch Stole Christmas selling for only like twenty-five thousand. Original Winnie-the-Pooh art they're expecting to sell for about 100k: http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/Bibliofile/2018/05/winnie-the-poohs-original-hundred-acre-wood.html First editions of most modern authors should not be very expensive ($50), unless it's unusually rare for some weird reason or the print run was very small and the author then got very famous later (e.g., first edition harry potter: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-...y-a7961726.html). What I'd suggest is searching for what you want on https://www.biblio.com/ for a decent idea of the market. Sometimes amazon used will have a surprisingly interesting selection, depending. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 15:09 on Jun 7, 2018 |
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Jun 7, 2018 14:58
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xwing posted:Is there any antiquarian chat around here? I'm an Architect with a healthy love of "how it used to be done" and how we were builders as well. So I have a few older editions of books and ultimately would like to have some firsts, but aside from googling I haven't had much luck even finding anything to know what ballpark of cost I'd be playing in to get a first edition/printing copy of the ones I'm interested in.
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Jun 7, 2018 15:03
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I get that my list/desires is very niche. Likely it's going to be in a basement of someone who's great grandfather was a drafter or Architect. That may be to my advantage price wise. No one is going to be searching for them other than another Architect like myself. The specific's I'd be looking for are: 1)Architectural Graphic Standards. I have a 3rd edition. The problem is that Wiley that own the Architectural world for books and magazines did a reproduction. I've never seen a legit 1st edition in my searches... same with a 2nd edition. 2)Kidder's Architects' and Builder' Handbook. I got a deal at a book sale for a few dollars for a 17th edition. It's older than the copy my office had from our original firm partner. But good Lord 17th and it was printed in the 20's? Where's edition 1-16? I haven't seen anything older.
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Jun 7, 2018 15:16
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xwing posted:Is there any antiquarian chat around here? I'm an Architect with a healthy love of "how it used to be done" and how we were builders as well. So I have a few older editions of books and ultimately would like to have some firsts, but aside from googling I haven't had much luck even finding anything to know what ballpark of cost I'd be playing in to get a first edition/printing copy of the ones I'm interested in. Maybe not that useful if you only want first editions but there used to be a company called Lindsay Publications that specialised in reprinting all kinds of old diy type books, like woodworking, machining, vehicles, all kinds of stuff. They closed in 2013 but there's a website here that is selling all of their remaining stock(apparently quite a lot of it): https://www.youroldtimebookstore.com/
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Jun 7, 2018 15:16
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xwing posted:g for are: There appear to be 2 first editions from 1932. $850 and $1,025 quote:2)Kidder's Architects' and Builder' Handbook. I got a deal at a book sale for a few dollars for a 17th edition. It's older than the copy my office had from our original firm partner. But good Lord 17th and it was printed in the 20's? Where's edition 1-16? I haven't seen anything older.
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Jun 7, 2018 15:27
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Juanito posted:https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?fe=on&kn=1st&sortby=17&tn=architectural+graphic+standards I should have checked there first. I haven't seen them in the past and had given up checking.
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Jun 7, 2018 15:31
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Juanito posted:https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?fe=on&kn=1st&sortby=17&tn=architectural+graphic+standards there's one (or two, but I get the feeling they're the same) for $600 on amazon: https://www.amazon.com//gp/offer-listing/B003RQ4CI0/sr=/qid=/?condition=used&tag=bookfinder-test-a-20 https://www.bookfinder.com was the search engine we used in my bookstore for old & rare stuff, because it goes through different websites not only AbeBooks (although most everything ends up on there)
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Jun 7, 2018 15:50
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Burning Rain posted:there's one (or two, but I get the feeling they're the same) for $600 on amazon: https://www.amazon.com//gp/offer-listing/B003RQ4CI0/sr=/qid=/?condition=used&tag=bookfinder-test-a-20 Now that's a search engine! Awesome. I never trusted the Amazon listings because of the possibility that some random person is mixing up the reprint with an authentic version...
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Jun 7, 2018 15:59
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A lot of unknowledgeable sellers use Amazon to sell books because it's easy/convenient. If you find something that might be good, it is worth following up with them, just in case. There is trash, and there are scams, but there are also deals because many sellers don't always know what they're selling, they just know that it had some resell value when they picked it up cheap at a yard sale, or thrift store.
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Jun 7, 2018 16:02
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Is there a thread anyplace for mystery / detective / crime fiction?
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Jun 9, 2018 00:24
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There was a hardboiled thread but it's archived now: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3652749
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Jun 9, 2018 12:32
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Wheat Loaf posted:Is there a thread anyplace for mystery / detective / crime fiction? No  . I suspect, going from my goon goodreads friends, It would only be me and you in it anyway. If you want recommendations hit me up - my specialty is golden age. This trilogy is the love of my life, audio book version especially. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1793992.The_Affair_of_the_Blood_Stained_Egg_Cosy
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Jun 9, 2018 14:35
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I've been reading the Lloyd Hopkins trilogy - the series Ellroy wrote immediately before he started the L.A. Quartet (I confused them - I have them as a paperback omnibus entitled L.A. Noir) - and had some thoughts about it, which I believe I mentioned in another thread. Ellroy's introduction explains that he'd written a couple of more minor novels already and while he was drafting the first Hopkins book, Blood On the Moon, he read the novel he considers to this day to be the greatest suspense novel ever written - Red Dragon - and consciously tried to evoke that. It doesn't quite work to me, for various reasons. The second one, Because the Night, which I finished this morning, is a lot better. It scales back the pulpiness of the first, much to its benefit I think. At least there are fewer descriptions of Captain Dutch Peltz having to hold back his tears because Lloyd Hopkins is just such an awesome genius.  Edit: I was reminded of the first Rebus novel a bit, because in the foreword to the version I have, Rankin makes jokes about how terrible and how "my first novel" some of the similes he used were, singling out "The sky was as dark as a Wagnerian opera" as a particularly bad offender. 
Wheat Loaf fucked around with this message at 15:10 on Jun 9, 2018 |
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Jun 9, 2018 14:55
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learnincurve posted:No I don't read much in the way of mysteries, but I do enjoy them in moderation, and that book looks like it might be very to my taste. I'll check it out!
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Jun 9, 2018 15:52
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Do any of you guys listen to audio books? Is audible the preferred service? I'm pretty cheap and $14/mo seems kinda steep. Wish they had an academic discount. Are there any other services you recommend instead? edit: Just found out that my public library gives me free access to Hoopla and Overdrive. Anyone use those? Housh fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Jun 17, 2018 |
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Jun 17, 2018 18:43
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Audible is pretty good for finding bargains as well, they have deals of the day and also if you own a book on kindle you can get the audio version for cheap - so if the book is on a deal it works out less than a credit is worth.
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Jun 17, 2018 19:21
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Also just kind of look around for codes and deals once in a while. You can only use the sign up codes that you hear in podcasts once a few years but I got three months at half price a couple times. I’m not consistently subscribed but have a pretty decent library. I also like ginormous fantasy books so the value really improves there! Less than a buck an hour works ok to me!
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Jun 17, 2018 20:20
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Housh posted:Do any of you guys listen to audio books? Is audible the preferred service? I'm pretty cheap and $14/mo seems kinda steep. Wish they had an academic discount. Are there any other services you recommend instead? I mainly use Hoopla for comics, but I like it.
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Jun 17, 2018 20:22
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I use overdrive with library books. It's a great resource. Overdrive is not the best audio player for books but does the job easily enough. Audible regularly has sales and deals (once you've been subscribed for a few months they generally start offering the ability to buy 3 credits for $9-10 a piece). However audible is eerily effective at getting you to keep buying audiobooks/credits and participating in sales by throwing new deals at you, so be aware. People end up thinking they're outsmarting audible and buy loads more books over longer periods because they're getting them "cheaper" than the standard credit price. There's a sale of some kind at least every month (beyond the daily deal).
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Jun 17, 2018 22:04
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Enfys posted:I use overdrive with library books. It's a great resource. Overdrive is not the best audio player for books but does the job easily enough. Have you tried overdrive's new(ish) app Libby? I don't really do ebooks but supposedly libby is much easier to use and it may just be flat out better than the older overdrive app.
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Jun 17, 2018 22:55
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Pyromaniac Ida posted:
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Jun 18, 2018 19:06
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Philip José Farmer came up with one of his elaborate, overwrought mythology-welding exercises to explain that Nemo was actually Professor Moriarty all along.
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Jun 18, 2018 20:04
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:With Captain Nemo at least there is a heavy implication that he's Indian royalty abused by British colonialism and that's why he's taken to the seas, but a lot of the sections alluding to that were excised from most early English language translations, most of which are still the most common translations. Good set of quotes here on the translation differences: http://jv.gilead.org.il/evans/VerneTrans(article).html
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Jun 22, 2018 14:24
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anilEhilated posted:This is actually explicitly confirmed in another one of Verne's novels, The Mysterious Island, which has an old and dying Nemo recount his life's story. Yeah, that's what I was thinking of, I just wasn't sure how strong to make my statement because it's been a decade or so since I read it and the translation I read (the Gutenberg versions) was ludicrously, "all negative mentions of England deliberately removed," bad. I got really disappointed recently because there was a kickstarter for a *beautifully* illustrated edition of 20,000 leagues, but it's using the old "classic" awful translations. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/945681360/20000-leagues-under-the-sea
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Jun 22, 2018 14:36
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Who here can answer my Harry Potter questions? I have some burning questions about the world and how things work. My wife and I are currently reading through the series (she read it years ago and I never did).
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Jun 27, 2018 04:59
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There are no black wizards because they fought off slavery with magic, hope this answers your question.
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Jun 27, 2018 05:12
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The answer is don’t think too hard cause it’s not a series about world building.
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Jun 27, 2018 05:31
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