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ShredsYouSay posted:Skip to player of games, it's less of a slog compared to consider phlebas Then don't read any of the others. E: 100 - the number of £ that will buy €100 by the end of this month.
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Aug 13, 2019 17:46
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If none of you have read the fortress unvanquishable save for sacnoth by the way I do recommend it, it's  https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Sword_of_Welleran_and_Other_Stories/The_Fortress_Unvanquishable,_Save_for_Sacnoth
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Aug 13, 2019 17:48
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Niric posted:Banks fans itt I need your help/honest opinions. Because the Culture novels come up not infrequently in the thread (and because I enjoyed The Wasp Factory and some M. Banks short stories when I read them years ago) I figured I'd give Consider Phlebas a shot. And after about 3/4s of the way through it's....ok, I guess? Given the love the series gets I feel like I'm missing something. Is it worth persevering with, or is it more likely just not my thing if I'm kinda cool on the first one? Consider Phlebas is generally regarded as the worst. you can tell it’s an early effort. “ok I guess” is a fair review. The Player of Games is a much better intro. But personally I’d recommend Excession and Use of Weapons as my favourites. Also it’s not really a series - the novels don’t follow each other as sequels* - it’s just a shared background universe. you can read any of them in any order. * if you feel the need to be pedantic about certain shared characters in later novels, don’t cos that’s a spoiler :P
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Aug 13, 2019 17:49
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is The City and the City worth reading? I feel like I've seen both a) recommendations for it and b) stories about de Mieville being an absolute poo poo of a person
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Aug 13, 2019 17:50
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Julio Cruz posted:is The City and the City worth reading? I feel like I've seen both a) recommendations for it and b) stories about de Mieville being an absolute poo poo of a person It's pretty good, but Embassytown was better imo. Still haven't watched the BBC adaptation of C&C from last year which has been sitting on my DVR C&C easily ruined by spoilers tho
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Aug 13, 2019 17:53
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Julio Cruz posted:is The City and the City worth reading? I feel like I've seen both a) recommendations for it and b) stories about de Mieville being an absolute poo poo of a person What did Mieville do?
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Aug 13, 2019 17:53
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OwlFancier posted:I dunno if this is what you call municipalism but guavanaut probably does. It's not a million miles away from the old municipal corporations except with more active participation from the corporation owners (which is the common people within each municipal area under non-poo poo systems, and probably some earl or redpillbro under the inevitable "what if X but poo poo" models). There's no requirement for this to be agrarian, or techno-agrarian, or have municipal autarky, but Bookchin was a big environmentalist and eco-type, so his ideal wouldn't be a sprawling megacity but more like a civic, health, welfare and transport hub surrounded by city farms. Which reminds me, I still need to read The Right To The City, which is 100% free at the moment. WhatEvil posted:Oh.... oh gently caress. Julio Cruz posted:is The City and the City worth reading? I feel like I've seen both a) recommendations for it and b) stories about de Mieville being an absolute poo poo of a person
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Aug 13, 2019 17:53
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Failed Imagineer posted:It's pretty good, but Embassytown was better imo. Still haven't watched the BBC adaptation of C&C from last year which has been sitting on my DVR I really wasn't wild about the ending of the BBC version for reasons. I gather Mieville to be some sort of sex pest but I never got details beyond that.
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Aug 13, 2019 17:54
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Necrothatcher posted:What did Mieville do? I can't remember any actual details, it's just an impression I have that I've read bad things about him somewhere on here at some point
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Aug 13, 2019 17:56
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Lookitquote:Then spake Leothric, son of the Lord Lorendiac, and twenty years old was he: "Good Master, what of the sword Sacnoth?" "So to get your magic sword you have to punch a metal dragon crocodile in the nose until it starves to death and then glue one eye to its spine and use the other to sharpen it, have fun." Dunsany was on some very good drugs.
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Aug 13, 2019 17:56
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e; ^ Someone needs to mod that into Skyrim Had a dream about an old school friend so I decided to look her up, and after dredging her surname up I found her. Not only is her third pic on her front FB a famous terf shibboleth, "Woman: Noun: Adult human female" she's even wearing a shirt emblazoned with same in her actual profile pic. It's been liked by a different old school friend, too! So that's left a sour taste lmao. Cerv posted:The Player of Games is a much better intro. But personally I’d recommend Excession and Use of Weapons as my favourites. Hell yeah Cerv with the good book opinions!  OwlFancier posted:Also quite a bit of the writing in Caves of Qud, again the same dreamlike, trippy quality to it, though Banks is much more coherent. Now I want to see Saad Amus The Sky-Bear equipped with Culture tech and absolutely wrecking everything 
Ms Adequate fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Aug 13, 2019 |
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Aug 13, 2019 17:59
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Necrothatcher posted:What did Mieville do? More on the "really poo poo dickhead (abusive?) boyfriend" end of the spectrum than "sex grabber" IIRC
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Aug 13, 2019 17:59
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Thanks or.enagaging responses all. I've been ready more philosophy recently - or I should say more books about philosophy - and feel many miss a trick in that regard. Certainly many in the church (which I imagine I have more experience of than the vast majority here) do. It's been interesting to see push back against consumerism become more widespread recently, and counter moves against that. If we're to do it successfully, and save the plane etc I think we need to radically redefine contentment, or at least tackle the idea you can buy it. Cerv posted:The Player of Games is a much better intro. But personally I’d recommend Excession and Use of Weapons as my favourites. This, start with the Player of Games then graduate. Julio Cruz posted:is The City and the City worth reading? Yes. Zalakwe fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Aug 13, 2019 |
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Aug 13, 2019 17:59
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Guavanaut posted:lmao raab It's certainly an impressive feat to be the stupidest Foreign Secretary ever given the field (especially since 2010) but dammit he's made it.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:03
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Ms Adequate posted:Now I want to see Saad Amus The Sky-Bear equipped with Culture tech and absolutely wrecking everything With enough ego I'm pretty sure light manipulation becomes gridfire.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:03
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Niric posted:Banks fans itt I need your help/honest opinions. Because the Culture novels come up not infrequently in the thread (and because I enjoyed The Wasp Factory and some M. Banks short stories when I read them years ago) I figured I'd give Consider Phlebas a shot. And after about 3/4s of the way through it's....ok, I guess? Given the love the series gets I feel like I'm missing something. Is it worth persevering with, or is it more likely just not my thing if I'm kinda cool on the first one? you don't need to read them chronologically so go with player of games or excession. iirc phlebas was his first book so i don't think he quit hit his rhythm.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:05
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Failed Imagineer posted:More on the "really poo poo dickhead (abusive?) boyfriend" end of the spectrum than "sex grabber" IIRC Eh, I can deal with him being a poo poo boyfriend as long as there's nothing worse than that. Are there any specific allegations about his behaviour?
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Aug 13, 2019 18:07
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Failed Imagineer posted:More on the "really poo poo dickhead (abusive?) boyfriend" end of the spectrum than "sex grabber" IIRC Not abusive, per se - it was more that he had a very different idea of what their relationship was compared to what she thought it was (he thought it was open, she didn't), and when the conflict became apparent, he handled it like a big ol' jerk. So he's not outright cancelled, but also not someone you really want to date.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:10
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It's this - http://bidisha-online.blogspot.com/2012/12/emotional-violence-and-social-power.html On the one hand sounds like he's a lovely boyfriend, on the other hand she seems to be trying reeeeal hard to equate 'being a lovely boyfriend' with actual rape and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:15
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AceOfFlames posted:I do agree society really reinforces the notion that if you're not advancing, you're a loser. My own parent especially keep telling me "with brains like yours, you could be at the very top if only you applied yourself! You're as smart or smarter than all your colleagues and they are all jumping ahead!" I got a lot of that too. I also value being alive. Seen several former colleagues drop dead either on their way to work or within weeks of retirement sometimes before their pension lump sums even dropped into their bank accounts. I'll take my decision not to play that game anymore and consequent miniscule pension over that.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:15
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Offa's Dyke trip report, day three Overall trip 9/10. Long day from the Hunters Moon Inn to Hay-on-Wye, hoofed about 32km in under 8 hours and feeling pretty proud. Black mountains are super amazing, with view halfway through the UK and the Welsh countryside on the other side. Really good path with slabs in the right places so we don't disturb the moorland vegetation. Also lots of half wild ponies. Weather: 9/10, perfect wind and temperature for walkies and pants dry as a bone.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:16
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Cerv posted:Also it’s not really a series - the novels don’t follow each other as sequels* - it’s just a shared background universe. you can read any of them in any order. While I agree I would caveat that Inversions is not really as enjoyable read without being familiar with the other books.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:18
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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/13/tom-watson-urges-labour-to-work-with-liberal-democrats I was just thinking we hadn't heard from the twatson in a while
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Aug 13, 2019 18:20
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Cerv posted:Consider Phlebas is generally regarded as the worst. you can tell it’s an early effort. “ok I guess” is a fair review. Look to Windward is also amazing. I'd say those are the top 3. Matter and Surface Detail are a bit looked down upon I find but I really enjoyed them too, they've got some really cool concepts in them.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:21
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feedmegin posted:It's this - After reading that I can clearly see she's in pain and deeply miserable, but I still can't tell what Mieville actually did. I'm guessing he was sleeping with other women behind her back?
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Aug 13, 2019 18:22
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StarkingBarfish posted:https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/13/tom-watson-urges-labour-to-work-with-liberal-democrats ah yes its labour who are the problem here
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Aug 13, 2019 18:22
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StarkingBarfish posted:https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/13/tom-watson-urges-labour-to-work-with-liberal-democrats Guess he figures his involvement in Operation Midland has blown over.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:23
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 https://twitter.com/marcus44/status/1161320184185012224 There are actually people out there who think like this? 
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Aug 13, 2019 18:26
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Necrothatcher posted:After reading that I can clearly see she's in pain and deeply miserable, but I still can't tell what Mieville actually did. I'm guessing he was sleeping with other women behind her back? Or promising her a committed relationship in bad faith so he could get into her pants. But we only have her side of it from that and, yeah, she uses a lot of very florid language which i find kind of offensive to actual abuse survivors to...not actually lay out a clear grievance.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:26
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Julio Cruz posted:is The City and the City worth reading? I feel like I've seen both a) recommendations for it and b) stories about de Mieville being an absolute poo poo of a person It might be a good primer for when the EU extends the brexit deadline indefinitely, the Tories insist it doesn't count and we're not members anymore, and the UK becomes two parallel realities where everyone believes whichever version they want and ignores everything operating in the other reality Irish border's gonna be wild though
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Aug 13, 2019 18:27
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Niric posted:Banks fans itt I need your help/honest opinions. Because the Culture novels come up not infrequently in the thread (and because I enjoyed The Wasp Factory and some M. Banks short stories when I read them years ago) I figured I'd give Consider Phlebas a shot. And after about 3/4s of the way through it's....ok, I guess? Given the love the series gets I feel like I'm missing something. Is it worth persevering with, or is it more likely just not my thing if I'm kinda cool on the first one? Consider Phlebas is much more generic than his later stuff, he was finding his feet and the culture wasn't really that fleshed out. I'm a big fan of Excession just because the ship personalities really come into play. I'd be tempted to recommend that as a first read although others may disagree. Use of weapons is great in my opinion but some people don't like the way it is ordered (and the plot twist is dark as gently caress). Non-culture, but I really liked the algebraist as well.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:28
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Bardeh posted:
Not economics evidently. goddamnedtwisto posted:It's certainly an impressive feat to be the stupidest Foreign Secretary ever given the field (especially since 2010) but dammit he's made it.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:29
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Computer, define "face like a smacked arse"
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Aug 13, 2019 18:30
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I've also read most of Consider Phlebas and not really gotten into it - although the cannibal island section was pretty cool. I should get around to finishing it.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:32
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OwlFancier posted:Dunsany was on some very good drugs. Dunsany appears as a playable character in the series that would become the Shadow Hearts games, and I did a bit of research into him for a possible LP of the game - all of which ended up in The Dark Id's LP of it. He's one of those interesting people where their own works are mostly forgotten, but influenced a ton of more famous people. He also got shot in the head during the Easter Rising, but survived; A bullet had ricochetted into his skull, and he required surgery to remove it. Unfortunately for him, while starting the surgery, the anaesthetic mask they were using was pressing down too hard on his face kept him conscious - and they only gave him more ether when he told them that he could hear every word they were saying. Post Surgery posted:A fair division was afterwards made, by which the doctors kept a piece of my skull, and I kept the bullet, which I have in a show case still. Bardeh posted:There are actually people out there who think like this? Cutting off my life support to spite myself.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:38
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Comrade Fakename posted:Yeah, Player of Games isn’t the first Culture book, but it’s probably the best introduction. Consider Phlebas is more of a straight sci-fi adventure and only really tangentially related to The Culture (who are weirdly the antagonists). I was very miffed with Player of Games because it ended with the revelation that all the thoughts and inner monologue of the eponymous character was made up by another character and so said nothing about the first character
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Aug 13, 2019 18:48
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Bardeh posted:I've also read most of Consider Phlebas and not really gotten into it - although the cannibal island section was pretty cool. I should get around to finishing it. The final section is really really good, and the actual ending and epilogue is a drat masterstroke.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:48
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Bardeh posted:
hmm yes why is the thing that I pay thousands of pounds for better than the thing that's free
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Aug 13, 2019 18:49
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AceOfFlames posted:I do agree society really reinforces the notion that if you're not advancing, you're a loser. My own parent especially keep telling me "with brains like yours, you could be at the very top if only you applied yourself! You're as smart or smarter than all your colleagues and they are all jumping ahead!" I've lost count of the people who've told me similar poo poo in the past. They're right, I am smart, I took a Mensa IQ test because I wondered if I actually was smarter than average... but it doesn't loving matter. I could be "at the top" if I applied myself. I could have taken the path of my friend who did Maths at uni and now works for a hedge-fund making stupid amounts of money, or the path of my wife's friend who did CompSci and now works for google and makes stupid amounts of money... but it's not me. I wouldn't like it, and I just can't be arsed. I'm at a point in my life where I could conceivably work like 30 hours a week and live a moderately comfortable life (with my wife working too) and if that were a reasonable option, I would, however all of the jobs you look at are "44 hours a week and must be willing to work overtime" and all that poo poo. Like yeah, it's for more money, but gently caress that, I don't want it. I've worked 80 hour weeks back-to-back before, I've worked 6 months with a total of about 8 days off, it loving sucks.
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Aug 13, 2019 18:49
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OwlFancier posted:Computer, define "face like a smacked arse" DID YOU MEAN: Face like a grieving onion?
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Aug 13, 2019 18:53
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