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PeterWeller posted:I'm not familiar with Barfield, but that does sound awfully dismissive of "primitive man" and pre-modern mental capacities. He seems to be sort of injecting Lacanian psychoanalysis into history to suggest that "primitive" people are basically children. If you'd like a good counterpoint, read Tolkien's other buddy C.S. Lewis's The Discarded Image. It describes Medieval cosmology in great detail and makes a powerful case that while it was completely wrong, it was still an entirely rational understanding of the universe and its structure based on received knowledge and observable reality available at the time. The good thing about that episode is that as it goes on, we gather more and more meaning to "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra," because we start with no context at all and we pick up lots. Dathon's solution to this particular situation of contact between two different peoples who could be enemies is to duplicate the circumstances and situation of Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra: two potential enemies who arrived at an isolated place, were forced to work together to survive the Beast of Tanagra, and so forged a friendship which endured when they departed the island together. The whole point of metaphor is that it conveys a great deal of information, much more than straightforward speech does, so trying to tie a metaphor to a single definition makes it stop functioning as a metaphor. Going with "teamwork" isn't exactly wrong, but it's emptied out all the significance and specificity. Military teamwork would be distinct from teamwork on a football field or familial teamwork or collaboration on writing a story. And metaphor changes meaning the more context and understanding you possess. Best of all, you can stack metaphors: describe one person by recourse to six similes and metaphors and you've described them an awful lot, but the metaphors can either build upon or undermine each other, leading to a more complex texture if you're skilled or a complete unintelligible mess if you aren't. Going with the simple definition of a Tamarian metaphor isn't always so easy without context. I took Temba, his arms wide, as "offering something" and not "welcoming", for example. But I suppose it's time to "The River Tamarc, in winter" this conversation for now.
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May 1, 2024 00:40
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about half way through SA Barnes Ghost Station. It's pretty good so far as a space haunted house, though I do sort of feel like it sometimes is not really using technology that it feels like it should have in order to avoid having to deal how you do spooks with that. The concept of having a psychological horror novel where the main character is a troubled psychologist is great though, because it means that your main character can spend a lot of time trying to figure out if she's crazy or not.
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May 1, 2024 01:09
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The Two of Swords: Volume One by KJ Parker - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y5K2CK3/
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May 1, 2024 01:27
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pradmer posted:The Two of Swords: Volume One by KJ Parker - $2.99 Is this a good first KJ Parker?
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May 1, 2024 01:30
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Subjunctive posted:Is this a good first KJ Parker? I wouldn’t start there - start with the more recent stuff (Siege trilogy or Saevus Corax trilogy). If you like those, go back to the earlier stuff. Also read his short fiction collection (Academic Exercises?), it has some good stuff.
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May 1, 2024 01:44
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Kalman posted:I wouldn’t start there - start with the more recent stuff (Siege trilogy or Saevus Corax trilogy). If you like those, go back to the earlier stuff. Also read his short fiction collection (Academic Exercises?), it has some good stuff. OK, I’ll poke around for those. Thanks!
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May 1, 2024 01:45
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I personally think The Engineer Trilogy and The Folding Knife is peak Parker, but his newer stuff is more fun.
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May 1, 2024 02:34
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wait wait wait Jean Luc Picard is French Jack Aubrey vs Jean Luc Picard in space
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May 1, 2024 03:45
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:It's kind of an unfortunate reality of trad – they do things you're going to hate, but those things are really good at selling books. It's their whole job. The stuff that moves copies and the stuff that makes the author feel happy and respected will sometimes overlap, but when there's a dispute, the thing that moves copies tend to win. It’s a real shame, cause I loved your original cover. But what sells is what sells I guess even if it’s as boring as that Blockbuster Typeface. drat
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May 1, 2024 04:35
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Ccs posted:I personally think The Engineer Trilogy and The Folding Knife is peak Parker, but his newer stuff is more fun. I think they’re the peak of what he used to be and the newer stuff represents a somewhat lighter (and less formulaic) direction, but I also would t recommend someone *start* there unless they were extremely depressed (or wanted to be.)
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May 1, 2024 05:04
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Narsham posted:The good thing about that episode is that as it goes on, we gather more and more meaning to "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra," because we start with no context at all and we pick up lots. Dathon's solution to this particular situation of contact between two different peoples who could be enemies is to duplicate the circumstances and situation of Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra: two potential enemies who arrived at an isolated place, were forced to work together to survive the Beast of Tanagra, and so forged a friendship which endured when they departed the island together. These are all good points. I would just add that the indeterminacy or "complex texture" as you put it of a metaphor is also a characteristic of words and terms according to post-structural theory. For example, the simple word "dog" conveys many different chains of association dependent on the speaker, listener, and context. While the word "dog" may seem to lack specificity, it conjures up specific images and ideas in the minds of those who speak and hear it, and those specific images and ideas can change based on context.
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May 1, 2024 18:15
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Kalman posted:I wouldn’t start there - start with the more recent stuff (Siege trilogy or Saevus Corax trilogy). If you like those, go back to the earlier stuff. Also read his short fiction collection (Academic Exercises?), it has some good stuff. I just read Under my Skin and there's some very good stories in there.
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May 1, 2024 18:47
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mllaneza posted:I just read Under my Skin and there's some very good stories in there. I really enjoyed Father of Lies, they are generally more straight up fantasy oriented. I haven't heard of Under My Skin before, may need to look into that. I also really liked The Company.
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May 1, 2024 22:52
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The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastards #1) by Scott Lynch - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JMKNJ2/ The Hidden Palace (Golem and Jinni #2) by Helene Wecker - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075WS4G4K/ The Crucible of Time by John Brunner - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J84KT3M/ Tales of Old Earth: Stories by Michael Swanwick - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E6HYNI2/ The City of Dreaming Books (Zamonia #3) by Walter Moers - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MXFY72F/ Storming Heaven (Age of Bronze #2) by Miles Cameron - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNBC5XHD/ Shards of Glass (Academia Chronicles #1) by Michelle Sagara - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQWN8L8D/ Into the West (Founding of Valdemar #2) by Mercedes Lackey - $0.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GVZTGXV/ The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M Valente - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M3SMCYM/ Lovecraft Country (#1) by Matt Ruff - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UG61LNS/ The Destroyer of Worlds: A Return to Lovecraft Country (#2) by Matt Ruff - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2578RCL/ Ursula K Le Guin Tales from Earthsea (Earthsea #5) - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZX86BO/ The Other Wind (Earthsea #6) - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004H1U22E/ The Birthday of the World: And Other Stories by Ursula K Le Guin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC10U2/ The Telling (Hainish #8) by Ursula K Le Guin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003T0GAUC/ Discworld books by Terry Pratchett Sourcery (#5) - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000W913S2/ Reaper Man (#11) - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UVBT4A/ Small Gods (#13) - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QTEA3I/ I Shall Wear Midnight (#38) - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VIWO9I/ Snuff (#39) - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FFW46S/ pradmer fucked around with this message at 23:27 on May 1, 2024 |
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May 1, 2024 23:04
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Kalman posted:I think they’re the peak of what he used to be and the newer stuff represents a somewhat lighter (and less formulaic) direction, but I also would t recommend someone *start* there unless they were extremely depressed (or wanted to be.) Yeah I read them during covid lockdowns and enjoyed them in a kind of "well, the world COULD be worse" kind of way
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May 2, 2024 01:37
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pradmer posted:Small Gods (#13) - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QTEA3I/ One of Prachett's best.
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May 2, 2024 02:03
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A Proper Uppercut posted:I also really liked The Company. I mentioned it before, but yeah that one I really like. It's way off-formula, it's got a lot of interesting characters, at least two of them quite mad, and they get put in increasingly worse situations, often by their own hubris. Anyone who bounced off Parker before might want to give this a go on the grounds that it's a really good novel.
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May 2, 2024 02:21
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habeasdorkus posted:One of Prachett's best. For a second I got it confused with The God of Small Things, which I loved, but is very much not Pratchett.
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May 2, 2024 04:59
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Continuing my Alastair Reynolds kick, I just finished Chasm City. Dude has a gift for weird aliens. The hamadryads were cool (although I wasn’t a huge fan of the snakebite deus ex machina during climax), but the grubs and their void warren kicked rear end and I wanted to know more about the “jumper clowns” they referenced (what a name).
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May 2, 2024 13:36
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I had never heard of King Crimson when I first read Revelation Space so "Pattern Jugglers" meant nothing to me.
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May 2, 2024 14:02
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habeasdorkus posted:One of Prachett's best. You can lose the "Pratchett" qualifier there, honestly.
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May 2, 2024 14:14
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eighty-four merc posted:Continuing my Alastair Reynolds kick, I just finished Chasm City. I don't think we know much about the Jumper Clowns, except that they have subspace ansible tech and really dislike even the notion of FTL travel. There mIght have been more in one of the books I haven't read. Chasm City was real good, and I liked how the chase ended with everything piling up because of Sky Haussman's memory shenanigans. I also really liked the flashbacks to the race to Sky's Edge, which of course was called Journey's End at that point. Jedit posted:You can lose the "Pratchett" qualifier there, honestly. Agreed, it's a great novel.
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May 2, 2024 14:37
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habeasdorkus posted:One of Prachett's best. I've never read any Pratchett (I know, I'm so sorry), would it be ok to start with this one? I'm vaguely aware that the Discworld novels don't have to be read in order but I don't know much else. I'd love to dive in to them!
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May 2, 2024 14:41
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Aphex- posted:I've never read any Pratchett (I know, I'm so sorry), would it be ok to start with this one? I'm vaguely aware that the Discworld novels don't have to be read in order but I don't know much else. I'd love to dive in to them! Yes, this is a fantastic choice for your first. It's standalone, and also really hits everything about what makes him a special writer.
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May 2, 2024 15:13
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eighty-four merc posted:Continuing my Alastair Reynolds kick, I just finished Chasm City. Turquoise Days is a novella that takes place entirely on a pattern juggler world, both it and Diamond Dogs are pretty good. FPyat posted:I had never heard of King Crimson when I first read Revelation Space so "Pattern Jugglers" meant nothing to me. He does name a lot of stuff after British rock music it seems.
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May 2, 2024 15:29
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Aphex- posted:I've never read any Pratchett (I know, I'm so sorry), would it be ok to start with this one? I'm vaguely aware that the Discworld novels don't have to be read in order but I don't know much else. I'd love to dive in to them! Very much so. It isn't even strictly important that Small Gods is set on the Discworld, apart from the joke that the Omnian Church insist that the world is round when every natural philosopher has proven that it's flat - usually by the rather obvious method of going to the edge and looking over it.
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May 2, 2024 15:33
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Alastair Reynolds has the coolest ideas and worldbuilding of any SF writer ive read. I'll be forever sad the revelation space series never got satisfying closure. The procession of rolling cathedrals in absolution gap had me hootin.
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May 2, 2024 17:37
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I finally read Legends and Lattes and you know what really grinds my gears? The drink is called a “latte” on their menu but the croissant is “Midnight Crescent”?! Come on, total immersion ruined. Edit: a legends and lattes anathem crossover where Viv’s world is further down the wick and also the book is 1000 pages for some reason and the ending is unsatisfying? Awkward Davies fucked around with this message at 18:10 on May 2, 2024 |
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May 2, 2024 18:07
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habeasdorkus posted:Yes, this is a fantastic choice for your first. It's standalone, and also really hits everything about what makes him a special writer. Jedit posted:Very much so. It isn't even strictly important that Small Gods is set on the Discworld, apart from the joke that the Omnian Church insist that the world is round when every natural philosopher has proven that it's flat - usually by the rather obvious method of going to the edge and looking over it. Thanks! That's really good to know, I guess I've never dipped into it yet because of the amount of books there are in Discworld and couldn't decide which one to try out first. Sounds like this is a winner.
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May 2, 2024 21:09
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Aphex- posted:Thanks! That's really good to know, I guess I've never dipped into it yet because of the amount of books there are in Discworld and couldn't decide which one to try out first. Sounds like this is a winner. There are a lot of books but they never get to the ridiculous page count of many fantasy series. I'd say the average is around 250-300. They're generally very easy to read too, as long as you're cool with footnotes
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May 2, 2024 21:18
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Aphex- posted:I've never read any Pratchett (I know, I'm so sorry), would it be ok to start with this one? I'm vaguely aware that the Discworld novels don't have to be read in order but I don't know much else. I'd love to dive in to them! traditionally the best way to read pratchett is in whatever order you find the tattered paperbacks in little second hand stores. they're serialized, but do a good job of catching you up as needed. Small gods is one of the best standalones though.
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May 2, 2024 21:30
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Sand (Sand Chronicles #1) by Hugh Howey - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098SSTWFM/
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May 2, 2024 22:32
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Suggestions for good book club fare, on the lighter (or shorter) side? In terms of the genre we've read How to Lose a Time War and the Ted Chiang short stories in addition to Dune but I think the last one only flew because of the movie. Pondering Piranesi or Circe but I've read both already so I feel more on the hook if people hate 'em. Piranesi I adored but might be a little too slight in terms of narrative, too. Next on my personal list is Spear Cuts Through Water, which looks pretty intimidating sell. Especially given we just barely got through Yiddish Policeman's Union with a record number of DNFs, I'm trying to find something way less dense. Oh, Raven Tower feels like a good option...
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May 3, 2024 04:28
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NmareBfly posted:Suggestions for good book club fare, on the lighter (or shorter) side? In terms of the genre we've read How to Lose a Time War and the Ted Chiang short stories in addition to Dune but I think the last one only flew because of the movie. Spear Cuts Through Water isn’t that dense a read. It’s actually lyrical and light, a really well told tale. Also it’s not depressing (it does have sad parts tho)
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May 3, 2024 05:06
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NmareBfly posted:Suggestions for good book club fare, on the lighter (or shorter) side? In terms of the genre we've read How to Lose a Time War and the Ted Chiang short stories in addition to Dune but I think the last one only flew because of the movie. Gideon?
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May 3, 2024 05:14
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Stuporstar posted:Spear Cuts Through Water isn’t that dense a read. It’s actually lyrical and light, a really well told tale. Also it’s not depressing (it does have sad parts tho) I'm in the middle of it now and very much agree.
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May 3, 2024 08:15
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NmareBfly posted:Suggestions for good book club fare, on the lighter (or shorter) side? In terms of the genre we've read How to Lose a Time War and the Ted Chiang short stories in addition to Dune but I think the last one only flew because of the movie. if you want light, how about pratchett? people were just posting about Small Gods, which i think is the best discworld
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May 3, 2024 10:01
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Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi is a very easy read, told like Sinbad kind of stuff.
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May 3, 2024 11:22
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NmareBfly posted:Suggestions for good book club fare, on the lighter (or shorter) side? In terms of the genre we've read How to Lose a Time War and the Ted Chiang short stories in addition to Dune but I think the last one only flew because of the movie. Someone in this thread recommended Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro recently, which I just finished. It was a really easy read, not too long, and ultimately uplifting in message even if I think it was the most  book I've read.The Spear That Cuts Through Water was excellent too, but I'm not sure it'd make for great book club fare? It's very highly stylised, and some people I've recommended it to bounced hard off the style.
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May 3, 2024 11:27
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voiceless anal fricative posted:
Started it based on the thread recommendations. My biggest style gripe so far is the font of the section titles.
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May 3, 2024 14:56
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