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CHOOSE POORLY This poll is closed. |
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| The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner |
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4 | 14.29% |
| The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley |
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5 | 17.86% |
| Life: An Unauthorized Biography by Richard Fortey |
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2 | 7.14% |
| October by China Mieville |
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8 | 28.57% |
| Journey to the Northern Ocean by Samuel Hearne |
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2 | 7.14% |
| Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Dame Rebecca West |
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7 | 25.00% |
| Total: | 19 votes | ||
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Here are the contestants for next month -- you can vote for one or more -- please only vote if you would actually like to read the book and talk about it 1) The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner quote:The main plot revolves around suspect cases of deliberate poisoning by the U.S.-based Bamberley Trust corporation of their Nutripon relief food supplies directed to Africa and Central America. The poisoned food had the effect of instigating homicidal madness in those who ate it, and many suspected this was engineered by the corporation with the final aim of weakening the local governments and more easily exploiting the natural resources of the affected countries. No conclusive evidence of deliberate poisoning is found when, suddenly, a severe epidemic of mutated Escherichia coli affects the United States, millions of people are unable to work and produce food, and water filtering systems are unable to fully remove the bacteria from freshwater – and the authorities must cope with the decision to deliver the discredited Nutripon food to their own country as a much-needed food aid. 2) The Curse of Capistrano quote:n the early 1800s, California was still under Spanish rule. The peaceful indigenous people were victimized by the corrupt military commanders. One man rose to stand against injustice and the abuse of power. One man stirred the hearts of Californians and gave them the spirit to resist tyranny. That man was the masked avenger known as Zorro! 3) Life: An Unauthorized Biography by Richard Fortey quote:Richard Fortey’s Life: An Unauthorised Biography, the Guardian Science Book Club’s inaugural title, is a big read in every sense: its 400 pages span four billion years of planetary existence and 400 years of systematic scientific investigation. Its very ambition makes it a good candidate for interesting questions. What, exactly, is a science book? And to be a good book, does a science book have to be well-written, in the sense that a literary novel has to be well-written? https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/mar/06/fossils-evolution 4) October: The Story of the Russian Revolution by China Mieville quote:China Miéville’s contribution in October is to get away from ideological battles and go back to the dazzling reality of events. There is no schadenfreude here about the revolution’s bloody aftermath, nor patronising talk of experiments that failed because they were doomed to fail. Known as a left-wing activist and author of fantasy or what he himself calls weird fiction, Miéville writes with the brio and excitement of an enthusiast who would have wanted the revolution to succeed. But he is primarily interested in the dramatic narrative – the weird facts – of the most turbulent year in Russia’s history: strikes, protests, riots, looting, mass desertions from the army, land occupations by hungry peasants and pitched battles between workers and Cossacks, not just in Petrograd but along the length and breadth of a vast country. 5) Journey to the Northern Ocean by Samuel Hearne quote:Widely recognized as a classic of northern-exploration literature, A Journey to the Northern Ocean is Samuel Hearne's story of his three-year trek to seek a trade route across the Barrens in the Northwest Territories. Hearne was a superb reporter, from his anguished description of the massacre of helpless Eskimos by his Indian companions to his meticulous records of wildlife, flora and Indian manners and customs. As esteemed author Ken McGoogan points out in his foreword: "Hearne demonstrated that to thrive in the north, Europeans had to apprentice themselves to the Native peoples who had lived there for centuries-a lesson lost on many who followed." If you have alternate suggestions post about them below. This month I'm looking for distractions. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Apr 28, 2020 |
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Apr 28, 2020 19:00
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| # ? May 5, 2024 11:51 |
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I mean, I guess you should read the Brunner because its considered a classic but its really dated and not very good (having just read it last year). And after reading Mievelle's take on the French resistance, I'm outsies on his historical fiction. The travel book seems decent enough. Vote finish Decameron. But for travel fiction consider Malaria Dreams sometime. I thought it was super funny.
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Apr 28, 2020 21:07
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Option Added: 6) Black Lamb and Grey Falcon quote:Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia is a travel book written by Dame Rebecca West, published in 1941 in two volumes by Macmillan in the UK and by The Viking Press in the US.
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Apr 29, 2020 02:25
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Bilirubin posted:I mean, I guess you should read the Brunner because its considered a classic but its really dated and not very good (having just read it last year). And after reading Mievelle's take on the French resistance, I'm outsies on his historical fiction. The travel book seems decent enough. Unless that was the joke, October is an actual history book, not fiction. What did he say about the Resistance, though?
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Apr 29, 2020 03:16
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Safety Biscuits posted:Unless that was the joke, October is an actual history book, not fiction. What did he say about the Resistance, though? They fought with surrealism and the final boss was artist Hitler so it was trash
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Apr 29, 2020 04:08
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I'll vote for The Curse of Capistrano since I wanted to read that soon anyway. I read Scarlet Pimpernel last year and since Zorro is the other "first masked hero" I've been wanting to check it out.
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Apr 29, 2020 13:06
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Voting Black Lamb just so that I could criticise its paternalistic and colonialist views towards the Yugoslav peoples. Oh, and because I have it on my shelf and want to reread it.
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Apr 29, 2020 15:33
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Bilirubin posted:I mean, I guess you should read the Brunner because its considered a classic but its really dated and not very good (having just read it last year).
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May 1, 2020 06:07
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Sham bam bamina! posted:Care to elaborate? I was just about to order a copy, confident in the opposites of those things. One, its set in the 50s-60s sexist world of Mad Men, where women are constantly mixing their men drinks like early black and white Bewitched episodes, which I found grating. This is consistent with a "near future" future, written in the 60s, that we are already well past technologically as well, which deflates the tension building. The subplot of a fanatical environmental movement and messiah figure has been done better elsewhere, and kept bringing Atlas Shrugged to mind, which is always a big turn off. And the cast of hundreds of similarly voiced characters were very difficult to keep sorted, most have personalities as flat as the pages they were written on. It made an impression at the time as I understand it, so as I said its worth reading for that context of historical development of dystopian fiction, but I would never recommend someone go out of their way to read it. There are much better examples of the type.
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May 1, 2020 20:40
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| # ? May 5, 2024 11:51 |
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Ok, it'll be Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, if only so we an save October for October.
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May 3, 2020 00:55
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