Membro: bobmcconnaughey

Hi Bob,

I have a lot to do tonight, but I wanted to reply before I take off for a few days.

After you mentioned "Alchemy of Stone" I dredged back out of my memory what was in it. I totally agree, that would be a tremendous book for a group to read and discuss, for exactly the reasons you said. In fact, I remember actually thinking as I was reading it, "It would be really interesting to hear what other people see in this book." Because like I said in my review, it's one of those works - fairly rare in fantasy & SF - where I sense there is a lot there but it's sort of "encoded" and it's a tremendous challenge to make the right mental connections and see what it says beneath the layers of imagery. I think I missed about 75% of what's there. I always think getting several people thinking about it, if they have the right ability to get beyond the words, could bring a lot more out of a work like that. But that may not actually be true! I've never been lucky enough to be involved with such a group.

What about an LT group name like "Decoding F&SF"? If that reflects the kind of discussion you had in mind. It might attract other people with similar interests. That's the kind of thing I would enjoy.

I know what you mean about keeping up. I have books I want to read - zillions I've bought but can't possibly come up with the reading time for - and having all my time taken up reading books for a specific "purpose" doesn't sound that appealing. It usually takes me three weeks to get through a book of average length, if I give it my average amount of weekly reading time. So I wouldn't want to commit to reading a book for a group in less than 9 weeks - that would give me 2/3 reading time from my own books, and 1/3 reading time for a discussion group. I wouldn't normally do it at all because I want to focus on the books I buy, but if the books were good choices and the discussion really thoughtful like it sounds you're talking about, I think I'd really enjoy it. If Alchemy of Stone is the kind of book you'd want to be spending time on, I'm certain I would.

Well, it's an interesting idea. I haven't done anything with groups in LT. I'll be out of town until next Tuesday, but if you want to go further with the idea, let me know.

By the way, I'm pretty well "on the left" too, so we'd probably not be arguing. :-) But it's not that much fun talking about politics with people who disagree. I always get the sense right-wingers live on another planet and nothing I say will make any difference to them, and it's really frustrating. Something in their psychology is just plain different. So I'm with you on leaving political discussion out of a group I'm participating in.

I just finished reading Michael Flynn's "January Dancer", and wrote a fairly long review if you're interested. Definitely not your typical SF book. A couple similar books I've read are two of Brin's 'Uplift' books and Vinge's 'Deepness Upon the Sky' - I think that's the title. But January Dancer works on a much more personal scale than either of those. I liked them too, and it's hard to say I liked January Dancer more, but it's definitely a different take on space-oriented SF, and one I find highly rewarding to read. In very strong ways it was like a fantasy quest, in SF guise, which seems unusual. And man, Michael Flynn is one bright guy, you can just tell from the way he tosses out ways of looking at things that make you stop and think on a REGULAR basis. You might enjoy it for the same reasons you enjoyed Alchemy of Stone. It's not quite as complex as Alchemy of Stone - I think I could actually figure out 90% of everything in January Dancer without talking to other people about it, if I just spent the time contemplating and revisiting. :-) But it's another book that has a lot going on in it, and the more you think about it, the more you realize was there under the covers. At least, for me.

It's funny, I have basically all of Melissa Scott's books, but haven't read ONE of them! A perfect example of what I wish I had more time for, and for which I want to preserve my time. :-) Glad you mentioned her, though. I had been thinking the last couple of years that maybe they were more YA books after all and possibly I wouldn't enjoy them, which kind of moves them lower on my priority list. But you moved them back up. But they're all in boxes and I tend to read what's on my shelves rather than digging through boxes to find one particular sequel, etc., so who knows when I'll get to them. The last week I spent finally getting all my F&SF into LT - I got tired of seeing only a couple of books from my favorite authors there because everything else was in boxes. What a chore it was, though! But now I'm happy - bizarre that I took the time when nobody but me cares. :-) But it also gave me a chance to clean a spot in my apartment that hasn't been cleaned in about five years, so maybe it's justifiable. :-) But I sure hope someday I'm somewhere I can actually get all those books out.

Well, hopefully talk to again next week. Till then,

Jim

escrito por bibliojim, às 6:30 pm (EST) , Nov 7, 2009

:-) Don't get me wrong. I get pretty bored with books that don't have a good story! Actually, that's part of what I don't like about the Harry Potter books. They are uneven. There's a great story, but interspersed amongst are episodes of quiddich etc. that take numerous pages but don't advance the story. At least, don't advance the story I'm interested in. I don't object to extraneous material on principle. I just don't enjoy reading those parts - which can be extensive - because I spend time on words that don't go anywhere. But it's funny, I guess Tolkien has lots of 'extra text', too, and it doesn't bug me there. Don't ask me what's the difference! I should make my way through Lord of the Rings one more time, and see what I think at my current age.

Obviously different people have different experiences with the same text. I think anybody who can create a great experience for most people with a given text is doing something very right, regardless of whether I personally like it or not. And it's not that I "don't like" Harry Potter books, actually. It's just that I wouldn't make a point of reading any more of them than I have, which is about a third of them. There was one I actually did like a lot, the one with Mrs. Umbridge and Harry's uncle, but Deathly Hallows didn't seem like there was a lot to it, and the one with the three-way competion didn't seem to go anywhere in particular, and even the first one was pretty uneven, to me. So I go and enjoy the HP movies, but don't want to spend more time on the books. Though my son enjoys them like crazy! I was glad they got him reading something besides just manga.

I think there is enormous potential in YA. I don't read them very often because they don't feel like they're written "for me," if that makes sense. It's interesting - Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. I read - what was it - The Graveyard Book? - his recent one. It won some important awards, but I didn't get much of a bang out of it at all. It's not that the individual chapters weren't interesting or well-written - they were - but the purposes of the various chapters were generally just to tell one aspect of the boy's experience in his life situation. Kind of like a number of independent short stories sewn together with a common thread going through them. Weak links between them. I guess I get a great deal of pleasure out of the buildup of tension through a plot, and then its release at the end. If numerous parts of the story don't contribute to buildup of tension because they're about something only peripherally related, such as quiddich or the day the dead mingle with the living, I might like the diversion (the dead mingling with the living was a neat chapter, though unfortunately I'm not into sports and quiddich was not an improvement over football), but I very much miss what I'm looking for - the steady movement in the direction of the plot. I thought while I was reading Graveyard Book how near some of the material was, but when I was done, I didn't feel anything as a result of what I'd read, except just for the point that there is a real life and it should be lived. That was great - but for the most part, the book didn't take me there. It took me all over the place and the last chapter or two took me there.

Far be it from ME to say Harry Potter books are not well-written! I'll leave that to Philip Pullman. :-) But I just don't like that kind of book that much. I don't think that's a general characteristic of YA books - just some books. It probably occurs in adult books, too, though I don't see it happen often there. I wonder if editors insist more on trimming out extraneous chapters in adult books? But wherever it's found, I don't like it so much! Whether good or bad, I know whether I'm getting enjoyment out of something based on how it makes me feel.

One YA book I happened to read and just loved was 'The Silent Strength of Stones' by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. It had plot, characterization, and great writing style all together. I wouldn't mind reading lots of books of that sort! I bet her books sell about 1% of what the Harry Potter books do. However, I try to buy all of Hoffman's books because I liked that one so much, though I may have fallen behind in the last year. :-)

I enjoy your comments! Thanks for writing me. Till later!

Jim

escrito por bibliojim, às 7:45 pm (EST) , Nov 5, 2009

Ah, I see. I don't think it does one much good to be jealous or critical of the person who has sold more books than anyone else in history. :-) Or to take to task an author who is long dead and well-respected. It's kind of hard to understand. I've heard, though, that writers can become very critical of others' works if they aren't careful. It sounds like Pullman maybe fell over that edge. I don't think either of those authors will suffer from his words, and maybe he will eventually become enlightened. I hope so for his sake!
I loved Lewis' books, but for some reason just don't like the Harry Potter books very well. I hope if I became a well-recognized author in my own right, though, that I would be gracious enough to admit that, no matter what I think, she clearly has something great going on in her writing in the opinion of millions of other people, and maybe my opinion on it isn't all that important.
I think there are a good number of writers who don't like her books, though, and I wouldn't put it all down to jealousy. I literally don't like the books very well, and I've no jealousy going on. Writers are very sensitive to word usage and the mechanics of writing, and there are things they value or appreciate which sometimes aren't all that apparent to the rest of us. If they see something in particular wrong with the writing, and then see the books bought like there's no tomorrow by the general public when their own sales are less - I suppose it might be easy to get kind of pissed. But there's no point to it. Most people don't buy books based on the perceived level of craftsmanship or beautifully constructed sentences. I think authors just have to be proud of their own work for whatever care they put into it, and let the general public buy what it wants. And if that's not the author's own books, then they better figure out what the general public is not getting unless they are content with lower sales or they value their art more than the dollars.
Blathering on - what do I know about it? It's interesting, though. Thanks for explaining!
Jim
Sorry for

escrito por bibliojim, às 2:44 am (EST) , Nov 5, 2009

Well, now, that was an interesting comment! Someone you might not want to know personally? Why's that? Along the lines of "Somebody who can even imagine things like that must be not quite normal?" Care to clarify?

Confirmation of the analysis of "how" is great, thanks again.

Jim

escrito por bibliojim, às 9:23 pm (EST) , Nov 4, 2009

You know, it sounds really interesting. I haven't read the series so it might seem weird to get it, but I do some weird things. Maybe it's the "collection" concept taking hold there. But I'd probably make an effort to read it even if I haven't read the series. It could be something that would teach me some worthwhile things about writing, who knows.

Thanks a lot!
Jim

escrito por bibliojim, às 2:57 am (EST) , Nov 4, 2009

Hi Bob!
I was looking at books by Sarah Zettel here on her LibraryThing list of works, and I noticed 'Navigating the Golden Compass:....", and that you read it. I'm thinking about buying it, but I guess it depends on what it's like. Would you mind giving me an idea of the kinds of things she talks about?
Jim

escrito por bibliojim, às 11:41 pm (EST) , Nov 3, 2009

No problem!
Thanks for the suggestions!

escrito por SecretariatGirl, às 3:27 pm (EST) , Sep 27, 2009

Well, gosh, given your high opinion of it, that is certainly tempting! But I think I'll pass. Really, please don't send it. Please no. :)

I did receive those lectures yesterday, thank you so much for that. Will reciprocate with Golijov soon.

escrito por Medellia, às 10:29 am (EST) , Sep 18, 2009

Bob, that was a very helpful and well-done review of "The Age of Wonder"...deserves the Hot Review status! I've added the book to my wishlist based on your pleasure in it.

Cheers
RMD

escrito por richardderus, às 4:33 pm (EST) , Sep 16, 2009

Sounds pretty interesting. I've never seen wheelchair tennis, but I think I might have caught a glimpse of one of those matches on ESPN this year, which is the first time I can remember that happening. I'll pay closer attention next time.

escrito por Sutpen, às 8:13 pm (EST) , Sep 14, 2009

Hi,
I found one of my Kleinzahler books in a sale bin in Kingston Ontario. The other one I bought new at Indigo.
He has a big thick hardcover out now too I noticed.
Luke

escrito por gwilym.eades, às 4:33 pm (EST) , Sep 9, 2009

Well, it's there now, at least. I wasn't sure it would stick if you didn't add it to your collection. That's the nice thing about the new collections feature--I can have the library books and traded away books in the overall collection and in their own collections, but the My Library collection always only picks up what I physically own. A little more flexibility, since prior to that, I only kept the latter books in LT.

escrito por ronincats, às 5:01 pm (EST) , Sep 6, 2009

Can't find your review on the Pandora book page or in your reviews!

escrito por ronincats, às 12:40 pm (EST) , Sep 6, 2009

O thanks Bob, but, gosh, "essay"--no, no, merely a salad-toss of random remarks, before I forgot what I was thinking (these days, I'm lucky if I remember in the evening what the morning was about). Anyway, glad it was of some service to you!

escrito por LolaWalser, às 11:45 am (EST) , Aug 31, 2009

P.S. I thought the Neverwhere TV series was well done (we have it on DVD). I didn't realize it was created before the book! Thanks for letting me know.

escrito por jnwelch, às 6:14 pm (EST) , Aug 28, 2009

You're welcome re Dreamland Chronicles, Bob. Let me know what you think!

Best wishes - Joe

escrito por jnwelch, às 9:15 am (EST) , Aug 24, 2009

Hi, Bob. Thanks for the message about graphic novels! Great, fun topic. Glad to see you've read some of my favorites, including Sandman, Persepolis, Pride of Baghdad and the Rabbi's Cat. Don't know if you've read past 11 with Sandman, but there's also Endless Nights and Dream Hunters, and a couple of volumes featuring Dream's sister Death.

Other good Gaiman graphic novels: Coraline (yes, the novel is even better, but this was fun), Neverwhere (my favorite of his novels, and also good in graphic novel form). I just read his new Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader, which I enjoyed but probably would be more Batman than you'd like.

Given what you like, in the sci-fi and fantasy mode, I immediately thought of Jeff Smith's Bone - great fun, and you can get it all pretty inexpensively (or from the library) in one black and white volume. Because of its success, it's also been re-released in color volumes. Another one I'm liking a lot, but more obscure, is The Dreamland Chronicles by Scott Sava, with the boy being a hero in a dream world that turns out to be real and having a G-rated romance with the elf Queen. You can take a look at that one, which appears first online and then in book form, by searching the title and going to his website.

You also might enjoy the Flight series by Kazu Kibuishi, which collects many well-written and well-drawn short stories by different authors/illustrators. A browse would probably tell you whether they're your cup of tea. I think it's up to 4 volumes now.

Manga - I'm not into the popular ones either, e.g. Naruto. As you may have seen, I like the Samurai ones with more traditional drawing, particularly Lone Wolf and Cub and the Vagabond series by Takehiko Inoue (great drawing!) For some reason I'm also a sap for romances that challenge British class-based attitudes, and really enjoyed the Emma series by Kaoru Mori (I liked it so much I got the DVDs, which I'm surprisingly enjoying even more).

I hope that's helpful, Bob.

- Joe (not Jim, although I've been called worse:-))

escrito por jnwelch, às 10:47 am (EST) , Aug 21, 2009

It isn't, but that's the beauty of the internet- i didn't get your message till this morning 'cause I was at work till 1 AM. I LOVE Alchemy of Stone- it's beautiful and strange and tragic. However, Sedia's first book, the one about Russian mythology gaimanized? Kinda freaking boring. I disliked it.

ATM I am doing something wildly different from my BA as well-- just got my substitute teaching credential in special ed.

escrito por sylvan_eyre, às 11:54 am (EST) , Aug 8, 2009

I think what I wanted more was a non-fiction book about Mexican poetry in the 20th century, and not what I actually read. Come to think about it, I should go look that up!

escrito por sylvan_eyre, às 4:40 am (EST) , Aug 8, 2009

Yergh. I longed for it to be better, especially given the circuitous way it came to be translated and propagated. At least I was forewarned for 2066? *shrug*

escrito por sylvan_eyre, às 4:52 pm (EST) , Aug 4, 2009

yes, Hoffmann. Highly recommended, if you can get into that High Romantic German frame of mind. Reading him post-Freud is very interesting. He is a writer whose time is still to come, I think. The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr is a very great masterpiece.

my parents split their library when they divorced about 30 years ago. I inherited everything they didn't want, my sisters not being at all bookish, but I had to sell quite a lot of it a few years ago when I moved my library to Taiwan. It was simply tooo huge to ship everything. There was lots of drama and books on the theatre which didn't make the cut. Now whenever my mother comes to stay, she is always 'borrowing' books from my library and taking them home with her. :(

escrito por tomcatMurr, às 4:13 am (EST) , Jul 29, 2009

Here is something I thought you might like:

Designing for Creativity

Posted on: July 22, 2009 12:46 PM, by Jonah Lehrer

Over at Mind Matters, we've just posted a very interesting article on creativity and distance, or why thinking something is farther away makes us more likely to solve difficult problems that require original answers:

According to the construal level theory (CLT) of psychological distance, anything that we do not experience as occurring now, here, and to ourselves falls into the "psychologically distant" category. It's also possible to induce a state of "psychological distance" simply by changing the way we think about a particular problem, such as attempting to take another person's perspective, or by thinking of the question as if it were unreal and unlikely. In this new paper, by Lile Jia and colleagues at Indiana University at Bloomington, scientists have demonstrated that increasing psychological distance so that a problem feels farther away can actually increase creativity.

Why does psychological distance increase creativity? According to CLT, psychological distance affects the way we mentally represent things, so that distant things are represented in a relatively abstract way while psychologically near things seem more concrete. Consider, for instance, a corn plant. A concrete representation would refer to the shape, color, taste, and smell of the plant, and connect the item to its most common use - a food product. An abstract representation, on the other hand, might refer to the corn plant as a source of energy or as a fast growing plant. These more abstract thoughts might lead us to contemplate other, less common uses for corn, such as a source for ethanol, or to use the plant to create mazes for children. What this example demonstrates is how abstract thinking makes it easier for people to form surprising connections between seemingly unrelated concepts, such as fast growing plants (corn) and fuel for cars (ethanol).

If you combine this latest study with this recent experiment (and maybe this one, too), it's possible to begin designing the ideal creative workspace: a room with blue walls that feels very far away and is filled with references to foreign countries.

http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/07/d...

escrito por polutropos, às 8:00 pm (EST) , Jul 25, 2009

Hey, Bob! It's been weeks since I logged into my music account, so just saw your mssg. Yeah, LT's not ideal, but it's good enough for me... and I don't mind adding stuff manually (although at this rate it'll take me a decade or so), it's actually... relaxing.

escrito por LWMusic, às 3:26 pm (EST) , Jul 14, 2009

I would love to have the CD compilation no names and all. As for LT, just do like I do, provide a list with one-liners and start with the latest (or best book read).

escrito por urania1, às 4:28 pm (EST) , Jul 10, 2009

Where has everybody gone? It has been terribly, frightfully quiet on LT. Has everyone defected to new, "more select" forums? I feel so alone.

escrito por urania1, às 3:50 pm (EST) , Jul 10, 2009

Gully Foyle starts speaking a gutter language according to the narrator and that odd addition is part of it. I don't recall any mention of where he was from, only where he was going.

Thanks for the info. I did not know that about Cajun.

escrito por geneg, às 9:05 am (EST) , Jul 10, 2009

I agree with UNC, the topic sounds fascinating. But, I think for most of us the writing process is a terrible form of torture.

escrito por dchaikin, às 4:29 pm (EST) , Jul 2, 2009

Interesting review of Medical Landscaped. ;) Cheers, d

escrito por dchaikin, às 10:05 am (EST) , Jul 2, 2009