What Are You Reading?

[Cyborg Girl]

Interesting. Based on what I know of the novel I'd say it was probably that Bester was a person of his time, rather than that he was deliberately imagining life in a metaphysically Fascist universe.

For example, it's flat-out stated that the bad guy is a Nietzschean over-man who, by his superior nature, is a "focal point" of history and civilization that can bend humanity to his will. By his very being and his vigorous actions. It isn't that he thinks he can do this, it's that he absolutely can do this, if he isn't stopped.

I'm going to go way off on a limb here, and say that the Fascist part is the belief in divisions (over-man vs. common man, superior nature, etc.) rather than the belief that one person can be the focal point of a significant change.

e.g. Einstein effectively transformed physics. This was not a matter of Willpower or somesuch stupid illusion, but because
a) He developed the right skills
b) He found the right people to help him out
c) He was *seriously* dedicated to solving certain problems
d) He was in the right place at the right time

A lot of social thinkers would accentuate (d) above everything else, but the thing is, every aspect of a person, period relies on them being born and raised in that place at that time. So I think that it's kind of diminishing to say "Well, Einstein was really just a puppet of circumstances." That he was not operating on Pure Willpower, but on the sum of his own history, does not make him just a set of statistics.

Granted, again, Einstein did not work alone. Nobody who makes waves works alone (that would be kind of impossible!). But he came up core ideas that are now essential to science, and he worked hard on them, and look where that got us.

tl;dr if you're wondering where this came from, it's that I've often seen people so anxious to sound not even slightly Fascist that they throw out all pretense of changing the world. No, you can't make a difference. No, you can't improve things qualitatively, only quantitatively and only in the smallest way. You can't help, you just a cog on the machine... Which, ironically, might be the kind of attitude that let Fascists triumph in 20th century Europe in the first place.

Basically what bothers me is the emphasis on stasis and powerlessness; rather than the idea that society is malleable, and people can change it and improve it without having to be "overmen".

Will post more as I reread your post above, give me a minute please...

[Cyborg Girl]

Okay, more stuff:

- Eugenics programs, yes, that'd be Fascist.

However, let me throw this at you:

Suppose we had a way of reliably diagnosing a common genetic disorder prenatally, and also of safely curing the disorder prenatally.

Would it be Fascist to make the test, and the treatment, freely available? To offer incentives for getting it? To make it mandatory on penalty of a fine?

I personally don't think it would be, but I've seen people argue that it is. In fact I've seen people argue that the concept of "good health" or "being healthy" is inherently ableist and oppressive. And I will be blunt, as someone who does have a chronic inherited disease, that kind of thinking scares the living shit out of me.

- Demolition: I generally consider what's inside people's skulls to be absolutely sacrosanct, and anything in violation of that to be flat-out evil. I'm willing to make limited exceptions for mental illness, where it makes a person unable to function (or dangerous), but... yeah. Limited. Some lines you just don't cross.

BTW, for a more modern and thoughtful take on this stuff (plus biting satire and a protagonist who will stick with you forever), you might want to read Glasshouse by Charles Stross. (Assuming you haven't already. )

[Parrothead]

Currently 100 or so pages into Bachman/King The Regulators. In hindsight, I should have read this right after I finished Desperation, as I find myself flipping back to see what the character did in that novel, in comparison to the character of the same name in The Regulators.

While I liked the LeCarre novels, it will be some time before I read another one of his. Be it his style, attention to realism or both, it gets hard at times staying with the story. Took me a good five weeks each, getting through The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People.

[gethen]

Discovered Max Barry's Lexicon. What a ride. Loved it.

[Thumper]

Stronger, by Jeff Bauman
The Best of Edmund Hamilton, by Edmund Hamilton

[Rommie]

Yay, a post from Thumper!

My own one is yesterday I started Edge of Eternity, the just released Book #3 of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. Basically book one was WW1, book 2 was the kids of the characters in book 1, but in WW2, and this one is the grandkids Cold War... starts off with a Germany woman who unwittingly married a Stasi and a Freedom Rider in the Deep South. Should be fun!

Also kinda interesting for me as they are all long books, and I read the first one in Argentina when I was there in 2010, book 2 here in Amsterdam in the second year of my PhD, and now reading book 3 in my 4th year. Kinda interesting to think back on where you were in life when you last read a book in a series when a new one comes out.

[Parrothead]

I should finish The Regulators today.

Next up is The Brotherhood of the Rose trilogy by David Morrell. I have watched the mini-series of the first novel (BotR) numerous times over the past 25 years. I taped it when it aired and kept it. The story is about two orphans raised by a covert operative, the boys become assassins and later become "expendable". The mini-series starred Peter Strauss and David Morse as the grown orphans ( Saul and Chris, codenames Romulus and Remus), Robert Mitchum as Eliot their mentor, Connie Sellecca as a Mossad operative with James B. Sikking, James Hong and M. Emmet Walsh in smaller roles. The premise of the story is during WWII allied and axis countries agreed to a "sanctuary system" allowing spies, that made it to safe houses, sanctuary while in residence. The agreement was known as "The Abelard Sanction". This agreement remains inplace to present day, if broken, a contract goes out (to all intelligence agencies) on the offending individual. Through manipulation a contract goes out on Romulus and Remus, they must use their skills/training to try and clear themselves. The character Eliot, portrayed by Robert Mitchum, is loosely based on James Jesus Angleton. I'm finally going to read the novel (and it's two sequels), bought the books in May.

http://davidmorrell.net/books/the-brotherhood-of-the-rose/ (author's website) His first novel was Rambo ETA: Make that First Blood.

[SciFiFisher]

This Kind of War by T.R. Fehrenbach. It's subtitled "The Classic Korean War History". I picked up a copy of the 50th Anniversary Edition. It's a very good account of the political, cultural, and military events that led to the Korean War. And Fehrenbach does an excellent job of telling the story of the Korean War from the perspective of individuals who fought the war. Including a bit about the North Korean and Chinese leaders who fought the battles.

It doesn't paint a pretty picture about the US military and it's readiness to fight. The Korean War was the first time the US fought a "limited engagement". It also makes me think that Truman and many of the leaders of the Western world were old women who were too afraid of nuclear holocaust.

If you like military history it makes a good read. I think it's especially relevant now when so many people are clamoring for the US to downsize the military. Our enemies invariably see these types of actions as an unwillingness to fight. And then are shocked when we do fight. even when we do it badly.

ETA: if you read it you may get the impression that TR Fehrenbach does not like the press.

[geonuc]

If you like military history it makes a good read.

Added to my 'to-read' shelf.

[Parrothead]

Finished The Brotherhood of the Rose, I'm now into The Fraternity of the Stone, the second book of the trilogy.

I re-watched the tv mini-series of Brotherhood, it mostly followed the book, some locations were changed but story remained true to the novel.

[pumpkinpi]

I should finish The Regulators today.

What did you think of it? I read them both way back, not long after they were released. What I remember is that I had a harder time sticking to The Regulators than Desperation. But I don't recall much of either now---just the movie theater in Desperation and a house in The Regulators.

I wouldn't read either of them again. That's one of the ways I judge my Stephen King novels. I've enjoyed reading just about all of them, but their worthiness comes down to whether I would read them again or recommend them to another non-diehard Stevie fan.

The two most recent: Mr. Mercedes and Doctor Sleep: I would definitely recommend. Maybe I'll read them again, maybe not.

[Loresinger]

praying for time to read again.

[Parrothead]

I should finish The Regulators today.

What did you think of it? I read them both way back, not long after they were released. What I remember is that I had a harder time sticking to The Regulators than Desperation. But I don't recall much of either now---just the movie theater in Desperation and a house in The Regulators.

I wouldn't read either of them again. That's one of the ways I judge my Stephen King novels. I've enjoyed reading just about all of them, but their worthiness comes down to whether I would read them again or recommend them to another non-diehard Stevie fan.

The two most recent: Mr. Mercedes and Doctor Sleep: I would definitely recommend. Maybe I'll read them again, maybe not.

I preferred Desperation over Regulators, don't know if reading order affected that or not. I'll read more Stephen King again, later. I had stopped reading some his works after slogging through Dreamcatcher, early 2000's. I enjoyed the one about the Kennedy assassination, which got me reading his works again. I'll eventually get around to reading Under The Dome , Salem's Lot is about due for a re-read.

Right now I'm working my way through the previously mentioned trilogy and James Ellroy's latest Perfidia, will also get added to my to read pile.

[Parrothead]

Finally finishing The League of Night and Fog by David Morrell. Waiting for James Ellroy's Perfidia to be delivered. In the meantime from a box of old books, I have pulled out novelizations of Charlie's Angels from the 70's. The two that I have are the first two novelizations, the pilot episode and "The Killing Kind" (ep 6 or 7 S1). Each is 150 pages or so, so should be quick reads.

[brite]

Inspector Lynly novels (mysteries), a bio on Queen Victoria, Scott Cunningham's book on herbs, looking through the New Oxford Bible (a school book for my comparative Religion class)... nothing to strain my brain for the next week... school starts the 20th....

[grapes]

Probably should be posting these two in the Books I didn't think I'd read thread ( viewtopic.php?f=21&t=128 ). Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen was the selection for this month's employee book discussion. The fourteen year-old author adopts a fifty year-old teen advice book as her personal guide to middle school and documents the year-long experiment (in Brownsville Station TX), with photos (here's me slouching, here's me showing off my breasts), wobbling between self-deprecation and self-promotion. The acknowledgements at the end make it clear that she had some help, but who hasn't abased themselves before an editor.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani is set in the thirties depression, from the point of view of a young girl who already has a horrible secret. The heroine gradually reveals the secret while innocently laying waste to the lives of everyone around her, just like we all do. First novel, seven figure deal.

[Loresinger]

re-reading the adept series by Katherine Kurtz... one of my favs and been long enough that its fresh

[Cyborg Girl]

Fiction: Ancillary Justice (Anne Leckie). Pretty good so far - it reads a bit like Iain M. Banks, only grittier, grayer, and with better prose. Leckie thus far seems to choose dramatic tension over outright Banksian violence, which I consider an improvement, and which suits the atmosphere just fine.

(And the Radch is not the Culture. Ooh boy is it not. The Radch is not called an empire for nothing.)

Nonfiction: Meat Market (Laurie Penny again). Covers some of the same ground as Unspeakable Things, with more of a focus on the socioeconomic side of things. It's short, dense, and by rights should be scary and depressing, but wow does it explain a lot.

(I also need to read some of the authors she cites, though... Need to get a better idea what the established theory is.)

Technical: Eloquent Javascript (Marijn Haverbeke), which is available for free online here:

http://eloquentjavascript.net/

with interactive exercises, projects, etc. Partly work related, partly independent study, partly other reasons that I may discuss elsewhere. So far I seem to be remembering what I've learned, at least...

[Rommie]

The Goldfinch is my current read- won the Pulitzer Prize. And, I must say, was a well deserved win! All about a fictional art heist and fun stuff! But it is LONG- I'm 600 pages in, and still got a quarter of the book to go...

[grapes]

It doesn't paint a pretty picture about the US military and it's readiness to fight. The Korean War was the first time the US fought a "limited engagement". It also makes me think that Truman and many of the leaders of the Western world were old women who were too afraid of nuclear holocaust.

This just jumped up and bit me. Can one really be too afraid of nuclear holocaust? Or do you mean, nuclear holocaust is just a boogeyman, not really real?

If you like military history it makes a good read. I think it's especially relevant now when so many people are clamoring for the US to downsize the military. Our enemies invariably see these types of actions as an unwillingness to fight. And then are shocked when we do fight. even when we do it badly.

ETA: if you read it you may get the impression that TR Fehrenbach does not like the press.

L'press c'est moi

[Thumper]

"The Masked Rider." I think it's Neil Peart's first. I didn't think I would be interested in a book about biking around Cameroon. But it's Neil Peart, I like absolutely everything he writes.

[Parrothead]

Finished the Charlie's Angels novelizations, lol.

I also read a couple of short stories by Poe and am now into another tv show novelization. This time it's Lee Raintree's adaptation of Dallas. This novelization, covers the Jock Ewing/Digger Barnes feud and all of S1, which was only a handful of episodes. Amazing what I find digging through boxes of books bought, so many years ago.

[brite]

From now until May.... it’s all school stuff, all the time.... As Cookie would say - le sigh....

[Parrothead]

Finished reading "Dallas" by Lee Raintree, next up is Perfidia by James Ellroy. Thankfully, this book has a list of characters at the back, many have appeared in his first "L.A. Quartet" or "Underworld" trilogy, they will appear as younger versions of themselves, as this first book in his newest "L.A. Quartet" takes place in December 1941. This quartet will finish at a time just before the beginning of The Black Dahlia, the first book in his first L.A. Quartet ( The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, White Jazz ). At least he knows where the series is headed.

[Parrothead]

Still reading Perfidia by James Ellroy. Before starting it, I gave Frederick Forsyth's The Dogs of War, a re-read. Towards the end of DoW, I had a habit of playing Warren Zevon's song "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner".