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RichardAbbott
About
- Username
- RichardAbbott
- Joined
- Visits
- 6,354
- Last Active
- Roles
- Member, Administrator, Moderator
- Games I like
- Sundry, mostly board
- Books I like
- Science fiction, fantasy, some historical fiction
Comments
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(Quote) On a small enough scale, almost everything's flat :o B)
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(Quote) You reckless person... you just know that @Apocryphal will change it now...
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(Quote) A few years back when I was heavily involved with ancient Hebrew and Egyptian poetry (like you do) I became quite fascinated by the various choices made in the translation of biblical poetry, especially versions which are aimed at more modes…
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There seems to have been a lot of thought about Fermat's principle over the years, along the lines of "does this mean that light is somehow sentient and aware" though a lot of it comes down to it seeming to be an inevitable consequence of …
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Following on from my post on Tolkien's Treasures here's the bit about the original version of The Hobbit which is relevant: (Quote) (The chapter on The Hobbit includes some splendid illustrations by JRRT for the book, only some of which I had seen …
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(Quote) Some great points, especially for the reminder that the code as written in the source bears little resemblance to the final sequence of instructions processed by the device. Making a (possibly strained) analogy with the film version, one of…
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My reading was more modest than yours this year - according to Goodreads I managed a total of 44 books and very nearly 13k pages (hence just under 300 pages per book). That is staggeringly consistent for me (only in 2016 did I break through 50), and…
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(Quote) That's an interesting analogy though I'm not totally convinced by it, mainly because computer code is what you "say" to the computer (in order to get it to do something), and the computer output (whether spoken or displayed) is wha…
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I just had a quick look on bookfinder.com and while The Islanders and The Dream Archipelago seem quite easy to come by at a sensible price, The Evidence is scarcer and more expensive.
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One of the delights of learning about literary devices is the cool names they all have :)
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(Quote) There's been lots of work studying how writers deploy literary devices, from the ancient world (eg Egyptian and Hebrew) through to more modern writers. Also some contrasting which ones work better in speech than in writing - typically the on…
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(Quote) An Andre Norton novel I have not only not read, but never even heard of... which surprised me somewhat
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(Quote) How very cool!
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3 pts: The Islanders / Dream Archipelago / The Evidence 2 pts: Dangerous Visions / Again Dangerous Visions 1 pt: Dune (+ Dune Messiah, sounds like) (Dune last not because I don't like it but because I listened to it during our first lockdown and it…
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(Quote) That sounds really interesting
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@Apocryphal @clash_bowley which then raises the question, do these things still have a (presumably subliminal) effect even if you're not consciously aware of them? Is a piece of writing more persuasive, or more interesting, if rhetorical or structur…
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I thought a lot about possible reasons for the change of daughter's cause of death, and the only thing I could think of was that it heightened the conflict of choice and also gave a motive for the father leaving. Specifically, if she died in a climb…
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(Quote) Naturally it's not only the star team but also the Americans :)
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(Quote) When I was putting together my thoughts about structure (#8) I began trying to tag all the sections as past/ present/ future, plus a quick sense of how far ahead each bit was, as narrated by the daughter's school year or similar. But that ra…
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OK I'm about to post discussion starters. Hopefully there's something for everyone. The last two are more markedly geeky than the first few (but hey, why not in a New Year). Please do feel free to pick and choose among them, or as usual start separa…
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Love it :)
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A great discussion topic! I like @Michael_S_Miller 's point about the pros and cons of limited choice. To that I'd add character arc. A novel thrives on having one or more characters forced to adapt and change in some way - more intricate novels …
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> @Apocryphal said: > I think I need to form a parallel book club with @Ray_Otus and @Michael_S_Miller ’s wife and maybe @BarnerCobblewood to read number 9. I'd be up for it (but you probably knew that already)
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First I'm totally in favour of another slow read - even with a book series I just didn't like, the experience of the slow read with this most excellent group of people is very rewarding. I suppose #9 features a whale as a major character? I …
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Just looked it up... "Let that be your last battlefield" - cringeworthy I agree, even through a (British) young person's eyes, though I did wonder if Americans found it more subtle than I did. But it surely counts as "blatant racism a…
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Re Stsr Trek, wasn't there an original series episode where the people they met on some planet were all half white and half black, but it made a crucial difference which colour was on the left or right? Confused the Enterprise crew no end. I don't …
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If there's general enthusiasm I'll post some discussion thoughts on Sunday... or would people like a bit longer given the holiday season? (Or tier 2/3/4 restrictions, depending on geography)
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> @dr_mitch said: > I think NK Jamison is arguing for a more on the nose take, but on the other hand, even the Broken Earth is racial terror and enslavement via analogy. Indeed - skin colour or personal appearance in Broken Earth gives clu…
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Following on from my earlier comments about prejudice of various kinds in SFF, it occurred to me that a very common theme of earlier writers was class-based prejudice. Isaac Asimov, Andre Norton and a host of others often have characters, major or m…
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I guess in a novel I'm not all that fond of blatant anything - I prefer writing to be allusive rather than obvious (unless it's transparently space-opera type writing which is clearly not intended to be a serious reflection of any real world). So bl…