What Are You Reading?

[johnw]

Nope. I'll remind you of the post that set you off:



Lots of non-Tolkien there.



No doubt there are evil races in many (not all) fantasy RPGs. I simply pointed out that, while that tendency to reinforce the trope is present, RPGs have been working to subvert that trope for a very long time. Resistance to the idea of evil races did not start with, and isn't limited to, Pratchet. Many novels also subvert that trope. D&D 5E has, I think, gone even further than AD&D from the 70s, which was doing it already. And of course individual groups and players have done the same--the moral dilemma element is common in good games. Should the paladin and cleric permit the party to kill the young orcs? If not, are they endangering their communities?

Many other good gaming groups actively subvert the idea of evil races by creating situations in which players have to work with, and recognize shared interests with, "evil" races. Other groups simply don't use simplistic "evil" races at all.

Now, why do you think I posted that bit from "The Hobbit"? Not to deny that goblins are portrayed as evil, but to agree. And to suggest that this very simplistic "evil race" portrayal is very childish and simplistic as compared to LOTR. So, this:



Honestly, how did you get the idea I made any claim that goblins are not portrayed as an evil race? The trope is there. It's common. On this, we agree.

I am merely pointing out that resistance to the trope, and subversion of it, has been around a long long time. It didn't start with Pratchett.

This is a non-controversial claim to make. The evidence is plain to see. I'm not sure why you object to it. Perhaps it's not my ideas, but me, that you take exception to?

Tom

You simply didn't make your meaning clear.

I did not say Pratchett was a lonely voice pioneering the rehabilitation of orcs and goblins, I think we all know he's not the first, but perhaps I should have stipulated the obvious.

[WI-Tom]

You simply didn't make your meaning clear.

I did not say Pratchett was a lonely voice pioneering the rehabilitation of orcs and goblins, I think we all know he's not the first, but perhaps I should have stipulated the obvious.

Or: You simply didn't understand what I posted.

If you think I'm merely pointing out that Pratchett wasn't the first writer to reject the "evil race" tendency, you still don't.

Fantasy doesn't settle for the trope of the evil race as much as your initial post seems to indicate.

Tom

[johnw]

Or: You simply didn't understand what I posted.

If you think I'm merely pointing out that Pratchett wasn't the first writer to reject the "evil race" tendency, you still don't.



Tom

I thought we might be able to have a civil conversation. I admit, I was wrong to think so.

[Sailor]

I'm reading a book called The Tide: The Science and Stories Behind the Greatest Force on Earth by Hugh Alderney-Williams. Very well written and gives some pretty cool insight into how the world's tides work. It's not a science book (but was written from a scientific perspective. It tells stores of how mankind slowly, over centuries, teased out the information that we now know about how tides work, attempts to discover their sources, false starts and other hiccups along the way. I'm about 40 pages from the end and I think most sailors would enjoy, if not benefit from reading it.

[David G]

I'm reading a book called The Tide: The Science and Stories Behind the Greatest Force on Earth by Hugh Alderney-Williams. Very well written and gives some pretty cool insight into how the world's tides work. It's not a science book (but was written from a scientific perspective. It tells stores of how mankind slowly, over centuries, teased out the information that we now know about how tides work, attempts to discover their sources, false starts and other hiccups along the way. I'm about 40 pages from the end and I think most sailors would enjoy, if not benefit from reading it.

I found that a fascinating read. My sweetie is writing a book now about a world with two moons, and I lent it to her to help figure out the tides on her world. She found it helpful.

[WI-Tom]

I thought we might be able to have a civil conversation. I admit, I was wrong to think so.

I do wonder: where do you think I've been uncivil? Such was not my intention, and I don't think the language I chose to start with supports any such claim.

I found your little digs like "the post that set you off" and "you simply didn't make your meaning clear" to be heading a bit in that direction, but I figured that's the best I can probably hope for from you. (Which doesn't mean I'll let them pass without commenting on the tone and connotations those choices bring to a discussion).

Or is it that I don't agree with you 100% on your description of the "evil race" phenomenon, and you find mere disagreement and continued discussion after you've made a pronouncement "uncivil"?

Tom

[WI-Tom]

Finished "Titus Groan" (first book in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels) and have moved on to "Gormenghast" (book 2).

A doomed lord, an emergent hero, and a dazzling array of bizarre creatures inhabit the magical world of the Gormenghast novels which, along with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, reign as one of the undisputed fantasy classics of all time. At the center of it all is the seventy-seventh Earl, Titus Groan, who stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that form Gormenghast Castle and its kingdom, unless the conniving Steerpike, who is determined to rise above his menial position and control the House of Groan, has his way.

In these extraordinary novels, Peake has created a world where all is like a dream - lush, fantastical, and vivid. Accompanying the text are Peake's own drawings, illustrating the whole assembly of strange and marvelous creatures that inhabit Gormenghast.

These books are (for me, right now) a good antidote to the high-speed culture that seems increasingly less interested in slow immersive reading. Not much happens. Not much, other than wonderfully skilled writing in slow-moving complex prose structures with Dickensian characters and dark themes.

Tom

[The Q]

Just finished2nd Royal Norfolk Regiment.
From le Paradis to Kohima.

Not many of these men survived the two events...

[Michael_Owen]

"Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver.
Another great book by one of my favorite writers.

Mike

[Guinness]

"Cornwallis: Soldier and Statesman in a Revolutionary World" by Richard Middleton. Kind of interesting to see how his experiences in the American Revolution shaped some of his views later in India, and yet how some of his views evolved.

Also reading "The Battle for New York" by Barnet Schecter. I really like how he identifies the locales of colonial New York City with those of today, and "The Homebrewer's Garden" by Dennis & Joe Fisher. Going to try my hand as growing some hops this year.

-Guinness

[Nicholas Carey]

D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II, by Sarah Rose.

In 1942, the Allies were losing, Germany seemed unstoppable,and every able man in England was on the front lines. To "set Europe ablaze", in the words of Winston Churchill, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), whose spies were trained in everything from demolition to sharpshooting, was forced to do something unprecedented: recruit women. Thirty-nine answered the call, leaving their lives and families to become saboteurs in France.

In D-Day Girls, Sarah Rose draws on recently declassified files, diaries, and oral histories to tell the thrilling story of three of these remarkable women. There's Andrée Borrel, a scrappy and streetwise Parisian who blew up power lines with the Gestapo hot on her heels; Odette Samson, an unhappily married suburban mother who saw the SOE as her ticket out of domestic life and into a meaningful adventure; and Lise de Baissac, a fiercely independent member of French colonial high society and the SOE's unflappable "queen." Together, they destroyed train lines, ambushed Nazis, plotted prison breaks, and gathered crucial intelligence -- laying the groundwork for the D-Day invasion that proved to be the turning point in the war.

[AndyG]

I found that a fascinating read. My sweetie is writing a book now about a world with two moons, and I lent it to her to help figure out the tides on her world. She found it helpful.

She's aware of the Roche limit, Hill sphere, tidal locking and orbital resonances, yes?

I ask because baaad science in a novel is a killer, for me.

Andy

[David G]

She's aware of the Roche limit, Hill sphere, tidal locking and orbital resonances, yes?

I ask because baaad science in a novel is a killer, for me.

Andy

I didn't try to suss it to that level, but I wouldn't be surprised is she is. She agrees about bad science. But I'll mention to her that your vote is in favor of Good Science.

[Garret]

I didn't try to suss it to that level, but I wouldn't be surprised is she is. She agrees about bad science. But I'll mention to her that your vote is in favor of Good Science.

But that'll mean Republicans won't read it!

[JayInOz]

I'm reading "The Wife Of Sir Isaac Harman" by HG Wells- yes that one. Loving every line of it. This copy published 1914- "This edition is intended for circulation only in India and The British Dominions over the Seas".
The plan was to watch the midday news while eating my lunch, then work on the boat using an assortment of power tools. We were just sitting down to eat when a very loud, very large helicopter went roaring overhead towards the west. A minute later the power went out and then we heard sirens in the distance. Using my imagination and powers of deduction I was quickly able to fabricate a satisfactory story combining those facts But having no power for an hour and a half meant finding something else to do for a while- so I've begun reading another book. Old HG was quite a prolific author. I'll have to go through the piles of old books and see if we have any more of his works. JayInOz

[WX]

Reading the ebook version.

[Paul Pless]

there is a bbc radio play
with sting as steerpike
it was on youtube for awhile

Finished "Titus Groan" (first book in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels) and have moved on to "Gormenghast" (book 2).



These books are (for me, right now) a good antidote to the high-speed culture that seems increasingly less interested in slow immersive reading. Not much happens. Not much, other than wonderfully skilled writing in slow-moving complex prose structures with Dickensian characters and dark themes.

Tom

[johnw]

Just finished Readshirts by John Scalzi. People on a spacecraft realize that the high number of meaningless deaths on the ship are because they are part of a badly-written television show, and time-travel to meet their makers.

[David G]

Just finished Readshirts by John Scalzi. People on a spacecraft realize that the high number of meaningless deaths on the ship are because they are part of a badly-written television show, and time-travel to meet their makers.

OK, that could be horrific... or marvelous. Which was it?

[sandtown]

So here we are doing the snow bird thing in coastal N. Carolina . .

I went to the library to find some reading about the area to learn something about it.

I picked up a copy of Wilmington's Lie, by David Zucchino about the murlderous white supremacist coup in 1898.

The book is stunning. I had done some reading about the post-Civil War Jim Crow era, but had not realized just how

vicious and violent it was. We are still emerging from that dark past . . .

[Ed Harrow]

Brilliant Beacons - A History of the Amerrican Lighthouse

It is a quite brillant read by Eric Dolin

[David G]

Almost done with Terry Pratchett's 'Truth'. On the rise of the 'free press'. May be the best of his I've ever read. Most enjoyable.

[WI-Tom]

there is a bbc radio play
with sting as steerpike
it was on youtube for awhile

Yep, I've heard about that. Sting apparently bought the rights to Gormenghast for a while to make a film, and then decided not to since the BBC adaptation was already perfect. I may listen to it after I read the books--just a little ways into the second book now.

Tom

[gypsie]

Just finished 'Two years before the mast' and just started one of the Aubrey/Maturin books (Clarissa Oakes).
O'Brian is sooo tame after Richard Henry Dana. All through 'The Mast' I was wet, cold, tired and stank to high heaven. I ached just turning the pages.

Different books I know, not quite apples and apples, but quite a contrast none the less.

[johnw]

OK, that could be horrific... or marvelous. Which was it?

I have to say, mildly amusing. Some of the reviews said it was soil-your-pants funny, but Scalzi is no P.G. Wodehouse. Like so much science fiction, it's a great idea with only adequate execution.

[johnw]

Almost done with Terry Pratchett's 'Truth'. On the rise of the 'free press'. May be the best of his I've ever read. Most enjoyable.

Pratchett worked as a journalist, and it shows.

[johnw]

Just finished 'Two years before the mast' and just started one of the Aubrey/Maturin books (Clarissa Oakes).
O'Brian is sooo tame after Richard Henry Dana. All through 'The Mast' I was wet, cold, tired and stank to high heaven. I ached just turning the pages.

Different books I know, not quite apples and apples, but quite a contrast none the less.

Dana became an advocate for seaman's rights.

[gypsie]

Dana became an advocate for seaman's rights.

Its a pretty compelling argument - the book that is.
Defacto slave labour. Great glimpse of the world at the time. You could smell it.

[Paul Pless]

Its a pretty compelling argument

!!!

[amish rob]

It’s also quite an indictment on the missions here. I love “Two Years…”, and read it often. It’s wonderful to read about this place before it was covered in cities and people, like their venture into the San Francisco Bay.

Currently reading “Lost Discoveries” which is about non-Western scientific achievements, discoveries, ideas, and technologies. It’s a bit draggy, but interesting if you’re the right kind of nerd.

[WX]

Pratchett worked as a journalist, and it shows.

I am working my way through his Discworld books from the beginning. I'm up the The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.

[WI-Tom]

Just finished 'Two years before the mast' and just started one of the Aubrey/Maturin books (Clarissa Oakes).
O'Brian is sooo tame after Richard Henry Dana. All through 'The Mast' I was wet, cold, tired and stank to high heaven. I ached just turning the pages.

Different books I know, not quite apples and apples, but quite a contrast none the less.

Jack Aubrey is a Captain/Commodore/Admiral. Dana was "before the mast." Of course they're different, eh?

More importantly, I'd argue, is that O'Brian is aiming at (and hitting) a subtle, Jane Austen-esque prose style. The wet, cold, and stink is there, but it's understated (in usually quite a humorous way once you adjust to the style of expression).

Tom

[David G]

I am working my way through his Discworld books from the beginning. I'm up the The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.

I tried that once. I found that I loved Pratchett... but in smaller doses.

[CWSmith]

What am I reading?

Well, I'm not reading any books in the Florida school libraries because it seems there are none...

However, I am reading Jimmy Carter's Sources of Strength. I know many of you won't like that, so I'll just recommend anything he wrote on a topic you like. In fact, choose a topic you don't like and he may give you a better way of viewing it.

[woodpile]

Truffle Hound by Rowan Jacobsen, a James Beard award winning author. Probably wouldn't have bought it on my own, was a gift, quite interesting though, reads like a book on how the olive oil is controlled like a cartel run business except with a pricier product, the most expensive food product in the world, in 2007 a 3.3 lb. white truffle sold for $330,000. The good truffle hunters in Italy are more covert than the CIA, and if you use truffle oil be aware, it's not made from Truffles, it's just a synthetic chemical, 2,4-dithiapentane usually derived from corn mixed with olive oil.