What are you reading?

[Van Rijn]

I've read reviews and articles about Jordan's series, all of them quite strongly negative, so I've never been tempted to try it.

On the other hand, I've never heard the opinion of non-critic readers before.

I'm going to follow this with interest.

I'm about 200 pages into the first book (which is about 800 pages long). It still seems to be heavily in the story setup stage. There isn't anything yet that I've found very compelling or exciting, but I am still reading.

I'll let you know if I finish the book. My hunch is that I'll probably finish this one, but unless it starts getting a lot more interesting, I doubt I'll read any more in the series.

[Paul Beardsley]

I look forward to hearing your opinion, Van Rijn.

So far, I'm not feeling much temptation to try it myself - right now, the idea of reading a single 800 page book is daunting, as I'm a slow reader with not much time on my hands at the moment - but who knows, someone might sell it to me.

I was a big fan of Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series, not least because the narrating protagonist told the reader at the end of each book that he had no problem with people who didn't want to read the next book. Somehow that made me want to read (and re-read) the next book even more!

[SeanF]

But what is language but its popular usage?

Nothing.

And I really hate it when people use the wrong word because it sounds like a more impressive version of the right word. (E.g. "Acronym" for "abbreviation".)

You beat tnjrp's post in the "Watchmen reviewed" thread by an hour and a half.

...its days are numbered.

Ooh, good one. But I think "the die has been cast" would've been even better.

[Paul Beardsley]

You beat tnjrp's post in the "Watchmen reviewed" thread by an hour and a half.

Yes, I did notice that. I don't want to be too hard on people who use "acronym" incorrectly because most of them are not being pretentious - they have simply been misinformed by pretentious people.

I've never seen this happen, but according to a Robert Silverberg article written many years ago, some people use the word "penultimate" to mean "the last one" (rather than "ultimate") in the belief that it makes them sound more erudite. I can imagine certain bosses doing that, while intelligent staff are too frightened to correct them.

Ooh, good one. But I think "the die has been cast" would've been even better.

Argh, the "days are numbered" pun was not deliberate, so I can't take credit for it!

[Gillianren]

Well, I was taught "die" properly when I was a child, as were most of my gaming friends. So that's something, anyway.

As to The Wheel of Time, I've read eight or nine of them. It gets hard to keep track after a while. One of the things I found obnoxious about them after a while was that he'd reintroduce characters who hadn't appeared in a couple of books without describing who that character was, and the little glossary thing at the end wouldn't tell you who they were, so you'd have to go back several books to figure out what they had to do with the story. He (and also now whoever's continuing the series for him) also doesn't seem to know how to edit.

[Daffy]

But what is language but its popular usage?

I know that argument is often used in defence of sloppy writing, and I passionately feel that clarity is lost when people take too liberal a view of definitions. And I really hate it when people use the wrong word because it sounds like a more impressive version of the right word. (E.g. "Acronym" for "abbreviation".)

On the other hand, words really do change over time. I'm doing a maths course at the moment, and it's mildly disconcerting to see the word "data" used "properly" - i.e. strictly as a plural.

In the case of "dice", I think that, given a whole generation have been taught it's "a dice", only to be told, "Well actually it's a die - dice is plural," its days are numbered.

Like, ya know, I like get your point's.

There's popular usage for you. Next question.

[HenrikOlsen]

As to The Wheel of Time, I've read eight or nine of them. It gets hard to keep track after a while. One of the things I found obnoxious about them after a while was that he'd reintroduce characters who hadn't appeared in a couple of books without describing who that character was, and the little glossary thing at the end wouldn't tell you who they were, so you'd have to go back several books to figure out what they had to do with the story.

I haven't really noticed that but it may be because I'm reading them in one go, so for me it's the introducing description of people I read about 5 minutes ago(in the previous book) that's jarring.

I did notice the problem with the glossary thingie, it looks like it wasn't updated the last three or so of the books I read, so everyone introduced later is missing.

Apart from that, after the first 5 I'd recommend them, at least the ones I've read so far.

He made a fairly shrewd choice early on by making the world and the main protagonists fate-driven, even though some of them rail against it and tries to brek away from it, since that makes deus-ex-machina expected rather than jarring.

[Gillianren]

I haven't really noticed that but it may be because I'm reading them in one go, so for me it's the introducing description of people I read about 5 minutes ago(in the previous book) that's jarring.

I didn't really have the option for quite a few of them. There were only five or six of them when I started reading.

I did notice the problem with the glossary thingie, it looks like it wasn't updated the last three or so of the books I read, so everyone introduced later is missing.

I also note that he doesn't include pronunciations, or if he does (I haven't read them in a while), a lot of them are counterintuitive. All the friends I had who read 'em pronounced certain characters' names differently. There was great debate over how to pronounce "Nynaeve."

[Bolasanibk]

I didn't really have the option for quite a few of them. There were only five or six of them when I started reading.

I also note that he doesn't include pronunciations, or if he does (I haven't read them in a while), a lot of them are counterintuitive. All the friends I had who read 'em pronounced certain characters' names differently. There was great debate over how to pronounce "Nynaeve."

My experience is similar to Gillianren's. The first book in the series was published in 1990. The last is expected this year. 19 years is too long to wait for the conclusion of a series.

[Bolasanibk]

And another thing, which I didnt like , kind of:

Spoiler Alert(Select to reveal):

People don't remain dead. Or stilled.

Bharat

[Gillianren]

My experience is similar to Gillianren's. The first book in the series was published in 1990. The last is expected this year. 19 years is too long to wait for the conclusion of a series.

Well, if the series is any good . . . .

Terry Pratchett has been writing Discworld books longer than I've been reading them. I will keep reading them until (sigh) he is no longer capable of writing them. Then again, the books are far less dependent on one another than the Wheel of Time stuff; indeed, I generally suggest to people that they start with practically any book of the Discworld series but the first two or three!

[Tucson_Tim]

Just got the book Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima but haven't started reading yet. Has anyone read this book or anything else by Mishima?

[Gillianren]

Just got the book Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima but haven't started reading yet. Has anyone read this book or anything else by Mishima?

You know, I haven't, but I really hope the library has the documentary about him. Then again, the filmmaker had to leave out most of the juicy stuff, because the widow was pretty firm about the concept of the defamation of character suit.

[KaiYeves]

Wings and Rockets: The Story of Women in Air and Space by Jeannine Atkins.

[gzhpcu]

"Biomechanical Principles of Tennis Technique: Using science to improve your strokes" by Duane Knudson is very good (if you are a tennis player like I am...).

[mike alexander]

The Greek Experience by C.M. Brown.

[Tucson_Tim]

You know, I haven't, but I really hope the library has the documentary about him. Then again, the filmmaker had to leave out most of the juicy stuff, because the widow was pretty firm about the concept of the defamation of character suit.

Is this the documentary? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089603/

I became interested in Mishima and his works after watching the 2003 Thai movie Last Life in the Universe: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345549/

[SpaceCowboy]

I'm reading "How to Talk So People Will Listen". I've been "reading" it for about a month. I just haven't had much time to finish it.

[Gillianren]

Is this the documentary? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089603/

I became interested in Mishima and his works after watching the 2003 Thai movie Last Life in the Universe: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345549/

That's the one. I read about him somewhere once (The Celluloid Closet?) and have been meaning to get a more in-depth study for some time.

[KaiYeves]

I suddenly remembered an older book my library had in the early-nineties series "Tom Swift IV" called Moonstalker. Anybody know where I can get a copy? The library threw it out.

[tdvance]

Finished Prefect and am on the next Reynolds book: Century Rain--this one stars wormholes, but they aren't wormholes, as the scientists in the book are quick to point out--they are something similar one not-quite-wormhole path goes to an alternative Earth in which Hitler failed to conquer France and lived out his life in a French prison. I guess this is Reynolds attempt at alternate history. Pretty entertaining so far. The main character is an archaeologist who uses the non-wormhole to collect artifacts from the alternate history and return them to the "real" history--of course, how would one know her equivalent isn't taking artifacts from the Real history back to the alternate history--maybe it is, I've only read the first few chapters so far.

[geonuc]

"Biomechanical Principles of Tennis Technique: Using science to improve your strokes" by Duane Knudson is very good (if you are a tennis player like I am...).

I used to be and back in the day, that would be a book I'd be all over. I liked Vic Braden's approach to the game and attended his tennis academy. He had/has a similar, scientific approach .

[HenrikOlsen]

I suddenly remembered an older book my library had in the early-nineties series "Tom Swift IV" called Moonstalker. Anybody know where I can get a copy? The library threw it out.

inter-library loan?

[KaiYeves]

I'll try. I remember it involved using a second-generation shuttle to return to the moon and investigate a mysterious artifact. The bit that stuck with me the most was right after launch, when Tom Swift was in the shuttle thinking "Are we past 73 seconds yet? Are we past 73 seconds yet? Are we safe yet?", because that's exactly what I think at that moment every time I watch a shuttle launch.

[Gillianren]

I have just received in today's mail Digital Dreams, edited by David V. Barrett, and ardently hope to acquire an autographed sticker to put into it from one of, according to the back cover, "today's brightest talents."

[Arneb]

Life's Solutions,by Simon Conway Morris, a Cambridge Paleobiologist.

Apparently, it will use examples of convergent evolution that the emergence of an intelligent, dextrous species after 4.5 billion years of evolution isnt' that much of a coincidence but rather, very much to be expected (Anti-Stephen J Gould). The conclusions I foresee make me a bit wary (the last chpater being entitled "towards a theology of evolution". Oh, my).

I'll keep you posted. If TMTB let me

[Paul Beardsley]

I have just received in today's mail Digital Dreams, edited by David V. Barrett, and ardently hope to acquire an autographed sticker to put into it from one of, according to the back cover, "today's brightest talents."

Yay! Well done getting a copy - I hope it wasn't too pricey. And assuming you want a sticker from me (as opposed to The Great Man) I'd be more than happy to send you one - PM me your contact details.

[Disinfo Agent]

Perhaps this can be of help, KaiYeves: The Unofficial Tom Swift Home Page.

[KaiYeves]

Yes, that's the book! I'll ask for a loan the next time I'm at the library.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Life's Solutions,by Simon Conway Morris, a Cambridge Paleobiologist.

Apparently, it will use examples of convergent evolution that the emergence of an intelligent, dextrous species after 4.5 billion years of evolution isnt' that much of a coincidence but rather, very much to be expected (Anti-Stephen J Gould). The conclusions I foresee make me a bit wary (the last chpater being entitled "towards a theology of evolution". Oh, my).

I'll keep you posted. If TMTB let me

I'm skeptical, too. It could well be that re-winding the clock would just get us 4.5 billion years of unicellular life; I don't think it's proven that the evolution of complex life was inevitable.

Nick