Whatcha reading?

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Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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61) Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion - Neil Gaiman and Some Guys. Audiobook. 1986/2009. Written in a style highly imitative of Douglas Adams, which works for the first section by Gaiman who's just good enough to channel it, but grinds to a pedantic matey tone when the other chefs get in on the broth in the post-80s section, reminiscent of jokes on a Monty Python DVD menu, this book covers all the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in all the iterations. I came away thinking it was a bit of a shame that Adams wasted so many of his few years working on the same story when we could have had a bundle of other great novels in place of multiple pointless drafts of a terrible film.

Getting to the hardest part of writing my own book, I delighted in him complaining in my ear about how hard he found it to write and how dissatisfied with his work he was. Read by the lovely sounding Simon Jones who played Dent on radio and TV (the making of the TV show was tense and unenjoyable, which makes interesting reading. At one point in the text an interviewee says "Simon Jones is a good actor, but he's nobody's idea of a romantic lead" and the narrator was directed to give a quiet "huh" after that line which was fun.
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Dr. Medulla
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Silent Majority wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 3:23am
Getting to the hardest part of writing my own book, I delighted in him complaining in my ear about how hard he found it to write and how dissatisfied with his work he was.
I often tell students that the reason most writers are miserable bastards is that writing is a wretched, gut-punch activity. The satisfaction is genuine because it is so rare.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 6:27am
Silent Majority wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 3:23am
Getting to the hardest part of writing my own book, I delighted in him complaining in my ear about how hard he found it to write and how dissatisfied with his work he was.
I often tell students that the reason most writers are miserable bastards is that writing is a wretched, gut-punch activity. The satisfaction is genuine because it is so rare.
If you want the work to be good, yeah. Dan Brown probably has a great old time.
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Dr. Medulla
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Silent Majority wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 8:20am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 6:27am
Silent Majority wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 3:23am
Getting to the hardest part of writing my own book, I delighted in him complaining in my ear about how hard he found it to write and how dissatisfied with his work he was.
I often tell students that the reason most writers are miserable bastards is that writing is a wretched, gut-punch activity. The satisfaction is genuine because it is so rare.
If you want the work to be good, yeah. Dan Brown probably has a great old time.
I confess that I enjoyed the hell out of The DaVinci Code. Silly, sure, but it was a non-stop popcorn book.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Kory
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Dr. Medulla wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 6:27am
Silent Majority wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 3:23am
Getting to the hardest part of writing my own book, I delighted in him complaining in my ear about how hard he found it to write and how dissatisfied with his work he was.
I often tell students that the reason most writers are miserable bastards is that writing is a wretched, gut-punch activity. The satisfaction is genuine because it is so rare.
Philip Roth's interviews will corroborate this.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Kory wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 4:03pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 6:27am
Silent Majority wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 3:23am
Getting to the hardest part of writing my own book, I delighted in him complaining in my ear about how hard he found it to write and how dissatisfied with his work he was.
I often tell students that the reason most writers are miserable bastards is that writing is a wretched, gut-punch activity. The satisfaction is genuine because it is so rare.
Philip Roth's interviews will corroborate this.
David Lee Roth interviews, however, rebut it.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Kory
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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Kory »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 4:25pm
Kory wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 4:03pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 6:27am
Silent Majority wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 3:23am
Getting to the hardest part of writing my own book, I delighted in him complaining in my ear about how hard he found it to write and how dissatisfied with his work he was.
I often tell students that the reason most writers are miserable bastards is that writing is a wretched, gut-punch activity. The satisfaction is genuine because it is so rare.
Philip Roth's interviews will corroborate this.
David Lee Roth interviews, however, rebut it.
As David Lee Roth always says, "write drunk, edit on coke."
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Kory wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 4:46pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 4:25pm
Kory wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 4:03pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 6:27am
Silent Majority wrote:
02 Sep 2020, 3:23am
Getting to the hardest part of writing my own book, I delighted in him complaining in my ear about how hard he found it to write and how dissatisfied with his work he was.
I often tell students that the reason most writers are miserable bastards is that writing is a wretched, gut-punch activity. The satisfaction is genuine because it is so rare.
Philip Roth's interviews will corroborate this.
David Lee Roth interviews, however, rebut it.
As David Lee Roth always says, "write drunk, edit on coke."
They don't call him America's Man of Letters for nothing.
Image
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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62) The Restaurant At the End of the Universe - Douglas Adam. 1980. Audiobook. Read, with great aplomb, by Martin Freeman. I couldn't tell you how many times I've read this and there are parts I'm certain I can recite from memory and it still made me laugh out loud in a couple of places, though it is a story and style in danger of slightly outstaying its welcome despite the short length of the book.
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Kory
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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Kory »

Silent Majority wrote:
03 Sep 2020, 10:17am
62) The Restaurant At the End of the Universe - Douglas Adam. 1980. Audiobook. Read, with great aplomb, by Martin Freeman. I couldn't tell you how many times I've read this and there are parts I'm certain I can recite from memory and it still made me laugh out loud in a couple of places, though it is a story and style in danger of slightly outstaying its welcome despite the short length of the book.
I recall thinking that after this one there's not much value in reading on, but I've been meaning to go back and do a re-read after I finish my Dirk Gently's.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?

Post by Silent Majority »

Kory wrote:
03 Sep 2020, 2:24pm
Silent Majority wrote:
03 Sep 2020, 10:17am
62) The Restaurant At the End of the Universe - Douglas Adam. 1980. Audiobook. Read, with great aplomb, by Martin Freeman. I couldn't tell you how many times I've read this and there are parts I'm certain I can recite from memory and it still made me laugh out loud in a couple of places, though it is a story and style in danger of slightly outstaying its welcome despite the short length of the book.
I recall thinking that after this one there's not much value in reading on, but I've been meaning to go back and do a re-read after I finish my Dirk Gently's.
I am extremely tempted to listen to LTU&E as my next book, but I also remember a big step down in quality. I don't think I've read anything past then in about ten years and I'm not in the mood to try them now. On the plus side, I understood and followed the plot of RatEotU for the first time ever this time round. As a kid and teen, I got the jokes, loved the feeling, didn't understand how the setpieces joined up.
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


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Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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63) Chew Vol 1: Taster's Choice. - John Layman & Rob Guillory. Comic book. 2009. Feels like this was made between three other, more important projects. I find no passion in the writing and the brown, eye-offending artwork was scrappy & ugly. The premise was good. A Detective eats stuff and gets psychic impressions from it, but the direction of the plot (tired police procedural) and the dialogue (there's a verbose character who speaks like Fraiser Crane in season 10) was uninspired. Apparently this was supposed to be funny, but I looked round for a single joke in vein. Why did they bother?
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Silent Majority
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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For fans of Rick Perlstein's last two books on the American right (Nixonland, the Invisible Bridge) he's completed the trilogy now with Reaganland, the audiobook of which I've just now ILLEGALLY DOWNLOADED
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Dr. Medulla
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Silent Majority wrote:
05 Sep 2020, 9:03am
For fans of Rick Perlstein's last two books on the American right (Nixonland, the Invisible Bridge) he's completed the trilogy now with Reaganland, the audiobook of which I've just now ILLEGALLY DOWNLOADED
Quadrilogy, actually (Before the Storm, about Goldwater, was the first). I've downloaded it, but it's down the queue a bit. And at 45 hours it's gonna be a commitment.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Whatcha reading?

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Finished my run thru the audio versions of the first five Parker novels. Great stuff, except for #4, The Mourners. I can appreciate why Darwyn Cooke skipped it when doing his own remarkable adaptations.

Started today:
Image
This is going to be a helluva challenge for Frank, I think. Critiquing elitist contempt for populism is easy. Hailing the innate democratic ideals of populism is also pretty easy. Dealing with the history of actual populism is tougher, given that historically it has consistently been undone by betrayals by its leaders (Communism, most notably), rivalries within the movement, and/or the privileging of personal experience over informed judgement and expertise.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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