| Author |
Message |
the Omrud
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:02 pm
Post subject: Re: Book recommendations for Christmas and 2005. |
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Mickwick typed thus:
| Quote: | In alt.usage.english, the Omrud wrote:
Ken Campbell used to live next door to some friends of mine. I met
him one morning as he was putting the bins out.
Say, did you ever see Ken Campbell's terrifying Model Railway of Death?
A chap strapped, struggling, to a chair; a single loop of railway track,
a single loop with a very short branch line, one that terminated a mere
six inches from the strapped chap's chest, a mere six inches above the
strapped chap's lap. Diddly-dup diddly-dup, diddly-diddly-diddly-dup,
the train goes round and round. A fork, cunningly rubber-banded to the
locomotive's boiler, viciously protrudes. We know that our chap is
doomed. Diddly-dup diddly-dup, diddly-diddly-diddly-dup - the tension
mounts as the locomotive completes a few loops. The chap squirms, he
shouts ... the switch is thrown! The locomotive, fork to the fore,
leaves the loop ...
Horrible.
|
No, I never saw that. He is very strange, but he politely wished me
a good morning when I met him with his bins.
| Quote: | What were you supposed to be studying? There are some subjects for
which this would be good thing.
Architecture. (Don't ask.)
[...]
I have to say that In Real Life I have never met anybody who has even
heard of Illuminatus, never mind actually read the books. Perhaps I
should join Mensa.
|
I imagine one would meet plenty of people ready to discuss
Illuminatus at Mensa meetings. One imagines that's the sort of thing
they talk about.
--
David
=====
replace the first component of address
with the definite article.
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Mickwick
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:03 pm
Post subject: Re: Book recommendations for Christmas and 2005. |
|
|
In alt.usage.english, the Omrud wrote:
| Quote: | Ken Campbell used to live next door to some friends of mine. I met
him one morning as he was putting the bins out.
|
Say, did you ever see Ken Campbell's terrifying Model Railway of Death?
A chap strapped, struggling, to a chair; a single loop of railway track,
a single loop with a very short branch line, one that terminated a mere
six inches from the strapped chap's chest, a mere six inches above the
strapped chap's lap. Diddly-dup diddly-dup, diddly-diddly-diddly-dup,
the train goes round and round. A fork, cunningly rubber-banded to the
locomotive's boiler, viciously protrudes. We know that our chap is
doomed. Diddly-dup diddly-dup, diddly-diddly-diddly-dup - the tension
mounts as the locomotive completes a few loops. The chap squirms, he
shouts ... the switch is thrown! The locomotive, fork to the fore,
leaves the loop ...
Horrible.
| Quote: | What were you supposed to be studying? There are some subjects for
which this would be good thing.
|
Architecture. (Don't ask.)
[...]
| Quote: | I have to say that In Real Life I have never met anybody who has even
heard of Illuminatus, never mind actually read the books. Perhaps I
should join Mensa.
|
?
--
Mickwick |
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Mickwick
Guest
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:03 pm
Post subject: Re: Book recommendations for Christmas and 2005. |
|
|
In alt.usage.english, Ross Howard wrote:
[...]
| Quote: | The last time I reread it (last year), after a many-year layoff, I
kept waiting for the good bits. In fact the only bits I really enjoyed
were right at the end -- the various appendices of pseudomasonic
history.
|
Psuedomasonic? *Pseudo*?
Oh fuck.
--
Mickwick
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Wood Avens
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:15 am
Post subject: Re: Book recommendations for Christmas and 2005. |
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|
On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 14:27:13 GMT, "Richard Chambers"
<richard.chambers7@NOSPAMntlworld.com> wrote:
| Quote: | a. One recommendation for the best fiction you have read this year
(alternatively, the best fiction you have read in your lifetime).
|
New fiction: the one that springs ot mind is The Life of Pi by Yann
Martel, which won the Booker prize a year or two back. An absorbing
novel which touches on the nature of God, the characteristics of
different animals, the human impulse to survival, and what ingenuity
can achieve with the contents of a small lifeboat.
Old fiction: I've recently re-read Rudyard Kipling's Kim, and while I
wouldn't want to tempt Fate by saying it's the best fiction I've read
in my lifetime (which I hope won't be over for a few years yet) I've
consistently found that each re-reading exceeds my expectations. An
absorbing book which touches on the nature of God, the characteristics
.... oh, never mind. No lifeboats. The complexities and delights of
humanity in all its diversity.
| Quote: | b. One recommendation for the best factual book you have read this year
(with the same alternative as above).
|
I'll get back to you on this.
--
Katy Jennison
spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ |
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Wood Avens
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:16 am
Post subject: Re: When semioticists attack (was: Book recommendations for |
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On 10 Nov 2004 14:09:35 -0800, "jerry_friedman@yahoo.com"
<jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> wrote:
| Quote: | So far I've recommended it to two people who told me they loved _The
Davinci Code_ (which I don't think I'm going to read). I wonder what
happened.
|
The DaVinci Code's principal merit is that it's shorter than Foucault.
Other merits include ... hmmm ... No, I can't think of any right now.
--
Katy Jennison
spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ |
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Laura F Spira
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:16 am
Post subject: Re: When semioticists attack (was: Book recommendations for |
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jerry_friedman@yahoo.com wrote:
| Quote: | R H Draney wrote:
Ross Howard filted:
=>As for Foucault's Pendulum, I disliked it intensely:
So far I've recommended it to two people who told me they loved _The
Davinci Code_ (which I don't think I'm going to read). I wonder what
happened.
|
The Da Vinci Code was sufficiently gripping to distract me during my
first trip on Eurostar (I was extremely nervous) but even as I was
turning the pages (clever structure: lots of short chapters ending with
cliff-hangers) I was conscious that it was very badly written. During
the journey I noticed seven other people reading it. When the last Harry
Potter book came out I saw lots of people reading it on trains and
buses. I wonder why it seems so odd to see people all reading the same
book?
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email) |
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jerry_friedman@yahoo.com
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:16 am
Post subject: Re: When semioticists attack (was: Book recommendations for |
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R H Draney wrote:
| Quote: | Ross Howard filted:
=>As for Foucault's Pendulum, I disliked it intensely:
|
So far I've recommended it to two people who told me they loved _The
Davinci Code_ (which I don't think I'm going to read). I wonder what
happened.
| Quote: | For me, it was
just a postmodern *Illuminatusª* with a dash of *The Crying of Lot
Forty-Nine* for good measure, stapled together in a hurry by someone
who should have quit while he was ahead after *The Name of the
Rose*.
Disturbingly, Eco's career as a novelist mirrors that M. Night
Shenanigan's as a filmmaker -- each oeuvre can be counted on to be
much, much worse than its predecessor. And if *Foucault's Pendulum*
was Eco's *Signs*, then *Baudalino* is his *The Village*.
I can say that I was, at worst, disappointed by "Foucault"...to a
greater extent
than "Rose", the story didn't end, it just "stopped happening"...
|
Oh, come *on*! The end of _Foucault_ was the best part.
| Quote: | ultimately, it
was a clever premise that didn't prove out as narrative...but I
disagree that
Eco's going downhill with each book; "The Island of the Day Before"
held my
interest better than either of its precursors....
|
I liked it too, and I agree that it disproves the Ross Howard Theory of
Monotonic Decrease.
| Quote: | Haven't had a chance to finish "Baudolino" yet...things are literally
piling up
here....r
It didn't get any better, in my opinion. |
--
Jerry Friedman |
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jerry_friedman@yahoo.com
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:16 am
Post subject: Re: Book recommendations for Christmas and 2005. |
|
|
Mickwick wrote:
| Quote: | In alt.usage.english, Ross Howard wrote:
[...]
The last time I reread it (last year), after a many-year layoff, I
kept waiting for the good bits. In fact the only bits I really
enjoyed
were right at the end -- the various appendices of pseudomasonic
history.
Psuedomasonic? *Pseudo*?
Oh fuck.
|
*wipes eyes* Thank you!
--
Jerry Friedman |
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the Omrud
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:16 am
Post subject: Re: Book recommendations for Christmas and 2005. |
|
|
Mickwick typed thus:
| Quote: | In alt.usage.english, the Omrud wrote:
No, I never saw that. He is very strange, but he politely wished me
a good morning when I met him with his bins.
You've got to watch out for those polite ones.
[...]
I imagine one would meet plenty of people ready to discuss
Illuminatus at Mensa meetings. One imagines that's the sort of thing
they talk about.
You think so?
I'll never mention it again.
|
But I might. I am seriously impressed that a book changed your life
so thoroughly.
--
David
=====
replace the first component of address
with the definite article. |
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Mickwick
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:16 am
Post subject: Re: Book recommendations for Christmas and 2005. |
|
|
In alt.usage.english, the Omrud wrote:
| Quote: | No, I never saw that. He is very strange, but he politely wished me
a good morning when I met him with his bins.
|
You've got to watch out for those polite ones.
[...]
| Quote: | I imagine one would meet plenty of people ready to discuss
Illuminatus at Mensa meetings. One imagines that's the sort of thing
they talk about.
|
You think so?
I'll never mention it again.
--
Mickwick |
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Jim Ward
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:05 am
Post subject: Re: When semioticists attack (was: Book recommendations for |
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|
On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 22:23:09 +0000, Wood Avens
<woodavens@askjennison.com> wrote:
| Quote: | On 10 Nov 2004 14:09:35 -0800, "jerry_friedman@yahoo.com"
jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> wrote:
So far I've recommended it to two people who told me they loved _The
Davinci Code_ (which I don't think I'm going to read). I wonder what
happened.
The DaVinci Code's principal merit is that it's shorter than Foucault.
Other merits include ... hmmm ... No, I can't think of any right now.
|
I liked the part about Mary Magdalene was Jesus' lover, which
generated some dinner conversation. It also made me inspect "The Last
Supper" a little closer, but John still looks like a guy to me.
I guess Magdala -> Magdalene follows the same rule as Alexandria ->
Alexandrine. There may be other examples, I can't think of one. |
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Jim Ward
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:06 am
Post subject: Re: Book recommendations for Christmas and 2005. |
|
|
On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 22:58:57 +0000, Wood Avens
<woodavens@askjennison.com> wrote:
| Quote: | New fiction: the one that springs ot mind is The Life of Pi by Yann
Martel, which won the Booker prize a year or two back. An absorbing
novel which touches on the nature of God, the characteristics of
different animals, the human impulse to survival, and what ingenuity
can achieve with the contents of a small lifeboat.
|
I read it, and wondered why the boat didn't fill with tiger crap. |
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Robin Bignall
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:06 am
Post subject: Re: Book recommendations for Christmas and 2005. |
|
|
On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 21:03:33 +0000, Mickwick <mickwick@use.reply.to>
wrote:
| Quote: | In alt.usage.english, the Omrud wrote:
No, I never saw that. He is very strange, but he politely wished me
a good morning when I met him with his bins.
You've got to watch out for those polite ones.
You have to watch out for the impolite ones, too. I used to go to |
meetings of a club for SF writers and hangers-on in the early 1960s.
Michael Moorcock, who really was built like a brick shithouse, used to
snatch people's cigarettes and drop them into their drinks. He thought
it was funny.
--
wrmst rgrds
Robin Bignall
Hertfordshire
England |
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R H Draney
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:06 am
Post subject: Re: When semioticists attack (was: Book recommendations for |
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|
Wood Avens filted:
| Quote: |
On 10 Nov 2004 14:09:35 -0800, "jerry_friedman@yahoo.com"
jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> wrote:
So far I've recommended it to two people who told me they loved _The
Davinci Code_ (which I don't think I'm going to read). I wonder what
happened.
The DaVinci Code's principal merit is that it's shorter than Foucault.
Other merits include ... hmmm ... No, I can't think of any right now.
|
Well, there's the bit about most English-speaking people being able to pronounce
"Davinci" without either sounding like idiots or getting slapped for filthy
language...Eco loses that round....r |
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Raymond S. Wise
Guest
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:20 pm
Post subject: Re: When semioticists attack (was: Book recommendations for |
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|
"Jim Ward" <tomcatpolka@NyOaShPoAoM.com> wrote in message
news:aan5p01oakp5ri7k7ejko83ulq57ljv6au@4ax.com...
[...]
| Quote: | I guess Magdala -> Magdalene follows the same rule as Alexandria -
Alexandrine. There may be other examples, I can't think of one.
|
Nicaea (now called Nice) -> Nicene, as in "Nicene Creed."
(The adjective now associated with Nice in French is "niçois/niçoise," as in
"salade niçoise.")
--
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com |
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