Books, do people still read them anymore? AzzGab BookClub

[pate]

I still do, although I find myself re-reading shit I have already read.

Today I was thinking about Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap Cycle and perhaps re-reading it.

SPOILER ALERT!  I will try not to give too much away.



The first book, "The Real Story" could be read as a VERY disturbing stand-alone, if one can get through the thing.  It is pretty brutal at times, Donaldson revisits his "rapey" thing again;  if you read his "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant:  Unbeliever" series you are familiar with what I am talking about.  Probably, this one is worse in scope but similar to the Unbeliever series in that it happens in the first book, and then the repercussions do the reverb thing throughout the rest of the books.

So there's that, consider it a <*TRIGGER*> warning as well as my first "spoiler."  You also see some serious mind-control shit, I am talking actual implantation of chips in heads.  I think that about sums up the first book, it is short at least.  So if you can read disturbing shit like that, it really sets up a wild ride through the next four books.

Apparently, Donaldson sort of modeled it along a Wagnerian Ring Cycle line:  it is epic and sort of apocalyptic by the end.

MORE SPOILERS!



If I recall correctly, in the second book you find out more about the UMCP (United Mining Company Police) and maybe the UMC (United Mining Company) itself.  The UMC is basically either Elon Musk or *spit* Jeff Bezos.  I think looking at the UMC as the sort of space-company that Jeff Bezos might come up with is closer to the mark, that guy is an ass.   Musk is just an awesome autistic full retard, probably not total dick, I digress.

Basically, the UMC & UMCP run space operations.  Led by the "Dragon," as the Bezos character is called, maybe that is your Musk angle?  Bezos "The Dragon" stole the nickname and the tech somehow?  I don't honestly remember.  Main point, some dick quadrillionaire asshole has control of space and has a private police force to protect his shit, which is pretty much all of space.

Then you have the Aminion:  freakish space alien Borg-types.  Basically, when they capture you they inject DNA mutagens (mRNA?) that turns you into one of them*.   People are scared as hell of those fuckers, and it is supposedly the UMCP's job to keep humanity safe from them*...

EVEN MORE SPOILERS!



By the third book, shit is getting crazy.  It begins to dawn on you that "The Real Story" is actually pretty fucking twisted.  Heroes become Villlains, Villains become Victims, Victims turn into Heroes:  it gets pretty weird.  All is not as it seems.  Also, the books seem to be getting longer in page-counts because more and more shit is going on.

In the story and book writing world this third book marks the high-point of the "Story Arc."  You start to see some of that Orson Scott Card "sympathetic wahoo" he talks about in his "guide to writing."  I digress:  this shit is starting to get good!

BUT WAIT, EVEN MORE SPOILERS!



I think it is in this one that the sick reality of "The Real Story" begins to become apparent to the characters within it.  Everybody seems to be trying to "Fix this Shit" in their own special way.  And by special, I mean most of them are complete 'tards (like Bezos) and are actually breaking shit.  I digress.  Apparently, there is need for some Justice of the Necessary and Normal type.  Who is going to dispense it?  Will they succeed?  You get to find out in:

NOW WITH EVEN MORE SPOILERS!!!



If, and only if, you can survive that long in this reading.  But oh, boy:  your God-like reading skills will be well rewarded.  This shit gets LIT CITY, I tell you what.  It is pretty much a mic-drop ending to end all endings and shit.  I mean look at the title:  "This Day All Gods Die?"  That can't be good unless you happen to be an Atheist.

Probably, most readers will turn to Cthulu for guidance after completing the series.  Myself, as a confirmed 'tard:  I said, "YAY!  THAT WAS FUN, I WANT TO DO IT AGAIN!" because there was SO much shit going on.  It was not too far into my second reading of the first book, "The Real Story", that I realized:  "Whoa, this is some heavy shit" AND "My God, this is a difficult book to read."

I will neither confirm nor deny that I completely re-read that first book before re-reading the rest of them.

I cannot stress enough my initial <*TRIGGER*> warning.  That first book is not for the faint of heart, you can probably get through it if you remember that it is, after all, fiction.  SCIFI/HORRORish fiction to be sure.

Weak 'tards probably should go find the "Elmo Learns To Read" series at their nearest pubic libary.

Maybe somebody will turn this into an awesome Movie- or Mini-series for you illiterate 'tards out there?  I hope so, as long as it doesn't go the way "Starship Troopers" went, that was an awful adaptation.  Huh, that reminds me that the new Dune movie is coming out soon.  I hope it doesn't suck.

I have clearly said two mucks!

Lawd.



*the hobo elite

[Worthauger]

Today I was thinking about Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap Cycle and perhaps re-reading it.

This where to have been books 5 through 10 of the tomes that were recommended to GFA, but such was not to be, well enough for lack of quality in the work, but the simple trouble is is that the author reminds me of another woman to a degree that is relentlessly distracting, and so every time I thought of thinking of the gap cycle with the woman with the electronic mind control device in her head that uses it to allow her to escape space pirates by manipulating them through rape, well, if I ever get through book one past the place where I have to peel the pages part, oh, I'll probably not remember to let anybody out. Know. Go. Whatever.




They say that people pick up the traits of their partners over time but after 4 years I didn't learn to garden and she didn't learn to read books. I did earlier learn how to install and maintain and reprogram a zone implant, and this crucial life-altering skill has maintained usefulness in my holdings and dealings throughout my travels.

I still do, although I find myself re-reading shit I have already read.

Yeah, your posts read like a tides table. *click*

[Sunnie]

This author is excellent if you haven't read any of his books yet, I recommend starting with "The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove" but "Lamb" is excellent too. They are all hilarious with deep subtext.

[pate]

This where to have been books 5 through 10 of the tomes that were recommended to GFA, but such was not to be, well enough for lack of quality in the work, but the simple trouble is is that the author reminds me of another woman to a degree that is relentlessly distracting, and so every time I thought of thinking of the gap cycle with the woman with the electronic mind control device in her head that uses it to allow her to escape space pirates by manipulating them through rape, well, if I ever get through book one past the place where I have to peel the pages part, oh, I'll probably not remember to let anybody out. Know. Go. Whatever.




They say that people pick up the traits of their partners over time but after 4 years I didn't learn to garden and she didn't learn to read books. I did earlier learn how to install and maintain and reprogram a zone implant, and this crucial life-altering skill has maintained usefulness in my holdings and dealings throughout my travels.



Yeah, your posts read like a tides table. *click*

You might enjoy this book:



It has pictures!

[Laser]

In my prodigal youth I was captured by so much of Lovecraft's work.
But unlikely I will read them again given the ease of having them read.



Tsundokursed

[Worthauger]

In my prodigal youth I was captured by so much of Lovecraft's work.

Tell us! Tell us then! Tell us everything you know about... The Gilled Men. Begin now. Start now. Start with everything. And end... by omitting nothing.

NO THING. (Hi, Thing! Yes, I do know you, why do you ask? *SMACK*)

[Sunnie]

https://a.co/ha47wah

[Laser]

Tell us! Tell us then! Tell us everything you know about... The Gilled Men. Begin now. Start now. Start with everything. And end... by omitting nothing.

NO THING. (Hi, Thing! Yes, I do know you, why do you ask? *SMACK*)

What do I know? A nameless wanderer from an unknown world.

You can start here if you wish and follow the fractals to infinity.


COMPLETE CTHULHU MYTHOS by H. P. Lovecraft

The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe,

An ongoing theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of mankind in the face of the cosmic horrors that apparently exist in the universe.

Lovecraft broke with other pulp writers of the time by having his main characters' minds deteriorate when afforded a glimpse of what exists outside their perceived reality.

[Laser]

    “In another hundred and twenty days the building of the Integral will be completed. The great historic hour is near, when the first Integral will rise into the limitless space of the universe. A thousand years ago your heroic ancestors subjected the whole earth to the power of the United State. A still more glorious task is before you,—the integration of the indefinite equation of the Cosmos by the use of the glass, electric, fire-breathing Integral. Your mission is to subjugate to the grateful yoke of reason the unknown beings who live on other planets, and who are perhaps still in the primitive state of freedom. If they will not understand that we are bringing them a mathematically faultless happiness, our duty will be to force them to be happy. But before we take up arms, we shall try the power of words.

    “In the name of The Well-Doer, the following is announced herewith to all Numbers of the United State:

    “Whoever feels capable must consider it his duty to write treatises, poems, manifestoes, odes and other compositions on the greatness and the beauty of the United State.

    “This will be the first load which the Integral will carry.

    “Long live the United State! Long live the Numbers!! Long live the Well-Doer!!!”

[pate]

Anybody ever read this:



I never did, although I seem to recall some sort of controversy when it was first published.

Here's a review from the NYT (behind a pay-wall, aww): https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/books/review/Oshinsky-t.html

Here one from a site purporting to represent the Libertarian Party of San Francisco: https://lpsf.org/articles/2018-12-18-book-review-liberal-fascism-jonah-goldberg

Book Review: "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg

...“Many if not most American liberals either admired Mussolini and his project or simply didn’t care much about it one way or the other,” Goldberg informs us (p. 30) He was a complex figure, “one of the first modern sex symbols,” who “pav(ed the way” for the “sexual deification” of Che Guevara, and despised the Catholic Church. Yet Mussolini also said, “It is faith that moves mountains, not reason. Reason is a tool, but it can never be the motive force of the crowd” (pp. 36-37)...

And to round out the three, here is one from The Guardian:  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/08/goldberg-liberal-fascism-review

A right hook to the left

...Goldberg sets out to knock down this false paradigm and show that much of what Americans call liberalism, and we call leftism, has its origins in fascism...

Anyway, like I said:  I never read it, but I did get a lot of mileage trolling liberals with it (who hadn't read it either).  As I recall the main source of liberal tears on this one was Goldberg's alleged obesity:  rarely was an effort even so much as attempted to refute the central thesis of the book.  I think that is some sort of logical fallacy;  "straw man," "ad hominem" or "appeal to ridicule?"  Something along those lines.

Interestingly, I just found a neat page that lists all sorts of wonderful Logical Fallacies:  https://www.logicalfallacies.org/ although that is not a book, it is still worth reading.  Some of those fallacies sound fun!  "Bandwagon" and "False Cause & False Attribution" tickle me for some odd reason.  I digress...

I wonder how this "Liberal Fascism" book has stood the test of thyme?  Is a sequel out, or is one in the works?  Is fatty fatty Goldberg still alive or has he died of the plague?  Are there any copies of it available at the used bookstores, or have they all been subjected to the "trial-by-fire" and found lacking?

I sort of want to own a copy now, still probably won't read it but it would look awesome on the old bookshelf next to a bunch of other unread political type books I have been gifted over the years...

[Laser]

Anybody ever read this:



I never did, although I seem to recall some sort of controversy when it was first published.

Here's a review from the NYT (behind a pay-wall, aww): https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/books/review/Oshinsky-t.html

Here one from a site purporting to represent the Libertarian Party of San Francisco: https://lpsf.org/articles/2018-12-18-book-review-liberal-fascism-jonah-goldberg

Book Review: "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg
And to round out the three, here is one from The Guardian:  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/08/goldberg-liberal-fascism-review

A right hook to the left
Anyway, like I said:  I never read it, but I did get a lot of mileage trolling liberals with it (who hadn't read it either).  As I recall the main source of liberal tears on this one was Goldberg's alleged obesity:  rarely was an effort even so much as attempted to refute the central thesis of the book.  I think that is some sort of logical fallacy;  "straw man," "ad hominem" or "appeal to ridicule?"  Something along those lines.

Interestingly, I just found a neat page that lists all sorts of wonderful Logical Fallacies:  https://www.logicalfallacies.org/ although that is not a book, it is still worth reading.  Some of those fallacies sound fun!  "Bandwagon" and "False Cause & False Attribution" tickle me for some odd reason.  I digress...

I wonder how this "Liberal Fascism" book has stood the test of thyme?  Is a sequel out, or is one in the works?  Is fatty fatty Goldberg still alive or has he died of the plague?  Are there any copies of it available at the used bookstores, or have they all been subjected to the "trial-by-fire" and found lacking?

I sort of want to own a copy now, still probably won't read it but it would look awesome on the old bookshelf next to a bunch of other unread political type books I have been gifted over the years...

Mr. Goldberg appears to be in respectable health these days.

A memorable interview with the esteemed George Will



As much as I respect Prof. Will, I do not always agree with him.
He once criticized political opponent, Gwynne Dyer, in an ad hominem attack,
as untrustworthy because of Mr. Dyer's goatee - too much like Lenin!

[Laser]

Try reading this on your own sometime ... with the accent.

[pate]

This where to have been books 5 through 10 of the tomes that were recommended to GFA, but such was not to be, well enough for lack of quality in the work, but the simple trouble is is that the author reminds me of another woman to a degree that is relentlessly distracting, and so every time I thought of thinking of the gap cycle with the woman with the electronic mind control device in her head that uses it to allow her to escape space pirates by manipulating them through rape, well, if I ever get through book one past the place where I have to peel the pages part, oh, I'll probably not remember to let anybody out. Know. Go. Whatever.




They say that people pick up the traits of their partners over time but after 4 years I didn't learn to garden and she didn't learn to read books. I did earlier learn how to install and maintain and reprogram a zone implant, and this crucial life-altering skill has maintained usefulness in my holdings and dealings throughout my travels.



Yeah, your posts read like a tides table. *click*

That is really cool!

What about books you have read>?

You can reed, even papyrus?

Gud Thymes!

-pate

[Laser]

This frightened me as a child. I thought I'd read a few tales now each night, just to sleep well.

[pate]

Tell us! Tell us then! Tell us everything you know about...

Naught:



That was fun!

Code: [Select]

https://youtu.be/Hn0HYNIQ8RA


Ima chillax naow...