Sunday Morning Book Thread - 03-05-2023 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]

Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (now with thrice the DOOM!). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material, even if it's nothing more than future stories that haven't been written yet. As always, pants are required, especially if you are wearing these pants...(putting the "ugly" back in ugly pants!)

So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, fry some spam, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?

PIC NOTE

Today's picture is from the unusual chained library at the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, England. It was originally founded as a free school in Guildford in the early 16th century. The books in the chained library section are secured to the shelves so that they don't wander off. Author Terry Pratchett, in his Discworld series, invented a different purpose for the chained books in the Unseen University library. They're chained to the shelves to protect the patrons, as some of the books are quite rabid and dangerous.

ADDENDUM FROM LAST WEEK

Last week I discussed the attempt by Puffin Publishing to rewrite/edit Roald Dahl's books to remove the "problematic" elements. Well, the backlash has caused Puffin to reconsider their approach, so they will continue to publish the original books (for now) along with the revised versions. I suppose it's their way of "letting the market decide." Though we all know they will try a different approach. This past Friday, J.J. Sefton posted a link in the Morning Report to an article describing the "persyn" behind these edits. "They" (a nonbinary anarchist) are quite a piece of work. This is who is making the edits to literature these days. It's also been revealed that Ian Fleming's James Bond books are also going to be subject to "sensitivity readers" to again remove the "problematic" elements. Ian Fleming's biographer has an issue with this, as he claims that it just doesn't work. Any alterations should be made by the original author. They won't stop until each and every book has been altered, mutilated, and twisted to fit their ideology. They are also going after Scrooge McDuck, so it really just a matter of time until they finally find a book that YOU like and destroy it, if they haven't already.

"Sure as I know anything, I know this—they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people...better."

Malcolm Reynolds -- Serenity

GENERIC STORYTELLING COMPETENCY

A long time ago, I read a fantasy series and I remember that I enjoyed it somewhat at the time, but I simply could not remember *why* I enjoyed it. I've carried these books around with me from my college dorm room through four different domiciles for the past 30 years. No particular reason other than whenever I looked at them, I just had a fond feeling, even though I could not remember any of the events that transpired in the series. It was just "good enough" to hang onto for all these years. Well, I decided to start re-reading the series and now I can put my finger on just *why* I thought it was a decent series. It's a generic fantasy story, but it's told by a competent author who is basically following a paint-by-numbers formula. Indeed, the first book had few, if any surprises, so when the climax occurred at the end of the book, it was just a fulfilment of my expectations.

Even though it is just a standard fantasy plot, it still has decent prose descriptions of the world in which the characters travel. Each region has cultural peculiarities and some fantasy tropes (like halflings) are reimagined somewhat to make them more interesting. The main characters themselves are standard fantasy tropes, but distinct enough that you can appreciate their worldview and how they solve problems. Again, this is just basic competent storytelling. It's a bit of a shame that we don't have more of this type of storytelling coming out of modern Hollywood. It's not an amazing series, but it's interesting enough to keep me engaged. Sometimes sticking to a formula known to the reader is the way to go. So that's why I've been dragging these books around for 30 years.

BOOKS BY MORONS

My new novel, a boy-and-his-dog story, is now available in kindle, with paperback due on March 12th.

https://tinyurl.com/2c6u68bb

He heard and felt something behind him that chilled and stopped him. It was a growl-the last sound he would have expected in the tight, dark space. His foot had touched something, solid but not hard. His mind flashed with images of wild animals cornered in dark spaces-rabid raccoons, possums, badgers? But these were animals from his mother's stories of Virginia, not of the city, not of Boston. Sam wanted to turn and look but held still. He decided to move his foot back again. He felt the resistance, and again, there was the growl. It was gravelly, rising from some animal depth. It was not a small animal. What could it possibly be? Sam couldn't stop himself from turning... It was a dog, and it was hurt... Sam could see scraped skin on its legs and patches on its coat where the fur had been scorched. Burns, that was it! The animal had been caught in the fire! Sam was transfixed. There was something all magnificent, menacing and terribly wrong in the sight. This animal had crawled in here to die. Sam suddenly realized that his fear was gone. The absence of fear thrilled him. But he was also sobered by an equally new and demanding feeling of responsibility.

Scarboy...the story of an extraordinary German shepherd's journey through the lives of four souls in culturally-torn late 1960s America--a hippie poet, a black boy, a racist cop, and an ailing musical prodigy--and how he changes their lives forever.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

I read Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France. It's book length panegyric by a British MP witnessing the catastrophe in France in real time. His remarks were made in 1790, i.e. before Nappy B, and the worst of the terror, but even then, he could see it was a complete CF. He walks through the mess the revolutionaries have made of the economy, and the absurdity of their reliance on confiscated church property to fund all their fantasies.

The book is really an argument for slow, gradual, considered change, with plenty of time for things to evolve organically. See Chesterton's fence. However, Burke is absolutely prescient in describing the people who are running the revolution, and what they'll ultimately do, i.e. spill blood and institute destruction.

I suppose I don't need to say it for this crowd, but the parallels with the current US administration are stark at times. Just as an example, the current enthusiasm for soaking "millionaires and billionaires" is an exact repeat of what the revolutionaries did to the church. I leave the enthusiasm for dealing with those who oppose them as an exercise for the reader.

Posted by: Archimedes at February 26, 2023 09:15 AM (eOEVl)

Comment: I read this a long, long time ago for one of my courses in college, though I can't remember if it was for English literature or history. I should probably give it a reread, as I'm sure it's *very* relevant to what we are seeing today. It's said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Human nature is what it is, and no amount of tinkering by well-intentioned Leftists is going to change it. All we can do (and probably all we should do) is try to channel the normal human impulses and behaviors to constructive purposes.

After having heard the Ukraine "adventure" referred to as "The Forever War", it reminded me of the classic novel of the same name by Joe Haldeman. It's "hard" sci-fi, and it includes time dilation as a major part of the plot. The main character goes out on several assignments and when he gets back, centuries or even millennia have elapsed, with interesting changes in the nature of society back home. Many such changes are very relevant today, such as enforced homosexuality after one assignment and health care rationing for the elderly on another. It's a great read for anyone thinking of dipping their toe in the sci-fi pool.

Posted by: MichiCanuck at February 26, 2023 09:19 AM (Pte31)

Comment: I read The Forever War by Joe Haldeman not that long ago and enjoyed it. Yes, it's very "hard" science fiction, depicting the plausibility of waging an interstellar war with time-dilation playing an important role. We see how the soldiers over time become very detached from the people they are supposedly protecting because of their experiences with time dilation. The only people they can relate to are other soldiers who have experienced the same thing. It leads to isolation and despair, as the protectors of the human race are no longer fully participating members. Definitely an interesting read and a great introduction to the "hard" science fiction genre. It's also relatively short (my copy is only 264 pages).

Am now re-reading Daniel J. Flynn's 2004 book Intellectual Morons: How Ideology Makes Smart People Fall for Stupid Ideas. Maybe more important and spot-on now than when it was published.

Posted by: FIIGMO at February 26, 2023 09:24 AM (5Xtai)

Comment: It really is mind-boggling how supposedly "smart" people are swayed by dumb--sometimes STAGGERINGLY dumb--propositions. It doesn't even matter how much evidence you provide either for or against an idea. Once they are in love with an idea, NOTHING will dislodge it from their brain. It's a fairly rare individual that can evaluate the weight of evidence and then change their mind based on what they've examined. And then there are the truly evil people who KNOW they are spreading malinformation and get a sick thrill out of deceiving people. Those bastards deserve to rot in Hell.

I finished Clive Barker's Coldheart Canyon ("A Hollywood Ghost Story"), and found it quite entertaining. Don't ask me why I've never read much of Barker. He's been around quite a while and has produced quite a few novels, huh?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at February 26, 2023 10:28 AM (omVj0)

Comment: I've read a fair amount of Clive Barker over the years. He's a bit of an acquired taste, I suppose, since he includes A LOT of body horror in his novels. If you've seen any of the early Hellraiser movies, you know what I mean. He is one of the most creative world-builders I've read, though, with unique and interesting realms. His Abarat series, for instance, is written for YA and involves an archipelago of islands where each island corresponds to one of the hours of the day. There is also a "25th" island that has special significance. Lots of weird creatures (both good and bad) and truly despicable villains. Weaveworld is a story about an entire world woven into a fancy rug. Imajica tells the tale of the Five Dominions, where each Dominion has a bizarre characteristic and the characters have to travel back and forth between strange realms. So if you are looking for stories with *weird* ideas, creatures, and places, Clive Barker is pretty good, though with LOTS of body horror (reader be warned!).

More Moron-recommended reading material can be found HERE! (660 Moron-recommended books so far!)

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

• Godwars Book 1 - Forbidden Magic by Angus Wells -- Conventional fantasy story about a band of heroes trying to save the world from an evil sorcerer who is attempting to wake an insane god.
• Godwars Book 2 - Dark Magic by Angus Wells -- Continuing the conventional fantasy story, chasing after the bad guy who betrayed the main characters in the first book. The main character has to awaken and control the hidden power within himself.
• The Outputs of Higher Education: Their Identification, Measurement, and Evaluation -- This is a collection of proceedings from a seminar between three educational entities in 1970. What's remarkable about these documents is that the problems they are discussing in higher education are still relevant today, 53 years later (and one person refers to a possible solution proposed by his mentor 40 years before that!). And no, they don't propose throwing more money at the problem. Indeed, they take great pains to evaluate the economics of higher education for the benefit of students, the institution, and society at large.

That's about all I have for this week. Thank you for all of your kind words regarding the Sunday Morning Book Thread. This is a very special place. You are very special people (in all the best ways!). The kindness, generosity, and wisdom of the Moron Horde knows no bounds. Let's keep reading!

If you have any suggestions for improvement, reading recommendations, or discussion topics that you'd like to see on the Sunday Morning Book Thread, you can send them to perfessor dot squirrel at-sign gmail dot com. Your feedback is always appreciated! You can also take a virtual tour of OUR library at libib.com/u/perfessorsquirrel. Since I added sections for AoSHQ, I now consider it OUR library, rather than my own personal fiefdom...

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