Sunday Morning Book Thread - 4-20-2025 ["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. Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...

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

Today's Sunday Morning Book Thread is dedicated to the memory of jewells45, who went to be with the Lord this past week. I will always remember her as a smiling, laughing woman who danced with me at a TXMOME.

Prayers for NaCly Dog and his wife this morning.

"He is not here. He is risen, just as he said."

--Matthew 28:6 (NIV)

PIC NOTE

Today Christians around the world celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Although there is a lot of controversy around exactly WHEN Jesus Christ actually rose from the dead, that's really not important in the grand scheme of things. What matters is the Sacrifice.

The Dragon's blood stains the rocks of Shayol Ghul...Whoops! Wrong Messiah.

His blood was shed on the cross to redeem the sins of all mankind and grant those who follow Him life everlasting. It's the greatest gift of all.

Have a Blessed Easter for He is Risen!

Theological Questions of the Day:

I came across the following passage when reading the Gospels last night:

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

--Matthew 27:51-53 (NIV) [emphasis added]

It seems to me that this raises some profound implications if this event happened as Matthew recorded it. As far as I can tell, Matthew is the only gospel that describes this event.

• Who were these "holy people" who were raised from the dead when Jesus died?
• Did they preach about Jesus' resurrection? As holy people, wouldn't they have added credibility to Matthew's account because they were direct witnesses to the power of God?
• Did they go on to lead normal lives and die again? Or did they disappear when Jesus ascended to heaven?

I'm genuinely curious about any explanations for what happened here. Either it happened as recorded, in which case you'd think there'd be A LOT more written about it, because it's nearly as incredible as Jesus own resurrection. Or Matthew was inserting a dramatic event for his own narrative purposes, which somewhat undercuts Matthew's credibility. Thoughts?

STORTELLING - CLEVER AND GOOD

This morning I read Lex's essay on "good vs. clever" screenwriting [NOTE: Don't comment on old threads! -- PS], and enjoyed it. As far as I can see it should apply to the written word too, novels, novelettes, and short stories. It seems to me that his "dramatic purpose" concept is roughly equal to the old adage that "The protagonist should learn something and change in some way because of the adventure or other events he's gone through."

For example, Alastair Maclean's thrillers are all cleverness, though often with wit, and quite a bit of mystery and suspense. Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday, though a comedy, features Doc learning that he's not meant to live a solitary life. In SF, Heinlein's short story "Ordeal in Space" has its hero change as he faces and overcomes a terrifying condition for a spaceman -- acrophobia.

Thoughts?
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 13, 2025 10:31 AM (omVj0)

Like Wolfus, I enjoyed Lex's essay as well, as it dives into the very heart of storytelling. He's describing the art of storytelling within the context of movies, a very specific art form, but many of his points will apply to stories in book form as well. Lex points out that many of the great movies of the 1950s are based on books. Movies have the inherent limitation of time that books do not. A good, clever movie has to tell its story in only a few hours, while a book (or series of books) can go on for many years or decades, depending on the strength of the author's writing. Regardless of the medium, "a good screenplay or story understands what its dramatic purpose is."

Wolfus points out that the essence of storytelling is change. Great stories all involve the protagonist (and sometimes the antagonist) undergoing a profound change as they grow and develop throughout the story. The Hero's Journey is perhaps the quintessential trope. In the series I've been reading (see below), the main characters go through some significant development. The main character has to learn to be a leader, a father, a husband, and a hero. One of his friends has to adapt to no longer being a cripple and what it means to be a nonhuman (he's transformed into a dwarf). Change *matters* in storytelling. Now, you can have decent stories with characters that go on adventures for many stories, but the audience does want to see something happen to the characters in a proper story arc. Sherlock Holmes, for instance, changes quite a bit over the course of many stories, as we see him through the eyes of Dr. Watson during different stages of Sherlock's life.

Now, what about CLEVER writing? Just because a story is clever doesn't mean it's also good. And Hollywood writers tend to fall into a trap of trying to write something clever without understanding if it's good or not. The writer for the Amazon Studios productions of Wheel of Time and Rings of Power are guilty of trying to be clever without knowing what's good. They think it's genius when their characters perform actions that are suicidally stupid, such as abandoning a well-fortified position to flee to an unprotected village to make a last stand (Rings of Power did this--to this day I'm baffled how anyone on the production team thought the writing was good or clever for that show).

Clever writing has to make sense within the context of the world and should demonstrate that the writer knows how to deliver the payoff. This is one of Brandon Sanderson's strengths as a writer. He lives by the writing philosophy of "promise, progress, payoff" and it shows in his writing. However, he's not above hubris himself. I was disappointed in Wind and Truth, the conclusion of the first part of The Stormlight Archive because I felt Sanderson was trying too hard to be clever and not trying hard enough to write a good story. As a result, it's a bit of mess and doesn't make a whole lot of sense for the story. Sanderson was much better when he wrote the final three novels of The Wheel of Time, as he collaborated with Robert Jordan before his death to ensure that he would tell a story that was both clever AND good--the fans were counting on him.

(NOTE: Any resemblance to Huggy Squirrel is purely coincidental.)


HT: Wingnutt

PUBLIC DOMAIN BOOKS

We live in an age of wonders. One of those wonders is the existence of books that exist in the "public domain," i.e., they are freely available for anyone to access, just requiring an internet connection and a device on which they can read the book. Although Project Gutenberg is perhaps the most well-known resource for public domain books, there are other websites out there, such as Standard Ebooks (ht: 13times). Like Project Gutenberg, they have a wide range of offerings in multiple formats.

I was a bit surprised to find some books on this list, since I would have assumed that they were still under copyright by the author or his/her estate. For instance, Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat (1961) is available for download, though I would not have thought was in the public domain just yet. According to both Project Gutenberg (which also has this work) and Standard Ebooks, copyright has lapsed or at least is no longer being enforced in the United States. Harry Harrison died in 2012 and the book was published less than 95 years ago, so I'm not sure how it has entered the public domain unless the author (or his estate) was OK with that.

On a tangential note, science fiction author John C. Wright discovered that his entire catalog of books is available for free at a pirate website. A commenter points out this is probably just a vector for installing malware, though it doesn't change the fact that someone is attempting to exploit John C. Wright's good name for their own profit.

MORON RECOMMENDATIONS

I've just finished Paying for the Party, with subtitle "How College Maintains Inequality," a 300-page sociological study published in 2013 by a pair of women who studied a group of women students.

Done at Indiana University and begun I think about 2003, the two were part of a team of sociologists, who moved into a dorm room, on a floor with 52 freshman girls, to study their behavior and progress over a five-year period.

The dorm was a recognized "party dorm," and the floor population consisted of those that chose it for what it was, and some who were clueless. The mix included some from wealth and privilege, and some from poor working class families.

It's kind of engaging in that the text includes plenty of interview quotes. The researchers spoke at length with all the 52, at regular intervals each year, to be able to conduct what they refer to as a longitudinal study.

It describes how the U gets bent into a shape that exists for the benefit of the wealthy socialites that inhabit the Greek system, in a flagship public research uni, the student population about 15 percent Greek. And it then concludes that the school does nothing to support those who need support.

Posted by: Mr Gaga at April 13, 2025 10:09 AM (KiBMU)

Comment: Colleges have come a long way in providing many, many support mechanisms for students to succeed, but most of them rely on the students knowing they exist and taking advantage of them. Where I work, we have A LOT of great resources to help students. I wish I'd known more about them when I was a student, as my life may have turned out very differently. It is pretty well recognized that the fraternity system does seem to be set up to give students in fraternities certain advantages, as they have access to MASSIVE troves of files compiled by students over the decades. The social aspect also means it's easy to find students with whom you can study. Students outside Greek life may not have as many opportunities to find study groups unless they know about the other campus resources. For my own class, I always encourage my students to find resources that can help them. They do require students to take some initiative and ownership over their own learning, however.

Last week, a request was made for books covering the French Revolution, specifically the period known as the Terror. Stanley Loomis wrote Paris in the Terror, which is a great introduction to the personalities involved in this bloody period in history. The Terror was a time when the leaders of the revolution used barely legitimized murder to control the population. Leftist revolutions always turn to mass murder.

Loomis begins his book with the death of Jean-Paul Marat. Charlotte Corday decided to kill him because the revolution executed the king. This is often noted as the beginning of the Terror.

The second event covered is the trial of Georges Danton. This trial indicated that the revolution was eating its own. The trial became a farce when Danton began revealing how the CPS chose victims and twisted the legal process to gain convictions.

The third section in the book is the end of Robespierre, when the Terror burned itself out. This story is how the leader was quickly turned into the enemy, how he failed his own suicide, and then was guillotined just like his many victims.

This book illuminates how the revolution became terrorist, and how it destroyed itself.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 13, 2025 09:17 AM (LuvNb)

Comment: I don't know all that much about the French Revolution, other than that it was bloody and destructive. Absolute power always seems to result in mass murder/executions as there will always be those souls who stand against "Progress." We live in interesting times right now, with the Left deciding that THEY are the only arbiters of what is good and right with the world. As has been pointed out many, many times, they would gladly kill you, me, and all of our loved ones to rule over a kingdom of ashes before yielding one inch of their ideology.

MORE MORON RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE: AoSHQ - Book Thread Recommendations

WHAT I'VE ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:

1. Night's Dawn Trilogy Book 1 - The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton -- Doorstopper #1...
2. Night's Dawn Trilogy Book 2 - The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton -- Doorstopper #2...
3. Night's Dawn Trilogy Book 3 - The Naked God by Peter F. Hamilton -- Doorstopper #3...This series is *massive,* as each book is over 1200 pages long. Should keep me occupied for a few weeks...

WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:

After reviewing some of OregonMuse's old Book Threads, I thought I'd try something a bit different. Instead of just listing WHAT I'm reading, I'll include commentary as well. Unless otherwise specified, you can interpret this as an implied recommendation, though as always your mileage may vary.

Greatwinter Book 3 - Eyes of the Calculor by Sean McMullen

I managed to finish this book last Sunday. It sort of lost the plot about halfway through the book. I am not quite sure what happened. Lots of weird treachery that sprang out of nowhere at the end. It was an OK series, with some interesting world-building, though parts of it were quite a stretch for me to suspend my disbelief.

Easter: The Rest of the Story by Rick Renner

Moron stewburner recommended Rick Renner's Christmas: The Rest of the Story a few years ago. I thought it was excellent, going into details about Jesus and his family and what life was like back in those days. Now Renner has written the sequel (a proper sequel!) to his earlier book, Easter: The Rest of the Story. This documents the very last moments of Jesus' life, starting with His trials in the Garden of Gethsemane and concluding with His Resurrection from the tomb. Renner doesn't hold back on the details, describing in graphic detail the excruciating torture and agony the Romans put Jesus through. They *really* liked to inflict pain and humiliation, especially on one who challenged the authority of Rome. Of course, this was all according to God's Divine Plan and we know how it turned out in the end. Excellent book.

Shadow of the Leviathan 2 - A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

This is a fantasy mystery with a Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson vibe to the main characters. The story is told from the perspective of an assistant to an investigator, who is trying to unravel a locked-room mystery of a man who disappeared as if by magic. Even in a fantasy series, the manner of his disappearance was unusual. Bennett's world-building is always unusual and strange. In this world, humans have conquered an empire, but in order to survive they have to "augment" their bodies to deal with the native flora and fauna which are all quite lethal. It's not quite clear if humans are native to this world or were transplanted sometime in the distant past. Giant leviathans rampage along the shorelines (a bit like Godzilla and other kaiju). The Empire fends them off and harvests the remains of the leviathans to maintain power and prestige.

Guardians of the Flame Book 1 - The Sleeping Dragon by Joel Rosenberg

One of my roommates in college recommended this to me many years ago. I decided to give it a try. It's about a group of college students who find out that the role-playing game they've been playing for the past few years is based on a real world. Their gamemaster--philosophy professor Arthur Deighton--is a sorcerer who sends them across so that they can open the Gate Between Worlds and bring Deighton into that world where he can rule as sorcerer supreme.

The characters quickly find out just how real that fantasy world is when one of them is killed not long after arrival. They have to band together and use the skills of their player-characters along with their own knowledge to survive. Along the way they free and befriend a dragon (NOT the titular "sleeping dragon").

As someone who played roleplaying games with a group in college for four years, I can identify with the situation, though the characters really don't seem to get along with each other that much. Lots of bickering and infighting, so I found it hard to believe they'd form a coherent gaming group for any length of time. They reminded me of Knights of the Dinner Table without the humor and charm. I've walked away from gaming tables before when I didn't like what was happening around the table.

Guardians of the Flame Book 2 - The Sword and the Chain by Joel Rosenberg

Karl and his friends have decided to remain in the fantasy world after restoring James Michael/Ahira Bandylegs to life. As payment for that service, they've agreed to rid the fantasy world of slavery. No small task in a world where slavery is as ubiquitous there as it is here. This book focuses mostly on their efforts to build a sanctuary for freed slaves in a remote location of the world, and then assisting one of the freed slaves in reuniting with her family. The wizards of Pandathaway have teamed up with the Slavers' Guild to hunt down and exterminate the budding abolitionist movement, starting with assassinating their leader, Karl Cullinane.

PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 4-13-2025 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)

Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.

RIP Jewells...

Disclaimer: No Morons were physically harmed in the making of this Sunday Morning Book Thread. Blink twice if Peeps are holding you and your loved ones hostage. A rescue team is on its way!

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