Ahira's Hangar

1984 scared me to death back when I read it for a class in high school!

Right now for general reading I am leafing through a guide to the nationals parks i nthe western United States and a different guide to the Black Hills area of South Dakota. Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 7/26/03 12:56 pm
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The content of the book itself scared you, Duchess, or just the idea of having to read it?

Just kidding of course - it turned out to be a much better read than I was expecting. I was afraid it was going to be ultra-boring since a.) it describes a drab, totalitarian society, and b.) references to 1984 have become so engrained in our culture that I felt like I already knew everything about it (plus I just recently saw the excellent film version of it).

One aspect that I was not expecting, but really enjoyed, was the wistful, almost whimsical way in which Smith imagines the "time before" (e.g. his fascination with the useless-but-beautiful coral paperweight)..

Good book. I look forward to reading Animal Farm someday. <i></i>

1984 was terrifying and disturbing, but I think it was a valuable read. Now I get references to Big Brother, doublespeak, and other Orwellian terms.

~Foamy~ <i></i>

Roar of Thunder, Whisper of Wind, a Portrait of Michigan Waterfalls by Elfont and Elfont (one is a photographer and one is a poet) Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i></i>

Just started The Masked Rider: Cycling In West Africa by Neil Peart (drummer for the rock band Rush). <i>Edited by: AlphSeeker at: 7/14/03 8:47 pm
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Oh, it was definately the content of 1984 that scared me.

I have been glancing at a Wine Guide lately, a subject I know very little about, and have always wished to be more knowlegable on. Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i></i>

Reading Defoe's Robinson Crusoe now. For some reason I'm always drawn to seafaring tales (Melville, Conrad, etc.) as the summer months wear on. <i></i>

I'm reading bits of travel guides in hopes of my dreamed of trip to New Mexico next spring...

City Smart Guide to Albuquerque
Frommers Guide to Santa Fe, Taos, and Albuquerque
New Mexico Wildlife Viewing Guide
Hiking the Southwest's Canyon Country
A Family Guide to the Southwest's Four Corners
Hiking in New Mexico with Children Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i></i>

Just finished reading The Botany of Desire, A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan. The author's premis is that the plants we humans have domesticated have had as strong an effect on us as we have them. He explores the histories of four domesticated plants in depth as representatives of their types --- apples (sweetness, alcohol), tulips (beauty), marijuana (medicine, intoxication), and potatoes (food, genetic engineering). One of his main themes is the danger of modern agriculture, with its emphasis on a mere handful of "breeds" of each domesticated species, with the Irish potato famine as an example of how dangerous this practice can be. Mkes me want to go out and find a few antique breeds of veggies to plant in my garden next summer, just to experiment. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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A friend, knowing how much I enjoyed reading Chevalier's The Girl with the Pearl Earring a few months back, lent me another book by the same author today, The Virgin Blue. So far it is a bit of an odd book. It tells two stories...that of Ella, an American who has moved to France with her husband...and that of Isabella, a young French Huegonot wife and mother who lived 400 years ago...it appears as though Isabella is the ancestress of Ella, and Ella is having weird nightmares that seem to be tied in to Isabella somehow...

I am enjoying the Isabella chapters more...some of my ancestors were French Huegonots, so it is interesting to me to read about their daily lives...something most history classes do not cover except in passing... ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I ended up not liking The Virgin Blue very much. Both storylines got too weird for me...I had enjoyed Isabella's story...but when it got into family abuse and human sacrifice it got to be too much for me...and I was never able to identify or understand Ella, so didn't like her story very much, either. So if anyone out there wants to try Chevalier, I woud not reccomend this book, though I would recommend Girl with the Pearl Earring... ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I tried reading Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin - I really tried - but had to write it off after the first 80 (tedious) pages. Sorry, Maggie, life's too short.

Currently reading an alternate history novel called Resurrection Day by Brendan DuBois. Interesting concept - what if the Cuban Missle Crisis had gone badly, resulting in a limited nuclear exchange with the Soviets? - but the writing is pretty average. Kinda repetitive and over-expositional, in the mainstream vein. ******************

To seek the sacred river Alph, to walk the caves of ice ...<i></i>

Just got done reading a little book by C. S. Lewis called The Great Divorce, an allegory of a trip from hell to heaven via a bus...I made a review in the Lewis forum.
I have been reading a lot of fantasy lately...Donaldson's Mordant's Need, Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, and McKillip's Riddlemaster Trilogy. I think I am going to take a bit of a break and read a history book about an atrocity in the WW2 era, called The Rape of Nanking, and an anthology called Irish Girls About Town, short stories about Irish women, written by Irish women. Over a dozen Irish women writers got together and wrote stories for this anthology, and the proceeds go to charities. Saint Patrick's Day is coming up, and this might be a fun way to get into the proper frame of mind.

And by the way, I have tried four...count 'em...four books by Atwood, since so many people have told me what a great writer she is. The only one of the four I could stand was The Handmaid's Tale, and I found that one incredibly depressing...I can't even remember the titles of the other three, but they came together in an omnibus trade paperback. I think one of them might have been called something like Life Before Man, and was about a couple getting a divorce, and even knowing it was messing up their kids, they didn't stop their poor behavior.... One novel was told from the point of view of this crazy woman, whose father had drowned in a lake...all three of those books were supreme downers...this might sound harsh, but I just do not care for her writing. With so many writers I do like, and so many I have not tried but have heard good things about, I have no plans to try anymore of her books... ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 2/20/04 8:09 pm
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Read a book by Susan Vreeland this morning called Girl in Hyacinth Blue. It tells the story of a painting thought to by the Dutch master Vermeer backwards in time, recounting the tales of various owners through the centuries. Sometimes the stories are painful, such as the Dutch Jews from whom the painting was looted by a Nazi on the night they were sent to the death camps. Others are poignant, others are happy. It was a short little novel, and a good read. ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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I just finished The Da Vinci Code. Most excellent. You can learn alot of things in it and I swear you'll never look at The Holy Sprit or Disney films the same way again... *****
Before, you are wise; after, you are wise. In between you are otherwise.
Fravashi saying (from the formularies of Osho the Fool) <i></i>