Mal: Well, you were right about this being a bad idea. Zoe: Thanks for sayin', sir.

'Serenity'


Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.

There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."


DavidS - Jul 26, 2010 1:32:11 pm PDT #11786 of 28343
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Yes, you totally should. (Wouldn't erinaceous know anyway?)

It is listed on Wordnik, but it doesn't have any cites.


sj - Jul 26, 2010 3:54:42 pm PDT #11787 of 28343
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

My coworkers and I read it a few months ago and blogged/podcasted a bit about it here, though none of us had a very positive opinion about it. I think it certainly succeeded in arousing an emotional reaction, but I really didn't like how it was done.

I thought it was done very well, but I did figure out pretty early where they were headed with it.


Frankenbuddha - Jul 27, 2010 3:38:29 am PDT #11788 of 28343
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

Speaking of erinaceous, she makes a passing Buffy reference in her most recent Sunday Globe column: [link]


Laga - Jul 29, 2010 11:18:37 am PDT #11789 of 28343
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.

On my way to the SF rack I stopped by Classics and ended up grabbing a copy of Moby Dick. I can't recall who recommended it here (there were a few of you) but wow were you right. I think Ishmael is a bit of a bulshitter (especially when he says Linnaeus is wrong and a whale is definitely a fish!) but the way he tells the story is mighty engaging. Even when he stops in the middle of the action to give us his BS taxonomy or to tell a side tale about another ship's encounter with Moby Dick. I'm so happy to be enthralled by this 150-year-old book.

On my way home from checking it out I stopped at the 99cent store where the owner is stereotypically blond and perky. She asked what I was reading and when I told her she said excitedly, "oh that's a great book!"

A couple days ago I stopped in again and told her how much I was enjoying it. I mentioned I was 1/2 way through and still no whale had entered the narrative. She said, "oh don't expect them to show up any time soon."

I have finally gotten to the part with whales but anyway, thanks again buffistas, I'm so glad I didn't dismiss this book for being an antique.


Connie Neil - Jul 29, 2010 1:29:37 pm PDT #11790 of 28343
brillig

It's always kind of mindboggling to realize that some classic books are classics for a reason. I stayed up late reading "Odysseus" because I loved how Penelope was bamboozling her suitors. And of course, Jane Eyre had me riveted.


erikaj - Jul 29, 2010 5:32:41 pm PDT #11791 of 28343
Always Anti-fascist!

I'm planning on reading it shortly...I'm sick of being intimidated. And it's my fake husband's favorite.


sj - Jul 30, 2010 10:52:04 am PDT #11792 of 28343
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

Has anyone read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane? I'm about 50 pages in, and I am still trying to decide if it is worth reading.


Scrappy - Jul 30, 2010 4:11:17 pm PDT #11793 of 28343
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

For some reason, neither the DH nor myself had read any of the Philip Jose Farmer Riverworld books. I am in the middle of the first and he has moved onto the second. They are great fun so far!


Typo Boy - Jul 31, 2010 6:06:10 pm PDT #11794 of 28343
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.

I emailed Terry Bisson (who wrote "Fire on the Mountain" which I consider the greatest alternate world book ever to ask him to sign an email petition for a cause I was pretty sure he would support. In the course of the email I demonstrated love for and knowledge of his work, including some short stories of his that are a bit obscure. I gave him my meatspace address, just so this email from a stranger was at least not from an anonymous source.

And, in addition to signing the on-line petition, he mailed an autographed copy of his latest book to my home address! That is one hell of a generous gift to a stranger who you just heard of due to his bugging you to sign an on-line petition. I mean its not like I'm even an acquaintance, let alone a friend, or that he's had occasion to hear of me before.


beth b - Jul 31, 2010 7:42:26 pm PDT #11795 of 28343
oh joy! Oh Rapture ! I have a brain!

I can't find that one at the library, so what else should I read by bisson?