I figure if you can get 22 degrees, you can get scholarships.
Mercy is the mark of a great man. Guess I'm just a good man. Well, I'm all right.
Mal ,'Shindig'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
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."
§ ita § - Nov 30, 2004 6:44:10 am PST #6468 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
JohnSweden - Nov 30, 2004 7:18:37 am PST #6469 of 10002
I can't even.
Roger Zelazny wrote a book called Doorways in the Sand about a perpetual student. The protagonist had an old rich uncle who stipulated in his will that the hero's expenses would be paid for during his education. Part of the backstory of the novel involved the hero performing fairly complicated collegiate bureaucratic work to avoid qualifying for a degree, while still remaining in a program. Published in 1975, it is a light and fun read.
ETA: It has aliens masquerading as Australian wildlife. It is practically written for the Buffistas, 25 years early.
Betsy HP - Nov 30, 2004 7:21:42 am PST #6470 of 10002
If I only had a brain...
Aha! I knew I'd read that somewhere. Zelazny it is.
Connie Neil - Nov 30, 2004 7:32:38 am PST #6471 of 10002
brillig
Plus, he reverses himself! And he likes to climb things.
Frankenbuddha - Nov 30, 2004 7:35:39 am PST #6472 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
Roger Zelazny wrote a book called Doorways in the Sand about a perpetual student. The protagonist had an old rich uncle who stipulated in his will that the hero's expenses would be paid for during his education. Part of the backstory of the novel involved the hero performing fairly complicated collegiate bureaucratic work to avoid qualifying for a degree, while still remaining in a program. Published in 1975, it is a light and fun read.
Love that book. Definitely light, but still one of my favorite Zelazny books.
Connie Neil - Nov 30, 2004 7:47:26 am PST #6473 of 10002
brillig
Each chapter is like a chapter from an old serial, opening with a cliff-hanger, then you have to backtrack to find out how he got in that predicament, then he gets out of it.
Frankenbuddha - Nov 30, 2004 8:07:05 am PST #6474 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
Each chapter is like a chapter from an old serial, opening with a cliff-hanger, then you have to backtrack to find out how he got in that predicament, then he gets out of it.
Huh, I never noticed that before (I've read it at least twice). Guess I'll have to dig out that book again.
I always thought that DOORWAYS would make a good movie, but sadly I don't Zelazny carries much cache in Hollywood.
Calli - Nov 30, 2004 8:10:05 am PST #6475 of 10002
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
Maybe that's what they did. Only they said, "Eternal grad student? Who ever heard of that. Let's make him a librarian."
If we get marsupial aliens, we'll know for sure.
Frankenbuddha - Nov 30, 2004 8:14:45 am PST #6476 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
Maybe that's what they did. Only they said, "Eternal grad student? Who ever heard of that. Let's make him a librarian."
Well, it's still a radical change because at the beginning of the book the main character manages to avoid getting kicked out yet again. And he's not being threatened with being kicked out, but with matriculating (although it amounts to the same thing). Still, very close in premise.
JohnSweden - Nov 30, 2004 8:25:53 am PST #6477 of 10002
I can't even.
Nice to see the Doorways love. That has always been one of my favourite Zelazny books too, and I'm a big Zelazny freak.