Brgp12
24d ago
Yeah the Culture is definitely a very small-l liberal society. The gender stuff jumps out the most in that sense, but to me it never comes off as making really political points - it just presents a post-scarcity society with super high levels of technology where doing whatever you want all the time is accepted.
To some extent I guess I'm just shoehorning my own beliefs into the books. It never struck me reading Player of Games that the market economy was the fundamentally bad thing about that society. The greed, hate, warlike nature, and as you point out, all the other - isms. But to read that as fundamentally leftist seems to need to to either connect these things to an anti-capitalist message (which I see the fans do a lot) or I guess just have knowledge of Banks intent - otherwise to me it just comes off as a crooked-timber-of-humanity sort of thing. That scene in Player of Games where they go through the slums of the city could just as easily have been some kind of failed socialist nightmare.
I'm guessing Banks was pretty vocal about his liberalism tho. I get annoyed by that stuff sometimes. People were talking about Watchmen here recently - to me Moore has such a silly take on his own character Rorschach!
Brgp12
24d ago
Ian M. Banks Surface Detail.
Any others here read the Culture books? It's interesting to me the way fans of the series read them as so overtly anti-capitalist and generally liberal/progressive works. This is the fourth or fifth I've read and I'm just getting a depiction of a post-scarcity society where market economies don't exist. Maybe I just haven't read the right book yet though or I'm missing it.
Brgp12
2mo ago
Start with the Assassins books. Her website has a reading order.
The two ship series have a lot different feel than the assassin series. I really like the first two assassin trilogies but I could leave the rest, really.
Besides both being really long fantasy series I'd be suprised if Malazan fans really enioy the Rote novels and vice versa.
Curious what you think once you finish them!
Brgp12
3mo ago
Anyone have advice on entry-level induction cooking?
I'm in the market for a new 30' range and gas isn't an option. I'm trying to keep it under $3000. With cursory searching, people seem real positive on induction and with most comments agreeing it's flat out better than glass-top radiant heat and there's no reason to even consider the more outdated technology. However with more searching I'm running into potential issues with the more entry-level ranges; smaller magnets than advertised that won't effectively heat larger pans, only 1-9 heat settings not offering very granular temperature control, claims that elements pulse fully on then off slowly to simulate low temperatures (with the responsiveness of induction this seems like a much larger issue than the same method on a radiant cook top), and faulty electronics leading to quick and steep repair costs.
Am I price wise just in a bad zone for induction? I could get a perfectly fine radiant electric with a convection oven for half the cost of the Bosch or Cafe models of induction. Also, does anyone have any good resources or tips on how to research these things? I'm having a really hard time finding basic information like how big the magnets in a cook top are vs the size the company advertises.
Thanks in advance!
Brgp12
4mo ago
What do folks here think of The Blacktongue Thief? I'd seen it recommended quite a bit and am two-thirds of the way through and think it fits his search pretty well.
It's certainly quite different in it's language and characterization than your standard genre work. Although the MC might be a bit of an edge lord (I'm not totally certain what this means) but I think if he is, the self reflection in the first person narration takes the edge off it a bit - he's presented as pretty self aware.
Curious to hear what others here think of the novel.
Brgp12
1yr ago
I think the line, "Everything else is custom or adaptation." is carrying a lot of your argument. The Rabbi claiming the holiday isn't important does little to make the day seem less special to the kids getting a bunch of presents. I would argue holidays are almost entirely born of "custom", and whether or not their origin story is still relevant or meaningful in a cultural or religious sense has little to do with how much modern participants value them.
I've also never heard anyone actually get upset by "Merry Christmas" in real life. I've a pretty large sample size of generally liberal folks and literally nobody has ever had a problem with the phrase. Anecdotal of course, but are we sure we're not just confusing Twitter with real life here?
It's been a few years since I read Player of Games - that's a good point out, good quote, more overtly leftist than I remember it being.
Just read my first Pratchett last month. Look forward to reading more of his stuff totally blind to his political or philosophical views - Small Gods was... interesting, but also a really entertaining read, somewhat reminiscent of Culture novels to me.
Anyway thanks for the responses!
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