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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   4027 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 24, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Started The Killing Star as my falling asleep reading last night, and it reminded me how huge Titanic-mania was in the 80-90s, with the 1997 film release hitting what seems like the crest of the wave.

For a solid decade you'd see raising the Titanic as a random "as you know, we are living in the future" infodump, there were endless books and documentaries about it, people invested millions in building replicas. As late as the 2016 the Chinese were building a full size one (in Sichuan of all places) that seems to have been abandoned during construction.

It was striking because of how absolutely the meme died since 2015 or so. "Draw me like one of your French girls" is the last relic.
A good warning of the dangers of making big investments jumping on cultural bubbles only to be left holding the bag when they burst (cough Sega)

Is anyone old enough to remember the start? Did it just build steadily from the discovery of the wreck? "Raise the Titanic!" was late 70s, and Clive Cussler isn't known for original ideas...

Is it best to try and avoid presentism in your writing, or embrace it and write for your audience/profitable fads rather than for future readers?

Also read Jasper Fforde's "Red Side Story" last night, and regret the wasted time. Dreadful sequel 15 years too late to use the original ideas of the first book.

Also read Jasper Fforde's Red Side Story last night, and regret the wasted time. Dreadful sequel 15 years too late to use the original ideas of the first book.

I'm enjoying it, personally. But I wouldn't call myself a literary connoisseur.

Let me know if you want to compare notes when you finish it. Won't say anything that might spoil you now.

Maybe I was just in a bad mood for it.

I just finished it. I'm only an unthinking consoomer of product with no deep literary opinions, but I thought it was very enjoyable, and I can think of nothing to complain about.

If you want to air your grievances, I'm sure they would be interesting to hear. (Remember that this website does have spoiler functionality.)

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