Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I guess I'll do the same even though nobody asked:
Less Than Zero by Ellis - Quite a read, really dark. I whipped through it though, it's kind of gripping. It felt very 80s so no surprise it was released in 1985. I would recommend this book to skinny women age 18-25 with an occasional coke habit.
Lucky Jim by Amis Kingsley - Pretty funny and possibly the most British thing I've ever read. It's about an early career English history professor in a provincial university and his struggles. It might have done lasting psychic damage to me when I was a freshman in college and a massive misanthrope with a superiority complex. I'd recommend it to grad students and adjunct professors who can't seem to get a tenure track.
The Case Against Education by Caplan - I was convinced by the arguments that education is mainly signaling. I also can get behind his proposal to massively increase spending on vocational schooling.
The Twilight of the American Enlightenment by Marsden - After WWII we looked to the liberal intellectual elites to help us forge a new national identity, and they failed which caused the rise of the Christian Right. I was more fascinated by how it was considered perfectly normal for everyone to call themselves a liberal at the time. I thought it was OK but kinda boring.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - I read the whole trilogy which has a name I forget. It's sci-fi about a spaceship's AI that gets trapped in a repurposed human body. I don't usually like female sci-fi/fantasy writers but this was decent enough. The treatment of gender is weird. The protagonist calls everyone "she" and acknowledges that some cultures get very offended if you call the wrong person "she". I figured a super smart AI ought to be able to tell the difference between a man and a woman but what do I know, I'm a chud after all.
Apropos of Nothing by Woody Allen - This is his autobiography. A lot of the first part of the book reads like a string of standup comedy bits, which it probably was. If you watch Radio Days it could have been yanked right out of this book. Then it gets a bit boring where he talks about his failed first marriage and career ups and downs. But there's a significant part of this book that is him defending himself against the molestation allegations, attacking Mia Farrow, and defending his relationship with his now wife. I was happy to read his account of these things, since nobody seems to care about his say on the matter. Only read this if you're a fan of his, obviously.
How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker - This was my only DNF this year. I wasn't learning anything I didn't already know and Pinker is very longwinded. I think in the future, I'm only going to read his books that are more recent than 30 years old, on subjects I know very little about. It felt like reading Ancient Greek philosophers trying to do science because of how dated the research was.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Adams - I figured I should have gotten around to this at some point and I'm glad I read it because I was missing a lot of nerd jokes on the internet for the past 25 years and I now know where it's from. I didn't particularly like it but it would have been 15 year old me's favorite book of all time. There's a reason it's in the YA section.
City by Simak - Having developed superior methods of transportation, humans all retreat into the countryside as cities are no longer necessary. Simak's version of the end of the world isn't destruction, it's isolation, which seems kind of relevant today. Very inventive book told from the perspective of a dog civilization in the far future that is somewhat skeptical that "humans" are a real thing and not something made-up.
Hyperion by Simmons - Awesome. Really appreciated all the different perspectives and stories. My favorite book this year.
The Fifth Season by Jemisin - I read all three of the Broken Earth trilogy. Very mediocre fantasy. I wrote about it in one of these threads before. I'd recommend it to women who still think the Hugo Award is a mark of quality.
On the Marble Cliffs by Junger - I also read this and loved it. Make sure to read the Stuart Hood translation. I took a page out of an the ACX review of it from last(?) year and made my wife read it to me while I was high. Had a similar experience to the reviewer in that I found the descriptions too intense at one point and made her stop. Second favorite book this year.
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vinge - A bit of a slow starter but it was worth it. It's about a runaway AI trying to destroy the universe and the one weapon that can stop it exists on a planet of medieval-era dogs that operate as individual packs rather than solo beings using special organs to communicate. If you're into more male oriented sci-fi it will work for you.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow by Zevin - I was surprised by this one. A GenX woman writing a story about a video game company could have been a disaster for me, but it was great. A bit sentimental and melodramatic. It was probably my third favorite fiction book this year, as evidenced by the fact I read the 600-page tome in 2 days.
Looking back, I think I'm going to read more nonfiction next year. I've been hesitating to tackle Nixonland by Perlstein so maybe that's what's next.
Make sure you read the sequel - there are books past the sequel that seem to be more unevenly reviewed but I liked the sequel quite a bit.
First time I read Hyperion the sequels felt like a letdown, so I set them aside. Second time I read through them, it was all awesome. I plan to re-read the whole thing again sometime in the future.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
If you liked Lucky Jim, then I highly recommend The Old Devils by Amis, which is about the misadventures of some old drunks. Both pathetic and very funny.
More options
Context Copy link
Absolute heater, this.
More options
Context Copy link
I'm not sure if he ever surpassed the debut. Maybe his sophomore novel, The Rules of Attraction. Less Than Zero might be the only book of his which isn't way too long.
Glad I wasn't the only one here who loved it.
More options
Context Copy link
I am at 85-95% credence that the AI probably could, but the point is that it (its creator) is a chauvinist who doesn't care. The Raadchai are culturally superior with their pristine gloves, tea, weird relationships, and calling everyone "she". Everyone else and their pronouns and other distinctions are uncivilized, disposable material to be assimilated in a process of ruthless colonization. It a shitty dystopian society.
I couldn't decipher was the author making a subtle meta level argument or (more probably) found herself making it while writing an internally consistent treatment a random feminist "let's subvert some expectations" idea she had, but I think it has subtler implications than she or majority of the Hugo crowd cheering for it realized.
More options
Context Copy link
I asked!
I was underwhelmed, I didn't really get much of a thesis out of it. There's better books on the same topic.
Wow you have no idea how much you just annoyed my wife in three weeks.
I'm adding both these to my tbr pile.
More options
Context Copy link
I strongly disagree and much prefer the NYRB translation, but a sign of a strong novel that we can disagree on the translation but both love the book. Given the method, you may enjoy Junger's book on drugs, Approaches (not my favourite of his but has some interesting stuff).
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link