Brokeback Mountain. Very average. Maybe just hyped to the point where it couldn’t possibly deliver? I must say that I walked away pretty numb. Acting performances were in the “good” to “excellent” range and it certainly started well enough. (The first 30-45 minutes are brilliant.) Unfortunately, it can’t keep its own pace and slows down […]
Last night I finished re-reading Nancy Kress’ novel Beggars in Spain. I’d read it once before when I was quite a bit younger. (High school, maybe?) An interesting sci-fi read, it toys with a near-future scenario where genetic modifications are relatively commonplace and an arguably separate race of Sleepless are created as a consequence of […]
Jeff Coleman (my advisor from St. Mary’s) has a new collection of poems out. Titled Spirits Distilled, Jeff’s brief write-up goes: The book addresses a range of subjects, including my deceased father and grandmother, the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd, Jr., former and recently deceased Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, the psychological terror of September […]
“Fall Down Six Times” is a series of short-shorts by Ran Prieur that are essentially meditations on apocalyptic collapses. Or a “Ridiculous Best Case Scenario”. Most of these have elements that remind me of conversations I’ve had recently with friends about “what we’ll do when the economy collapses.” It’s reassuring that I’m not the only […]
A little late on this one but: Mournful for Octavia Butler’s passing. I’m grateful for her contributions to literature and am grateful I had the chance to be exposed to her through Parable of the Sower many years ago in school. (Well, maybe not “many” but it sure seemed that way when I thought of […]
“You know what your trouble is?” he says when we’re under the bridge, headed up to Fourth. “You’re the kind who always reads the handbook. Anything people build, any kind of technology, it’s going to have some specific purpose. It’s for doing something that somebody already understands. But if it’s new technology, it’ll open areas […]
“Printcrime” by Cory Doctorow is great. And a quick read, too. And Nature has kindly given him permission to re-publish it on his own site. Which is funny. Funnier if you’re familiar with Doctorow. And funnier still after you read the short.
It’s been a while since I’ve commented on books that have gone through the eye-hole. And given my recent in-take, I’d say it’s about time to make with the commentary… David Foster Wallace’s A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again – – a worthy read on more levels than we have fingers and toes […]
Earlier today, I posted a link to Schofield’s “Geek Top 20” novels. Then over at Modus Ponens we have the challenge: “What are your top 10 geek novels?” Once again: geek or nerd? (But I digress…) Snow Crash Neal Stephenson Ubik Philip K. Dick Exit Strategy Douglas Rushkoff Perdido Street Station China Mieville Gravity’s Rainbow […]
Via Slashdot: The Guardian’s Top 20 Geek Novels (written since 1932) The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell Brave New World Aldous Huxley Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip Dick Neuromancer William Gibson Dune Frank Herbert I, Robot Isaac Asimov Foundation Isaac Asimov The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett […]