You could substitute 'Stephenson' with many current/past pop writers. Some of them are favorite writers of mine. But endings seem to be a common weakness.Originally Posted by Jerjo
Not really looking for a mind blasting ending, just not another Deus ex machina, tie everything up, guy/girl/protag gets the girl/world/magic orb or whatever.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Phillip Kerr - Prague fatale
QFT! I'd say maybe 1 out of every 5 books I read has a satisfying ending. A lot of times the author seems to want to wrap things up in a hurry, like there's a looming deadline or something. I've come to accept it as long as most of the book was a good read. What choice do I have; it's either that or stop reading novels.
it's a brave new cyber worldSounds like a real page-turner.well, new to me.
The Haunted by Bentley Little. I've read a lot of his horror books. They are formulaic - new people (store, business, organization, etc.) move into town, terrible things slowly start happening, big blow up, things settle back down (or do they?) - but I really enjoy them. A major criticism of his books is that you rarely get an explanation why these things happen, but so what?
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
Slaughterhouse-Five. It's been twenty years. It's very nice to live in that space again. I'm annotating it with an eye to teach it. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is up next (the other possible candidate for last book of the year to teach).
I want to dynamite your mind with love tonight.
2 of my favorite books!
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
Epiphanies-Life Changing Encounters With Music,edited by Tony Herrington.A collection of essays by various writers from past issues of The Wire magazine.
Last edited by walt; 04-02-2015 at 03:34 PM.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
It's a good book, but the movie is actually better (imo), which is very rare. The book is told from the perspective of the big Indian (or should I say "Native American?).
After some glowing reviews from NeonKnight, Sturgeon's Lawyer and Hal..., I'm reading Andy Weir's The Martian.
Those gents didn't over-sell it. Thoroughly enjoying it.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
I just finished it, very good.After some glowing reviews from NeonKnight, Sturgeon's Lawyer and Hal..., I'm reading Andy Weir's The Martian.
Those gents didn't over-sell it. Thoroughly enjoying it.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
On the last 10 pages of The Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook. It started off a bit strange, kind of in the middle of a story already, but I caught my feet in about 30-50 pages. Now it is just an awesome set of stories (actually 3 books within the chronicles). I definitely need to continue this series.
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A gentleman is defined as someone who knows how to play the accordion, and doesn't.
The Real Frank Zappa Book
Frank's own dictated autobiography. Very entertaining!
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
I've read it a few times. It's not so much an autobio as it is Frank getting on his soap box and pontificating on a variety of subjects. But it's scary how often I agree with him. He was a brilliant man in many ways.
No question, the man was bright! Have you ever read the book about him by his former office manager Pauline Butcher? I saw this on Amazon, but wanted to hear
from some people who read it first.
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
What a slog. A good slog, but....
It started getting to a page turning tempo about 400 pages in and kept it up to the end.
Now I read nothing for a while as I process this one.
The ending was ok.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Nineteen+ by Garth Caylor Jr.
Interviews with jazz musicians that took place during 1964-1965.For lack of a publisher the book sat on the shelf for 50 years and was only recently, finally, released.
A great read.Highly recommended to fans of the "new thing" in jazz of that era.Musicians interviewed were Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Giuffre, Jaki Byard,Steve Lacy, among others.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
Is that a recommendation, Mark?
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Just finished
The Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Monsanto / ADM take over the world and it isn't very pretty (e.g I liked it a lot).
Also the book ended with a near perfect sequel premise, but apparently a Trilogy wasn't contracted (If the interview I read was to be believed).
Definitely an author worth watching.
regards
KGH
Looks interesting. Added to the list!
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Hmm..A qualified recommendation.Is that a recommendation, Mark?
If you have the stamina to keep reading through the extra dense crypto-math stuff, yes.
The artistic liberty taken with history, likewise. Most everything is cast in a 'Catch-22'ish' hallucinatory light.
Most of the characters are less extra ordinary than abnormal people stuck in an extraordinary period.
I didn't know that since I bought the book 15 or so years ago that Stephenson had come out with other 'complementary' alt historical books, the Baroque Cycle.
That may be my next dive into this realm.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
The Sinatra Files by Tom Kuntz and Phil Kuntz, editors
Poor old Frankie. According to the FBI, he was a raping, drug-dealing, philandering, political influence peddling, Kennedy-loving, Kennedy-hating, "Negro"-loving, Jew-loving, Cosa Nostra consorting communist. This book has it all; all the expletives deleted, informants redacted, all the innuendo, all the rumors, all the whispering. I don't know what to believe, but I love this guy. Just saw From Here to Eternity last night. He was brilliant as Maggio. Got a kick out of Ernest Borgnine calling him a "wop," when he's (in real life) of the same tribe.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
Kim Gordon's Girl In A Band
Eyewitness to History - edited by John Carey
First person accounts of points in history from ancient Greece to the mid 1980's.
Pretty fascinating.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Just finished "So Anyway".. John Cleese.. very interesting read.. so many stories / accounts I've heard / read / seen etc. over the years.. nice to have it first hand from the man himself..
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