[Glice]

Originally Posted by Danny Himself

Oh, well there you go then. I'd surmise Dante wrote it as a Christian and for Christians. What I enjoyed most about the whole thing was the complete slap in the face at the end, when he "can't" describe what God looks like. Actually the whole poem is about people being slapped in the face; Virgil gets knocked back from Paradise for being a pagan, which I thought was pretty funny in a car crash kinda way. I'd love to go back in time and just add 'pwned' to the end of the verse.

Yeah, that's sort of what I mean by it being a wankfest. Dante's bleak allegories I agree with; his fantastical visions of redemption by the Christian God I find quite insipid. Perhaps I'm a masochist or somesuch, but his terse grip on the allegory just flies way off into a big Christian wank over the notion of paradise.

[Danny Himself]

Well throughout the poem it was a big Christian wank wasn't it? Sinners being pwned. Pagans being limbo'd. That's basically the gist of it.

[Glice]

Fair point. I've always been an old testament man meself, so maybe that explains it. I've always liked the God that's confusing, weird and gruellingly spiteful.

[Danny Himself]

I've always loved the romanticism of that fire-and-brimstone, Norriseqsue old testament God myself. There was no messing with old testament God. He commanded his chosen people to wander the desert for near 50 years! There'd be no crucifying that God.

P.S.
I love you Jesus

[Glice]

Yeah, well, I've gotta big up my man JC.

But it's all about my man Job as well. That's my nigga right there.

[demonrail666]

The OT God was a total git wasn't he. Sort of reminded me of a bearded Norman Tebbit.

[drrrtyboots]

 

[uhler]

joy division's unknown pleasures 33 1/3 book. i also bought the velvet underground and nico one too.

[Dead-Air]

I'd been wanting to read another Ian McDonald book since River of Gods and with his newest novel Brasyl racking up the British Science Fiction Association Award and a Hugo nomination*, it seemed time to jump in.

I'm just getting started, but the similarities to style with River of Gods are noticeable, though obviously this is a very different setting (ROG was set in near future India). Like his last novel this is near future with a cyberpunk influence, however it actually started in the recent past, making me think at first that it might be along the lines of Gibson's most recent work with Pattern Recognition and Spook Country. Too soon for me to judge, but perhaps Brasyl will be bridging the gap between that new emerging genre of post-cyberpunk present era SF and the near future variety.

*you can follow that link to a download to a free eBook as of the novel as well!

[StevOK]

Currently I am reading Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.

[me.]

Bao Ninh - The Sorrow Of War

[Danny Himself]

I recently bought a handful of victorian novels from an antique shop here in Liverpool- at the moment I'm reading one of them, "Christie's Old Organ", which is about a boy called Christopher who befriends an old organ grinder. The writing, as you can expect from a victorian author, is unconciously poetic and full of those flourishing polysyllabic adjectives which give me a huge intellectual boner.

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by StevOK

Currently I am reading Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.

That's an awesome book if you keep in mind the cultural impact it had. It was hugely influential on the anarcho-communist side of the hippie movement, and Kesey and the like were really into it. Also the stuff about the First Lady's astrologer influencing presidential politics was incredibly prescient since Ron and Nancy actually did that two decades later!

[StevOK]

Originally Posted by Dead-Air

That's an awesome book if you keep in mind the cultural impact it had. It was hugely influential on the anarcho-communist side of the hippie movement, and Kesey and the like were really into it. Also the stuff about the First Lady's astrologer influencing presidential politics was incredibly prescient since Ron and Nancy actually did that two decades later!

I see lots and lots of parallelism between the book and current events as well. Especially between the Fosterites and Scientologists.

[acdc518]

Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson

[alteredcourse]

Originally Posted by StevOK

I see lots and lots of parallelism between the book and current events as well. Especially between the Fosterites and Scientologists.

I've really wanted to enjoy this book , but in both attempts of a few months ago and a few years ago , I havent been able to get what it's about .

[blunderbuss]

 

for about the tenth time

[demonrail666]

 

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by alteredcourse

I've really wanted to enjoy this book , but in both attempts of a few months ago and a few years ago , I havent been able to get what it's about .

What it's about is a social critique of American politics disguised as a science fiction novel. It's odd because Heinlein was a bit right wing, but this book is a blue-print for why an anrcho-socialist society is a good idea. That said, the writing can be a bit juvenile at times, as juvenile SF was where Heinlein was coming from in terms of marketing and audience.

[alteredcourse]

I never got much further than when Jill "kidnapped" Valentine and brought him to Ben's apartment . I assumed that he made Ben a total pig on purpose to illustrate something , that or it was an example of the juvenile style of writing . Everything that was going on was like that for me - what was deliberate and what was nothing .

I suppose I really dont know enough about American politics, especially of the times back then , to really grasp it . What is an anarcho-socialist society ? Why was it needed then ?
Ha, thanks for replying though , I've wanted to ask someone about it for a long while !