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  1. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    You're in for a treat! It's an absolutely brilliant book, even if the central conceit is confusing as hell.
  2. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    I'm reading three books at once: John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar (a sci-fi novel from 1968 that feels like it was written in 2011), Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (I figured I should read at least one 'classic' over summer, and WH is turning out to be far more readable than I expected) and...
  3. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    I just finished Brian Aldiss's Hothouse. I'm not being at all rhetorical when I say it was like experiencing a horrible nightmare. Stuff just happened in that weird kind of dream way, and everything was grimdark but no-one seemed to notice.
  4. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    chillax, Lorem Ipsum was probably just using the analogy of the LotR books and forgot to go out of analogy mode in the last sentence. :P
  5. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    sample title: "Appendix IV: The Almanak en-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses)" I fear Dune may have to become something of an acquired taste.
  6. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    it's not just that, but I kinda was kinda :| when I discovered the appendices. a fiction book with appendices is just a bit... :| for my liking.
  7. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    so currently I'm near the end of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel. it's a fascinating read: I'm gobsmacked by the sheer amount of history from Africa, Asia and the Americans of which I know absolutely nothing. after that, I have a choice of Frank Herbert's Dune (considering that it's the...
  8. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    I agree that 'speculative fiction' is euphemistic nonsense, but I still think there's a worthwhile distinction to be made here. Science fiction, as far as I see it, always involves speculation: 'what happens if x is different'. Good science fiction relates this to the human condition. Thus, we...
  9. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    Why? I think it's quite a handy label for stuff that isn't quite fantasy, but is too weird for straight literary realism. It's also useful when trying to convince people to read awesome books (say, The Master and Margarita) without scaring them off. ;D I really do love the Guardian and I try to...
  10. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    In my experience, a lot of literary types get very snobby about sci-fi and would never allow anything by Woolf to be labelled as sci-fi. :( I might be misunderstanding you, but I'm guessing you're referring to the HG Wells school of science fiction? I don't know if Orlando is really in that...
  11. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    I've only read Mrs. Dalloway. It's very good so I would definitely recommend it. Orlando is apparently really freaky (something about immortal hermaphrodites?) but I think Dalloway is the more popular book.
  12. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    I read that a few weeks ago. It should be compulsory reading. :(
  13. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    The Loved One, by Evelyn Waugh. I'm getting closer to finishing his entire bibliography. I find it odd how I can enjoy his books given his (very) questionable opinions, but he's just that damn good a writer.
  14. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    I'm reading two books at the moment. one is The Great Cat Massacre, which is a study of the social history of the Ancien Régieme by an American scholar of French history called Robert Darnton. the title might be a bit quirky, but it's a very good work of historical analysis and perfectly...
  15. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    but I thought science was his thing... can't we have our fiercely delineated subject ghettoes? I'm perfectly happy to leave quantum mechanics well alone as long as scientists steer clear of whig interpretations. :(
  16. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    my goodness, you don't mean Gibbon's books? the six volume history of the Roman Empire? because... I haven't. :(
  17. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    I haven't read an actual book in ages, I've mostly been beefing up on history books for the sake of my UCAS form. :( Currently I'm reading Geoffrey Elton's The Practice of History. It's actually quite witty in places and very interesting, although if you're not into historiography then it...
  18. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    I agree that the attitude is stupid. but the problem is that it's held by the majority. even the teachers who included Frankenstein on the syllabus probably didn't think of it as science fiction, even though it arguably follows many sf tropes.
  19. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    well she's still not regarded as canon. like, dickens, joyce, fitzgerald, all those types are agreed upon as lit fic, but sf is kinda excluded unless the author actively discourages the label. it's dumb, but that's just the way things roll. also, with all due respect, I find that comment quite...
  20. goldenquagsire

    What are you reading?

    because in my experience, even if English teachers let you do something creative, they still expect you to do 'literary' stuff. le Guin is brilliant but I dunno if what she writes qualifies for lit fic. see also ditto's post.
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