Book Club

[Bundy]

great book. crappy cover.

My copy of greybread has a wicked cover, couldnt find it with internet search, ill scan it sometime and post it.

Sorting out my reading list for my honeymoon in two weeks time!

[phil333]

What about a bit of Philip K Dick or Clive Barker Ken? Babaluma has a copy of Mister B Gone by Clive Barker I sent to him which I think he would be happy to send over to you if you fancy it.

Are people not interested in exchanging books around? I'm happy to send some out if anyone's interested.

[Babaluma]

yeah would be good to do a book exchange! i'll send the clive barker book on to anyone who wants it. i have said so before but no bites!

[kendo]

What about a bit of Philip K Dick or Clive Barker Ken?

sure...no problem. but i've just been reading donations, which would have been thrown out.
it's remarkable that only 1% (approx) of all the incoming books have been sci-fi or horror.
people just don't seem to read it anymore. I rescued these last week...

Golding - Lord of the Flies
Steinbeck - Of mice and men
Anais Nin - Spy in the house of love
Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance

Are people not interested in exchanging books around?

people do swap books around. they leave them at service/sanitary stations,
or do oldskool style mail drops when passing each other. charity shops are
allegedly too expensive for paperbacks, so community action is taken. the
rules are "drop two, take one". From what i've read online, there is no plundering
of the whole cache to sell at a boot sale. the system seems to work.

I'm happy to send some out if anyone's interested.

kind offer, phil (and Gregg). but after oct 9th, i won't have a letter box.

[Babaluma]

will be teaching "lord of the flies" later this year and have taught "of mice and men" the last two years, both great books!

[phil333]

No worries, or if you want me to send them via someone else then thats cool. Having no letter box does this mean you are moving into your boat?

p.s. I have a book on Dr Dee that I thought CDW would be interested in recalling that it was mentioned as a topic of interest in the past?

[kendo]

will be teaching "lord of the flies" later this year and have taught "of mice and men" the last two years, both great books!

aha... then i guess they were on somebody's reading list.
i'm looking forward to catching up on literature that's passed me by.
never got to read these at school, too much enforced Gorky. zzzz...

@Phil yep, officially NFA, as of october 9th. recovered the 'Weaveworld' trilogy this week.
so i will get the chance to check out Mr Barker, after all.

[phil333]

Yeah weaveworld is a good one to start off with. If you like and fancy some more also try getting hold of Imajica.

Let me know what you think of Barker, Ken when you get through it.

[Chrrrles]

nod. great book. crappy cover. enjoyed the fact it was set in England, and had to ration myself to 4-5 'sittings' rather than steaming through it all in one go. Will definitely be checking out more from Mr Aldiss. Got any recommendations?

Barefoot in the Head...

[Chrrrles]

will be teaching "lord of the flies" later this year and have taught "of mice and men" the last two years, both great books!

William Golding made his schoolkids fight each other... much like the scenes from Lord of the Flies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/au ... mpted-rape

[Chrrrles]

I've been reading a lot of John Shirley lately. He is definitely a burned-out druggie who knows how to write about burned-out druggies.
* Spider Moon
* Darkness Divided (short stories)
* Silicon Embrace (post-apocalyptic alien/roswell/area-51 thriller)

[paul]

onboard with this again

love it.

[Bundy]

Will definitely be checking out more from Mr Aldiss. Got any recommendations?

yeah, read 'Earthworks' by Aldiss on my hols, I think you will like it if you liked 'Greybeard'. If you cant track it down i can send you my copy, just PM me your address. I like passing books on.

[Bundy]

onboard with this again

love it.

Good book, felt I needed to read a book on roman culture to get the full benefit but was amazed how much was relevant for a book written nearly two thousand years ago, even if some of it went over my head... my copy is the Phil Baines designed one from the penguin great ideas series:

[Bundy]

About halfway through this, In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

it's only short, an essay on Japanese aesthetics, but he compares western and Japanese aesthetic culture which is really interesting. I also found out that traditionally Japanese ghosts don't have any feet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Praise_of_Shadows

[Martin Dust]

[bluegreengold]

How's that 'Fear of Music' I've often wondered why people are more willing to give credence to art in visual mediums, but not music. I've got some ideas, but am curious about his thesis and what he supports it with.

[kendo]

amazed how much was relevant for a book written nearly two thousand years ago

was written in his campaign tent when it was snowing in Gaul. (very far from Rome). The bloke must have had an enormous amount of responsibility on his shoulders. fighting border wars, running the empire and all. but it's good he found the time to connect with himself as a human being. it's one of my favourites, because he is less aloof and scholastic than Plato, Socrates, and the hellenistic stoics. You get the feeling his world was somewhat bigger than just the agora.

[kendo]

I've often wondered why people are more willing to give credence to art in visual mediums, but not music. I've got some ideas, but am curious about his thesis and what he supports it with.

Medieval bards and troubadors were outcasts who had to wander from town to town. But an artist or sculptor could easily gain a patron, if their work was any good. I think a part of it is, that a tune is here and then gone. It's enchanting for a while, but when the musicians go, so does the magic. But a painting or a sculpture you can wheel it out and look at any time. Or impress your friends with. It wasn't until the times of Mozart and Beethoven that composers were taken seriously and could seriously hope for employment with a benefactor and patron. But even then, they pushed them bloody hard, not caring for their health.

Be interesting to hear Martin's synopsis.
Wasn't "fear of music" a Talking Heads album, too?

[paul]

just started

[paradox]

Reading some Rumi

[Martin Dust]

Be interesting to hear Martin's synopsis.
Wasn't "fear of music" a Talking Heads album, too?

It's a good guide and cracking read but it doesn't really give any answers as to why people accept contemporary art and not music - insightful and well written. Buy it.

[penfolder]

great start, looking forward to more