I recall enjoying Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep. Still haven't read Man In The High Castle. I just finished reading Catcher In The Rye which was entertaining. Also this week I read The Color Purple which was excellent. I sent you Davy didn't I??? I thought I did anyway. I'm reading Naked by David Sedaris also Naked Lunch by Burroughs (ironic but random coincidence) and I'm slogging my way through Hemingway's Islands In The Stream, the first part was so promising.

Hey, Buddy-Boy

Be sure to leave us a little review of NAKED LUNCH, will you?

Yup, you sent me DAVY.

I'm groovin-up-slowly to some Johnny Nash ("I Can See Clearly Now", "Stir It Up" etc.) right now and drinking some Red, Red Wine. I love vintage reggae. But I guess this should be shared on another thread--ZWOOM, I'm off!!!

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cool!

Just finished Dickens’ “Our Mutual Friend”. Super!

Here are a few memorable phrases from the novel that probably can’t be appreciated except by someone who has read it—meaning those like this Governor and T’other Governor (not the evil T’other Governor but the good T’other Governor, in this case M. R. C. [Most Respected Clockwork]):

“If only you were less thoughtful.”
“If only you were less thoughtless.”
“Bless the dear laughing children.”
“A kiss for the Boofer lady.”
“Having given all he had to give to the world, he left it.”
“But the old man stood stock still.”
“I assure you, schoolmaster. I don’t think about you.”
“I know his ways.”
“Wind him up again…”
“We must take care of the names.”
“…it’ll trim the ship.”

Wrayburn and Lightwood are like Holmes and Watson. Instead of saying “The game is afoot” Wrayburn says, “…I said Yoiks. Look to your feet Mortimer, for we shall try your boots.”

and

“I think he is the greater gentleman for the action, and makes her the greater lady.”
(This makes me think of the ending of “An Officer and a Gentleman”.)

And my favorite character award goes to the sweetest, smartest, most likable and heartbreaking creature;—she didn’t win $25.00 but she discovered the secret word—if there is a butterfly in this novel it is surely Jenny Wren.

Ah, yes, the Doll's Dressmaker!
Also enjoyed the Boffins; "Mew says the cat! Quack quack says the duck! Bow-wow-wow says the dog!" ... and Sloppy!

Where've you been, Chap? I've missed your posts.

God bless Sloppy, a capital fellow with discerning taste in women.

I’ve been hither and thither and loosing myself in the nineteenth century (am now reading “Little Dorrit”) and as I am reading Dickens I am simal-reading Barks duck stories—a strange combination but the contrast seems to calm my bones, har.

Access to my old computer is still irregular but sometimes I get on the right train, the steam is not too dense and the conductor knows the territory.

Thanks for saying that my posts are missed, a very agreeable thing to read. I miss everyone’s posts when I’m not here.

And now back to “Little Dorrit” and some more peeking though the fourth wall.

Bright Corner
Near Hartford, Connecticut
July 17, 2007

"Barks duck stories"?
Would that be Carl Barks, creator of Scrooge McDuck? If so, I see the Dickensian link.

I'm sure you'll enjoy "Little Dorrit"!

Years ago, I read a book I found quite enlightening regarding this period, to wit:
"What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew" by Daniel Pool; Subtitled "From Fox Hunting to Whist - the Facts of Daily Life in 19th-Century England"

Banausic Cubicle
Near (but not near enough) the Pacific Ocean
17th inst.

Banausic? Hope your nose is not too near the grindstone! Look, there’s a window. Take a look!

I recently read THE MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF by David (Tribbles) Gerrold. This book is known for the ways it examines the time-travel paradox of meeting one's self. The dude meets several different versions of himself, some female and some male and even one gay. He has sex with these other-selves, falling in love with each one, and once entering into a long-term relationship with a female other-self. He had another even longer term relationship with a male other-self. The gay other-self couldn't handle it and broke things off fairly early in the relationship. It takes a really open mind to understand the difference between having sex with a same-sex other-self and having sex with a gay other-self. When I was reading the book I understood the complexities of the emotions involved in such hypothetical relationships and scenarios. But for the life of me, as I write this, I can't put it into words. For all the weirdness involved with these strange relationships, the author makes a good argument for the hetrosexual one as actually being the most complex.

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Okay, after collecting my thoughts and grokking a bit on the subject... I think I've got it.

In THE MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF David Gerrold attempts to explain the different kinds of love one can feel for another, or even for one's self. The same-sex other-self relationship lasted longer than the others because the love was purely narcissistic and the expectations were virtually nil. It would be like hanging out with a mirror image of yourself, with the same thoughts, same mannerisms, everything the same. Pure narcissism. This kind of relationship could last forever.

The gay other-self relationship could never work out because only one person in the relationship is feeling THAT particular kind of love, because only one was gay. There would be expectations and needs which could never be met.

The hetrosexual relationship would be most complex of all because it could work out, for a while at least, because the most basic needs could be met. But most relationships work when the couple offsets eachother's weaknesses because through some sort of cosmic balancing act we often make-up for eachother's inadequacies. Two people, a man and a woman, with exactly the same tendencies and personalities, except for the hormonal differences, would probably run out of gas eventually simply due to being TOO compatible and too familiar. The grass may seem greener elsewhere.

That's my take on a very mind-boggling subject.

And I don't think this was smut. I think it was a very honest and noble attempt by the author to publicly work things out which were too big to stay confined inside his head. David Gerrold presents us with an excellent psychological quandry.

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I'm re-reading two books: "The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" (inspired to do so by recent posts here) and "Green Shadows, White Whale".
I'd totally forgotten the bit about Shaw visiting Heeber Finn's!

Just got a copy of 'Match to Flame'. Great looking book. Over 480 pages. Donn Albright is the Editor. And Ray wrote the Preface. Book also includes facsimiles of early Fahrenheit 451 manuscripts. Will post more later...

BII ~ I read Green Shadows several years ago while we were driving around the Gaspe' Peninsula (spectacular). Shaw was a great inspiration on RB. Interesting dialogue between narrator (RB) and Shaw in their specific chapter. I enjoyed the book tremendously as it was read entirely while on vacation, mostly during the day at camp sites or by late evening lantern light. I remember actually slowing my reading down because I wanted the story to continue longer than its 270 pgs.

So many memorable scenes: the emerald landscape of Ireland; endless images of gray,flannel fog; noisy crowded pubs with lots of drink; death-defying car rides; O'Connell Bridge's so-sad Beggar; the frighteningly beautiful Banshee; those powerful young sprinters (immobolized by, ah!, Sweet Deanna Durbin); and that "Damned White Whale" surfacing from start to finish.

It was a hilarious, insightful, and tear-tempting read. I later sent my copy to Mr. B, and he graciously returned it inscribed - "F! J!" (my wife) [w/ A great, spouting whale drawn above his comment] "This Whale is for You!" RB May, 2003

For any RB fan who has has not yet read GSWW, it is a "must!"

Recently: Let's All Kill Constance, Jurassic Park, Night Flight, Diary of Anne Frank. Nearly done with Flame that Lit the World (Manchester).

Now beginning The Inner Athlete (Millman) - to help focus on stuff approaching, and Iceberg (Cussler) for a few light days of Dirk Pitt high adventure.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fjp451,

Nard,

I'm reading Match to Flame as well. But I've not been reading it from front to back. I'm fascinated by the history of Bradbury's texts, so I started with the "textual essay", then went backwards to read the introduction. All that remains is to now read the bits that Bradbury himself wrote - i.e., most of the book!

Well, after I save up enough to get my bass repaired, I guess I'll have to save up again for "Match To Flame"!

Oh yeah, I'm also reading "The Cult of the Amateur: How today's Internet is killing our culture" by Andrew Keen.
Eye-opening facts about a subject that more people should be thinking about.

Butch, you're right about GSWW. This is the Bradbury that many folks who only read his "science fiction" don't know about.