Books Read for October

[ashnistrike]

Not many; I guess it was an even crazier month than it felt like.

The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense by Susette Haden Elgin (new edition). The plan was to read this and pass it on to a friend in need, with marginal notes delineating my psycholinguistic and sociological disagreements with the author. Unfortunately, I find myself compelled to misquote the prototypical Gricean book review: this book does not have nice wide margins. So I wrote a five-page file of notes instead. This is an excellent book with some good suggestions for dealing with verbal hostility--with five pages worth of strenuous disagreement as a caveat.

Oil Painting Techniques by Geoff Stalker. S's brother handed me this book to explain what he meant by receiving a "ditch picture" for his wedding. (All the paintings in that series are detailed close-ups of roadside ditches, it turns out.) It's a fascinating set of insights into an art other than my own, and reminded me quite a lot of The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. That same feeling that the description of painting is also a description of everything else, except that this really is a painting textbook. As an added bonus, there's a whole chapter on the creation of a family portrait that happens to hang in S's grandfather's house. It's a portrait that while well-done, didn't quite turn out as originally envisioned, and it was cool to see the explanations behind some of his artistic choices.

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. Still nifty and complex, and about this point I usually put the series down for a while because everything is getting so dark.

NOT Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb. Although my first read--years ago--didn't stick with me much, I vaguely remember thinking that it wasn't a very friendly satire of fannish culture. This time, I threw it against the wall at the third snide comment about how fat fannish women are, and about how sad that makes their nerdy little lives. Also, isn't it just such a waste how much time and effort these people put into something that doesn't earn money? That last is made infinitely more amusing because the author sets up as an approved contrast... a status-hungry, politically-minded... humanities professor. Yes. Because clearly, if you want to make scads of money doing something you love, and win fame and respect from the mainstream--as clearly everyone should--you'll teach English literature. Or write mystery novels, I guess.

Other Media Consumed:

Shadow Unit, Season 2, Episode 8 ("Not Alone"). I was expecting much of what happened in some form, and still... holy crap. I am not happy about having to wait for Season 3.

Eureka, Season 3 (Episodes 2-6). At this point, I am watching almost entirely to find out what the scary corporate lady is up to. I'm certainly not watching for the episode-level plots, which are getting more and more ridiculous.

Total Books: 3, plus 50 pages of the snotty mystery.
Recent Publication: 1/3
Rereads: 1/3
Bear Ratio: 0/3
New Music: None
New Media Produced: Don't even ask.

Comments

[saganth.livejournal.com]

Hrm, okay, guess I *won't* be reading 'Bimbos' - I picked it up at I-Con a few years ago, haven't gotten around to reading it yet. If it's that hostile to fans, forget it.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Yes--and worse, it seems to have been specifically aimed at SF fans, to try and explain to us how lame we're being. She more or less says so in her introduction.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a con to get ready for. Because my life is just that sad and empty.

[natlyn.livejournal.com]

The thing is, she wrote this book never having been to a sf convention. It was based on the description friends of hers gave her.

And for an example of selective reading, when I first read Bimbos, probably 20 years ago, I loved this book. Because I was a feral sf fan who had never been to a convention, I saw it as a primer for what to expect and I did not notice how much fans were being slammed until I re-read it about 5 years ago (after having been in and around sf fandom and conventions for several years). At which point I was absolutely appalled that it (1) was awful in the slamming, (2) I had loved it so much and that (3) I had recommended it to people.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

I believe she says in the intro that she did, at one point, wander through a convention for a few minutes--her husband was working with the computers or something. So there may have been a whole ten minutes of research.

I missed a lot on the first read-through too. I think at the time I was just delighted to see a book taking place at a convention.

[natlyn.livejournal.com]

I think she said she wandered around a convention after the book came out. My copy, if I still have it, is in the other room or I would verify.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Mine is in the PaperbackSwap pile, in the closet five feet away...

She wrote the first two chapters, then got an editor through giving a reading of them at a local con. Everything prior to that was written based on hiding from her husband's war-gaming group; everything after that was written in a mad rush to make deadline.

[natlyn.livejournal.com]

Ah.

You know, I wonder if perhaps she did not believe she was slamming fans and was just telling it like it is. I mean, I'd think it pretty gutsy to give a reading at a con if she believed she was making fun.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

According to the intro, she was warning people that fannish culture is a nice place to visit as a tourist, but don't put too much time or effort into it.

It sounds like the reading was a pretty last-minute thing. One of those small college conventions that looks around at the last minute for extra readers, who then flail about at the last minute until they find something vaguely appropriate.

Ugh, it just p'd me off so badly. Mostly it was the snide comments about anyone female over a size 12 (the number was explicit), and the lack of acknowledgment of any female contribution to SF other than dressing up in too-small scanty outfits, and the vicious disapproval of any sort of unpaid passion. I kept praying for Butler or LeGuin to come on-screen and say something cutting to all the idiotic authorial mouthpieces.

Shadow Unit

[natlyn.livejournal.com]

I just got caught up with season 2 last week. I was totally taken by surprise by Hafidha's departure. Did you see that coming?

I admit I was impressed by the ramifications of the end of season 1 and Reyes's miscalculation—the shattering of trust and slow mending. Although I really think Chaz should have gotten over himself much sooner.

Re: Shadow Unit

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Somewhere around 3/4 of the way through Season 2, there was a pair of DVD extras--one with Chaz ignoring the Gamma-voice in his head that told him he had to become a lone vigilante, and one with Hafs thinking sadly about this terrible conspiracy and how there was no one she could talk to. And it occured to me that not only the audience, but the characters, had been primed to watch out for Chaz, who'd just been through this huge trauma, and was known to be on edge. Let's all be careful and make sure Chaz doesn't go gamma! Everybody keep an eye on Chaz! And meanwhile Hafs has just been through the death of her lover, but everybody knows *she* can take care of herself.

Re: Shadow Unit

[natlyn.livejournal.com]

Also, because Hafs went through conversion some time ago, they have relaxed and no longer consider her a threat.

I didn't find the DVD extras until after the stunning conclusion.

Re: Shadow Unit

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Although I really think Chaz should have gotten over himself much sooner.

It made sense to me--first he was waiting to find out if there was going to be long-term physiological fall-out from his father's blood infusions, and then Reyes' massive screw-up. And he really did have every reason to be afraid of what he might become. Not to mention that he clearly does have a gamma-voice in the back of his head, trying to tell him he has to go it alone. Between those things, I was impressed and delighted that he did eventually get up the nerve to come out voluntarily.

And I thought it was a cool bit of characterization that Chaz doesn't listen to that voice because he has low self-esteem and has never learned to fully trust his own instincts--while Hafs was actually more vulnerable because she does trust herself. And probably because her power already involves having knowledge drop into her head without paying much attention to the source.

Re: Shadow Unit

[natlyn.livejournal.com]

I get that he had every reason to be afraid of what he might become, but while Reyes screwed up mightily, he screwed up because he had already decided that Chaz would not go gamma and assumed everyone else would also. Certainly Brady's reaction would give him pause, but it seems to me Chaz should have taken some courage in that Reyes didn't think he would turn gamma, Hafs didn't (hadn't) turned gamma, and while he knew he could, he didn't particularly want to do what would have made him a monster. I think the voice would have to appeal to him a lot more and he wouldn't have worried about it as much if he were more likely to turn.

Of course, you are right that that would involve trusting his instincts and Chaz doesn't really.

Re: Shadow Unit

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Ah, see, I interpreted Reyes as thinking it was plausible to claim Chaz had gone gamma--after all, if Brady didn't believe it, it wouldn't have attracted the phobophage. Reyes screwed up in not thinking, in the moment, about the long-term effects of that short-term solution.

But it's possible that if Reyes's screw-up hadn't made Chaz even more likely to question himself at every turn, he actually would have gone gamma.

Unfortunately, he fell out of the airplane. Fortunately he had a parachute. Unfortunately, the parachute wouldn't open. Fortunately...

Re: Shadow Unit

[natlyn.livejournal.com]

Based on Reyes's reflections in a later episode, I gathered that Reyes did not expect Brady to believe it, but for him to be conflicted by the orders enough to draw the UNSUB. Reyes thinks something like he didn't realize that what he saw in the house in Texas would lead Brady to the opposite conclusion that he himself drew--that Chaz would never turn gamma.

OMG, finally someone else who remembers the fortunately/unfortunately books. I have been asking people of varying ages and trying to find some, but no one even remembers them! Do you know where I can find some? Were they books are all? Maybe they were features in a children's magazine? Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

Re: Shadow Unit

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

You know, I see your point about Reyes--but I'll bet that Chaz interpreted it the same way I did. Certainly the ease with which Brady believed it can't have reassured him.

I'm afraid I only vaguely remember the fortunately/unfortunately bit as one of those drawn-out jokes that someone told me as a kid. Maybe it was from a magazine? Or possibly one of the strange old humor books that my grandmother used to own. I will ask my mother the librarian.