Shaun’s Comments (group member since Dec 05, 2014)

Shaun’s comments from the Bibliophiles of Loathing group.

I couldn't find the deluxe collection, which I believe is issues 1-18, but I found the standard vol 1. which is issues 1-6. First, I want to say that this is a really good premise for a series. I don't know if it's been done before, probably, but I don't care. I like it. It's infinitely more interesting that finding out your parents are super heroes. They are maybe a bit TOO comic book villainy though. For example, to convince their children they aren't bad guys, they assault them over and over again, before threatening to murder an 11 year old. Yeah sure, not the bad guys. But then no one ever said comic book villains were all to bright. There is a diverse cast, it's almost like they are members of the breakfast club, you got the jock, the brain, the goth chick, etc. Except instead of detention they are running away from their murderous parents. An improvement I'd say.

So my library doesn't seem to have this one. Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to get to it this month.

How angry are the ghosts? What about? Are they like the ghosts from Mario that only come out if you are turned away from them? Discuss this book!

How much do they runaway? Are they any good at it? Let's find out!

This is one of those books where you have to remind yourself it was made in the 40s and 50s. Collected of short stories, it is interesting to see had of what a future could be. It makes sense that shortly after the world had seen the terrors of the atom bomb he would depict a future where atomic power is viewed as the pinnacle of technology. Of course now adays it seems old hat.

So one of the central things to the story is predicting the future. This may sound odd, but I had trouble suspending my disbelief for it. The scifi book Dune also had a character that could depict a future and for some reason I was fine with it. Whats the difference? Well Foundation tries to explain it with math and science. Apparently you can depict mass groups of people near perfectly for thousands of years. I just can't bring myself to buy it. There are way too many variables. Unknowns. It discounts the power of the individual. The randomness of existence. Dune on other hand has a character drink a secretion from an alien worm and it gives him visions of the future (or many possible futures based on actions taken) and I'm fine with it. Does it make anymore sense? No, not really. I guess because they don't try to explain it so much as a science I don't scrutinize it.

This, however, is not the only thing that made me think of Dune. Religion is used as a power in this book. the plans for the future making science into a religious power, which was an interesting premise. Dune, on the other hand had the man who can view the future turned into a religious figure head. Both were an attempt to prevent disastrous outcomes for humanity.

Anyway it worked well being several short stories. We got to see each era and how they worked for the time they were in. From the initial plans, to the encyclopedist, to the mayoral founding of a scientific religion. and the rise of the traders. Each story may not work 100% well on it's own, but as a piece of the history of this universe it all goes together nicely. I actually read the rest of the trilogy this month (it was expanded beyond a trilogy but originally there were 3) and I enjoyed those too, so if you liked this book you might want to continue.

So I wasn't 100% sold on the modern take on Fables in the "real" world, but I did enjoy this book a lot. Though it is not necessarily totally up my alley it was interesting to see how certain fairytale characters were depicted. My favorite was Prince Charming in that I loved to hate him. Seeing him as a douchey shallow guy was perfect. The Big Bad Wolf was an interesting pick to have as a guy in authority. I do wonder, is he supposed to be a werewolf, or is he a wolf using magic to appear human?

Anyway, having whimsical children's characters in gritty adult stories worked surprisingly well.

I'm going to comment on this a little bit later, I read it and it was great. I just wanted to point out that you can go to humblebundle.com and get a bundle with The Wolf Among Us which is a telltale video game based on this graphic novel series. It is a super good game and a great adaptation of the series. Also there is Walking Dead and such in the bundle which is another graphic novel series we should probably read at some point!

This month we'll be reading volume 1 of Fables. Talk about these Legends in Exile with your fellow clammies!

Foundation! The Foundation of what? We'll see I guess! Share your thoughts on this science fiction classic.

I went into this book already knowing a fair bit about Andre, so a lot of this was just a graphical interpretation of things I already knew. Though I didn't totally care for the graphical style, I enjoyed the book. I can appreciate a stylized interpretation, it was just a bit too cartoony to the point where Andre didn't look menacing, he looked comical. Perhaps it's was the noses.

Anyway, I think it did a good job of presenting both the good and bad of Andre's life and letting you judge for yourself. They didn't do too much rationalizing of his behavior, or leaving out the bad parts. The only attempts to do this were at the beginning where Hulk Hogan explains a bit about Andre's life, and constant pain, which was probably true. And while I mostly appreciate them not taking a stand on trying to explain what he does, in the same vain then it came off a little detached as a narrative. This as exacerbated for me but it skipping around in little fragmented pieces of his life. Though it gives a good overview, it is a little stilted. It's hard to get a flow of things going.

Things I didn't know about Andre: 1) His racist joking within earshot of Bad News Brown. Who can say why he did this. Was it legitimate ignorance, drunk talk, or was he genuinely racist? All I know is, that despite his tendency to get into trouble when drunk (which he was frequently) those who got close to him think he was the nicest guy. The fact that he later apologized makes me hope he was just ignorant. 2) That he had a daughter. I flat out didn't know this, though obviously it wasn't well known as he was not a part of her life at all. Again, all it really states is the fact that this is so, it doesn't make too many judgements.

The one thing I personally would consider changing, had to do with the framing. you started with Hogan talking about Andre, but that is the only time this happens. It would have been interesting if each of the stories had been framed with personality sharing the story. Of course this might have been hard to swing and include stuff like his illegitimate daughter. Who would tell that tale?

Anyway, this book seemed to get the facts right. Or at very least, the stories right. As it itself admits, it's hard to separate fact from fiction with a man like Andre. But it doesn't contain anything that is out and out wrong, and covers important aspects of him as a person.

I enjoyed it, though I worry that someone with no interest in wrestling would be swayed by this book, which is unfortunate as Andre is a genuinely interesting person.

This was finally free at the library so I got it. It is very well done, but it is a bit dark for my personal tastes. Lots of murder and so forth. That said, I am curious to see how things turn out, so maybe I'll stick with it? I like a bit more light hearted stuff though. Or adventurey "comic" violence at most,

Introverts! Surely an internet group for people who like to read has no introverts >.> Discuss! Also post on the suggestions thread to let us know what you want to read in later months.

The polls are in and Andre the Giant: Life and Legend will be our book for March. Truly a figure that was larger than life (or at least very large!) Let us know what you think of this book, and go check the suggestion thread to suggest a book for later months.

I knew very little about this book going in. I enjoyed it mostly and here are some of my thoughts.

Firstly, my hardest part with this book was dealing with the setting. I don't know if it's considered steam punk or not (I know very little about steam punk) but it sort of gave me that vibe (even though their was diesel gas, electricity, and other stuff that I am not sure if are present in steampunk usually or not.) But I just had problems turning off the disbelief in my brain. I read stories about wizards and aliens and dwarfs and dragons but for some reason a story about a sea of rails and train chasing giant moles through a hellish landscape of underground dwelling monstrosities my brain just kept going "ehh... I dunno about that" I mean, yes, of course, it's impossible, but so are many other things I read about so I don't now why it was so hard to suspend my disbelief.

Still, I did appreciate a unique setting. I mean, though it would be more plausible the same story on an actual sea would be boring. It would be.... Moby Dick... Ok maybe not as dry as Moby Dick but certainly Moby Dick inspired.

Mostly I appreciated the writing style. The narrative was fun. It was clever, but not so high brow and take itself too seriously, nor going the opposite and being self deprecating.

I am a sucker for a coming of age story. And as someone who still has no idea wtf he wants out of life I can identify with Sham's journey even though I am 30 and this is probably aimed at teens.

One minor thing that bugged me was the character name of the deity That Apt Ohm. It felt like it should be a reference to something I just couldn't get. So I googled it, and it is an anagram of Toppam Hat. The fat controller from Thomas the Tank engine. Kind of funny, but the name That Apt Ohm, well, kind of sucks. Captain Naphi is a better anagram, as her full name apparently is an anagram of Captain Ahab. I am still not sure if anagrams are really the best way to sneak references into a book.

Anyway, overall it was a fun narrative. The setting wasn't my total cup of tea but I was able to accept it in its service to the narrative. I appreciated something that was so obviously influenced by something (moby dick) but still be able to be unique and fun. Mostly I think that even though I was totally sold on the steampunkiness (or whatever) the fact that it was well written helped me appreciate it a lot.

I have made some threads for contributing suggested books. As I go forward I will probably pull from that for the base of the polls, and I will personally opt for a smaller amount of total books on the poll. Granted jodez may return and do things how she sees fit. This is mostly just an experiment.

I for one really really did not like the form of this book. Things I don't want to have to do while reading a book:

Read endless useless fake annotations because eventually one might be worthwhile.
Have to tip the book upside down, sideways, or diagonal.
Scroll through endless stream of consciousness bs about getting high and banging strange women in a psuedo poetic rant.
Have to discern text that is both crossed out and red because it's purposeful redactedness is probably important.
Be required to read a paragraph bottom to top from left to right.
Have to read the first letter of each word to figure out what the actual message is.

None of that makes for a good reading experience. I get it, the house is disorienting so you make the text disorienting. Here is the problem, having the text all goofy doesn't make me feel claustrophobic, afraid, or anxious, it just makes me frustrated and annoyed.

This is all too bad, because there is some stuff I liked. The account of the Navidson Record can be rather interesting. I cared a little bit less about Johnny's descent into madness than I did the Navidsons', until he was actually fully crazed and then I liked it. I don't know what it says about me. Also his mother's letters at the end were heartbreaking.

So, while there is a bit of this I really enjoyed, there was just too much for my feeble brain to slog through.

I'd like to suggest the graphic novel Andre the Giant: Life and Legend because it is about Andre the freakin' Giant. He was a legend, honestly. The world legend gets thrown about a lot, but he was one. He size legendary, as was his capacity to drink, and capacity for kindness. There are stories about how when he wrestled in Japan he couldn't use bathrooms because he was too big for them. Or about when he finally managed to get himself drunk and pass out no one could move him. I am interested to see how his life is portrayed in Graphic Novel form.

Irredeemable Vol 1 for Feb. I know nothing about this one, should be interesting though. Discuss!

In February we'll be reading Railsea by China Mieville. I didn't suggest this book but I did vote for it. Apparently it is a bit of a mix of fantasy and steampunk for Young Adults. So, get reading and let us know what you think!

Oof. I started this and we'll see how far I get. It's giving me real When On a Winter's Night a Traveler vibes so far.