Ace’s Comments (group member since Jan 07, 2011)

Ace’s comments from the Reddit group.

why shouldn't this level of discussion be in a rookie thread?

@vlad - having finished the book, it does seem like the whole purpose is that no matter what stance you take, you're screwed. and yes, recursion is definitely an important theme. pawns are gods and gods are pawns.

@denae - do you really think bea/bee's writing is hiding? writing can be revelatory, too...

@ryan, very belatedly - the second book in the oryx and crake series is better than the first, which is saying a lot because the first is great. blind assassin is an amazing piece of storytelling. haven't done handmaiden's tale yet, but it's on my list for this year.

but is vonnegut really substituting one higher power for another?

at the end of chapter 2, rumfood laments his own lack of power in this situation. "stop and think sometime about the roller coaster i'm on. some day on titan, it will be revealed to you just how ruthlessly i've been used, and by whom, and to what disgusting paltry ends." (pp. 60 - 61) although he's been granted godlike powers of time travel through the infundibulum, he's just as human as bea and malachi.

obviously, the need for control is an integral theme in the book simply because it's an inherant part of human behavior. bea requires control; it's an ingrained part of her character. (leaving the roller coaster ride because it's dirty, the painting of her as a austere and clean little girl.) as she can't control anyone but herself, she locks herself inside the estate and panics at the forthcoming roller coaster, even refusing to see her husband until he promises to assist her in regaining control. perhaps she's not that different from bobby denton and the love crusaders, hiding behind great brick walls instead of a religious tome to avoid the realities of reality.

what's control to malachi and rumfoord? it seems so far like rumfoord simply accepts that he is out of control and that he's following a predetermined path (everything that has ever existed still exists and everything that's going to exist has already existed - it's like a mobius strip of destiny.)

instead of surrendering (rumfoord) or hiding (bea), malachi chooses to fight his future by making himself "unworthy of any destiny."

i guess we'll see which of these three paths is the most successful shortly. which do y'all think is the most appropriate? does your choice have anything to do with your religious beliefs?

i, too, hate cilanto. that stuff really is plain awful.

my dogs both have literary names instead of mythological names (roland and harper), but even with stuffy names like that, i think jormundgund would be quite a mouthful.

what a fancy tag! i like this website more every day.

any way to access that list without downloading the whole sucker?

my husband has one but i don't. if i had to pay for every book i read, we'd be significantly more poor. the library is my go-to.

definitely liking the idea of starting it in february! can't wait to get everything started. maybe some of us can submit questions or discussion topics to ryan? new questions go up on a specific day and stay open for a certain period of time? VIDEO CHATS?! the world of possibilities.

ala, we all know you can't go wrong with a little bit of Michael Crichton! let me know how that one is - i actually haven't read it. was so sad when he passed away... :( this website is a great way to keep track of all the books i want to read; i feel like that list is a monster growing wildly out of control!

ryan, i'm in complete agreement about the introduction to the "world." it's a lot easier to suspend my disbelief if we go right into the action. i'm usually bored senseless by the explanation. seems like card has a very strong social agenda he's pushing in his universe, and that's easier to construct using a limited number of species. let me know how the rest of the book goes - part of what i liked about the ender series was that i could put down the books and not feel like i was missing an ending. they stood alone as well as they went together, yanno?

i've got Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell on my nightstand right now, can't wait to hop into it. i have yet to hear a negative review! the size is a little daunting, though.

interesting outlook on Consider Phlebas. i have a tendency to be less likely to pick up a book knowing it's part of a series, especially one that doesn't have a definite ending. is it very ender-y? sounds like it could be.

like i said in the other thread, working my way through The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. larson's writing style is a perfect mixture verbose and concise, and he manages to make the subject of the world fair - not one i would usually find intriguing - very interesting. about halfway done.

i'm also working my way through Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives. it's about the men who notify soldiers' families of their deaths. as both a military wife and a student studying funeral services, it's an extremely interesting read. i think it would move anybody who picked it up, though.

so far i'm really enjoying devil. i picked it up based on a reddit recommendation, and didn't know exactly what i was getting into, but that's my preference for books. it's fast-paced and manages to make a subject i never would have thought to be interesting all that and more.

the only reason i knew blindness was a movie was because the trailer was the reason i picked up the book. i finished the book but never did end up seeing the movie. i've instituted a pretty strong personal policy of no seeing movies for books i enjoy, simply because i become irrationally irate over what filmmakers end up doing. so, in the words of obi-wan: you must do what you feel is right, of course.

so i did a super-brief search on a confederacy of dunces and was terrified by the description of it as a "grand comic fugue." anything like catch-22? i wasn't a huge fan and i want to be able to commit to whatever we're reading!

ryan, love both those books, so you've got great taste. was the movie for blindness any good? would love to read a book i haven't read before, though.

i've got a couple books i'm reading right now (wench, the devil in the white city, final salute) but can absolutely pick up anything else.

love this idea!