Sandy’s Comments (group member since Dec 18, 2010)

Sandy’s comments from the Five Book Challenge group.

Now I want to read Kiln People.

I finished this. So that's two down. I posted a review on Goodreads. There were a lot of individual elements that I really liked in this novel, and some that I loved. That is also the problem, though, they are just elements and don't combine to a cohesive whole. I did find of particular interest my nostalgic reaction to the parts of the story concerning the middleast in a post-911 and second Iraq war. I mentioned in my review how current cyberstates are affected.

True. I'll be right right over.

I guess if Gary already read it then it wouldn't qualify. I think we go back to the start, though, so that would be Nathan picking. I've picked twice so it's either Gary or Nathan.

Hmmm, I think so, too. Maybe our next picker could include it in their poll. Hint, hint.

......zzzzzz....

Pillars of the Earth was voted the "best book ever" or something crazy like that by British voters. But don't think you can get away with watching the cheesy miniseries...

Hahhahha! Okay, not really evil. No, come back. Really. I'm just excited to see what you guys choose for each other. How about this one. Read like the wind!

mwa ha ha...mwa Ha HA!! yes, my pretties, yes!

Story of Your Life was a seminal read for me. I'd never read a second person story before (at least not one that was any good) and it had a profound effect on me. I wanted to write a second person story. Eventually I did, Sowing Water. I also loved the way the narrator's understanding of language/life evolved, and how not what we think but how we think is what defines us. I've mentioned before how I've always been interested in how our memories create who we are, and I think this story is a wonderful foray into the brambles of that convoluted path.

Chiang made two very important decisions in the structure of this story, and they are a testament to his genius. First he tells us right off that 'you' die young, the death is not a spoiler, and in fact, although it is jarring, it's an important aspect of the completeness that is inherent in the title. Second, the heptapod storyline is not told in the same non-chronological format, which for the great majority of us, is a relief.

While all of the stories in the book are great, there is one other story that totally blew me away, and still makes me think about it from time to time. I wonder if you will agree.

If when you finish this one, there is still another Chiang that stands above those as my all time favorite Chiang story. But that will have to wait.

And, in full disclosure, I have to admit that after your post I took Story of your life to bed and reread it.

That's a compounding problem, too, of how a book can grow or shrink and come back to haunt you. I once read a book called At Play in the Fields of the Lord, and my feelings went from hate to love, with brief stops along confusion and slight irritation (but never indifference). Another example is the book Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I read it first when I was fairly young, and I couldn't understand why Tess

--oh wait, spoiler alert--



would kill her pretend husband. After all, she had a real husband she could go back to. But after growing up a little, and being confronted with some emotionally charged situations, I could see how that was choice that made the most sense (for Hardy to make).

As for the PB, it's really a brilliant treatise on rational thought. I loved the whole section about the Soundmaker. Now I'm already starting to wonder why I didn't give it a 5!

I am officially one-fifth done with the challenge.

I wrote a review of the Phantom Tollbooth and afterward I started to wonder why it sounded more like an apology than a review. I realized that I was a little bit sad that there isn't an objective classification for books one reads, that is, that a book once a five, remains a five, or a book left out of a certain critical time period (like this one) can not be measured against the same criteria as others. That got me to thinking about some of the books I read during my initial flush of reading obsession. I was reading about five books a week, and they were all five stars. This was before kindles, the internet, and the fear of hoarding, back in the day when a book was a precious thing, and I considered myself lucky to get hold of one.

I bought a copy of 1 a few days ago, so I'll probably start with that one. I'll let you know if I want to borrow the others you mentioned, but for now, I'm still reading the annotated Pride and Predudice and it's taking me extra long to read (but I'm loving every second of it). Then we've got Alchemy, too. So. I think January's all booked up, reading-wise!

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I can let you borrow 2 and 4 if you want. I got 1 and 5 from the library, but they're pretty easy to find. I know that when I was looking for the Jeffrey Ford book for our book club, I kept coming across Eifelheim.

Are you starting with Chiang?

Whittle on, I've already got a big to-read stack!

1. Eifelheim
2. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
3. Stories of Your Life and Others
4. Guns, Germs and Steel
5. Blindsight

I numbered them, for completeness, but you can read them in whatever order you like. Two are nonfiction, one is a collection of short fiction. The list is otherwise skewed toward spec fic, because of our previous discussions and my insight into your reading tastes. One year, starting 1/1/11

The challenge works best if you know the person you are picking the books for. Therefore, it's best to join with a friend. Of course, if you have five books in mind, that's as good a place to start, since the linking thread for people on Goodreads is a love of books.

Also, you don't have to assign books to anyone, you can enjoy the progress as we post, or you can read along with someone else's challenge. Or I can assign you five books. Things are still bit fluid at this point.

Thanks for joining, now go read.