Jeff’s Comments (group member since Dec 27, 2011)

Jeff’s comments from the Inklings group.

I just noticed the description of this group. We gave up!

Sadly "The Book of the New Sun" is out of print in the dead tree edition as far as I know. It is available on Kindle but not as a complete single volume. I got lucky and found my copies at 2nd and Charles but finding them in print is oddly difficult, especially how the series is often listed as one of the best ever.

I'll bring you my copies next book club and you can read them at your leisure.

...Now, where did I put that book loan agreement paperwork?

Yes, I read both books and each of them have two "books" contained in them. At least my editions do. There is a 5th book called "The Urth of the New Sun" which I have not read yet. I don't think I am going to tackle it until I go back and re-read everything first.

I don't see a problem with putting a book down. The type of reading we are discussing is for enjoyment purposes and if you aren't enjoying it then why force yourself to continue?

"The Book of the New Sun" is not something to be taken lightly. I can say I read it but I know I missed a LOT of what was really going on. Plus there is this entire untrustworthy narrator thing going on which obfuscates everything. I think you would like it but it is one of those books that you have to pay attention to and, at least for me, really work at.

"Shmisters" - Is this a real term or one he made up? either way, awesome!

I can think of one and that is "Ender's Game". It sticks and I have read/listened to it more times than any other book except maybe DUNE. I could give a lot of reasons why I think it speaks to me but that is a different story altogether.

Maybe I haven't read the right books. There have been plenty I have enjoyed and recommend but I can't think of anything that has the same impact as some of the books I read before I was old enough to drink.

That was basically my thinking on the subject. The younger we are the less likely we are to already have something that speaks to us so when we find that thing, whatever it is, it tends to stick. The interesting part, at least for me, is that I am very much a different person than I was 20+ years ago and yet nothing I read today that is "more adult" and involves things that apply to my adult life has the same sticking power.

One of the popular discussion topics when you get people who love books in the same room is "What is your favorite book?" or "What book most influenced your life?" This post isn't about either of those questions.

What I am interested in is if there is any point in our lives when books are more likely to make an impact. Is there something about being a teenager that makes a book more important or maybe it is that first reading of The Chronicles of Narnia that showed you how books can be transformative influences.

For me I think most of the big books hit while I was in high school and I don't know if those books would have had the same influence if I had read them later in life. Along with that, very rarely (I can really only think of one) do I find a book now that has any major influence on me or my overall outlook on life.

The older I get the more interested I am in things like this.

No double major in English for me.

I did a little research just because I was curious. The author of that piece is female and, in her own words, queer.

http://www.alexdallymacfarlane.com/ca...

Clearly she has a personal interest in gender and Sci-Fi but to say "I want an end to the default of binary gender in science fiction stories." is a little much. I'm not saying she has an agenda when it comes to her writing about her chosen genre but...OK, yeah, I am saying she has an agenda.

Generally I don't pay much attention to gender when it comes to fiction. Obviously it was a component of 2312 but it didn't interest me nor did it disgust me. It was just part of the story. Maybe that is why I wasn't too high on the book. The gender component didn't resonate with me which left the main plot and ultimately that was only mildly interesting.

Maybe it is because I am a man and so much of what I read is from a male's point of view that I don't get worked up over gender. That is certainly possible but as it stands right now gender just isn't something I care about either way when it comes to fiction.

Oh weird, I didn't know you had a BA in History. So do I. Do you find it as useless as I do? I certainly enjoyed that field of study but as the jumping off point for a career I don't think I could have made a worse decision.

I wonder if there is something about the millennial generation that gives them the feeling that their opinions have some kind of weight that they haven't earned. All generations believe that the generation before them are idiots but something is different now in that ANY opinion seems to have value if someone can say it loud enough. Like you said, "I can articulate it, therefore I must be given it."

There is an entire generation of people hitting full adulthood that have never been told NO and have grown up thinking that whatever they say and do matters. We have taught them that defending their opinion is all that matters and not that the opinion itself must have real value. Therefore, we have a generation that is puffed up with their own self importance because they have never had to learn otherwise. I don't know if the situation applies to this author but that is the feeling I get.

So my comments can either be long or short. Here's the short version:

What the hell?

Here's the longer version:

Why is it that there always has to be someone out there that wants to make decisions about what someone else's work needs to be about? Seems like there is always someone who wants to say that "trend A" needs to stop in "genre B" or we that we need more "Trend C" in "genre D" or what ever else they want to say. How about we just let people tell the stories they want to tell in the way they want to tell it?

Hugh Howey has another book out that might be interesting. Some of you liked WOOL so this might be a nice companion novel. Sand isn't related to that world at all but is still in the dystopia genre.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I recognized it but could not place it until later.

I have heard of authors trying to game the GoodReads reviews and even confronting people that gave bad reviews. Not sure how often that happens but I guess it is something I am always aware of when reading what other people say. The self-publishing model, however, is very interesting and still in its "frontier" era. I wonder if the number of successes like WOOL will continue to grow or if it is more like winning the lottery.

Would it help to think of Juliette way under-qualified for her role as sheriff and that maybe she would never have thought to investigate the suicide as anything other than what it appeared? Sure Marnes had high thoughts about her raw ability but she had no training in law enforcement, detective work, or forensics. She has also not been exposed to CSI, Law and Order, or Cop Rock. There has to be a bit of shock and the bigger mystery exposed by Holston's cleaning may just occupy a bigger part of Juliette's concern. Especially so considering she really has no idea what to do as sheriff.

I wonder if taking a detour into the investigation of Marnes' suicide would just be a big dead end and require a lot of pages that don't take the story anywhere. It is possible a better/more experienced writer could handle it better. Personally I didn't find it to be a big deal. I saw it as more of the girl just got thrown into some stuff she isn't equipped to handle and kind of latched on to the first thing she felt she could make sense of.

Very interested in what you think of the book by the end.

So, who is Hulsey? Do you mean the form sheriff Holston? Am I remembering something wrong?

I don't think Marnes killing himself was completely without motivation. It is very clear that he and Jahns had a previous relationship that didn't end up with them together. Marnes stayed in the deputy job even when he could have been sheriff so that he could stay close to Jahns. When Holston is sent to clean, Jahns and Marnes take the trip down to visit Juliette. It is during this trip that Jahns and Marnes can have some expression of the love they once shared. For Marnes it is probably something he has dreamed of most of his life. Just to have her beside him on the cot would likely be a magical experience for him. He would almost be able to see a life with Jahns even if it is secret. Only once this happiness comes into his life his love dies and he feels like it is his fault. The guilt must be overwhelming. Not only did the one thing, the one person he wanted to be with die right as he was finally getting to be with her but from a certain point of view it is his fault. The motivation for his action at that point isn't that hard to believe. At least not to me.

Juliette's actions as sheriff are another matter. The whole thing starts with Sheriff Holston's death. Seems logical to start there. Should the obvious murder/attempted murder of Jahns/Marnes take precedence? Maybe. Juliette is kind of thrown into a completely new world. I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt while she catches up on what has happened on the top floor.

I will agree that the motivation and state reasons to choose Juliette are a little weak. She doesn't seem to me to be a clear choice for the position and what take away someone so valuable to mechanical? It is a little unbelievable.

Here is an interesting article about how WOOL found self publishing success and the unusual print contract the author later signed.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...

What is a working definition for someone being "well-read". I've read a lot but nothing compared to the volume that some of you in book club have read. Compared to the general public, however, I have read libraries worth of books.

Personally I don't know that I consider myself well-read. I just enjoy reading and I read what I enjoy.