I'm glad you enjoyed Years of Rice and Salt...because I didn't. I actually only got about 100-150 pages into it before I completely lost interest, lol. And the weird thing is, I think I get a lot of what you liked about it, or at least saw some of it in the pages I did make it through, and yet I still couldn't get into it. Go figure. I guess maybe I need more story/action/stuff happening in a logical progression to really like a book? (Also, I recently read Forty Signs of Rain, also by Robinson, and loved it, so go figure x2
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TBH this was my second attempt at Rice and Salt - the first time I returned it to the library after 80 pages or so. It definitely took some work, and I have a lot of reservations ... like, I dunno if i could say I ENJOYED this book, because it was just so much work. I like my leisure reading to require less thinking usually. Thank you for the huge compliment though! FWIW I;ve always thought you write awesome movie reviews as well.
I'm leaving for China in 1 1/2 weeks so I dunno if we can do anything before then. :(
And I'm so sorry for the late reply, internet has been shoddy round these parts.
Both books sound very interesting, although more in a "I'd rather have someone else read them for me" way. I'm sort of waffling on the KSR book... the premise is intriguing, but I think a lot of the things that you listed as downsides would annoy me, too, and then some other ones, too. I have a very, very low tolerance for books that try to promote a message -- almost nothing is guarranteed to make me hate a book faster or as much. But some of the things sound so intriguing! or amusing, in the case of "The Three Incredible Fuckups". I'm rather conflicted about trying to read this book, still...
more in a "I'd rather have someone else read them for me" way Haha hope I was hlepful in that regard.
I have a very, very low tolerance for books that try to promote a message Me too, but there is a difference between the C.S. Lewis brand of anviliciousness and what Robinson is doing, which is more ... holistic? It just seems to be pushing an agenda less, and expressing personal views more, if there even is a distinction there, IDEK. I don't know what to tell you. I think you need to invest quite a lot of time and brain cells in order to derive any kind of enjoyment out of this book, and while I don't regret it, I feel like I could have read like five trade paperbacks in the time it took me to slog through this thing. (Could've gotten a start on Jim Butcher, for instance!) Lol they never do tell us what the Three Incredible Fuckups are.
and while I don't regret it, I feel like I could have read like five trade paperbacks in the time it took me to slog through this thing. (Could've gotten a start on Jim Butcher, for instance!)
I know what you mean, heh. And Butcher definitely does not require much in the way of brain cells to enjoy (which I don't mean in a bad way at all, it's just tasty brain candy, which is all good). Also, those books are, like, duster with crack, because, by and large, they're impossible to put down. (The Dresden Files ones, anyway. I'm less addicted to Codex Alera, though they have their moments, too, especially towards the second half of the series.)
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I'm leaving for China in 1 1/2 weeks so I dunno if we can do anything before then. :(
And I'm so sorry for the late reply, internet has been shoddy round these parts.
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How long will you be in China?
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Haha hope I was hlepful in that regard.
I have a very, very low tolerance for books that try to promote a message
Me too, but there is a difference between the C.S. Lewis brand of anviliciousness and what Robinson is doing, which is more ... holistic? It just seems to be pushing an agenda less, and expressing personal views more, if there even is a distinction there, IDEK. I don't know what to tell you. I think you need to invest quite a lot of time and brain cells in order to derive any kind of enjoyment out of this book, and while I don't regret it, I feel like I could have read like five trade paperbacks in the time it took me to slog through this thing. (Could've gotten a start on Jim Butcher, for instance!) Lol they never do tell us what the Three Incredible Fuckups are.
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Very much so! :D
and while I don't regret it, I feel like I could have read like five trade paperbacks in the time it took me to slog through this thing. (Could've gotten a start on Jim Butcher, for instance!)
I know what you mean, heh. And Butcher definitely does not require much in the way of brain cells to enjoy (which I don't mean in a bad way at all, it's just tasty brain candy, which is all good). Also, those books are, like, duster with crack, because, by and large, they're impossible to put down. (The Dresden Files ones, anyway. I'm less addicted to Codex Alera, though they have their moments, too, especially towards the second half of the series.)
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