Book me, Baby
b-psycho tagged me with a book meme awhile ago that I’m finally getting to. Apologies for the delay.
One book that changed your life:
Dr. Fulton’s Step-by-Step Plan for Clearing Acne. Probably outdated now since it, among other things, evaluated current products. I suspect that really bad acne, the sort covering much more of your body than face and neck, possibly cystic and last
ing well into adulthood is the kind of affliction that, like migraines, non-sufferers just don’t get the magnitude of. The Fulton book was calm, reassuring and practical. That was worth a lot in my early 20s.
One book you have read more than once:
Of all the books I could name, I’ll go with Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle here, edging out The Great Gatsby.
One book that you would want on a desert island:
Either the Complete Nonfiction of Jorge Luis Borges or Wallace Stevens’ Collected Poems.
One book that made you laugh:
Small World, by David Lodge.
One book that made you cry:
Crap!
One book you wish had been written:
Another Man’s Name: Cordwainer Smith, Paul Linebarger and Their Times. The main title comes from a phrase Smith/Linebarger used in the preface to a paperback edition of some of his Underpeople stories.
One book you wish had never been written:
Don’t interpret this as a retroactive wish for censorship, but the hands-down winner here is The Threatening Storm, by Kenneth Pollack.
One book you are currently reading:
In Defense of Hypocrisy, by Jeremy Lott.
One book you have been meaning to read:
Cards as Weapons, by Ricky Jay.
Now tag five people:
Comment by Nell —
August 20, 2006 @ 11:10 am
This is thought-provoking.
* changed your life: 1984, George Orwell (read it when I was seven)
* read more than once: One Man’s Garden, Henry Mitchell (collection of his WaPo gardening columns)
* desert island: The Art of Eating, M.F.K. Fisher
* laugh: Joy in the Morning, P.G. Wodehouse (could have been almost any Wodehouse)
* cry: The Periodic Table, Primo Levi
* wish had been written: concise, readable history of Iraq since 1900
* wish had not been written: The Bell Curve, Charles Murray
* currently reading: Overthrow, Stephen Kinzer
* meaning to read: Night Draws Near, Anthony Shadid
Comment by Mona —
August 20, 2006 @ 12:24 pm
Otay, Jim, my answeres are here.
I need to mull the one I wish had not been written — not sure I’d say that about any book, but I may update after I think that through.
Comment by Anodyne —
August 20, 2006 @ 12:42 pm
In defense of Ken Pollack (or better living through Jeremy Lott)
Jim, it’s possible that emotional investment in the subject matter or disorientation resulting from an inability to completly reconcile nagging facts with available narratives intended to explain them is preventing you from appreciating Mr. Pollack’s rather prolific contribution to the burgeoning genre of evocative military-political fiction. Channel Jeremy for a moment and then have another go at it.
Here is a new, more easily digested 5,000 word example of Pollack’s formula . This time, try not to concern yourself with substance and focus merely on his form. Step 1: Claim a dispositive “realistic and informed†diagnosis of the state of the world. Step 2: add a tag line of dire consequences on the horizon. Step 3: provide a nearly random choice of dots and connect them through purported historical cause and effect relationships (with a dose of x “tends†to lead to y phraseology for authoritative effect) to support the theme and reinforce a visceral response. Step 4: offer a series of facile prescriptions neither implied by the preceding analysis nor likely to alter the relationship between the x and y of real interest.
Note the stand-alone functionality of each of component, the viability of each individual component depending in no way on the explicit stated relevance, correctness, or conventional acceptability of any other. Explore the easy transitioning from deductive to inductive argument and the sense of meandering cohesiveness it instills. If need be, you might even resort to the guilty pleasure of psychoanalyzing the authors to help you suspend your prejudices.
One last recommendation – the delivery is mostly declarative with obligatory conditioning statements rather than rhetorical, suggesting the piece is more an artifact of the authors’ thought processes than a conscious attempt at strategery or agitation for its own sake. Try not to let that get in the way of appreciating the work. As an aficionado of art, literature and music I assume it is not a necessary condition for the artist to understand what he is doing and why he is doing it for you to enjoy the toil of his labor. Ask yourself – what would Jeremy do?
Comment by Neel Krishnaswami —
August 20, 2006 @ 3:00 pm
My answers are here.
Comment by Steve —
August 20, 2006 @ 4:44 pm
Jim, FWIW, I seem to recall that when I was writing something about Linebarger’s remarkable career, I ran across someone’s mention that they were working on a biography. I can’t find the reference now, so I may be thinking of this essay, which was an attempt to run down whether Linebarger was the man in the “jet-propelled couch”.
Comment by Jason Kuznicki —
August 21, 2006 @ 12:25 pm
I, too, wish that there were a good biography of Linebarger/Smith. He is without a doubt my favorite science fiction writer. Does anyone know if his non sci-fi titles are worth reading?
Comment by Neel Krishnaswami —
August 21, 2006 @ 4:09 pm
Nell: you’ve pushed The Periodic Table up my to-read queue.