Scott, no offense, but in a Backstage, you were told to read a Heinlein story by Ralph, “We All Walk Dogs”. It’s really called “We Also Walk Dogs”. The name of the story is not important. What I’m curious about is how many conservatives, libertarians, free thinkers are into Sci Fi. The flip side is: what does it take to have conservatives, libertarians, free thinkers to not be liberals? Other than “Common Sense”.
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22 replies on “I’m curious”
Gary, one of our fellow Members, Ralph, hooked me up with the correct Heinlein story. Now, if he could just hook me up with a 36-hour day.
So demanding. I actually have been working on a new “format” for our typical day to get rid of the 24 hour cycle and replace it with something more useful (or at least useful to me). I will let you know if that ends up with a 36 hour day, though so far it seems very base 10 so don’t think 36 will end up as a cycle.
As to Gary’s question, I don’t think the enjoyment of SciFi lends itself to political leanings. I think people are much more to be like Scott and myself. Scott enjoys historical reading about real people. I like reading fictional accounts. I know for myself in addition to SciFi I have gone through some other phases. In HS and college I read all of Robert Ludlum, in order.
Then didn’t miss a Tom Clancy novel. But though I appreciate our founding, I struggle reading The Federalist Papers. If Bill would get done with his universe that puts our founding as stories in space, I would be very happy.
Scifi.and fantasy fan here. Phases in past: read everything I could find by Edgar Allen Poe. Everything by H. P. Lovecraft (yes, I know I am a strange person.) Everything by J. R. R. Tolkien ( more recent releases I am a bit behind) into right now, bouncing between multiple authors, all fiction/scifi.
Check out “DUST” on Youtube.
Similar start here: Poe, Verne. Then Carsac, Asimov (foundation, robots), Clarke (city and the stars, rama 1), Lem (cyberiad, pirx) and sucked in completely from here on. Interesting that I got to Tolkien and Heinlein so much later.
I tend to read a balance between history, sci-fi and fantasy. I’m plowing my way through Churchill’s four volume “History of the English Speaking People”, along with tomes on Khrushchev and Coolidge. I use sci-fi and fantasy reading as a needed break sometimes from “reality”.
You just described my reading habits, but I add historical fiction, which I think is much like fantasy without the fantastic. In that genre, Nernard Cornwell is king. The Richard Sharpe series, The Last Kingdom… Good stuff, as well as, well, everything he writes.
Seems we’re kindred spirits in this regard. I’ve read most of Cornwell’s stuff and enjoy the escapism immensely. The way he describes life in his books seems like a much more honest way of living as idealized as it might be. The Sharpe T.V. shows that the BBC did were o.k, but not nearly as good or compelling as the books. Cheers!
As the saying goes, we have nice 24 hours in a day, and then we still have the night. 😉
Heinlein is well worth reading, almost all he wrote.
I recall your comment on air left me baffled. “Fiction” tends to tell more about reality than documentaries if done well.
At least read the essential short stories like Harrison Bergeron, Pre-persons, Inferno, Cold equations, The Weapon, … most are just a handful of pages.
One of my favorite short reads is from Isaac Asimov; “The Last Question”
Actually, I think Scott would rather like that one.
Also available in full on the net at https://templatetraining.princeton.edu/sites/training/files/the_last_question_-_issac_asimov.pdf
For some reason, that is One of my favorite Asimov. (That and the Foundation series)
During the summer of quarantine I read all of the Foundation stories, actually started with the Robot novels, in the order the Isaac suggested. It is a fun ride.
So it seems the site doesn’t like links. Here is one of my favorite short stories by Asimov. If you search the title, you will find a link to it as a pdf on a princeton site. All 9pp.
the_last_question_-_issac_asimov.pdf
“Almost all he wrote”, perhaps. “Stranger In A Strange Land” left me a little less than enthused. That may just be me.
So, you didn’t Grok? 😉
I guess not. But he, the Master himself, said in ‘Number of the Beast’ or was it ‘Time Enough to Love’.’ Number’ I think, that authors will do anything for money.
I think that was number. I have read Time Enough for Love about 7 times.
My bad, it is ‘For’. In my head, with what’s going on now I’m looking for time enough ‘To’ love.
Well, Number definitely looked like a book written solely for the page count.
I consider Stranger in the best works, H’s or global, hands down. Maybe give it another try? I’s filled with radical ideas and observations, some might not even met elsewhere.
My list of “not recommended H” starts with number of the beast — it has good material but awful writing and should be edited down to half size at least. For another forgot the title, where the old man brai planted into a woman’s body: the theme is brilliant, but the repeated internal monologues become cumbersome and after a time outright painful. But again an edited version would rock.
Wasn’t number the one he wrote because he had written a different version that wasn’t published, so he took the same theme and wrote a different story. Some people think number was written very purposefully either as a prank or insider joke.
Just remember it was weird when I read it.
I din;t know the history, it definitely differs a lot from kinda all other books in many regards.