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What are you reading?

Started by Mr.Obvious, September 04, 2023, 06:16:34 PM

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Mr.Obvious

Almost through 'doctor sleep'.

Actually really happy with the slightly similar slightiyvdifferent book and movie universes in this franchise.

Kind of like the dexter books and show, but less different.
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

the_antithesis

I'm not reading it, but I was suddenly reminded of the existence of Real Men Don't Eat Quiche by Bruce Feirstein. I had forgotten what a cultural moment it was because it seems to be largely forgotten today. Weird this is this:

Quote from: Real Men Don't Eat QuicheAre you a Real Man? Would you like to be one? In the past, to was easy to be a Real Man. All you had do was wage war, cheat at poker, drink yourself blind and find someplace to dump the toxic waste.

But today Real Men are expected to cope with things like the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit, low-tar cigarettes, women who demand meaningful relationships, and restaurants that spin.

I dunno. Some of this stuff sounds like the sort of things so-called men's rights activists say today. Difference is, this but was supposed to be humorous. Shitheads like Andrew Tate read it and mistook it for a new book of the Bible.

I dipped into it, and I'm unsure if it has aged particularly well. It's filled with New Yorker-styled cartoons and the first one has the caption:

Quote from: Real Men Don't Eat Quiche"It's tough! I can never tell when she wants be soft and sensitive like Alan Alda or when she wants me to ravage her like a wild boar."

Where's the joke?

It's kinda interesting because I could see myself laughing at this in 1982. I would've been 10, so I wouldn't have understood it, but I would have still laughed. But today, I don't even see why it's meant to be funny. Maybe in 1982, crassness like "ravage like a wild boar" wasn't seen as much. Doesn't reflect well that it seems bland today.

Unbeliever

I guess I'm not a "real man," 'cause I really like quiche, and eat it every chance I get! 🤣
God Not Found
"There is a sucker born-again every minute." - C. Spellman

the_antithesis

Quote from: Unbeliever on March 24, 2024, 08:47:36 PMI guess I'm not a "real man," 'cause I really like quiche, and eat it every chance I get! 🤣

Are you Alan Alda?

The dip I took mentioned Alan Alda an awful lot. Either the author really hated Alan Alda or just saw him as a quintessential quiche-eater. Which is funny because he's probably most famous for his role on M*A*S*H and on that show, he was a womanizer.

Mr.Obvious

Currently reading the ocean at the end of the lane, by gaiman.

It is pretty good so far. Still early in though.
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

Gawdzilla Sama

Mars, by Ben Bova. Return to Mars lurks in the shadows.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

the_antithesis

Quote from: Mr.Obvious on March 25, 2024, 07:31:58 AMCurrently reading the ocean at the end of the lane, by gaiman.

It is pretty good so far. Still early in though.

Did he turn some inanimate object or concept into a character yet?

Mr.Obvious

Not yet. But it could happen for sure
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

the_antithesis

Quote from: Mr.Obvious on March 26, 2024, 01:53:31 AMNot yet. But it could happen for sure

I would bet all of my money on it. It seems to be his trick.

Authors tend to have tricks that they kind of default to and sometimes it's noticeable. Like when Stephen King wrote a Sherlock Holmes story where Dr Watson solves the case doing the very observation/deduction thing Holmes tends to do, and he made it so horrible an experience that he hoped it would never happen again.

Gaiman seems to make things that are not people into people. He turned the fucking TARDIS into a person so it could talk to the Doctor and prove they had nothing to say to each other.

Mr.Obvious

I read his book of norse mythology, which didn't have that, but I imagine is not representitive of most of his original work.
Don´t think it happened in his collab with pratchett in good omens.
Then again, that was a collab.
Qnd i´m trying to think what it would be in coraline. The beldam is an entity, but a monster like any other. So are the rats.
The tunnel, mayhaps? It gives eldritch horror vibes. But I would say that is a stretch.

I think that covers my neil gaiman read works, tbh.
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

Blackleaf

Not a traditional book, but I've been rereading "Solutions and Other Problems" by Allie Brosh. It's almost more like a really thick comic book than a traditional book. Nothing has made me laugh harder. The tales of the bizarre situations she got in when she was a kid, the way she draws the bewildered faces of her parents, it just tickles my brain. I originally picked it up as a gift for my sister, but before I bought it, I read through some of it to see if she would like it. I liked it so much I binge read it that night so I could finish it before I had to hand it over. Recently, I bought myself a copy because I wanted to read it again.

There's a section of the book which was very sad. Allie gave a warning in advance, but given the tone of the book, I wasn't sure how seriously to take it. It wasn't a joke. This book made me cry and laugh at the same goddamn time. I don't know how she accomplished such black magic. Much good. Big recommend.

"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--