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In more pleasant news, SOMEONE left a pile of books on my front doorstep including Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver, which several persons have been pressuring me to read despite my aversion to poodle wigs, and something by Iain Banks with his middle initial, which can only mean space.
I read a ton of Iain Banks in NY, as Ex was particularly fond of his non-space titles. I remember Wasp Factory best, and I would not be at all surprised to find it taught in college courses in coming generations. There will always be a place in my heart for the rockstar fantasy Espedair Street though the ending is both sappy and far-fetched. I did not like The Bridge, though it still haunts me. And I read one about the Panama Canal in which a cello player is turned into an unwitting action hero. I did not like that one at all. It had too much violence against instruments, which is something about which I am extremely sensitive.
Geeks are always shocked when I know his name. "But you can't know Ian Banks, he isn't published in this country!" (which used to be true, but is no longer the case.) To which I roll my eyes. Give me some credit! I am not a geek, but I occasionally make attempts at speaking the language. I consider myself bilingual. I will never grasp the idiom, but I can generally converse.
In the meantime I'm in the middle of A Deepness in the Sky. I really loved the beginning, but I'm starting to get bored and check to see how many pages I have left. There'd better be a payoff, and some tied ends. Still, the ideas about inter-generational transmission are interesting, and something I will have to give some thought to in contemporary context.
I read a ton of Iain Banks in NY, as Ex was particularly fond of his non-space titles. I remember Wasp Factory best, and I would not be at all surprised to find it taught in college courses in coming generations. There will always be a place in my heart for the rockstar fantasy Espedair Street though the ending is both sappy and far-fetched. I did not like The Bridge, though it still haunts me. And I read one about the Panama Canal in which a cello player is turned into an unwitting action hero. I did not like that one at all. It had too much violence against instruments, which is something about which I am extremely sensitive.
Geeks are always shocked when I know his name. "But you can't know Ian Banks, he isn't published in this country!" (which used to be true, but is no longer the case.) To which I roll my eyes. Give me some credit! I am not a geek, but I occasionally make attempts at speaking the language. I consider myself bilingual. I will never grasp the idiom, but I can generally converse.
In the meantime I'm in the middle of A Deepness in the Sky. I really loved the beginning, but I'm starting to get bored and check to see how many pages I have left. There'd better be a payoff, and some tied ends. Still, the ideas about inter-generational transmission are interesting, and something I will have to give some thought to in contemporary context.
