Reading Wednesday

[sabotabby]

Just finished: Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson. Okay I got to the end and the Alice story was BAD but not as awful as the Jay story. Anyway, the main problem with this book is he doesn't cite his sources. Which, granted, is not 100% confirmation that all of this is true, but it would help??? in a book about fraud and plagiarism??

Anyway, I still think it's good and worth reading, in that it is a case study in media manipulation and moral panics, which are always good to learn about. And also because as a young'un I very quickly got to the point where I hated YA books about Very Important Issues so every time I read a takedown of one it's cathartic for me.

A Steampunk's Guide to the Apocalypse by Margaret Killjoy. This is basically a 'zine and you can get it for free under a Creative Commons license and read it in half an hour or so. I didn't even know about it! It's very cute and fun, presumably dating back to those halcyon days when steampunk wasn't absolutely cringe. Anyway it's basically about survival techniques—how to distill water, grow food, make bricks out of tires, build a trebuchet to defend yourself against ne'er do wells, that kind of thing. Worth your time, wish steampunk had turned out more like this instead of the other thing.

Currently reading: The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe. That's right everyone, I'm back on my Book of the New Sun bullshit! It's been awhile since I finished the last one and it's one continuous story so there is some catching up to do. Severian is now ensconced in his new position as torturer and executioner but turns out his girlfriend Dorcas is not cool with that? Despite knowing what he did for a living, presumably, the whole time she'd been travelling with him? But that's just an excuse for him to fall in love with yet another prisoner (briefly) and help her escape (big problem for him given his job) and this leads him on a quest to return the Claw of the Conciliator to a group of nuns. Also possibly there is some time travel happening.

Design Graphics: Drawing Techniques for Design Professionals by Peter A. Koenig. I need to improve my line work. I'm kind of skimming and flipping through this one—it is helpful but is just reminding me of how out of practice and sloppy I am.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville. We get absolutely WHALLOPED with a storm of foreshadowing this week, as the Pequod encounters another ship, the Jeroboam. People on it have the plague so they have to social distance while they update each other on the news via Boat Twitter. On board is a dude who is absolutely useless at being a whaler, has "redundant" hair (what?) oh yeah, and he's convinced that he's the archangel Gabriel and the captain can't get rid of him because he's started a cult of personality. Anyway he has some prophecies for Ahab and co., which they mostly ignore. Moby Dick has killed a dude. This seems a very inefficient way to deliver mail. No wonder everyone goes nuts.

Comments

[chagrined]

every time you post about another chapter I am reminded that I ttly need to reread Moby dick again 😁

[sabotabby]

It's SO GOOD and so bonkers.

[highlyeccentric]

Slightly tangential (to q 1) question: did anyone outside of Aus read John Marsden's "So Much To Tell You" and its sequel? I think the weird futuristic-war-series starting with Tomorrow When The War Began got some international traction, but I'm not sure about the rest of his oevre. Admittedly there were significantly fewer drugs or demons than the US market may, I gather, have been primed to desire. I genuinely cannot remember what the detainee protag of Letters From The Inside was detained for, and wikipedia doesn't tell me: I sort of just.., assumeed, in the early 2000s zeitgeist, that it was drug related. *baffled shrug*

[sabotabby]

I have never even heard of it!

[batdina]

It's interesting to me, that the book about Alice, etc. was one I couldn't even finish because it lacked citations. I, too, hated YA books that were "issue of the week" bs, and I, too, feel vindicated to discover the ones that were made up crap. I really wanted Unmask Alice to be better than it was.

Enjoy your Wolfe. I remember it was a very fine ride, a while ago now.

[sabotabby]

I thought it was a good read. But I don't know. I was expecting more than "I talked to people, it was the pandemic, google it" in terms of sourcing.

[blogcutter]

I definitely agree with your comment about that first book. Speaking as a retired librarian, it drives me totally bonkers when writers don't properly document their sources. Especially, as you pointed out, in a book about fraud and plagiarism!

[sabotabby]

This is one situation where you absolutely need to document every claim.

[ioplokon]

we should do a drawing exercise day!

[sabotabby]

Yes! Good idea.

[agoodwinsmith]

I don't think I could possibly enjoy Moby Dick more than I enjoy your synopsis/commentary on it.

Tangent - I often find, similarly, that I enjoy a book review enough that I get the book, but then am disappointed it isn't continuation of reviewer-voice.

[sabotabby]

Hah. I sometimes read negative reviews like that.

Seriously though, Moby Dick is great.

[greylock]

Currently reading: The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe. That's right everyone, I'm back on my Book of the New Sun bullshit! It's been awhile since I finished the last one and it's one continuous story so there is some catching up to do. Severian is now ensconced in his new position as torturer and executioner but turns out his girlfriend Dorcas is not cool with that?

I think you are one book further than I got.
I have no memory of 'Dorcas' at all. But his big thing is 'I AM A TORTURER'. Time Travel?
Oh gods.

People on it have the plague so they have to social distance while they update each other on the news via Boat Twitter

Are there boat cookers?

[sabotabby]

Dorcas is from the first book. She rescues Severian from a lake and has no memory of her past, and then they travel together. I checked and he immediately identifies himself as a torturer so I don't know what her problem is.

What's a boat cooker?

[greylock]

It's been 10 years since I tried these books.
Dorcas is a name I'd think I'd remember.
But apparently Wolfe is smarter than me.

What's a boat cooker?
A cooker on a boat!
Freedom convoy types. On water!