(Eric Frank Russell) Somewhere, A Voice [collection]
. . . . 14900. [2] (Eric Frank Russell) Somewhere A Voice [story]
. . . . 14901. [2] (Eric Frank Russell) U‑Turn [story]
. . . . 14902. [2] (Eric Frank Russell) Seat of Oblivion [story]
. . . . 14903. [2] (Eric Frank Russell) Tieline [story]
. . . . 14904. [2] (Eric Frank Russell) Displaced Person [story]
. . . . 14905. [2] (Eric Frank Russell) Dear Devil [story]
. . . . 14906. [2] (Eric Frank Russell) I Am Nothing [story]
14907. (Donald W. Clarke) Prehistory of Great Bear Lake [article]
14908. (Roger Bacon) The Opus majus of Roger Bacon, edited with introd. and analytical table by
. . . . . John Henry Bridges
14909. (Roger Bacon) Part of the Opus tertium of Roger Bacon, including a fragment now printed for
. . . . . the first time
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Category Archives: B - READING - Page 39
READING – JANUARY 2007
14924. (Brian Sloan) Tale of Two Summers
I was deeply impressed by the courage and skill that went into this new novel for teenagers. First of all, it undertakes the technically difficult task of writing a novel in the style of a blog, with current teenage blog-language used convincingly. Second, it gets in the head of two teenagers, one straight and one gay, who have maintained a friendship from childhood, and are confronting their first sexual choices. Sloan, who is a film director, succeeds admirably in both these tasks. I have been told by too many people that the current atmosphere in publishing precludes an intelligent treatment of teenage sexuality. This book proves that those people are wrong. Yes, it’s true that the marching morons have commandeered and corrupted much of the media in North America. Yes, it’s true that an aging population in the United States and Canada has been getting steadily stupider and more conservative. But it is essential that writers resist these trends, and stand up for true moral values against the ignorance and immorality of Conservatism, especially when it comes to writing for the young. Sloan does so, and earns my respect for it.
14919. (Brian Clegg) The First Scientist, A Life of Roger Bacon
This rounds off a little project of mine to investigate Roger Bacon, the thirteenth century Franciscan friar who wrote about the possibilities of scientific inquiry. His work was suppressed in his lifetime, and he spent most of it imprisoned by his religious order, and forced to bribe his keepers to smuggle in writing paper. His large (for the time) collection of books and experimental apparatus disappeared in the turmoil of war. Since then, his reputation has suffered extremes of interpretation. Renaissance popular culture saw him as an occultist and magician. It was claimed, among other absurdities, that he possessed a talking head of brass. His unrelated namesake, Francis Bacon, expropriated many of his ideas and received the credit for them. Some nineteenth century historians praised him, struck by his prophetic assertions that inquiry into nature would make it possible to observe the stars and very small things with properly arranged lenses, that we would some day create flying machines and “cars” that move without the help of animals, that we would be able to record and replay sounds, and for his precise chemical formula for gunpowder. But twentieth century historians tended to downgrade him to a “pre-scientific” curiosity. Read more »
(Eric Frank Russell) Somewhere, A Voice [collection]
![07-01-04 READ (Eric Frank Russell) Somewhere, A Voice [collection]](http://www.philpaine.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/07-01-04-READ-Eric-Frank-Russell-Somewhere-A-Voice-collection.jpg)
Most of these stories, written between 1948 and 1955, have worn out with time. The title story, for instance, is a parable to teach racial tolerance that now just seems corny, though I’m sure it had an impact when it was written. But the second last story, “Dear Devil” still holds up well. I read it when I was a child, got intense pleasure from it, and never forgot its details. It takes place on an Earth long after a nuclear war, where a few humans struggle to survive. An alien poet, who is stranded on Earth, befriends a human boy, and helps him find hope and meaning in life. Russell rose above his usual pulp style to write this, and the emotional ending is superb. You can see this story as the principle inspiration for Edgar Pangborn’s later A Mirror For Observers (1954) and Davy (1964), which employ some of the same elements, and have the same mood and attitude. There is also some resemblence to George R. Stuart’s Earth Abides, published a year before. All these stories share the same concerns, and the same humanistic impulse to find some sort of balance between youth and age, freedom and responsibility, cynicism and hope. “Dear Devil” was often anthologized, so if you can’t find this old Ace collection of Russell’s work, you should be able to dig it up in some thematic or “best of” anthology. Make the effort. Read more »
READING – DECEMBER 2006
14856. (Robert Smith Thompson) Empires On the Pacific ― World War II and the Struggle for
. . . . . the Mastery of Asia
14857. (F. Kaid Benfield, Matthew D. Raimi & Donald D. T. Chen) Once There Were Greenfields
. . . . . ― How Urban Sprawl Is Undermining America’s Environment, Economy and Social Fabric
14858. (Andre Dubus III) House of Sand and Fog
14859. (Mary Frances Cusack) An Illustrated History of Ireland From AD 400 to !800
14860. (Nicholas Meyer) The Seven-Percent Solution
14861. (Ian Finlay) Columba
Read more »
14856. (Robert Smith Thompson) Empires On the Pacific ― World War II and the Struggle for the Mastery of Asia
This outline of the military and diplomatic history of the Pacific theatre of WWII is of mixed value. In describing the operations of American forces, it is quite good. Thompson describes the main battles in little vignettes, which are well-chosen and well-written. But some of the book touches on China, and in these parts, he depends heavily on the discredited and generally worthless reportage of Edgar Snow, perpetuating myths manufactured by the Communist Party. Thompson believes, like many people once did, that if only Washington had struck a deal with Mao, they would have built a fruitful relationship with him. This is nonsense. Thompson is quite right that General Stillwell’s evaluation of Chiang Kaishek was basically correct. Chiang was insufferably corrupt, and made little serious effort to resist the Japanese, doing only the bare minimum that would ensure the flow of aid. However, if the Nationalists under Chiang did little to fight the Japanese, the Communists under Mao did absolutely nothing. Mao not only had no interest in fighting the Japanese, he had been hoping the Japanese would destroy Chiang and occupy a large part of the country, which would leave the rest of the country in his hands and force Stalin to acknowledge his permanent power. In fact, the Communists’ only known armed exchange with the Japanese was an accidental skirmish, which aroused Mao’s fury. He would have entered into a pact with the Japanese the second it was possible.
READING – NOVEMBER 2006
14835. (Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai [Bái Xiānyǒng] ) Crystal Boys
14836. (Alfred J. Andrea) The Crusades in the Context of World History [article]
14837. (Iota Sykka) Unique Mycenaean Suit of Armor Due for Conservation [article]
14838. (Cesare, marchese di Beccaria-Bonesana) Des délits et des peines, traduction nouvelle
. . . . . et seule complète, accompagnée de notes historiques et critiques sur la législation
. . . . . criminelle ancienne et moderne, le secret, les agens provocateurs, etc.
14839. (François-Marie Arouet, dit Voltaire) Commentaire sur le livre Des délits et des
. . . . . peines de César de Beccaria
14840. (Joseph Michel Antoine Servan) Discours sur La justice criminelle, 1766, avec des notes
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14851. (Stanley Elkin) The Living End
Stanley Elkin
Stanley Elkin was never exactly popular, but his dark tragi-comic fantasies appealed to an off-beat minority. The Living End, written in 1979, is still very readable, though hard to describe. It manages to include a journey through heaven and hell where there really are pearly gates, and you are really damned to eternal torment because you took the Lord’s name in vein, and a war between Minneapolis and St. Paul [“Let me tell you something, gentlemen. A St. Paul baby ain’t got no business on the point of a Minneapolis bayonet.”] Elkin’s twisted humour is not for everyone. Does anyone read him, nowadays? So many interesting and unique writers end up lost in the shuffle of time.
14843. (Nicholas Ostler) Empires of the Word, A Language History of the World
The title of this book is a little misleading. Only a few of the world’s thousands of languages are even mentioned in it. What the book is really about is the successful Lingua francas, the languages that achieved widespread usage through conquest, trade, or cultural prestige. So his attention focuses on Akkadian, Aramaic, Greek, Sanskrit, Chinese, Malay, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Russian, and English, each of which expanded far beyond their ethnic puddles. On this topic, it is a fine introduction to the general reader. Anyone who studies world history should read it. Ostler is at his best when talking about Sanskrit, which he obviously is particularly attracted to. His explanation of why Sanskrit is so rich in puns, for example, is very interesting. Elsewhere, I’ve written about the sophistication of the Sanskrit grammarian Panini. Ostler gives a clear explanation of why his work is so remarkable. Ostler is not, like many people who have written on the topic, unthinkingly triumphant about the future dominance of English as a world language. In the book, he shows exactly how a “universal” language can evaporate its own utility and popularity. Personally, I suspect that English will retain its role as the “Latin” of this century, and that this will in no way inhibit the renaissance of local vernaculars and new regional players. We are entering a new age of linguistic wealth.
14835. (Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai [Bái Xiānyǒng] ) Crystal Boys
Bai Xianyong is said to be the best stylist among today’s Taiwanese writers, and among the best writing in Chinese today. This is not something I’m in a position to judge. This novel translates well, partly because the subject matter, the subculture of gay hustlers in Taipei, is easily compared to similar settings in Europe or North America. Chinese society, for most of the thousands of years of its history, was not infected by the barbaric homophobia that obsessed Christian Europe. Unfortunately, European cultural norms, and of course the vicious gay-hatred of Communism on the mainland, have had their influence, and today the gay subculture of Taiwan occupies much the same social position that it does in America. Bai’s hustler characters could as easily be found in Toronto’s Church and Wellesley village, or in West Hollywood. The perfume of Chinese imagery, of jade and plum blossoms and so on, makes it seem a bit different. So do the numerous references to contemporary Chinese pop culture. Is it a good novel? Yes. The characters seem real, and you care about what happens to them. I recommend it.