DamnSaxon Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy was dreadful.I'm inclined to agree with MJ - the radio series is definitive, and everything else (TV series, books, plays, you name it) followed from that. But yes - it's lost some of its freshness over the thirty years or so ( ) since it first arrived, for all us early adopters still love it. But, khit, if HHGG hasn't put you off science fiction-ish humour for good, get into Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (if you haven't already) - there are 30+ of the series now. It's a similar kind of intelligent humour, and even on re-reading them Pratchett's characters, and his descriptions, have me in tears of laughter. Also, Robert Sheckley's sci-fi, mainly his short stories, where things go wrong, people do stupid things, etc., not at all the usual science-worshipping take on sci-fi. Both authors have the DSSA (DamnSaxon Seal of Approval!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justsomeguy Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Roadwork by Richard Bachman (Stephen King) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (if you haven't already) That's the thing - I love Terry Pratchett. My mother had me read Equal Rites when I was a child and I became hooked. (I'm also the proud owner of quite a few of those leather-bound Unseen Library editions - until the Sci-Fi book club cottoned on to my method of only buying them with the introductory offer, fulfilling my obligation to buy x number of books, cancelling membership, waiting 6 months and starting all over again - darn them ~shakes fist~) I was quite shocked to find I wasn't enjoying The Hitch hiker's guide. I'm somewhat afraid that my reading through the BBC Big Read (Top 200) has changed my reading tastes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 My sunlight allergy - Gladys Knight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kephas4 Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Medicine Balls - Dr Phil Hammond This Isn't About Me - Janice Galloway Three Books of Occult Philosophy - Cornelius Agrippa, ed. Donald Tyson The Rule of Four - Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainlander Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Me as sad as it is just got three Sookie Stackhouse books through the mail, the 1st was quite enjoyable for bus journeys. It has made "True Blood" quite frustrating though. Enjoy "True Blood" greatly and been thinking of buying the books MJ - would you advise against? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 Just finished book four, awaiting books 5-7. But new Pratchet will get read 1st (expected Monday- yay!)Enjoyable pulp. Can see why Kim Harrison is compared to her, very similar. Though not quite so X rated, can't figure out where all the sex in the TV series comes from.Sometimes I like a nice easy book to slip into, escapism, without having to think too much. edit - sorry I love them but I love Fantasy Mysteries, the TV series does not follow the books, it's very loosely based on the books. It's also nice like I said before to find books of that genre that are not just thinly veiled porn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EM Posted October 2, 2009 Report Share Posted October 2, 2009 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy was dreadful - I don't know what all the hype was about. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it had I read it as a child.... It probably seems hyped to you because you've been surrounded by it for ages and absorbed all sorts of things which, when read in their original source, now appear trite and clichéd. At the time, it was quite extraordinary and probably shaped quite a few things that we take for granted today in terms of language and humour.I agree completely with Fjool, indeed I would go further. In addition to his admirable humour and wit, I feel Adams was a significant philosopher. There are loads of concepts in his books which really changed the way things are thought about today. In terms of affecting the way society thinks about things, I'd say he will be seen in time to have been more influential than Derrida, Foucault or any of the other hip philosophers of the last few decades. (In the same way that later generations may see Morricone as being the leading classical composer of the same period ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Njugle Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 ^Fair point. I have to add another vote for Adams. I also read the radio scripts in my teens, complete with his totally his own totally unreasonable sound effect descriptions and the whole thing is a work of art as I recall. Very funny, ironic, profound, insightful... could go on. Loved the books in that era too and I was fond of Asimov, Bradbury and Clarke at that time, Adams was just in a different league for me, in fact I shouldn't even make a comparison there. That's not to say he was a better writer, Adams didn't challenge the genre, he turned it inside out and wore it as a silly hat. So easy for us now to miss how original his perspective was from our techno-sophist cynical times, and yet even now his grasp of the ironies of artificial intelligence and futurology ring true. So much I could rattle off on the subject but I'll say just one thing..... The film is just plain wrong. But this thread is about books... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sha Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 The selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddtablet Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanna Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Fanny Hill by John Cleland, just got it out of the library Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainlander Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Thank for the advice on the Sookie Stackhouse novels, MJ, there is always a place for enjoyable pulp! I will probably wait until the series are finished, maybe less confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doodle Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Just started re-reading 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell' by Susanna Clarke (again). Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Just started re-reading 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell' by Susanna Clarke (again). Highly recommended. I bought that a few years back thinking it would be right up my street, but I only got halfway through it. Nothing of any interest was happening and it would put me to sleep within a few pages. I suppose I ought to give it a try again - is it cheating if I just start up again where I left off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.