Hey!
I'm taking Raven's post for the night, but I'm going to make it brief cause we're both pretty tired.
Being out of school has been hard for me. I like to be constantly learning, but I am not great at self motivation (this blog may be a good reference for that...) So today I am going to commit to read more. This comes after Raven and I have (mostly) finished cataloging and shelving our impressive library. There are so many great stories and voices in our apartment. So many I haven't read or heard. I'd like to.
Starting today I am making a commitment to read more. To read more books of substance. More new voices. Each month I am going to attempt to read a new non-fiction novel, a new fiction novel, and a novel I wouldn't normally pick up for pleasure reading. On top of reading whatever else I choose to read that month (likely the romance novels and comic books I read in 15 snatched minutes during work breaks).
I'm not sure what all the books for this month will be, but last night I started Terror in the Land of the Holy Spirit: Guatemala Under General Efrain Rios Montt 1982-1983. It's a relatively familiar area for me (I've studied Latin American history fairly extensively), but it's not a period I know in a lot of detail. I haven't gotten far, but already it's nice to get back into the swing of reading for more than just my own enjoyment. I'll keep you all updated on how the book progresses (brace for political posts ahead) and I'll let you know when I pick up other new books this month.
Wish me happy self motivation!
See you around,
Owl
Thought I'd try something novel and actually comment on one of these. If you're looking for substantive books, and getting more into sci-fi, and interested in the whole "how might society function once everything is automated" question, then I cannot recommend the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks enough. The books are set in and around the titular "Culture," which is a far-future post-scarcity utopian society, where all needs are seen to by superhuman artificial intelligences, death is optional (though considered polite after a few hundred years), and even the worst misfits are still pretty enlightened and empathic.
ReplyDeleteOf course, because stories set entirely in that society would get boring very quickly, the books instead focus mostly on the Culture's interaction with less advanced and enlightened civilizations, which could politely be "meddling", and perhaps more accurately "ruthless manipulation" - albeit all with the goal of nudging these societies down a better path and maximizing the greater good.
A caveat, though: despite being built around a utopian society (and it really is utopian, not dystopian), the Culture novels are not exactly cheery. They wrestle with the existential issues of life in a huge universe where individuals are not just unimportant, but, broadly speaking, probably unnecessary. And to an even greater extent, they don't shy away from the thorny moral issues of the Culture's benevolent (but coldly calculated) imperialism. Though the books do vary somewhat in terms of their tone.
Speaking of which, the books share a universe, but otherwise aren't really connected, so you can read them in any order. If you want the full Culture experience, without getting TOO dour, I'd recommend The Player of Games. If you aren't afraid to get unrelentingly grim, Use of Weapons is beautiful but depressing. If you want something more along the lines of traditional space opera, Excession is one of the most "fun" of the books, and deserves significant credit for formulating the concept of the Outside Context Problem (look it up). And if you want a bit of Game of Thrones in your sci-fi, Inversions is told from the perspective of a character living in a medieval society that (obviously unbeknownst to him) Culture agents are currently in the process of meddling with.
So anyway, this was longer than I intended. Can't pass up an opportunity to pitch Culture novels at people, though.
Heh, excellent pitch. I can't speak for Owl, but they certainly sound interesting to me. I'll check them out. -Raven
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