Whatcha reading?

[Silent Majority]

14) The Spy Who Loved Me - Ian Fleming. Audiobook. 1962. Points for trying something different. I can see what he's trying to do here, he wants to show Bond from a different perspective and to look at the life of those who are left in his wake. It's a concept not dissimilar to Lower Decks for Star Trek. If there's anything interesting about it, it's how a man of Fleming's class and generation does at his best attempt of being sympathetic to a young woman. And you know what? Despite its dreary reputation (true for most of the novel) it actually livens up into something exciting when Bond turns up. Sadly, that's more or less at the end of the narrative, after we've been taken through the wholly inessential details of the main character's life and there are moments that are actually sickening when Fleming unleashes his sadistic sexuaity on her, in her attitudes. The typical Bond excitement that had begun to be warmed up is undone by the observation "all women love semi-rape." So, in conclusion: fuck this book.

[Dr. Medulla]

14) The Spy Who Loved Me - Ian Fleming. Audiobook. 1962. Points for trying something different. I can see what he's trying to do here, he wants to show Bond from a different perspective and to look at the life of those who are left in his wake. It's a concept not dissimilar to Lower Decks for Star Trek. If there's anything interesting about it, it's how a man of Fleming's class and generation does at his best attempt of being sympathetic to a young woman. And you know what? Despite its dreary reputation (true for most of the novel) it actually livens up into something exciting when Bond turns up. Sadly, that's more or less at the end of the narrative, after we've been taken through the wholly inessential details of the main character's life and there are moments that are actually sickening when Fleming unleashes his sadistic sexuaity on her, in her attitudes. The typical Bond excitement that had begun to be warmed up is undone by the observation "all women love semi-rape." So, in conclusion: fuck this book.

I read that a few years ago and my experience alternated between being bored (par for the course with Fleming's novels) and appalled (not uncommon with Fleming's novels). I prefer to read them in their particular historical context, with the "emasculation" of an empire losing its possessions and the perceived emasculation of men as economy and social roles moved away from traditional expressions of masculinity. The books are like a punch in the arm to Englishmen that say, don't worry, your dick still works and the women need it.

[Silent Majority]

14) The Spy Who Loved Me - Ian Fleming. Audiobook. 1962. Points for trying something different. I can see what he's trying to do here, he wants to show Bond from a different perspective and to look at the life of those who are left in his wake. It's a concept not dissimilar to Lower Decks for Star Trek. If there's anything interesting about it, it's how a man of Fleming's class and generation does at his best attempt of being sympathetic to a young woman. And you know what? Despite its dreary reputation (true for most of the novel) it actually livens up into something exciting when Bond turns up. Sadly, that's more or less at the end of the narrative, after we've been taken through the wholly inessential details of the main character's life and there are moments that are actually sickening when Fleming unleashes his sadistic sexuaity on her, in her attitudes. The typical Bond excitement that had begun to be warmed up is undone by the observation "all women love semi-rape." So, in conclusion: fuck this book.

I read that a few years ago and my experience alternated between being bored (par for the course with Fleming's novels) and appalled (not uncommon with Fleming's novels). I prefer to read them in their particular historical context, with the "emasculation" of an empire losing its possessions and the perceived emasculation of men as economy and social roles moved away from traditional expressions of masculinity. The books are like a punch in the arm to Englishmen that say, don't worry, your dick still works and the women need it.

Hah. That is definitely the root of that character, a service he continues to provide for men in suits who reek of expensive aftershave.

[Kory]

Depends on the time period. When I was looking for j.d. paperbacks from the 50s for my research, I was dealing with anal collectors. And they seemed to be annoyed when I said that I didn't care about condition and all that—I just wanted the damned book to read.

That's what makes it weird that these are so rare. They're from 2006–2008 mostly, so they should be reasonably easy to find.

That's really strange! Have you tried contacting the publisher to if there are still copies in stock with a distributor? Explain the difficulty that you're having tracking them down. Maybe you get lucky and make contact with someone who is keen on some detective work.

Yeah I sent an email to Harper UK. I don't expect to hear back, but it was worth a shot at least. I also wound up joining a Ballard fans FB group, some people there had some interesting ideas, most of which boil down to me just emailing UK bookshops and seeing if they have anything I'm looking for.

I'm kinda invested now in how this turns out.

I'll let you know if I'm able to pull it all together. Thanks for the tips!

[Flex]

I don't think I'll read this, but I saw it and thought it may be right up Doc's alley: https://smile.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS ... ingrain-20

[Silent Majority]

15) The Grand Tour: the Life and Music of George Jones - Rich Kienzle. Audiobook. 2015. A second rate breeze through the life of the man who many call the greatest country singer who ever lived. Pretty shallow, but the facts are all there. I liked Jones' honesty and straightforwardness and the book pointed towards some great recordings of his that I'd never heard before.

[tepista]

I was dealing with anal collectors.

Put it in the butt plug thread

[Dr. Medulla]

I don't think I'll read this, but I saw it and thought it may be right up Doc's alley: https://smile.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS ... ingrain-20

I think I have an eBook version of that, but never did more than flip thru it.

[Dr. Medulla]

I was dealing with anal collectors.

Put it in the butt plug thread

"Put it in the butt," you said …

[tepista]

hey, explain to a dumdum, me, what is an unreliable narrator. I read the online definition, and saw a few examples and i still kinda don't get it. Like the narrator isn't necessarily lying, but he or she doesn't have all the info on the story they're telling?

[Flex]

hey, explain to a dumdum, me, what is an unreliable narrator. I read the online definition, and saw a few examples and i still kinda don't get it. Like the narrator isn't necessarily lying, but he or she doesn't have all the info on the story they're telling?

Yeah, the narrator is like a regular, fallible person basically. They're telling you the story as they see it, but it isn't necessarily objectively true. Have you seen the movie Rashomon? It's like that.

[tepista]

hey, explain to a dumdum, me, what is an unreliable narrator. I read the online definition, and saw a few examples and i still kinda don't get it. Like the narrator isn't necessarily lying, but he or she doesn't have all the info on the story they're telling?

Yeah, the narrator is like a regular, fallible person basically. They're telling you the story as they see it, but it isn't necessarily objectively true. Have you seen the movie Rashomon? It's like that.

I HAVE seen that movie! The 2 examples of movies I had seen were in the article I clicked was A Clockwork Orange and Rebecca.

[tepista]

hey, explain to a dumdum, me, what is an unreliable narrator. I read the online definition, and saw a few examples and i still kinda don't get it. Like the narrator isn't necessarily lying, but he or she doesn't have all the info on the story they're telling?

Yeah, the narrator is like a regular, fallible person basically. They're telling you the story as they see it, but it isn't necessarily objectively true. Have you seen the movie Rashomon? It's like that.

I HAVE seen that movie! The 2 examples of movies I had seen were in the article I clicked was A Clockwork Orange and Rebecca.

Anyway, I think I get it, the book I just started the first page the narrator said he was unreliable. (vampire, of course)

[Silent Majority]

16) Success Through Stillness - Russell Simmons. Audiobook. 2015. A pretty decent book about meditation from a scummy dude. The messenger doesn't detract from the message, but his somewhat smug pose of having solved all his problems rings false. Meditation is a practice, man. Keep that arrogance out.

[Silent Majority]

17) Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll. 1865. Audiobook read by Scarlett Johansson. There are times when Johansson sounds like Leanne from King of the Hill when she does her religious puppet show, but that's no downside. I haven't read this since I was in single figures and it's still a bundle of imagination, good and very playful prose, and genuinely funny jokes, though the ending was weak. And I definitely get some of those famous nonse vibes at times.