#quasitbookrecs — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #quasitbookrecs, aggregated by home.social.
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Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Superstoe" (1968) by William Borden
I found a LOT of treasures in high school. One of my favorites was "Superstoe", a bitingly witty novel of political black humor.
It's the story of a group of extremely eccentric professors in North Dakota who decide to take over America and reform it. Their approach is the obvious one, combining clandestine germ warfare, manipulating one of their former students who became a US Senator, and murders.
"We'll join Knutson's staff," Superstoe continued, "and elect him President. He'll appoint me Secretary of State. Then we'll kill him, the Vice-President, and Congress, and I'll succeed to the presidency. Or Ben—you're the oldest. It's your prerogative. We'll have him appoint you Secretary of State. Then we'll reorganize things, and we'll be the first council of philosopher-kings to rule in America. Or anywhere."
You might call it The Revenge of the Intellectuals—which seems particularly appropriate in this particular day and age. In any case the intrepid revolutionaries are soon in the halls of power and on their way to reforming the USA...and the world.
The book is absolutely PACKED with brilliant, prescient ideas; for example, the internet is effectively predicted along with its use for direct democracy by the public. But one notion that really stuck in my mind was this:
"The prison-reform bill provided for the building of new prisons, which would not be known as prisons but as rehabilitation centers. Prisoners would live in comfortable, colorful, fully furnished cottages. Their families or girl friends could live with them. Prisoners would be given vocational training and psychological counseling. Most important, however, would be the facts that the environment would be pleasant and natural and that the members of the communities—as the prisoners would be called—would be allowed to satisfy their natural hungers: enjoy a pleasant shelter, wear ordinary clothes, eat home-cooked meals, and fulfill their sexual needs.
If anyone did not respond to this rehabilitation, he would undergo an operation on his brain."
And if you were wondering, that operation was a frontal lobotomy.
If you have a dark sense of humor, find politics infuriating and like to laugh, I'd definitely suggest giving this book a try.
Sadly it's out of print. Amazon 🤮 is listing a used hardcover copy at $1,096.00 (!) plus $3.99 for delivery. Biblio.com has two copies at the moment for $61 and $155. No ebook version was ever released, for some insane reason.
But the Internet Archive loans PDFs of the book for free. And you can find PDFs on the high seas as well.
https://archive.org/details/superstoe00bord
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #Humor
#BookRecommendation #QuasitBookRecs -
I posted today's book recommendation on my second account since kolektiva was down; you can see it at
https://beige.party/@Quasit/116581688707264674But I plan to keep posting them here normally. Or should I post it on both? Would that be bad?
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #Humor #English
#QuasitBookRecs #BookRecommendation -
@chartier
The author Lord Dunsany wrote a very short story on that topic at the time:THE FOOD OF DEATH
Death was sick. But they brought him bread that the modern bakers make, whitened with alum, and the tinned meats of Chicago, with a pinch of our modern substitute for salt. They carried him into the dining-room of a great hotel (in that close atmosphere Death breathed more freely), and there they gave him their cheap Indian tea. They brought him a bottle of wine that they called champagne. Death drank it up. They brought a newspaper and looked up the patent medicines; they gave him the foods that it recommended for invalids, and a little medicine as prescribed in the paper. They gave him some milk and borax, such as children drink in England.
Death arose ravening, strong, and strode again through the cities.
- "Fifty-One Tales" (1915), by Lord Dunsany
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/lord-dunsany/fifty-one-tales
#Books #Bookstodon #LordDunsany #Dunsany #FreeEbooks #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "The Adventures of Phunsi" (1946) by Alison Mason Kingsbury
It's Thursday, so it's time to recommend a book for children! This one is an old favorite, and •incredibly• obscure. Written and illustrated by Alison Mason Kingsbury (and I have something to say about children's books and illustrators, one of these days), it's a lovely chapter book that's abundantly illustrated in memorable black & white images. I'd say it would work well for children from three to twelve years old, or older. I still love it myself. And I read it to my son when •he• was a toddler.
It's the story of Phunsi, a baby zebra in Africa who can run so fast that he disappears. Unfortunately when he goes THAT fast, he can't see where he's going either! And so he ends up in a trap with his mother (who was following him), and shipped off to the Central Park Zoo.
But life in a cage has limitations for a zebra who loves to run fast, and Phunsi decides that since he's a great runner he can become a great •jumper•, too. So it's not long before he's out of the cage and in the big world of New York City - and beyond.
His adventures could fill a book, of course. A pet shop, the rooftops of New York where he encounters a morose cat, a race track, a circus, a meadow full of cows...the stories are lovely, beautifully illustrated, and are often accompanied with songs or verses—many of them •themselves• stories.
"When the way opens straight
Who will even hesitate?
And, with nothing to confuse,
Who will run in curlicues,
Who indeed?
Here's a path without a bend,
Hurry, slowpokes, reach the end.
Show your speed!Here I stand with my fur
In a pattern, not a blur
Nor in any queer disguise—
Simply something which your eyes
Ought to see.
I am black, I am white,
I am plain as day and night,
I am me."Sadly the book is long out of print. Amazon 🤮 sells used copies for $90; biblio.com sells them for $25 to $30. There are NO pirated versions as far as I know. The Internet Archive never heard of it. Your only other chance is interlibrary loan, I fear. Although it should enter the public domain in about 13 years; if I'm still alive, I'll scan and post it then.
But it's a true treasure. I hope you find a copy.
In the meantime, a lot of art (but sadly not the text) from the book is available on Cornell University's website:
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #Children #ChildrensBooks
#Adventure #QuasitBookRecs -
I downloaded all three books of the "Psi-Power" series by Mark Phillips, and started reading the first one: "Brain Twister" (1962). It's well written, of course, and fairly amusing. An FBI agent is ordered to find a telepath in order to stop a telepathic spy from stealing space drive secrets from the government. A good, straightforward, and readable SF story so far with a nice light sense of humor. One thing that caught my eye:
["Remember, Malone," Burris said. His face took on a stern, stuffed expression. "Do not ask what your country can do for you," he quoted the youngest living ex-President. "Ask rather what you can do for your country."]
Talk about dating a book with pinpoint precision!
It's available on Project Gutenberg, along with the other two books in the series.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22332
#Books #Bookstodon #Science Fiction #Espionage #QuasitBookRecs
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I downloaded all three books of the "Psi-Power" series by Mark Phillips, and started reading the first one: "Brain Twister" (1962). It's well written, of course, and fairly amusing. An FBI agent is ordered to find a telepath in order to stop a telepathic spy from stealing space drive secrets from the government. A good, straightforward, and readable SF story so far with a nice light sense of humor. One thing that caught my eye:
["Remember, Malone," Burris said. His face took on a stern, stuffed expression. "Do not ask what your country can do for you," he quoted the youngest living ex-President. "Ask rather what you can do for your country."]
Talk about dating a book with pinpoint precision!
It's available on Project Gutenberg, along with the other two books in the series.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22332
#Books #Bookstodon #Science Fiction #Espionage #QuasitBookRecs
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I downloaded all three books of the "Psi-Power" series by Mark Phillips, and started reading the first one: "Brain Twister" (1962). It's well written, of course, and fairly amusing. An FBI agent is ordered to find a telepath in order to stop a telepathic spy from stealing space drive secrets from the government. A good, straightforward, and readable SF story so far with a nice light sense of humor. One thing that caught my eye:
["Remember, Malone," Burris said. His face took on a stern, stuffed expression. "Do not ask what your country can do for you," he quoted the youngest living ex-President. "Ask rather what you can do for your country."]
Talk about dating a book with pinpoint precision!
It's available on Project Gutenberg, along with the other two books in the series.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22332
#Books #Bookstodon #Science Fiction #Espionage #QuasitBookRecs
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I downloaded all three books of the "Psi-Power" series by Mark Phillips, and started reading the first one: "Brain Twister" (1962). It's well written, of course, and fairly amusing. An FBI agent is ordered to find a telepath in order to stop a telepathic spy from stealing space drive secrets from the government. A good, straightforward, and readable SF story so far with a nice light sense of humor. One thing that caught my eye:
["Remember, Malone," Burris said. His face took on a stern, stuffed expression. "Do not ask what your country can do for you," he quoted the youngest living ex-President. "Ask rather what you can do for your country."]
Talk about dating a book with pinpoint precision!
It's available on Project Gutenberg, along with the other two books in the series.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22332
#Books #Bookstodon #Science Fiction #Espionage #QuasitBookRecs
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Messing around with books, as I always do.
I found a book by John Ball, who wrote "In the Heat of the Night" and other Virgil Tibbs novels. This one is called "The First Team", and it's not related to the VIrgil Tibbs series at all. So far it's about a man who works in the White House as a Russian translator. But Russia has conquered the USA thanks to the hippies and liberal politicians.
John Ball was a bit of a right-winger. And a white one, if you were wondering. Sydney Poitier did Ball a HUGE favor by not playing Virgil Tibbs the way he was written in the book, i.e. as basically a white guy dyed brown (metaphorically).
I'm not sure how far I'll get with "The First Team". The Russians are comically evil, so far.
I also took a look at the first few pages of "The Impossibles" by Mark Phillips. It features mind-crime (apparently) in the far-flung, exotic future of 1972! So far the writing seems above par, so that's good. I'll see where it goes.
Hold on! Turns out that "Mark Phillips" was a pseudonym used by Lawrence Jannifer (a good science fiction writer) and Randall Garrett (the author of the "Lord Darcy" stories, which is basically Sherlock Holmes in a magic-based universe). They wrote a series of three books under that pseudonym, and all three are available for download from Project Gutenberg—along with quite a few others!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25267
#Books #Bookstodon #FreeEbooks #ProjectGutenberg #ScienceFiction #QuasitBookRecs
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Messing around with books, as I always do.
I found a book by John Ball, who wrote "In the Heat of the Night" and other Virgil Tibbs novels. This one is called "The First Team", and it's not related to the VIrgil Tibbs series at all. So far it's about a man who works in the White House as a Russian translator. But Russia has conquered the USA thanks to the hippies and liberal politicians.
John Ball was a bit of a right-winger. And a white one, if you were wondering. Sydney Poitier did Ball a HUGE favor by not playing Virgil Tibbs the way he was written in the book, i.e. as basically a white guy dyed brown (metaphorically).
I'm not sure how far I'll get with "The First Team". The Russians are comically evil, so far.
I also took a look at the first few pages of "The Impossibles" by Mark Phillips. It features mind-crime (apparently) in the far-flung, exotic future of 1972! So far the writing seems above par, so that's good. I'll see where it goes.
Hold on! Turns out that "Mark Phillips" was a pseudonym used by Lawrence Jannifer (a good science fiction writer) and Randall Garrett (the author of the "Lord Darcy" stories, which is basically Sherlock Holmes in a magic-based universe). They wrote a series of three books under that pseudonym, and all three are available for download from Project Gutenberg—along with quite a few others!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25267
#Books #Bookstodon #FreeEbooks #ProjectGutenberg #ScienceFiction #QuasitBookRecs
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Messing around with books, as I always do.
I found a book by John Ball, who wrote "In the Heat of the Night" and other Virgil Tibbs novels. This one is called "The First Team", and it's not related to the VIrgil Tibbs series at all. So far it's about a man who works in the White House as a Russian translator. But Russia has conquered the USA thanks to the hippies and liberal politicians.
John Ball was a bit of a right-winger. And a white one, if you were wondering. Sydney Poitier did Ball a HUGE favor by not playing Virgil Tibbs the way he was written in the book, i.e. as basically a white guy dyed brown (metaphorically).
I'm not sure how far I'll get with "The First Team". The Russians are comically evil, so far.
I also took a look at the first few pages of "The Impossibles" by Mark Phillips. It features mind-crime (apparently) in the far-flung, exotic future of 1972! So far the writing seems above par, so that's good. I'll see where it goes.
Hold on! Turns out that "Mark Phillips" was a pseudonym used by Lawrence Jannifer (a good science fiction writer) and Randall Garrett (the author of the "Lord Darcy" stories, which is basically Sherlock Holmes in a magic-based universe). They wrote a series of three books under that pseudonym, and all three are available for download from Project Gutenberg—along with quite a few others!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25267
#Books #Bookstodon #FreeEbooks #ProjectGutenberg #ScienceFiction #QuasitBookRecs
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Messing around with books, as I always do.
I found a book by John Ball, who wrote "In the Heat of the Night" and other Virgil Tibbs novels. This one is called "The First Team", and it's not related to the VIrgil Tibbs series at all. So far it's about a man who works in the White House as a Russian translator. But Russia has conquered the USA thanks to the hippies and liberal politicians.
John Ball was a bit of a right-winger. And a white one, if you were wondering. Sydney Poitier did Ball a HUGE favor by not playing Virgil Tibbs the way he was written in the book, i.e. as basically a white guy dyed brown (metaphorically).
I'm not sure how far I'll get with "The First Team". The Russians are comically evil, so far.
I also took a look at the first few pages of "The Impossibles" by Mark Phillips. It features mind-crime (apparently) in the far-flung, exotic future of 1972! So far the writing seems above par, so that's good. I'll see where it goes.
Hold on! Turns out that "Mark Phillips" was a pseudonym used by Lawrence Jannifer (a good science fiction writer) and Randall Garrett (the author of the "Lord Darcy" stories, which is basically Sherlock Holmes in a magic-based universe). They wrote a series of three books under that pseudonym, and all three are available for download from Project Gutenberg—along with quite a few others!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25267
#Books #Bookstodon #FreeEbooks #ProjectGutenberg #ScienceFiction #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Vika's Avenger" (2013) by Lawrence Watt-Evans
•A refreshing science fantasy/mystery set in a dazzling alien city!•
On an alien planet 12,000 years in the future, a young man named Tulzik Ambroz travels in pursuit of the man who murdered his sister. The trail leads him to Ragbaan City, a place unimaginably old and inhabited by all sorts of beings—including half-insane holograms and AI programs. Layer upon layer of ancient civilizations make up the city, which is more than half ruins.
["Friend, in Ragbaan a dozen lifetimes is nothing. Didn’t you hear me mention the High Piers?”
“I did,” Urushak acknowledged. “I don’t know what they are.”
“They’re piers,” Sart explained. “Docks. Wharves. Except instead of on the bay, they’re on the hillside above most of the city.”
Urushak looked puzzled. “What, for airships?”
Sart shook his head. “No, no. At least, not originally. They were built thousands of years ago, in the Warm Years, when the sea was a hundred yards deeper than it is now. And they’re still standing. Some of them even have buildings on them, mostly temples."]
The variety of ancient and alien technologies in Ragbaan City is enormous; much of it is forgotten or misunderstood, and the line between tech and magic is effectively unknown. At the same time the city is busy and bustling with life; many of the residents live by searching the ruins for valuable items of technology, or "tek".
Coming from a small village, Tulzik's quest is a difficult one. Finding one man among a city of a million or more people is daunting, to say the least. But like most of Watt-Evans' protagonists, Tulzik is bright and has a good measure of common sense. Seeking out advice and help is one of the first thing he does.
That's where the story become as much a detective story as science-fantasy. The murderer Tulzik seeks is no ordinary man, and his motivation for killing Tulzik's sister leads to still more mysteries—and more adventures.
It's a damned good story! And sadly, it never received the success it deserved. It's not available for loan via the Internet Archive at all; even BookWyrm.social didn't have a listing for it (I've corrected that omission). Physical and ebook versions are available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon 🤮. You can also order them directly from the publisher, Misenchanted Press. If you have a good library, they may be able to get you a copy via interlibrary loan.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #HistoricalFiction
#Classics #Adventure #ComingOfAge #QuasitBookRecs -
Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Vika's Avenger" (2013) by Lawrence Watt-Evans
•A refreshing science fantasy/mystery set in a dazzling alien city!•
On an alien planet 12,000 years in the future, a young man named Tulzik Ambroz travels in pursuit of the man who murdered his sister. The trail leads him to Ragbaan City, a place unimaginably old and inhabited by all sorts of beings—including half-insane holograms and AI programs. Layer upon layer of ancient civilizations make up the city, which is more than half ruins.
["Friend, in Ragbaan a dozen lifetimes is nothing. Didn’t you hear me mention the High Piers?”
“I did,” Urushak acknowledged. “I don’t know what they are.”
“They’re piers,” Sart explained. “Docks. Wharves. Except instead of on the bay, they’re on the hillside above most of the city.”
Urushak looked puzzled. “What, for airships?”
Sart shook his head. “No, no. At least, not originally. They were built thousands of years ago, in the Warm Years, when the sea was a hundred yards deeper than it is now. And they’re still standing. Some of them even have buildings on them, mostly temples."]
The variety of ancient and alien technologies in Ragbaan City is enormous; much of it is forgotten or misunderstood, and the line between tech and magic is effectively unknown. At the same time the city is busy and bustling with life; many of the residents live by searching the ruins for valuable items of technology, or "tek".
Coming from a small village, Tulzik's quest is a difficult one. Finding one man among a city of a million or more people is daunting, to say the least. But like most of Watt-Evans' protagonists, Tulzik is bright and has a good measure of common sense. Seeking out advice and help is one of the first thing he does.
That's where the story become as much a detective story as science-fantasy. The murderer Tulzik seeks is no ordinary man, and his motivation for killing Tulzik's sister leads to still more mysteries—and more adventures.
It's a damned good story! And sadly, it never received the success it deserved. It's not available for loan via the Internet Archive at all; even BookWyrm.social didn't have a listing for it (I've corrected that omission). Physical and ebook versions are available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon 🤮. You can also order them directly from the publisher, Misenchanted Press. If you have a good library, they may be able to get you a copy via interlibrary loan.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #HistoricalFiction
#Classics #Adventure #ComingOfAge #QuasitBookRecs -
Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Vika's Avenger" (2013) by Lawrence Watt-Evans
•A refreshing science fantasy/mystery set in a dazzling alien city!•
On an alien planet 12,000 years in the future, a young man named Tulzik Ambroz travels in pursuit of the man who murdered his sister. The trail leads him to Ragbaan City, a place unimaginably old and inhabited by all sorts of beings—including half-insane holograms and AI programs. Layer upon layer of ancient civilizations make up the city, which is more than half ruins.
["Friend, in Ragbaan a dozen lifetimes is nothing. Didn’t you hear me mention the High Piers?”
“I did,” Urushak acknowledged. “I don’t know what they are.”
“They’re piers,” Sart explained. “Docks. Wharves. Except instead of on the bay, they’re on the hillside above most of the city.”
Urushak looked puzzled. “What, for airships?”
Sart shook his head. “No, no. At least, not originally. They were built thousands of years ago, in the Warm Years, when the sea was a hundred yards deeper than it is now. And they’re still standing. Some of them even have buildings on them, mostly temples."]
The variety of ancient and alien technologies in Ragbaan City is enormous; much of it is forgotten or misunderstood, and the line between tech and magic is effectively unknown. At the same time the city is busy and bustling with life; many of the residents live by searching the ruins for valuable items of technology, or "tek".
Coming from a small village, Tulzik's quest is a difficult one. Finding one man among a city of a million or more people is daunting, to say the least. But like most of Watt-Evans' protagonists, Tulzik is bright and has a good measure of common sense. Seeking out advice and help is one of the first thing he does.
That's where the story become as much a detective story as science-fantasy. The murderer Tulzik seeks is no ordinary man, and his motivation for killing Tulzik's sister leads to still more mysteries—and more adventures.
It's a damned good story! And sadly, it never received the success it deserved. It's not available for loan via the Internet Archive at all; even BookWyrm.social didn't have a listing for it (I've corrected that omission). Physical and ebook versions are available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon 🤮. You can also order them directly from the publisher, Misenchanted Press. If you have a good library, they may be able to get you a copy via interlibrary loan.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #HistoricalFiction
#Classics #Adventure #ComingOfAge #QuasitBookRecs -
Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Vika's Avenger" (2013) by Lawrence Watt-Evans
•A refreshing science fantasy/mystery set in a dazzling alien city!•
On an alien planet 12,000 years in the future, a young man named Tulzik Ambroz travels in pursuit of the man who murdered his sister. The trail leads him to Ragbaan City, a place unimaginably old and inhabited by all sorts of beings—including half-insane holograms and AI programs. Layer upon layer of ancient civilizations make up the city, which is more than half ruins.
["Friend, in Ragbaan a dozen lifetimes is nothing. Didn’t you hear me mention the High Piers?”
“I did,” Urushak acknowledged. “I don’t know what they are.”
“They’re piers,” Sart explained. “Docks. Wharves. Except instead of on the bay, they’re on the hillside above most of the city.”
Urushak looked puzzled. “What, for airships?”
Sart shook his head. “No, no. At least, not originally. They were built thousands of years ago, in the Warm Years, when the sea was a hundred yards deeper than it is now. And they’re still standing. Some of them even have buildings on them, mostly temples."]
The variety of ancient and alien technologies in Ragbaan City is enormous; much of it is forgotten or misunderstood, and the line between tech and magic is effectively unknown. At the same time the city is busy and bustling with life; many of the residents live by searching the ruins for valuable items of technology, or "tek".
Coming from a small village, Tulzik's quest is a difficult one. Finding one man among a city of a million or more people is daunting, to say the least. But like most of Watt-Evans' protagonists, Tulzik is bright and has a good measure of common sense. Seeking out advice and help is one of the first thing he does.
That's where the story become as much a detective story as science-fantasy. The murderer Tulzik seeks is no ordinary man, and his motivation for killing Tulzik's sister leads to still more mysteries—and more adventures.
It's a damned good story! And sadly, it never received the success it deserved. It's not available for loan via the Internet Archive at all; even BookWyrm.social didn't have a listing for it (I've corrected that omission). Physical and ebook versions are available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon 🤮. You can also order them directly from the publisher, Misenchanted Press. If you have a good library, they may be able to get you a copy via interlibrary loan.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #HistoricalFiction
#Classics #Adventure #ComingOfAge #QuasitBookRecs -
Made the pilgrimage to Mecca—correction, the Quaboag Book Shop—this Saturday with my son. It's an 80-minute drive for us, but totally worth it.
If you live in New England and love books, this really is a place you have to visit! It's quite possibly the most extensive used book shop in New England these days. They have an incredible selection of used books, particularly old and obscure ones.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/mknWUmK8Xb2HHhKm8
The store is in a rural part of Massachusetts, about half an hour west of Worcester. It's a truly beautiful area.
Here's what I picked up on this trip (not including the ones my son bought):
• Time and Again by Jack Finney (hardcover) - I have several copies, but it's always good to have extras!
• The Impossibles by Mark Phillip - sometimes I pick up a book by an unknown author on a whim.
• Alien Planet by Fletcher Pratt - I don't know if I've read this one, but Pratt is worth a gamble.
• The Artificial Man by L.P. Davies - Something about the cover was weirdly familiar, so...
• The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder - Haven't read this one before, but Snyder's a good author
• The Secret of Skeleton Island (illustrated Alfred Hitchcock edition) - I love the Three Investigators. What can I say?
• 3 by Finney (Jack Finney) - Three short but very memorable novels. I first read this in high school. I have a copy, but another is always good to have.
• Asimov Laughs Again - I'm an old Asimov fan. Saw him speak live at Bridgeport University about 50 years ago. It was memorable.
• Creating A Genre by Robert A. Heinlein (hardcover, "Virginia" edition) - I loathe Virginia Heinlein, but I heard that these were the unedited versions so I'm quite interested.
• Expanded Universe by Robert A. Heinlein (hardcover) - same
• From Time to Time by Jack Finney - Sequel to Time and Again. I read it, didn't like it as much as the first, but I'll give it another try.#Books #Bookstodon #UsedBooks #UsedBookShop #BookShop #BookStore #QuasitBookRecs
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Made the pilgrimage to Mecca—correction, the Quaboag Book Shop—this Saturday with my son. It's an 80-minute drive for us, but totally worth it.
If you live in New England and love books, this really is a place you have to visit! It's quite possibly the most extensive used book shop in New England these days. They have an incredible selection of used books, particularly old and obscure ones.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/mknWUmK8Xb2HHhKm8
The store is in a rural part of Massachusetts, about half an hour west of Worcester. It's a truly beautiful area.
Here's what I picked up on this trip (not including the ones my son bought):
• Time and Again by Jack Finney (hardcover) - I have several copies, but it's always good to have extras!
• The Impossibles by Mark Phillip - sometimes I pick up a book by an unknown author on a whim.
• Alien Planet by Fletcher Pratt - I don't know if I've read this one, but Pratt is worth a gamble.
• The Artificial Man by L.P. Davies - Something about the cover was weirdly familiar, so...
• The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder - Haven't read this one before, but Snyder's a good author
• The Secret of Skeleton Island (illustrated Alfred Hitchcock edition) - I love the Three Investigators. What can I say?
• 3 by Finney (Jack Finney) - Three short but very memorable novels. I first read this in high school. I have a copy, but another is always good to have.
• Asimov Laughs Again - I'm an old Asimov fan. Saw him speak live at Bridgeport University about 50 years ago. It was memorable.
• Creating A Genre by Robert A. Heinlein (hardcover, "Virginia" edition) - I loathe Virginia Heinlein, but I heard that these were the unedited versions so I'm quite interested.
• Expanded Universe by Robert A. Heinlein (hardcover) - same
• From Time to Time by Jack Finney - Sequel to Time and Again. I read it, didn't like it as much as the first, but I'll give it another try.#Books #Bookstodon #UsedBooks #UsedBookShop #BookShop #BookStore #QuasitBookRecs
-
Made the pilgrimage to Mecca—correction, the Quaboag Book Shop—this Saturday with my son. It's an 80-minute drive for us, but totally worth it.
If you live in New England and love books, this really is a place you have to visit! It's quite possibly the most extensive used book shop in New England these days. They have an incredible selection of used books, particularly old and obscure ones.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/mknWUmK8Xb2HHhKm8
The store is in a rural part of Massachusetts, about half an hour west of Worcester. It's a truly beautiful area.
Here's what I picked up on this trip (not including the ones my son bought):
• Time and Again by Jack Finney (hardcover) - I have several copies, but it's always good to have extras!
• The Impossibles by Mark Phillip - sometimes I pick up a book by an unknown author on a whim.
• Alien Planet by Fletcher Pratt - I don't know if I've read this one, but Pratt is worth a gamble.
• The Artificial Man by L.P. Davies - Something about the cover was weirdly familiar, so...
• The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder - Haven't read this one before, but Snyder's a good author
• The Secret of Skeleton Island (illustrated Alfred Hitchcock edition) - I love the Three Investigators. What can I say?
• 3 by Finney (Jack Finney) - Three short but very memorable novels. I first read this in high school. I have a copy, but another is always good to have.
• Asimov Laughs Again - I'm an old Asimov fan. Saw him speak live at Bridgeport University about 50 years ago. It was memorable.
• Creating A Genre by Robert A. Heinlein (hardcover, "Virginia" edition) - I loathe Virginia Heinlein, but I heard that these were the unedited versions so I'm quite interested.
• Expanded Universe by Robert A. Heinlein (hardcover) - same
• From Time to Time by Jack Finney - Sequel to Time and Again. I read it, didn't like it as much as the first, but I'll give it another try.#Books #Bookstodon #UsedBooks #UsedBookShop #BookShop #BookStore #QuasitBookRecs
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Made the pilgrimage to Mecca—correction, the Quaboag Book Shop—this Saturday with my son. It's an 80-minute drive for us, but totally worth it.
If you live in New England and love books, this really is a place you have to visit! It's quite possibly the most extensive used book shop in New England these days. They have an incredible selection of used books, particularly old and obscure ones.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/mknWUmK8Xb2HHhKm8
The store is in a rural part of Massachusetts, about half an hour west of Worcester. It's a truly beautiful area.
Here's what I picked up on this trip (not including the ones my son bought):
• Time and Again by Jack Finney (hardcover) - I have several copies, but it's always good to have extras!
• The Impossibles by Mark Phillip - sometimes I pick up a book by an unknown author on a whim.
• Alien Planet by Fletcher Pratt - I don't know if I've read this one, but Pratt is worth a gamble.
• The Artificial Man by L.P. Davies - Something about the cover was weirdly familiar, so...
• The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder - Haven't read this one before, but Snyder's a good author
• The Secret of Skeleton Island (illustrated Alfred Hitchcock edition) - I love the Three Investigators. What can I say?
• 3 by Finney (Jack Finney) - Three short but very memorable novels. I first read this in high school. I have a copy, but another is always good to have.
• Asimov Laughs Again - I'm an old Asimov fan. Saw him speak live at Bridgeport University about 50 years ago. It was memorable.
• Creating A Genre by Robert A. Heinlein (hardcover, "Virginia" edition) - I loathe Virginia Heinlein, but I heard that these were the unedited versions so I'm quite interested.
• Expanded Universe by Robert A. Heinlein (hardcover) - same
• From Time to Time by Jack Finney - Sequel to Time and Again. I read it, didn't like it as much as the first, but I'll give it another try.#Books #Bookstodon #UsedBooks #UsedBookShop #BookShop #BookStore #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Kim" (1901) by Rudyard Kipling
This is one of the most precious books I know. It's one of the rare books which brings tears to my eyes every time I finish it. In other words, it's one of the three books which are closest to my heart.
Kipling has a bad reputation as a colonialist author, these days. In fact he's been despised in some circles for many decades now. But "Kim" is the novel which shows that even a colonialist can be a human being with a very human love for the culture of the colonized.
"Kim" is the story of a boy in 1890s India: Kimball O'Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and an English nanny. Growing up as a native in the city of Lahore, no one except he knows that he's not a native—and he doesn't care about it himself. He lives for fun and excitement, known to the people of the city as "The Little Friend of All the World".
"He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher—the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum. Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon,' hold the Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of the conqueror’s loot."
Incidentally, Kipling himself grew up in Lahore. His father was the curator of the Wonder-House of Lahore, a museum. And Kipling included his father and the museum itself at the start of the novel.
Kim meets an ancient Tibetan lama who has left his monastery in the Himalayas to find a sacred river. The two become friends and travel together across India; the sheer richness of the many cultures that Kim experiences as he travels across India and up into the lower Himalayas with the lama is mind-blowing. Kipling paints the India of the time with such passionate depth of feeling that it serves as a character in itself. The variety of peoples and customs is simply amazing. Ever since I read this book I've wished I could travel to India in that time.
But "Kim" isn't just a travelogue. There's adventure, intrigue, espionage, humor, and one of the most perfect coming-of-age stories ever written. Kim is drawn into the "Great Game" of spying between the European powers, and is educated as an agent by masters of the craft.
What can I say? It's a deeply moving and beautiful book. And you can download it for free in all the major ebook formats from Standard Ebooks.
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/rudyard-kipling/kim
I've often thought that "Kim" is proof that a book doesn't have to be science fiction or fantasy to be breathtakingly exotic and magical, while retaining a core of incredibly touching humanity.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #HistoricalFiction
#Classics #Adventure #ComingOfAge #QuasitBookRecs -
Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Kim" (1901) by Rudyard Kipling
This is one of the most precious books I know. It's one of the rare books which brings tears to my eyes every time I finish it. In other words, it's one of the three books which are closest to my heart.
Kipling has a bad reputation as a colonialist author, these days. In fact he's been despised in some circles for many decades now. But "Kim" is the novel which shows that even a colonialist can be a human being with a very human love for the culture of the colonized.
"Kim" is the story of a boy in 1890s India: Kimball O'Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and an English nanny. Growing up as a native in the city of Lahore, no one except he knows that he's not a native—and he doesn't care about it himself. He lives for fun and excitement, known to the people of the city as "The Little Friend of All the World".
"He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher—the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum. Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon,' hold the Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of the conqueror’s loot."
Incidentally, Kipling himself grew up in Lahore. His father was the curator of the Wonder-House of Lahore, a museum. And Kipling included his father and the museum itself at the start of the novel.
Kim meets an ancient Tibetan lama who has left his monastery in the Himalayas to find a sacred river. The two become friends and travel together across India; the sheer richness of the many cultures that Kim experiences as he travels across India and up into the lower Himalayas with the lama is mind-blowing. Kipling paints the India of the time with such passionate depth of feeling that it serves as a character in itself. The variety of peoples and customs is simply amazing. Ever since I read this book I've wished I could travel to India in that time.
But "Kim" isn't just a travelogue. There's adventure, intrigue, espionage, humor, and one of the most perfect coming-of-age stories ever written. Kim is drawn into the "Great Game" of spying between the European powers, and is educated as an agent by masters of the craft.
What can I say? It's a deeply moving and beautiful book. And you can download it for free in all the major ebook formats from Standard Ebooks.
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/rudyard-kipling/kim
I've often thought that "Kim" is proof that a book doesn't have to be science fiction or fantasy to be breathtakingly exotic and magical, while retaining a core of incredibly touching humanity.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #HistoricalFiction
#Classics #Adventure #ComingOfAge #QuasitBookRecs -
Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Kim" (1901) by Rudyard Kipling
This is one of the most precious books I know. It's one of the rare books which brings tears to my eyes every time I finish it. In other words, it's one of the three books which are closest to my heart.
Kipling has a bad reputation as a colonialist author, these days. In fact he's been despised in some circles for many decades now. But "Kim" is the novel which shows that even a colonialist can be a human being with a very human love for the culture of the colonized.
"Kim" is the story of a boy in 1890s India: Kimball O'Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and an English nanny. Growing up as a native in the city of Lahore, no one except he knows that he's not a native—and he doesn't care about it himself. He lives for fun and excitement, known to the people of the city as "The Little Friend of All the World".
"He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher—the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum. Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon,' hold the Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of the conqueror’s loot."
Incidentally, Kipling himself grew up in Lahore. His father was the curator of the Wonder-House of Lahore, a museum. And Kipling included his father and the museum itself at the start of the novel.
Kim meets an ancient Tibetan lama who has left his monastery in the Himalayas to find a sacred river. The two become friends and travel together across India; the sheer richness of the many cultures that Kim experiences as he travels across India and up into the lower Himalayas with the lama is mind-blowing. Kipling paints the India of the time with such passionate depth of feeling that it serves as a character in itself. The variety of peoples and customs is simply amazing. Ever since I read this book I've wished I could travel to India in that time.
But "Kim" isn't just a travelogue. There's adventure, intrigue, espionage, humor, and one of the most perfect coming-of-age stories ever written. Kim is drawn into the "Great Game" of spying between the European powers, and is educated as an agent by masters of the craft.
What can I say? It's a deeply moving and beautiful book. And you can download it for free in all the major ebook formats from Standard Ebooks.
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/rudyard-kipling/kim
I've often thought that "Kim" is proof that a book doesn't have to be science fiction or fantasy to be breathtakingly exotic and magical, while retaining a core of incredibly touching humanity.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #HistoricalFiction
#Classics #Adventure #ComingOfAge #QuasitBookRecs -
Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "Kim" (1901) by Rudyard Kipling
This is one of the most precious books I know. It's one of the rare books which brings tears to my eyes every time I finish it. In other words, it's one of the three books which are closest to my heart.
Kipling has a bad reputation as a colonialist author, these days. In fact he's been despised in some circles for many decades now. But "Kim" is the novel which shows that even a colonialist can be a human being with a very human love for the culture of the colonized.
"Kim" is the story of a boy in 1890s India: Kimball O'Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and an English nanny. Growing up as a native in the city of Lahore, no one except he knows that he's not a native—and he doesn't care about it himself. He lives for fun and excitement, known to the people of the city as "The Little Friend of All the World".
"He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher—the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum. Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon,' hold the Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of the conqueror’s loot."
Incidentally, Kipling himself grew up in Lahore. His father was the curator of the Wonder-House of Lahore, a museum. And Kipling included his father and the museum itself at the start of the novel.
Kim meets an ancient Tibetan lama who has left his monastery in the Himalayas to find a sacred river. The two become friends and travel together across India; the sheer richness of the many cultures that Kim experiences as he travels across India and up into the lower Himalayas with the lama is mind-blowing. Kipling paints the India of the time with such passionate depth of feeling that it serves as a character in itself. The variety of peoples and customs is simply amazing. Ever since I read this book I've wished I could travel to India in that time.
But "Kim" isn't just a travelogue. There's adventure, intrigue, espionage, humor, and one of the most perfect coming-of-age stories ever written. Kim is drawn into the "Great Game" of spying between the European powers, and is educated as an agent by masters of the craft.
What can I say? It's a deeply moving and beautiful book. And you can download it for free in all the major ebook formats from Standard Ebooks.
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/rudyard-kipling/kim
I've often thought that "Kim" is proof that a book doesn't have to be science fiction or fantasy to be breathtakingly exotic and magical, while retaining a core of incredibly touching humanity.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #HistoricalFiction
#Classics #Adventure #ComingOfAge #QuasitBookRecs -
Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "National Lampoon A Dirty Book" (1976), edited by P. J. O'Rourke
In the 1970s and 80s, National Lampoon was at it's peak. It featured some of the most twisted and daring comic authors the world had ever seen, including Michael O'Donoghue, Doug Kenney, Anne Beats, Terry Southern, and Chris Miller—among others. In addition to the monthly magazine they also published books and records. Among them is "A Dirty Book", which features one of the most memorable covers of all time.
What can I say? It's twisted, dirty, and INCREDIBLY funny. Sexist too, of course; misogyny was definitely a big part of the humor of the time. So if that's going to ruin it for you, you'll definitely want to skip this one.
This is a hard book to find, by the way. It was never released as an ebook; neither Kobo, Barnes & Noble, nor Amazon 🤮 has it. You can borrow it for free from the Internet Archive (link below), but you can't download it. Even Anna's Archive doesn't have it! As for used physical copies, they're $10 and up.
https://archive.org/details/bwb_P9-BIF-198
There was also a sequel, "Another Dirty Book". That one is even MORE obscure and difficult to find than the first! It's not on the Internet Archive at all. I have a physical copy, but that's it.
I'd like to describe some of the stories, but I'm not sure exactly how far I can go here. In fact...I think I'll do a response to the post with a content warning, and put more details there.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
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Quasit's Daily Book Recommendations: "The Devil's Day" (1968/1971) by James Blish
If a darker book doesn't bother you, you might like James Blish's novel "The Devil's Day".
The book was originally broken into two novels and published separately as "Black Easter" (1968) and "The Day After Judgement" (1971). They were unified and published as "The Devil's Day" in 1980.
The genre is unusual, in that it's supernatural horror/fantasy/philosophy with a dash of science fiction. In the near future (more or less), an international arms merchant finds himself bored with his profession. So he locates a black magician and commissions him to release all the demons of Hell onto the Earth for one night, with no restrictions, just to see what they do.
Needless to say things don't go •quite• as expected!
This is NOT standard fantasy, however. Blish researched actual medieval grimoires for the book, and treats the subject seriously. In other words, as if the black magic of the Middle Ages actually worked the way that the grimoires of the time described it. I'm not aware of any other modern book which takes the same approach. It makes magic much more frightening and morally weighted, since ANY use of magic must be assumed to result in the eternal damnation of the soul of the magician. In other words, this is quite the serious book—with a few brief moments of levity.
I think it's safe to say that this is not a book for children or even many young adults. Although I'm pretty sure I read it in my late teens. No doubt some things went over my head a bit at the time.
Sadly the entire book (i.e. "The Devil's Day") isn't available on the Internet Archive at all. "Black Easter" is (and it can definitely be read on its own), but "The Day After Judgement" isn't! So all I can do is suggest you try "Black Easter" online and then see if your library can get the whole thing for you. Or buy it. Or 🏴☠️ it.
Here's the IA link to borrow "Black Easter": https://archive.org/details/blackeasterorfau0000blis
I've also included the cover image from the original version of "Black Easter". I always found it intriguing. It looks like something by Bosch or Doré.
Incidentally, "The Devil's Day" is part of a thematic trilogy that Blish called "After Such Knowledge". The other two books are in no way connected to each other or "The Devil's Day", except in that they both address the same religio-philosophical issue of secular knowledge and Evil.
"Doctor Mirabilis" (1964) is a purely historical novel about the 13th century Franciscan monk Roger Bacon and his attempt to develop a Universal Science.
In "A Case of Conscience" (1958) a monk encounters an alien species that appears to be free of original sin, which leads him to a trial for heresy. It's pure science fiction.
These are all powerful, mature works from one of the finest minds of the golden age of science fiction.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Lord of Light" (1967) by Roger Zelazny
This is simply one of my very favorite books. Apart from being quite possibly the greatest work ever produced by one of the two finest craftsmen of prose in science fiction, "Lord of Light" is one of the rare books which I find deeply moving. I can never read the ending without getting a lump in my throat.
Winner of the 1968 Hugo award for science fiction, the novel could easily be mistaken for fantasy. On a distant planet in the far future, human colonists have created a culture based on Indian mythology—except that in that world magic is made real by highly advanced technology.
Some of the ship's crew have assumed the roles of Hindu gods, using both technology and paranormal abilities. The colonists and their descendants live as mortals beneath the rule of the gods, with limited technology and enforced subservience. But technology has made reincarnation possible, so those who obey the gods have a chance at another life when they die.
Not everyone is happy with this arrangement, and the inevitable result is, of course, revolution.
At 257 pages it's a remarkably slender book compared to most modern genre novels. Yet it contains more poetry, emotion, humor, and sheer •imagination• than any HUNDRED science fiction novels published in the last twenty years.
One point: After the first chapter the bulk of the novel is an extended flashback. Zelazny didn't try to hide that, but he didn't make it obvious either. The sheer length of the flashback confuses some readers, so please don't forget.
Another bit of trivia: There were once plans to film "Lord of Light" and turn the sets into a permanent theme park. Jack Kirby (yes, THE Jack Kirby) made sketches for the sets. Sadly the movie never came to be, but the CIA obtained the sketches and used them to help convince the Iranian government that they were looking to film the movie in Iran. This was during the hostage crisis, and was the means by which some diplomats were smuggled out of the country. A movie was made of THAT story, "Argo" starring Ben Affleck. You can see the sketches and more information here.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110724150727/http://lordoflight.com/
Every time I read "Lord of Light" I end up wishing there was more. And yet...how could more be anything but a diminishment?
The book is very much worth owning; I've re-read it many times, and I'll read it many more. But you can borrow it for free from the Internet Archive, too:
https://archive.org/details/lordoflight0000roge
Again: this is one of the greatest classics in the field of science fiction, a true work of art. If you haven't read it, you have a wonderful experience ahead of you.
#Books #Bookstodon #ScienceFiction #ScienceFantasy #SF #Classics #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Lord of Light" (1967) by Roger Zelazny
This is simply one of my very favorite books. Apart from being quite possibly the greatest work ever produced by one of the two finest craftsmen of prose in science fiction, "Lord of Light" is one of the rare books which I find deeply moving. I can never read the ending without getting a lump in my throat.
Winner of the 1968 Hugo award for science fiction, the novel could easily be mistaken for fantasy. On a distant planet in the far future, human colonists have created a culture based on Indian mythology—except that in that world magic is made real by highly advanced technology.
Some of the ship's crew have assumed the roles of Hindu gods, using both technology and paranormal abilities. The colonists and their descendants live as mortals beneath the rule of the gods, with limited technology and enforced subservience. But technology has made reincarnation possible, so those who obey the gods have a chance at another life when they die.
Not everyone is happy with this arrangement, and the inevitable result is, of course, revolution.
At 257 pages it's a remarkably slender book compared to most modern genre novels. Yet it contains more poetry, emotion, humor, and sheer •imagination• than any HUNDRED science fiction novels published in the last twenty years.
One point: After the first chapter the bulk of the novel is an extended flashback. Zelazny didn't try to hide that, but he didn't make it obvious either. The sheer length of the flashback confuses some readers, so please don't forget.
Another bit of trivia: There were once plans to film "Lord of Light" and turn the sets into a permanent theme park. Jack Kirby (yes, THE Jack Kirby) made sketches for the sets. Sadly the movie never came to be, but the CIA obtained the sketches and used them to help convince the Iranian government that they were looking to film the movie in Iran. This was during the hostage crisis, and was the means by which some diplomats were smuggled out of the country. A movie was made of THAT story, "Argo" starring Ben Affleck. You can see the sketches and more information here.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110724150727/http://lordoflight.com/
Every time I read "Lord of Light" I end up wishing there was more. And yet...how could more be anything but a diminishment?
The book is very much worth owning; I've re-read it many times, and I'll read it many more. But you can borrow it for free from the Internet Archive, too:
https://archive.org/details/lordoflight0000roge
Again: this is one of the greatest classics in the field of science fiction, a true work of art. If you haven't read it, you have a wonderful experience ahead of you.
#Books #Bookstodon #ScienceFiction #ScienceFantasy #SF #Classics #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Lord of Light" (1967) by Roger Zelazny
This is simply one of my very favorite books. Apart from being quite possibly the greatest work ever produced by one of the two finest craftsmen of prose in science fiction, "Lord of Light" is one of the rare books which I find deeply moving. I can never read the ending without getting a lump in my throat.
Winner of the 1968 Hugo award for science fiction, the novel could easily be mistaken for fantasy. On a distant planet in the far future, human colonists have created a culture based on Indian mythology—except that in that world magic is made real by highly advanced technology.
Some of the ship's crew have assumed the roles of Hindu gods, using both technology and paranormal abilities. The colonists and their descendants live as mortals beneath the rule of the gods, with limited technology and enforced subservience. But technology has made reincarnation possible, so those who obey the gods have a chance at another life when they die.
Not everyone is happy with this arrangement, and the inevitable result is, of course, revolution.
At 257 pages it's a remarkably slender book compared to most modern genre novels. Yet it contains more poetry, emotion, humor, and sheer •imagination• than any HUNDRED science fiction novels published in the last twenty years.
One point: After the first chapter the bulk of the novel is an extended flashback. Zelazny didn't try to hide that, but he didn't make it obvious either. The sheer length of the flashback confuses some readers, so please don't forget.
Another bit of trivia: There were once plans to film "Lord of Light" and turn the sets into a permanent theme park. Jack Kirby (yes, THE Jack Kirby) made sketches for the sets. Sadly the movie never came to be, but the CIA obtained the sketches and used them to help convince the Iranian government that they were looking to film the movie in Iran. This was during the hostage crisis, and was the means by which some diplomats were smuggled out of the country. A movie was made of THAT story, "Argo" starring Ben Affleck. You can see the sketches and more information here.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110724150727/http://lordoflight.com/
Every time I read "Lord of Light" I end up wishing there was more. And yet...how could more be anything but a diminishment?
The book is very much worth owning; I've re-read it many times, and I'll read it many more. But you can borrow it for free from the Internet Archive, too:
https://archive.org/details/lordoflight0000roge
Again: this is one of the greatest classics in the field of science fiction, a true work of art. If you haven't read it, you have a wonderful experience ahead of you.
#Books #Bookstodon #ScienceFiction #ScienceFantasy #SF #Classics #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Lord of Light" (1967) by Roger Zelazny
This is simply one of my very favorite books. Apart from being quite possibly the greatest work ever produced by one of the two finest craftsmen of prose in science fiction, "Lord of Light" is one of the rare books which I find deeply moving. I can never read the ending without getting a lump in my throat.
Winner of the 1968 Hugo award for science fiction, the novel could easily be mistaken for fantasy. On a distant planet in the far future, human colonists have created a culture based on Indian mythology—except that in that world magic is made real by highly advanced technology.
Some of the ship's crew have assumed the roles of Hindu gods, using both technology and paranormal abilities. The colonists and their descendants live as mortals beneath the rule of the gods, with limited technology and enforced subservience. But technology has made reincarnation possible, so those who obey the gods have a chance at another life when they die.
Not everyone is happy with this arrangement, and the inevitable result is, of course, revolution.
At 257 pages it's a remarkably slender book compared to most modern genre novels. Yet it contains more poetry, emotion, humor, and sheer •imagination• than any HUNDRED science fiction novels published in the last twenty years.
One point: After the first chapter the bulk of the novel is an extended flashback. Zelazny didn't try to hide that, but he didn't make it obvious either. The sheer length of the flashback confuses some readers, so please don't forget.
Another bit of trivia: There were once plans to film "Lord of Light" and turn the sets into a permanent theme park. Jack Kirby (yes, THE Jack Kirby) made sketches for the sets. Sadly the movie never came to be, but the CIA obtained the sketches and used them to help convince the Iranian government that they were looking to film the movie in Iran. This was during the hostage crisis, and was the means by which some diplomats were smuggled out of the country. A movie was made of THAT story, "Argo" starring Ben Affleck. You can see the sketches and more information here.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110724150727/http://lordoflight.com/
Every time I read "Lord of Light" I end up wishing there was more. And yet...how could more be anything but a diminishment?
The book is very much worth owning; I've re-read it many times, and I'll read it many more. But you can borrow it for free from the Internet Archive, too:
https://archive.org/details/lordoflight0000roge
Again: this is one of the greatest classics in the field of science fiction, a true work of art. If you haven't read it, you have a wonderful experience ahead of you.
#Books #Bookstodon #ScienceFiction #ScienceFantasy #SF #Classics #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Mister Penny" (1935) by Marie Hall Ets
My son suggested that I post children's books on Thursdays, and I can't think of a reason why I shouldn't.
My parents read this book to me many times as a toddler and child; I read it to my son in turn. It's an •amazing• book. I can't think of a better one to read to a young child. I've read it to groups of children, and they always •love• it.
Written and illustrated by Marie Hall Ets, this is the story of an old man who works in a factory all day long to support his family of animals: Limpy the horse, Mooloo the cow, Splop the goat, Mimkin the lamb, Pugwug the pig, Chukluk the hen, and Doody the rooster.
The personalities of the animals are all so strong and clear that they're an absolute pleasure to read aloud. I use voices for each, and have recorded myself reading it.
The animals break into their neighbor's garden one day and go on an eating spree. But the neighbor catches them; they manage to escape, but that hardly settles the matter. The neighbor goes to Mister Penny and demand that he either give up his animals for the neighbor to slaughter, or do a huge amount of work on his land. But Mister Penny spends all day working in the factory, and can't do all the work without giving up his job—in which case he and his animals would starve!
How the animals solve the problem and make up for their naughtiness is a lovely, heartwarming story. The humor is delightful and the illustrations are simply perfect.
There were two sequels, "Mister Penny's Race Horse" (1956) and "Mister Penny's Circus" (1961). They're both charming, but "Mister Penny" is magical.
The book hasn't been in print for at least fifty years, more likely sixty or seventy; I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps it's because Mister Penny smokes a pipe. Or because the art is black and white. Who knows? The book will enter the public domain in 2031, I believe, but by then there may not be many copies left in the world. I've found the occasional copy for sale online and in library book sales, but I'd hate to see a book that's so precious to me be forgotten.
So: I scanned it and posted it to the Internet Archive. Here's the link.
https://archive.org/details/mister-penny
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #animals #classics #fiction #ChildrensBooks #Humor #Children #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Master of the Five Magics" (1980) by Lyndon Hardy
Not every good book has to be a classic for the ages. Sometimes a good, light, enjoyable read is exactly what you need.
And that describes Lyndon Hardy's "Master of the Five Magics" to a T. It's the story of Alodar, a journeyman thaumaturge in a fantasy world. Alodar has a problem: his father was a noble, but was cast out of the aristocracy long before. Now Alodar harbors a secret determination to win the hand of Queen Vendora and by so doing, erase his family's disgrace.
His path isn't an easy one. As a journeyman thaumaturge, his status isn't high. But war plagues the kingdom, and if he can serve the Queen he hopes to parlay that into being accepted as a suitor for her hand.
That's the general plot. The specifics are where things get interesting, because the book is effectively a series of really interesting and fun puzzles.
There are five schools of magic:
• Thaumaturgy, in which manipulation of a part of an object gives control over the whole
• Alchemy - many repetitions produce only some correct results
• Magic - years-long rituals are required to produce perfect enchanted objects
• Sorcery - the art of commanding the will of others
• Wizardry - the dangerous art of summoning and commanding demons
Each school is described clearly with the applicable principles for each. As Alodar proceeds from one adventure to another, each bringing him a little closer to the hand of the Queen, he moves from one school of magic to another—discovering along the way synergies between the schools that no one else ever anticipated.
In other words, this is a •thinking• book. Puzzles layered on puzzles, developing new levels of meaning as the plot moves along. It's a damned good book and I've found it fun to re-read many times.
I'll also note that the key relationship in the book is refreshingly equalitarian, compared to most of the books of that era. It's a good, sweet relationship; not deeply detailed, but satisfying.
A few notes:
There are two sequels. They're both good, but as is often the case they're not •quite• as good as the first one. They're still worth reading, though!
Although Alodar is included in the two sequels, he's not the main character in either.
Lyndon Hardy rewrote the book years after it was published as a "2nd edition". I'm sorry to say that the rewrite is NOT an improvement by any means. Stick with the original.
Fortunately the original edition is available to borrow for free at the Internet Archive.
https://archive.org/details/masteroffivemagi0000hardHappy reading! 🤓📖
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Thinking of possibly doing a daily book recommendation podcast. Never did a podcast before. Any thoughts?
#Books #Bookstodon #BookRecs #BookRecommendations #podcast #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "The Night People" (1977) by Jack Finney
This is another book that I stumbled on when I was bingeing an author in my high school library. The author, in this case, being Jack Finney. You may not have heard the name, but he wrote "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Time and Again", among others. Several of his novels have been filmed.
This is an odd one, because it's not science fiction or fantasy: it's just fiction. But it wouldn't be right to call it "just" fiction. It's an exciting, compelling, and just-plain-FUN story about four friends who find themselves a bit over their heads.
It starts with a bored lawyer.
[Lew tossed the magazine into the air, pages fluttering, and Jo looked up, swinging her hair aside. His arms straight overhead, one hand behind the other, he began rhythmically pumping them up and down, fingers opening and closing. Jo said, "Okay, I'll ask: What are you doing?"
"Hypnotizing God."
"I'll inquire still further: Why?"
"It's worth a try." He lowered his arms, hands clasping on his chest. "It could solve all my problems."]
Sigh...I wish Mastodon had text formatting. I want it to be clear when I'm quoting and when I'm not. Okay, mirabile dictu: from today on, I will use [brackets] to set off all my quotes. Excuse me a moment...
There. Fixed. 😁
Afflicted with insomnia, Lew starts going out at night and soon finds himself having a strange adventure: unable to resist swinging on the porch swing of a stranger's in the middle of the night, he has to run when the people inside wake up. He gets away with it, and that leads to a series of night-time adventures with his friends; a picnic on the freeway, dancing in a supermarket parking lot to the Muzak that was left playing overnight, and other things that I've sometimes thought about doing but never had the nerve to try.
Over time, the night excursions turn more competitive and dangerous. And the forces of the law take notice of the group's quirky behavior—or at least, one agent of the law does. As Ahab to Moby Dick that policeman quests for the Night People.
Suffice it to say the denouement is spectacular. I've pondered it and wondered if I could make it work for over the past 45 years. It would be SO much fun to try...if I dared!
It's a fun, memorable book that's well worth reading. And it's available to borrow for free from the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/nightpeople00finn .
Happy reading! 🤓📖
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "A Confederacy of Dunces" (1980) by John Kennedy Toole
It's hard to imagine that there's anyone who •hasn't• read this American classic, but I suppose anything's possible—right? This is another of my family books that my parents and siblings all read and quote. We love it.
It's the story of Ignatius J. Reilly, who can only be described as a unique. Grossly fat, contemptuous of a modern world that he regards as decadent and ignorant, Ignatius wages a one-man war against everything that disgusts him - which is almost much everything.
"Then you must begin a reading program immediately so that you may understand the crises of our age," Ignatius said solemnly. "Begin with the late Romans, including Boethius, of course. Then you should dip rather extensively into early Medieval. You may skip the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. That is mostly dangerous propaganda. Now that I think of it, you had better skip the Romantics and the Victorians, too. For the contemporary period, you should study some selected comic books."
"You're fantastic."
"I recommend Batman especially, for he tends to transcend the abysmal society in which he's found himself. His morality is rather rigid, also. I rather respect Batman."
Ignatius' adventures in early-1960s New Orleans are unforgettable. An accident forces him into an agonizing job search; the jobs he gets are ever more catastrophic. He comes up with one campaign after another to reform the world; each is more bizarre and hysterical than the last.
"Ooo-wee!" Jones said when he looked out the door. "The green cap mother. In person. Live."
"I see that you've wisely decided to hire a particularly terrifying Negro to protect you against your enraged and cheated customers," the green cap mother said to Lana Lee.
"Hustle him off," Lana said to Jones.
"Whoa! How you hustle off a elephan?"
"Look at those dark glasses. No doubt his system is swimming in dope."
What can I say? The book is just a treasure. One of the funniest books ever written.
"Hey, you a junkie?" the boy called to Jones. "You look like a junkie to me."
"You be lookin pretty junky with a Night of Joy broom stickin out your ass, "Jones said very slowly. "Night of Joy broom old, they good and splintery."
Due to an inter-family squabble, "A Confederacy of Dunces" has never been filmed or adapted to TV. In my book that's a blessing. I can only imagine what Hollywood would have done to it!
Unfortunately you can't borrow the book from the Internet Archive, but honestly this is one that's DEFINITELY worth buying. I've found plenty of copies in used book shops, so that's a good place to start. Or you could always borrow it from your library.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Tactics of Mistake" (1971) by Gordon R. Dickson
Gordon R. Dickson's Dorsai books are one of the great unfinished series of classic science fiction. Set in the late 22nd century, it's the second novel in the series representing a time when the great Splinter Cultures are first being founded.
The basic concept is that humanity has expanded to several dozen star systems from Earth, and in the process self-selected to create splinter cultures which represent basic aspects of human nature: Faith, Philosophy, Courage (War), and Science. The series focuses most and is named after the culture of professional soldiers and warriors: the Dorsai. Born men of war, they make their living as a planet by hiring out their people as mercenaries; in the arts of war they are effectively unbeatable. Many see the Dorsai series as the pre-eminent example of military science fiction. But it doesn't glorify war.
This is the story of how the Dorsai came to be. Lieutenant Cletus Graham, a scholar and soldier, makes his way from Earth to other worlds—with plans to make a better universe for the human race.
This book is the most realistic one of the series, as others include heavier doses of philosophy and transcendent elements. I think that's why it works so well for me.
At the same time one of the elements that makes this book so memorable for me is the autohypnosis practiced by the protagonist when he has to deal with pain and incapacity from an old war wound. It feels as if it could work, and I can't help but think about it when I'm in pain myself. In fact, that's why I'm recommending it today; I was talking about putting on a band-aid, and that reminded me of a scene in the book!
"Still drifting, still in that more primitive state of mind known as regression, he connected the pain response in his knee with the pain message in his mind, and began to convert the message to a mental equivalent of that same physical relaxation and peace which held his body. Drifting with it, he felt the pain message lose its color. It faded, like an instruction written in evaporating ink, until it was finally invisible.
He felt what he had earlier recognized as pain, still present in his knee. It was a sensation only, however, neither pain nor pressure, but co-equal with both. Now that he had identified this former pain as a separate sensation-entity, he began to concentrate upon the actual physical feeling of pressure within the blood and limb, the vessels now swollen to the point of immobilizing his leg.
He formed a mental image of the vessels as they were. Then, slowly, he began to visualize them as relaxing, shrinking, returning their fluid contents to those pipe systems of the leg to which they were severally connected."
Sadly, the books are hard to find these days (although I believe they're all still in print), and •none• of them are available for loan online via the Internet Archive—although they're all available commercially in ebook format.
Perhaps I should mention that a real organization exists that was inspired by the Dorsai series; the Dorsai Irregulars. They serve as security at some science fiction conventions.
Oh, and speaking of science fiction conventions: I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Gordon R. Dickson at Universicon, not too long before he died. He was frail, but still sharp and friendly.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #ScienceFiction #SF #Classics #QuasitBookRecs #Military
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Does anyone have any preferences for my daily book recommendations? I'm trying not to do the same kind of book two days in a row.
I just thought of a book which will probably be my recommendation for today: classic science fiction. It came into my mind while I was thinking about putting on a Band-Aid, believe it or not! 🤓
Incidentally, I'm keeping a spreadsheet to track my daily recommendations. That helps me keep from getting too repetitive. I do find myself wondering how many of my recommendations are books that people have read before. For some reason I suspect the YA and children's books are more obscure and less likely to be old news, oddly enough. But I don't know how many people are interested in books like that. I've always loved YA and children's books, but I might be unusual.
Anyway, any feedback is welcome! And as always, I'm certainly willing to do personalized book recommendations by request.
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Shōgun" (1975) by James Clavell
When I was in my early teens my father had a fairly serious heart attack. He survived, thank goodness, and lived well past 90 years old. But while he was bedridden and convalescing, our neighbors brought all sorts of books over to help him pass the time. They were mostly best-sellers of the time; books that I would never have read on my own, since I was a science-fiction fan.
"Shōgun" was one of them. I'm not sure if Dad read it, but I sure did. And I've read it more than a couple of dozen times since then.
Possibly the greatest historical fiction novel ever written, it's almost impossible to put down. An English pilot named Blackthorne and his surviving crew are stranded in feudal Japan in 1600, the first English and Dutch men to reach those shores. But their enemies, the Spanish, the Portugese, and missionaries of the Catholic Church, have established themselves in Japan. So the pilot and his crew face torture and death.
Samurai, intrigue, pirates, geishas, sex, love, ninjas, politics, religion...it's an incredible book, absolutely gripping. Even though it's 1,000 pages long, it feels too short. Every time I reach the end, I find myself wishing for more!
Luckily I can re-read a good book every six months or so and enjoy it as much (or more) as the first time. Which is why this is my travelling book. There are (or were) a lot of copies of the paperback in used book shops, so I picked up several over the years—along with a hardcover edition to keep in my library.
One of the most fascinating things about the book is that it's actually based loosely on historical events. An English pilot DID become the first Englishman to land in Japan at a time when it was occupied by the enemies of England, and he really did reach a surprisingly high status.
Incidentally, as Blackthorne learned Japanese in the book I learned some too. Some of the words may be a bit out of date - they're from 1600, after all - but they still made a good basis to learn more from watching anime.
And if you like "Shōgun" you might enjoy "Learning From Shōgun", a free PDF of academic essays about the book and its historical accuracy. I found it extremely interesting, although •one• of the articles gave me an overpowering urge to kick the author (of the article) a good hard kick in the pants. Academic sneering can be SO annoying...
http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/Learning_from_shogun_txt.pdf
Happy reading! 🤓📖
Edit: almost forgot the Internet Archive loan link!
https://archive.org/details/shogunnovelofjap0000jame
#Books #Bookstodon #HistoricalFiction #Classics #Adventure #QuasitBookRecs
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Just a note: If you want to read all of my book recommendations, you may want to follow #QuasitBookRecs. But I also hashtag #books and #Bookstodon for all my recommendations.
I'm also happy to give personalized book recommendations, if I can. I've read many thousands of books, so I have a good background to draw on. I'm also always happy to •receive• book recommendations!
Oh, and I have a lot of reviews up over on BookWyrm, where I'm https://bookwyrm.social/user/BobQuasit
I should probably note that I generally expand my recommendations when I post here. I also add images, quotes, and links wherever possible. Plus more detail.
Happy reading! 🤓📖
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Store of Infinity" (1960) by Robert Sheckley
I'm really enjoying doing these recommendations! Not only has this given me a wonderful trip down memory lane, but I've a picked up quite a few interesting new books for myself.
Having fallen madly in love with books as a toddler, and with science fiction as an older child, it was time for me to enter the magical world of used book shops. My first one was a little place downtown; I think it was called "The Book Worm", and it was packed with used books of all sorts.
The proprietor was a hippy, and I remember to this day the brass platter of sand on the counter with incense smoking in it. I don't know •how• I picked the book; maybe it was the cover, although I'm sure I read the back-cover text and probably the introduction as well. But the book I picked was an incredibly lucky find.
A collection of short stories by a single author, this is the kind of book that's not published as often as they used to be. But •this• book represented Sheckley at the very peak of his genius—and that's saying something.
He crafted stories like exquisite gemstones, with dazzling wit and imagination. Just this one thin book held more brilliance than I've seen in any book from the last 25 years, easily; in fact, I don't think I've ever seen its match. Sheckley is arguably the O. Henry of science fiction.
The stories it features are...hell, I'm going to write at least SOMETHING about each one.
• "The Prize of Peril" - first published in 1958, this actually predicted reality TV. Stephen King stole the plot for "The Running Man". I'm NOT kidding. At the same time the story itself is brilliant, thrilling, and SO funny!
• "The Humours" - A man with a schismed personality has had his other personalities removed and put into artificial bodies when he was young. But time is running out for him, and he must reintegrate those personalities. If he can find them.
• "Triplication" - Three brilliant short-short stories in one. VERY memorable.
• "The Minimum Man" - I love this one particularly! Anyone who's ever felt inadequate or incompetent probably would. In the world of the future, explorers aren't the best of the best. They're the opposite, because the colonists who go to the worlds they discover are just...ordinary.
• " If the Red Slayer" - inspired (perhaps) by a poem by Emerson, this is another one that has stayed with me forever. In the wars of the future, death isn't necessarily a career-ender...whether you like it or not!
• "The Store of the Worlds" - This could have been a •brilliant• episode of The Twilight Zone. What would you give for one year in the world of your dreams?
• "The Gun Without a Bang" - SO much fun! An explorer is given the ultimate weapon to field test. But everything has a catch...
• "The Deaths of Ben Baxter" - I'm laughing and shaking my head, remembering this one. A wonderful story of parallel worlds.
Every single one of these stories is a perfectly-crafted classic. They're breathtaking.
Luckily the book is available to borrow from the Internet Archive.
https://archive.org/details/storeofinfinity0000robe
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #ScienceFiction #SF #Classics #QuasitBookRecs #ShortStories
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "The Great Brain" (1967) by John D. Fitzgerald
I read a lot of books to my son over the years: a LOT. "The Hobbit", all three books of "The Lord of the Rings", the Narnia books, Lloyd Alexander's "Chronicles of Prydain", most of the original Doctor Dolittle books, many of the Three Investigators books, and far more. And he loved almost all of them (I selected them carefully, from the books I loved best as a child and teen).
But as a child I think he loved the "Great Brain" series best.
Partly, I think that because they're so accessible. John D. Fitzgerald writes about his semi-fictionalized younger self in the true voice of a child - and that's quite an accomplishment. When his brother insults the father of a friend, the young John D. tells us that he has visions of that man coming down the street after them with a butcher knife. That's not the sort of language that most modern publishers allow in books for children, I believe, but it's how children think - some of the time. And over and over, as I was reading "The Great Brain" to my son, he'd stop me and ask me if the book really said what I'd just read.
You see, I sometimes can't resist adding a humorous comment or line now and then to some books - always, however, immediately admitting that the book didn't really say that. For this book I didn't add a word - but many of the passages in the book were so funny that my son suspected that I'd added them. I had to show him the lines in the book to convince him!
He pretty much had a huge grin on his face the whole time that I was reading. When I'd finish a chapter, he'd hold my arm and beg for another one. I can't think of higher praise for a book for children.
Each chapter in this book is a self-contained story, written in a beautifully straightforward style that some have compared to that of Mark Twain. John D. Fitzgerald (the author, as you'll note) chronicles his childhood as the younger brother of the infamous Great Brain, the greatest kid swindler in town. He is, of course, frequently the primary •victim• of the Great Brain.
In fact the Great Brain is pretty much a complete •jerk•, as we all noticed fairly quickly. But the stories are so entertaining that it doesn't matter.
A warning: the original edition and most later reissues are perfectly illustrated by Mercer Meyer. For some insane and inexplicable reason, there are a few editions out there that have been re-illustrated by other artists. This makes about as much sense as replacing the classic Tenniel illustrations in "Alice In Wonderland" (which has, of course, also been done. What were they thinking?).
Another point: the story begins in 1896. Although the town has electricity and street lights, one of the stories features the installation of the first flush toilet in town. It's hysterical, but it's also a great opportunity to explain something about history to young children in a way that they'll enjoy and remember.
I read that chapter to my son's third-grade class and they LOVED it. Laughed until I thought they'd choke. But this isn't just a book for kids; it's a pleasure to read even as an adult.
All in all, a deeply enjoyable classic.
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My whole •life• is books. There are too many life-changing ones to list. But...
"D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Mythology"; my father read that to me again and again as a child.
"The God Box" by Barry Longyear has stayed in my mind forever. It has given me strength when I needed it.
"Lord of Light" by Roger Zelazny is probably the single most beautiful work I've ever encountered.
"The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume 1" was brought to me as a child by my father. It turned me into a science fiction fan for life.
https://kolektiva.social/@Quasit/116462334852705462"Tim All Alone" by Edward Ardizonne; my mother read that one to me as a toddler, and it opened my heart.
There are many more. Some of these are previews of future book recommendations.
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I love poetry, but really need to read more. The only book that leaps to mind is Housman's "A Shropshire Lad", which was my daily book recommendation a few days ago: https://kolektiva.social/@Quasit/116468436365913859
You might also try the poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne. His "The Garden of Proserpine" may be his best known poem; you can find it in his "Poems & Ballads" (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35402) on Project Gutenberg.
From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.And how could I leave out the poetry of Emily Dickinson? It, too, is all available on Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/996.
Ogden Nash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogden_Nash is an old favorite of mine; his poetry is quirky, witty, and very funny.
I've also been endlessly amused by "Ode On A Grecian Urn, summarized" by Desmond Skirrow:
Gods chase
Round vase.
What say?
What play?
Don't know.
Nice, though.I'm sorry that none of these are anthologies as such! I KNOW I've read some good ones, but they're escaping my memory at the moment.
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Absolutely! Those are a dime a dozen, these days (note to self: look up the origin of "a dime a dozen" soon).
Of course there are the classics: Orwell's "1984" and Huxley's "Brave New World". Then there's Neville Shute's "On the Beach", which is very depressing.
Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" is another. I haven't read "The Handmaid's Tale"; I tried it once, but couldn't get into it. Still, it's gotten a lot of praise. Orwell's "Animal Farm" is arguably not near-future, but it's dark and brilliant. Golding's "Lord of the Flies" depressed the hell out of me, and certainly has a dark view of humanity.
Oh! Here's one you probably haven't heard of, and it comes with a bonus.
"House of Stairs" by William Sleator is about five orphaned teenagers who find themselves trapped in a place made up of nothing but stairs...and a very ominous machine. It's a VERY intense book. It's technically YA, but it's a great read and won't insult your intelligence at all.
After you finish it, you might like to read a piece of fanfiction I found that continues the story. I don't have a very high opinion of most fanfiction, but this was an exception. It's really outstanding, and captures the feeling of the book without in any way undermining its impact.
"Island of Misfits" https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11711664/1/Island-of-Misfits?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=eO1O7CMr39m3bgqU7x_xaR3yjY8Z2S8fK2lcg_tWFo8-1636433234-0-gaNycGzNCFE
There are a lot more, of course, but I hope this is a good start!
#Books #Bookstodon #Bookrecs #BookRecommendations #QuasitBookRecs
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Speaking of book recommendations: if anyone would like a personalized book recommendation, please feel free to ask! I've probably read more books, particularly older books, than 99% of the human race. And my memory for books is unusually good. So I'd be glad to make a recommendation for anyone who needs one.
Now, I •will• note that I haven't read that many books that were published after the year 2000 or so. I've read some, and I'm trying to read more, but just not that many.
Also I've seen a trend in book recommendation requests that I really can't oblige. Some people seem to want books that are written by someone who is exactly like themselves and which are about someone exactly about themselves. So, for example:
"I want a book written by a left-handed red-haired triple amputee with a birthmark the shape of an iguana on a pineapple who's only attracted to toothless Algerian basket-weavers and has an allergy to water. The book needs to be about a stamp collector who has a pet monkey with purple fur and learns to overcome their fear of leprechauns."
Okay, I'm exaggerating but not by that much. If you want a recommendation like that, I can't help you!
Otherwise, I'm all ears. 🤣
#Books #Bookstodon #QuasitBookRecs #bookrecs #bookrecommendations
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "Bridge of Birds" (1984) by Barry Hughart
This is a very special book, for me: for one thing, it's the second-most-often stolen (i.e. borrowed and never returned) book in my library. I own several copies now, including a hardcover edition of all three books in the series. It won the 1985 World Fantasy Award, and well deserved it.
Set in "an ancient China that never was" it's the story of a very strong young peasant man, Number Ten Ox, who's tasked with finding someone to help cure a plague that's afflicted the children of his village.
In the big city he encounters Master Li, an incredibly ancient sage with "a slight flaw in his character" that usually expresses itself in crime and murder. The two of them make a wonderful team as they cross ancient China trying to find the answers to one mystery after another. It's a little reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, with magic, humor, mythology, and mystery; it's really quite different from any other book I've encountered.
You WILL laugh out loud while reading this book. The characters discuss their hopes for rebirth after death during a lull in a rather dangerous situation:
“Henpecked Ho,” I sniffled through my tears, “I will miss you, but I know that we will meet again. Master Li will be a three-toed sloth, and Miser Shen will be a tree, and you will be a flower, and I will be a cloud, and some day we will come together in a beautiful garden. Probably very soon,” I added.
"Bridge of Birds" was the first of three novels about Master Li and Number Ten Ox. The succeeding novels weren't as good, but still well worth reading. There have been several collections of all three books released as "The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox".
I have a bit of an interesting story about Bridge of Birds. In the early days of the web I found a website about the book. It featured a labyrinth you could navigate with the arrow keys. Throughout the labyrinth there were spots where you had to answer a question about the book. If you answered correctly, you got a chapter for a lost first draft of "Bridge of Birds" called "A Bridge of Birds"' it was VERY different from the published version. Among the differences were that Master Li was young rather than old, and Number Ten Ox was a minor character who was basically mentally handicapped.
I mapped that labyrinth, answered every question, collected all the chapters...and then assembled them in the right order and turned them into a PDF. Just for the fun of it, I hid a link to that PDF on my tabletop RPG website. By that point the site with the original labyrinth was long gone, of course. But the PDF is still there on my site...if you can find it.
"A Bridge of Birds" was also included in at least one special edition of "The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox", so I'm still being circumspect about the link. But it's out there.
Another interesting tidbit about "Bridge of Birds": I've read it many dozens of times, and recommended it to lots of people. But it has a curious flaw that I only discovered after I read the book •aloud• to my son. Let me know if you catch it!
As for "Bridge of Birds", as far as I know it's still in print. It's also available for borrowing via the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/bridgeofbirdsnov00hugh
Happy reading! 🤓📖
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "The Funco File" (1969) by Burt Cole
I stole this book from my junior high reading room as a young teen. It was too good for me to resist. Later on I started finding copies in used book shops; it must have had a good print run at some point. But as far as I know, it's been out of print for several decades at least. I can't imagine why.
It's near-future science fiction novel set in America (mostly): a massive computer called The Machine runs pretty much everything, although the government, the FBI, TV networks, and the rest all continue to exist. The Machine isn't blatant about itself.
But there are four inexplicable human anomalies out there, and they need to be investigated. The book is divided into sections, one for each freak. As things move along, they meet each other and start working together.
The first freak is Rolf, a boy from the backwood hills who seems to have a poltergeist ability. When he winds up and lets loose, chaos erupts around him. Set in the back woods, the section is quite lyrical; the characters and setting are really evocative.
The second freak is a nebbishy accountant named Mr. Kleiber. While trying to cure his insomnia by writing in the air with his nose, he discovers that he can emit blue fire from the tip of it. The fire doesn't burn, but it glows and apparently lasts forever. Kleiber's a bit hapless but his adventures are quite funny.
Djeela-Lal is a temple prostitute from the southeast Asian country Phenh, and has (in addition to her extensive training in sex) the ability to levitate. She's smart, ironic, and very competent. Her section starts out in Phenh, and the whole section is hilarious - even the footnotes.
---
"⁶ The chief exports are tea, cotton, jute and foz—this last a vegetable
oil used in the canning of fish, However, in the Sikghat provinces on the upper Bodj there are important deposits of oil, which are still, for religious reasons, untapped. This may help to explain the insistent interest of foreign nations in the Phenh economy.⁷ The office of Grand Imaj is, of course, hereditary. All other posts are
filled by democratic election, one vote for the Imaj, one for the people. The people are informed beforehand how the Imaj will vote, and dissenters are
torn to pieces by dogs."The final freak is a man born with dead-white skin, black nails, extremely high strength, and the ability to hold his breath for long periods. On joining the Army, he's inducted into one secret corps of assassins after another - culminating in an ultra-secret group which conditions him to automatically kill anyone who comes within six feet of him. Which, as the back cover says, makes things a little difficult between him and Djeela-Lal...
Wonderfully funny, beautifully written, this book is unique and a real pleasure to read. If you can't find a copy in a used book shop, you should be able to find copies for sale online; I did. If possible please try not to buy from Amazon. They've put a lot of great mom and pop book stores out of business, and they treat their employees like cattle.
For used books Biblio.com, BetterWorldBooks.com, and Biblio.co.uk are independent book marketplaces that serve independent book shops - NOT Amazon. Ebay is also worth a try, although sometimes products from Ebay turn out to be from Amazon.
You can find PDFs of "The Funco File" if you're willing to fly the Jolly Roger - but so far •not• EPUB or MOBI versions. The book simply hasn't been made into a true ebook version, and I don't know why. It should be!
You can borrow it from the Internet Archive, though.
https://archive.org/details/funcofile0000burt_f5u5
Happy reading! 🤓📖
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "The Story of Doctor Dolittle" by Hugh Lofting (1920)
"The Story of Doctor Dolittle" is the first book in the Doctor Dolittle series by Hugh Lofting. They began as a series of illustrated letters that he sent to his children from the trenches of World War I as a soldier.
The Doctor is a kind-hearted man, a doctor of humans (originally) whose lack of worldliness ends up losing him almost all of his human patients. His African parrot Polynesia decides to help him become an animal doctor instead—but a very special one, unique in fact, as she teaches him the languages of the animals. Things only get better from there.
In this first novel the character of the Doctor is established, along with many of his human and animal friends. He's asked to come to Africa by the animals there, to treat a disease that's killing them; once there he has more adventures.
Some of those adventures led to criticism and censorship in the latter 20th century. The idea that an English doctor would be summoned to save the animals of Africa was seen as racist, another iteration of the Great White Hope; this was intolerable to some critics.
Far more offensive to some, however, was the section in which the Doctor and his animal family were captured by an African king - a human. Locked up in the king's dungeon, the Doctor is only able to escape by tricking the king's son, Prince Bumpo. The Prince wants to become white (sorry, but that's in the story), because he fell in love with a sleeping white woman who cried out when she woke and saw that he was black.
The Doctor dyes his face white (temporarily), but remarks that the whole thing is ridiculous; the Prince has a good heart, which is all that should matter. The animals make disparaging remarks about the silliness of the white woman. Nonetheless, the publishing world would not forgive Lofting. Long after his death, with the assent of his estate, the book was rewritten VERY badly to replace that section with a threadbare hypnotism plot.
For years no published version of the book in the United States included the original text; just the bowdlerized version. And then the ironic gods of copyright laughed. For the book passed into the public domain—but NOT the rewritten text, only the original!
Let me get personal for a minute: I read this book when I was •very• young. Several times, in fact. I loved it; the gentle humor was perfect for me, and the adventures of the Doctor and his animals thrilled me without frightening me.
As for the racism of the Africa section, none of my brethren in the Klan have ever had any problem with it. KIDDING! I grew up without any racism, I hope, but in any case "The Story of Doctor Dolittle" certainly didn't make me a racist monster. What I took to heart was what the Doctor said about Prince Bumpo's heart, and that Prince Bumpo himself became a visiting member of the Dolittle family–unless he's been edited out of later books in the series as well, in the name of tolerance.
Obviously I have strong feelings about this. I won't apologize for them. I'll admit that some of the drawings of Africans in the book could be seen as offensive, but they did no harm to me as far as I know.
"So the swallow was brought in, all huddled and shivering; and although she was a little afraid at first, she soon got warmed up and sat on the edge of the mantelpiece and began to talk.
When she had finished the Doctor said,
“I would gladly go to Africa — especially in this bitter weather. But I’m afraid we haven’t money enough to buy the tickets. Get me the money-box, Chee-Chee.”
So the monkey climbed up and got it off the top shelf of the dresser.
There was nothing in it — not one single penny!
“I felt sure there was twopence left,” said the Doctor.
“There was” said the owl. “But you spent it on a rattle for that badger’s baby when he was teething.”
“Did I?” said the Doctor— “dear me, dear me! What a nuisance money is, to be sure!"
The Doctor's feelings towards money influenced me very much.
Anyway, the original, unexpurgated text and illustrations are available in a beautifully formatted ebooks, in all the major formats, at Standard Ebooks. The earlier books in the series are available, and more are entering the public domain regularly.
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/hugh-lofting/the-story-of-doctor-dolittle
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#Books #Bookstodon #YA #ChildrensBooks #Humor #YAbooks #QuasitBookRecs
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "A Shropshire Lad" by A. E. Housman (1896)
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
“The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
’Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.Meet A.E. Housman, if you haven't met him before. His poetry may not be fashionable any more (he rhymed, which is apparently a cardinal sin among poets these days), but it was brilliant, addictive, and powerfully moving.
I memorized many of his poems for years, just for the fun of it. There are lessons in them that I treasure.
That's why, when I came across a TERRIBLY mangled Barnes & Noble ebook of "A Shropshire Lad", I couldn't resist writing a review in the style of Housman:
The verses get five stars from me;
The presentation, one.
A pity 'tis that OCR's
So ruined poor Housman's fun!The headers cleave each verse in twain
The lines lie torn and wrent,
How cruel to make him die again!
Needlessly violent.But hope lives on, for pristine text
of "Shropshire Lad" is free
On Project Gutenberg, the home
of Housman fans like me.And here's the link, available on Project Gutenberg in all the major ebook formats. Enjoy!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5720
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#QuasitBookRecs #Books #Classics #Bookstodon #Poetry #FreeEbooks
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Quasit's Book Recommendations: "A Shropshire Lad" by A. E. Housman (1896)
When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me.When I was one-and-twenty
I heard him say again,
“The heart out of the bosom
Was never given in vain;
’Tis paid with sighs a plenty
And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two-and-twenty,
And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.Meet A.E. Housman, if you haven't met him before. His poetry may not be fashionable any more (he rhymed, which is apparently a cardinal sin among poets these days), but it was brilliant, addictive, and powerfully moving.
I memorized many of his poems for years, just for the fun of it. There are lessons in them that I treasure.
That's why, when I came across a TERRIBLY mangled Barnes & Noble ebook of "A Shropshire Lad", I couldn't resist writing a review in the style of Housman:
The verses get five stars from me;
The presentation, one.
A pity 'tis that OCR's
So ruined poor Housman's fun!The headers cleave each verse in twain
The lines lie torn and wrent,
How cruel to make him die again!
Needlessly violent.But hope lives on, for pristine text
of "Shropshire Lad" is free
On Project Gutenberg, the home
of Housman fans like me.And here's the link, available on Project Gutenberg in all the major ebook formats. Enjoy!
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5720
Happy reading! 🤓📖
#QuasitBookRecs #Books #Classics #Bookstodon #Poetry #FreeEbooks