G:fantods (03/24/83)
I agree that discussions of sf books should go to net.sf-lovers. Thing is, net.sf-lovers is crowded with people discussing how many purple hairs Yoda had in his left nostril and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on and so on This newsgroup is at least about BOOKS, and the beleagured few who actually READ sf instead of just WATCH "sf" are driven in here. We either have to split up net.books into at least three different groups, or we push the media fans into net.startrek, the sf books people into net.sf-lovers, and make it known that net.books is NOT for sf. If that is unfeasible, try being patient and just submitting your articles about books. I will too, and I'll read yours, and respond to yours. Right now I want everyone to read Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon and tell me what you think about it. We have two GR fans working in this department, probably more, and together we can "keep the wolve awake!". I also want to discuss other very odd authors who do not write sf. John Fowles comes close a couple of times, in the original "Magus" (not the rewrite), and in "The Ebony Tower". Philip Dick is good but has been done to death. So who else out there has read very odd, strange, haunting novels that deal with the utter weirdness of our world without resorting to standard sf themes, or Lovecraftian word-glut. And lets go a little deeper than John Irving and Vonnegut, who are to real weirdness what Coors Lite is to beer. Moving on to a real book: In the first publication of The Magus, John Fowles had one of his characters complaining that "there were no more mysteries to life". When this happens to a person, they usually lose interest in everything. Mystery makes us go on. In his rewrite of the novel, Fowles essentially removed all mystery from it, revealing all, and thus destroying the work. Ironic, no? See you on the net, Richard Moorman
spirit (04/02/83)
I agree that Gravity's Rainbow is a wonderful book, however it's been about 6 years since I read it and I can't remember enough details for any meaningful discussion. I can strongly recommend The Sot Weed Factor, The Floating Opera, and Giles Goat Boy by John Barth. A collection of short stories by Jean Paul Sartre entitled The Wall is also really out on that intangible edge of reality that I find so enticing. Are there any *recent* books of the above mentioned calibre that anyone can recommend. Sam Hughes
djo (04/06/83)
Knut Hamsun's, Growth of the Soil, is a stunning book. It moves slowly and strongly. Try it.