Month 9 of 260 (3.46 percent)
Size of list: 81,149 pages (4.3 percent greater than starting size)
Pages read: 5,152 (6.35 percent)
H-list: 1,645/22,674 (7.26 percent)
N-list: 1,592/35,009 (4.55 percent)
O-list: 1,915/23,466 (8.16 percent)
Finished: The Dispossessed, Double Star
Reading: The Great Hunt, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft, A Trip to the Stars
This was a pretty great month for my reading. I got in more than 1,000 pages this month, a rate that (if I could keep it up, which I can't) would pretty much knock all these off in 10 years, instead of 20.
I divided the Hugo winners into three eras, and am going through the eras mostly chronologically. The big exception to that is The Dispossessed, which my spreadsheet tells me I would get to around 2032, but I read it now because my friend Katie recommended it.
I suspect my reaction to The Dispossessed would be different if I read it 20-to-25 years ago, when I was younger and hadn't recently taught political science and hadn't read Capital in the 21st Century. It brought me no insights into the value of capitalism or anarchism or materialism or asceticism. The story is about a man who grew up on a moon, in an anarchistic society founded by exiles from the planet, going to visit the planet. It was an interesting book about someone trying to do work, to increase knowledge, for the sake of it, and how systems reward people who focus on the system. The structure, alternating between the time before he left and the time after, was interesting. It was good but not mind-blowing, but I suspect the mood and tone will stick in my head for a long time.
Double Star was an interesting book. An actor is pressed into doubling for a politician, sort of like the movie Dave or any number of other stories, only the politician is prominent but not the actual leader, and there are Martians. The science fiction parts, about a multiplanetary empire and meeting with Martians, weren't all that interesting. The later parts, though, were about carrying out the act of being a politician, and I found that engaging. And it's Heinlein, and Heinlein can write a story.
I read a bunch of short stories, mostly very short, from the Lovecraft collection. They were okay, interesting but not great. It was all pretty early in his career, though, and his work is supposed to get better as it goes.
This was a pretty great month for my reading. I got in more than 1,000 pages this month, a rate that (if I could keep it up, which I can't) would pretty much knock all these off in 10 years, instead of 20.
I divided the Hugo winners into three eras, and am going through the eras mostly chronologically. The big exception to that is The Dispossessed, which my spreadsheet tells me I would get to around 2032, but I read it now because my friend Katie recommended it.
I suspect my reaction to The Dispossessed would be different if I read it 20-to-25 years ago, when I was younger and hadn't recently taught political science and hadn't read Capital in the 21st Century. It brought me no insights into the value of capitalism or anarchism or materialism or asceticism. The story is about a man who grew up on a moon, in an anarchistic society founded by exiles from the planet, going to visit the planet. It was an interesting book about someone trying to do work, to increase knowledge, for the sake of it, and how systems reward people who focus on the system. The structure, alternating between the time before he left and the time after, was interesting. It was good but not mind-blowing, but I suspect the mood and tone will stick in my head for a long time.
Double Star was an interesting book. An actor is pressed into doubling for a politician, sort of like the movie Dave or any number of other stories, only the politician is prominent but not the actual leader, and there are Martians. The science fiction parts, about a multiplanetary empire and meeting with Martians, weren't all that interesting. The later parts, though, were about carrying out the act of being a politician, and I found that engaging. And it's Heinlein, and Heinlein can write a story.
I read a bunch of short stories, mostly very short, from the Lovecraft collection. They were okay, interesting but not great. It was all pretty early in his career, though, and his work is supposed to get better as it goes.
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