June 6, 2004--early morning. I recently visited Bakka Books in Toronto and picked up some SFF. I picked up Masquerade by Terry Pratchett which is a witches/Ankh-Morpark discworld novel that paradies the Phantom of the Opera. It was fun, but then, I just love Esme and Nanny Ogg. I also was thrilled to find Ellen Kushner's Thomas the Rhymer there, since I loved Swordspointe so much, but the beginning of it was not so enthralling so I've set it aside for now. I'll come back to it in a bit. I've started Gregory Keyes' The Briar King and it looks really promising.
I have long finished Deepness and also read A Fire Upon the Deep. They are among the best books ever. Definitely going on the bib page. Deepness is a better read, but Fire has some really great ideas. However, they are both pretty good in both dimensions.
Other books I've read included Heyer's The Masqueraders, delightful as always, McCaffrey's Acorna, which was light, but fun, The Stepford Wives by ira lewin (the upcoming movie is based on it), its quite the chilling feminist tale though the fact that its so ingrained in our culture (more so because of the movie) ruins the suspense of it a bit, and Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker, which was gruesome, but important, I think.
April 22, 2004--afternoon. I haven't really been posting my current reading here. Mostly that's because of the elaborate links I've been putting in. So I'm going to stop that for now, maybe I'll come back and update the links later. Also, most of the time, when I'm reading something I'm interested in reading it, not writing about reading it. And then afterwards, I'm done. But right now, I'm reading A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. This comes highly recommended by Roger and Nick. The prologue was highly intriguing. The first chapter, not as much. So I'm not completely caught yet. We'll see.
Previously, I read Beggars and Choosers by Nancy Kress. I had to special order because it was out of print. It was good, stay up all night stuff. Still, less cool than Beggars in Spain because it didn't add that many new ideas, I guess I was hoping somehow for a solution to life, the universe and everything...you know, the issues raised in BiS. But there aren't easy answers and I guess I knew that. Definitely recommended though. I should add it to the main page.
Oh and I've been reading this anthology on the Philosophy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Like many academics, I'm completely addicted to Buffy, and it's great stuff for withdrawal. Also, I learned some philosophy, spiffy.
Oh, and I finally got around to reading Harry Potter number 5. Loads of fun, except Harry is a bit irritating. It's worth it to borrow it from one of the millions of people who bought a copy.
Let's see. I also read Beauvalet the latest rereleased Georgette Heyer novel. I adored it, it's got a great hero...you know pirate romance novels, what could be more fun. Arr.
The Last Light of the Sun
(amazon)
Roc 2004.
March 29, 2004--Early morning. Finished LLoTS. I started to enjoy it
quite a bit by page 250 or so. Nonetheless, it's just doesn't have the emotional intensity of Kay's other books. This made me sad, and a
bit disappointed especially after waiting four years for it. I feel
a bit empty now and greedy and selfish. I want a book that makes
me feel like Tigana or the Fionavar Tapestry or The Lions of Al-Rassan.
Oh well. I honestly don't know what I would have thought of this if
it had been written by someone else.
Admissions Confidential
(amazon)
.
St. Martin's Press 2001.
March 18, 2004--Early morning. I'm still unenthralled with Last Light of the
Sun, not that I'm giving up yet. I wandered over to the Harvard Coop for
some quality book time. There's something about the feel of new books, maybe
its their smell that has always made me feel safe and happy. I love to browse
a well laid out book store; you always learn something, often something
completely unexpected. I was in a nonfiction mood, so no SFF here. This
book was recommended to me, sort of. Jessica and I were discussing college
admissions, in the context of the Women in Computer Science group at Harvard,
and the distinction between lowering admissions standards and active
recruiting. Jessica mentioned a discussion of a book by a college
admissions officer at a top college, 'you know on the third floor of the
coop.' She couldn't remember the name. She thought the book was awesome,
she also thought it would be obvious. Maybe this was it, I don't know.
All I know is that it was great reading, especially if you're curious
about the college admissions process.
I think I might have liked it less if I was actually applying to undergrad, or had a kid. Then it might have hit too close to home. But then, maybe not. I never had any real anxiety about getting into college. Everyone expected me to get into a good school and I didn't have any one in particular that I was counting on. This was not to say I didn't care, almost my entire high school experience was focused on preparing for college, I was just really confident. I wish I still possessed the confidence I had when I was 17. Reading this book, I was attracted to the lifestyle that Toor described. Getting to sort through folders of great kids looking to find--and champion--jewels among them. It made me want to take a few years off of grad school and try it. Her stories of her fights for her students reminded me of my experience as a teaching assistant and the grading meetings at the end of term when I fought to give my students the grades they deserved. Not that that was always a pleasant experience and neither, it seems, is admissions.
The writing is excellent. I enjoyed both the about-the-author anecdotes at the beginning of chapters and the samples of great essays--just because they were fun to read. I have come to believe, and this reaffirmed that belief, that writing a good personal essay (not research proposal, mind you) is a lot like writing fiction; the protagonist (subject) has to be sympathetic and real to the reader. If you do that, you're done. In the harsh light of early morning, I'm fairly certain I don't want to derail my academic career just yet for the glories of admissions officerhood. Still--I just might head over to the admissions office at Harvard or MIT to see what's up and if they could use some part-time help.
The Last Light of the Sun
(amazon)
Roc 2004.
March 16, 2004--Just started this one. Thus far, I'm not terribly impressed. But then, I've
been waiting so long for a new Kay book that I wanted to fall in love with
the story on the first page. It may just be that I'm disappointed with the
historical background this time; so much fantasy is based on the legends
of the 'northmen,' usually Kay does something so different. Nonetheless,
Kay falls into my 'buy anything he writes as soon as he writes it' category of
authors, so I have every belief that it will get better. I'll update this
later.