I don't know. Maybe I'll read the Nabokov book on my list.
Tom Send a noteboard - 01/02/2010 04:16:09 PM
I'm almost done with Solaris (Russian translation). I decided to re-read it because of the debate over sci-fi vs. literature. After re-reading, I remain convinced that the book is fundamentally about human nature. The extended explanation of the ocean of Solaris is a big sci-fi geeky sort of thing, but I still think the more important and interesting points are the psychological points about people. Do we love people, or our idea of those people? Is space exploration and the hope of finding intelligent life not a disguised vanity, where we hope to see the better aspects of our nature in the "mirror", and not the worse aspects? Why do we assume we will find a mirror of ourselves in the first place? What is reality? How can someone determine whether or not they are "real"? Is the Buddhist concept of a lack of inherent existence not equally true about people and constructs that are based on people (whether as computers, robots, or the sort of ersatz people produced by Solaris) ? What is sentience, ultimately?
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
What are your reading plans for February?
01/02/2010 12:00:15 AM
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Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
01/02/2010 12:03:42 AM
- 781 Views
Good luck with the Achebe. I found his style terrible. *NM*
01/02/2010 02:37:29 AM
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The English Patient. The White Tiger. Mythago Wood. The Price of Spring. The New Weird. And...
01/02/2010 06:37:41 AM
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I don't know. Maybe I'll read the Nabokov book on my list.
01/02/2010 04:16:09 PM
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I'm working my way through the Loremasters of Elundium by Mike Jefferies
03/02/2010 10:55:40 PM
- 1139 Views
So far:
12/02/2010 04:15:12 PM
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Yay!
22/02/2010 01:05:32 PM
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and I picked it up solely due to your glowing recommendation on this board
22/02/2010 03:29:56 PM
- 680 Views