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GeekNights 080626 - The Darkness that Comes Before
Tonight on GeekNights the book club discusses The Darkness that Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker.
Our next selection is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
Our next selection is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
Comments
But, another thumbs up for choosing Snow Crash as I've heard good things and already have it checked out from the library. Hopefully I'll be able to start it soon.
Question though: why not Neuromancer as the first foray into Cyberpunk for the book club? Not enough material to discuss or not enough interest? Pray tell, Scrym!
First-person is strictly "I did this, I did that, I thought this, I, I, I, I, I..." all the time, making it feel as though you literally are the viewpoint character. What PoN has going is third-person limited omniscient perspective. The descriptions are all from an outside third-person perspective, but during any given section, the writing is still just as tied to the viewpoint character as it would be in first-person. I'd almost be tempted to just call the books third-person omniscient, given how often the viewpoint character changes. However, third-person omniscient tends to switch perspectives with far less demarcation and strictness than PoN, so I'd still say limited.
So... yeah. I promise to contribute some actual meaningful content to this thread after I've listened to the whole episode. XD;;
Fah. I had a better recommendation for the next book too. Snow Crash? Really? Come on guys, that book was awful. There are probably two well-written sequences in the entire thing and both do with the librarian.
For the book club, though, I'll give it another shot.
EDIT: 73 minutes in it starts?
It was a fun episode. Your enthusiasm and hints at what comes in the later books make me want to read them sooner than I intended.
One thing I'd prefer is a bit more structure to the episode, as you seemed to jump about all over the place. Maybe for the next book you could chat for a time under different loose sections like characters, writing style, themes, the world, story, etc. It would give you some more focus and will remind you of things you wanted to talk about when you get to them. Also, as you didn't do the round table thing, it would have been interesting to have the forum topic open to address more points brought up by others who have read it.
Finally, 8 weeks is a loooong time. I finished TDTCB in under a week while reading another book at the same time. Why not have a 5th night of geekery... geek books?
For those of you who would rather listen to Snow Crash than read it, you can download a good version for free through Audible.com. You just have to sign up, get your free book, and then cancel your subscription.
Not only that, but the experience of an audiobook vs. a paper or e-book is fundamentally different in terms of control of the pacing. WIth an audio book it is difficult to flip around to different parts, especially compared to the ease of flipping pages. If the book has a map, glossary, illustrations, etc. that is totally lost in an audiobook. Also, in some books, the physical arrangement of the words on the page can be significant.
And audiobook is not inherently bad. They're not evil or anything, and they have their place. I'm just saying they are not perfect substitutes for actually reading the book.
One obvious fact is that the voice of the speaker, i.e. not the words said but how they are said mean that the audio form contains a far greater amount of information.
Additionally, there are some of the things you have mentioned. In future, better seek functions and the attachment of images will resolve these issues easily, I'm sure.
Ultimately, however, the core issue is a question of exactly how the brain processes the two different signals. This is a very complicated issue, about which I think we know very little.
Given that, what possible basis can you have to encourage one over the other?
Over the weekend, I started rereading this book. Oh my No-God, parts of that first chapter take on additional significance after you've seen where the books are going.
<spoiler>
Cnaiur: "They call themselves students of the Logos, the Shortest Way. But the shortest way to what?"
Certain statements made by Kellhus in his introduction have only increased my desire to have that question answered. Who created the Dunyain, and why? Who moves their souls?
I vote someone from the Mog-Pharau corner, but that might be a desire for maximum irony speaking.
</spoiler>
I know that it is crazy to compare something so great to something so shitty, but I feel that Mog Pharau is plot-wise similar to Darth Maul. They are both totally bad-ass and awesome. They are both full of mystery that is never revealed. You feel somewhat unfulfilled because you did not learn enough about them, even after everything is over. Neither one gets enough "screen time". They are both quite like the guy in the white suit on The Simpson's front lawn. You know they are totally awesome, but you never get to see their awesome. It is eternally hidden from you. You want to see the awesome, but instead you see nothing.
I guess in a way, it works. I'm desperate for any scrap that might relate to tornado sarcophagi in any shape or form.
I don't care if they're whores or not, but there is a serious lack of independent female characters. Except maybe the empress dowager.
The book really reminded me of Dune in some of the styleistic elements as well as some of the themes it brought up.
If you're really interested I recently read the best discussion on the nature of free will and "coming before" I've yet seen here.