THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
09/02/11 -- Vol. 30, No. 10, Whole Number 1665
Frick: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Frack: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Excuses, Excuses (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Tweeting the Void (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups (NJ)
A Hurricane Is *Not* an Ill Wind (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
Analogy (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
The Earth at One Billion (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
My Picks for Turner Classic Movies for September (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
The Presumed Neutrality of Technology (comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE WONDERFUL FLIGHT TO THE MUSHROOM PLANET
(letter of comment by Fred Lerner) (letter of comment by Fred Lerner)
This Week's Reading (HEAVENLY DATE AND OTHER FLIRTATIONS,
ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING, and THE WHOLE FIVE
FEET) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Excuses, Excuses (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
If this issue appears rough, it was composed while we were on
vacation and when we got home created in harsher than usual
circumstances. We have had to publish without using our home
environment. Our part of New Jersey was lambasted by Hurricane
Irene. As of this writing we are in our fourth day without power.
If I felt powerless in the recent debt ceiling bruhaha, I feel even
more so today. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Tweeting the Void (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
The HTML versions of the MT VOID on our web site
(http://leepers.us) now have buttons which let you tweet them if
the urge strikes you. Whoopee. [-ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups (NJ)
September 8 (Thu): THE LAST UNICORN by Peter S. Beagle, Middletown
(NJ) Public Library, film at 5:30PM, discussion after film
September 22 (Thu): THE HACKER AND THE ANTS by Rudy Rucker,
Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
October 13 (Thu): "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott
Fitzgerald, Middletown (NJ) Public Library, film at
**5PM**, discussion after film
October 20 (Thu): TBD, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
November 10 (Thu): QUATERMASS AND THE PIT by Nigel Kneale,
Middletown (NJ) Public Library, film at **5PM**,
discussion after film
November 17 (Thu): TBD, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
==================================================================
TOPIC: A Hurricane Is *Not* an Ill Wind (comments by Mark R.
Leeper)
I follow the dust and dander reports since I have newly discovered
allergies. The AccuWeather.com Dust & Dander report rates the
amount of D&D on a scale of 1 to 10. But where I live it almost
always is 9 or 10 and it has not been 9 for a long time. Now with
Hurricane Irene headed our way this evening it rates today's level
at a 10. Tomorrow for the first time I can remember the D&D level
will drop to 1. The next days it will be 6, 9, and 10. The report
has good news and bad news for me. The good news is D&D levels
will be "Low: Indoor dust and dander levels will be low." Right
under that it says, "Hurricane conditions." I guess it really is
an ill wind that blows nobody any good. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Analogy (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
I was walking in a department store and in the perfume aisle there
was a picture of a certain celebrity holding a bottle of perfume.
It occurred to me that seeing a photograph telling me that a woman
is wearing a certain scent is a lot like trying to follow a ballet
on the radio. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: The Earth at One Billion (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Longtime member, good friend, and general good guy Lee Beaumont has
submitted to us a science fiction essay he wrote exploring the
future as it would be if we could get our population down to one
billion people. It also has a treasury of links to other
interesting resources. (Pay particular attention to the Khan
Academy stuff, which I find a very impressive project in our
world.) The essay is at http://tinyurl.com/void-lee-billion.
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies for September (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
It is time for my monthly guide to what I think are the films worth
watching on Turner Classic Movies. I am aware, of course, that
some of the readers of this monthly feature do not get Turner. I
suppose that it at least gives people an idea of films to look for
in general even if they do not get TCM. I know I am always open to
film recommendations. Most of the films I recommend are available
elsewhere.
I have what must be a twenty-year-old copy, pre-cable, of what I
consider to be a solid thriller from Peter Weir. PBS ran it, but I
have never seen it get a theatrical release in this country. THE
PLUMBER was written and directed by Weir just about the time he was
getting international attention for films like THE LAST WAVE,
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, and THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS. It was made
for Australian television and was seen only in small releases
outside of that country.
There is always a certain paranoid fear when we open our homes to
repair people. In THE PLUMBER Jill and her husband Brian are
cultural anthropologists who live refined lives in a stylish
apartment complex. One day Max, the complex plumber, shows up
telling them he has to fix their plumbing. Max is a working class
handyman who is used to saying what is on his mind. Almost
immediately there is quiet friction between Jill and Max. Then Max
claims the task is going to be bigger and more complex than he
thought. The job becomes what seems like a never-ending project.
It may be that Max is making the job worse than it needs to be. Or
maybe Jill is just being paranoid. Is this a real battle of wits
or is the conflict entirely in Jill's mind? (Monday, September 5,
10:00 PM)
Some background knowledge is needed to appreciate the next film. I
first became aware of the notorious cult of the Thuggee in India in
Terence Fisher's 1959 film THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY made by Hammer
Films as one of their historical action adventures. That film was
loosely based, uncredited, on the novel THE DECEIVERS by John
Masters. I was rather surprised to find that that film did not
exaggerate. This was a cult that worshipped the goddess Kali.
They probably murdered over a million travelers over centuries on
the roads of India. They would join a caravan asking for
protection from bandits. Then at night at a given signal they
would whip out special cloths weighted with coins tied in a corner
and strangle everyone in the caravan. They would divide up the
riches and bury the bodies. Over a million travelers probably
disappeared without trace over a course of centuries. In the early
1800s the British, astounded at the size and longevity of the
super-secret conspiracy, hunted out and suppressed the Thuggee (who
gave our language the word "thug").
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuggee.
In 1988 Ismael Merchant produced THE DECEIVERS, an adaptation of
the Masters novel THE DECEIVERS. Rather than using his usual
director, James Ivory, Merchant chose director Nicholas Meyer of
THE SEVEN PERCENT SOLUTION, TIME AFTER TIME, and STAR TREK IV.
Pierce Brosnan stars as Col. William Savage, who discovers the
truth of the conspiracy in 1825 and goes under cover as a Thug to
investigate the cult. This is a grand tradition swashbuckling
historical adventure deemed politically incorrect in its time.
(Friday, September 23, 10:00 PM)
Kirk Douglas was in a lot of distinguished films. His choice for
his best is the semi-Western LONELY ARE THE BRAVE. Douglas plays
Jack Burns a Westerner and loner of the style of the Old West who
lives by only the laws he makes for himself and cannot stand the
rules of the modern world. He tries to free a friend in jail and
this gets him into trouble with the law. He is tracked down by a
sheriff (Walter Matthau) who sympathizes with Burns but must has a
duty to capture him. The sheriff is accompanied by a low IQ deputy
(William Schallert). The script is by the great Dalton Trumbo.
(Tuesday, September 27, 11:30 PM)
Also recommended and playing this month are the films THE CRIMSON
PIRATE, DEAD OF NIGHT, and LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: The Presumed Neutrality of Technology (comments by Evelyn
C. Leeper)
One of the panels I did *not* get to at the World Science Fiction
Convention this year was "The Amish Approach to Changing
Technology: The Error of Presumed Neutrality of Technology", whose
description was "The Amish do use technology, but they reject the
idea that technologies are value-free tools, and they acknowledge
that they can change social order, so all technology must be
evaluated before being allowed into the community. Would we be
wise to adopt this cautious approach?"
Well, duh.
I mean, it seems fairly obvious that one should evaluate all
aspects of technology (or anything) before adopting it (assuming we
can, of course). One imagines that the panel actually ended up
discussing the unexpected side effects of various technologies--
perhaps a more interesting topic. [-ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: THE WONDERFUL FLIGHT TO THE MUSHROOM PLANET (letter of
comment by Fred Lerner)
In response to Evelyn's review of THE WONDERFUL FLIGHT TO THE
MUSHROOM PLANET in the 08/26/11 issue of the MT VOID, Fred Lerner
writes:
You wrote, "The boys at one point walk on a very narrow path, 'with
their backs to the steep, damp cliff and their faces turned
outward.' But surely one would traverse this facing *into* the
cliff?"
If I were walking on that path, I'd be looking outward to make sure
I didn't fall off the path. That would be a damn sight more
painful than bumping into the cliff! [-fl]
Evelyn replies:
I guess I figure I could "hug" the cliff face better if I was
facing the cliff, but I will admit to not having much (any)
experience in this area. [-ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
HEAVENLY DATE AND OTHER FLIRTATIONS by Alexander McCall Smith (ISBN
978-0-965-90442-1) is a collection of short stories about dating
from the author of the "Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency" and "44
Scotland Street" series. These are quite unlike those, being more
serious attempts at straightforward (one might almost say literary)
fiction. They're okay, but Alexander McCall Smith will, I believe,
suffer the same fate as another "three-name" writer, Arthur Conan
Doyle. Conan Doyle tried to distance himself from his Sherlock
Holmes stories and thought he would be remembered for his
historical novels. He was wrong. I don't know if that is what
McCall Smith is trying to do, but clearly his legacy will be his
series.
I listened to ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING by Jasper Fforde
(read by Emily Gray) (ISBN 978-0-670-02252-6, audiobook ISBN 978-1-
449-85468-3) on audiobook, because the audiobook was available and
the "dead tree" copy was checked out. On the one hand, I obviously
skim less with an audiobook. On the other, I find my mind wanders
more.
This is the sixth in the "Thursday Next" series (which began with
THE EYRE AFFAIR). This takes a different point of view than the
previous volumes. All of those were told from the point of view of
Thursday, an agent for Verifiction responsible for preventing
crimes against literature. No, not eBooks, but people going into
the Book World and changing books there--eliminating Guildenstern
from "Hamlet" or helping Mrs. Rochester escape from her locked
room, for example. ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING is told from
the point of view of "the written Thursday Next" (as she is
called)--the character in the previous books who is the fictional
version of the real Thursday Next in our world, or rather in a
world in which Verifiction, the Book World, the continuing Crimean
War, and the break-away Wales are all real.
However, in retrospect, one can say that every one of the books in
the series changes its focus. The first (THE EYRE AFFAIR) has a
fair amount about the continuing Crimean War and the break-away
Wales, while also introducing Verifiction and the Prose Portal
(into the Book World). The second (LOST IN A GOOD BOOK) got rid of
a lot of the alternate history elements, and the third (THE WELL OF
LOST PLOTS) barely mentioned them. The fourth (SOMETHING ROTTEN)
has a definite Book World/real world focus, with Hamlet hiding out
in England while the literary detectives try to prevent the
hijacking of the play script. By the fifth (THURSDAY NEXT: FIRST
AMONG SEQUELS) Fforde has become more subtle in many of his
character names, and starts covering the mechanics of Book World.
Also, he has a lot more topical references about the state of
reading and books today, such as a bookstore with three
coffeehouses (one with a branch of itself *inside* itself), and
DVDs, stationary, gifts, and computer games, but a staff that has
no idea what a book is.
In ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING, Fforde continues the topical
references, adding eBooks to the list of threats to the Book World.
The real Thursday Next has gone missing, and the written Thursday
Next is called upon to impersonate her. Wrapped around all this
are the details of life in the Book World: the geography, the
social standing of various genres, what happens when a book is
read, what happens when a book is *not* read, and so on. We also
discover (slight spoiler) that the written characters are not
identical to their "real-life" counterparts. (For example, a
character killed off in a book may still be alive in the real
world.) It is wonderful world-building, and I highly recommend it.
Just as Alexander McCall Smith began with his "Number 1 Ladies
Detective Agency" and then branched out into a "44 Scotland Street"
series and so on, Fforde also has another series, the "Nursery
Rhyme" series. In both cases, I much prefer their first series.
(Note: Some people try to purchase all the books in a series they
like in matching editions. I have managed to continue my tradition
having no two books in this series matching. My copy of THE EYRE
AFFAIR is a US Viking hardback, LOST IN A GOOD BOOK is a US Viking
trade paperback, THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS is a UK Penguin trade
paperback, SOMETHING ROTTEN is a NEL trade paperback. and THURSDAY
NEXT: FIRST AMONG SEQUELS is a US Penguin trade paperback. I
suppose that while I had ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING downloaded
on my iPod, that was yet a sixth format.)
THE WHOLE FIVE FEET: WHAT THE GREAT BOOKS TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE,
DEATH, AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING ELSE by Christopher R. Beha (ISBN
978-0-8021-4485-0) is about Beha's quest to read the "Harvard
Classics" (a.k.a. the "Five-Foot Shelf") in a year. (Though he
sometimes refers to these as the "Great Books", the Harvard
Classics are distinct from the "Great Books of the Western World"
produced by Britannica in the
early 1950s.)
In an appendix, Beha talks about what he calls "A-Year-of-Riding-
the-Unicycle" memoirs--memoirs of a year of doing some specified
activity--of which I have read (and reviewed) several, including:
- Sara Bongiorni's http://leepers.us/reviews/rev-b3.htm#chinaA
Year Without Made in China,
- A. J. Jacobs's http://leepers.us/reviews/rev-j.htm#knowThe
Know-It-All [a year reading the Encyclopedia Britannica],
- A. J. Jacobs's http://leepers.us/reviews/rev-j.htm#yearThe
Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow
the Bible as Literally as Possible,
- Simon Majumdar's http://leepers.us/reviews/rev-m1.htm#globe
Eat My Globe: One Year to Go Everywhere and Eat Everything,
- Kevin Murphy's http://leepers.us/reviews/rev-m.htm#yearA Year
at the Movies,
- Phyllis Rose's http://leepers.us/reviews/rev-r3.htm#readingA
Year of Reading Proust, and
- Ammon Shea's http://leepers.us/reviews/rev-s3.htm#oedReading
the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,370 Pages
The "Great Books of the Western World" also have a book about them:
A GREAT IDEA AT THE TIME: THE RISE, FALL, AND CURIOUS AFTERLIFE OF
THE GREAT BOOKS by Alex Beam (978-1-58648-487-3), which I
previously reviewed. But Beam writes entirely about the concept,
development, and marketing of the "Great Books of the Western
World" rather than about the contents of them (other than the point
size used, and the translations).
The "Harvard Classics" seems a better choice for people who are
looking to avoid overlap with their existing books, since it relies
more on shorter works (letters, essays, and so on) and less on
book-length works. The "Great Books" includes six novels, the
"Harvard Classics" only one (DON QUIXOTE). To make up for this,
there was later published a "Harvard Classics of Fiction" which
comprises twenty volumes of long and short fiction. But more than
just omitting novels, the "Harvard Classics" will have a volume
that includes plays by half a dozen dramatists, or essays by three
different authors, while the "Great Books" seems to try to cover
fewer authors but with more from each. The "Harvard Classics" also
includes a few non-Western works ("The Thousand and One Nights",
"The Sayings of Confucius", Buddhist writings, "The Bhagavad-Gita",
and chapters from the Koran), though these hardly constitute broad
exposure to non-Western literature.
One major drawback to the "Harvard Classics" might be the cost--I
just saw a set in a used bookstore for $2450.
As alternatives to either, there is Clifton Fadiman's "Lifetime
Reading Plan". Fadiman gave you an annotated list, and assumed you
knew where the libraries and bookstores were. For a much longer,
but purely Western, curriculum, there is always Harold Bloom's THE
WESTERN CANON. [-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes
that can be made in a very narrow field.
--Niels Bohr