h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Humans don't want to listen to negative messages. So even if you think, as I do, that the human race is in dire trouble, you don't want to go round saying it. You'd end up sitting at home on your own. .

So somehow, you need to turn your negative messages round, give the listener hope

That's a good thought. Maybe, too, while searching for a way out, you the writer can find one, too....

I'm glad you stopped by, because it reminded me that I was dying to share a reading discovery with you. That is, I just read a book, got Elektra started reading it, and said, 'I just know MVP would appreciate this...' Amazingly, the book relates directly to what you just said.

Have you ever read anything by Shirley Jackson? Specifically, have you ever read 'The Haunting of Hill House'? It blew me away. She was miles ahead of her time. It's not about a ghost - it's about the psychology of a woman in the 1950s, and about suffering, and fear, and identity, and society, and a lot of other things... Jackson writes the most amazing prose, too - you'll savour it.

(Ignore the new Netflix series, which has nothing to do with the book.)

There's a free version available online:

http://archive.org/details/jackson_-_the_haunting_of_hill_house

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll go and look at that.

A recommendation of mine would be 'The Moth Snowstorm:'Nature and Joy' by Michael McCarthy. I wrote a bit about it on my NaJoPoMo page, before I got bored with writing about books and tried a story instead!

Thanks - we'll take a look!