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

LOTR pretty much defines all the elements of the fantasy quest, doesn't it? I don't know if there was much Donaldson could do to escape the fundamental backbone of reluctant hero sets on perilous trek, meets strange and wonderful entities good & bad, encounters lots of jeopardy etc. I agree that the leprosy made for a good hook from which to define Covenant's deep cynicism, but the Unbeliever Chronicles can be terribly depressing!

I sure am glad Bluebottle got this good discussion going while I've been too sick to drag myself through the wormhole...

Lil

Way to go Bluey -- but any BooK Club forum is for discussiong any book . . . and just so I make myself clear . .

ANY BOOK CLUB FORUM IS FOR ANY BOOK

These are the books I am currently half way through

Illuminatus Trilogy
Clockwork Orange
Introduction to Chaos
Vineland

I feel like Arthur with all of these dogeared under my bed...

I saw Gormangast -- nice -- but why wasnt it a nine hour mini-series.
The Doctor was my favorite -- I still have yet to read the novel -- but Lil, my friend says that they pegged his character perfectly.

Oh .. and Lil .. email me your adress -- Im going to mail you a copy of the film . . call it a get well pres.

*gasps with joy*
*hugs beeblefish*
I will! I will!

Do you think we could rustle up some contributors on LOTR for the Post review next Sunday?

Lil

I am sure we can -- I will look at my Bilbo Baggins essay and see if it could be ressurected as a piece . . . I havent read any LOTR though (I know I know -- but Im sure there's a good reason somewhere)

~Fish

I think you should definetely resurrect that essay. It was pretty fantastic...even according to Dr. King! Sad sad boy who hasn't read any of LOTR. Sigh. Do you think there's any way to illustrate The Hobbit or LOTR in a way that nobody's done it before?
Gemma

I'd just like to say that I'm finding the Silmarillion hard to read, but it's definately worthwhile and a great book.

As for Clockwork Orange - I've read that too. Any comments?

ANd finally, I've finally bought a copy of "Young Zaphod Plays It Safe" in a book called "The Wizards Of Odd".

I like to read all of Fellowship, various chapters of Two Towers, and the end-of-the-war from Return, skipping Frodo and Sam as well as the long, drawn out happy ending. It's been a while since I opened any of them, what with life to live an all. Every so often, though... Can't help it.

Silmarillion was one of the least interesting books I ever read. The whole "history of middle-earth" series is too. The only other Tolkien pieces that are really decent are the short stories Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wootton Major, and Tree and Leaf. (BTW, anyone else read Tree and Leaf? What the heck is it?) Unfinished Tales has a copy of an extra chapter of Return of the King that got pulled, but it's not particularly good. And the newly published kid's book, Roverandom, is cute but wholly uninteresting.

Nope, and Nope.

Incidently, I just read Raymond Briggs latest, Ethel and Ernest. It's cracking stuff, and very interesting. This is quite surprising, as basically nothing happens. A top recommendation if you like thoughtful graphic novels.

I really enjoyed his "When The Wind Blows" if you've read that - the book that's so anti-Nuclear that, erm, you know it's very anti-nuclear. That was very enjoyable to read, in that there was nohing good in the whole book. The whole books a contradiction, but it makes sense, unlike this forum post.
I didn't like "The Bear" - but I'll never forget "The Snowman" and "Father Christmas" - though I confess I prefer the film versions.

When the wind blows, great book, written because he thought the official goverment info leaflet on what to do in the case of a nuclear strike was rubbish. He also did the The Tin-pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman about the Falklands conflict, both quite serious subjects.

I liked Fungus The Bogeyman best of the less serious books he's done.
Has it been turned into an animation, I don't think so, but would like it to be done

I don't know if an animated film of someone being given a boil would be that nice actually

Ethel and Ernest, being about his parents, shows exactly where he got his ideas for the couple in When the Wind Blows and Gentleman Jim.
When the Wind Blows definately ranks up there as one of those books that can ruin my week. Normally I am cheery enough to shrug these things off, but that book really does me. I presume that counts as a recommendation of it's power.

Very true.
The film version of "When The Wnd Blows" seems to somehow lose some of the power of the book, yet is still very stunning. Surprisingly, IMDB has very little to say about it at:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0090315

Hey everyone ....

I just finished the Illuminatus Trilogy ... great books

I also just started a book called Far Horizons edited by Robert Silverberg. It's a group of short stories from authors who have created their own universes but desire to either clarify or elaborate on certain points they haven't addressed yet.

Some of the authors are Orson Scott Card, Ursula K. LeGuin, and other notables.

Courtesy

Sounds like it could be interesting. Please tell us more.
Thank you.

Just bookmarking you!

Oh, ermm, I am attempting to read Snowcrash.
(Yes, Lil, I actually found it!)

I am enjoying it, just don't have much time to read. I've renewed it twice, already!!
I think I'm going to have to buy it to finish it! It's a good thing that it seems like a good
'sharer/keeper' .

Luna (Queen of Lurkers)

Courtesy - I bought 2 CJ Cherryh books, 40 Thousand and someone's pride - I'm sorry, I can't remember the exact titles. Could you talk me through more about the books?

If you enjoy Snowcrash, then you are on to a definate winner. I put it down as his worst book, and I don't think he likes it much either. I highly recommend the Diamond Age from Mr. Stephenson as a much better one. Or that one he did with his uncle about the president with a chip in his head. What was it called?
I am contemplating getting Cryptonomicon (or whatever) but I'm not sure I need a hernia.

Blue -

40,000 in Gehena and Chanurs Pride are the two books I believe. I found both great reads. Chanurs Pride is the beginning of a multi book series, good action, good plot and character development, interesting take on a possible future universe.

40,000 is a book that happens in CJ Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe. If I remember correctly it happens a bit later in the universe, but it is a stand alone novel. Great read, great plot and character development.

I would recommend checking out www.cherryh.com to find out the actual order to CJ's universes. I would definitely recommend Heavy Time and Hellburner, along with the fantastic Cyteen.

Courtesy

Thanks for your help - it's starting to make sense now

LOTR isn't really a trilogy, either, since you need to read The Hobbit before you can begin to appreciate it.

The Hobbit was my first foray into the fantasy realm, and it's obviously had quite an effect (see my Dungeons and Dragons article for evidence: http://www.h2g2.com/a209062 ). I read it over and over again, since at the tender age of 11 I didn't have much else handy, then read LOTR the next year when I advanced to junior high school and got access to a real library. I found it ironic that my favorite scene, the one with the riddle game with Gollum, became the central moment behind LOTR. Sometimes I would just flip it open and just read that chapter. Tried to read the Silmarillion, but it was too confusing, so I gave it up as a bad idea and moved on. Haven't read anything else by Tolkein since.

As for the Thomas Covenant series...I HATED IT! Ughh! Dude spent all his time feeling sorry for himself, and the plot never managed to advance itself anywhere in the first book and a half. That's right, I gave it a full book and a half before tossing into a corner in disgust, and I know I'll never get that time back. But at least I borrowed the books from a friend, so I didn't waste good money.