What are you not reading?

[mike alexander]

Mike, I broadly agree, but I've read three or four of China's short stories and they were excellent.

And it doesn't bother me that my wife fancies him. As does the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke's neice. Not that I'm one to gossip...

Point taken. I just note that all his novels I have seen (not read) are more than an inch thick.

[korjik]

Hmm. It should be kept in mind that when people refrain from burning books, they soon turn to refraining from burning people. Which is of course a good thing, but we should be wary even so.

We are exempting witches tho, right? At least the ones that are lighter than birds?

[Paul Beardsley]

A quick reminder for everyone not reading Atlas Shrugged. This Friday, you should not have read up to page 200.

[peteshimmon]

Will you stop that! I got half way through
Atlas Shrugged some years ago and you are
making me feel guilty.

Anyway, is The Fountainhead also worth not
reading? It led to a good gag in the film
with Gary Cooper standing in front of an
explosives plunger detonator.

[Gillianren]

After getting fifty pages in, I can officially declare that I am not reading And Another Thing . . . . He keeps using "froody" as an adjective. Now, we all know what a hoopy frood Ford Prefect is. That means that Douglas Adams didn't have to remind us of it every three paragraphs or so. He knew to intersperse the "crazy alien talk" lightly. And, again, every time he meant "hoopy," he wrote "froody." Which wouldn't bother me as much had all the stuff in between been better.

[Graybeard6]

I'm not reading any more "Dragonriders of Pern" books by Todd McCaffery. It may be an advantage to be the original author's son if you want to sell books, but it doesn't necessarily make one a good writer.

[Gas Giant]

After getting fifty pages in, I can officially declare that I am not reading And Another Thing . . . . He keeps using "froody" as an adjective. Now, we all know what a hoopy frood Ford Prefect is. That means that Douglas Adams didn't have to remind us of it every three paragraphs or so. He knew to intersperse the "crazy alien talk" lightly. And, again, every time he meant "hoopy," he wrote "froody." Which wouldn't bother me as much had all the stuff in between been better.

"hoopy" isn't an advective - it's a noun meaning "really together guy", just like "frood" means "really amazingly together guy"

Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who knows where his towel is.

Adams himself used "froody" as an adjective in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

"Listen Ford," said Zaphod, "everything's cool and froody."

"You mean everything's under control."

"No," said Zaphod, "I do not mean everything's under control. That would not be cool and froody. If you want to know what happened let's just say I had the whole situation in my pocket. OK?"

On the other hand, using it every three paragraphs is total overkill.

[Gillianren]

Given its use in the book, "hoopy" can be seen to be an adjective as well. As in, in the book, there is no comma between "hoopy" and "Ford Prefect." I will give you the use of "froody," however.

[mike alexander]

A quick reminder for everyone not reading Atlas Shrugged. This Friday, you should not have read up to page 200.

Thank you for the reminder. I had only not gotten up to page 76. Didn't realize how far I wasn't behind.

[mike alexander]

Speaking of which, when will the first meeting of the Not Reading Ayn Rand Book Club occur? I'm conerned I will not be not caught up in time.

[slang]

I've seen some seemingly authoritive guesses of when it will not occur. While we're speaking of witch.

[ABR.]

Speaking of which, when will the first meeting of the Not Reading Ayn Rand Book Club occur? I'm conerned I will not be not caught up in time.

I'm not sure, but if I remember correctly, someone actually showed up at the last meeting. How gauche!

[mike alexander]

Keeping an extra unread copy of AS in the trunk provides increased traction on snowy roads in the wintertime.

I'm currently not reading Idylls of the King. After Le Morte D'Arthur, Arthur Rex and Once and Future King I am compeltely Arthured out.

[Argos]

I´m currently not reading [nor intend to] any of Paulo Coelho´s books.

[Strange]

After getting fifty pages in, I can officially declare that I am not reading And Another Thing . . .

I'm pretty sure I'm not reading that either. There was an excerpt on the radio and I felt it was rather "overcooked".

I'm not reading Japanese everywhere I look anymore, either.

[slang]

I'm not reading this thread, just replying. I studied in the ATM forum.

[swampyankee]

I've decided to commence my non-reading of any more popular works by Michio Kaku, as I'm beginning to fear for the World's supply of handwavium.

[mike alexander]

Also not reading any books written by politicians, ex-politicians or ghost writers of either. Just to make it easier, not reading anything not written by the person whose name is on the cover as the putative author.

[Gillianren]

I've got a signed copy of Jimmy Carter's historical fiction about the Revolutionary War, but I haven't actually gotten around to reading it yet.

[swampyankee]

Keeping an extra unread copy of AS in the trunk provides increased traction on snowy roads in the wintertime.

It may also save your life if you're surrounded by fanatical objectivists.

[Disinfo Agent]

I am voraciously not consuming any Star Wars or Star Trek novelisations. I decided that novelisations as a rule were not worth it a long time ago. If you want me to like the story, do a good job with the movie in the first place.

[Lianachan]

I am voraciously not consuming any Star Wars or Star Trek novelisations. I decided that novelisations as a rule were not worth it a long time ago. If you want me to like the story, do a good job with the movie in the first place.

I've read a few novelisations, and so I do give your policy my full backing.

Except.... I much prefer the E.T. book to the film. The protaganist is less of a cutesy creature, and more of a serious scientist frustrated by the limitations of those around him.

[Disinfo Agent]

Except.... I much prefer the E.T. book to the film. The protaganist is less of a cutesy creature, and more of a serious scientist frustrated by the limitations of those around him.

I do make a few exceptions. I thought the same of the novelisation of E.T. I also liked Kotzwinkle's original sequel to it, The Book of the Green Planet.

Must read some more Kotzwinkle...

[SkepticJ]

I'm not reading anything by talking heads.

[swampyankee]

I'm not reading anything by talking heads.

I'm not listening to music from Talking Heads, too.

[jamesabrown]

I have two copies of Darwin's Origin of Species. I haven't read a word of either one, but it feels like one of those books that I ought to have nearby at all times.

One of the copies is the edited version with the Ray Comfort forward. I bought it before I knew he cut some of the original chapters, the ones that undercut his criticism of evolution in the forward. So I'll probably be getting rid of that copy.

Let me also say that I'm not reading the Ray Comfort forward, either.

[Gillianren]

Or foreword, even?

[grant hutchison]

Or foreword, even?

You just couldn't forgo the pleasure of correcting that one.

Grant Hutchison

[Gillianren]

You just couldn't forgo the pleasure of correcting that one.

It was making me twitch.

[Buttercup]

I'm currently not reading Philip K. Dick.

I do like his stories, but have gotten a bit put off by Ganymede and all other inhabited solar system bodies apparently having breathable air and human-friendly levels of gravity (or same as Earth's); 10:00 a.m. daytime on Mars is apparently still pitch black; no distance delay in "phone" conversations (Earth to Ganymede discussions are instantaneous).

Sure, he was writing in an era when we still didn't know much about "out there" and he wasn't a scientist. But after reading AC Clarke and others...it's a bit amusing/annoying.

I will begin reading PKD again, though, once I've finished a small stack of totally unrelated books.