Other Worlds by Abebooks
Apr. 10th, 2014 04:08 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
littlerdog.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
thelittledogAbebooks (or Amazon #2 as they could otherwise be known) has ventured into blogging.
Can’t afford to get away at all, let alone to another planet? Pick up a book.
When you're done boggling at the idea that some people might be able to afford to go to another planet, and wondering which it would be and what they'd do when they got there, let's consider the list. Twenty-five books, five of which (20%) are by women.
Let's look at which I've read and which I haven't. Because I know you're all dying to find out.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Practically a required read for a child of my generation, along with Winnie the Pooh, The Secret Garden and Swallows and Amazons. It's surprising how it retains its appeal, given that most of what it's satirising will be entirely obscure to modern readers. Good fun though.
Dune by Frank Herbert.
Most of the mind-boggling for me in this book was the joyful head-hopping. I read a second Dune book but got disenchanted. It seems pointless to be able to see the future if you can't do anything to change it. Your child's going to be butchered, so you send him to the place where it'll happen--and lie to your wife about it. You're going to be blinded, and you walk blindly towards that fate. Ugh.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin.
Great stuff. Fantasy of the best kind. It's sad that the quality of the books declined after the third one. I sympathise with Le Guin's aims in the later books, but they feel forced and the language of high Fantasy has got lost. A shame.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
Not read this. Saw the movie tho.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.
Not read this, and it's really beginning to jar on me. Although my expectations may have been raised so high that it'll be a disappointment. Hard to know. Any book's a venture.
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Well, yeah. Not a work you can ignore. Bit heavy on the exclamation marks, though.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Read this, but much prefer the radio series. Getting a bit dated now.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery.
Read it. Hated it.
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.
Not one of Pratchett's best imo. But one of the first ones I read, after Good Omens, which rocks.
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.
Read it as an adult so I could say I had. Meh.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
Ditto.
Eragon by Christopher Paolini.
Never felt any inclination to read it.
The Secret Country by Pamela Dean.
Not heard of it before today. Wonder why not.
A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony.
Not read. If he's the author I think he is, one book by him was more than enough.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
Read the whole lot. Quality is variable.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling.
Read it to find out what all the fuss was about. Still don't know.
The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Not read.
Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber.
Not read.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
Enjoyed this book as a child.
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie.
Not read. Don't much feel like reading it, either.
Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson
Not read.
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce
Not read. Not heard of.
To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
Not read.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Not ventured down this road yet. Too much hype.
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Not read. I loved Tarzan as a child. Reread it as an adult and the magic was gone. Suspect Burroughs of not being a very good writer.
So, what's the total?
Twenty books by men, of which I have read ten, or 50%. Five books by women, of which I have read two, or 40%. Hmmm.
Can’t afford to get away at all, let alone to another planet? Pick up a book.
When you're done boggling at the idea that some people might be able to afford to go to another planet, and wondering which it would be and what they'd do when they got there, let's consider the list. Twenty-five books, five of which (20%) are by women.
Let's look at which I've read and which I haven't. Because I know you're all dying to find out.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Practically a required read for a child of my generation, along with Winnie the Pooh, The Secret Garden and Swallows and Amazons. It's surprising how it retains its appeal, given that most of what it's satirising will be entirely obscure to modern readers. Good fun though.
Dune by Frank Herbert.
Most of the mind-boggling for me in this book was the joyful head-hopping. I read a second Dune book but got disenchanted. It seems pointless to be able to see the future if you can't do anything to change it. Your child's going to be butchered, so you send him to the place where it'll happen--and lie to your wife about it. You're going to be blinded, and you walk blindly towards that fate. Ugh.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin.
Great stuff. Fantasy of the best kind. It's sad that the quality of the books declined after the third one. I sympathise with Le Guin's aims in the later books, but they feel forced and the language of high Fantasy has got lost. A shame.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
Not read this. Saw the movie tho.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.
Not read this, and it's really beginning to jar on me. Although my expectations may have been raised so high that it'll be a disappointment. Hard to know. Any book's a venture.
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Well, yeah. Not a work you can ignore. Bit heavy on the exclamation marks, though.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Read this, but much prefer the radio series. Getting a bit dated now.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery.
Read it. Hated it.
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.
Not one of Pratchett's best imo. But one of the first ones I read, after Good Omens, which rocks.
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.
Read it as an adult so I could say I had. Meh.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
Ditto.
Eragon by Christopher Paolini.
Never felt any inclination to read it.
The Secret Country by Pamela Dean.
Not heard of it before today. Wonder why not.
A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony.
Not read. If he's the author I think he is, one book by him was more than enough.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
Read the whole lot. Quality is variable.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling.
Read it to find out what all the fuss was about. Still don't know.
The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Not read.
Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber.
Not read.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
Enjoyed this book as a child.
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie.
Not read. Don't much feel like reading it, either.
Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson
Not read.
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce
Not read. Not heard of.
To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer
Not read.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Not ventured down this road yet. Too much hype.
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Not read. I loved Tarzan as a child. Reread it as an adult and the magic was gone. Suspect Burroughs of not being a very good writer.
So, what's the total?
Twenty books by men, of which I have read ten, or 50%. Five books by women, of which I have read two, or 40%. Hmmm.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}