The Reading Room

Axelrod

6:00 PM

Also, I suppose, what Shog said.

Skooba

@Shog9 only if it was wild, but point taken :)

@Axelrod ah, yes i like that too

@Axelrod wait did you just reverse someone else's cynicism? what world am I living in?

rkalajian

Whenever someone tells me they've read "the greatest book ever written" I'm more likely not to read.

2

Axelrod

@Skooba I feel like you haven't been paying attention to the ongoing case of Axelrod v Himarm and the Board of Downvoting.

rkalajian

Give me a reason. Don't justify it to yourself.

Skooba

@Axelrod I only pay attention when I need to downvote something

Axelrod

6:05 PM

@Skooba We upvoters shall overcome, someday.

JNat

@rkalajian Well, he didn't just say that. He actually went into some more details, and explained why he had that opinion.

Himarm

@rkalajian greatest book ever written. plot description, kittens and lazerbeams in space

rkalajian

Heh

Axelrod

@Himarm What about laser kittens?

rkalajian

Get your space kittens in SFF.

Skooba

6:06 PM

@Axelrod I'm only at 5%

@rkalajian I will take my space kittens where I like, thank-you-very-much....

rkalajian

@skooba I take mine with sugar and cream

Skooba

@rkalajian I've got no sugar tonight in my coffe, no sugar tonight in my tea.

rkalajian

@skooba Unfortunately, neither do I :( Stupid keto

LOTS of cream, though

But we're getting off the topic of kittens and lasers is serious-adulting-literature

Shog9

6:59 PM

89 messages deleted

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

hey we're free

oh snap

@rkalajian he had a serious point

rkalajian

I can see how this chat is going to end up.

Shog9

Ok. Sorry for the terse and slightly insulting timeout message, all. Was in a conversation with the other CMs regarding this site and ID questions and general philosophy of such, and didn't want the distraction.

3

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

@Shog9 just out of curiousity, what's the benefit of deletion vs moving to a private room?

@Shog9 ah, thanks for explaining that

DForck42

@Shog9 that's ok i still love you

Mithrandir

7:00 PM

Seriously? I come back and you've gotten the room in trouble? I'm disappointed, guys.

Shog9

And yeah, that was a terrible way to start over @rkalajian. If you're trying to torpedo this, keep it up.

steelersquirrel

@Mithrandir Huh? What you mean "you all"?

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

@Mithrandir TL;DR: way too many memes happened, shog got tired of our shit and we got a 30 min timeout

Shog9

I called y'all jerks because you were going out of your way to ignore each other. I could've found a more nuanced way of saying that if I'd had the time, but I didn't AND YOU ALL NEED TO STOP GOING OUT OF YOUR WAY TO ANNOY EACH OTHER.

9

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

and it wasn't me or steelersquirrels fault

Shog9

7:01 PM

I'm extremely serious about this.

We've got folks from quite a number of different sites here, including folks who have... not always gotten along in the past.

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

well then let's make a new start

3

steelersquirrel

@EᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏIʀᴋ I know, right? We just need to start putting halos over our heads ;)

Shog9

This is a great chance to demonstrate how, when brought together by a shared interest, you can collaborate and treat each other with respect.

14

Don't blow it.

Now... Meme pics are like salt. You can season up a bland conversation with 'em, or you can desiccate a juicy conversation by adding more and more.

Try & avoid the latter, eh?

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

how come I get 1 star and shog gets a total of 15

./s

Axelrod

Shog brings his own fan club.

Napoleon Wilson

7:03 PM

Ah, author tag edit suggestion? No thanks, until that meta is due I go by personal preference.

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

it's already been made

steelersquirrel

@EᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏIʀᴋ Because Shog is a closeted Steeler fan. Duh ;)

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

@Shog9 just out of curiousity, are all your analogies food-related

SQB

What I hate about meme pics, is that they're a total perversion of the original idea of what memes are.

Skooba

@NapoleonWilson i rejected a few edits for that reason too

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

7:04 PM

@NapoleonWilson meta has already said as much I think

Shog9

@EᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏIʀᴋ no, but... I'm hungry. It's lunch time and I'm here.

Skooba

@steelersquirrel 6 stars come automatic

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

@Shog9 ah okay

HDE 226868

@NapoleonWilson I approved a couple because I think those particular ones worked pretty well in the context of the questions.

Napoleon Wilson

@EᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏIʀᴋ I think there's no conclusion on it yet, though. So I go by what I think is right.

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

7:04 PM

oh shit the microwave is actually beeping imma eat now thanks shog

Shog9

enjoy!

Axelrod

@Shog9 My old canned reply is still there. You don't have to be here, you can go... do whatever a Papa Smurf does.

Napoleon Wilson

@HDE226868 Sure, my question doesn't, though.

HDE 226868

@NapoleonWilson Oh, I agree with that.

I was acting on a case-by-case basis.

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

@Shog9 thanks!

doppelgreener

7:05 PM

I'm here from some other chats (mainly RPG.SE) and I'm just keen on learning about the vast literature landcape & socialising with people interested in it.

2

Shog9

cool. That sounds like a good plan.

steelersquirrel

@doppelgreener Who is your favorite author?

Helmar

Taxonomy only works if we do it one way or the other, not on a question-by-question basis

doppelgreener

@steelersquirrel Presently Dan Simmons. I fell in love with his Hyperion cantos.

Actually it was a question about those books that got me interested in the area 51 proposal!

Mithrandir

Anyone here read the Belgariad?

steelersquirrel

7:07 PM

@doppelgreener Hmmmm...I'm not familiar. I'm more of a Hemingway/Shakespeare person. Yes, I'm boring ;)

#SteelerStayingOnTopic

Skooba

@steelersquirrel would say that makes you a Stranger in a Strange Land?

steelersquirrel

@Skooba Totally!!! :P

doppelgreener

@Mithrandir I haven't, but I have heard of the swears from it (swearing by various body parts of Torak, like his beard or nails) and that makes me laff.

JNat

@steelersquirrel Wait, is liking Hemingway a synonym for being a boring person?

Axelrod

@JNat Depressing if so, since he's the Mark Twain of last generation.

Skooba

7:09 PM

yeah and Shakespeare has all the best insults

steelersquirrel

@JNat No. Not at all. It's just that he is a pretty popular author and doesn't really write about exciting topics. He just makes the topics exciting ;)

Mithrandir

You pigeon livered whatever!

DForck42

anyone here into jim butcher, Patrick rothfess, or terry pratchett?

Napoleon Wilson

@steelersquirrel That sounds like an amazing feat, though (and a great way to put it).

user15026

@DForck42 Not really, very much yes, and very much yes

Mithrandir

7:10 PM

I've read one Pratchett book

Chenmunka

Isn't everyone into Terry Pratchett?

Ankit Sharma

Not knowing Hemingway means you are cool person ?

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

except mith apparently

doppelgreener

@steelersquirrel That's like a comic book fan liking Marvel's X-Men the most though. That's OK, they're popular for a reason.

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

@AnkitSharma TIL i'm cool

doppelgreener

7:10 PM

(Marvel vs DC war aside)

user15026

I managed to get a degree in English without reading any Hemmingway

Ankit Sharma

me too, hi5

Skooba

@AnkitSharma i would say the opposite

Napoleon Wilson

Isn't Pratchett that writing god you have to like when you're into books?

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

@AnkitSharma high fives

DForck42

7:11 PM

@Ash lol

Ankit Sharma

@Skooba uhuunnn

DForck42

@NapoleonWilson maybe

Skooba

Hemingway was the like definition of cool, well at least in the US

Chenmunka

@NapoleonWilson: Not really, that would be Neil Gaiman.

Look at the number of Pratchett - Gaiman collaborations.

Napoleon Wilson

@Chenmunka Oh, yeah, that too. Didn't they actually make a book together? That would be mass hysteria, as someone I know would say.

Ankit Sharma

7:12 PM

Uff It's too late to craft my first literature question

steelersquirrel

@Skooba Well... I think Hemingway is super cool!

user15026

@Chenmunka Gaiman is one of those authors I just don't understand the appeal of

steelersquirrel

@NapoleonWilson Have you not read anything by Hemingway?

Chenmunka

Their joint book was "Good Omens", about the M25 being the work of the devil.

Napoleon Wilson

@steelersquirrel No. Does that surprise you? ;-)

Himarm

7:13 PM

so the majority of authors we like here, are, fantasy authors, good thing we didnt already have a site for that :P

2

Skooba

@steelersquirrel if i can be this cool as he was when he that age I did life right

Axelrod

@Ash If you ever go for a PhD, be sure to keep that up. They'll ostracize you if you aren't indirect and overly wordy.

user15026

I've read a bunch of his work, and none of it has gelled with me. Although I'm the same with Brandon Sanderson, a lot of people like his stuff but other than Mistborn it's never gelled with me

DForck42

@Skooba Midwestern here, our heminway is mark twain

user15026

@Himarm Actually, to be honest, most of what I read isn't SFF, I read a lot of romances and non-fiction (and some SFF)

steelersquirrel

7:14 PM

@Skooba Yeah. He was an avid hunter/fisherman!

rkalajian

Anyone familiar with any of Teel McClanahan III's stuff?

Chenmunka

Some of Gaiman's work can be a little patchy true. I've just finished "American Gods", not one of his best, but he credits Pratchett as helping with the plot.

DForck42

@Chenmunka i read American gods not long ago as well, not my favorite by him

rkalajian

McClanahan writes some pretty crazy, though-provoking fiction

Chenmunka

"The Ocean at the End of the Lane" is much better.

rkalajian

7:15 PM

modernevil.com/novels

Himarm

thought provoking yuk

i want to be spoon fed vampire smut

rkalajian

There's certainly some of that, too :) His novels are ... interesting.

I loved all of them. Some required several reads.

Each one is a better love story than Twilight

;)

steelersquirrel

Proposal Any Twilight books should be considered off topic on this site ;)

rkalajian

@steelersquirrel Agreed

Himarm

take it to meta

gogo

steelersquirrel

7:20 PM

Hehehe!

Himarm

but make sure normal vampire smut is on topic

doppelgreener

@steelersquirrel Counterpoint: movie fans and creative students deliberately study objectively bad and/or popularly reviled works in order to better understand what's going on in them and what they did well or poorly.

3

DForck42

@steelersquirrel i think this falls into the literary snobbery meta we had yesterday ;-)

steelersquirrel

@DForck42 Nope. Good taste and literary snobbery are 2 separate issues :P

doppelgreener

@steelersquirrel ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

user15026

7:21 PM

There's nothing wrong with romance novels. A lot of them are really well done and smart and junk, people just see Fabio on the cover etc. and dismiss them out of hand

user15026

and bonus, you know the ending will always be happy

DForck42

@Ash "happy endings"

user15026

@DForck42 eyeroll

DForck42

g2g, meeting

@Ash lol

doppelgreener

@DForck42 oh dear.

Skooba

7:23 PM

@DForck42 those are always great after dinner

user15026

(If you want a good well-researched look at it, Maya Rodale did an excellent book on the topic, called Dangerous Books for Girls)

2

Himarm

dammmm

ive used all my stars for the day

3

steelersquirrel

Awwwww. Sorry, man :'(

rkalajian

0

Q: Should interactive-fiction games be considered on-topic?

For those who aren't familiar, titles like Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series of interactive fiction or video games like VA-11 Hall-A. There's plenty of similar interactive-fiction out there, some really though provoking and extremely well written. Of course there's a l...

Skooba

@rkalajian TL;DR, yes

rkalajian

7:30 PM

@Skooba I knew I liked you for a reason.

Skooba

@rkalajian the only thing i disagree with is that you have video-game those I dont think would be on topic

rkalajian

Well there's plenty of interactive-fiction video games

Skooba

but other than that, all literature wants you have an interaction with it. just because a work is taking a bit more into physical/personal relam shouldn't be bearing on its topic

rkalajian

I'd say as long as the talk stayed on the literary aspect of it, and not hints/walkthroughs, etc... they should be on-topic

Skooba

@rkalajian i see what you are saying now.

its only a video game in the sense that you play it on a computer

rkalajian

7:33 PM

I guess it's a fine line. You wouldn't want someone asking about symbolism in Tomb Raider or something like that, but games that are specifically and interactive story should be cool.

Right

Even some old-school text adventures were written really well.

Skooba

@rkalajian yeah there could be a fine line. Sometimes on SFF how something was marketed to determine if it fits scope

so if something was advertised in way that makes it stand out from a normal video game

rkalajian

VA-11 Hall-A is a good example.

doppelgreener

i was about to say "our traditional literature medium doesn't ask us to click through it", but we turn pages. then i was about to say "it doesn't give us branching choices", but choose-your-own-adventure books are a thing.

rkalajian

The game is packed with excellent storytelling, yet has you mixing drinks for customers. You can alter the story you get from patrons depending on drinks you make them (though still making them withing the asked parameters)

Skooba

Questions would just have to well-defined that you are asking about the literary ascpects

rkalajian

7:38 PM

Agreed

Bookworm

4

Q: Should interactive-fiction games be considered on-topic?

For those who aren't familiar, titles like Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series of interactive fiction or video games like VA-11 Hall-A. There's plenty of similar interactive-fiction out there, some really though provoking and extremely well written. Of course there's a l...

discussion on-topic interactive-fiction video-games game-books

HDE 226868

Can I get some feedback on a proposed answer to this question? It asks for connections between Poe's works, focusing on ones that take place in the same universe. I came across a standalone poem by Poe, which he later inserted into a short story of his. Do folks think that's a valid answer to write?

Shog9

@DForck42 if you liked it at all, I think Anansi Boys improved on it. Worth a read.

Skooba

@HDE226868 sure sounds like it

unless you need to see intent

HDE 226868

@steelersquirrel I can agree with that. I recall reading A Moveable Feast a couple years ago, and that got me semi-hooked.

Napoleon Wilson

7:43 PM

@HDE226868 It certainly sounds interesting indeed. Just give it a try and see if you're downvoted to hell or NaA flagged. ;-)

HDE 226868

I liked his style, and moved on to his fiction. I admire his meld of autobiographical excerpts and original stories.

Skooba

like that he did it on purpose to connect the works, or just that it was because he liked the poem enough to stuff into the new work.

steelersquirrel

@HDE226868 Have you seen Midnight in Paris? If you liked A Moveable Feast, that movie is really good!

Himarm

thats the owen wilson movie?

HDE 226868

@steelersquirrel I've heard of that!

steelersquirrel

7:45 PM

Yep!

@HDE226868 Oh, you should see it! It's a great movie with a nod to great authors and figures from the 20's in Paris! I highly recommend it!

Skooba

Tragedy vs Comedy in old timey plays.... and go

DForck42

boop

steelersquirrel

@Skooba Like Much Ado About Nothing?

Skooba

@steelersquirrel like what defines them

steelersquirrel

And...Yeah. I agree that Romeo and Juliet is not a romance. It's about teenage lust and obsession, not romance.

@Skooba Oh, gheez. That's getting too deep for me. <calls sister> ;)

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

7:52 PM

hey I found a poem I have on my desk right now

a question about it

and I have the book in front of me now

0

A: Did a specific person inspire Lord Byron's poem "She walks in beauty"?

Yes. The poem was written in response to seeing his cousin, Lady Wilmot Horton, at a ball. She is his cousin by marriage, through a man named John Wilmot, governor of Ceylon.. (3) These stanzas were written by Lord Byron, on returning from a ball-room, where he had seen Mrs. (now Lady) Wilm...

Catija

Meh. Took a stab at the non-fiction meta question.

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

it doens't have the same green cover the google books edition does tho

DForck42

@Shog9 what's that?

steelersquirrel

@EᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏIʀᴋ It was probably Mary Shelley ;)

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

nope it was some weird governor's wife who was his cousin

Skooba

7:54 PM

@Catija thanks, nice answer

Eᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏ Iʀᴋ

DForck42

@rkalajian care to elaborate more on meta.literature.stackexchange.com/questions/161/…? I've honestly never heard of them

Napoleon Wilson

@Catija And excellently at that.

Helmar

@Catija actually I think fiction/non-fiction has nothing to do with what the question actually asks...

DVK-in-Florida

Why is "elementary, Watson" question and answer getting so many upvotes? It's an incredibly famous bit of trivia.

2

Shog9

7:56 PM

Anansi Boys

Anansi Boys is a novel by Neil Gaiman. In the novel, "Mr. Nancy" — an incarnation of the West African trickster god Anansi — dies, leaving two sons, who in turn discover each other. The novel follows their adventures as they explore their common heritage. Anansi Boys was published on 20 September 2005 and was released in paperback on 1 October 2006. The book debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list, and won both the Locus Award and the British Fantasy Society Award in 2006. The audiobook was released in 2005, narrated by Lenny Henry. == Plot == Anansi Boys is the story...

Catija

@Helmar Have you not read the entire answer?

Helmar

@Catija I did, I challenge the usefulness of the question itself ;)

HDE 226868

@Skooba I think I was able to rationalize that. It's classic Poe: can we overcome death and our own doom?

The answer: Nope.

Skooba

@Helmar well a written fiction is going to 100% ontopic

steelersquirrel

@EᴀsᴛᴇʀʟʏIʀᴋ Yeah. I just always love the story of how Mary Shelly came up with Frankenstein and how they were all hanging around Byron's place playing...ahem..."games" with eachother ;)

Shog9

7:57 PM

@DForck42 A lot less... "let's see how many characters we can cram into this story"

DForck42

@Shog9 oh, might check that out

Skooba

@HDE226868 the two thing in life... am-i-right

Helmar

@Skooba so a fictional two-liner on a leaflet is on-topic?

The fiction/non-fiction distinction has no bearing on your question

HDE 226868

@Skooba What do you mean?

Skooba

@Helmar yes. topic and quality are different subjects

Helmar

7:58 PM

A political pamphlet full of lies is also ficticious

Skooba

something can be on-topic, but a poor question

HDE 226868

@steelersquirrel I'll try to watch it, when I get a chance.

Napoleon Wilson

@Helmar Well, if haikus are, which I hope.

Skooba

@Helmar marketing does play a factor

DForck42

@Helmar I'm thinking advertising literature, aka brochures and leaflets advertising a certain place or thing, should be off-topic. but that should go in meta

Skooba

7:59 PM

@HDE226868 death and taxes

Napoleon Wilson

@Helmar But doesn't tell a story.

Helmar

@NapoleonWilson Says who?

Napoleon Wilson

@Helmar Me, obviously! ;-P

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