consuming

Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, Dan Simmons

cmiles — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:10:29 +0000

I first read Dan Simmons‘s Hyperion in the early 1990s – the Hyperion Cantos is quite famous and I would occasionally see Hyperion listed in Amazon recommendations and ‘top’ lists (see the ISFDB Top 100 Lists and Your Picks: Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books from npr books (note that you may get some amusement out of searching for the npr list since it was very successful in generating commentary…) – but I really never felt any urge to pick it up again… My mistake! I recently read Hyperion (again) and The Fall of Hyperion and these are amazing – interesting format, great universe, interesting issues of faith and god, time travel, sentient AIs, space battles, politics… Classic! I wonder about younger me’s taste in books…

While reading these books I thought a lot about the amount of violence in the science fiction books that I have read… I suppose that there is some amount of violence in nearly every book I have read – but the scale of death that science fiction has imagined for the future seems… excessive? depressing? Certainly at least thought worthy…

Rating: 5 of 5
First Read: Hyperion – Early 1990s; Fall of Hyperion – February, 2012

Hyperion
Fall of Hyperion

Wool Omnibus (Wool 1-5), Hugh Howey

cmiles — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:27:17 +0000

I don’t usually pay much attention to Amazon’s recommendations – but after finishing 1Q84 I wanted something new and, for whatever reason, the Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey jumped out at me on Amazon’s list.

Wool takes place in a bleak future where the characters live in self sufficient underground silos with only a vague understanding of the past or the world outside. I suppose that is a fairly ‘standard’ science fiction scenario – but what makes this book great are the details! I was delighted as the plot/world/characters went in directions that I would not of guessed and I was hooked after only a few pages!

Rating: 4 of 5
First Read Date: April 2012

Wool Omnibus (Wool 1-5)

1Q84, Haruki Murakami

cmiles — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:43:10 +0000

I am a fan of Haruki Murakami, so I was excited when the English version of 1Q84 became available. I picked up and put down this book several times while reading it and I have to admit that I just really don’t know what to say about it – Long/Interesting/What?/I am glad I read it/Why?/1984/hmmm… This is certainly a must read if you are a Murakami fan – but, at least for me, not my first recommendation.

Rating: ? of 5 (although certainly a must read for Murakami fans)
First Read Date: April 2012

Amazon – 1Q84

Ride the Divide

cmiles — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:17:22 +0000

Ride the Divide has great scenery, interesting people, injuries, struggles and riding along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route that goes from Banff, Canada to the Mexican border! While I am familiar with some of the long distance hiking trails in the US I had no idea this route existed and it was fascinating to get a (tiny) glimpse into what the riders experience.

Rating: 4 of 5 (maybe a bit less if you are not a bicycle fan…)
First Watch Date: December 2011

Forks over Knives

cmiles — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:16:29 +0000

Forks over Knives (official website), directed by Lee Fulkerson, is a rather long documentary with the singular message that plant based diets are better than meat based diets (it may be slightly more subtle than that, but I think that is a pretty fair summary).

I watched the film days after seeing Tabloid and could not help but think about the contrasts between the two. In Tabloid Errol Morris largely leaves it to the audience to interpret the information. In Forks over Knives the conclusions are drawn for you and reinforced with seemingly endless information from people who are completely convinced they are right (a huge tangent but, especially if you are a runner, this post is (for me) related).

The important problem with Forks and Knives is that it lacks a credible attempt to present another interpretation of the data – ultimately I think that watching the film needs to be accompanied by reading (or at least skimming) “Forks Over Knives”: Is the Science Legit? (A Review and Critique) to get a counterpoint.

Rating: 2 of 5 (maybe just read “Forks Over Knives”: Is the Science Legit? (A Review and Critique) instead)
First Watch Date: December 2011

Tabloid, The Thin Blue Line

cmiles — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:26:55 +0000

Tabloid – by Errol Morris – is the story of Joyce McKinney. McKinney was involved in a widely publicized case/scandal/incident in England in the late 1970s sometimes given the colorful name ‘The Case of the Manacled Mormon’. I had no knowledge of the events prior to the film – which might have added to the fun as interviews, old TV footage and old news articles gradually reveal more about the events and characters. The real attraction of the film is the absurdity of both the events, the coverage and the people involved – at the beginning Joyce McKinney seems slightly eccentric but quite believable, by the end of the film – well I don’t really know…

Rating: 4 of 5
First Watch Date: December 2011

The reason that I picked up Tabloid is because of Morris’s earlier documentary The Thin Blue Line. The Thin Blue Line is a much more serious and thought provoking documentary about, in part, the murder of a Dallas police officer. The Thin Blue Line is an absolute must watch. (If you are a music fan -> score by Philip Glass.)

Rating: 5 of 5
First Watch Date: later 2000s

Errol Morris – Website

Jig

cmiles — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:51:54 +0000

Jig follows a number of dancers leading up to their participation in the 40th Irish Dancing World Championships (2010). This film is a friendly, short and entertaining glimpse into a world that I did not know even existed – great fun. Simple, good!

Rating: 4 of 5
First Watch Date: December 2011

180° South: Conquerors of the Useless

cmiles — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:38:53 +0000

180° South: Conquerors of the Useless (official site) direct by Chris Malloy follows the journey of Jeff Johnson from Ventura, California to the Corcovado Volcano in Patagonia. The film has some amazing footage of Patagonia and interesting people (including Yvon Chouinard and Douglas Tompkins) – but, somehow, it didn’t hold my interest… Too little about the actual adventure? Too easy/shallow of a dive into the environmental/conservation issues that were raised? I am not exactly sure – but somehow I just did not connect with this film even with all of the potentially great elements.

Rating: 3 of 5
First Watch Date: December 2011

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest

cmiles — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:29:25 +0000

I have no idea when I first heard a Tribe Called Quest (official site) – but it was the early 2000s before I really ‘found’ them and started listening. I would not call myself a devotee – casual fan is probably the best description – but even as a casual fan I was excited when I came across a documentary about the group produced by Michael Rapaport. Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest combines early footage, interviews with the Tribe and a huge number of artists to give a brief history of the group, a glimpse into the time/scene/place that they occupied and some insight into their personal challenges and the struggles within the group.

There were times when the film seemed a little slow to me – but overall there was so much great material that was new and interesting (for me anyway) that it really didn’t matter…

Rating: 4 of 5
First Watch Date: December 2011

Official Website – Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest

Hull Zero Three, Greg Bear

cmiles — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:36:45 +0000

I am sad to say that the first time I saw Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear (official site) on Amazon I skipped over it because of the rating – in retrospect a somewhat sad reminder to myself about the value of ratings… Thankfully on the Potpourri of Science Fiction Literature blog I came across a review of Hull Zero Three that immediately made me add it to my reading list!

To describe the setting – a star ship hundreds of years into a colonization mission – or the plot – awakening without memory in the depths of a mysterious ship – might be a good teaser for the book, but the real reason to read the book is the main character’s dilemma/puzzle/problem of who he is. Awakening without a complete memory is really the least of his problems – who are you if you were thrust out into space hundreds of years ago, engineered/created many times over by a star ship and given incomplete memories that you never lived? Quite an interesting question I think…

Part of me wanted the book to be longer to allow for the characters to develop and adventure more – but I appreciate that the length allows for quite a few ideas without endless rumination, perhaps the better choice.

Rating: 4 of 5
First Read Date: November 2011

Hull Zero Three