What are you reading right now?

[Lexi Darling]

PS: Hi, Lady Of Synth ! Goodwork on consistently promoting the synthesizer, even in your signature phrase at the bottom of your posts.

Thanks! The quote is actually from this:

One of my all time favorite Youtube videos, haha.

[Guybrush]

^It's a classic

[Toy Revolver]

just finished The Queen's Gambit (novel)

Spoiler

usually they make books into movies or tv shows for a reason - because it's a really good book - this was no exception-  i really enjoyed both a lot - the show may be even better at pulling on the heart strings - the reason this is under spoiler is because in the book jolene and beth have an awkward sexual encounter when beth was entirely prepubescent and jolene had already reached puberty- by strict definition it was a sexual assault but it could also be viewed as "exploratory" - i feel like leaving it out of the tv show was giving way to two types of social pc moralism - 1) jolene was black so she can't do anything wrong 2) every awkward or unwanted sexual encounter has to have dire consequences and in the book it didn't- it was just something that happened and they moved on to other things and nobody was permanently damaged or traumatized - like in real life it's not always a lifetime of trauma and devastation / also i didnt know the same guy wrote The Hustler / i'm going to read another of his books sooner or later

[close]

[Trollheart]

Hey Hawk! Good to see you around again. You'll be pleased to know I'm a bestselling author now. Well, I'll be pleased to know I'm a bestselling author now. I'm not a bestselling author now. But still writing, so there is that. Glad you didn't vanish into the Covid vortex: you always seemed like the type who would be against the vaccine, though maybe I'm wrong there? Anyway, glad you made it out the other side.

Currently reading (for Karen) Dean Koontz's "Dark Rivers of the Heart". I'm a big fan of his, and I have to say this is one of his best. Reads, literally, like a blockbuster movie - takes my breath away as I read it for her. You could see it easily being turned into a movie. Gripping stuff, highly recommended. A LOT of description though. And good if you like dogs too.

[Toy Revolver]

are you joking about me seeming like an anti-vaxxer?

i'm current on all my boosters

i think it should be forced on overone

the only good news about anti-vaxxers is that they're dying

[Trollheart]

Yeah now that you mention it I remember you saying everyone should be locked in for a week at gunpoint if necessary. Must have been thinking of someone else. Oh well, good to see you anyway. Keep flyin'!

[Toy Revolver]

if we had done it my way millions of lives would've been saved and people with comorbidities would have not had to live in fear for so long - people are so incredibly selfish - they'll still insist on going to get their Big Macs even if a deadlier plague comes around

PS i'm glad you two are mods - don't give anyone else the power - it's the idiot mod squad that ruined mb -

what's the mb user name of the mod at discord and why don't y'all start a new discord?

ps good to see you too

[Lisnaholic]

the only good news about anti-vaxxers is that they're dying

Haha! Cruel but true. It still makes me angry to think how mismanagement and misinformation have caused the unnecessary death of thousands.

Good for you, Trollheart, in reading to your sister. It's a very Victorian thing to be doing - reading aloud to the family, and must give a different spin to your experience of a book. The only time I've done that is with my son, when the language, the sentence length, wasn't too much of a challenge.

I enjoyed the mini-series of Queen's Gambit too, OH: I wonder if, like me, you were noticing the tricks the director used to try to give a sense of drama to something pretty void of visual drama: two people playing a board game. One thing I remember was the whole "imagining the chess pieces on the ceiling" bit. Is that in the book too, or was it just cinematic invention?

[Toy Revolver]

it's in the book

the trick about getting you excited about the chess competition in both the book and tv show is outstanding character development - they got you so invested in beth harmon if she cares about chess so do you!!!

the book, i think captured how crushing losing at chess can feel better so the pain for her but mostly her opponents is very palpable

sometimes you read a novel with a solid plot but you don't care because you don't care about the characters- but others aren't so character driven but more plot driven

but Queen's Gambit really hangs its hat on Beth Harmon

[Toy Revolver]

ps i'm not saying the chess pieces on the ceiling wasn't a factor - it was effective trick in both the book and translated great to film -

[Lisnaholic]

Thanks for answering my question.

the trick about getting you excited about the chess competition in both the book and tv show is outstanding character development - they got you so invested in beth harmon if she cares about chess so do you!!!

the book, i think captured how crushing losing at chess can feel better so the pain for her but mostly her opponents is very palpable

sometimes you read a novel with a solid plot but you don't care because you don't care about the characters- but others aren't so character driven but more plot driven

Very true about caring about the characters before you can care about what happens to them. Also true about losing at chess: although I rather dismissively described it as a board game, it is unlike almost any other because there's no blaming the luck of the dice or a turn of a card for your defeat. You lost because the other guy is smarter than you

Perhaps luckily for me, I learned chess by playing with my older brother. That meant that going in, I knew I would lose, and it was just a question of "how long can I hang in there before he checkmates me?"

Not quite the same pressure and international scrutiny that Beth Harmon had to face!

[Toy Revolver]

trolls, i want to reiterate how admirable what you do for your sister is - also i want to apologize for at times being unnecessarily cruel in attempts at humor on mb and i'm grateful you still consider me an internet friend

i have a new book to recommend

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

if you enjoy the delightful yoshimoto banana (kitchen and moonlight shadow are both wonderful) you should enjoy this writer as well - the novel won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize

the story is about an autistic woman who finds comfort and meaning in the strict setting as convenience store worker where life is easier for her because she's given complete structure - it's also a commentary on the prejudices against neurodivergent people

it's short and deeply engaging

[Toy Revolver]

also a couple short stories i've read recently that i think are winners include:

punishment by simon rich

and

Notions of the Sacred By Ayşegül Savaş

[Lexi Darling]

trolls, i want to reiterate how admirable what you do for your sister is - also i want to apologize for at times being unnecessarily cruel in attempts at humor on mb and i'm grateful you still consider me an internet friend

i have a new book to recommend

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

if you enjoy the delightful yoshimoto banana (kitchen and moonlight shadow are both wonderful) you should enjoy this writer as well - the novel won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize

the story is about an autistic woman who finds comfort and meaning in the strict setting as convenience store worker where life is easier for her because she's given complete structure - it's also a commentary on the prejudices against neurodivergent people

it's short and deeply engaging

Ooh, sounds right up my alley! I am quite similar, I work best with total structure in my life.

[Toy Revolver]

just finished I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid my second netflix inspired read of 2023

loved the film
loved the novel

probably the finest work of art on the nature of consciousness ever created or at least in the past couple of decades- truly brilliant