Reading again
23 July 2009 02:01![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cog_nomenI have been reading Burndive, which is light science fiction that seems to have very little density of real thought provocation within its covers. I haven't been totally engrossed in it, that is for certain. All in all, I believe I shall probably finish it as quickly as possible and send it merrily along on it's way through paperbackswap.com.
I am also a bit of a crafter and an artist as I've mentioned, and the one thing that plagues me is the inability to use my hands while I read. PBS has failed me in procuring one of the books that I'd been interested in reading, Valis, so I obtained an audio copy to listen to on my Ipod while I've been working. I often keep its company these days, as there are a variety of historical podcasts to listen to.
Without deviating too much from my original topic, Valis is extremely heavy. I'm not sure what I anticipated, but on the whole it is a very interesting (contrasting) viewpoint on the entirety of theological debate presented in a disassociated narrative that is interesting in and of itself. I find myself pausing the flow of words so that I can digest a bit. I'm not sure what I expected from the creator of A Scanner Darkly, but I think it simply did not connect in my mind that the two were related. The narrative and choice of words remind me a bit of Hunter S. Thompson - I suppose the ten years of time between publications could mean that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was inspirational to Dick when he wrote Valis, but I wonder instead if that we aren't getting more of a window into the mind of the drug culture on the whole between the two of them.
I can't think of a more compelling reason to never do drugs. Seriously, the anti-drug advertising campaign could consist of Valis and I'm pretty sure most children would run screaming.
As an aside, if you are an avid reader and you don't use PaperbackSwap.com, I highly recommend it. It's a great alternative to spending $8-12 on a book you're only going to read one time and it helps keep my shelves a bit less... erm, saggy. I feel better about passing a book along (Commander Adama was correct - never lend a book!) than I do throwing one away.
I am also a bit of a crafter and an artist as I've mentioned, and the one thing that plagues me is the inability to use my hands while I read. PBS has failed me in procuring one of the books that I'd been interested in reading, Valis, so I obtained an audio copy to listen to on my Ipod while I've been working. I often keep its company these days, as there are a variety of historical podcasts to listen to.
Without deviating too much from my original topic, Valis is extremely heavy. I'm not sure what I anticipated, but on the whole it is a very interesting (contrasting) viewpoint on the entirety of theological debate presented in a disassociated narrative that is interesting in and of itself. I find myself pausing the flow of words so that I can digest a bit. I'm not sure what I expected from the creator of A Scanner Darkly, but I think it simply did not connect in my mind that the two were related. The narrative and choice of words remind me a bit of Hunter S. Thompson - I suppose the ten years of time between publications could mean that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was inspirational to Dick when he wrote Valis, but I wonder instead if that we aren't getting more of a window into the mind of the drug culture on the whole between the two of them.
I can't think of a more compelling reason to never do drugs. Seriously, the anti-drug advertising campaign could consist of Valis and I'm pretty sure most children would run screaming.
As an aside, if you are an avid reader and you don't use PaperbackSwap.com, I highly recommend it. It's a great alternative to spending $8-12 on a book you're only going to read one time and it helps keep my shelves a bit less... erm, saggy. I feel better about passing a book along (Commander Adama was correct - never lend a book!) than I do throwing one away.