Ok, I'll admit it.
I'm an infamously picky reader, and anything that smacks of rewriting nursery tales better have serial killers and gratuitous sex or violence for me to even read the blurb.
Thankfully, good ol' JF is aware of this.
I found this book witty, interesting, and possessed of a Terry Pratchet style of humour, with boring aliens, talking bears with porridge addictions, and a psychopathic baked good. All in all - I'd read it 4 times, or possibly five.
It will appeal to most of you, probably hotstuff more then most, but all of you, find, read, and then chortle with me.
Friday, 25 January 2008
Thursday, 3 January 2008
Dale Carnegie - How To Win Friends And Influence People
How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Surprisingly enough, this book has no dark underlying themes of extortion and manipulation =P
I was highly impressed and even a little inspired with the common sense wisedom this very old book had to offer. The fundamental idea was just - be really nice to people, hold your tongue when you would otherwise criticise and that listening properly is one of the highest compliments you can pay someone =D
I would reccommend this book to anyone who needs help with dealing with people... or making people like them ;) not mentioning any names, but it might even help one pick up the ladies... if one happened to be in the market...
Anyway. A good read, if a little out of date (all the examples are from the 1930's) Oh, and you will learn a bit about American history in the process... but the fundamental principles are solid. Give it a go, you might be surprised. =D
Surprisingly enough, this book has no dark underlying themes of extortion and manipulation =P
I was highly impressed and even a little inspired with the common sense wisedom this very old book had to offer. The fundamental idea was just - be really nice to people, hold your tongue when you would otherwise criticise and that listening properly is one of the highest compliments you can pay someone =D
I would reccommend this book to anyone who needs help with dealing with people... or making people like them ;) not mentioning any names, but it might even help one pick up the ladies... if one happened to be in the market...
Anyway. A good read, if a little out of date (all the examples are from the 1930's) Oh, and you will learn a bit about American history in the process... but the fundamental principles are solid. Give it a go, you might be surprised. =D
Robin Hobb: The Soldier Son Trilogy
Shaman's Crossing
Forest Mage
Renegade's Magic
The Soldier Son trilogy is not linked to any of Robin Hobb's previous books.
Essyllt: I was really impressed by the uniqueness and poignancy of the setting, which was post-colonial fantasy, and appears to be loosely based on early America, but with three cultures. The main character, Nevare, is from Gernia, a 'civilised' nation similar to British America. The plainsfolk, who have been conquered by Gernia, have a similar culture to the Native Americans. The third people, the Specks, are an isolated forest-dwelling people, who feature more in the second and third books.
I was able to read the books for the plot alone, because it is definitely not bad, but when I stopped to think about it, I fell in love with the theme. There is something beautiful about Hobb's ideas, and the way in which they can be applied to so many interactions between cultures or even individual people.
The Iconoclast: The politics of the Kingdom of Gernia and the way in which it deals with non-Gernian cultures were one of the important aspects of this series, and is relevant to New Zealand and other ex-colonies. In Shaman's Crossing, we see the book through Nevare's eyes as a Germian citizen, complete with his ethnocentric views. It isn't until the third book that, still through Nevare, develop a better understanding of the 'Speck' culture. One impressive feature of Hobb's writing is that we, originally, are as horribly racist as Nevare, without even realising it, and change as radically as he does (thanks to a plot device which I won't detail). The trilogy gives an excellent understanding of the dicotomous nature of ethnic - indeed, any - conflict, leaving the reader divided.
Although the trilogy is named 'The Soldier Son', after Nevare's role as the second son of the family, this was more of a plot device - this theme was mostly overwhelmed by the conflict between the Gernians and 'Specks'. The Plainsfolk are sidelined to some degree, with the occasional plot based role - I'm not sure whether this was intentional or unavoidable, but it leaves us to wonder what will happen to the intercultural relations of Gernia after the end of the trilogy.
Forest Mage
Renegade's Magic
The Soldier Son trilogy is not linked to any of Robin Hobb's previous books.
Essyllt: I was really impressed by the uniqueness and poignancy of the setting, which was post-colonial fantasy, and appears to be loosely based on early America, but with three cultures. The main character, Nevare, is from Gernia, a 'civilised' nation similar to British America. The plainsfolk, who have been conquered by Gernia, have a similar culture to the Native Americans. The third people, the Specks, are an isolated forest-dwelling people, who feature more in the second and third books.
I was able to read the books for the plot alone, because it is definitely not bad, but when I stopped to think about it, I fell in love with the theme. There is something beautiful about Hobb's ideas, and the way in which they can be applied to so many interactions between cultures or even individual people.
The Iconoclast: The politics of the Kingdom of Gernia and the way in which it deals with non-Gernian cultures were one of the important aspects of this series, and is relevant to New Zealand and other ex-colonies. In Shaman's Crossing, we see the book through Nevare's eyes as a Germian citizen, complete with his ethnocentric views. It isn't until the third book that, still through Nevare, develop a better understanding of the 'Speck' culture. One impressive feature of Hobb's writing is that we, originally, are as horribly racist as Nevare, without even realising it, and change as radically as he does (thanks to a plot device which I won't detail). The trilogy gives an excellent understanding of the dicotomous nature of ethnic - indeed, any - conflict, leaving the reader divided.
Although the trilogy is named 'The Soldier Son', after Nevare's role as the second son of the family, this was more of a plot device - this theme was mostly overwhelmed by the conflict between the Gernians and 'Specks'. The Plainsfolk are sidelined to some degree, with the occasional plot based role - I'm not sure whether this was intentional or unavoidable, but it leaves us to wonder what will happen to the intercultural relations of Gernia after the end of the trilogy.
The characterisation was rather flat, with none of the characters aside from Nevare developing much further than necessary to power the events. Even Nevare isn't a deep character, but in some ways this emphasises his development. We agree that the characters, and to an extent the setting and plot, are too familiar; however, this shows the true brilliance of Hobb's writing, as the cliches simply don't matter, and aren't particularly noticeable without closer inspection. Tamora Pierce could never pull this off, but Hobb does so with flair. The first person narration is so strong that we truly develop an empathy for Nevare and are unavoidably caught up in his feelings.
I (Tehnuka) found the magic difficult to deal with, managing to get too tangled up in trying to understand what was happening and not being able to do so until the last book. My advice is to not worry too much about this and keep reading - it becomes clear later. Compared to Hobb's previous trilogies, this one has definite strengths in the themes, and in how incredibly well the writing style conveys the main character's emotions. While I'm not sure that I got out of it what Robin Hobb intended for her readers, I was impressed by the level of consideration given to the themes, particularly those of ethnic relations (which don't tend to feature in fantasy) - of novels in this genre, dealing with such themes, these are probably the best I've ever read.
In conclusion:
Essyllt: These books are good. Read them.
The Iconoclast: These books are bloody awesome! I can't eat properly anymore.
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