Book meme

Jul. 7th, 2003 11:14 am
compilerbitch: That's me, that is! (Default)
[personal profile] compilerbitch
Stolen from [livejournal.com profile] livredor's page:

1) What is your favourite book?

Against a Dark Background, Iain M. Banks. The one that isn't a culture novel. (Not that I don't like the Culture series, far from it, it's just that I think that this particular book is outstanding).

2) What is the book that has most affected/changed you?

A book on FORTRAN I borrowed from the local library, age 5 or so.

3) Your favourite character from a novel?

W

It is the widest. :-)

Or, being more serious and a little less typographical, probably Sharrow, the lead character in Against a Dark Background. I think I identify with her ability to do the right thing and yet lead everyone and everything around her to ultimate doom.

4) The best villain from a novel?

The Shrander, from Light by John Harrisson. (OK, I know the Shrander isn't necessarily a villain, but still... I don't tend to go for villains typically. The noocytes from Blood Music by Greg Bear would probably be the closest thing to a villain I'd typically go for).

5) What was the last book you read?

The new Harry Potter.

6) What are you reading now?

A couple of books on VHDL, and a book on Verilog.

7) What was the last non-fiction book you read?

Probably part of ML for the Working Programmer, Larry Paulson, sitting on the loo on Sunday morning!

(no subject)

Date: 2003-07-08 08:48 am (UTC)
liv: cartoon of me with long plait, teapot and purple outfit (Default)
From: [personal profile] liv
You know, I really didn't mean to start a meme... more than a third of my friends list seem to have answered these questions now! It's amazing how irresistable a series of questions is to the journalling world.

But anyway, these are cool and interesting. Can you explain to a non-techie why FORTRAN (or was it just programming in general?)

I'm really intrigued that you picked the noocytes from Blood Music as a villain. I can see why, but I think I was mainly on their side. I think I read them much more as a problematic hero than a villain.

Re:

Date: 2003-07-08 09:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] compilerbitch.livejournal.com
Can you explain to a non-techie why FORTRAN (or was it just programming in general?)

More programming in general, really. I honestly don't know if that really was the pivotal moment that got me hooked on programming, but it is certainly the earliest memory I have of it.

I was (and still am) hooked on the idea that certain kinds of machine, when given very explicit instructions, can be made to go off and do very complex things. I suppose this probably sounds like so much yawn these days, but it's worth pointing out that when I was 5, it was roughly 1972. Computers were, emphatically, not something that the average person knew anything about, or even spent much time considering.

I am amazed, from a thiry-years-later standpoint, that you can stop nearly anyone in the street (especially if they are 25 or younger) and have them give you a vaguely plausible explanation for what an IP address is. This is a BIG change! People are starting to forget what it was like before the Internet, and it's only really been mainstream for a decade now.

I'm really intrigued that you picked the noocytes from Blood Music as a villain. I can see why, but I think I was mainly on their side. I think I read them much more as a problematic hero than a villain.

I think the best villains are problematic heroes. Full-on, arch nemesis/destroy the world characters just aren't believable for me, even if they might make for good Hollywood shoot-em-up movie script fodder.

A 'pure' villain should act only out of a sense of doing evil. They should be entirely murderous, entirely selfish, entirely antagonistic. But real villains aren't like that -- someone can murder 20 people, but be kind to animals.

The kind of villains I can believe in have their own self-consistent agendas. They aren't 'bad' people in the simplistic sense. They are just doing what they define as the right thing, albeit to a definition that is at odds with that of society as a whole. It is easy to paint a picture of such a person as being purely evil, simply by being selective in reporting their actions.

If I look at my taste in horror (both written and in film), I tend to like villains I can identify with, at least theoretically. A zombie (Mmmm... brains.... must.... eat... flesh... etc.) is really only acting out his or her agenda. Eating people is a consequence of this, but the zombie isn't specifically trying to make them feel bad. I saw the movie 'My little eye' recently. Whilst not perfect, it is a great Big Brother antidote. I really wanted the (annoying, self-obsessed, greedy) good guys to get wiped out. They did. Of course. It was that kind of movie.

But, no supervillians. No Joker. No Moriarty.

Re:

Date: 2003-07-08 09:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] compilerbitch.livejournal.com
Also, going back to my example of the Shrander from Light. The Shrander is, most certainly, not a villain, but is misinterpreted as one, causing the person who makes that mistake to truly become a villain himself, by any conventional definition of the word. That book is to be recommended, by the way -- definitely one of the best SF novels I've ever read. Harrison isn't that well known, but this book is as good as anything I've seen by the accepted greats.

Profile

compilerbitch: That's me, that is! (Default)
compilerbitch

January 2016

S M T W T F S
     12
3 45 6789
10111213 141516
17181920212223
24 252627282930
31      

Page Summary

Page generated Sep. 21st, 2025 06:58 pm

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags