6 ms·
Even though I still retain an entire bookcase of novels (mostly sci fi) from my youth, I now find fiction to be, well... boring. Personally I'd rather read abo
by johnea 2y ago
Even though I still retain an entire bookcase of novels (mostly sci fi) from my youth, I now find fiction to be, well... boring.
Personally I'd rather read about something that actually exists...
- pfdietz 2y agoHow do you feel about history?
- thfuran 2y agoThere's hardly anything new there.
- optimalsolver 2y agoYogi Berra? I thought you were dead.
- pfdietz 2y agoNo one reads history anymore, it's too popular.
- coliveira 2y agoThe thing about modern publishing is that it is too much driven by genre, so if you read a few dozen novels of a particular genre there are no surprises left. I am similarly unimpressed by new books, so I either read old ones or just don't.
- WalterBright 2y agoI know what you mean. I have turned to reading history books, that are far more interesting stories.
- all2 2y agoHello, my friend. I enjoyed 1491, and I've been working my way through The Secret Life of Real Estate and Banking which is an economic analysis of the boom/bust cycle as it exists in modern fiat/debt based economies. Both are very different, but also very engaging and interesting.
- WalterBright 2y agoI'm currently reading "The Making of the Atomic Bomb". It's the best scifi I've ever read, except it's true!
- sib 2y agoGreat book! Sadly, I don't think the sequel (about the H-Bomb) is quite as good.
- richardatlarge 2y agoRead: The Curve of Binding Energy (McFee)- will blow your mind for sure, NPI
- sib 2y agoLooks very interesting, thanks! Anyone remember John Phillips? ======== John Aristotle Phillips, founder of political data-analytics firm Aristotle, graduated from Princeton University with a degree in aerospace engineering in the class of 1978. Known as the “A-bomb kid,” Phillips is known for a project he did in a physics seminar in 1976: designing a cost-effective and relatively small A-bomb. While the cost of creating an atomic bomb can vary greatly, most estimates place the cost at well over $1 million; Phillip’s project posited that it was possible to do so for roughly $2,000 and the actual bomb would fit in the size of a U-haul trailer. A project with frightening connotations, Phillip’s work was confiscated by the FBI, despite the fact that Phillips was able to design his bomb using only his nuclear engineering textbook and two unclassified government documents. Phillip’s professor has said that the design would likely work, but his design was not actually built. Moreover, in comparison to the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, this bomb design has been said to be more sophisticated and complex, implying how easy it would be for political terrorists to make such a devastating weapon. Nevertheless, though Phillips has said, “any other physics major could do this better,” his project was the only one in that seminar to get an A. ========
- all2 2y agoI'm very much in the same boat. Fiction books haven't gripped me in nearly a decade. History, on the other hand, has become more and more interesting to me as I've aged.
- bowsamic 2y agoMaybe you should read something that isn’t sci-fi or genre fiction. Go back and read Middlemarch or Lolita
- defrost 2y agoSocial Realism and Lolicon aren't genres ?
- bowsamic 2y ago1. No, they aren't forms of genre fiction 2. Middlemarch isn't social realism. If you had to put a label on it, it would be psychological fiction a la Stephen King 3. Lolita is DEFINITELY not lolicon (if anything it's the opposite) and it's quite offensive to suggest it is The point is, OP is complaining about not liking reading, but if he's only read sci-fi, he hasn't read the classics
- defrost 2y agoOddly enough Middlemarch is often cited in literary courses as being the template for social realism ... eg: This avowedly humanist world-building would come to be called realism. Middlemarch is often cited as a template of that now familiar mode. ~ https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/06/George-Eliots-Middlemarch https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/06/George-Eliots-... but I'm more than happy to leave the bunfight of opinions to those more invested. > Lolita is DEFINITELY not lolicon Well I wouldn't take that suggestion too seriously although it seems that you have.
- metabagel 2y agoChildren of Time is a standout sci-fi novel. I’m currently reading the second book, and it seems to be very good as well. It’s a unique take on an alternate/alien civilization. But, I have for many years been drawn to non-fiction books, typically about WW2, such as the battle of midway (Shattered Sword) or the Guadalcanal campaign. I have also listened to a lot of civil war audio books, including Battle Cry of Freedom and the Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant.
- mr_world 2y agoI almost exclusively read fiction, in particular science fiction. Why? Because the authors often spend a great deal of time thinking about new, interesting technology and ideas. It is all based on reality, the ideas are new combinations of existing concepts, and could be applied in the real world to inspire innovation. I get enough of the real world in the real world, when I read, I want see something new