• Re: SF: Book recommendations

    From Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?=@ldo@nz.invalid to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Sun Feb 22 06:16:55 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

    ... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
    politician ...

    Calling Cecil Rhodes a rCLbusinessman turned politicianrCY is like ... I donrCOt know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder
    turned tribal chieftain ...

    Remember that the entirety of the territory called rCLRhodesiarCY in his
    name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (n|-e
    rCLSouthern RhodesiarCY).
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Kerr-Mudd, John@admin@127.0.0.1 to alt.usage.english on Sun Feb 22 11:39:11 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On Sun, 22 Feb 2026 06:16:55 -0000 (UTC)
    Lawrence DrCOOliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

    On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

    ... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
    politician ...

    Calling Cecil Rhodes a rCLbusinessman turned politicianrCY is like ... I donrCOt know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder
    turned tribal chieftain ...

    {like]

    Remember that the entirety of the territory called rCLRhodesiarCY in his
    name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (n|-e
    rCLSouthern RhodesiarCY).

    ITYF Northern Rhodesia became Zambia. Later (Southern) Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. SA was a previous landgrab.


    xposts dropped
    --
    Bah, and indeed Humbug.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Cryptoengineer@petertrei@gmail.com to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Sun Feb 22 10:33:15 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On 2/4/2026 12:24 PM, John Ames wrote:
    On Wed, 4 Feb 2026 12:07:27 -0500
    Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

    Perelandra is a very strange book.

    The whole Space Trilogy is deeply imbued with Lewis's religous
    outlook.

    I'd forgotten 'til revisiting it some years ago that there's a whole
    sequence at the end that almost plays like a Christian transcendental- meditation experience. Very strange book, indeed; captivatingly so.


    It does. I can't remember if that's before or after all the human
    and animal couples simultaneously decide to f*ck. (The human couples
    do it in different rooms - they're decent Christians, after all).

    pt
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  • From Robert Woodward@robertaw@drizzle.com to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Sun Feb 22 10:47:18 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    In article <10ne70n$1st45$1@dont-email.me>,
    Lawrence DrCOOliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

    On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

    ... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
    politician ...

    Calling Cecil Rhodes a rCLbusinessman turned politicianrCY is like ... I donrCOt know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder
    turned tribal chieftain ...

    Remember that the entirety of the territory called rCLRhodesiarCY in his
    name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (n|-e
    rCLSouthern RhodesiarCY).

    Wrong. Zimbabwe was Southern Rhodesia and Zambia was Northern Rhodesia.
    --
    "We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
    Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. rCo-----------------------------------------------------
    Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From nospam@nospam@de-ster.demon.nl (J. J. Lodder) to alt.usage.english on Sun Feb 22 20:34:39 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    Kerr-Mudd, John <admin@127.0.0.1> wrote:

    On Sun, 22 Feb 2026 06:16:55 -0000 (UTC)
    Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

    On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

    ... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
    politician ...

    Calling Cecil Rhodes a "businessman turned politician" is like ... I
    don't know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder
    turned tribal chieftain ...

    {like]

    Remember that the entirety of the territory called "Rhodesia" in his
    name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (noe
    "Southern Rhodesia").

    ITYF Northern Rhodesia became Zambia. Later (Southern) Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. SA was a previous landgrab.

    -a- previous landgrab?

    Jan


    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Kerr-Mudd, John@admin@127.0.0.1 to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Sun Feb 22 20:30:44 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On Sun, 22 Feb 2026 10:47:18 -0800
    Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:

    In article <10ne70n$1st45$1@dont-email.me>,
    Lawrence D|ore4raoOliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

    On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

    ... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
    politician ...

    Calling Cecil Rhodes a |ore4+obusinessman turned politician|ore4_ is like ... I
    don|ore4raot know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder turned tribal chieftain ...

    Remember that the entirety of the territory called |ore4+oRhodesia|ore4_ in his
    name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (n|a--e |ore4+oSouthern Rhodesia|ore4_).

    Wrong. Zimbabwe was Southern Rhodesia and Zambia was Northern Rhodesia.

    IAWTP. (posted in AUE). Maybe I should've just set FUs.
    --
    Bah, and indeed Humbug.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Steve Hayes@hayesstw@telkomsa.net to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Mon Feb 23 14:55:05 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On Sun, 22 Feb 2026 06:16:55 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D|+Oliveiro
    <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

    On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

    ... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
    politician ...

    Calling Cecil Rhodes a rCLbusinessman turned politicianrCY is like ... I >donrCOt know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder
    turned tribal chieftain ...

    I was referring to the most relevant characteristics he had in common
    with Donald Trump. Neither was a pastoral herder. >

    Remember that the entirety of the territory called rCLRhodesiarCY in his
    name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (n|-e
    rCLSouthern RhodesiarCY).

    No.

    Northern Rhodesia is now called Zambia, and Southern Rhodesia is now
    called Zimbabwe.

    South Africa in his day no doubt included present-day Zimbabwe, but
    the only part of what became the Union (later Republic) of South
    Africa that he ruled was the Cape Colony, which which he was Prime
    Minister for a while, but it was never called by his name, much as he
    would have licked it to be (another thing he had in common with Trump,
    no doubt).
    --
    Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
    Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
    Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
    E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?=@ldo@nz.invalid to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Wed Feb 25 03:40:34 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On Sun, 1 Feb 2026 14:14:04 -0000 (UTC), Don wrote:

    rCLThe title of a book by Tolstoy has been translated as What Then
    Should We Do? My faith gives me an answer. It would be terrible
    to think that life has no meaning, that we are going nowhere,
    and that what we do until we die is a matter of indifference.
    That is what tortures so many today.rCY

    <https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/justice-alito-warns-seminarians-religious-liberty-is-in-danger>

    WHAT THEN SHOULD WE DO? appears in Luke 3:10rCo14. Tolstoy's
    non-fictional work describes the Russian social conditions in 1886.
    It begins with a Moscow beggar being thrown into jail for begging.

    WHAT THEN SHOULD WE DO will be the next book heard (eg read) by me.

    Religious-based answers always require a certain degree of selective
    thinking, though, donrCOt they: namely, that if your rCLfaithrCY gives you
    one answer, then those with a rCLdifferentrCY faith will be given a
    different answer -- because if the answer is the same, then the
    specific rCLfaithrCY involved becomes irrelevant.

    But if the answer to the meaning of life is rCLfaithrCY-dependent, then it
    is a matter of arbitrary belief, not based on fact.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?=@ldo@nz.invalid to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Wed Feb 25 03:48:02 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 17:03:26 +1300, Titus G wrote:

    With regard to the infiltration of Romance into Science Fiction,
    most Science Fiction writers of the '60s kept women in the kitchen.
    If The Time Traveller's Wife was marketed as Romance, it would be an
    early example of an infiltration of Fantasy masquerading as Science
    Fiction. And, of course, Fantasy has no place in the reality of
    Romance. I'll get my coat.

    Talking about genre drift, yourCOd be aware of the traditional snobbish attitude towards SF from aficionados of rCLmainstreamrCY or rCLseriousrCY fiction. And the old stereotypes prevalent among them of SF being
    about rockets and spaceships, bla bla bla.

    ThatrCOs why it was amusing to me to find out that the winner of the
    2024 Booker Prize is a novel called rCLOrbitalrCY, set on the
    International Space Station <https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/orbital>.

    So rockets and spaceships are now part of mainstream fiction? And the
    topmost level of arty mainstream fiction, at that? Of course they are!
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?=@ldo@nz.invalid to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Wed Feb 25 03:50:52 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 19:27:57 -0500 (EST), Scott Dorsey wrote:

    I don't think it would take much to add a butler to the story. You
    would expect a palace to have a full staff.

    YourCOd have a whole lot more serving staff to choose from than just one
    butler ...

    rCLThe ostler did it!rCY
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From John Ames@commodorejohn@gmail.com to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Wed Feb 25 10:47:56 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On Sun, 22 Feb 2026 10:33:15 -0500
    Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

    I'd forgotten 'til revisiting it some years ago that there's a whole sequence at the end that almost plays like a Christian
    transcendental- meditation experience. Very strange book, indeed; captivatingly so.

    It does. I can't remember if that's before or after all the human
    and animal couples simultaneously decide to f*ck. (The human couples
    do it in different rooms - they're decent Christians, after all).

    That's "That Hideous Strength," the final book in the trilogy.

    And even the animals are discreet about it ;)

    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Paul S Person@psperson@old.netcom.invalid to alt.usage.english,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.misc on Wed Feb 25 13:50:21 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

    On Wed, 25 Feb 2026 03:48:02 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D|Oliveiro
    <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
    On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 17:03:26 +1300, Titus G wrote:

    With regard to the infiltration of Romance into Science Fiction,
    most Science Fiction writers of the '60s kept women in the kitchen.
    If The Time Traveller's Wife was marketed as Romance, it would be an
    early example of an infiltration of Fantasy masquerading as Science
    Fiction. And, of course, Fantasy has no place in the reality of
    Romance. I'll get my coat.

    Talking about genre drift, youAd be aware of the traditional snobbish >attitude towards SF from aficionados of omainstreamo or oseriouso
    fiction. And the old stereotypes prevalent among them of SF being
    about rockets and spaceships, bla bla bla.

    ThatAs why it was amusing to me to find out that the winner of the
    2024 Booker Prize is a novel called oOrbitalo, set on the
    International Space Station ><https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/orbital>.

    So rockets and spaceships are now part of mainstream fiction? And the
    topmost level of arty mainstream fiction, at that? Of course they are!
    Perhaps similar to what /Superfolks/ did way back in 1977 with comic
    book heroes. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfolks>
    I remember it because of the moral dilemma it poses: return to Earth
    and to his family, grow old, and die; or stay in space, young, strong,
    immortal again -- but without his family.
    --
    "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
    Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
    Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2