HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mtaranto@shearson.com (Mark Taranto)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Once I put this book down, I could not pick it up again.
Date: 7 Oct 92 20:47:05 GMT


Eric Olson <ejo@kaja.gi.alaska.edu> writes:
 
> I couldn't get through _Wuthering Heights_ either, but the one that
> really killed me was Kuhn's "landmark" book in science, _On the Nature
> of Scientific Revolutions_ or some such.  I was supposed to read it
> for a class; I couldn't even get through the first chapter without
> skipping paragraphs randomly.  He just drones on and on, repeating
> himself for page after page without making much of a point.
 
I waited until I was 37 to read WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and was able to get
through it.  I would not say that I liked it, but I thought it was a good
book.  (If Vance does not understand this, it might only be that we differ
in our definitions about what we like.  There are a lot of books that I am
glad I read, and which I think are good -- but which are not enjoyable.
Many Philosophy books fit into this category.)
 
As for Kuhn -- the book is THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION.  It
isn't that Kuhn repeats himself -- it is that he uses the same word
(paradigm) to mean many different things.  I don't think much of him,
either.  I would hope that people who are put off by Kuhn do not think him
representative of the Philosophy of Science in general.  I've liked much
of what I've read in the field, other than Kuhn.
 
 
Mark
From: mattb@ctron.com (Matt Brown)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Once I put this book down, I could not pick it up again.
Date: 7 Oct 92 20:27:12 GMT
Reply-To: mattb@olympus.ctron.com (Matt Brown)
Organization: Cabletron Systems INc.

(Janine Schenone) writes:

>>Henry James? He falls in my category of "I never would have read this
>>if it were not required, but I'm glad that I did." I still consider
>>_Portrait of a [the?] Lady_ a final novel *to have read.* 
>Ha ha! I meant, of course, "fine," but depending upon your opinion
>of Henry James, the book could kill you. _The Faerie Queene_ left
>me comatose for days.

Both James and Spenser could be remarketed as sleep aids.

Personally, I found most of Victorian literature a snooze.

I thought I would hate the Romantic poets, so I held off until grad school.
Turned out to be some of my favorites.  Same with the metaphysicals.
Of course, having an inspired professor makes a big difference.

Matt
I always wanted to write a Henry Joyce parody called _Portrait of the Lady as
a Young Man_
From: janines@novell.com (Janine Schenone)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Summary of Suggested American Indian novels
Date: 13 Oct 92 16:22:23 GMT
Organization: Novell Inc., San Jose, California

The Louise Erdrich book that has the most to do with spirituality
is _Love Medicine_. It is probably her best book as well. (I was
very disappointed by the Erdrich/Dorris production, _Crown of
Columbus_.)

Janine Schenone
janines@novell.com
From: Chris.Hynes@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Chris Hynes)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Fresh Air Review
Date: 8 Oct 92 01:02:49 GMT
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service

In response to the person who asked about the book about the Montana
firefighters, the book is "Young Men and Fire" by Norman MacLean.  Whoever
recommended this book to you is a good friend indeed.  This book was
probably the most engaging and unique book that I have read this year. 
MacLean does an excellent job portraying the innocence of these young
firefighters while not allowing the story to become as gruesome and
graphic as a poor author could have made it to be.  Once you start this
book, it is difficult to put down.  Hope you enjoy it.



Mantis (not my real name but I think it is)

--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
From: amnell@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Marko Amnell)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Arthur Rimbaud, is that you?????
Date: 13 Oct 92 09:41:22 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

Brennan J. Murphy writes:

>Has anybody seen Arthur Rimbuad lately?  I need to find him because I am
>doing a report of sorts on his sordid self.

I ran into him at an orgy in Riga, Latvia.  He was rambling incoherently
about gun-running in Macedonia in case the Serbs take over, and made a
scene with an obscure Russian poet, Verlakovitch.  Later, I spoke to
him briefly -- he spoke eloquently of "making every gesture of his
life an aesthetic triumph".  I made an aesthetic gesture in response.
I also got his e-mail address for you.  Its

rambo@illuminations.poesie

No replies yet.  Yer pal,

	--Marko de La Petite Riviere
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: alison@wsrcc.com (Alison Chaiken)
Subject: Re: Once I put this book down, I could not pick it up again.
Organization: W S Rupprecht Computer Consulting, Fremont CA
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 04:47:03 GMT

janines@novell.com (Janine Schenone) writes:
>Henry James? He falls in my category of "I never would have read this
>if it were not required, but I'm glad that I did." I still consider
>_Portrait of a [the?] Lady_ a final novel *to have read.* Same goes
>for Mann's _Magic Mountain_. 

I found _MM_ to be something of a slog,too, except for the chapter
with the least action, where the hero sits outside on the balcony and
describes a snowstorm.  I love the outdoors, so I admit to be
something of a sucker for stupid nature tricks, but I thought that the
entire book was worth reading to find this chapter, which I have read
again.  The main thing I didn't like about _MM_ was the ending; it
seemed to be from a different book!  I got the impression that the
jingoistic ending was added to impress the censors.

So here's another topic: what book have you read that you found to be
mainly boring or bad, but with an excellent passage that stands on its
own?  Bad books with famous passages which resonate because of
familiarity don't count.   




-- 
Alison Chaiken 				alison@wsrcc.com
(510) 422-7129 [daytime] 		or chaiken@cmsgee.llnl.gov
(510) 422-7300 [FAX]
Live fast, die young, leave a long publication list.
From: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Kafka's "Metamorphasis"
Date: 7 Oct 92 17:04:27 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA

In article <1992Oct1.155609.19271@gtephx.UUCP>, meredithd@gtephx.UUCP (Douglas Meredith) writes:
> I read Kafka's "Metamorphasis" last night.  This is the first of Kafka's
> writing that I have read and I'm not sure what to make of it.  I found the
> story very dark in mood.  The seeming lightness of the writing added to this
> mood by contrasting with the strange events being related.  The reactions of
> the main characters to the events seemed very peculiar and gave the whole 
> story a weird twilight-zone feel.  I presume this is what I've heard referred 
> to as "Kafka-esque"?
> 
> My first interpretation was that the story was an allegory for the alienation
> a person might go through upon contracting some terminal, socially tabu disease.
> However, on further reflection, this seemed a little trite.  Is there something
> more going on here that I'm just too allegorically dense to see?  Are there
> Cliffs Notes available for Kafka? (just kidding!)
> 
> | Doug Meredith                                                    |

Allegory?  Oh no.  It's a realistic work.  People turned into giant
bugs all the time in the 19th century.  Along with reducing upper
respiratory infections, the widespread use of antibiotics and 
preservatives in food played a major role in reducing this problem.








































:-), for the terminally humor impaired.  This is USENET -- I'm
afraid that someone might take me seriously.
-- 
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer  My opinions, all mine!
Lesson learned from Gov. Wilson's signing of AB 2601: if you don't get 
your way, have a riot.  Next time, Gov. Wilson will cower appropriately.
From: kat@bigwpi.WPI.EDU (Flame's Passion)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Fixing Damaged Books
Date: 14 Oct 1992 23:41:54 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: bigwpi.wpi.edu

In article <ldonhdINNfnm@news.bbn.com> ncramer@labs-n.bbn.com (Nichael Cramer) writes:

[description of damaged book deleted]

>1] Any specific suggestions on how to further straighten the damaged pages?
>
>2] More generally, can anyone recommend a general resource (e.g. a book) on
>how to repair/care for damaged books?
>
I would like to further this discussion by asking some questions myself...

I've recently started collecting antique books.  I'm curious about what's
good and what's not good to get.  (i.e. am I getting ripped off..etc)
Also - I am curious about the upkeep and repair of books damaged by time
and handling.  Several books that I have picked up have leather covers that
are dried and cracking for instance; what can be done about them?

Also - I posted this question awhile back and I got no response...

Does anyone know of any good bookstores (new, used, antique, etc) in the 
following areas:

1. Pittsburgh, PA
2. Cleveland OH
3. Youngstown OH
4. Akron OH

(This is near my home in Sharon, PA)

Any for a complete opposite...

How about eastern massachusetts?
(Boston, Worcester)

Or even into Connecticut?
(I go to school in Worcester...)

Any responses would be appreciated.

Thanks-
kat
 ***************************************************************************
      Christina Freeman                                 kat@wpi.wpi.edu
		"Was there not, from the first, more poison in
 			  your nature than in mine?" 
                           - _Rappaccini's Daughter_ 
			      Nathaniel Hawthorne
                  ********************************************
From: crawford@ben.dev.upenn.edu (Lauren L. Crawford)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Oh yeah, *great* book ...
Date: 13 Oct 92 16:23:41 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

Well, since these list-y threads seem to be chugging along so well, here's
another one:

Which books have you _pretended_ you read but really didn't?


-- 
The trick of reason is to get the imagination to seize the actual world --
if only from time to time.     -- Annie Dillard, "An American Childhood"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lauren Crawford  //  crawford@ben.dev.upenn.edu
From: miner@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Once I put this book down, I could not pick it up again.
Date: 12 Oct 92 21:12:33 CDT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services

In article <1992Oct12.153010.28685@news.Hawaii.Edu>, jciliber@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Jon Ciliberto) writes:
> A wonderful thread, allowing as it does the release of guilt over not having
> measured up to this supposed Great Books.

[...]

Relax.  The past has to live up to *us* you see...

-- 
-Ken <miner@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> {Sometimes you have to look reality straight
 OPINIONS ARE MY OWN            {in the eye, and deny it. - G. Keillor          



Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: kasprj@operators.its.rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak)
Subject: Wylie (was Re: The White Man's Burd)
Reply-To: kasprj@rpi.edu
Organization: The Big Wedge 
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 15:04:27 GMT

In article <515.555.uupcb@pcb.batpad.lgb.ca.us>, ken.mason@pcb.batpad.lgb.ca.us (Ken Mason)  writes:
|> 
|>         Strangely, I somehow expected a higher level of discourse in
|>         this newsgroup.
 
 Well, consider yourself warned. 

|>         Now on to my first post here...
|> 
|>         I'm interested to know if there are any other fans of Philip
|>         Wylie here.  I just finished _Triumph_, which was a bit
|>         disappointing.  Phil wasn't as biting and clever as usual,
|>         instead ranting about mutually assured destruction long before
|>         it had gained its acronym of MAD.  There was some social
|>         commentary, but he did that much better in _The Disappearance_
|>         and his non-fiction.
 
 Philip Wylie has been the nexus of a bizarre net of circumstance which 
began to envelop my reading interests a few years back. It began with 
the graphic novel _Watchmen_, in which Wylie's _Gladiator_ makes a cameo
appearance. An attempt to track down a copy of _Gladiator_ to call my 
very own met with no success after combing the shelves of new and used
booksellers from Boston to Washington, but the collateral finds more than
made up for the failure to find the original object. In the course of my
search I discovered the works of Olaf Stapledon, Edgar Pangborn and 
Stanley Weinbaum, plus Wylie's other books (I'd no idea he'd written 
anything other than _Gladiator_).
 
 _The End of the Dream_ was the first of Wylie's books that I read, and
I was impressed at his straightforward treatment of the eco-catastrophe
theme. He managed to avoid preaching too hard in that book, as opposed
to _Tomorrow!_ which, although a nice absorbing read, smacked too much of
propaganda. Then again, that book was written in the days when global 
thermonuclear war seemed even more likely than it did in the glory days 
of Ronnie Ray-Gun versus the Evil Empire. Wylie was very much a man of 
his time, and when the times change, some of the relevance of the writing
gets left behind.
 
 I'm currently about halfway through _The Magic Animal_, but I'll hold
off on commenting until I've finished. 
 
 And I finally did find a copy of _Gladiator_, at the World Science 
Fiction Convention in Orlando. I'm almost disappointed to have found it,
considering the strange and wonderful journey which its unobtainaboility
compelled me to make. This may explain why, a month after the successful
conclusion to my quest, my copy of _Gladiator_ still sits unread on my
shelf.
------------------------------------------------------------------
     __  Live from Capitaland, heart of the Empire State...
 ___/  | Jim Kasprzak, computer operator @ RPI, Troy, NY, USA
/____ *| Pro-Environment. Pro-Education. Pro-Family. Pro-Choice. 
     \_| Pro-Change. Pro-America. Pro-Clinton.
      ====  e-mail: kasprj@rpi.edu or kasprzak@mts.rpi.edu 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: tmaddox@netcom.com (Tom Maddox)
Subject: Re: More Notes from the Decline
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 06:34:30 GMT

In article <1992Oct7.165438.28710@athena.mit.edu> kamorgan@athena.mit.edu (Keith Morgan) writes:
>Tom Maddox writes:
>
>>In article <1992Oct6.171038.24333@athena.mit.edu> kamorgan@athena.mit.edu (Keith Morgan) writes:
>>>Mike Morris [. . .] asservates that Republicans don't read.
>>
>>>To which I reply: piffle and twaddle.
>>
>>	I for one trust that Mr. Morgan stands corrected:  Republicans read
>>piffle and twaddle.
>
>	Very cute Mr. Maddox; however, are you merely extending Mr.
>Morris's comment from Republicans don't read to an assertion that they
>do but they only read piffle and twaddle? Let's see 48,886,097
>Americans identified themselves as Republican enough to vote for Bush
>in 1988. Do you think that among this group no one reads, or that they
>only read piffle and twaddle?

	The fuckers are obviously deranged.  Who knows what or if they read? 
Anti-abortion tracts and _Reader's Digest_, perhaps--thinking about it gives 
me the willies.

	I was, however, making a joke.  I was prompted to this gesture by the
presence on my screen of the words "piffle and twaddle," which moved me 
strangely.
-- 
				Tom Maddox
		    	    tmaddox@netcom.com
		"The Reptoids eat humans like we eat chickens."
				Alex Alexander
From: ndrose@husc8.harvard.edu (Nathan Rose)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Help with Milton's Paradise Lost
Date: 15 Oct 92 22:38:57 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Oct15.183858.16428
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

I for one would relish a discussion of Paradise Lost. Any  specific
matters or episodes you had in mind? The best book I've read on it is
C.S. Lewis's Preface to P.L.

Nathan Rose
From: kishore@simius.as.nps.navy.mil (Kishore Sengupta)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: The Talk Of The Town
Date: 9 Oct 92 17:34:18 GMT
Distribution: world,local
Organization: Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA

In article <2771@ceylon.gte.com>, vks0@bunny.gte.com (Vijay Samalam) writes:
     |> In article <81282@ut-emx.uucp> jzimm@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Joann Zimmerman) 
     |> writes
     |> about comments about The New New Yorker:
     |> 
     |> > That makes two reviews I've seen, and they would seem to contradict
     |> > each other.
     |> 
     |> Hardly surprising, is it ? 
     |> 
     |> > (I am, by the way, informed that one may now subscribe and request a
     |> > fragrance-free edition. Perhaps this would mollify your friends
     |> > somewhat.)
     |> 
   |> It is not just the perfume that makes me wrinkle my nose at the 
   |> new New Yorker. It looks like Elizabeth Drew has been banished
   |> and I miss her, even when she is talking about Dan Quayle and 
   |> Nine Totenberg. And finally, it looks like we might not have 
   |> those four part articles on California geology. I *liked* those
   |> aritcles and the leisurely pace in which they were written. Starting
   |> to read those articles one was not even sure for a few pages what the 
   |> topic of the article was and it gave a person time to , as it were,
   |> stoke the fire, get the brandy snifter, pat the golden retriever,
   |> fluff the pillows, wriggle comfortably under the comforter,
   |> and settle down to a nice delicious read !

Call me a traditionalist, but the new New Yorker is causing a yearning for the
old one.  For starters, there are too many things going on - too much clutter.
The fragrance I can live with, but the new contents page? I hope Elizabeth Drew
is not out (didn't she have an article in the first Tina Brown issue?) - she's
just about the only Washington comentator I can stand to read. And yes, I am
going to miss the long articles. All good things must come to an end, I suppose.
Now, does anyone know if *the Economist* is planning to change its format?


Kishore Sengupta
Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, California
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: BL.JYC@forsythe.stanford.edu (Jon Corelis)
Subject: Re: She's baaaaack.....Camille Paglia
Organization: Stanford University, California, USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 22:53:14 GMT

In article <92007@netnews.upenn.edu>,
crawford@ben.dev.upenn.edu (Lauren L. Crawford) writes:

>In article <1992Oct6.222648.14265@klaava.Helsinki.
amnell@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Marko Amnell) writes:

>>                                                     The LA riots
>>were just one more example of the general putrefaction.  But, of
>>course, most of you lot don't live in America, but safe and sound
>>in your Ivory Tower.
>
>
>Vacationing in Yugoslavia this year?  How about Belfast, then?
>

   Actually, I remember reading somewhere that the homicide rate in
Belfast, including all deaths from political violence, is lower than the
homicide rate in most large American cities.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: jyc@leo.Stanford.EDU (Jon Corelis)
Subject: Re: Once I put this book down, I could not pick it up again.
Organization: DSO, Stanford University
Date:  9 Oct 92 21:09:06 GMT


   I've always felt that Vergil's Aeneid was one of the great boring
classics of all time.  The part about the fall of Troy had some good
passages, and book iv is kind of ok in a soap-opera way, and book vi is
interesting -- anything that happens in Hell is interesting.  But as
soon as they get to Italy it starts to get really tedious and never
improves the rest of the way through.

   Now Homer -- there was something so good that not even college
professors could ruin it for me.   

   (Bonus question:  has anyone here ever read Marlowe's Dido and
Aeneas?  And if you did, did you think it was an imitation of Vergil or
a parody of Vergil?  I've never been able to decide.) 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir)
Subject: Re: Dashiell Hammett
Organization: Stanford Exploration Project
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 15:33:18 GMT

Douglas Harper writes:

	Mike Godwin writes:

		Douglas Harper writes:

			We waited a moment, and then Pete the Finn appeared 
			in the dynamited doorway, his hands holding the top 
			of his bald head.

			Reno called him a lousy fish-eater and shot him four 
			times in face and body.

		Under the circumstances, and given the name of the victim, 
		it seems likely that "lousy fish-eater" is an anti-Catholic 
		slur.

	I'm afraid I don't see the likelihood.  My understanding is that 
	the Finns are predominantly Lutheran, not Catholic.

Mike may have taken his Honest lamp back into the Celtic Twilight where he
came across the last great poet-warrior, Ossian, whose father was Finn Mac
Cool.

							Fido
From: dougm@hal.com (Doug Moran)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Philately (will get you nowhere)
Date: 12 Oct 92 18:28:11 GMT
Reply-To: dougm@hal.com (Doug Moran)
Organization: HaL Computer Systems, Inc.; Campbell, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: gizmo.hal.com
In-reply-to: myboy@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Lewis Murtaugh)

In article <1992Oct11.011310.19183@news.acns.nwu.edu>, myboy@casbah (Lewis Murtaugh) writes:
>In article <CB.92Oct9143010@tamarack13.timbuk> cb@tamarack13.timbuk (Chris Brewster) writes:
>>
>>From an old Firesign Theater album (from memory):
>>
>>Mudhead: "After school, I'm going to the Philatalists' Club!"
>>
>>Porgey:  "I didn't know you masturbated!"
>>
>You got it backwards... it's Porgey Tirebiter that is the straight man, going
>to the philatalists' club, and Mudhead that makes the masturbation joke. 

I am reminded of "Smut," by Tom Lehrer:

"Who needs a hobby
 like Tennis, or Philately?
 I have a hobby
 re-reading Lady Chatterly."

I like the next line, too, although it has nothing to do with the
subject at hand:

"As the Judge remarked the day he aquitted my Aunt Hortense,
 `To be smut it must be uterly without redeeming social importance.'"

Dave Barry also made a comment about Philately in one of his columns.
He pointed out that the big excitement is when you go down to the post
office, get a new set of stamps, paste them in a book, and look at them.
Wow!  Don't know if my heart can stand it!
-- 
    Doug Moran        | A worldwide shortage of #2 pencils has left many tech
   dougm@hal.com      | writers unable to take notes or doodle during meetings,
 {...}!hal.com!dougm  | forcing them to pay attention or end the meeting by
 HaL Computer Systems | flinging live poisonous insects at the other attendees.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: kamorgan@athena.mit.edu (Keith Morgan)
Subject: Re: More Notes from the Decline
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 16:54:38 GMT

Tom Maddox writes:

>In article <1992Oct6.171038.24333@athena.mit.edu> kamorgan@athena.mit.edu (Keith Morgan) writes:
>>Mike Morris [. . .] asservates that Republicans don't read.
>
>>To which I reply: piffle and twaddle.
>
>	I for one trust that Mr. Morgan stands corrected:  Republicans read
>piffle and twaddle.

	Very cute Mr. Maddox; however, are you merely extending Mr.
Morris's comment from Republicans don't read to an assertion that they
do but they only read piffle and twaddle? Let's see 48,886,097
Americans identified themselves as Republican enough to vote for Bush
in 1988. Do you think that among this group no one reads, or that they
only read piffle and twaddle?

Anxiously,

Keith Morgan

--
Keith Morgan		 |I've always had a secret desire to harangue
kamorgan@athena.mit.edu  |a crowd of people for 10 hours in the
		         |sweltering heat. It's the origin of my
		         |fascination with public language.