On to Empire Games by Charles Stross. Liked the previous ones in the series and this is good so far.
So What Are you Reading?: Generations
- Thread starter captcalhoun
- Start date
So says the author of "Make Believe."
Remember, Narnia was written as children's literature. It's not in the same category as David Gerrold's When HARLIE Was One (wherein the sex scenes, not to mention the legal, commercialized marijuana, shocked my no-more-than-15-year-old ass across the room, when I read it for a book report in my freshman or sophomore year of high school). It's not in the same category as TrekLit, or ADF, written for an adult audience but mostly suitable for older children (but consider Ensign Sara George in Spock: Messiah). It's not in the same category of The Lord of the Rings, or Sherlock Holmes, or Dickens, written for an adult audience but perfectly suitable for children. It's not even in the same category as Madeleine L'Engle's Murry/O'Keefe canon, that runs a gamut from science fiction to a retelling of Genesis, Chapters 5-9, to a near-molestation and what is arguably consensual statutory rape, yet is still found in the children's section of Barnes & Noble.
Narnia is children's literature the same way Baum's Oz is children's literature. Surreal fantasy is very popular with children. And what is a primary object of children's play? What is it that so many children long to do? To take on the privileges and prerogatives of adulthood, and go on adventures, while still coming home safe in the end! Why else would it be that Disney's Autopia and similar attractions at non-Disney theme parks remain perennially popular theme park rides? Why else would dress-up clothes, little-girl make-up, and toy shaving paraphernalia remain popular in toy stores? Why, if children didn't yearn for what they perceive as adult privilege, could R.J. Reynolds Tobacco run a whole ad campaign in the 1990s, "Let's Clear the Air on Smoking," that phrased a denial that its marketing (and "Joe Camel" in particular) were intended to appeal to children, in a way ("Adult Custom") that was itself intended to appeal to children?
You mean Infinite Crisis. The stories in the collection came out in 2005-6. I was confused, since Barbara Gordon didn't become Oracle until 1989, a few years after CoIE.
Ah, yes - because it was in dialogue I'd read it as a character giving their own term for it...Blinded by last year's crossover adaptation.
At any rate, I read the Mirror-Khan comic book. Interesting twist at the very end.
Now, I'm a chapter into Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And I just finished a not-quite-current issue of Fine Scale Modeler.
Now, I'm a chapter into Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And I just finished a not-quite-current issue of Fine Scale Modeler.
New Positively Trek Book Club is up! Bruce and I discuss TNG #4: Survivors by Jean Lorrah.
Currently reading TNG: Metamorphosis, also by Jean Lorrah.
Currently reading TNG: Metamorphosis, also by Jean Lorrah.
This reminds me of a thought I had earlier.
They are getting ready to start new adaptations and Netflix, and I was thinking the cast members from the movies are the perfect age to come back and play the adult versions of their characters at the end of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
Just, only a few minutes ago, finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
And only a few pages before the end (bottom of 265, in the 1994 Harper TPB), I found very familiar lines:
I will also note that I chose Narnia because I was looking for religious allegory for Eastertide, and was well aware that Aslan was, for all intents and purposes, Jesus as a lion. But just over two pages later, I found it very explicitly, with the Pevensies and Eustace being served a breakfast of broiled fish, by a lamb who morphed into Aslan.
And only a few pages before the end (bottom of 265, in the 1994 Harper TPB), I found very familiar lines:
I'm absolutely certain I've seen those lines quoted, verbatim or very nearly so, near the end of a Star Trek novel, possibly DD's The Wounded Sky (much of which has other parallels with Dawn Treader).
I will also note that I chose Narnia because I was looking for religious allegory for Eastertide, and was well aware that Aslan was, for all intents and purposes, Jesus as a lion. But just over two pages later, I found it very explicitly, with the Pevensies and Eustace being served a breakfast of broiled fish, by a lamb who morphed into Aslan.
Finished reading today Confessions of a Rogue TV Comedy Writer: Forty Years of Fame, Fear and Combat Inside the Writers Room by Ted Bergman (2019).
Bergman’s book is a fun read. As much (or more) an autobiography/memoir of his life (his various personal adventures, travails, and relationships) during the time that he was a Hollywood television sitcom writer as much as it is about his experiences working on those shows but he does commit chapters to telling those stories as well.
From his first television script he ever sold and saw produced (an episode of “The Munsters” (1964-1966), to writing set up lines for “Hollywood Squares” (1966-1980), Bergman’s big break came when he was hired as a staff writer on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” (1967-1969).
From there, he next worked on “The Jonathan Winters Show” (1967-1969), “The Trouble With Tracy” (Canadian, 1970-1971), “Sanford and Son” (1972-1977), “What’s Happening!!” (1976-1979), “Sanford” (1980-1981), “Gimme a Break!” (1981-1987), “Rocky Road” (syndicated, 1985-1987), and (very briefly early on) “Full House” (1987-1995). Bergman also takes us through the various projects that never saw the light of day for various reasons (unsold pilots, stage plays, movie pitches, etc.).
In between tv writing jobs, his life with wife and fellow writer Kathy takes them around the world including buying a tropical island home that they end up living in for only a short time.
As I said, I enjoyed this book. A couple things I should mention. Bergman himself points out that there was another Ted Bergmann working in Hollywood (and sometimes at the very same production company) which oftentimes led to people confusing the two of them for each other. This other Ted Bergmann (1920-2014) was the head producer on “Three’s Company” (1977-1984). The Ted Bergman who wrote this book is not *that* Ted Bergmann.
The other thing is that this paperback edition (which has the look of a print-on-demand book) has to be one of the worst copy edited books that I’ve ever read. Words misspelled on just about every other page. Proper names misspelled. On one page Pat Morita’s name is spelled “Pat Moria” several times. “Newhart” is “Newheart”. And many, many instances of words missing apostrophes, such as “we’re talking about” being instead “were talking about”.
Also, there are no page numbers. So, to keep track of how far I was progressing each day I’d have to go by the table of contents. Except I soon realized that they missed a chapter in the table of contents so that wasn’t correct either.
All of that said, I still recommend this book for anyone interested in the writing of television sitcoms during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Those of my age and older will probably remember watching several of these series and enjoy reading about what things were like behind the scenes. Others will probably find Bergman’s writing style to be funny and his life outside of the writers room to be just as interesting. I gave this book four out of five stars on GoodReads.
Bergman’s book is a fun read. As much (or more) an autobiography/memoir of his life (his various personal adventures, travails, and relationships) during the time that he was a Hollywood television sitcom writer as much as it is about his experiences working on those shows but he does commit chapters to telling those stories as well.
From his first television script he ever sold and saw produced (an episode of “The Munsters” (1964-1966), to writing set up lines for “Hollywood Squares” (1966-1980), Bergman’s big break came when he was hired as a staff writer on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” (1967-1969).
From there, he next worked on “The Jonathan Winters Show” (1967-1969), “The Trouble With Tracy” (Canadian, 1970-1971), “Sanford and Son” (1972-1977), “What’s Happening!!” (1976-1979), “Sanford” (1980-1981), “Gimme a Break!” (1981-1987), “Rocky Road” (syndicated, 1985-1987), and (very briefly early on) “Full House” (1987-1995). Bergman also takes us through the various projects that never saw the light of day for various reasons (unsold pilots, stage plays, movie pitches, etc.).
In between tv writing jobs, his life with wife and fellow writer Kathy takes them around the world including buying a tropical island home that they end up living in for only a short time.
As I said, I enjoyed this book. A couple things I should mention. Bergman himself points out that there was another Ted Bergmann working in Hollywood (and sometimes at the very same production company) which oftentimes led to people confusing the two of them for each other. This other Ted Bergmann (1920-2014) was the head producer on “Three’s Company” (1977-1984). The Ted Bergman who wrote this book is not *that* Ted Bergmann.
The other thing is that this paperback edition (which has the look of a print-on-demand book) has to be one of the worst copy edited books that I’ve ever read. Words misspelled on just about every other page. Proper names misspelled. On one page Pat Morita’s name is spelled “Pat Moria” several times. “Newhart” is “Newheart”. And many, many instances of words missing apostrophes, such as “we’re talking about” being instead “were talking about”.
Also, there are no page numbers. So, to keep track of how far I was progressing each day I’d have to go by the table of contents. Except I soon realized that they missed a chapter in the table of contents so that wasn’t correct either.
All of that said, I still recommend this book for anyone interested in the writing of television sitcoms during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Those of my age and older will probably remember watching several of these series and enjoy reading about what things were like behind the scenes. Others will probably find Bergman’s writing style to be funny and his life outside of the writers room to be just as interesting. I gave this book four out of five stars on GoodReads.
Last edited:
Dark State by Charles Stross. Think the next of the series doesn't come out til september though.
Last edited:
Dawn Treader is my favorite of them. I know you are an Oz fan; it feels the most Ozzian of them with its travel narrative, and Eustace is my favorite Narnia protagonist.
Just finished The Silver Chair.
And I've also taken the liberty of pulling my query about a Star Trek novel quoting Dawn Treader into a separate thread.
Now about to start The Horse and His Boy.
**********
Now 2/3 of the way through Horse. Which is starting to remind me of a Star Wars story. Of any number of Star Wars stories, in fact.
**********
Now a few chapters into The Magician's Nephew.
. . . that the serpent that killed the Queen, and Rilian's mysterious girlfriend, and the mysterious "Lady of the Green Kirtle," were all the same being. Not to mention that having Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum for the Autumn Feast seemed an interesting turn of phrase, in a "To Serve Man" sort of way.
And I've also taken the liberty of pulling my query about a Star Trek novel quoting Dawn Treader into a separate thread.
Now about to start The Horse and His Boy.
**********
Not to mention the most Star-Trek-like, and the most Humanx-Commonwealth-like, and the most Hobbit/LotR-like.
Now 2/3 of the way through Horse. Which is starting to remind me of a Star Wars story. Of any number of Star Wars stories, in fact.
**********
Now a few chapters into The Magician's Nephew.
Last edited:
Just finished The Magician's Nephew.
Then again Lewis and Tolkien were friends.
Aslan singing Narnia into existence called to mind Tolkien's Ainulindalë and Valaquenta.
For a time. Tolkien didn't like Narnia -- he thought it was a derivative mess and stole from some of his Middle-earth ideas -- and they grew apart over a number of things, like Lewis' conversion from atheism to Anglicanism (which bitterly disappointed the Catholic Tolkien), Lewis' fame in the 1940s and beyond, and Edith Tolkien's resentment of Lewis.
And as I recall, Tolkien converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism.
His mother was a Baptist, though she converted to Catholicism when Tolkien was a child, and he was raised by a priest as a Catholic after she died a few years later.. The ancient ritualism of Catholicism really appealed to Tolkien as an adult, which was an issue with Edith, who was CoE and converted for the sake of her love for Tolkien, and the ritualism didn't appeal to her at all.
Similar threads
