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Kokipy wrote:
Now, I like Dave Hutchinson, and when I saw Surtac’s post that he’s got another one out I went looking for it at the library (I’m trying to use the library these days instead of buying all my books) and the only one they had was called “Shelter” and I have to say that while I thought it was extraordinary I really hated the experience of reading it. Post-apocalyptic brutality always is disturbing.
I have been on the other hand really enjoying reading everything of Mick Herron’s I can find. Spy stuff set in modern England for the most part. Some references to LeCarre, but very definitely his own idiom. I am sure I am late to the party but I never heard of him till last month.
I am big into escape these days. FInding the news to be dispiriting. War, spy balloons, earthquakes, not to mention George Santos and his ilk. Book banning in Florida, police brutality everywhere. Who needs to read dystopian fiction when it seems we may actually be living it
Ah yes. Shelter is quite dark. That one is part of a shared universe sort of thing from Solaris iirc. Adam Roberts wrote another one.but I don't think I've seen any more since.
Re Mick Herron, I hope you've seen the Slow Horses TV adaptation on Apple TV, Kokipy.. There are two seasons so far covering the events of the first two books, and I believe more seasons are forthcoming. Gary Oldman is simply marvelous in the role of Jackson Lamb.
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Surtac, I was inspired to read the books by the references I saw to the show, and I hope to get the spouse to watch with me. I admire Gary Oldman excessively
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As it happens Kokipy, I rewatched a couple of Oldman's earlier films just last week as one of our national tv channels was having a mini-festival of Luc Besson films. Oldman's performances as Norman Stansfield, the drug-addled psychotic corrupt law enforcement officer in Leon: The Professional, and as the villainous but surprisingly likeable Zorg in The Fifth Element are two of my favourites in his whole filmography.
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We watched the first episode of Slow Horses last night- it was terrific! So well cast. Oldman of course, but I thought River was also excellent, and Lady Di, whom I know we will see far more of as things progress, will not disappoint. I am excited to see this.
I mostly remember him as Churchill
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I did that some years back, Star. It’s a horrible thing to have to do- deaccessioning I mean. But think how much fun you will have unpacking and finding old treasures in those you have boxed up. (Did you note the donations at librarything? I never did that).
‘what exactly is the timing of your move? Concerned friends need to know….
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Kokipy wrote:
I did that some years back, Star. It’s a horrible thing to have to do- deaccessioning I mean. But think how much fun you will have unpacking and finding old treasures in those you have boxed up. (Did you note the donations at librarything? I never did that).
‘what exactly is the timing of your move? Concerned friends need to know….
Star, may I ask what criteria you applied when deciding which books to re-home? It's a topic I'm dreading but it is becoming more and more pressing and imminent as SWMBO pursues her agenda of decluttering the house, something which is sorely needed here at Chateau Dysfunction, but which when it involves my books is upping my anxiety levels to something approximating existential dread. How did you manage it?
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When I did it, Surtac, I focused on what I knew I would want to read again and what I knew I would likely not. Since I had been accumulating them for 30+years there were certainly some I had outgrown. I donated a third of my books to the local library book sale back in 2012. I haven’t repurchased many, if indeed any. It is so wrenching, though. My 99 yr old father recently went through this when he and his wife moved from a large house to a small apartment in which he was allowed a single small three shelf bookcase. I think it broke his heart. Some of his art books were given to the library in the place they are living in and he sneaks down there sometimes to visit them.
(I know I am not Star, but thought i would answer anyway)
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I had to help my mother downsize in a move similar to what Kokipy described. My mother was a historian of one of our ancestors and her library was way too extensive, but she refused to let me send them to a library in a dedicated section. I took some of them. But when she died, my sister scattered them throughout the vast family, and they were lost. I mean most people don't care about books. I was so disheartened.
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Thanks for those responses, both of you. I can appreciate how painful it must have been at the time.
I think my situation is a little similar to both of your scenarios in a way. I know I am unlikely to re-read a lot of what is in my SF collection, but I also know that much of it is long out of print, and since I treat my entire book holdings as a reference library of sorts, I really don't want it to be gone and unavailable when I do want to access its content. And it contains much of my late brother's library, which had a different focus to my own interests, with more SF media and artwork related material - early Star Wars, Dr Who, 2000AD stuff etc. I don't want to lose that either,
I've trained myself to do most of my reading now as ebooks, and have reduced my physical book collecting to a bare minimum: must have authors like CJ and Gibson, or other books I've read which have really made an impression on me and which I know I will want to have and re-read.or consult again. My Librarything profile should reflect this new reality. (Btw, I'm really bad at adding ebook fiction to my LT library, particularly the 'disposable' police procedural stuff I snack on, but it does get recorded in my reading log spreadsheets so its not forgotten entirely.)
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We just finished watching the first season of Slow Horses. Wow, what a great show! Highly recommended! And I liked the books a lot too, but the show i think may be even better. it follows the book in plot and character very closely, while still managing nuance that I think was left opaque, deliberately, in the book.