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Why BOOKPOODAH Is
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One of the all-time great science fiction books. Book 1, that is. Full of life-style adaptations required to live on an almost waterless world. Dune was made into an annoying movie. I found Book 2 almost unreadable. I've heard that Book 3 is better, almost as good as Book 1.
Has there ever been anyone since Shakespeare who had a better command of the Language? He was to the English language what Zoot Sims was to the saxophone. [Maybe Winton Marcalis to the trumpet? Benny Goodman to the clarinet? Somebody help me out, here.]
In this trilogy he describes an alternative world that, we assume, never existed. There is no reason, however, why it couldn't have existed, or will not. There is nothing supernatural about this world. It is a completely plausible world that could have existed and might yet.
Truly weird. Truly fascinating. An ancient feudal civilization, thousands of years into accepted behavior and minute ritual, locked within the indeterminately massive "Gormenghast" castle, challenged only by poor little Prince Titus.
Didn't see the flick, but read the book. The "zinger" in this book is the most surprising and thought-provoking I have ever encountered. Sagan, this most rational of men, this priest of science, playfully lays waste to the underpinnings of science, the very essence of rational thought, mathematics. He was a man among us who could, with authority, laugh with God - affectionately and fearlessly.
07mar00 - Well, I finally saw the flick. Probably the best SciFi flick ever made. Maybe I'm just overreacting to its recent impact on me, but it's gotta be way up there. It was missing the "zinger" that was in the book, though. Too bad. (Hint: it was something in the message from Vega.) Hey! I've got a literary finding! Hey! Guess what I saw? Has anyone noticed this? It comes from television viewing, not reading. An accident. A day or two before seeing "Contact" I had watched "Madame Bovary" on PBS. As many people know (I didn't until I saw the show), Emma's husband is a good but dull man. Lying under her newfound lover at the base of a tree in the woods immediately after consumating the relationship (or was it during?), she exclaims over and over "I had no idea...I had no idea". So what does Jodie Foster say over and over again when she sees the wonders of outer space? You guessed it! Carl, you sly, well-read devil. Just your way of saying science is as good as sex?
Starr, Clinton and Lewinsky - The Official Poodah!
If you are looking for informal, non-professional, irreverent and entertaining investment advice, check out the "Drooling Oatmeal Investment Club". Poodah (of this site) contributes occasional pieces there.
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