Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 15 July 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
Douglas Adams again. I read his first book, and had no desire to read more. Robert Sheckley had done it all before and better.
My impression (mostly second-hand, since I've read so little of him) is that Adams wasn't really a writer, rather an inventor of whimsical notions. Alasdair Beckett-King is a current example. It must be an English thing. I don't feel strongly about any of this, just a kind of puzzled wonder at Adams's recurring appearance on these lists.
― alimosina, Thursday, 15 July 2021 17:24 (two years ago) link
Hitchhiker's Guide was huge in the '80s in the US. I never knew anybody who'd listened to the original BBC radio broadcasts, but the book was very popular and spawned lots of tie-ins like the famous text-based computer game
― o. nate, Thursday, 15 July 2021 18:09 (two years ago) link
Yeah, Hitchhiker's Guide was pressed on me by a friend, and I read it out of loyalty.
Voted for Munif, by the way.
― alimosina, Thursday, 15 July 2021 18:20 (two years ago) link
So Long ... is a much, much better book than HHGTG imo and demonstrates he really could write
― A viking of frowns, (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 15 July 2021 18:52 (two years ago) link
So Long is the worst book is worst book of the 5-book trilogy, or at least the one that fans of the series like the least. It's mostly a romcom, with one sci-fi-y thing in the final chapter.
― wasdnuos (abanana), Thursday, 15 July 2021 23:27 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 16 July 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
re-read neuromancer a few years ago, and while i did not and would never vote for it, it holds up much better than a 40yo book of its type has any right to
― mookieproof, Friday, 16 July 2021 00:15 (two years ago) link
The sky above the port was the colour of ilx, tuned to a dead thread
― Here is tod rungren loaning a stack of eventides to your mixer & fixer (Matt #2), Friday, 16 July 2021 09:08 (two years ago) link
Camaraderie, I am heartened to find out you actually consider Life, The Universe & Everything to be the best Douglas Adams, as I had taken yr previous declaration that the 4th book is the best to be referring to Mostly Harmless, which I really couldn't justify on any level.
Well, I also include stuff like, say, Jackie Collins or Ian Fleming in these - Adams is a more constant presence than those two were purely because he always gets votes. While the area he influenced - comedy sci-fi- may be somewhat niche, I think his influence on it is enormous (and mostly bad, you could say); like there's a whole cottage industry of Adams rip-offs that you can purchase. Stephen King is an example of someone whose shtick is pretty easy to dismiss too and I make sure to include his stuff every year.
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 16 July 2021 09:17 (two years ago) link
No, I really did mean that Mostly Harmless is the best book.
― A viking of frowns, (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 16 July 2021 09:46 (two years ago) link
hold on sorry no
So Long ... is the best, Mostly Harmless is awful
― A viking of frowns, (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 16 July 2021 09:47 (two years ago) link
So Long is the worst book is worst book of the 5-book trilogy, or at least the one that fans of the series like the least. It's mostly a romcom, with one sci-fi-y thing in the final chapter
― A viking of frowns, (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 16 July 2021 09:52 (two years ago) link
SLATFATF is a rom-com only in that it concerns a romantic relationship, and is sometimes funny. typical that a certain kind of fan would turn their noses up at that.
― A viking of frowns, (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 16 July 2021 09:54 (two years ago) link
Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1985
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 16 July 2021 10:06 (two years ago) link
daniel_rf, feel heartened that i often do think that life, the universe, and everything is the best adams
― bart harley-jarvis cocker (voodoo chili), Friday, 16 July 2021 18:07 (two years ago) link
The Boys on the Rock is sad and beautiful (and hot)
Seconded. I read it years ago, and the final pages haunt me still.
― edited for dog profanity (cryptosicko), Friday, 16 July 2021 19:40 (two years ago) link