What are you reading in 2024?

[Eyes of Nine]

I finished reading Michelle Remembers, by Michelle Smith and Lawrence Pazder. How do you review such a book? It is a book that is a litany of abuse and terrible things. It gets quite unpleasant to read in spots. But it is also unequivocally and demonstrable false. Michelle's story is easily debunked. One wonders at people's motivations. Was Michelle mentally ill, or just hungry for the attention? Was Dr. Pazder that credulous - how was he taken in, arriving at the belief that the stories his patient related were real, rather than symptoms of mental illness? Was he also eager for the attention such a case would bring?

Interesting article on wikipedia on the book. I like that her sisters were Charyl and Tertia. It seems the parents liked the "sh" sound without using "s". That alone makes me skeptical that they were satanists

Michelle Remembers - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Ryujin]

Interesting article on wikipedia on the book. I like that her sisters were Charyl and Tertia. It seems the parents liked the "sh" sound without using "s". That alone makes me skeptical that they were satanists

Michelle Remembers - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The whole "repressed memory" thing ruined a lot of lives. Imagine having to defend yourself against an allegation that's made 20+ years after the event is supposed to have taken place.

"Where were you on the night of January 5th, 1972?"

"I have no bloody idea."

And, even if the legal repercussions are dealt with successfully, your reputation has been forever tainted.

 

[overgeeked]

Just finished The Light Fantastic, aka Discworld 2. It was pretty good. Definitely more of a coherent story than Discworld 1, given that was four short stories crammed together and sold as a novel, though not all that coherent given all the jumping around and odd…continuity errors. Like the Luggage. In one scene it’s teleported from across the Disc to Ankh-Morpork and the next scene it’s back on the far side of the Disc without any explanation and no time passing. Some funny bits and moments and groan-worthy puns. Rincewind the wizzard who can’t spell.

Apparently reading the books in publication order is a bad idea. It’s better to read them out of order based on sub-series. While I get the idea, I’m curious why it matters. Besides jumping around between characters stories, what’s the downside of reading them as Pratchett wrote them?

Since I’m two in on the Wizards sub-series it’s suggested I skip over both Equal Rites and Mort and go with Sourcery instead. Why?

 

[John Lloyd1]

Just finished The Light Fantastic, aka Discworld 2. It was pretty good. Definitely more of a coherent story than Discworld 1, given that was four short stories crammed together and sold as a novel, though not all that coherent given all the jumping around and odd…continuity errors. Like the Luggage. In one scene it’s teleported from across the Disc to Ankh-Morpork and the next scene it’s back on the far side of the Disc without any explanation and no time passing. Some funny bits and moments and groan-worthy puns. Rincewind the wizzard who can’t spell.

Apparently reading the books in publication order is a bad idea. It’s better to read them out of order based on sub-series. While I get the idea, I’m curious why it matters. Besides jumping around between characters stories, what’s the downside of reading them as Pratchett wrote them?

Since I’m two in on the Wizards sub-series it’s suggested I skip over both Equal Rites and Mort and go with Sourcery instead. Why?

It entirely depends on whether you like a particular set of characters more or less. Reading in publication order is how I read them because I didn't have a choice. Apart from some occassional references to previous events, they can be read in any order.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Apparently reading the books in publication order is a bad idea. It’s better to read them out of order based on sub-series. While I get the idea, I’m curious why it matters. Besides jumping around between characters stories, what’s the downside of reading them as Pratchett wrote them?

There's nothing wrong with reading them in order. I'm on my second lap through the whole series, and reading them in order, rather than by sub-series, often means you pick up on references other people might not, as the world has typically moved on quite a bit between the various sub-series books.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Since I’m two in on the Wizards sub-series it’s suggested I skip over both Equal Rites and Mort and go with Sourcery instead. Why?

I especially disagree with this. Equal Rites is the beginning of Unseen University settling into its final form and Mort is the first Death novel and lays a lot of groundwork for the entire Discworld series, since I believe Death shows up in every single book at least once.

 

[overgeeked]

There's nothing wrong with reading them in order. I'm on my second lap through the whole series, and reading them in order, rather than by sub-series, often means you pick up on references other people might not, as the world has typically moved on quite a bit between the various sub-series books.

That's kinda what I was thinking. Especially for multiple book skips. I'll read about the aftermath and outcome of books I haven't read yet. Not a fan of that idea. I don't mind jumping characters and stories. I would mind jumping back-and-forth along the timeline.

I especially disagree with this. Equal Rites is the beginning of Unseen University settling into its final form and Mort is the first Death novel and lays a lot of groundwork for the entire Discworld series, since I believe Death shows up in every single book at least once.

Good to know.

 

[Pedantic]

Just finished The Light Fantastic, aka Discworld 2. It was pretty good. Definitely more of a coherent story than Discworld 1, given that was four short stories crammed together and sold as a novel, though not all that coherent given all the jumping around and odd…continuity errors. Like the Luggage. In one scene it’s teleported from across the Disc to Ankh-Morpork and the next scene it’s back on the far side of the Disc without any explanation and no time passing. Some funny bits and moments and groan-worthy puns. Rincewind the wizzard who can’t spell.

Apparently reading the books in publication order is a bad idea. It’s better to read them out of order based on sub-series. While I get the idea, I’m curious why it matters. Besides jumping around between characters stories, what’s the downside of reading them as Pratchett wrote them?

Since I’m two in on the Wizards sub-series it’s suggested I skip over both Equal Rites and Mort and go with Sourcery instead. Why?

If you're attached to Rincewind, you certainly could, but I think it's completely reasonable to pick up a different thread. Really, you're already ready the two books that are most different structurally than the rest of the series, so it doesn't much matter now. Pratchett was still mostly doing parody of fantasy novels at the beginning before Discworld grew into it's own thing, and that's most apparent in the first two novels.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Interesting article on wikipedia on the book. I like that her sisters were Charyl and Tertia. It seems the parents liked the "sh" sound without using "s". That alone makes me skeptical that they were satanists

Michelle Remembers - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Chatanists.

The whole "repressed memory" thing ruined a lot of lives. Imagine having to defend yourself against an allegation that's made 20+ years after the event is supposed to have taken place.

Yes, yes it did. Dr. Lawrence Pazder would go on to act as a consultant in the McMartin Case, which sent innocent people to prison.

"Where were you on the night of January 5th, 1972?"

"I have no bloody idea."

And, even if the legal repercussions are dealt with successfully, your reputation has been forever tainted.

That is one of the many things about Michelle Smith's story - how anyone could believe that a five-year-old could know the exact dates of these events, let alone a woman remembering some 20-25 year later?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

For spooky season, I've just started Mexican Gothic. Trying not to spoil myself, because some of the stuff seems to be very classic gothic tropes, but other elements seem to be laying tracks for a big reveal later on. Trying just to slow down and enjoy the ride.