OT fun street

Wolverines? Yikes. Carry a rifle.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Too many have forgotten him already :(

I take a slightly unreasoning amount of pleasure from "Idle Days on the Yann". For me it is the eldritch version of the more mainstream

Sea Fever By John Masefield I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel?s kick and the wind?s song and the white sail?s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea?s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull?s way and the whale?s way where the wind?s like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick?s over.

ote:

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issed. ?I?m afraid of grounds!?

ng silly.?

I know not Lord Dunsany, got a favorite or two that I might start with.

I'm rereading "Lucifer's Hammer" started soon after I heard the Jerry Pournelle passed away.

George H.

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own

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hissed. ?I?m afraid of grounds!?

eing silly.?

Wasn't Jerry described once as "slightly to the right of Genghis Khan"? His collaborations with Larry Niven were fun to read for the most part.

John

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own

ents..

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hissed. ?I?m afraid of grounds!?

eing silly.?

I never meet him so don't know. The word I heard on a sci fi site (I could dig up the link) from those who did, is that he was opinionated, b ut willing to discuss debate with everyone.

I liked most of his military sci-fi too. I like tales of honesty and honor. People behaving properly, is not a right/left thing in my experienc e.

George H.

Genghis Khan wasn't on the right--the one thing he was _not_ in favour of was letting people keep what they earned. He was very much in favour of taking it and distributing it to his cronies, though.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Fun. I hadn't read it before--thanks for the steer.

One of my faves of his is "The Bride of the Man-Horse". He has such wonderful names.

(Of course, if your name is Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany, you have a bit of a head start there.) ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

You're not the only one that has been (and presumably continues to be) inspired by that:

Thanks to google and the lack of copyright, I didn't even have to go and find my compendium of his stories. That one has some characteristics common to many of his stories: - short - best read as if you are storyteller speaking to a gathering - when the end is reached, it stops abruptly - the back-story is more important than the story itself

Shades of the old saw In a new money accent: "How do you get such an excellent lawn?". In a country bumpkin accent: "Simple, seed and roll for 500 years".

You have treats in store for the winter.

The small selection of Dunsany's works that I've read include:

Stories: The Book of Wonder Tales of Wonder Tales of Three Hemispheres (that's where Idle Days on the Yann is from--my copy is on order per Tom G.)

Short novels: The Charwoman's Shadow (a fave) The King of Elfland's Daughter

He also did a bunch of short plays, and a book of observations of the devastation of WW1 called "Unpleasant things far away" or something like that.

He more or less singlehandedly rescued the true literature of faerie from the scorn poured on it in the 18th-19th century.

Read him in good health!

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

IOW, part of the swamp.

Ah, I make the same statement to those that have just discovered Cordwainer Smith's canon.

Note that I did say "unreasoning amount of pleasure" :) Dunsany isn't to everyone's taste, but you can see echoes of his style in many places.

Grin... There's this vicarious thrill, of getting to 'turn someone on' to an author you've loved. (It doesn't always work out.)

Uggh, I've just finished watching the Burns and Novick(sp) Vietnam documentary. I find war fascinating, but mostly depressing. Best in small or romantic doses.

Well I'm going to have to read him to understand that sentence.

Thanks for the recommendations. I was thinking I should get an electronic reader for my next B-day. Since Dunsany is before mickey mouse his stuff should be out of copyright.

My winter reading pile might grow into next year.. which is a good thing. I've started pulling books off my (deceased) mothers selves, a large series from Alexandre Dumas, most I read in my teens, but it's hard for me to discard a book that a I look at and say, "I might want to read that again someday, or tomorrow."

George H.

Right, I'm afraid my tastes can be rather low brow, CS Forester rather than Patrick O'Brien.

George H.