Hey, is anyone gonna be partying? If so, please let me know, so I can live vicariously through you. :P
We'll be going to dinner tonight with my uncle--Guess where? *rolls eyes*--but that's about it. I'll probably stay up past midnight, but that's just coincidental.
Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, it's just another day to read. (And exercise. Or, rather, exercise and read at the same time, thanks to handy ledge on the control panel of the elliptical.)
Le Guin, Ursula K. Rocannon's World. 1966. New York: Harper & Row, 1977.Summary: Rocannon, a League ethnologist assigned to the the primitive world of known only as Fomalhaut II, discovers, after the rest of his team is massacred, that the rebellion has made this planet their home base. With a number of native companions, he journeys to where the base is, learns some telepathy so that he can read the minds of his enemies on the way, and is able to send a message back home from the enemy base. After the base is destroyed, he lives out the rest of his life on the planet, never knowing that the League decided to name it after him.
Comments: I believe this novel was Le Guin's first foray (to use one of her favorite words) into genre fiction, and I can see why she was so well-received from the very first start. This novel is a tour de force, occupying the hairline dividing fantasy from science fiction--the implication is that magic and religion-laced legends are merely retold events beyond our level of understanding--with plenty of plotline borrowings from Tolkien. (Her prose, though, thank God, is more matter-of-fact and scientific, except when her characters talk...that's a bit over-formal and overblown.) The setting and especially the races and species that populate it are utterly fascinating. Once again, the people on the top of the food chain are not white (dark-skinned and golden-haired, if you can believe it ^^; ) but still tremendously beautiful. Talk about idealized female characters! And, I must say, those hive-like vampire bat humanoids were a stroke of brilliance--both deliciously creative and creepy. Of course, I see prefigurings of
The Left Hand of Darkness even this early in Rocannon's relationship with Mogien; Le Guin's not one to shy away from the word "love," by any means, even if it's only love between brothers or father and son.
Notes: hardcover, 1st hardcover printing, out-of-print
(library book); trade paperback 3-in-1 omnibus edition available
Rating:
7/10 - One of the best (if not strictly the first) words on what I call "sociological sci-fi." A quick read, and well worth it.
mordath - (no subject) [+4]
Gonna watch the ball drop? ^_^;
I might watch the ball drop, if I make it.. One time when I was all alone in a hotel for New Years, I fell asleep at about 10, woke up at 11:55, watched the ball drop, and then went back to sleep at 12:05 ^^
Burning the midnight oil, are we? ^^;
I usually fall asleep around 12:30-1:00...even when I have to be up by 6 or 7 am. >_< But I might not sleep at all if I get engrossed in a REALLY good book...
BTW, who's on the icon you're using?
[RANDOM] And this, my friends, is why digisubs suck. I can probably still find a dozen or more groups subbing Naruto, a show already licensed for R1 and getting, all things considered, pretty damn good treatment, but how about all these unlicensed shows? Where are the fansubs for Lunlun, the rest of Ashita no Nadja, Ashita no Joe, Majokko Megu-chan, Ace wo Nerae, Miyuki, Gokinjo Monogatari, etc etc etc? One of the biggest arguments in favor of digisubs is the "promotion" argument - which worked back in the day of VHS fansubs, where there was some actual effort involved, but fails miserably in these days of digisubs where one click downloads an episode or complete series.
Promotion? How can you be promoting a series that's already insanely popular all over the damn world? All you're doing is providing instant gratification for whiny psudo-fans who think they're somehow supporting a show, yet refuse to buy the legit DVDs when they come out, because they're "hacked," too expensive, whateverthehell the reason du jour is at this time. Why not promote the series that nobody's ever heard of, the ones that R1 execs look at and go "no market." Promote those, they're the shows that need it, dammit! [/RANDOM]
And that has been your "Happy New Year" rant from Dani. ^_^
(I amuse myself so much sometimes. Which is probably for the best.)
Wow, I've never even HEARD of it! ^^;;; Though, for some reason, "Runrun" seems to jog my vintage shoujo anime memory...
And that has been your "Happy New Year" rant from Dani. ^_^
Why thank you. I haven't been left a gift rant in at least a few months (that wasn't aimed directly at me). ^_~
But, you know, I agree with you. I think that the majority of fansubbers and scanlators out there are out to promote themselves first and the material in question a distant second. Otherwise, why would their names and handles be plastered across the material left and right?
And, because they're only interested in their own glory, they pick things that are already popular because then they'll get more of an audience.
I don't translate anymore because I will NOT be party to that shit.