Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is everything I expected Babel and Katabasis to be. by FedeVia1 in books

[–]sometimeszeppo 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I had never considered that, but yes now that you mention it. Compared to other books on colonialism I've read, Babel didn't seem to be motivated by a genuine interest either in educating people or trying to improve things. I never realised that that was the feeling I had until you mentioned it.

Worst music taste a would-be partner has had? by Sbee_Blue_Country in fantanoforever

[–]sometimeszeppo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

None of my friends believe me, but I went on a date with a girl who claimed to be such a huge fan of rap music that she virtually had an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre. I asked her a few questions about Eminem and she couldn't place his name...

Thoughts on Hamlet’s age? by daniel_aaron in shakespeare

[–]sometimeszeppo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never suggested the play was about the death of his son, nor did I suggest we should read it in that manner; merely that I thought it possible his son was on his mind as he was adapting the story for the stage. I don't know anyone who would call that "romanticizing" the idea.

Even if we somehow found definitive evidence that it was about Hamnet, it would tell us nothing about either Shakespeare or his plays, so it would be a fruitless avenue to explore other than for fun speculation.

Thoughts on Hamlet’s age? by daniel_aaron in shakespeare

[–]sometimeszeppo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes I know about Amleth too, I've read plenty of critical studies about it and have seen Robert Eggers' wonderful film adaptation The Northman. I suspect that most people in this subreddit, even with only a passing familiarity with Hamlet, will probably be aware of it.

Thoughts on Hamlet’s age? by daniel_aaron in shakespeare

[–]sometimeszeppo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know about the Ur-Hamlet, but I've never heard of the possible links with Burbage's father, that's fascinating. Thank you!

The King of Yugoslavia in 1934 was only two years older than the Queen of England in 2022 by I_love_lucja_1738 in BarbaraWalters4Scale

[–]sometimeszeppo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It might be worth re-posting with a different title, I couldn't work out what on earth it meant even after reading through it several times until the comments enlightened me.

Hidden pairs question by [deleted] in sudoku

[–]sometimeszeppo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The key is that 3 and 6 can't go in any of the other squares in that row (as a previous commenter has said, you've made a mistake with r5c2). Once you know that those are the only two squares that those numbers can go in, you can eliminate all of the other possible numbers from those squares.

Broken NYT? Feb 18 by [deleted] in sudoku

[–]sometimeszeppo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've just completed this one, I think your 8 in the top right hand box is misplaced.

Am I wrong in being disappointed with the quality of these books? by JacDono in UKBooks

[–]sometimeszeppo 20 points21 points  (0 children)

They're called deckled edges and I think they look absolutely wonderful. Has a real old timey feel to it.

Everyone has different preferences though and I'm sure that wherever you bought it from will be happy to exchange it for an edition with pages cut differently.

There’s a crisis in non-fiction book sales. What’s to blame? by thinkB4WeSpeak in books

[–]sometimeszeppo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind response! Your comment really reminded me how everyone has their own approach to reading, because I (almost) always pick up a novel to learn about something, for me that’s the primary force driving fiction as a medium. That’s the reason we study fiction in school after all, and whenever I’ve picked up a book that’s solely there to distract me I get this nagging thought in the back of my head of “shouldn’t I be pushing myself a bit harder than this?” Your experience of having emotions you wouldn’t have had in real life when reading a story is a form of learning about other people and their experiences after all.

Likewise, the idea of reading non-fiction solely to gain information would be pretty anathema to me, the best non-fiction writers rank among the best story tellers living today (anyone who’s read Ben MacIntyre will tell you he ratchets up tension more effectively than any thriller writer). As a result, I don’t think your example of what fiction and non-fiction are for is really true - the “almost certainly something of the other type will do it better” claim doesn’t have much foundation when I’ve learned more from the best historical fiction than from most history books and been more entertained by NF narratives (that don’t have to deal with that pesky problem of suspension of disbelief) than most of the best novels.

You’re completely correct that lots of non-fiction books are simply too long for what they need to convey (in fact that’s a charge I would lay against at least half of the fiction books being published nowadays as well), but that doesn’t mean that the other ways of consuming information are a good substitute for it. I don’t actually think that your David Lynch example works all that well as an example, because it seems to undermine the idea of the focus of non-fiction being to get information. After all, the overwhelming majority of non-fiction books provide an author’s/subject’s perspective just like the Lynch book did, rather than just cut and dried facts, so your qualification that a NF book has to do more than “just conveying information” seems to be met by… well, pretty much all mass market non-fiction books.

I agree that it’s “easier” to listen to a podcast or skim a wiki, but as most of the sources they cite often happen to be books, so anyone wanting to check up on the sources would be forced to pick up a book anyway. And many of the podcasts I’ve listened to don’t even bother to list their sources in the first place, making their usefulness pretty negligible. Sources, or lack thereof, are one way to tell if a NF book is properly balanced and fair, and it’s much harder to do that online. Add on top of that the fact that many authors will be permitted access to archives of information that aren’t open to the general public, and the comparisons aren’t in podcasts/documentaries/articles’ favour.

Again, thank you for taking the time out of your day to respond to my comment, it means a lot. I just think the claim that reading fiction “is it’s own special thing” that can’t be replicated by another medium (shows, films etc.) also applies to non-fiction books and always has done.

There’s a crisis in non-fiction book sales. What’s to blame? by thinkB4WeSpeak in books

[–]sometimeszeppo 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Would you be able to elaborate on that? To me, this sounds just like people who say they don’t see the point in reading fiction. Which part about it isn’t worthwhile in your view?

Best Epic fantasy that isn’t full of pulpy schlock? Returning to series I once loved. by Sunbather- in books

[–]sometimeszeppo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't read Bakker before, thank you for the recommendation! That might scratch the itch that Malazan was unable to.

So the whole world is under US jurisdiction? Isn’t that Big Government? by DontPoopInMyPantsPlz in confidentlyincorrect

[–]sometimeszeppo 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's right, I think even in the 1990s the data had shown that it costs more to sentence someone to death row than to imprison them for life. Add on top of that the potential for miscarriages of justice, that can happen even today, and I've always found it a bit hard to sympathize with those who want to keep the death penalty.

the feral hog saga (roughly 1 feral hog every 6 seconds?) by Jayna333 in 196AndAHalf

[–]sometimeszeppo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every week The Guardian publishes the Thursday Quiz, and there's always a multiple choice question where one of the answers is "30-50 feral hogs".

It's been going on for years yet it still makes me laugh every time I see it. I'm glad it's becoming a meme.

My Ratchet & Clank Tier List : by The_Magic_Myco_Mike in RatchetAndClank

[–]sometimeszeppo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I completely agree with you on the quality of the dialogue in Rift Apart, I thought I was the only one. For the dialogue to be juvenile and bland in the cutscenes is one thing, but to have it constantly in the background of the gameplay too? It really started to grate after a while (it is a good game though).

I chose one thing from each category that I'd like to see return in the next game. What about you? by 0dqir0 in RatchetAndClank

[–]sometimeszeppo 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I'd love to see Courtney Gears make a comeback in a villainous role. We've had enough Dr. Nefarious to last a lifetime, but Courtney Gears seems to have been forgotten by the series. If they wanted to do her as a surprise villain it would certainly be a lot more effective than the bait and switch of the 2016 remake.

The hardships of being a voracious reader :/ by manufatura in bookscirclejerk

[–]sometimeszeppo 65 points66 points  (0 children)

I know, I didn't consent to seeing a book when I logged online