I Read Therefore I Am discussion

Comment as soon as you like but please hide any spoilers.
We will be starting pt 2 (chapters 14-27) on Dec 1st

I'm very interested in what you all think of this as I've read it before and thought it was excellent. SF is not to everyone's taste, but it was my first love, and I don't tire of it! I'm going to reread it and hope I enjoy it as much as I did the first time.

Just downloaded it today - in the preface it says that the book was quijhuuuu - sorry my cat just walked over the keyboard! It actually says that the book was quite heavily cut before it was published as it was felt that the public were not ready for some of the scenes!!

Welcome to the group Lee's cat! Feel free to join in any of the discussions, will be interesting to have a feline perspective ;)

I'll pick this one up from the library next trip but kind of want to finish M&D first. I like sci-fi though so looking forward to it.

Mouser would like me to convey her thanks (which consists of a cold wet nose slid up the arm) to you.

Aww, it's a bit belated really I suppose if I'm right in assuming that it's her we see on your profile pic?

Yes that's her, bless her - shes very fond of books but prefers lying on them to reading them!

Don't those cold wet noses get everywhere!

They certainly do.

I've ordered this from Amazon and am waiting for it to arrive. It only cost a penny but it must be a big book as it's cost £2.80 to deliver. Looking forward to my first Boxall read although I'm not that inclined to read sci-if but I did like John Wyndham when I was younger.

Love John Wyndham - I remember being very sacred by the tv series of the Day of the Triffids when I was young.

Day of the triffids was fantastic. I think that my favourite book was the Kraken Wakes but I can't for the life of me recall what it was about. I must have been about 10-12 and I bought it in Hills in Sunderland.

I can't remember much about The Kraken Awakes either - apart from the Kraken being some sort of Sea Monster. My favourite John Wyndham book is The Midwich Cuckoos- such a chilling story.

My favourite is also The Midwich Cuckoos. I vaguely remember it was adapted for TV. Probably nobody remembers Quatermass and the Pit on TV. Our family was riveted by it but I think I was quite young so possibly none of you were born!

Don't remember Quatermass and the Pit, but I have seen a really good b&w film version of the Midwich Cuckoos.

I'm looking forward to this; my only experience of sci if has been a short story by Neil Gaiman and the whole Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy 5-part trilogy, which I suspect is not typical of the genre.

The only Wyndham novel I've read is The Day of the Triffids, which I loved, possibly because I read it just after the TV series with John Duttine and I enjoyed that. Did anyone see the film 28 Days Later? Same plot as Triffids but with a 'rage' virus instead of plants

Yes, I thought it was pretty good - but they definitely should have credited John Wyndham.

It's an excellent film, an intelligent 'zombie' film. According to that font of all knowledge, Wikipedia, "According to director Danny Boyle, it was the opening hospital sequence of The Day of the Triffids that inspired Alex Garland to write the screenplay for 28 Days Later"; I'd say the entire film plagiarised the book, personally!

Totally agree

I've started the book and like it so far (I'm a big fan of science fiction in general...). One thing is funny (or strange...) though: The way Ben and Jill talk to each other is so very very "sixties" wheras the story takes place some time in the future. This clash between time periods makes it a little difficult to really picture them in a science fiction world.

Sounds a bit like Star Trek - with all the female crew members wearing mini dresses and 60's makeup and hairdos.
Must start this soon.

I hadn't thought of Star Trek but that's exactly it!

4 chapters and a bit in and I'm really enjoying it - I see what you mean,though Ulli, Nurse Jill definitely seems to have stepped out of a comedy film from the 60s or 70s.

Chapter 9 now - I love Mr Smith - such a great character - his mindset is thoroughly alien and am pleased that despite the somewhat 1960s attitude towards the female of the species, we have a quite a heroine in Jill.
This book makes more sense to me if I think of it as set in a Parallel Universe in the 60's rather than far in the future.
Though I guess that writing a book about the future which doesn't have attitudes and speech that date very quickly must be v difficult. One of the most successful I've read is We - it was written in 1927 but feels as if it's happening a very long time from now.
Any back to Stranger in a Strange Land - I love it!