Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 5]
Discussion
Punctilio said:
But I defer to you and the noted nonce Clarke's opinion.
Nonce? Wait, what? And, even regarding, does that negate my quotation?
There are few people that I dislike, Punctilio, but you manage to consistently come across as an utter dick. I think you do it on purpose.
Edited by Clockwork Cupcake on Sunday 19th March 16:25
glazbagun said:
The planet Jupiter is has kept its name since Roman times (the Greeks named it after Zeus who was their version of the same deity).
What did eastern cultures call it? Did they also name them after gods or did they have other poetic names?
Chinese names were originally (long time back, pre Shang dynasty, around 1000 BCE) observational: "bright heavenly object", "morning heavenly object", "occasional object", etc. There doesn't seem to have been a distinction made between planets and stars. What did eastern cultures call it? Did they also name them after gods or did they have other poetic names?
Later periods, around first Han dynasty ~1 CE, moved to calling them after the elements, metal planet, fire planet, water planet, and so on. And at some point in those thousand years there was a realisation that they were planets not stars.
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Halmyre said:
My first Banks was Consider Phlebas, and it was a wow! moment, big f
k-off space opera with knobs (turned up to 11) on.
Mine also. k-off space opera with knobs (turned up to 11) on.
I have all the Banks and M Banks works, and have only failed to finish one; Feersum Endjinn, just can’t seem to manage it..
Grey_Area said:
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Halmyre said:
My first Banks was Consider Phlebas, and it was a wow! moment, big fk-off space opera with knobs (turned up to 11) on.
Mine also. k-off space opera with knobs (turned up to 11) on.I have all the Banks and M Banks works, and have only failed to finish one; Feersum Endjinn, just can’t seem to manage it..
Sorry, very OT.
popeyewhite said:
It's quite poor and IMO not really worthy of the Banks name. Doesn't seem to fit anywhere,
It's a gateway novel, for sure. I agree that it only tangentially fits into The Culture universe but for many people, including myself, it is held in affection because it was their first exposure to his workFor me, the biggest let-down was his final Culture book.
Non-fun fact: he died within 12 months of Sir pTerry Pratchett. My two fave authors dead in 12 months.
popeyewhite said:
Grey_Area said:
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Halmyre said:
My first Banks was Consider Phlebas, and it was a wow! moment, big fk-off space opera with knobs (turned up to 11) on.
Mine also. k-off space opera with knobs (turned up to 11) on.I have all the Banks and M Banks works, and have only failed to finish one; Feersum Endjinn, just can’t seem to manage it..
Sorry, very OT.
cheesejunkie said:
I love my sci fi but struggled through the culture banks novels. They just didn’t do it for me. I haven’t read house of suns but thank you for the recommendation.
I'm sorry to hear that. For me the Culture novels are immensely important because they portray a word of gender tolerance and equality that I wish we had. A world that gives me hope. A world in which I could simply choose to be female. That totally aside, the books also have great world-building. Not sure how they don't do it for you but I am sad that they do not.
I Googled 'Grey Area' and 'Meat fker'. It took me to "The Culture Wiki".
I had to Google 'The Culture' to find out it was a fking (load of) book(s).
Why doesn't The Culture Wiki explain that it's a book/movie/puppet show? What's the point in providing a stload of detail about something if you don't explain what the fking thing is?
ker'. It took me to "The Culture Wiki".I had to Google 'The Culture' to find out it was a f
king (load of) book(s). Why doesn't The Culture Wiki explain that it's a book/movie/puppet show? What's the point in providing a s
tload of detail about something if you don't explain what the fking thing is?Doofus said:
I Googled 'Grey Area' and 'Meat fker'. It took me to "The Culture Wiki".
I had to Google 'The Culture' to find out it was a fking (load of) book(s).
Why doesn't The Culture Wiki explain that it's a book/movie/puppet show? What's the point in providing a stload of detail about something if you don't explain what the fking thing is?
It's for geeks babes. Just ignore it. You don't need to be part of everything. Just let us geeks have our thing, ok?ker'. It took me to "The Culture Wiki".I had to Google 'The Culture' to find out it was a f
king (load of) book(s). Why doesn't The Culture Wiki explain that it's a book/movie/puppet show? What's the point in providing a s
tload of detail about something if you don't explain what the fking thing is?Props for your research tho
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Doofus said:
I Googled 'Grey Area' and 'Meat fker'. It took me to "The Culture Wiki".
I had to Google 'The Culture' to find out it was a fking (load of) book(s).
Why doesn't The Culture Wiki explain that it's a book/movie/puppet show? What's the point in providing a stload of detail about something if you don't explain what the fking thing is?
It's for geeks babes. Just ignore it. You don't need to be part of everything. Just let us geeks have our thing, ok?ker'. It took me to "The Culture Wiki".I had to Google 'The Culture' to find out it was a f
king (load of) book(s). Why doesn't The Culture Wiki explain that it's a book/movie/puppet show? What's the point in providing a s
tload of detail about something if you don't explain what the fking thing is?Props for your research tho
Doofus said:
It's not about "being part of everything" but I do like to educate myself about things outside my sphere of reference. Consequently I found out what The Culture is (and despite my dad's best intentions, sci-fi isn't really my thing) it's just that 'The Culture Wiki' doesn't actually say what it's about.
That is a shortcoming of the Wiki page then. The Culture books are immensely special to me. Not least because Iain M Banks was an amazing author but because in that universe all humans are trans-human and they get to choose their gender. And there is no advantage to being male over female (otherwise everyone would be male)
"Meat f
ker" was my little joke for those that grok CultureGassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff