This month we start with Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman is in Trouble.
I know nothing about this book, not even a synopsis. I just did a quick google search and it was some sort of 2019 Best Of thing. But my goodness, is that cover B-O-R-I-N-G!!!!!
Another book with a boring cover is Iain Banks’ Player of Games. A staircase with some guy’s shadow? Come on, a kindergartner could have come up with something more exciting! In this book species make games, not war, because they’re so advanced and everyone knows that the more you know the less you’ll kill other people. Hitler is a great example. Highly educated, smart, intelligent and just a big cuddly bear who loved everyone.
However, for those species who actually exist and live in reality and don’t pretend that their own anuses smell like flowers, there is Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Sun Tzu’s wisdom is truly timeless and can be used by various and sundry in all kinds of situations. Plus, he doesn’t have his head up his own backside like Banks does.
Anyone who fights someone else, on any level, should be familiar with The Art of War. The caped Crusader, better known as Batman, I am sure has Sun Tzu memorized. However, Batman is a fictional character and fictional characters are only as good as the chuckleheads who write them at any given moment. One particular bad time for Batman was the Elseworlds graphic novel, In Darkest Knight. A poor mashup of Batman and the Green Lantern.
We don’t need Lanterns nowadays but back when they built the House of Seven Gables, you sure needed one for that monstrosity. 7 Gables is a lot! Makes me wonder if it had seven lanterns, one for each gable?
Another book about a House is Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker’s House. And THIS House is trouble, with a capital T. You go into this house and you are in WAY more trouble than Fleishman could ever get into, or even know the meaning of. Take THAT Fleishman!
And that is how you get into trouble and then get into even more trouble! Don’t blame me though, it’s all Fleishman’s fault, the doity rat.
If you’d like to participate in the #6degrees series of posts, head over to #6Degrees Meme to find out the starting point for each month. They’re not always punctual, so sometimes you have to wait until a week into the month.
Definitely look forward to finally read through The Art of War, although I feel like pop culture has made me pretty much aware of all the big rules from that little war bible.
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Sadly, I think Art of War has been hollywood’ized 😦
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Bring on the misanthropy!
You know what’s weird? I just got all these e-mails from your site saying that you have done about 30 new posts today. But if I ever open a post in my e-mail … it never appears on your site in my Reader. Pretty mysterious. And today, there are quite a few not appearing here even though I didn’t open them. Because I didn’t think I ought to during church.
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Misanthropy indeed! I’m shocked you’d make such an accusation against someone so kind, loving and gentle like me! 😉
As for the second part. What is happening is this. You get an email whenever I create a new post. I have years of data here on WP that are bunched up into monthly posts. I’m slowly working my way through them all turning each monthly post into separate posts for each book. They are back dated to the date I read the book originally. So you get an email because it is indeed a “new” post but it doesn’t show up in the feed because it from 2011 (or earlier as I work my way back). I warned everyone last year or so in a post, but obviously that doesn’t help new followers.
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Ahhh …
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And data runs all the way back to April of 2000. So it’s a long term project…
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What a lovely illustration of the twisting paths of your mind! Sun Tzu’s book is indeed worth reading. I enjoyed The Player of Games, much more than the first Culture book. Batman Elseworlds – I couldn’t care less 😁
These posts if yours are always interesting!
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Yep, as Lashaan has pointed out before, these posts are like a neon sign into my mind 😀
I like doing them because it gives me an good reason to go work on the backlog of old reviews sitting around on the blog 🙂
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Yeah, it’s a pretty good reason in itself – but I think a bit of fun is also involved 😀
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I definitely DO have fun doing these. It is fun to just mentally wander 🙂
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It is fun to read, that’s for sure! 😀
We should try this one at some point on our blog, a little back and forth between Pio and me – I wonder what strange bookish connections we’d come up with 😉
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I know I would enjoy reading one of these posts from you.
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From trouble to trouble – an interesting journey indeed, but given the destination I might choose to remain with the boring start: that certainly haunted House looks ominous!!!! 🥶🥶
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Think “inbred hill billies” and that House fits the bill…
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***shudder***
😀
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I agree with you about those dull covers. A bit more effort could surely have gone into it!
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I know, right? Even something with a little color, for goodness sake!
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