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Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

stephendiehl.com

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Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#161

Post by mjg2 »

gravypod wrote: post #129
mjg2 wrote: post #87

I just finished this book and complained about it the whole time. The prose is amateur and peppered with cliches (e.g. you should be fined for publishing the phrase "their suit was so sharp it could cut"). His attempt to write about the inner thoughts of the characters was pretty simple. The descriptions of violence and horror also felt child-like, especially the dialogue during those moments (e.g. Redd's introductio…

Do you have any recommendations for science fiction books that explore interesting ideas? There is no Antimemetics Division was really interesting in how some of the scenarios play out. I don't read much but I've been trying to do that more. I really liked the book. Things like the memory consuming entity, async research, etc I enjoyed.

I’m going to suggest books with prose I like: - The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway - Butcher’s Crossing, Willams - Legs, Kennedy - The Passenger, McCarthy

As for sci-fi: Dune!

Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#162

Post by TZubiri »

mjg2 wrote: post #87

I just finished this book and complained about it the whole time. The prose is amateur and peppered with cliches (e.g. you should be fined for publishing the phrase "their suit was so sharp it could cut"). His attempt to write about the inner thoughts of the characters was pretty simple. The descriptions of violence and horror also felt child-like, especially the dialogue during those moments (e.g. Redd's introductio…

It's possible to enjoy amateurish fiction as well right? I think we are a bit spoiled by best sellers and high production movies, but of course those cater to the general public and will have Least Common Denominator themes like checks notes love and motifs like checks again good vs evil.

When there's a topic that is very niche our expectation for quality should go down, but it's not necessarily something to stomach, but something to appreciate, it allows us to see through the media and into the author a little bit, the way you would if you see a friend doing a low budget but profoundly intimate short.

Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#163

Post by TZubiri »

swanson wrote: post #73
cws wrote: post #42

This article says “Book Review:” but then doesn’t provide the title of a book. I’m confused. :)

I tried making this joke to the author when the book was released ("I purchased the book, but the link just took me to an empty page") and, unfortunately, they didn't get it and tried to give me customer support

Maybe the author's response was appropriate and it was you who missed the joke

Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#164

Post by danpalmer »

I'm always surprised at the love TINAD gets, when I never hear "Ra" mentioned. From the same author, in my opinion a better story, doesn't rely on the whole SCP thing (which I never got into).

TINAD didn't stick with me at all beyond the time I spent reading it, whereas Ra did in a way.

Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#165

Post by TZubiri »

throw4847285 wrote: post #74
doug_durham wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never read a review and got a true notion of whether the prose is good or not. Is that really why you read reviews? I thought this was a great review because it very concisely described what is an unorthodox book. If you want to see if the prose is any good, read the book. It is a good book by the way.

Yes, I read reviews to learn if a book is good or not. Quotes from the book that are carefully selected often help to showcase what the author is capable of, on top of a clear description of their writing style. I want the reviewer to sell me on what moved them. That is different than whether or not the reviewer was compelled by the ideas in the book. If the reviewer is a good writer, then I've learned something. The…

That's interesting, here's a perspective from a different type of reader. I tend to read very old books, usually non-fiction, so 'reviews' are usually wikipedia articles, or references by other authors (the more references the more a classic it is).

usually it's the context around the book what people write about, where it was written, who wrote it, what was going on in their life. But if it's older perhaps not much is known, so the older it is increasingly it becomes at when it was read, where it was conserved, what it means to those who read it. If it's sufficiently old, there's several phases of 'rediscoveries' of the book, and the actual contents itself start losing importance as the book becomes more about past readers and how they influenced subsequent writing.

It would never occur to you to decide whether to read Luca Pacioli's accounting treatise based on some passages describing how you should keep your daily book, or whether to read Deuteronomy based on the headcount of some obscure tribe from old middle east, like there's no banger it's more about inmersion, and there isn't one way to absorb and interpret the content, because we are so far away from its writing, that the connection between the writer and reader is very faint.

So this feels normal to me, and the comparision felt funny, so I once again I found myself writing a hacker news comment

Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#166

Post by stickfu »

bluewin wrote: post #138
mjg2 wrote: post #87

I just finished this book and complained about it the whole time. The prose is amateur and peppered with cliches (e.g. you should be fined for publishing the phrase "their suit was so sharp it could cut"). His attempt to write about the inner thoughts of the characters was pretty simple. The descriptions of violence and horror also felt child-like, especially the dialogue during those moments (e.g. Redd's introductio…

I'd push back on the redaction point. One of the primary conceits of the book is that the information is generally affected, which includes the contents of the book itself. While doing multiple pages is kinda taking the piss, the general idea is much better than just verbally stating it is hard to remember.

What about “…it could cut the hairs of a butterflies balls”

Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#167

Post by throw4847285 »

TZubiri wrote: post #165
throw4847285 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I read reviews to learn if a book is good or not. Quotes from the book that are carefully selected often help to showcase what the author is capable of, on top of a clear description of their writing style. I want the reviewer to sell me on what moved them. That is different than whether or not the reviewer was compelled by the ideas in the book. If the reviewer is a good writer, then I've learned something. The…

That's interesting, here's a perspective from a different type of reader. I tend to read very old books, usually non-fiction, so 'reviews' are usually wikipedia articles, or references by other authors (the more references the more a classic it is). usually it's the context around the book what people write about, where it was written, who wrote it, what was going on in their life. But if it's older perhaps not much…

I say this with no malice, but you are weird. Being weird is cool! Reading nothing but historical manuscripts is rad! But the historical lens and the literary lens, as you yourself stated, are totally different.

Though, honestly, it would be fun to read reviews of ancient texts that are written like modern literary reviews. I guess we do get that, but only for new translations of the Odyssey or Beowulf or whatever. Those essays often dive into both the translation and the text in its original language (if the reviewer is fluent enough).

I bet you would love the Cairo Genizah.

Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#168

Post by tstrimple »

TZubiri wrote: post #162
mjg2 wrote: post #87

I just finished this book and complained about it the whole time. The prose is amateur and peppered with cliches (e.g. you should be fined for publishing the phrase "their suit was so sharp it could cut"). His attempt to write about the inner thoughts of the characters was pretty simple. The descriptions of violence and horror also felt child-like, especially the dialogue during those moments (e.g. Redd's introductio…

It's possible to enjoy amateurish fiction as well right? I think we are a bit spoiled by best sellers and high production movies, but of course those cater to the general public and will have Least Common Denominator themes like checks notes love and motifs like checks again good vs evil. When there's a topic that is very niche our expectation for quality should go down, but it's not necessarily something to stomach,…

Absolutely. There are many axis with which to judge books. Some have terrible characters and a mediocre plot, but amazing world building (I'm looking at you Brandon Sanderson). Some have amazing characters and decent plot in a forgettable world. It's rare you see authors good at all the various things they could be good at. I read enough to view books like a lot of folks view TV. Some of it is just filler. It's okay to forget about it. It was just there to distract you from one point in time to another and there's nothing deeper than that.

Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#169

Post by tstrimple »

mjburgess wrote: post #56

I dislike the ending, at least of v2. In it, the author basically gives a fleshed out (christian, neoplatonist) metaphysics to the world he's created which basically amounts to: heaven exists, humans win against the devil, etc. And the ending itself is a self-conscious version of an ascension narrative. It's a very 90deg turn ending to a book otherwise more interested in a world in which heaven is never accessible.

I think it succumbed to Lost syndrome. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the novel despite the issues. But it was definitely created in an episodic SCP way which means rising mystery and fewer and fewer answers. I think that, like Lost, the author worked themselves into a corner they didn't fully understand the way out of. The building mystery works because everyone wants to know what the fuck is going on. But the delayed payoff fails more and more often until the project collapses. There Is No Antimemetics Division isn't unique in this. It describes most Blake Crouch and Peter Clines novels. Lots of interesting mystery buildup with completely unsatisfactory conclusions to them.

Re: Book review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

#170

Post by mindcrime »

tstrimple wrote: post #169
mjburgess wrote: post #56

I dislike the ending, at least of v2. In it, the author basically gives a fleshed out (christian, neoplatonist) metaphysics to the world he's created which basically amounts to: heaven exists, humans win against the devil, etc. And the ending itself is a self-conscious version of an ascension narrative. It's a very 90deg turn ending to a book otherwise more interested in a world in which heaven is never accessible.

I think it succumbed to Lost syndrome. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the novel despite the issues. But it was definitely created in an episodic SCP way which means rising mystery and fewer and fewer answers. I think that, like Lost, the author worked themselves into a corner they didn't fully understand the way out of. The building mystery works because everyone wants to know what the fuck is going on. But the delaye…

> It describes most Blake Crouch and Peter Clines novels.

I vaguely recall liking Dark Matter. I've still got Recursion on a shelf around here somewhere waiting to be read. Still haven't read any Peter Clines. Now I'm not sure I want to. :-)

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