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Hello world! I have been looking for a place like this for a while, I am so glad I can join in the fun! Thanks for setting this up!
I personally had a bigger problem with the science… I am a scientist and I worked on chaos and the three body problem, there are many elements in there that just killed my immersion by being wrong. One of them was the mathematician that was computing the solution to the three body problem. No sane person would consider that worthwhile!
Chaos means sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Between other things, that means that any error you are making is going to be exponentially magnified in finite time. So if you only considered 3 digits of accuracy in your solution, you can just throw your solution away after a couple of time steps. But if you considered 30 digits of accuracy? well… you only get one or two extra time steps in which you solution still makes a little bit of sense! Check out this youtube video on the double pendulum, another well-known chaotic system, to get a feeling: https://youtu.be/ldnEHycw40E
Still talking about math, when the “the baby problem” planet is kicked away from the two-stars system, likely it would not be able to ever come back. Assuming the planet never actually leaves the solar system is quite a large assumption.
You make me feel guilty! In my home town, I used to go at least once a month, often more, on the way back from university. But I moved two years ago, and now I leave in a country I don’t really speak the language of, so going to the library seems pointless. I still haven’t checked it out.
In my town we had a non-profit literature caffe, it was glorious! In most rooms, we had to keep our voices down, but we could just hang out. Technically, we could order a drink, but I don’t think I ever did. There were hammocks, and books. They sometimes organised activities, like conferences and book presentations. It was housed in an old fancy palace, we felt very fancy going there.
And here it is, a new entry in my reading list! There are a lot of haunting books about the holocaust. Two that stand out for me are “If this is a man”, by Levi (an Italian jew that survived the camps and was haunted by them for the rest of his life) and “Commandant of Auschwitz”, by Hoess (autobiography of the commandant of Auschwitz, trying to justify his actions after being condemned to death after the war).
I’m on my first book in German! I have been studying the language for a while, but I finally went for it. Progress is slow, and quite some details are literally lost in translation, but I am enjoying “the judge and his executioner” by Duerenmatt.
It’s… bad. Generically bad. The world building starts with one good idea (that was also the base from Brave New World, incidentally), but everything else is subpar: characters are one dimensional, the plot is basic, most things get solved by a deus ex machina that was totally unforshadowed, the writing is flat… it just has no redeeming quality.
Hi! I’m still deciding how much anonymity I want to keep on the Fediverse, so for the moment I will not link other social. I will just say I’m a European woman a bit over 30. I’m so glad I ended up here, I have been looking for a community where I could talk about books! I love books and talking about them, getting recommendations and sharing impressions!
I like reading in original language, so I have been learning German. My goal is to read Goethe in original, but for the moment Duerenmatt is the furthest I have gotten. I strive to read as many diverse books as possible, I have been trying to read at least a book from each Literature Nobel Prize winner, but sci-fi and fantasy are my bread and butter. Asimov is what prompted me to become a scientist!
Restricting to Nobel Prizes, I think Hesse. He has such a sweet way with words that crosses language boundaries. Narcissus and Goldmund was the book I read of his, when I was still a teen. I loved it.
On the other hand, there is quite a list of authors that, in my very personal opinion, should have won but didn’t.
Non-controversial: David Foster Wallace. A representation of the void of contemporary society.
Very controversial: d’Annunzio. Similar incredibly powerful words to Hesse, unfortunately he had to decide to support the fascist government. If you are able to distinguish form and content, his form is like nothing else I have met. But the content is often horrible: he is the hedonistic Übermensch, incredibly self-centered and misogynistic. I don’t know if that’s why he never won it, honestly, but seems likely.
I haven’t yet seen Heinlein recommended. There is a lot of discussion if Starship Troopers is supposed to be making fun of or supporting the military complex, but I’ve honestly laughed out loud many times reading it.
If you see the humor, I think it’s akin to Adams, but significantly less absurdist, while being way more politically involved. Slightly less political always by Heinlein: Citizen of the Galaxy (on citizenship and societies) and maybe Double Star (on the definition of self). Amazing but not corresponding to what you are looking for Stranger in a Strange Land, about religions, cults and sexuality.
This if you want to stay in sci-fi. The Dirk Gently series was already recommended, if you want to move towards fantasy. This being said, Hitchhiker’s Guide is as famous as it is because it is very unique, so I don’t think there is anything very similar out there. I’d love if you proved me wrong! Let me know!