Zane Gray it is, Alan. There's a very strong woman, which sort of surprised me, a strong, silent type, a fellow who comes very close to leaping tall buildings in a single bound and a mysterious girl, not to mention satisfyingly dastardly villains and breathtaking scenery. Gray could write descriptions!
Good news! I don't have mush for brains [yet]. Zane Gray it is. I have avoided reading him over the years, but will accept your review, Cat. Will download to my Kindle momentarily.
I too have avoided Zane Gray. Guess it was a prejudice against Westerns.A few years ago I discovered that I actually do like Western movies, in moderation.
The more books Grey sold, the more the established critics, such as Heywood Broun and Burton Rascoe, attacked him. They claimed his depictions of the West were too fanciful, too violent, and not faithful to the moral realities of the frontier. They thought his characters unrealistic and much larger-than-life. Broun stated that “the substance of any two Zane Grey books could be written upon the back of a postage stamp.”[49] T. K. Whipple praised a typical Grey novel as a modern version of the ancient Beowulf saga, “a battle of passions with one another and with the will, a struggle of love and hate, or remorse and revenge, of blood, lust, honor, friendship, anger, grief—all of a grand scale and all incalculable and mysterious.” But he goes on to criticize Grey’s writing, “His style, for example, has the stiffness which comes from an imperfect mastery of the medium. It lacks fluency and facility.”[50] In truth, as far as veracity was concerned, Grey relied on first-hand experience, careful note-taking, and considerable research.[51] Despite his great popular success and fortune, Grey read the reviews and sometimes became paralyzed by negative emotions after critical ones.[52]
His novel The Vanishing American (1925), first serialized in The Ladies’ Home Journal in 1922, started a heated debate. People recognized its Navajo hero as patterned after the great athlete Jim Thorpe. Grey portrayed the struggle of the Navajo to preserve their identity and culture against corrupting influences of the white government and of missionaries. This viewpoint enraged religious groups. Grey contended, "I have studied the Navaho Indians for twelve years. I know their wrongs. The missionaries sent out there are almost everyone mean, vicious, weak, immoral, useless men."[54] To have the book published, Grey agreed to some structural changes. With this book, Grey completed the most productive period of his writing career, having laid out most major themes, character types, and settings.[55]
As with many writers, Grey produced his best work early in his career. Later he repeated himself. His fans were perfectly happy with the results, however, and each new book was eagerly anticipated, even after his death.[55]
Alan, you do realize that the one unforgivable sin a writer can commit is to be popular and sell well, right?
It doesn't surprise me that Gray wrote sympathetically of the Navaho. He handles the Cliff Dwellers sensitively. In fact, apart from possibly not liking Mormans - at least, the bad guys in Riders are Mormans - he strikes me as handling people and the human situation as a whole pretty sensitively. Also, I like good guys who are really good and bad guys who are really bad. It's part of that epic, Good vs. Evil type of story. Of course, you may not like Riders but I hope you do.
As an aside, I keep thinking of Colonel Potter (from MASH), who loved Zane Gray. Now at last I understand why he did.
Stevie died last night. Nearly as big a relief as sorrow. Why he wanted to hang on like that, I don't know, but he did, and I did it with him. One tough puss cat. Damn.
Good to be able to think of him able to walk and run again. Been one very tough year for us both. Still, I'm glad (sort of) that I let him have *his* choice in the matter.
Awwwww, puddle. :-( My heart goes out to you in every sweet little way. You did good by Stevie and he knew it. =^. .^= How old an old pussems was he? The two of you weathered a lot together. =Major Hugs=
Yesterday was the 8th anniversary of my Dad's death...just a month or so before the Red Sox won the Series.
As best as I can figure, he was about 17. He was five (or maybe four) when I met him at Angie's in 2000. Seven when he came to live with me. And ten years on.
Just gave him his last bath, and was struck by how fragile he's become this past month as he's cut back on eating. Almost nothing this past week except for the juice on the pouch catfood. Not even much water. I'd have considered the vet much earlier, but he had a troo hatred of car travel unless he was up high enough to see what was happening. He traveled to Canada and back with me five years ago perched on the top of the back seat, and was fine with that. But since he's gotten so fragile, trips have to be IN a carrier, and he carried on hysterically just like before I discovered the "seeing" requirement.
Angie's granddaughter and she had found him a shivering wet kitten in the rain in the woods, and rescued him. Big tough tabby he was, too.
Puddle, I'm so sorry. Yet, as you say, it's a release too and he's pain-free now.
The conclusion I've come to is that cats have incredible will power and when they decide they don't want to leave their people, they hang on long after any human would have given out in sheer exhaustion. I think Stevie loved you very much. And I also think he'll be waiting for you.
Letting him have his choice is the finest thing you could have done, puddle, but it must have been very hard. He will rest well. Hmmmm....do they have mice in kitty heaven? If so, do they get along? I should think so.
It occurred to me to check the Gutenberg Project to see if they had any Rex Stout books. I din't expect any Nero Wolfe stories, and so it was, but I found a very early story (20 years before Nero Wolfe): "Under the Andes." Sounds like fun.
Just saw the question about Chicon on the previous thread. Tiring but, as I told the con chair when asked, it left me with a feeling of accomplishment. I was on 8 panels, saw that the scooters got moved in before the con started and got moved out when it was over, Spent a couple of days before the con and probably a dozen hours during it manning the disability services table, and helped with three parties. Didn't actually get to a single event or panel I wasn't on. But hey! -- you can't have everything.:-)
Unlike most people at Chicon, I did get 7-8 hours of sleep. Cut out early on the parties. Figured I was going to need the sleep, since I'm not as young as I used to be.
Thought I'd mention that there have been a fair number of complaints about the hoax panels that Chicon put on the program. Panels that were supposed to be obviously absurd in a room that did not exist. But I'm cheered by a recent post on the SMOFs list:
"I'll admit that, while sipping my morning coffee, I _had_ circled on the daily program grid one rather outre panel about robot sex before staring more closely at it and noting that 'R. D. Olivaw' was a panelist. And then I choked and spewed said coffee.
"I am _not_ complaining. Keyboards are replaceable. A good running gag, priceless."
For those who don't know, R. Daneel Olivaw was one of Asimov's more famous robot characters. One of the other announced panelists was G. Casanova.
That panel, whose theme was whether robots were better loves than humans, was one of several proposed by B. Thomasson.
I'd have been interested in that panel. Presumably Commander Data was also a panelist? I seem to recall an exchange he had with Ensign Yar during which he indicated that he was, uh, fully functional.
AND, I finally got to correct the spelling of Seagal's name! Facebook wouldn't let me, and it had too many comments to delete and start over! I shoulda waiting for google to finish. It's so slow for me now that it's a HTTPS. . . .
Need to mention that the phone's been doing a number -- this morning, no dial tone for about three hours. And then about an hour ago, dial tone but no information capacity. Went up to bed hoping it'd be better in the morning, but got toe cramps so came down for some calcium. And voila! It's seeming not to like the cold. . . . So if disappear, don't send Sheriff Chuck.
My mistake, Zane G-R-E-Y, not G-R-E-Y. Back around that time Mormon bad guys were a fairly common feature of westerns. A quick glance indicated that Grey did write detailed and effective word pictures.
Under the Andes was written very early on in Rex Stout's career--a good twenty years before the first Nero Wolfe story--and it shows, but it is still interesting. It's supposed to be a lost world story, at least in part.
My favorite lost world story is Herland (1915) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Checking....yes, Herland is available at Project Gutenberg.
I got around to watching John Stewart's take on the numeracy of Bill Clinton's DNC speech; pretty good.
HD MD is First!
ReplyDeleteJust posted on the old thread. That was a long one! :-D
DeleteRiders of the Purple Sage? Zane Gray if my mind isn't gone totally to rot..thanks for the tip, Cat.
ReplyDelete--Alan
Zane Gray it is, Alan. There's a very strong woman, which sort of surprised me, a strong, silent type, a fellow who comes very close to leaping tall buildings in a single bound and a mysterious girl, not to mention satisfyingly dastardly villains and breathtaking scenery. Gray could write descriptions!
DeleteThe original Ferris Wheel--it was a doozy, well before there were doozies [Dusenberg automobiles]:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferris_Wheel
--Alan
We love ferris wheels! Mah*Sweetie and I always smooch when we stop at the top because of the old song Palisades Park. LOL!
Deletehttp://www.lyriczz.com/lyrics/freddy-cannon/14820-palisades-park/
DeleteGood news! I don't have mush for brains [yet]. Zane Gray it is. I have avoided reading him over the years, but will accept your review, Cat. Will download to my Kindle momentarily.
ReplyDelete--Alan
I read a few Zane Grey books many years ago. Cowboy yarns aren't really my thing, but Grey was pretty clearly the best of the bunch.
DeleteI too have avoided Zane Gray. Guess it was a prejudice against Westerns.A few years ago I discovered that I actually do like Western movies, in moderation.
DeleteFrom Wikipedia:
ReplyDeleteControversy and critics
The more books Grey sold, the more the established critics, such as Heywood Broun and Burton Rascoe, attacked him. They claimed his depictions of the West were too fanciful, too violent, and not faithful to the moral realities of the frontier. They thought his characters unrealistic and much larger-than-life. Broun stated that “the substance of any two Zane Grey books could be written upon the back of a postage stamp.”[49] T. K. Whipple praised a typical Grey novel as a modern version of the ancient Beowulf saga, “a battle of passions with one another and with the will, a struggle of love and hate, or remorse and revenge, of blood, lust, honor, friendship, anger, grief—all of a grand scale and all incalculable and mysterious.” But he goes on to criticize Grey’s writing, “His style, for example, has the stiffness which comes from an imperfect mastery of the medium. It lacks fluency and facility.”[50] In truth, as far as veracity was concerned, Grey relied on first-hand experience, careful note-taking, and considerable research.[51] Despite his great popular success and fortune, Grey read the reviews and sometimes became paralyzed by negative emotions after critical ones.[52]
His novel The Vanishing American (1925), first serialized in The Ladies’ Home Journal in 1922, started a heated debate. People recognized its Navajo hero as patterned after the great athlete Jim Thorpe. Grey portrayed the struggle of the Navajo to preserve their identity and culture against corrupting influences of the white government and of missionaries. This viewpoint enraged religious groups. Grey contended, "I have studied the Navaho Indians for twelve years. I know their wrongs. The missionaries sent out there are almost everyone mean, vicious, weak, immoral, useless men."[54] To have the book published, Grey agreed to some structural changes. With this book, Grey completed the most productive period of his writing career, having laid out most major themes, character types, and settings.[55]
As with many writers, Grey produced his best work early in his career. Later he repeated himself. His fans were perfectly happy with the results, however, and each new book was eagerly anticipated, even after his death.[55]
--Alan
Alan, you do realize that the one unforgivable sin a writer can commit is to be popular and sell well, right?
DeleteIt doesn't surprise me that Gray wrote sympathetically of the Navaho. He handles the Cliff Dwellers sensitively. In fact, apart from possibly not liking Mormans - at least, the bad guys in Riders are Mormans - he strikes me as handling people and the human situation as a whole pretty sensitively. Also, I like good guys who are really good and bad guys who are really bad. It's part of that epic, Good vs. Evil type of story. Of course, you may not like Riders but I hope you do.
As an aside, I keep thinking of Colonel Potter (from MASH), who loved Zane Gray. Now at last I understand why he did.
I LOVE the Colonel Potter reference! LOL!
DeleteStevie died last night. Nearly as big a relief as sorrow. Why he wanted to hang on like that, I don't know, but he did, and I did it with him. One tough puss cat. Damn.
ReplyDeleteGood to be able to think of him able to walk and run again. Been one very tough year for us both. Still, I'm glad (sort of) that I let him have *his* choice in the matter.
DeleteAwwwww, puddle. :-( My heart goes out to you in every sweet little way. You did good by Stevie and he knew it. =^. .^= How old an old pussems was he? The two of you weathered a lot together. =Major Hugs=
DeleteYesterday was the 8th anniversary of my Dad's death...just a month or so before the Red Sox won the Series.
As best as I can figure, he was about 17. He was five (or maybe four) when I met him at Angie's in 2000. Seven when he came to live with me. And ten years on.
DeleteJust gave him his last bath, and was struck by how fragile he's become this past month as he's cut back on eating. Almost nothing this past week except for the juice on the pouch catfood. Not even much water. I'd have considered the vet much earlier, but he had a troo hatred of car travel unless he was up high enough to see what was happening. He traveled to Canada and back with me five years ago perched on the top of the back seat, and was fine with that. But since he's gotten so fragile, trips have to be IN a carrier, and he carried on hysterically just like before I discovered the "seeing" requirement.
Angie's granddaughter and she had found him a shivering wet kitten in the rain in the woods, and rescued him. Big tough tabby he was, too.
Sorry, puddle. It's always sad when they go. He was a fortunate boy to have a long life being cared for by you.
DeleteMy sympathies on your loss. Yes, you did the right thing to let him choose. That's what I'd want for myself.
DeletePuddle, I'm so sorry. Yet, as you say, it's a release too and he's pain-free now.
DeleteThe conclusion I've come to is that cats have incredible will power and when they decide they don't want to leave their people, they hang on long after any human would have given out in sheer exhaustion. I think Stevie loved you very much. And I also think he'll be waiting for you.
Ah, 17 is amazing! Good kitty.
DeleteI'm loving these Stevie Stories. Please keep posting them as the memories arise.
Do you have a little burial service planned for him?
♥ =^. .^= ♥
Okay, no Sheriff Chuck. But I miss the guy, y'know? LOL!
Letting him have his choice is the finest thing you could have done, puddle, but it must have been very hard. He will rest well. Hmmmm....do they have mice in kitty heaven? If so, do they get along? I should think so.
ReplyDelete--Alan
It occurred to me to check the Gutenberg Project to see if they had any Rex Stout books. I din't expect any Nero Wolfe stories, and so it was, but I found a very early story (20 years before Nero Wolfe): "Under the Andes." Sounds like fun.
ReplyDelete--Alan
That does sound like fun. Enjoy!
DeleteUS grants asylum to another terrorist (I guess Luis Posada Carriles isn't enough):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/09/america-refusal-extradite-bolivia
Not that they began it, but the current Administration sure does seem to be doing further damage to the moral stature of the United States.
--Alan
I agree, Alan. It scares me. "Humanity? We don't need no stinkin' humanity!"
DeleteJust saw the question about Chicon on the previous thread. Tiring but, as I told the con chair when asked, it left me with a feeling of accomplishment. I was on 8 panels, saw that the scooters got moved in before the con started and got moved out when it was over, Spent a couple of days before the con and probably a dozen hours during it manning the disability services table, and helped with three parties. Didn't actually get to a single event or panel I wasn't on. But hey! -- you can't have everything.:-)
ReplyDeleteSo now planning for next year's worldcon starts.
Wow, Bill! When did you sleep? Indeed you should have a sense of accomplishment!
DeleteUnlike most people at Chicon, I did get 7-8 hours of sleep. Cut out early on the parties. Figured I was going to need the sleep, since I'm not as young as I used to be.
DeleteThought I'd mention that there have been a fair number of complaints about the hoax panels that Chicon put on the program. Panels that were supposed to be obviously absurd in a room that did not exist. But I'm cheered by a recent post on the SMOFs list:
ReplyDelete"I'll admit that, while sipping my morning coffee, I _had_ circled on the daily program grid one rather outre panel about robot sex before staring more closely at it and noting that 'R. D. Olivaw' was a panelist. And then I choked and spewed said coffee.
"I am _not_ complaining. Keyboards are replaceable. A good running gag, priceless."
For those who don't know, R. Daneel Olivaw was one of Asimov's more famous robot characters. One of the other announced panelists was G. Casanova.
That panel, whose theme was whether robots were better loves than humans, was one of several proposed by B. Thomasson.
Bill, too funny, lol! Keep up the good work!
DeleteFOTCROTFL
DeleteI'd have been interested in that panel. Presumably Commander Data was also a panelist? I seem to recall an exchange he had with Ensign Yar during which he indicated that he was, uh, fully functional.
Cat ~~ No Data. The rule was one fictional character, one dead person, and one live person. The live person, for lack of a better, was B. Gates.
DeleteNew Photo out front in honour of himself! =^. .^=
ReplyDeleteAh, thank you Ms. listener. Sweet.
ReplyDeleteAND, I finally got to correct the spelling of Seagal's name! Facebook wouldn't let me, and it had too many comments to delete and start over! I shoulda waiting for google to finish. It's so slow for me now that it's a HTTPS. . . .
ReplyDeleteNeed to mention that the phone's been doing a number -- this morning, no dial tone for about three hours. And then about an hour ago, dial tone but no information capacity. Went up to bed hoping it'd be better in the morning, but got toe cramps so came down for some calcium. And voila! It's seeming not to like the cold. . . . So if disappear, don't send Sheriff Chuck.
ReplyDeleteReposting down here incase you'd miss it up there. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAh, 17 is amazing! Good kitty.
I'm loving these Stevie Stories. Please keep posting them as the memories arise.
Do you have a little burial service planned for him?
♥ =^. .^= ♥
BTW, how's Beau taking the loss of comrade Stevie?
Okay, no Sheriff Chuck. But I miss the guy, y'know? LOL!
My mistake, Zane G-R-E-Y, not G-R-E-Y. Back around that time Mormon bad guys were a fairly common feature of westerns. A quick glance indicated that Grey did write detailed and effective word pictures.
ReplyDeleteUnder the Andes was written very early on in Rex Stout's career--a good twenty years before the first Nero Wolfe story--and it shows, but it is still interesting. It's supposed to be a lost world story, at least in part.
My favorite lost world story is Herland (1915) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Checking....yes, Herland is available at Project Gutenberg.
I got around to watching John Stewart's take on the numeracy of Bill Clinton's DNC speech; pretty good.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/07/jon-stewart-praises-bill-clinton-dnc-math-video_n_1864045.html
And now to bed. Tuckered out after my long shift over the weekend. Tomorrow we can allegedly check on Miyoko's Social Security over the Innertubes.
--Alan