andrewducker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
andrewducker) wrote2007-11-27 01:04 pm
andrewducker) wrote2007-11-27 01:04 pm
Shuffle
There's something about the moments at the start and end of songs. Mo and I are currently lying on sofas, still waiting for Bex to get back from dropping off Morvern and Rose, with my iPod on shuffle, listening to randomness. Many of the tracks are designed to be listened to in album form, merging seamlessly into each other, outro merging with intro, never letting the mood lapse - hearing them in random order leaves sudden cliff edges where there had been rolling hills, rising notes abruptly cut off, discordance running straight into harmonies, like a traffic jam where a circus has merged with the morning commuter traffic.
At the same time I'm reading 253, which is fascinating, fun, heartbreaking and joyous all at once. Oh, and goes very well with random play. It was possibly the first internet novel (or at least the first one I heard of) - it's set on a London Tube train, over a period of seven and a half minutes, and consists of 253 textual portraits of the passengers. Each one is 253 words (about a page), with a physical description, some inside information and what's going on in their head. Some of them are travelling with someone else, some of them have encounters with the people near them, some of them just illuminate their prejudices with opinions of their fellow passengers. I'm 94 passengers in so far and there hasn't been any repetition - each person feels individual and unique, which is quite an achievement in itself. The whole thing has a quirky, offbeat style, told by an omniscient narrator who clearly loves all of his creations, no matter how flawed they are.
I think it was in fannish conversation that it was heartily recommended to me, and I can happily recommend it on. I can't read more than 20 or so in one sitting, but it's perfect for leaving in the toilet or by the bedside and dipping into.
(Written by Geoff Ryman, by the way, who isn't just a fabulously talented writer, but is also lovely in person, even if he did fail to recognise me when drunk following his Hugo win).
At the same time I'm reading 253, which is fascinating, fun, heartbreaking and joyous all at once. Oh, and goes very well with random play. It was possibly the first internet novel (or at least the first one I heard of) - it's set on a London Tube train, over a period of seven and a half minutes, and consists of 253 textual portraits of the passengers. Each one is 253 words (about a page), with a physical description, some inside information and what's going on in their head. Some of them are travelling with someone else, some of them have encounters with the people near them, some of them just illuminate their prejudices with opinions of their fellow passengers. I'm 94 passengers in so far and there hasn't been any repetition - each person feels individual and unique, which is quite an achievement in itself. The whole thing has a quirky, offbeat style, told by an omniscient narrator who clearly loves all of his creations, no matter how flawed they are.
I think it was in fannish conversation that it was heartily recommended to me, and I can happily recommend it on. I can't read more than 20 or so in one sitting, but it's perfect for leaving in the toilet or by the bedside and dipping into.
(Written by Geoff Ryman, by the way, who isn't just a fabulously talented writer, but is also lovely in person, even if he did fail to recognise me when drunk following his Hugo win).
no subject
crude American humor
LOL