An odd list, in addition to utter schlock like Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and (to me) definitely non-trippy but solid SF by the likes of Gibson and Simmons, it does have a number of very interesting books. I was especially pleased to see Lucius Shepard's Life During Wartime on that list. It starts out as a book about drug-mediated US soldiers in a near future Central American war and soon becomes something far weirder. If you haven't read this book, read it soon.
While the fountainhead may be culutrally/socially 'bad', it's still caused many many people to have life-redefining moments, so I'd say it belongs on the list.
I couldn't finish the thing, the (horribly dated) style and grindingly slow pace just wore me down. I can't see how it could cause a life-redefining moment from what I've read (but I think I did come out as most in accord with Ayn Rand in that philospher test, so maybe I wouldn't).
well, exactly. While Illuminatus/Schroedinger's Cat was a huge mind-opening experience to me, people that already questioned the world around them would have wondered what all the fuss was.
I find that fact both baffling and sad. I read it at the requisite age for such books (13-20, I've found that when one is younger head trip books make little sense and when older they are far less impressive) and I found it extremely forgettable.
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andrewducker) wrote2003-05-06 10:50 am
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