BL> Aside from the poor-bloody slaves themselves, slave owners
BL> hardened themselves against humanity in order to justify the
BL> evil they did - just as soldiers do in war, and return as
BL> damaged human beings. We

RB> And then have to be helped back to normality, if they ever make
RB> it.

 Exactly. Everyone says that war is wicked, but they think it means
the act itself - shooting the enemy, relying on your mates, raping the
women, etc. That's the *good* part that men really like! The wicked
part is what they come home with...

BL> I worry about Tories and Republicans, who like Nazis put the
BL> State, or profit, ahead of human beings.

RB> Isn't "putting people first" just another minefield? Who's to
RB> decide what's best, and what right do they have to make it a
RB> universal stance? 

 Yes. The only safe position is a minimalist government which tries
to maximise freedom of choice. If a government stuffs the economy
(which they do on a regualr basis), in a free society, the individuals
will put it right (probably by sacking the government as a first
step). Governents should *not* try to run the economy... they are
obviously useless at it. What they should do is constantly revise Law
to see what they can *remove* to increase individual freedom of
choice... and that would probably mean the State and big business
should get the hell out of it.

 The weird part is that there is not one government on Earth doing
that. They all go the other way... constantly increasing restrictions.
 
 A classic example of the Nanny State is here in New South Wales
where they are talking about imposing a curfew on young drivers
becasue they keep killing themselves at night. The kids themselves
desire nothing more than a driving licence, they are obviously happy
to take the tiny risk of being killed by their inexperience on the
road at night... but the Nanny State knows best. Like hell they do.

 Life is dangerous. The only time you are ever truly safe in life, is
when you die! Do they want to turn us into zombies, or what?

BL> I have never read Moby Dick. I tried a few times, but the prose
BL> put me to sleep.

RB> I didn't find it easy, and tended to put it by until I had more
RB> time than usual, so I could tune in. You have to adjust your
RB> mind, but the reward are worth it. 500 pages of sonorous,
RB> thundering prose... "wherein her murderous hold, this frigate
RB> earth is ballasted with bones of millions of the dead, [there,]
RB> thou hast thy truest dwelling..." Captain Ahab addressing the
RB> decapitated head of the first whale the "Pequod" kills. I don't
RB> think I fully grasped things, according to the gloss added at
RB> the end, but it was worth trying to read one of the world's
RB> great books.

 I adopt the principle that life is short, and if an author writes
crap for himself alone, then *he* can read it. The only 
"thundering prose" that ever trapped me is Shakespeare. I understand
what you mean by "adjusting your mind," and I have struggled with a
few to find thebenefit (James Elroy, Train Spotting, Catch 22 - even
the Lord of the Rings) but Melville lost me around page ten. Turgid is
the word... (or turded).

RB> BTW should have special significance to you; not only a major
RB> consumer of sea stories, but apparently a large part of the
RB> point was that Ahab sets himself up against the Christian
RB> world-view, which was a particularly shocking notion at the
RB> time it was written. 

 Loved the movie with Gregory Peck... I especially liked his arm
waving at the end.

RB> You should look for MISTER MONDAY first. It's the first in a
RB> seven-book series, one for each day of the week. Overall title
RB> "Keeper of the Keys," I think. Actually, another one that's
RB> distinctly ambivalent about religion :-)

 Our rotten local library! Even if Nix is Australian, that's no
excuse not to stock his new books.

RB> In MISTER MONDAY there's a point at which Arthur, the POV
RB> character, rather wished he knew more about religion while
RB> being simultaneously relieved that he isn't religious. I should
RB> add, this series looks to be aimed at younger readers than the
RB> "Abhorsen" trilogy, but it's still a great read so far. Yet
RB> more nautical stuff - a certain bird-hating sailor creeps into
RB> GRIM TUESDAY ;-) and, the title of the third book (probable
RB> publication date February 2005) is DROWNED WEDNESDAY. 

 I finished Neal Stephenson's CONFUSION (with plenty of nautical
stuff) and gee, he impresses me! It was one of those big books
(600+ pages) that I didn't want to end, and he's one of the few
Americans who actually gets royal titles right (nobody is called
Dook or your Kingship), he understands British slang, and he's clearly
in love with the 1690's. You really get your money's worth. He's got
Corsairs, bocaneers, the Inquisition, James II, Louis XIV, rumpy
pumpy, Spanish in America... you name it!

 It's a rollicking yarn that is properly researched!

Regards,
Bob
   

 



 

--- BQWK Alpha 0.5