Late to the Party

[stoutfellow]

It seems as though I'm one of the last LMB listies to get hold of The Hallowed Hunt, but I finally did a couple of days ago and quickly devoured it. Other listies' comments suggest that a second reading may be required for a proper appreciation, so I'll hold off on commenting. The Amazon order containing it also included a paperback copy of Paladin of Souls for my sister E, whom I introduced to Bujold some time back; Elementary Differential Geometry by Barrett O'Neill (my student S, whom I mentioned a while back, wants to do an independent study in the subject this fall, and I think this is the textbook I want to use); the DVDs of "Wonderfalls", including the nine unaired episodes; and a couple of CDs - the Beatles' "Please Please Me" (I'm starting from the beginning, OK?) and - per a recommendation from desertvixen - Alabama's "In the Mood".

Since the last report, I've also reread Anderson's Operation Chaos, an old favorite of mine. The transparent political posturing in the last section is a bit tiresome, but it's still a good read, and how can I resist a story prominently featuring Bolyai and Lobachevski? (Incidentally, Lehrer's song is a terrible slander, as Lehrer undoubtedly knew. There have been some seriously ethically challenged mathematicians, Gauss and Newton among them, but Lobachevski wasn't one of them.)

Oh, and a sidenote for filkferengi: the lyrics of "Can't You Hear the Cows?" consist, for the most part, of the words "Can't you hear the cows?" Towards the end, the backup singers do treat the listener to a couple of choruses of

Each and every day
Eatin' all that hay
Moo, baby
Moo, baby

Just in case you were wondering...

Comments

[filkferengi]

Whence cometh this seemingly lacking-lyriced song?

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

See the second and third commments here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/stoutfellow/87296.html).

[coyotegestalt.livejournal.com]

Don't feel bad, my copy hasn;t turned up yet... meanwhile, I'm off to hunt down that Anderson, it does sound promising... can laywas use more math novels....

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

To avoid possible confusion, I should say that much of Operation Chaos is a fairly standard but well-written story of rationalized magic, in the same general vein as Magic, Inc.. Bolyai and Lobachevski put in an appearance sometime in the fourth (and longest) section, and play important roles, but the story itself isn't really a "math novel".