Guest PasadenaCA Posted May 7, 2014 Posted May 7, 2014 How about this teaser! "A hilarious romance by a precocious nine-year-old. The fantasies of a septuagenarian foot fetishist. An aristocrat's life spent doing nothing on a sofa. Just some of the riches contained in 10 little-known books that deserve to be treasured." The link below is to an article in The Guardian that gives a synopsis of 10 overlooked novels. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/06/10-overlooked-novels-how-many-you-read Quote
Members RA1 Posted May 7, 2014 Members Posted May 7, 2014 Nary a one. But, these days keeping up with technical publications, following several sports teams and working, it seems that I have little time for novels. Periodically a biography or non-fictional account will grab my attention. Best regards, RA1 Quote
Guest CharliePS Posted May 7, 2014 Posted May 7, 2014 Although I have heard of most of these books, and had good intentions at one time or another of reading them, the only one I read was Elective Affinities, many years ago, in German, and I no longer can remember anything about it (well, that's true of many of the books I read). I did try to read Stoner when it was reprinted a couple of years ago, but just couldn't get into it. My own list of such books would include William Boyd's Any Human Heart, whose plot remains vividly with me even though it has been a few years since I read it. Quote
AdamSmith Posted May 7, 2014 Posted May 7, 2014 This reminded me of why I've always meant to read Oblomov, and simultaneously of why I've never quite gotten around to it. RA1 1 Quote
Members boiworship Posted May 8, 2014 Members Posted May 8, 2014 I haven't read any. As I said the last time I was in a bookstore, "when I was 17 I read Proust, now I read Koontz". My literary tastes have certainly declined over the years. I find myself reading a lot of history and biography lately. MsGuy and AdamSmith 2 Quote
AdamSmith Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Your invocation of Proust reminds me one reason I love poetry over novels is it maximizes content while minimizing the labor of actually having to read all those words. Although Proust I find can be profitably treated like poetry -- just open at random and read a few pages. I've gotten through a fair bit of A la Recherche quite enjoyably that way. In fact I image Proust as a kind of mental doorstop against the Reaper, harboring some notion that I can't expire until I have read the whole thing straight through. boiworship 1 Quote
Members MsGuy Posted May 8, 2014 Members Posted May 8, 2014 I image Proust as a kind of mental doorstop against the Reaper, harboring some notion that I can't expire until I have read the whole thing straight through. "A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, chapter the first, page one..." AdamSmith 1 Quote
Members boiworship Posted May 9, 2014 Members Posted May 9, 2014 What a rarefied stratum we inhabit here! AdamSmith 1 Quote
Members RA1 Posted May 9, 2014 Members Posted May 9, 2014 Withstanding the GR seems to be a common scheme. Some pilots say, "God will not count against your total life time, the time spent aloft". Best regards, RA1 AdamSmith 1 Quote
Members MsGuy Posted May 9, 2014 Members Posted May 9, 2014 "God will not count against your total life time, the time spent aloft". Mebbe so, but one has to factor in the dramatic effect of landings on life expectancy. Quote
Members RA1 Posted May 9, 2014 Members Posted May 9, 2014 Your time is your time. Being able to look back a few years for the thousands of hours flying while on your death bed and realizing you may have died "back then" may not be that much comfort. The incident pictured looks perfectly survivable for both occupants and the aircraft being repairable. Best regards, RA1 Quote
Guest PasadenaCA Posted May 9, 2014 Posted May 9, 2014 Your time is your time. Being able to look back a few years for the thousands of hours flying while on your death bed and realizing you may have died "back then" may not be that much comfort. The incident pictured looks perfectly survivable for both occupants and the aircraft being repairable. Best regards, RA1 The runway. Doesn't anyone care about the runway? :-( Quote
Members RA1 Posted May 10, 2014 Members Posted May 10, 2014 Sure, the runway is of vital concern to various to include fashion models as well as pilots. Generally, it is impressed upon students from early on and throughout their careers, that aircraft when landing or taking-off, properly belong on a runway. There are several factors that might influence the pilot's ability to maintain that standard. One being wind, especially cross winds which, by definition, blow across a runway, rather than being lined up with it. Another factor is runways that are wet and otherwise slippery with snow, sleet, ice or just plain old water. With a cross wind, the aircraft might go off the side of a runway, With a slippery runway, the aircraft might go beyond the far end. Neither result is considered acceptable technique. So, yes, runways are critical. Also, it is never a good idea to try to use one when another aircraft is either approaching the same runway or actually already on it. Never mind runways that are too short for the operation intended. Best regards, RA1 AdamSmith 1 Quote
