Brothers Reading Books Podcast

Will and Michael. Two brothers reading books and talking about it.

Mostly sci-fi and fantasy going through genre classics chapter by chapter

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

We're two brothers who wanted to read the classics of sci-fi and fantasy together.

You can join us on our podcast here!

https://t.co/hQ5BqsEOaj

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@LRNR @CultivatedBooks @edwardjohncraig @theancientlang Have Athenaze on the way too

Now just have to sit down and get to work on all of them!

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@CultivatedBooks @edwardjohncraig @theancientlang Makes sense!

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@CultivatedBooks @edwardjohncraig @theancientlang What are they using for texts in the course you're taking?

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@CultivatedBooks @edwardjohncraig Did a course with @theancientlang last year which was great, but work and life made it hard for me to keep up that pace. So independent study at my own pace for now.

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@CultivatedBooks @edwardjohncraig I just picked up some books for ancient Greek this last week too

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@CultivatedBooks Really liked Medea, very foreign way of thinking about familial loyalty at some points. Haven't gotten to the Bacchae yet, but have also liked Hecuba and Andromache.

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@CultivatedBooks Cool, that's how I've been approaching it.

Some of Euripides's plays have been slowing me down a bit. Maybe it's just because there's more of them but I liked Aeschylus and Sophocles better (on average).

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

This is really making me want to pick this series back up.

Loved the Daughter of the Empire series but I remember picking up Course of the Mistwraith back when I was in middle school and had such a hard time with it. I think I probably wasn't a mature enough rather at the time.

Great thread!

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@eighthdaybook I've been approaching some of those things with the typical sci-fi attitude of, hopefully this will make sense later lol

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@ReReadingWolfe @eighthdaybook Yeah, I feel that every few pages I have to pause, and go "wait a minute!"

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@eighthdaybook I bounced off of that book a couple of times but am finally making my way (slowly) through it.

Very dense, so taking it in in small chunks has helped me.

It's the sci fantasy novel par excellence for an unreliable narrator which would definitely make envisioning things harder.

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

https://t.co/AYGpEFKdB6

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

One of the ideas Neuromancer continues to explore as the narrative progresses is that of mind vs body. Previously we had talked about this dichotomy using Case and Molly.

This week we learn more about Armitage that let's us compare and contrast him with Dixie Flatline in some interesting ways.

Dixie is a ROM construct, "replicating a dead man's skills, obsessions, kneejerk responses..." but with no body. However, in his physical form he had had a surplus Russian heart transplant. "He'd refused to replace the thing, saying he needed its particular beat to maintain his sense of timing."

What are the implications for "Dixie," McCoy Pauley, the Lazarus of cyberspace? He does realize that he is dead, and asks Case to "erase this goddam thing" when the job is over.

Colonel Willis Corto, AKA Armitage, was involved with operation Screaming Fist. Ended up getting his body intensely rebuilt after numerous injuries. After a litany of criminal enterprises an unidentified man shows up in a Paris mental hospital. He was part of a "random" selection of patients provided with microcomputers to help their recovery. He was the only success in the program.

Case and Molly theorize that Wintermute just "built him up" and they wonder if "he knows he was Corto before"

So we have two entities, both entire people at one point. Now one is a bodiless entity and the other an empty shell. In my opinion, this highlights the natural order, that we are embodied creatures - embodied souls if you like - and that violating that natural order creates an imbalance.

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

https://t.co/AYGpEFKdB6

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

To quote Molly, things get "pretty juicy" in this week's podcast as we continue through Neuromancer

Catch up on past episodes and let us know what you think

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

Neuromancer tongue twister:

Sense/Net SimStim sensorium

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

@DanNEO_SS @TinkeredThinker Definitely on the TBR list

Still working through the ancients on my classics journey at present though

[Brothers Reading Books Podcast @brothersreading]

Currently Reading:

1. A Canticle for Leibowitz
2. Euripides - II
3. The Dragon Reborn
4. White Mirror (thank you @TinkeredThinker!)

What are you reading today?