16 Comments on “I’m This Week’s “By The Book” Feature in the New York Times”

1. Oh, Winter’s Tale. I have no words for how much I love that book. (Bought it new in paperback, then as a treat for myself in hardcover…) (I’d grab it for a comfort re-read about now, if it weren’t in one of the many, many cartons of books inaccessibly-for-now in the storage locker. Can’t squeeze another copy, on Kindle, into the budget this month; maybe in June?; this month’s book money — and then some! — went instead to a new belt and a binder foot for the 1916 Singer, and a cutting mat, rotary cutters, fabric, and elastic.)

2. Loved the interview. You mentioned you also read on your phone. Do you use an e-reader as well? If so, do you like it?

3. Tepper “Raising the Stones” is in print in the UK, Germany and possibly other countries.

4. I have never read Winter’s Tale but it’s come up in three different sources this week, so I think the universe is telling me something. I just borrowed it from the library.

   Also, yay for the shout out to Molly Ivins. I was privileged enough to meet her and learn from her when she did a series of talks at the University of Texas back in the early ’90s. I desperately miss her voice, especially now. For anyone who isn’t familiar wit her I highly recommend the film “Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins”.

   http://www.magpictures.com/raisehell/watch-at-home/

5. https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NvhnF7t9RbY/VXUrBv5YvcI/AAAAAAAANok/AYWvXXrivPk/s1600/07Laugh01.jpg

6. JS: I love [Jane Austen] films, though (and much prefer the 2005 film of “Pride and Prejudice” over the 1995 BBC mini-series, which is heresy).

   Hard agree. I didn’t understand why the book should be taken at all seriously until I saw that film.

7. I’ve come to appreciate the long 1995 Pride and Prejudice, but I also enjoy the 2005 movie very much. I’m not sure I can rank one over the other.

8. Ah, Winter’s Tale! Mark me another fan of it. There’s a couple phrases from it that became permanent parts of the shorthand my husband and I share. It’s a lovely book. I’ve read Grass and don’t remember encountering Raising the Stones. May look into that, as well as promoting N. K. Jemisin in my to-read stack.

9. “and much prefer the 2005 film of “Pride and Prejudice” over the 1995 BBC mini-series, which is heresy”

   Hells yes, my friend. I didn’t know there were more of us out there!

10. “not the good sort of dreadful that Mr. Miévelle is so adept at”

    Everything’s going to be smelling like soda for the rest of the day now.

11. Raising the Stones rocks truckloads of socks. I think the way the bad guys see them as all creepy and communistic because they work together better than anyone else ever has, seeing mind control in what’s actually communication and cooperation and just not being a jerk, has something to say about our current political situation. But that and The Gate to Women’s Country are my favorite Tepper books.

12. Okay, I’ll bite. Why do you prefer the 2005 Pride and Prejudice to the 1995 one? (Question intended for JS, but I’m curious as to others’ answers as well.)

13. – Hits all the beats in 2 hours instead of….6?
    – Joe Wright’s direction
    – soundtrack
    – Keira Knightley(!)
    – Matthew Macfadyen

    Granted as always these things are subject to taste – Jennifer Ehle is fantastic in the mini as well….

14. Raising the Stones is one of my all-time must-always-own-a-copy books.

    Last time I was adding ebooks to our library to replace or back up physical books, I tried to get as much Tepper as I could find, and there was very little. :(

    Speaking of which — (spoiler alert!) Grass>/i> features a deadly plague that’s spread via the bodies of infected bats.

15. Drat, I forgot to preview my comment and left a tag open! Grrr.

16. Good piece, Scalzi: the true voice of the book lover.

    Nah, the P&P miniseries is much better: whole cast is terrific, though Colin Firth is THE Mr Darcy and Jennifer Ehle THE Lizzy.