I've been getting a lot of requests about upgrading to Windows 7. If your computer does not have Vista on it I have doubts as to whether your computer will be able to run Windows 7.
Microsoft has a program you can run on your computer, which will tell you whether your computer can run Windows 7. You can obtain this utility at:
http://snipurl.com/snpy6
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Book review: Parable of the Talents
During a recent bar discussion some comrades of mine semi-debated which was the better novel: Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Talents" or Ursala Le Guin's "The Dispossessed". I had never heard of Octavia Butler, which was rather embarrassing since like Le Guin, they both live(d) in Seattle, so I couldn't enter the debate. Having loved "The Dispossessed," however, I immediately got to reading "Parable of the Talents" - one of two books in Butler's Parable or Earthseed series.
I would like to start off by noting that comparing "Parable of the Talents" and "The Dispossessed" is much like comparing apples to pears. So, if you've read either novel, don't run out and get the other in the hopes of finding a similar read.
"Parable of the Talents" is mostly presented as diary entries made by a mother and daughter. The mother is the main heroine and the initiator of a new religion/movement - Earthseed. But it is her daughter who has compiled her mother's posthumous diaries along with her own as "Parable of the Talents". Because of this format, don't expect a dynamic read from this novel. What Octavia Butler does offer is a rather realistic view of an organizer, who believes in a vision, but doesn't know how to bring it to fruition. In this sense the reader is infused with the exhilaration of hope and the despair that seems inevitably to follow. Not to give the story away, but I'll end by saying that perseverance, despite all the odds, always prevails.
Another redeeming quality of "Parable of the Talents" is the Earthseed poems that are interspersed throughout the novel. I have found the following site, where a lot of these poems have been reproduced:
http://snipurl.com/sd42t
Reading the poetry without the book, however, might lead to some preconception that the novel is actually quite religious. Take it from an atheist, however, were that the case, I would not be recommending it. On the other hand, however, whereas the heroine is founding a new religion, religion does permeate much of the novel. But this new religion is more a religion of the human experience and not based on a holy writ and words of some cosmic zombie father.
Curtis Vaughan
PS. My review of "The Dispossessed" is available at:
http://cavaughan.livejournal.com/4355.html
I would like to start off by noting that comparing "Parable of the Talents" and "The Dispossessed" is much like comparing apples to pears. So, if you've read either novel, don't run out and get the other in the hopes of finding a similar read.
"Parable of the Talents" is mostly presented as diary entries made by a mother and daughter. The mother is the main heroine and the initiator of a new religion/movement - Earthseed. But it is her daughter who has compiled her mother's posthumous diaries along with her own as "Parable of the Talents". Because of this format, don't expect a dynamic read from this novel. What Octavia Butler does offer is a rather realistic view of an organizer, who believes in a vision, but doesn't know how to bring it to fruition. In this sense the reader is infused with the exhilaration of hope and the despair that seems inevitably to follow. Not to give the story away, but I'll end by saying that perseverance, despite all the odds, always prevails.
Another redeeming quality of "Parable of the Talents" is the Earthseed poems that are interspersed throughout the novel. I have found the following site, where a lot of these poems have been reproduced:
http://snipurl.com/sd42t
Reading the poetry without the book, however, might lead to some preconception that the novel is actually quite religious. Take it from an atheist, however, were that the case, I would not be recommending it. On the other hand, however, whereas the heroine is founding a new religion, religion does permeate much of the novel. But this new religion is more a religion of the human experience and not based on a holy writ and words of some cosmic zombie father.
Curtis Vaughan
PS. My review of "The Dispossessed" is available at:
http://cavaughan.livejournal.com/4355.html
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