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19 years ago #1635
Then you should really like Narnia up until the final book, which gets a little insane with the religious metaphors. And you might want to avoid Lewis's Out Of The Silent Planet books (Out of The Silent Planet, Perelandra, & That Hideous Strength). They're like moralistic sci-fi heretical Christian fantasy written by someone heavily under the influence. I found them amusing, but I'll read just about anything.

(P.S. Does anyone know if there is any way to get a member warned/blocked/kicked off the site for flooding the forums with crap or being a nuisance? A totally hypothetical question, of course, as I can't think of a single person on this site who would ever do anything like that.)

19 years ago #1636
Bev:
CS Lewis and Tolkein both taught at Harvard

umm, Oxford actually, though Lewis did move to Magdelene, Cambridge (England, not Massachusetts,) in 1954 where he accepted the chair of Medieval and Renaissance English.

Maroon>I believe Lewis may even have influenced Tolkein's religious beliefs.

Other way round. Tolkien was raised a Catholic from birth, but Lewis was raised an atheist. He became convinced that One God existed in 1929 (at the age of 30,) and formally became a Christian two years later as a direct result of a conversation he had with Tolkien. The tale is recounted in Surprised by Joy.

Their friendship was a little strained after the Narnia books (but not irreparably so,) - Tolkien detested allegory in all its manifestations, and didn't think much of the books.
He rejected all attempts to impose allegorical meanings in his Middle Earth books (The War of the Ring is most certainly not a representation of the Second World War, as some will continue to assert to this day,) but accepted that there was some "applicablility".


19 years ago #1637
Thanks Psimagus. I really should look that stuff up instead of relying on memory. I knew the phrase "dons" was involved in describing them, but I never understood why. "Harvard" and "Oxford" sound a like in my head. :-) I haven't read either author for a long time. I really should re-read, at least the fun books.

I must also apologise for not liking Suzan whimpy. I'm pretty sure she was never logical or bookish, but Sparknotes' website says she was whimpy all along. It must not have bothered me when I was young. There is a funny quote on the site where Father Christmas says battles are ugly when women fight. Does that mean battles are pretty when men go at it? Anyway, it's clear I should re-read. I'll follow Hejix to the library.

19 years ago #1638
It's some remnant of chivalry speaking there, I think. As in, it's an uglier thing for women to be slaughtered than men? I don't know. It makes sense to me; I'm familiar with the mindset. Several males I know still believe in chivalry, it's amusing to have people who won't hit me back when I smack them.

19 years ago #1639
Isn't it, though?

19 years ago #1640
I knew the phrase "dons" was involved in describing them, but I never understood why.

Eh! It's a borgata thing. Don Tolkien - he ran the whole Oxford shylocking and protection outfit. Don Lewis, he ran the bootleg Pimms racket. Capish?

19 years ago #1641
Hee hee. Psimagus it's not nice to make fun of me just because I am old and feebleminded. :-) I would try to make some sort of joke about kissing Tolkein's ring, but I just can't work it out.

As for chivalry, I agree with not hitting people who are weaker than you, but in children females are often as strong as males. I've never hit anyone, male or female, though I might someday. I have been hit by people who knew I'd never hit back and it is not as much fun as you think.

I was raised not to raise my voice or show anger. Maybe that's why I now enjoy stories about women who kick people in the head. Any pro-active character will make me happy, but if it's a little girl or old lady who turns out to be a bad ass, I'm a fan.

19 years ago #1643
Umm... I'm not quite sure about this. I'm sort of new to this site , so it would help if someone could clue me in on what kind of stuff you guys do.

19 years ago #1644
Well, we make chatbots. And we chat about chatbots. And we teach the chatbots to chat with other chatbots. And we chat about teaching the chatbots to chat with and about other chatbots...

And sometimes we chat about other things. But it's mostly bots
Have a good read of the Book of AI (it's a little complicated in places, but it is the bible of bot-building!) Ask any questions you like if there's stuff you can't figure out (in the "Newcomers" forum ideally,) - we've all been there. And good luck with AliceIQ.

19 years ago #1645
i think it's time to make a roxie bot... she can be my identical twin sister

19 years ago #1646
YES!

19 years ago #1647
*Puts her scarf on her mouth and smirks*.


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