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Showing posts from September, 2020

A Spectre Is Haunting Texas

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I listened to the LibriVox.Org audio book of " The Big Time " by Fritz Leiber. I had been searching for " A Spectre Is Haunting Texas " by the same bloke, but found " The Big Time ". I was amazed at how well it has stood the test of time (published in 1958), and how well it was read by Karen Savage. LibriVox is "the acoustical liberation of books in the public domain", and has tons of good stuff to listen to. " The Big Time " is really a strange and gripping story. I'd been looking for " A Spectre Is Haunting Texas " by Fritz Leiber as a nostalgia trip. In my early teens I read a lot of Science Fiction, and the title of this book has stuck in my mind. I didn't remember much about the novel, except that I'd enjoyed it and that it featured a human used to living in space and so in need of an artificial motorized exoskeleton for his trip to Earth. That cover, is it tacky or good artwork? In the book the "spectre

To Die Well, Final Exit, Natural Causes, Il Gattopardo, The Illusion Of Control.

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I've just finished reading " Il Gattopardo " by Tomasi Di Lampedusa. It's brilliant. I won't spoil the plot for you, but there is a description of a death, from inside the dying person, which struck me as calm and restful. If I could die like that (sometime in the future ) I'd sign up now.  Because I'm worried about Alzheimer's and incapacity, loss of control, ending up in a care-home bored out of my wits. I read " To Die Well " and " Final Exit ", practical guides to self deliverance. The two books tell you how to kill yourself in a humane way, and give lots of other practical advice. Ideally of course I'll die in my sleep or in a one-victim car crash, a vigorous alert 90 years old.  But just in case. I've read the books and taken notes. I have no idea if I have the courage required. And still on this topic, " Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer "