Ramblings from the Dark Side of the Moon

Well, the weekend has come once again, and I’m sure there is a resounding “YEA!” passing through the lips of everyone even as I utter the phrase. To be honest, I understand the mentality all too well as I experience it on an increasingly weekly basis. What can I say; I’m only human, after all.

Now, I could sit here and complain about the difficulties, but I have to be honest with myself regarding this. Complaining achieves nothing, and I am not really that person, or at least that is not the person I’d like to be. So in this case, mum’s the word.

I began listening to a new audio book this week, having finished the last of the Jim Butcher audio books over the weekend. This time, I opted for Robert Heinlein’s, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, which is yet another of the well known novels that I somehow missed along the way--apparently I went through my early years with blinders on, my fingers in my ears, and muttering, “la-la, I can’t hear you,” all the time. So far, I’m a little over one third of the way through the book, and so far, I have enjoyed it greatly.

For those that don’t know, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a book about the beginning of a revolution against the established oppressive authority on the moon. Simply…great stuff! And the narrator has done an amazing time so far, especially considering the first person perspective and the fact that the primary protagonist has a pronounced Russian accent, and the supporting characters do not. The narrator drops in and out of this accent as needed with missing a beat. It kind of makes me jealous of such a thing…well, not really, but it is a talent I have not yet tackled for myself. Maybe in the future…

The book is also a bit thought provoking, and to me, that is a mark of a great science fiction novel--my preferred form of sci-fi is a classic dystopian future, into which The Moon is a Harsh Mistress fits in many ways. I love how good science fiction can throw a seemingly beneficial idea back into our faces is such a way as to identify weaknesses in such a thing that we may not have seen before. One of the best examples of this I can think of is the Big Brother concept of the book 1984. To me this is a reality check that points out that none of us are as smart as we think we are, something the idealogs amongst us need to take to heart and simply stop spouting their tired poppycock.

Anyway, I will see how this tale pans out over the next week or so, but the style seems to work for me so far. Until then, I’ll call this one closed.

Sincerely,

Joe :-)