I remember it like it was yesterday, reading...

[Alex The G and T]

I'm with you, William.
As much as I enjoy wordplay and etymology and clever nuance. Prose written with a precise choice of words designed to present layers of meaning within the context. Prose designed to elicit vivid imagery in the mind.

The kind of prose which the pretentious critics dismiss as "Too Poetic."

When I write my own little vignettes, mostly for my own entertainment; every word is precisely chosen to invoke multilayered insinuations. (mostly with humerus intent)

All the elements that should make good poetry shine, I'd expect.

But, poetry just doesn't click with me. It seems like I should appreciate the verbal manipulation.... but... nada.

Go figure.

 

[Parson]

This thread seems to be widening a bit to allow other than "first" SF so

I remember like it was yesterday reading Jack Chalker's Four Lords of the Diamond. -- I really got into the subplot of the agency behind the weirdness behind each planet's uniqueness. In my church a new family had joined and the husband was also into SF. So I suggested "Four Lords" .... it was fun having finished them and knowing the secret and listening to him speculate on what was really going on.

 

[Lew Rockwell Fan]

The Killer Angels by the senior Shaara. Single best historical novel I ever read & the inspiration for Firefly & Serenity. I mostly read it in my fav easy chair in the kitchen, started it while drinking coffee with my mother. At one point I told her "I can't put it down now. We might lose the war."

 

[AlexH]

I plan to read 1984 for the first time on the Isle of Jura (where Orwell wrote it), and I'm sure that'll be unforgettable. It was supposed to happen 3 years ago, but I didn't reach Jura.

And just over a year ago, I achieved one of my dreams! You may know or guess by the joker's addition to the sign that Barnhill was where Orwell wrote that book:

Jura is absolutely beautiful but did feel dystopian, in that I didn't see another person for 5 days on my 60-mile walk mostly along the coast. Although I enjoy my own company, such solitude did drive me a little crazy and at times I genuinely wondered if I was the last person on Earth. 1984 felt a strange book to read in those circumstances. Sometimes I'd sit for lunch in a ridiculously beautiful place and read for half an hour, though more often it'd be at night after I'd set up my tent (still in ridiculously beautiful places).

 

[Toby Frost]

Great photos! Apparently "The Last Man In Europe" was a draft title for 1984, which feels apt!

 

[AlexH]

Great photos! Apparently "The Last Man In Europe" was a draft title for 1984, which feels apt!

I didn't know that. There is a biography (written in the style of a novel) about Orwell's life called "The Last Man In Europe," including detail of his time on Jura. It's been recommended to me, but I'm yet to read it.

There were two flash fictions I thought of while there:

The Last Man on Earth—A Mini-Novel

Visit the post for more.

flashfictiononline.com

The Last Man on Earth Crawls Backs to Life—A Mini-Novel Sequel

Visit the post for more.

flashfictiononline.com

 

[Toby Frost]

It sounds interesting. I read a good article recently about Orwell on Jura, but annoyingly I can't remember where. The gist was that he enjoyed Jura and fared better there than is usually thought. If I turn it up, I'll post a link.

 

[BAYLOR]

And just over a year ago, I achieved one of my dreams! You may know or guess by the joker's addition to the sign that Barnhill was where Orwell wrote that book:

View attachment 67329

Jura is absolutely beautiful but did feel dystopian, in that I didn't see another person for 5 days on my 60-mile walk mostly along the coast. Although I enjoy my own company, such solitude did drive me a little crazy and at times I genuinely wondered if I was the last person on Earth. 1984 felt a strange book to read in those circumstances. Sometimes I'd sit for lunch in a ridiculously beautiful place and read for half an hour, though more often it'd be at night after I'd set up my tent (still in ridiculously beautiful places).

View attachment 67328

1984 is a book that everybody should be reading , epically in this day and age.

 

[Abernovo]

Jura is absolutely beautiful but did feel dystopian, in that I didn't see another person for 5 days on my 60-mile walk mostly along the coast. Although I enjoy my own company, such solitude did drive me a little crazy and at times I genuinely wondered if I was the last person on Earth. 1984 felt a strange book to read in those circumstances. Sometimes I'd sit for lunch in a ridiculously beautiful place and read for half an hour, though more often it'd be at night after I'd set up my tent (still in ridiculously beautiful places).

Slightly jealous. I've long wanted to go to Jura. That corner of Argyll is the one I don't know well. I wouldn't mind seeing and hearing the Corryvreckan as well, but think I'll pass on trying to row across it like that eejit did!

I read 1984 in my lunch breaks outside an abandoned house in Strathdon (I was working in the grounds). Other side of the country.

 

[HareBrain]

I have fond memories of Jura from my early twenties. I was volunteering at the RSPB reserve on neighbouring Islay, and went across to Jura with two French girls who were also staying there. I remember them singing softly in French as we climbed a Scottish hill. The rain got into my sandwiches and my camera. We saw an otter. I didn't write a classic dystopian novel.