“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. They are engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouses erected in the sea of time.” The above quote is one of my all-time favorites, spoken by the brilliant Barbara Tuchman, a celebrated American… Continue reading Saving the world, one book at a time
Category: Reflections
Similarities and Differences Between the Beginnings of White Noise and Lucifer’s HammerW
There are many similarities and differences within the introductions of Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Lucifer’s Hammer. While both are novels about some sort of disaster, they take a very different approach when introducing their characters and setting the scenes for the stories. Lucifer’s Hammer had several main characters that are rapidly introduced from the very first… Continue reading Similarities and Differences Between the Beginnings of White Noise and Lucifer’s HammerW
God’s Hammer
The first thing I’d like to touch on is the title, Lucifer’s Hammer. I think that something alone the line of God’s Hammer would have been more fitting. Obviously the wacko minister would agree with this title because he viewed the comet as God’s work, a way to think out the population and destroy all… Continue reading God’s Hammer
Slavery = Prisoners of War, Or Slavery ≠ Prisoners of War
The slavery of African-Americans cannot be compared to the slavery that was proposed in Lucifer’s Hammer after the Brotherhood had fallen. Some might say that slavery is slavery any way you slice it. I will argue that with the simplest of ease. The situation that occurred in the plot of this novel was extraordinary, catastrophic,… Continue reading Slavery = Prisoners of War, Or Slavery ≠ Prisoners of War
Environmentalists are morons
Although I touched on this in my first blog post, I felt somewhat concerned about how environmentalists are portrayed in Lucifer’s Hammer. They hate progress, they fight the savage fight, and they do not stand a chance against the wit and intellect of the technology crusaders. Compare how Maureen and Mabe—I mentioned her in the… Continue reading Environmentalists are morons
Slavery Versus Prisoner Labor
On page 606, Maureen has a moral and ethical dilemma about slavery. She says, “If all we can afford is slavery, then keep them as slaves. And put them to work so we can afford something more. Only we don’t call them slaves, either, because that makes it too easy to think like a slavemaster.… Continue reading Slavery Versus Prisoner Labor
Thoughts on Lucifer’s Hammer
One idea that really bothered me in Lucifer’s Hammer was its portrayal of women. Pournelle and Niven, who are clearly authors of their time, merely portray women as promiscuous and unlikable secondary characters in the novel. This is especially seen in characters such as Maureen Jellison, Marie Vance, and Loretta Randall. First, there is Maureen… Continue reading Thoughts on Lucifer’s Hammer
Lucifer’s Hammer: some final thoughts and questions
I am wondering how realistically speaking Lucifer’s Hammer novel was successful in describing the effects of a comet hitting the planet Earth. After all the authors had not lived such an experience. It could be a silly question to ask, but they describe this event with such a detail that at times it feels like… Continue reading Lucifer’s Hammer: some final thoughts and questions
Lucifer’s Hammer – Kipling and some final words on gender/tech
I can’t remember if we discussed this in class or not, but there are numerous references to Rudyard Kipling, the author of The Jungle Book, Kim, etc. in this book. Harvey’s dog, who dies after Hammerfall, is named Kipling: “Kipling greeted him tail-thumping joy, and he rubbed the German Shepherd’s ears absently as he opened the… Continue reading Lucifer’s Hammer – Kipling and some final words on gender/tech
last thoughts on finishing lucifer’s hammer
So I was realizing reading the book that I don’t like the characters’ names. Maybe they’re too old, or maybe too similar (Harvey, Hardy, Hamner and Harry…) so I flipped back to the Dramatis Personae in the beginning of the book. What I found interesting is the descriptions the authors’ chose for the women. Eileen,… Continue reading last thoughts on finishing lucifer’s hammer
Cannibals
Our talk today about the New Brotherhood Army, otherwise known as the cannibals, reminded me of Montaigne’s essay entitled “Of Cannibals”. In his essay he details some of the rituals that these “barbarians” practice on a daily or seasonal basis, including eating the flesh of an enemy of war after killing him. The Europeans in… Continue reading Cannibals
mountain Observatory
According to Google books, the word or noun mountain shows 29 times. In plural it shows 43.Besides the fact that this term is the name for Tim Hamner’s observatory, I am speculating that it is not by accident that the authors refer to as the “mountain observatory.” As we know that the repetition of words… Continue reading mountain Observatory
just breathe
Well, I wrote this up yesterday before I went home, but apparently closed down my computer before it finished posting. My bad. Breathing: it’s simple, and it happens more or less automatically. With the Hammer strike, I would have thought that many of the characters would find good occasion to breathe, whether to calm themselves… Continue reading just breathe
No supply, all demands.
With a whopping 83 appearances within Lucifer’s Hammer, Id say the word, demanded, deserves a little notice. While the verb is used fairly regularly in this novel, that is to say, it preforms the same function as the word, said, (e.g. Tim said, he said, one said), it is interesting to notice the increase in… Continue reading No supply, all demands.
The Four Letter Word
“Fuck” can be pretty much any part of speech and indeed can be used for every word in a sentence, i.e. “Fuck the fucking fuckers.” Lucifer’s Hammer is a lesson in the uses of the English language’s most vulgar word, but its use is not meant for shock and vulgarity. Fuck is a very strong… Continue reading The Four Letter Word