Charlie Bell wrote: >Jim Sharkey wrote: >>I was too busy trying to get up to speed. Sometimes, I feel like >>I'm still trying. :) >Red Queen, eh? :)
I could just laugh along and pretend I got that; however, I have no idea to what that reference joke actually refers. >>Do you think Banks actually *likes* the Culture? That is, the >>couple of his Culture books I've read have generally shown the >>nasty underside of his outwardly Utopian society. >Which have you read? _Consider Phlebas_ and _A Player of Games_ >But yes, that's the idea of the books, I think. Let's face it, the >vast majority of the Culture's citizens (both flesh and machine) >live happy hedonistic lives - it's the edges where the Culture meets >other civs and the underbelly where people conduct nefarious schemes I've generally thought of it as Western society writ large, wherein the "government," such as the Culture has, does nasty things that their citizens would never actually imagine them doing. I mean, most Americans view our country as the guys with the white hats, and I'd like to think they're disturbed by some of the ugly things coming to light right now. Though maybe I'm giving them too much credit... Jim _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
