Knowing thy enemy book club.

Some authors write books which aren't bad so much as a force of evil. You know, the way Hitler made good speeches.

Popular, well-written and even entertaining, and yet they stand for everything you hate. I approach these books with a kind of glee, because you can gain real insight into what makes your ideological enemies tick, with hilarious results.

First off, I'd like to introduce you to Dick Francis. He was once a jockey, then a merchant-banker, and now a highly successful thriller writer. By the second book I figured out his formula: Whoever the protagonist seems to have unresolved homosexual tension with, that's who dunnit.

The protagonist is always connected to horse-racing, of course, although sometimes banking. There is often a love-poem written about the 'throbbing pulse of commerce', and usually at least one chapter about meeting upper-class people and having political connections.

Now, a few little gems off the top of my head include: mentioning in passing that climate change is a myth; in a single sentence introducing and dismissing his protagonist's cousin who 'joined a band, grew a beard and caught AIDS' and; while talking about how much he loved his horse, qualifying it by saying 'anyone who thinks animals are intelligent is probably deluding himself'.

So your typical class-conscious right-wing englishman, seemingly afraid of his latent homosexuality and compensating with social status and that same obsession with horses which Freud described in adolescent girls. Yuk. All of which is artfully summarised on the back cover of his book:

"At his best, Francis can make you feel the hot breath of horses on the back of your neck." Michael Dobbs, Express on Sunday.

Anyone else have an author whom they love to hate? If not, I got plenty more.

Next up, Arthur C. Clarkes descent into senile dementia.

 

Thanks for explaining why Dick Francis is such a good writer, ytzk.

 

Always a pleasure, old chap!

 

I really don't like Lisa Gardner, but I'm only basing this off one of her books: Alone (though I really thought it had a different title when I read it).

Anyway what really startled me about this author is her rather shallow depiction of men. Firstly, a state trooper shoots a woman's abusive husband dead and obviously because she's hot he can't help becoming close to her after the event. I guess that isn't too bad though, just slightly unbelievable.

Really what bothered me the most was when, towards the end of the book, this male protagonist sustains an almost fatal inujry and as he is lying on the floor bleeding out he sees the aforementioned woman and thinks to himself "Even though I'm dying, I can't believe what a hottie she is" (or at least words to that affect). I just thought to myself if I was dying I would be spending my last remaining moments trying to think of ways to prolong my life on the off chance an ambulance came, not distracting myself with thoughts like But damn! She's a fine bit of ass! In the context of the scene it felt highly out of place, and just revealed the extent to which the author believed men have one track minds and the rather limitted way in which she can accurately portray the opposite gender.

 

It's 'thine', not 'thy', because the word 'enemy' starts with a vowel.

Learn your shit before posting on the prestigious T-A forums.

 

I kinda have to agree with Drog here. Can't be very elitistic if you are wrong. Not that I am one to talk, but hey, nobodies prefect, right?

 

I admit I learnt from this, then again I don't claim to know about outdated possessive pronouns. I'm surprised Drog actually made an informative post more than anything else.

 

...Who's Nobody's prefect?

 

!!!*


*My immediate reaction was actually to think of Nobody's and Ford Prefect's love child, but that still made my day.

 

might have been funny:

hilarious:

 

Shit, 'twas a long time since Nobody was here. Makes me wonder how many people here actually remembers him. When was his last visit anyway?

 

A single post on Christmas 2010. Other than that, last activity was in September 2009.

Edit: Corrected date.

 

Now I'm not the only one claiming to see the future.

 

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You had to look up how to take that screenshot, huh Gross?

 

I've never done it on a Macintosh. I have, however, done it on Easter.