On Thursday, 8 September 2022 at 06:16:53 UTC+1, Titus G wrote:
> On 27/08/22 20:25, Jerry Brown wrote:
> > On Sat, 27 Aug 2022 16:44:45 +1200, Titus G <no...@nowhere.com> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> On 27/08/22 02:05, James Nicoll wrote:
> >>> Five SFF Books That Celebrate Classic Rock
> >>> https://www.tor.com/2022/08/26/five-sff-books-that-celebrate-classic-rock/
> >>>
> >>> Again, what it says on the tin. Although maybe add "vintage" in
> >>> front of SFF.
> >>
> >> I enjoyed The Armageddon Rag but my favourite in this category is Utopia
> >> Avenue but I am biased as David Mitchell is one of my favourite authors
> >> so there is a familiarity as well as frequent references to places and
> >> characters from previous novels with a continuing under theme. I don't
> >> know if I would recommend it to someone without advising them to read
> >> earlier works in publication order.
> >> The (not dysfunctional) band encounters murder, mystery and perhaps
> >> influence from a supernatural power but the emphasis is on the
> >> characters and more ordinary events such as their stardom and money.
> >> Wikipedia has a short interesting article.
> >> I recommend it because I enjoy his writing so much but to really treat
> >> yourself, I think you should read David Mitchell's novels in publication
> >> order.
> >
> > I recently read his complete works over the space of about 2 months in
> > a fairly random order and I concur, since the main plotlines of some
> > novels were spoilered by throwaway lines in others.
> >
> > I enjoyed Utopia Avenue, but still can't get my head round David Bowie
> > using the phrase "I was like..." (in the late sixties) to describe his
> > reaction to something during an anecdote. I also could have sworn that
> > someone else mentions wanting to be "the best version of myself" but
> > have been unable to find it again, so must have imagined it.
> >
> ‘I [David Bowie] was with him when his first episode happened. We were
> walking down Shaftesbury Avenue, and he started screaming about the
> tarmac cracking and magma oozing up. For a few seconds I thought he was
> joking. I was like, “Okay, Terry, it’s gone far enough.” But he meant
> it. These two coppers thought he was high so...........'

(This is the passage in the book)

<https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/and-im-like-quotative-like-isnt-just-for-quoting/>
appears to date "quotative like" "at least 50 years" before 2006.
But in the U.S., I think.

On 9/09/22 01:13, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> On Thursday, 8 September 2022 at 06:16:53 UTC+1, Titus G wrote:
>> On 27/08/22 20:25, Jerry Brown wrote:
>>> On Sat, 27 Aug 2022 16:44:45 +1200, Titus G <no...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 27/08/22 02:05, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>>> Five SFF Books That Celebrate Classic Rock
>>>>> https://www.tor.com/2022/08/26/five-sff-books-that-celebrate-classic-rock/
>>>>>
>>>>> Again, what it says on the tin. Although maybe add "vintage" in
>>>>> front of SFF.
>>>>
>>>> I enjoyed The Armageddon Rag but my favourite in this category is Utopia
>>>> Avenue but I am biased as David Mitchell is one of my favourite authors
>>>> so there is a familiarity as well as frequent references to places and
>>>> characters from previous novels with a continuing under theme. I don't
>>>> know if I would recommend it to someone without advising them to read
>>>> earlier works in publication order.
>>>> The (not dysfunctional) band encounters murder, mystery and perhaps
>>>> influence from a supernatural power but the emphasis is on the
>>>> characters and more ordinary events such as their stardom and money.
>>>> Wikipedia has a short interesting article.
>>>> I recommend it because I enjoy his writing so much but to really treat
>>>> yourself, I think you should read David Mitchell's novels in publication
>>>> order.
>>>
>>> I recently read his complete works over the space of about 2 months in
>>> a fairly random order and I concur, since the main plotlines of some
>>> novels were spoilered by throwaway lines in others.
>>>
>>> I enjoyed Utopia Avenue, but still can't get my head round David Bowie
>>> using the phrase "I was like..." (in the late sixties) to describe his
>>> reaction to something during an anecdote. I also could have sworn that
>>> someone else mentions wanting to be "the best version of myself" but
>>> have been unable to find it again, so must have imagined it.
>>>
>> ‘I [David Bowie] was with him when his first episode happened. We were
>> walking down Shaftesbury Avenue, and he started screaming about the
>> tarmac cracking and magma oozing up. For a few seconds I thought he was
>> joking. I was like, “Okay, Terry, it’s gone far enough.” But he meant
>> it. These two coppers thought he was high so...........'
>
> (This is the passage in the book)
>
> <https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/and-im-like-quotative-like-isnt-just-for-quoting/>
> appears to date "quotative like" "at least 50 years" before 2006.
> But in the U.S., I think.

Thank you for that link. I had not realised there was so much more to
the use of "like" than a lazy grating shorthand. Whether Bowie would
have used it in that context or not is now less clear.

On Fri, 9 Sep 2022 13:47:52 +1200, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:

>On 9/09/22 01:13, Robert Carnegie wrote:
>> On Thursday, 8 September 2022 at 06:16:53 UTC+1, Titus G wrote:
>>> On 27/08/22 20:25, Jerry Brown wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 27 Aug 2022 16:44:45 +1200, Titus G <no...@nowhere.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 27/08/22 02:05, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>>>> Five SFF Books That Celebrate Classic Rock
>>>>>> https://www.tor.com/2022/08/26/five-sff-books-that-celebrate-classic-rock/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Again, what it says on the tin. Although maybe add "vintage" in
>>>>>> front of SFF.
>>>>>
>>>>> I enjoyed The Armageddon Rag but my favourite in this category is Utopia
>>>>> Avenue but I am biased as David Mitchell is one of my favourite authors
>>>>> so there is a familiarity as well as frequent references to places and
>>>>> characters from previous novels with a continuing under theme. I don't
>>>>> know if I would recommend it to someone without advising them to read
>>>>> earlier works in publication order.
>>>>> The (not dysfunctional) band encounters murder, mystery and perhaps
>>>>> influence from a supernatural power but the emphasis is on the
>>>>> characters and more ordinary events such as their stardom and money.
>>>>> Wikipedia has a short interesting article.
>>>>> I recommend it because I enjoy his writing so much but to really treat
>>>>> yourself, I think you should read David Mitchell's novels in publication
>>>>> order.
>>>>
>>>> I recently read his complete works over the space of about 2 months in
>>>> a fairly random order and I concur, since the main plotlines of some
>>>> novels were spoilered by throwaway lines in others.
>>>>
>>>> I enjoyed Utopia Avenue, but still can't get my head round David Bowie
>>>> using the phrase "I was like..." (in the late sixties) to describe his
>>>> reaction to something during an anecdote. I also could have sworn that
>>>> someone else mentions wanting to be "the best version of myself" but
>>>> have been unable to find it again, so must have imagined it.
>>>>
>>> ‘I [David Bowie] was with him when his first episode happened. We were
>>> walking down Shaftesbury Avenue, and he started screaming about the
>>> tarmac cracking and magma oozing up. For a few seconds I thought he was
>>> joking. I was like, “Okay, Terry, it’s gone far enough.” But he meant
>>> it. These two coppers thought he was high so...........'
>>
>> (This is the passage in the book)
>>
>> <https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/and-im-like-quotative-like-isnt-just-for-quoting/>
>> appears to date "quotative like" "at least 50 years" before 2006.
>> But in the U.S., I think.
>
>Thank you for that link. I had not realised there was so much more to
>the use of "like" than a lazy grating shorthand. Whether Bowie would
>have used it in that context or not is now less clear.

Even if the phrase does date back that far, I agree that it just
sounds wrong for him to use it.

That said, my main experience of Bowie as himself rather than one of
his performance personas is the DVD commentary track to The Man Who
Fell to Earth (highly entertaining BTW), so it's likely others may
know better.

--
Jerry Brown

A cat may look at a king
(but probably won't bother)