On 2023-10-18, Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> wrote:
> On Wednesday, 18 October 2023 at 20:58:22 UTC+1, William Hyde wrote:
>> On Monday, October 16, 2023 at 10:16:07 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> > Five Anthologies Based on Classic SF Magazines
>> >
>> > Worried that magazines are too ephemeral to hold reader interest?
>> > Anthologies may be the answer.
>> >
>> > https://www.tor.com/2023/10/16/five-anthologies-based-on-classic-sf-magazines
>> As a teenager I thought I was pretty familiar with the field of SF. I read Niven, Delaney,
>> Ellison, Silverberg, Shaw, and of course older writers like Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein et al.
>>
>> Then I stumbled on an old, grey hardback in our school library. It had long lost its
>> dust cover and who knows how it had arrived there, as the book was older than
>> our school, twice the age of any other book in the library.
>>
>> It was "Adventures in Time and Space", and I realized that I knew nothing. Nothing!
>>
>> It was also a fabulous read.
>>
>> William Hyde
>
> Some un-neutral things are said about it here.
><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_in_Time_and_Space>
>
> Some confusion is recorded here.
><https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?438841>
><https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?245825>
>
> The top, but apparently newer ISFDB record represents
> the 1946 first edition with a cover stating both that
> 36 stories are collected, and 34 are. This is stated to be
> replaced with a cover correctly announcing 35 stories,
> and no other difference. Actually, from ISFDB, I count
> an introduction labelled as an essay, two other essays -
> "V-2: Rocket Cargo Ship" (hmm) and "Time-Travel Happens!"
> apparently based on this claimed event at Versailles
><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moberly–Jourdain_incident> -
> and 33 texts identified as fiction.
>
> In 1953 (ISFDB) or 1946 (Wikipedia) - I'll bet on ISFDB,
> but each cites a source - an edition which cut the last
> 5 stories for some reason, was published. For editions
> after that, ISFDB may know better than I do.

I've got a copy of the 1946 edition (alas, without dust cover),
and can verify your (and ISFDB) count of stories.

It has a well-deserved place on my Favorites bookcase, along with
_The Science Fiction Hall of Fame v1_, _A Treasury of Great Science Fiction_,
and a couple of _The Hugo Winners_ volumes. All classics occasionally re-read,
probably as much for the first memories of reading them as for the stories.

The only other anthology on the Favorites bookcase is _Dangerous Visions_,
which I re-read several times in the decade following its publication, but
I haven't felt the urge to re-read since. Perhaps part of its appeal was
its freshness...
--
Chris

On 18/10/2023 07.37, Jack Bohn wrote:
> Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> In article <d2b5be99-2e0e-4160...@googlegroups.com>,
>>> On Tuesday, 17 October 2023 at 17:33:56 UTC+1, Jack Bohn wrote:

>>>> What books my library had of The Galaxy Reader and The Best from F&SF
>>> series were shelved in non-fiction, in the area for books about
>>> literature, for some reason. The Campbell series of books just titled
>>> Analog and a number were in the sf section.
>
>> In our library, SF anthologies were generaly under 803.3. That's where
>> I would go first whenever I walked in as it was a pure vein. Individual
>> authors were all over the place.
>
> Now that you mention it, there were also anthologies of Best or Award-Winning general fiction short stories of bygone years there, too, maybe even volumes of mysteries. Did you not have a dedicated sf section?

In my case, the school libraries had their fiction arranged in alphabetical
order by authors' last names. To find a particular genre, one needed to use
the card catalog.

On the other hand, the public library *did* have an SF section, in which I
spent many happy hours.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Isaiah 58:6-7

On Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 7:06:48 PM UTC+1, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 18/10/2023 07.37, Jack Bohn wrote:
> > Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> >> In article <d2b5be99-2e0e-4160...@googlegroups.com>,
> >>> On Tuesday, 17 October 2023 at 17:33:56 UTC+1, Jack Bohn wrote:
>
> >>>> What books my library had of The Galaxy Reader and The Best from F&SF
> >>> series were shelved in non-fiction, in the area for books about
> >>> literature, for some reason. The Campbell series of books just titled
> >>> Analog and a number were in the sf section.
> >
> >> In our library, SF anthologies were generaly under 803.3. That's where
> >> I would go first whenever I walked in as it was a pure vein. Individual
> >> authors were all over the place.
> >
> > Now that you mention it, there were also anthologies of Best or Award-Winning general fiction short stories of bygone years there, too, maybe even volumes of mysteries. Did you not have a dedicated sf section?
> In my case, the school libraries had their fiction arranged in alphabetical
> order by authors' last names. To find a particular genre, one needed to use
> the card catalog.
>
> On the other hand, the public library *did* have an SF section, in which I
> spent many happy hours.
>
> --
> Michael F. Stemper
> Isaiah 58:6-7
I remember going into my Grammar School's library and being pleased to see a large section labelled SF. Alas, it turned out that SF meant Senior Fiction.

On Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at 4:52:46 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <2e88dec3-130a-496a...@googlegroups.com>,
> William Hyde <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Monday, October 16, 2023 at 10:16:07 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
> >> Five Anthologies Based on Classic SF Magazines
> >>
> >> Worried that magazines are too ephemeral to hold reader interest?
> >> Anthologies may be the answer.
> >>
> >> https://www.tor.com/2023/10/16/five-anthologies-based-on-classic-sf-magazines
> >
> >As a teenager I thought I was pretty familiar with the field of SF. I
> >read Niven, Delaney,
> >Ellison, Silverberg, Shaw, and of course older writers like Clarke,
> >Asimov, Heinlein et al.
> >
> >Then I stumbled on an old, grey hardback in our school library. It had
> >long lost its
> >dust cover and who knows how it had arrived there, as the book was older than
> >our school, twice the age of any other book in the library.
> >
> >It was "Adventures in Time and Space", and I realized that I knew
> >nothing. Nothing!
> >
> >It was also a fabulous read.
> >
> >William Hyde
>
> The *Ur* tome!
>

Indeed - I have the SFBC version, and it was so darn good that
on two different occasions (2005 and 2011) I started reviewing
it here in rasfw before getting stuck both times (alas).

Tony

Chris Buckley wrote:

>On 2023-10-17, Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>> On 16 Oct 2023 20:03:19 GMT, Chris Buckley <alan@sabir.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On a separate note, have you found out what's up with the Tor
>>> "Are you between 13 and 15?" question? I refuse to answer and
>>> as a consequence have to read your column with the question in
>>>the foreground and a very dim view of your column in the
>>>background. Quite annoying.
>>
>>
>> I click "no style" and the pop-up becomes a couple of lines above
>> a clear view of large print.
>
>Thanks, I'll try that next time (I'm minimizing my accesses to Tor in
>the undoubtedly vain hope of negatively affecting their page
>statistics while they are doing their data collection.)

On Firefox Windows switching to Reader Mode takes care of both
problems. However, I can't see the comments. I have not tried it on the
iPad.

Brian

Andrew McDowell wrote:
> On Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 7:06:48 PM UTC+1, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> > On 18/10/2023 07.37, Jack Bohn wrote:
> > > Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> > >> In article <d2b5be99-2e0e-4160...@googlegroups.com>,
> > >>> On Tuesday, 17 October 2023 at 17:33:56 UTC+1, Jack Bohn wrote:
> >
> > >>>> What books my library had of The Galaxy Reader and The Best from F&SF
> > >>> series were shelved in non-fiction, in the area for books about
> > >>> literature, for some reason. The Campbell series of books just titled
> > >>> Analog and a number were in the sf section.
> > >
> > >> In our library, SF anthologies were generaly under 803.3. That's where
> > >> I would go first whenever I walked in as it was a pure vein. Individual
> > >> authors were all over the place.
> > >
> > > Now that you mention it, there were also anthologies of Best or Award-Winning general fiction short stories of bygone years there, too, maybe even volumes of mysteries. Did you not have a dedicated sf section?
> > In my case, the school libraries had their fiction arranged in alphabetical
> > order by authors' last names. To find a particular genre, one needed to use
> > the card catalog.
> >
> > On the other hand, the public library *did* have an SF section, in which I
> > spent many happy hours.
> >

> I remember going into my Grammar School's library and being pleased to see a large section labelled SF. Alas, it turned out that SF meant Senior Fiction.

Senior fiction? Oh, not 65+, but 18+. The kind your more worldly-wise friend would hand you and say, "Here, read the underlined parts." And you realized he did have respect for book learnin'.

Come to think of it, our school library and the childrens' section of the public library had all fiction in one section. Not that it was too bad reading their non-scientific fiction. (Perhaps something Chesterton wrote about only needing "He opened a door and saw a dragon" after children have forgotten the excitement of "He opened a door".) I guess I got so used to being genred off that in my adulthood when video rentals became a thing I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"

--
-Jack

In article <94454251-7035-4013-9de6-11c78dd9a31bn@googlegroups.com>,
Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:
>Andrew McDowell wrote:
>> On Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 7:06:48 PM UTC+1, Michael F.
>Stemper wrote:
>> > On 18/10/2023 07.37, Jack Bohn wrote:
>> > > Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> > >> In article <d2b5be99-2e0e-4160...@googlegroups.com>,
>> > >>> On Tuesday, 17 October 2023 at 17:33:56 UTC+1, Jack Bohn wrote:
>> >
>> > >>>> What books my library had of The Galaxy Reader and The Best from F&SF
>> > >>> series were shelved in non-fiction, in the area for books about
>> > >>> literature, for some reason. The Campbell series of books just titled
>> > >>> Analog and a number were in the sf section.
>> > >
>> > >> In our library, SF anthologies were generaly under 803.3. That's where
>> > >> I would go first whenever I walked in as it was a pure vein. Individual
>> > >> authors were all over the place.
>> > >
>> > > Now that you mention it, there were also anthologies of Best or
>Award-Winning general fiction short stories of bygone years there, too,
>maybe even volumes of mysteries. Did you not have a dedicated sf
>section?
>> > In my case, the school libraries had their fiction arranged in alphabetical
>> > order by authors' last names. To find a particular genre, one needed to use
>> > the card catalog.
>> >
>> > On the other hand, the public library *did* have an SF section, in which I
>> > spent many happy hours.
>> >
>
>> I remember going into my Grammar School's library and being pleased to
>see a large section labelled SF. Alas, it turned out that SF meant
>Senior Fiction.
>
>Senior fiction? Oh, not 65+, but 18+. The kind your more worldly-wise
>friend would hand you and say, "Here, read the underlined parts." And
>you realized he did have respect for book learnin'.
>
>Come to think of it, our school library and the childrens' section of
>the public library had all fiction in one section. Not that it was too
>bad reading their non-scientific fiction. (Perhaps something Chesterton
>wrote about only needing "He opened a door and saw a dragon" after
>children have forgotten the excitement of "He opened a door".) I guess
>I got so used to being genred off that in my adulthood when video
>rentals became a thing I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place
>that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last
>name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The
>Empire Strikes Back,"
>
>--
>-Jack

Well, of course EOTS is SF adjacent..
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On 20/10/2023 08.29, Jack Bohn wrote:

> I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"

What did you think of it? Knowing nothing about it, I bought it for
my son, on the basis of it being a Spielberg flick. We watched it
together, and it blew me away.

I didn't realize until just now that it was based on something by
Ballard, which does make it SF-adjacent as somebody else said.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Isaiah 58:6-7

On Fri, 20 Oct 2023 06:29:14 -0700 (PDT), Jack Bohn
<jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:

>Andrew McDowell wrote:
>> On Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 7:06:48?PM UTC+1, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> > On 18/10/2023 07.37, Jack Bohn wrote:
>> > > Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> > >> In article <d2b5be99-2e0e-4160...@googlegroups.com>,
>> > >>> On Tuesday, 17 October 2023 at 17:33:56 UTC+1, Jack Bohn wrote:
>> >
>> > >>>> What books my library had of The Galaxy Reader and The Best from F&SF
>> > >>> series were shelved in non-fiction, in the area for books about
>> > >>> literature, for some reason. The Campbell series of books just titled
>> > >>> Analog and a number were in the sf section.
>> > >
>> > >> In our library, SF anthologies were generaly under 803.3. That's where
>> > >> I would go first whenever I walked in as it was a pure vein. Individual
>> > >> authors were all over the place.
>> > >
>> > > Now that you mention it, there were also anthologies of Best or Award-Winning general fiction short stories of bygone years there, too, maybe even volumes of mysteries. Did you not have a dedicated sf section?
>> > In my case, the school libraries had their fiction arranged in alphabetical
>> > order by authors' last names. To find a particular genre, one needed to use
>> > the card catalog.
>> >
>> > On the other hand, the public library *did* have an SF section, in which I
>> > spent many happy hours.
>> >
>
>> I remember going into my Grammar School's library and being pleased to see a large section labelled SF. Alas, it turned out that SF meant Senior Fiction.
>
>Senior fiction? Oh, not 65+, but 18+. The kind your more worldly-wise friend would hand you and say, "Here, read the underlined parts." And you realized he did have respect for book learnin'.
>
>Come to think of it, our school library and the childrens' section of the public library had all fiction in one section. Not that it was too bad reading their non-scientific fiction. (Perhaps something Chesterton wrote about only needing "He opened a door and saw a dragon" after children have forgotten the excitement of "He opened a door".) I guess I got so used to being genred off that in my adulthood when video rentals became a thing I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"

I once tried to find Moroder's /Metropolis/ on DVD in a store that
sorted by "genre". I checked all the obvious places ("foreign",
"science fiction" perhaps others) but had to ask the clerk to find it
after verifying that it was in there somewhere.

I forget what wierd "genre" we finally found it in. The problem, of
course, was that neither she nor I could imagine what "genre" whoever
shelved it chose to put it in. And the computer that told her it was
in stock did not say what "genre" it was in either.

But that's always the problem: so many ways to sort things, and all of
them has a context in which it makes sense.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 20/10/2023 08.29, Jack Bohn wrote:
>
> > I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"
> What did you think of it? Knowing nothing about it, I bought it for
> my son, on the basis of it being a Spielberg flick. We watched it
> together, and it blew me away.

Yeah, very impressive. All these big events (and probably a lot of time and money spent to keep us barely seeing them) but keeping our viewpoint that of the child. Thinking over the movie, it strikes me that maybe I shouldn't double feature it with A.I.

> I didn't realize until just now that it was based on something by
> Ballard, which does make it SF-adjacent as somebody else said.

Someone identified him as the source for this story while quoting him as saying he'd finally realized the only alien planet worth writing about was Earth.

--
-Jack

On Friday, 20 October 2023 at 14:52:50 UTC+1, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 20/10/2023 08.29, Jack Bohn wrote:
>
> > I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"
> What did you think of it? Knowing nothing about it, I bought it for
> my son, on the basis of it being a Spielberg flick. We watched it
> together, and it blew me away.
>
> I didn't realize until just now that it was based on something by
> Ballard, which does make it SF-adjacent as somebody else said.

Wikipedia says "it is essentially fiction but draws
extensively on Ballard's experiences in World War II",
specifically that he was a British teenager in
Shanghai when Japan overran it, and then he
was interned.

On Friday, October 20, 2023 at 6:41:24 PM UTC-4, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> On Friday, 20 October 2023 at 14:52:50 UTC+1, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> > On 20/10/2023 08.29, Jack Bohn wrote:
> >
> > > I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"
> > What did you think of it? Knowing nothing about it, I bought it for
> > my son, on the basis of it being a Spielberg flick. We watched it
> > together, and it blew me away.
> >
> > I didn't realize until just now that it was based on something by
> > Ballard, which does make it SF-adjacent as somebody else said.
> Wikipedia says "it is essentially fiction but draws
> extensively on Ballard's experiences in World War II",
> specifically that he was a British teenager in
> Shanghai when Japan overran it, and then he
> was interned.

It draws on his novel of the same title.

Which does draw on his experiences but is far from identical (in real life Ballard was
not separated from his parents, for example).

Fine novel. I must see the film some time.

William Hyde

On 10/20/2023 5:42 PM, William Hyde wrote:
> On Friday, October 20, 2023 at 6:41:24 PM UTC-4, Robert Carnegie wrote:
>> On Friday, 20 October 2023 at 14:52:50 UTC+1, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>>> On 20/10/2023 08.29, Jack Bohn wrote:
>>>
>>>> I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"
>>> What did you think of it? Knowing nothing about it, I bought it for
>>> my son, on the basis of it being a Spielberg flick. We watched it
>>> together, and it blew me away.
>>>
>>> I didn't realize until just now that it was based on something by
>>> Ballard, which does make it SF-adjacent as somebody else said.
>> Wikipedia says "it is essentially fiction but draws
>> extensively on Ballard's experiences in World War II",
>> specifically that he was a British teenager in
>> Shanghai when Japan overran it, and then he
>> was interned.
>
> It draws on his novel of the same title.
>
> Which does draw on his experiences but is far from identical (in real life Ballard was
> not separated from his parents, for example).
>
> Fine novel. I must see the film some time.
>
I saw it a significant number of years ago. Yes, you should see it.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

James Nicoll wrote:

>Five Anthologies Based on Classic SF Magazines
>
>Worried that magazines are too ephemeral to hold reader interest?
>Anthologies may be the answer.

The way I got started really reading SF was due to first my 7th grade
English teacher, who made a displan of books available in the school
library. One was I Robot. That was checked out, but I read The Rest of
the Robots.

After that I went to the public library to look for more Asimov. I
ended up getting Best from F&SF anthologies. Things developed from
there.

Brian

On Fri, 20 Oct 2023 08:16:40 -0700, Paul S Person
<psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

<snip>

>I once tried to find Moroder's /Metropolis/ on DVD in a store that
>sorted by "genre". I checked all the obvious places ("foreign",
>"science fiction" perhaps others) but had to ask the clerk to find it
>after verifying that it was in there somewhere.
>
>I forget what wierd "genre" we finally found it in. The problem, of
>course, was that neither she nor I could imagine what "genre" whoever
>shelved it chose to put it in. And the computer that told her it was
>in stock did not say what "genre" it was in either.
>
>But that's always the problem: so many ways to sort things, and all of
>them has a context in which it makes sense.

In the late 70s I found the LP of Jean-Michel Jarre's "Oxygene" under
"male vocal" (it was in WH Smith, a newsagent/stationary/bookseller
which had (then) recently expanded into records - I doubt an actual
record seller would done this).

--
Jerry Brown

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

On Friday, October 20, 2023 at 11:16:49 AM UTC-4, Paul S Person wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Oct 2023 06:29:14 -0700 (PDT), Jack Bohn
> <jack....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
[deep into thread drift]
> >
> > I guess I got so used to being genred off that in my adulthood when video rentals became a thing I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"

> I once tried to find Moroder's /Metropolis/ on DVD in a store that
> sorted by "genre". I checked all the obvious places ("foreign",
> "science fiction" perhaps others) but had to ask the clerk to find it
> after verifying that it was in there somewhere.

I wonder if they had a section for "Classic Films" -- that is old, particularly black & white. Or even a section for silents. But Moroder colorized it as well as adding a soundtrack, so, the section on Music Videos, Concert Films,,, Musicals? Last ditch guess, Art Films or Indies (which also means Art) if they thought it wasn't meant to be understood.

> I forget what wierd "genre" we finally found it in. The problem, of
> course, was that neither she nor I could imagine what "genre" whoever
> shelved it chose to put it in. And the computer that told her it was
> in stock did not say what "genre" it was in either.
>
> But that's always the problem: so many ways to sort things, and all of
> them has a context in which it makes sense.

It's said genre is marketing categories, so the clerk faces a dilemma: in the eyes of the customer, is Star Wars more like Grease than like Blade Runner? After watching Blade Runner, is the customer more likely to look for Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast, or Ridley Scott on Legend?

Advice some 35 years late, but, be like Usenet, only split up if there is very little crossover interest between the two new groupings, and if there is enough traffic to support the new group and to have been a hindrance in the old group: someone will likely know to cross an aisle to find the Musicals with titles beginning W-Z on the top shelf of the Mystery section; they may not realize Rock Operas are on the shelf above Romance.

--
-Jack

On Friday, October 20, 2023 at 8:42:21 PM UTC-4, William Hyde wrote:
> On Friday, October 20, 2023 at 6:41:24 PM UTC-4, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> > On Friday, 20 October 2023 at 14:52:50 UTC+1, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> > > On 20/10/2023 08.29, Jack Bohn wrote:
> > >
> > > > I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"
> > > What did you think of it? Knowing nothing about it, I bought it for
> > > my son, on the basis of it being a Spielberg flick. We watched it
> > > together, and it blew me away.
> > >
> > > I didn't realize until just now that it was based on something by
> > > Ballard, which does make it SF-adjacent as somebody else said.
> > Wikipedia says "it is essentially fiction but draws
> > extensively on Ballard's experiences in World War II",
> > specifically that he was a British teenager in
> > Shanghai when Japan overran it, and then he
> > was interned.
> It draws on his novel of the same title.
>
> Which does draw on his experiences but is far from identical (in real life Ballard was
> not separated from his parents, for example).
>
> Fine novel. I must see the film some time.

Another film with child's-eye view of the War, but on the (British) homefront was Hope and Glory, written and directed by sf-adjacent John Boorman (writer and director of Zardoz and Excalibur) based on his experiences.

-- -Jack

On Sat, 21 Oct 2023 07:12:00 -0700 (PDT), Jack Bohn
<jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Friday, October 20, 2023 at 8:42:21?PM UTC-4, William Hyde wrote:
>> On Friday, October 20, 2023 at 6:41:24?PM UTC-4, Robert Carnegie wrote:
>> > On Friday, 20 October 2023 at 14:52:50 UTC+1, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> > > On 20/10/2023 08.29, Jack Bohn wrote:
>> > >
>> > > > I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"
>> > > What did you think of it? Knowing nothing about it, I bought it for
>> > > my son, on the basis of it being a Spielberg flick. We watched it
>> > > together, and it blew me away.
>> > >
>> > > I didn't realize until just now that it was based on something by
>> > > Ballard, which does make it SF-adjacent as somebody else said.
>> > Wikipedia says "it is essentially fiction but draws
>> > extensively on Ballard's experiences in World War II",
>> > specifically that he was a British teenager in
>> > Shanghai when Japan overran it, and then he
>> > was interned.
>> It draws on his novel of the same title.
>>
>> Which does draw on his experiences but is far from identical (in real life Ballard was
>> not separated from his parents, for example).
>>
>> Fine novel. I must see the film some time.
>
> Another film with child's-eye view of the War, but on the (British) homefront was Hope and Glory, written and directed by sf-adjacent John Boorman (writer and director of Zardoz and Excalibur) based on his experiences.

/Queen and Country/, sadly, isn't anywhere near as good as /Hope and
Glory/. IMHO, of course.

I did see /Empire of the Sun/ and it is definitely worth watching.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

On Sat, 21 Oct 2023 07:03:20 -0700 (PDT), Jack Bohn
<jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Friday, October 20, 2023 at 11:16:49?AM UTC-4, Paul S Person wrote:
>> On Fri, 20 Oct 2023 06:29:14 -0700 (PDT), Jack Bohn
>> <jack....@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>[deep into thread drift]
>> >
>> > I guess I got so used to being genred off that in my adulthood when video rentals became a thing I was quite taken with a local mom & pop place that ordered them all alphabetically (by title, not by director's last name). Watched "Empire of the Sun" because its box was next to "The Empire Strikes Back,"
>
>> I once tried to find Moroder's /Metropolis/ on DVD in a store that
>> sorted by "genre". I checked all the obvious places ("foreign",
>> "science fiction" perhaps others) but had to ask the clerk to find it
>> after verifying that it was in there somewhere.
>
>I wonder if they had a section for "Classic Films" -- that is old, particularly black & white. Or even a section for silents. But Moroder colorized it as well as adding a soundtrack, so, the section on Music Videos, Concert Films,,, Musicals? Last ditch guess, Art Films or Indies (which also means Art) if they thought it wasn't meant to be understood.

I really don't remember all the "genres". I do recall having to search
multiple "genres" on several occasions because it was impossible to
predict where a given DVD might be placed (is the Bondarchuk /War and
Peace/ in "foreign", "historical", or "war"?). I also don't recall
what wierd, unexpected "genre" we eventually found it in. A "genre"
with a total of 5 titles or so, IIRC.

Except the really recent popular ones, of course. Those were in a
special rack at the start of the store. But that's another story.

>> I forget what wierd "genre" we finally found it in. The problem, of
>> course, was that neither she nor I could imagine what "genre" whoever
>> shelved it chose to put it in. And the computer that told her it was
>> in stock did not say what "genre" it was in either.
>>
>> But that's always the problem: so many ways to sort things, and all of
>> them has a context in which it makes sense.
>
>It's said genre is marketing categories, so the clerk faces a dilemma: in the eyes of the customer, is Star Wars more like Grease than like Blade Runner? After watching Blade Runner, is the customer more likely to look for Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast, or Ridley Scott on Legend?
>
>Advice some 35 years late, but, be like Usenet, only split up if there is very little crossover interest between the two new groupings, and if there is enough traffic to support the new group and to have been a hindrance in the old group: someone will likely know to cross an aisle to find the Musicals with titles beginning W-Z on the top shelf of the Mystery section; they may not realize Rock Operas are on the shelf above Romance.

I've seen some of that in used book stores where the distribution of
stock didn't match the labels on the shelves. But that's fairly easy
to follow.

If the "genres" are labled, then the lables can provide a clue. If
they aren't, then the customers are truly clueless.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

On Sat, 21 Oct 2023 02:43:52 -0000 (UTC), "Default User"
<defaultuserbr@yahoo.com> wrote:

>After that I went to the public library to look for more Asimov. I
>ended up getting Best from F&SF anthologies. Things developed from
>there.

Heh heh - when I was an early teen I read the Foundation novels then
went back to the library to look for more Asimov and ended up taking
out his 3 volume set on physics.....