January 2021 Recommended Reading/Viewing

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm sure that most people are glad to be done with 2020, and I hope that 2021 has a brighter future in store. Hopefully, we can make the most of it. So to kick out the new year, here are a couple classic sci-fi recommendations (which, upon further inspection, are kind of grim, but that's what I've read/seen and what's available).

Reading: Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) by Kurt Vonnegut

One of the most memorable anti-war novels ever written and a masterpiece of black comedy, the plot concerns an ordinary American man named Billy Pilgrim who inexplicably finds himself "unstuck in time" - he constantly jumps to different points in his life at random, from his capture by the Germans during WWII to surviving the firebombing of Dresden to his normal post-war civilian life to his abduction by the absurd Tralfamadorians to be displayed in their alien zoo. Vonnegut's deceptively simple prose masks a deeply introspective mind mixed with pain and humor, and it should be a very brisk read as it really not a very difficult text.

Trade: https://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Five-Novel-Modern-Library-Novels/dp/0385333846/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3KZKMBTGU3KV6&dchild=1&keywords=slaughterhouse+five&qid=1609524784&sprefix=slaughterhouse%2Caps%2C194&sr=8-1
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Slaughterhouse-Five-Novel-Modern-Library-Novels-ebook/dp/B000SEGHT6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1609524784&sr=8-1



Viewing: Westworld (Michael Crichton, 1973)

This was the directorial debut of sci-fi writer Michael Crichton, who would later pen Jurassic Park, and while this film covers similar ground, it stands on its own in many respects. In the year 1983 (let's say it's an alternate 1983 now), the amusement park Delos offers its guests the excitement of living out their own personal fantasies in one of three scenarios - Western World, Medieval World, and Roman World - all populated by android performers which cater to the human visitors' desires. But what begins as a routine adventure turns deadly when the park's technicians find a computer virus spreading through the androids which causes them to malfunction and begin killing visitors, particularly a stoic gunslinger (Yul Brynner) designed to instigate fights who becomes a relentless stalking killing machine. While it may be better known simply as the basis for a successful modern HBO series, the original film manages to hold up pretty well, despite its "70's-ness", combining action and satire in a crowd-pleasing way. If you're a fan of Jurassic Park, I highly suggest that you check out where it began.

DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Westworld-Paul-N-Lazarus-Jr/dp/B0045HCJKS/ref=tmm_dvd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1609524727&sr=8-7
Blu-Ray: https://www.amazon.com/Westworld-BD-Blu-ray-Yul-Brynner/dp/B00AATFJK2/ref=tmm_mfc_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1609524727&sr=8-7
Amazon Video: https://www.amazon.com/Westworld-Yul-Brynner/dp/B000LJ9ZWO/ref=tmm_aiv_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1609524727&sr=8-7


And that's all for now. Let's see what 2021 has in store for us!