Toilet Tours / Healesville Victoria / 2013

Toilet Tours:

Healesville 2013

Maroondah Reservoir: a large and civilised picnic area with two public toilets.

The first toilet is near the entry to the park. Near the foot of the dam wall. That's right, there's a large dam nearby... Just a distraction from the main attraction of two -- yes, two ! -- brick and tile toilet blocks.

The first toilet is hidden. Behind dense hedges of shrubs. Almost as though the park managers wish to hide the main feature of the parkland area. Ah well...

The toilet itself is aging but clean.

Further away from the dam is more picnic area. Large areas of grass, plenty of shady trees. A simple area, offering a better-presented convenience for public use.

Pleasantly placed amongst the trees, this second toilet block may be appreciated from many angles. The lawns offer a sweeping view, the trees offer a softly contrasting frame to the traditional rectangular building.

Due to the time-pressure of fellow travellers (and the absence of a nearby tea shop) these toilets were not internally evaluated.

In the nearby town of Healesville there is a railway station. Is it abandoned ? Possibly... The railway station is simply a building; unnoticed. Of far more interest -- especially in the architectural sense -- are the associated public toilets.

Two cheap transportable buildings, crowded into an inconvenient space. Not very attractive -- from the outside, at least. The interior facilities are untested. The outside shows signs of care and cleaning.

The ladies toilet block is a steel transportable. With an entry ramp, rather narrow but accessible.

And in a separate -- also transportable -- building, of different material (let's call it "steel") and in a mismatched colour scheme: the gents.

Two similar yet different structures. Is one an afterthought ? Or is this the result of supply and demand: the public demands public toilets, the local council supplies whatever it can find.

A discordant pair, apparently mismatched yet unified in the common permanency of temporary convenience. Neither attractive nor unattractive. So easily overlooked -- yet so strangely thought-provoking.

..o0o..

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Mordant's Need / Stephen Donaldson

Mordant's Need
by Stephen Donaldson
(1) The Mirror of her Dreams
(2) A Man Rides Through

fantasy

copyright 1986, 1987

rated 8/10: really quite good

19nov23: re-read book(2). Same opinion as before. Much more enjoyable than (1). If only because the heroine starts to think and act.

13nov23: I've just re-read (1)"Mirror". You know what? the heroine is a real pain. Ignorant, confused, a real drip. How can she possibly be so thick? so slow? I skimmed quickly over some of her worst stupidities and denial of facts. She definitely has the biggest breasts in the book but she seems to have the smallest, or least effective, brain.

Yes, it's still a good book. But as I'm reading I'm thinking, this book is setting the scene. What I want to read is book (2) -- where the main characters finally get to do something.

Oh, and the occasional chuckle as I read: Yes, there are some very funny lines. But I am absolutely convinced that the author aimed for irony -- and has absolutely no actual sense of humour.

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original review: I thoroughly enjoyed these books... with a few worries.

First, the heroine spends the first book doing nothing. Not quite as bad as the early Thomas Covenant who refused to do anything because he was, as named, The Unbeliever. Terisa Morgan at least does want to do something. She is simply too un-self-assured to act.

It does get a bit annoying.

Then there's the violence, mostly in the second book. Okay, the violence fits with the story and with the difficult times. Just don't read this book and expect a Disney-style fairytale !

I also have trouble understanding the special powers of the hero and heroine.

So these two books are a fairytale with swords and sorcery. Overdrawn characters, both good and bad. With several who are both. Plus the standard requirement that the hero and heroine must discover their super-powers on time to save the world... And live happily ever after.

The first book drags, as the heroine suffers her total lack of self-confidence. Yet there is enough excitement -- and discovery, and anticipation -- to keep me reading.

The second volume has more real action. More happening. More than enough to keep me reading to the end... To the very satisfying end.

Good characters, a rich -- if overdrawn -- world. Suspense, excitement and general good fun. A very enjoyable book !

On the other hand, my son read both books. He read to the end because his father said that it's a very good book. According to my son, Mordant's Need is long, boring and not worth reading.

But what would he know.

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19jan22: I re-read these books. This time... I almost agree with my son.

The heroine is a real pain :-( And the books move with slow and sometimes tedious detail and explanation.

I skipped quite a bit. Enjoyed the adventure, especially the use of magic But I was not caught up in it.

You know the way that a deadly serious author can sometimes drop in a ridiculous statement. Perhaps a line which pokes fun at the action. Perhaps a comment on the stupidity -- or venality -- of society. Maybe just an unexpected action by the hero, to show us that they are not always absolutely perfect.

Donaldson does this. Not often. But there are sentences where I was surprised into a chuckle.

On the other hand... I have my doubts of the author's intent. I doubt that Donaldson has any real sense of humour. Absolutely no sense of the ridiculous. He takes his writing... and his characters... far too seriously.

I may chuckle. I suspect that Donaldson would wonder why I chuckled.

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Problems ? Solved

Sundiver / David Brin

Sundiver
by David Brin
Uplift (1)

science fiction

copyright 1980
re-read in March 2014

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Well, truth to tell, perhaps my rating would be 6/10 (read to pass the time) if I had not already read the later Uplift books.

Sundiver is an enjoyable story, set in the early days of Uplift. It is a relatively narrow view of the impact of galactic civilisation on earth races -- and the various ways in which earth races respond. The correct response is more in doubt than in later books.

So this book benefits from knowledge of its place in the Uplift sequence.

As a book... there is too much science. Too much discussion, of science and of social and personal issues. Too much that distracts from the main plot. In my opinion :-)

In a similar vein... The main character brings personal issues to the book. Did he star -- and suffer -- in a previous book ? It certainly seems like it. Without having read the previous book his problems -- and his family background -- are just distractions.

Signs of an early book ? Signs of an author developing his skills ? Maybe.

It's still a good book. Just not as good as the later Uplift novels.

On an unrelated matter:

My copy of the book is from the days when the cover of the book reflected the content of the book !

I can look at the cover picture and recognise each character. Almost as though the artist had read the book ! Amazing :-)

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Problems ? Solved

Countries Around the World: Hungary / Charlotte Guillain

Countries Around the World: Hungary
by Charlotte Guillain

travel, subadult

copyright 2012
read in March 2013

rated 8/10: really quite good

Really quite good -- for its purpose. It's a book, for children, about Hungary. I'm not a child but I wanted an overview of Hungary. This book served that purpose, very well.

Not as detailed as Wikipedia. Not as "practical" as a Pilot Guide. Just an interesting and well presented introduction to a country.

I enjoyed this book.

And it gave me what I wanted.

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Problems ? Solved

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages / Tom Holt

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages
by Tom Holt

fantasy, satire, humour

copyright 2011
read in March 2013

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

This book is fantasy, though it could be intended to be science fiction. Mainly, though, it's social satire. And humour.

The humour is light and easy. No belly laughs, an occasional chuckle, plenty of slight smiles. Easy to read and just as easy to put down.

There's a grab bag of characters -- and I really wonder why some of them are there. Uncle Theo, for example... His role is to provide a touch of deus ex machina and perhaps a slight poke at family relationships. I was hoping for something a bit more... clever.

And then... Why is every important person a pig ? Social satire again ? It's either that -- or a pointlessly illogical way to tie up a loose end. A case of, I have a lot of pigs so I need to explain where they were while everyone else was getting on with the plot.

A lightweight, easy to read book with a vaguely unsatisfying ending.

Oh, and despite the title... There are no sausages. The actual theme of the book is eggs. And chickens.

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Problems ? Solved

Burnt Ice / Steve Wheeler

Burnt Ice
by Steve Wheeler
A Fury of Aces (1)

science fiction

copyright 2012
read in March 2013

rated 7 /10: well worth reading

Shades of Doc Smith space opera ! Truly heroic heroes and heroines ! (Okay, that last -- heroic heroines -- is very much post-Doc Smith.) Building bigger and ever bigger spaceships ! With more and more powerful weapons !

What a lot of fun !

On the down side... It's often rather difficult to work out just what is happening. Or why. Here's my guess:

This is Wheeler's first book. As a first attempt, he wrote too much. To get published, he deleted whole chunks of text... and lost the plot continuity. Well, that's my guess... Could be that he simply skipped the explanation in favour of fun :-)

Because this book is fun...

A range of characters, it took me a while to separate them in my mind. They are all part of one team, so their stories are closely linked. Nearly all appear at the start of the book and are gradually given more depth. (Well, more detail. Depth may be too strong a word.)

I really do dislike books where new -- key -- characters are continually introduced. It smacks of an author who has no clear idea of what is going on. None of that in Burnt Ice: the author clearly knows what's going on... just forgets to tell the reader !

Then there's the space opera science -- a lot of fun ! Especially the "aces" of the series title. Not that the science is (within science fiction) either new or unique. Yet its implementation is so... nice !

Some of the good guy's team are rather mysterious... but you know that they really are "good". Remember Avon from Blake's 7 ? "Avon possesses genius-level intelligence, and is an aloof and sardonic computer expert found guilty of an attempt to embezzle five hundred million credits from the Terran banking system." (from wikipedia) But there is never any doubt that he is a good guy. And there is never any doubt that the Burnt Ice team are all good guys. (Do I need to say, and gals ?! )

Lots of fun, action and high adventure. Likable characters and enjoyable application of future science. A fun plot which leaps discontinuities with a single bound...

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If it's a first book -- well done ! The plot may be hard to follow... but the book is easy to read. And very easy to enjoy.

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Jan2023: Read it again

... and much the same opinion: this book is a lot of enjoyable fun :-)

Okay, there is a lot still to be told, sometimes that annoys me, not this time: all the not-yet-explained stories are less important than the current action.

The back cover says, "Move over Star Wars!"

... Yes, I can see that. This is a world where ACEs (droids), AIs, augmented humans... and more... are all an accepted part of the world.

And yet... In this book the droid-equivalents are so much nicer, so much more interesting than those in Star Wars.

And more: Every person (and AI and ACE and etc) -- every one of them is a strong member of the team.

They work together, they support each other -- and they enjoy each other's company.

The space opera is fun. The characters are all likeable.

An easy book to read, still hard to follow, still an easy book to enjoy.

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Problems ? Solved

The Cusanus Game / Wolfgang Jeschke

The Cusanus Game
by Wolfgang Jeschke
translated by Ross Benjamin

science fiction

copyright 2005 (the German version)
not read (in English) March 2014

not rated

Not read, not rated. Bit if I had rated it -- based on the 40 pages that I read -- it would have been 4/10: bad but could be read.

"Bad" is perhaps an exaggeration. It's just miserable. Depressing. And confusing.

There's the standard Prologue: nothing that is obviously related to the material of chapter one. But depressing. Chapter one continues the theme: depressing. One vaguely likable character -- not the narrator. Setting the scene in a miserable environment.

What is really happening ? Who knows. Will the narrator survive ? Who cares.

The story slips roughly into a fragmented flashback. The narrator talking to the pope... or some other religious figure. I forget. Speaking to the pope for some unstated and apparently unrelated reason. I gave up reading.

Perhaps I'm not in the mood to be depressed by a book. I put it down. Three weeks later -- I still cannot bear to read any further.

Four out of ten. Bad but could be read. Based on forty pages of a 500 page book. Enjoyment factor so far: nil.

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Problems ? Solved