reading suggestion

Songs of Summer-Robert Silverberg

A futuristic peaceful society almost gets ruined by the ambition of a current time greedy man. Might help some of us realize what's important in life. Short story. About 30 pages.

"The Songs of Summer (1956)
M: Science Fiction Stories, September 1956
M: Authentic, July 1957

This story is a frustrating combination of fascinating and annoying. The future post-apocalypse society is really interesting, a convincing portrayal of an unusual and peaceful people. The twentieth century man unexpectedly thrown into the future is greedy, selfish, and downright obnoxious (which I suppose is the point, but that doesn't mean I like it). There are some signs of the lyrical writing Silverberg would later develop."

You might find it at the used books store for a few bucks as part of a stories collection book.

"A futuristic peaceful society almost gets ruined by the ambition of a current time greedy man. Might help some of us realize what's important in life."

Just Curious,What makes the people from the futuristic society so different from the present one? You wrote they are unusual and peaceful...are they maybe genetically modified?

hmm...You believe in "utopia" I see. Interesting!

The middle part is from a review online, not me.

The few that survived destruction never managed to rebuild the old society so they grew closer together as living beings in a life of simplicity and joy. They are few, closely connected mentally and live in absolute unknowing of violence and treachery.

I do believe in utopia, in a different dimension/earth. This current humanity has already gone too far down the wrong path. It will have to be destroyed for a new humanity to rise and maybe be better than this.

There is a choice, for development of the material or the spiritual. The material has come first this time, so everything is wrecked. If the spiritual comes first, then the material side can appear without excess and foolishness.

"The few that survived destruction never managed to rebuild the old society so they grew closer together as living beings in a life of simplicity and joy. They are few, closely connected mentally and live in absolute unknowing of violence and treachery."

Sounds like the ideal situation...but do you think it's feasible? I mean aren't human beings known for their predisposition for greed and aggresiveness...the spiritual side always seems to be the last thing on their mind when they are competing for something.
so in a situation where you have to rebuild the society from ashes...shouldn't there be more aggression and less spirituality?

Btw, I don't believe in "Utopia"...it seems everyone's idea of utopia is different.So there cannot exist a single Utopian society where everyone is happy and content. So you like sci-fi novels eh? me too. 🙂
Who are your favorite writers?

Human beings are a clean slate, they developed in the direction we know now, but a good and spiritual humanity was also possible. Some small tribes and societies are living this kind of life right now. Maybe you'd like to read about the Rajneeshpuram experiment when you get the time.
From the story, i can tell that they never intended to rebuild society the way it is now, it leads to competition, waste and war. Life becomes empty and fast.

I like Asimov a lot, i've read many books of his, some sci-fi, detective and science. I discovered Ben Bova with Orion, a tale of love and a fight against the devil at different eras, it's fascinating. All of his books are pretty good so far.
I've also read some A C.Clarke, but besides the Odyssey series, he seems to be all over the place and doesn't have very good storytelling skills. He doesn't end his stories in a good manner.
Silverberg is cool too, he wrote Nightfall with Asimov. And Larry Niven, with the Lucifer's Hammer novel, which is pretty much the story of New Orleans on a planetary scale.
I want to read Starship Troopers, i really liked that movie.

Your turn.

Umm ?Rajneeshpuram experiment??I thought that was a film on Rajneesh? Is there a book too? I don?t know much about that cause I haven?t seen the film. What?s it about anyway?

I totally agree with you, for some reason I don?t like A.C. Clark?s writing either. I am a big fan of Frank Herbert?s Dune series and Tolkein?s books. I like Asimov a lot too. I?m also fond of classic sci-fi novels like those by Huxley or H.G.Wells. I?ve read a few by Niven and I liked them. I haven?t read any by Ben Bova though?maybe I should look him up . Have you read Dan Brown?s ?Da vinci code?? my sister?s been bugging me to read that book..it?s supposed to be really good... (it?s not a sci-fi, it?s more like a thriller).

I read about the experiment a little, some kind of closed society that they tried for a few years, self-suficient, no waste, communist, some kind of utopia. They chose the right people though, the people make the system, not the other way around.

Clarke's 2010 and 2061 are cool though, i like them better than 2001, but i've given up on the rest. I'll have a lot of reading to do when i get around to Herbert, i will, i swear. I've only read LOTR, but i'm sure JRR has some other cool stuff, i have this album called Nightfall in Middle-Earth, by Blind Guardian, which is a story set in the Silmarillion environment. A bit orchestral, very well done.

The thing with DaVinci is that it keeps you reading, i read it in 24 hours, it's non-stop and exciting. However, the ending is so bad and there is such a bad feeling after reading it that it's depressing. I wish i'd never read the end, it's just that clumsy and crappy. Now i have mixed memories.

Hmm, it seems like I?m the only person left on the planet who hasn?t read the Da vinci code yet. I hear they are also making a movie starring Tom Hanks. So you think the ending is clumsy and crappy eh? I?ll let you know what I think after I?ve read it. You seem to know a lot about music.Do you play in a band?

I have been in bands and stuff, but right now i only have projects. I've been composing for a year and also considering a Sonata Arctica tribute band. I'm kinda poor at the moment so it would be difficult to start a project. I also tend to like technical stuff, so i have to be able to play the songs. I can't even play some of my own songs.

I'll make sure i don't see the movie, just like i avoided the Asimov movies. Movies suck so bad.

I see you are one of those creative geniuses who are always busy with one interesting project or another.I wish I had that creative streak in me, then I wouldn't get bored so often.Which musical instruments do you play? I guess you have to know a lot about high tech stuff now a days to create music.


"I'll make sure i don't see the movie, just like i avoided the Asimov movies. Movies suck so bad."

LOL, I somewhat agree with you...the dune movie sucked so bad,I was so disappointed after seeing it. Anyway I liked Peter Jackson's version of LOR, so they are not always so bad.

Not a very productive genius though, i think and overthink, but i act very little. I'm still young for a cancer though, so we'll see. There's the tribute thing, an extreme metal project and i also started composing for guitar/cello, but i'm not good enough yet to do all i want to do.

Recording music isn't too hard and it's kinda fun, hi-tech doesn't mean it's not user-friendly. I used to have some equipment and manage to do ok. I'm an electric guitar player, and i can do a little bit on the kyeboards, but not much. I'll have to branch out to classical and acoustic soon.

I think you just have to find something that really stimulates you, accordion or knitting, or whatever.

LOTR was an anomaly, a happy mistake, there's no way a project this big and this wide could be this good, it's like a miracle, as much as i like Jackson. I'm glad the Foundation series still isn't made into film, but the LOTR thing makes me wonder sometimes.

Hmm, all of that sounds really exciting. So who are your influences beside Sonata Arctica? I hope you don?t think I?m being too nosey here. I know when I find someone interesting, I?ve this habit of asking all sorts of weird questions. So just tell me when to shut up.🙂

?I think you just have to find something that really stimulates you, accordion or knitting, or whatever.?

Interesting suggestions?I?ll have to try knitting, I hear it helps to improve your power of concentration. But my problem isn?t really finding something interesting?I find trivial things in life interesting?it?s constancy of that interest.

I hope you are not right about LOTR being an anomaly simply b/c I really want to see more films of that caliber in future.

Eh, i love talking about myself, i'm quite egotistical, only child and few people have paid attention to me, so don't apologize.
The first guitar player i noticed is Matthias Jabs, who plays with Scorpions, he's the one who plays the melodic stuff at the beginning of Wind of change during the whistling, he plays unusual stuff and is very fast during heavier songs. He's the reason i play guitar.
There's also Marty Friedman, who played with Megadeth, but also recorded several mellow solo albums. He has a unique right hand technique and mixes heavy rock with oriental sounding scales, like the chinese scale for exemple. I play the same guitar that he used to play, a Jackson Kelly. He also used to be in a band called Cacophony with Jason Becker, a very young virtoso. They played classical music with a thrash metal sound. Jason is now paralyzed because of a disease, and i'm supposed to get a tribute cd that i bought on ebay soon. From a technical standpoint, they were incredible, kinda like composer and violinist Nicolo Paganini, which i also love very much. His 24 caprizzios has been adapted for classical guitar, and that's just impossible to play, just insane.
Luca Turilli, from the italian band Rhapsody, includes classical music into the power metal genre very well, and their music would fit in a movie like LOTR, you can just close your eyes and see the dragons and swords and battles.
A guitar player who used to play with Scorpions in the 70s, Uli Jon Roth, now plays classical music, he adapted Vivaldi's 4 seasons and various pieces. He began with a style similar to Hendrix, but more fluid and without the drugs.He also designed a weird guitar that he uses now. You can feel his soul when he's playing, he's very impressive. He's into meditation and stuff, he can probably levitate, he might not be human.

As for the cancer guitarists, there is Yngwie Malmsteen, a swede that followed in the footsteps of Roth, he borrowed a style violinists use and plays it on the guitar. His music is hard rock with classical elements, his instrumental pieces are beautiful.
Another one is John Petrucci, he formed the band Dream Theater, they play a heavy version of progressive music. His technique is out of this world, and the music is really out there sometimes. Their concept album Scenes from a memory is a masterpiece.

You'll probably be able to listen to most of them on cdnow.com in one of your bored moments. Don't forget to give your opinion.

I'll definitely get back to you on that one...there's nothing more I enjoy doing than
giving my opinion on something as interesting as this...Take care.

I'll be away for a while, take your time and find suggestions of your own.

Psst, it's like we have our own little chatroom here, grrrr...