Readings

I haven't been reading as much as i'm used to... something about having to get up early which means grasping at every available sleeping minute possible. I'm not one of those people who get up early.

But I don't have to get up early anymore! well at least not before sunrise, and so have looked again into my pile of books and found some interesting things. No, haven't yet gotten Half-blood Prince - partly because i cannot remember what happened in the previous book so really shouldn't i re-read that first? - but am slowly working my way through the oeuvre of Diana Wynne Jones, picking up random paperback copies of her books at discount book stores, and recently, thanks to Minzhi's recommendations, have placed orders for Dark Lord of Derkholm, Howl's Moving Castle (finally!) and Castle in the Air from the UNSW bookshop. I like this whole ordering online thing, especially since they charge no delivery fee within the university and offer discounted prices anyway. I ordered the Witches of Eastwick (after reading Yen's review) from them last month and that was easy enough, and yes, so far, plenty of unattractive suburban sex... and some somewhat inexplicable behaviour from these witchy folk. Is the movie any good, does anyone know?

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot is another book on my table... I'm not sure why i picked it up (did someone mention it recently?) but it's very good indeed! So intense, and written so simply and effectively. Wasn't it some cleverish bookmark/placemat/bookofsayings that stated 'Classics are those books that everyone wishes they've read but no one actually wants to read'? I thought that was clever when I was 14, when clever things were cool and it was important to be clever, but since then I've changed my mind and think it's far more difficult to be truthful and meaningful, which is why i hate sayings. I really really hate sayings(aphorisms?) that are supposed to be wise, and state something (usually simple) as if it were revelatory and (yes) clever, but really isn't, because it's far too simplistic and not true!

*vent*

...

which somehow brings me to the epiphany of today, which, i think, is my best answer yet to the question of what makes a good pun.. or, why are all of Bear's puns so terrible?

The answer, I think, at least for me, is that a good pun is one that a pedant does not find fault with. To wit, it is accurate, and not just arrived at by some tenuous link of association, which makes the pun... rarer? Clever and true. Best.

:P