Name that book?

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by ClareK

I have just found the information I was looking for - the short story is "Exit" by Harry Farjeon, in case anyone else is interested.

Excellent. "Never mind. I found it!" is far too prevalent.

Originally Posted by Polly7

If anyone could help that would be good, as I first read this book when I was 12/13 and its been bugging me for around severn years now.

Does that mean that you're 20 now? You immediately forgot and it's been bugging you ever since? I ask because framing the time might help in debugging you.

I managed to make it through without any parrot jokes. I deserve a cracker.

[Sagan6]

I read a short story about 18 years ago and I can not remember the title of the story. It was about an exploratory expedition on another planet. The were collecting species for study and came across a large wolf like creature with 6 legs. The creature was sentient and a lot of the narrative was through its eyes. After it seen the humans it commented on the usefulness of their hands. I think that it has control over its form or DNA because it was gonna make its inside limbs handlike. I have searched everywhere and can not find it again. Please help me.

[Chris Jones]

I'm looking for the title & author of a short story where the hero loses his way while visiting some caves and works himself into a state of panic and despair because he can picture himself dying of hunger in those caves. Presumably he was staying at a hotel or such and didn't tell anyone where he was going. The guy must have been mentally unstable to begin with.. because after walking for hours and hours in those caves looking for an exit, he eventually sees the light at the end of a gallery.. So he runs towards the exit, but then as he sees the light becoming larger and larger he has some kind of a hallucination and starts to think that it is in fact a large rock or translucent fireball rushing at him down the gallery. And so he turns around and runs back into the caves trying to get away from the huge rock that he thinks is going to crush him.

I might be wrong about that but I have a vague feeling I read it in one of the romance languages, possibly French.. (?)

Any ideas..?

[GrannyGrump]

Here is a challenge for you:
I'm trying to find a title I read in the mid-nineties. But I got it at a book-swap and don't know when it was published. Probably no earlier than the 1970's. I don't know the author's name, but I'm quite sure the author was female. I don't remember the names of any of the characters either.

This novel took place in the Southern U.S. in the early twentieth century (or was it late nineteenth? Long dresses.). The protaganist was a young woman age 16/18 who was orphaned and nearly penniless, and turned the family home into a boarding house. She gets involved in all kinds of problems with her eccentric boarders and hired help (not "staff" and not "old family retainers"). One of the boarders was an elderly man being "warehoused" by his unloving family, who was discovered to be very wealthy and wished to use that wealth to help his young landlady, much to the family's dismay. There were, of course, two young men competing for the girl's interest. I *think* I remember that one was a poor young doctor, and the other was a wealthy southern "aristocrat".

I remember being very amused by this book. It was NOT a period romance novel, the focus was on her ludicrous misadventures.

Well, I hope that was all vague enough to do the job. I'll be back online on Monday. Maybe one of you good folks will have good news for me.

Thanks.

[Mike L]

One question: you say the novel was set in the "the south". The south of what? Where I live, "the south" means England. But maybe you mean the southern US states, or the south of Europe? It would help to know which.

I don't recognise the book from your description. But, if you do mean the southern US, then it sounds like it might be by Edna Ferber. I can't point you to any particular story, but it does seem to be her style.

In any case, I hope you manage to find it.

Mike

[GrannyGrump]

Nope, not Ferber, sorry to say (I am a BIG Ferber fan.)
I *think* this book was written no earlier than the late 1970's.

You are right about the "South", that was a tad presumptuous to assume readers would know I meant US. I will amend the first post, thanks.

[BenG]

What was the name of the Ray Bradbury short story with the same premise as the new movie Gravity: two(?) astronauts stranded in space with nothing but their spacesuits.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by BenG

What was the name of the Ray Bradbury short story with the same premise as the new movie Gravity: two(?) astronauts stranded in space with nothing but their spacesuits.

"Kaleidoscope"?

[BenG]

That's it! Thanks, I wasn't at home to checks my books.

[yearning]

I read a novel about the russian revolution around 5 years back. i really liked it. i would love to read it again but i have forgotten the title. i have the broad contours of the story in my mind. i will tell those and hope that somebody can come up with the title.

it is about a british military/intelligence officer in india who is deputed to russia and sees the whole revolution unfold before his eyes.

i would really appreciate if someone could help, thanks!

[svaggly]

Ok so I've got two unidentified books,

the first is about two girls, one girl in modern times whose parents are archaeologists and discover the skeletons of these "missing link" neanderthals, the other pov which runs parallel is from one of these "missing link" neanderthals who is also a little girl, and its super cool how their communication is described (because they don't have spoken language or anything)

the other im still not sure even exists, it might be a novel or a short story or a movie or maybe i just dreamed the whole thing!

But basically, its about this teen girl who is (maybe?) and orphan and lives in this huge manor house thing with an estranged male relative who is really mysterious and generally regarded as a horrible person, I think its kind of hinted that he is a vampire, or people think he is (and in fact he isnt?) but the girl has some weird beauty and the beaast connection with him, but she isnt allowed to leave the house, but her parents deaths are really weird and she wants to investigate them and i think she finds out she has a grandmother alive still maybe. anyway i think there is some hint of romance between the evil guy and her, and its definately set sometime post 40s because they have cars. I know it ssounds kinda like dark shadows/beautiful creatures but its a lot less overt with the fantasy elements, theyre kinda more abstract.

WOULD SO APPRECIATE IF ANYONE RECOGNISES THESE!

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by svaggly

Ok so I've got two unidentified books,

the first is about two girls, one girl in modern times whose parents are archaeologists and discover the skeletons of these "missing link" neanderthals, the other pov which runs parallel is from one of these "missing link" neanderthals who is also a little girl, and its super cool how their communication is described (because they don't have spoken language or anything)

This sounds somewhat like Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear. It was a Hugo Award nominee and a Nebula Award winner in 2000(?). It has the neanderthal and modern POVs (mostly the modern) and the anthropologists, but the story is not about two girls. I would not be surprised to hear that the second book (Darwin's Children) has POVs from the girls perspective but I have not read it. Here is the blurb from Amazon for the first:

“Virus hunter” Christopher Dicken is a man on a mission, following a trail of rumors, government cover-ups, and dead bodies around the globe in search of a mysterious disease that strikes only pregnant women and invariably results in miscarriage. But when Dicken finds what he’s looking for, the answer proves to be stranger—and far deadlier—than he ever could have imagined. Something that has slept in human DNA for millions of years is waking up.

Molecular biologist Kaye Lang has spent her career tracing ancient retroviruses in the human genome. She believes these microscopic fossils can come to life again. But when Dicken’s discovery becomes public, Lang’s theory suddenly turns to chilling fact. As the outbreak of this terrifying disease threatens to become a deadly epidemic, Dicken and Lang must race against time to assemble the pieces of a puzzle only they are equipped to solve—an evolutionary puzzle that will determine the future of the human race . . . if a future exists at all.

Even if this isn't the book you were thinking of, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it!

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Two nights ago I finished New Year Island, which was a great read. Normally I'm not one to guess who the bad guy is but this book kept me guessing.

I'm now half way through The Anonymous Venetian, third book in the Commissario Brunetti series, my favourite cozy series at the moment. I love it how the mystery at times is less important than than Venice, its citizens, food and Guido's family. It reminds me a bit f Midsomer Murder (the tv series at least).

Wrong thread?

[James_Wilde]

"There was a wandering Chinese named Chang Wan…and a girl named Shirley."

I guess most people in here will recognize the above line. It comes from the film 'Out of Africa' and purports to be the first line of a story told by Karen Blixen for Denys Finch Hatton and Barclay Cole. As a reward, Finch Hatton - according to the film - gave Blixen a pen with the instructions to 'write them down', 'them' being the stories she told.

I wonder if anyone who has read more of Karen Blixen's work than I have knows whether she ever wrote down this particular story and, if she did, give me a lead to finding it. English or Danish will do. I'm fluent in Swedish and can cope with written Danish.

TIA

PS to the moderators: Can't offhand think of a better forum for this question.

[Dr. Drib]

The post above has been moved out of the General Discussion Forum and moved to the correct forum and to the correct thread.




Don
(Moderator)