Zee End is Near! ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

      Zipping things up for this 2023 A to Z Challenge, I have a few Z books to share.   And then I'll zoom outta here until it's time to come back! Like tomorrow.  Until then, I've got this.... 

Zagat Guides

       Not sure how exactly I started acquiring these.  I think I was maybe getting an email newsletter from Zagat and completed some voting surveys for them to be put in the guide for the year.  After the first participation I started getting the surveys every year and then Zagat would send me the book for that survey that I had completed.  The guides are mildly interesting, but not very extensive and, in the case of the restaurant guides, can be rather quickly outdated.  I haven't referred to these in quite some time, but I keep them in a shelf where I display CDs and DVDs.  Pictured are the books that immediately caught my attention, but it's possible there are more of these somewhere in my house.

Zero History by William Gibson

       When I saw this book at the closing sale of my neighborhood Border's Book Store, I decided to snatch it up since it was a nice hardback for only $1.25.  They had a lot of copies left so I presume it had not been a big seller at our Borders location.   Seeing the books on display, I immediately recognized Gibson's name having read some articles and reviews that suggested he was a rather groundbreaking sci-fi author. He is most notable as an innovator of the sci-fi genre labeled "Cyberpunk".  I haven't read this yet, but I guess I should consider this for one of my upcoming reads.

Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

       Though I purchased this speculative novel over fifty years ago, I didn't read it until the latter part of 2022.  So long I had been tempted to read this because I liked the title and the premise of the story.  Also, John Brunner is an author whose books I had previously read and enjoyed.  Since Stand on Zanzibar is a speculative novel that takes place in 2010, the story is a bit ruined by the fact the we know that things didn't turn out quite like Brunner had predicted.  He did come pretty close on some things so that is enough to make the book an interesting artifact.  The writing style was cleverly conceived to imitate the style of mass media communications and the thinking of a drug influenced mind.  In other words, this book has a very sixties feel.  For hard core sci-fi and speculative fiction fans this is well worth delving into, but most readers might find it to be somewhat silly and difficult to accept.  I toiled through this book, but now I'm glad that I finally read it.  It would have probably come across far better if I had read it right after the Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club sent it to me in 1969.  That's the kind of thing that a lot of us were reading back then.

      Zounds!  The alphabet is done with 2023 Reflections to come!

      Do you ever use "guide" books to help you decide on where to eat, what to watch, or whatever you are thinking about checking out?    If you read a speculative novel about a future that has already passed by, do you find it to be a let down of sorts?    Are you a fan of experimental writing styles that are trying to create an effect even though the writing might be a bit confusing to follow?