I enjoy many different hobbies and have many different interests. Let me start with the hobby that I have already told you about; I love to watch movies! I especially enjoy science fiction and action movies, particularly those from the 80s and 90s. Movies like Blade Runner and Total Recall that are slightly cheesy from the subtle and sophisticated viewpoint of today but hold an imaginative appeal that I enjoy very much. The most interesting part about watching these movies is marveling at what special effects people were capable of doing before computer graphics ever became possible as a way to create new worlds and show the impossible. The skill and thought that was put into making the miniatures, matte paintings, sets, and lighting that throws the viewer of these movies into another world is simply staggering, and it makes me wish I could have that much skill someday in my life. Check out some of the beautiful artwork in these shots from Alien: Resurrection:

Isn’t it just fantastic? I loove science fiction! Speaking of that, I recently read a book called Schild’s Ladder by Greg Egan, a science fiction writer who does very esoteric and confusing stories about the nature of our universe and the people within it. This story takes place in the very far future, when people’s minds can literally be downloaded and saved onto a computer and “death” as we know it has been wiped out of existence. In this novel, humanity is divided into two types: “acorporeals,” minds that exist without bodies and run on a computer system, and normal, flesh-inhabiting people, who now carry electronic brains and can turn on and off various bodily functions at will. Apparently, an experiment carried out by scientists of this hyper-advanced era messed with the fabric of space and inadvertenly caused a chain reaction which threatens to destroy the universe as we know it. Thus, many people are working to stop this threat to humanity’s existence and figure out a way to reclaim their homes from the expanding ball of nothingness that is wiping these homes out.

However, there are a few people who wish to keep things as they are because this ball of “nothingness” may be humanity’s key to transcending its current state. Although people in this era enjoy the most advanced technology conceivable and don’t need to worry about famine, disease, or death, there are signs that they are beginning to stagnate and feel an oncoming nihilism and pointlessness consume their very souls. Some have resorted to proving exotic mathematical theorems in order to pass time, while others have put their minds on hold until something interesting comes along to justify conscious thought; yet others have decided to terminate their thoughts entirely. This expanding void, however, holds great promises for some; because the laws of this universe, or any other universe conceivable by mankind, occurs within the void, some believe that if they figure out how that universe works, they may be able to cross the border into the void and experience whatever lies inside…

I won’t spoil the ending of the book, but something very substantial and even humane dwells inside the void, and when our adventurers discover this, they embark on a quest to stop the world’s expansion and find a solution to this crisis, which is common to both those on the outside and those on the inside.

Schild’s Ladder and other work by authors such as Greg Egan and Kim Stanley Robinson belong to a realm of science fiction called “hard” sci-fi. Books within this category are made to work within the boundaries of our current body of scientific knowledge, and may be entirely realistic except for the occasional fudging of a scientific rule in order to make a plot device work. Books under this category are the opposite of so-called “space operas,” which are books that completely ignore science in favor of what can best be termed a futuristic fantasy. They ignore obvious facts such as the effect of gamma rays on the human body or the sound of objects floating in space. I enjoy reading hard science fiction more because it gives us a glimpse of what may actually be possible in the future, rather than nostalgic visions of what we would like to be able to do if we could control the laws of the universe.

I also enjoy reading a lot of classic books as well. I have read Moby Dick, the story of a whaling ship whose captain is called Ahab. The protagonist of this story, Ishmael, is a lost soul who goes on the whaling ship to find some sort of adventure and perhaps penance for his life. The story is beautiful, although it is very, very, very long. I really enjoy the cover of the book, which I’ll show you here:

The story is very romantic and full of vivid descriptions of the whaling life and interesting anecdotes on the subject of whales themselves. However, it does become slightly dull at times, and the vocabulary and language in the book is so complex that I often put it down in confusion and frustration. But when I finished the novel, I was very glad I took the trouble to read it. It gave me a better view on the small things in life and gave me a newfound appreciation for the complexity and danger involved in being a whaler.

Anyway, I think I went a little overboard (pardon the pun) in explaining my love for books. I do love them; I could talk for many hours about my interest in the whole Harry Potter series, my dislike of Ralph Ellison, and my interest in cyberthrillers. But all for another day