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mark monday's Reviews > The Difference Engine
The Difference Engine
by
by
STEAMPUNK SALAD
3 (5-ounce) cans solid Victorian Era packed in water
1/2 cup minced Bruce Sterling
1/2 cup minced William Gibson
1/4 cup Technological Speculation
1 hard-boiled Spy Thriller, chopped in large pieces
1 soft-boiled Detective Tale, finely minced
3 Major Characters, lukewarm
1 Mysterious Box of Computer Punch Cards
Salt and Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Ambition
STEP 1
Place Victorian Era in fine-mesh strainer and press dry with paper towels. Transfer to medium bowl and mash with fork until finely flaked. Microwave Bruce Sterling and William Gibson with Ambition until both authors begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Fold in authors, Technological Speculation, Spy Thriller, and Detective Tale into Victorian Era and mix until bland and without individualistic flavor.
STEP 2
Stir 3 Major Characters and 1 Mysterious Box of Computer Punch Cards into mixture. VERY IMPORTANT: mix thoroughly! Mixture must remain insipid and uninspiring. Add discreet amounts of Salt and Pepper. Salad can be refrigerated in airtight container for several decades.
3 (5-ounce) cans solid Victorian Era packed in water
1/2 cup minced Bruce Sterling
1/2 cup minced William Gibson
1/4 cup Technological Speculation
1 hard-boiled Spy Thriller, chopped in large pieces
1 soft-boiled Detective Tale, finely minced
3 Major Characters, lukewarm
1 Mysterious Box of Computer Punch Cards
Salt and Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Ambition
STEP 1
Place Victorian Era in fine-mesh strainer and press dry with paper towels. Transfer to medium bowl and mash with fork until finely flaked. Microwave Bruce Sterling and William Gibson with Ambition until both authors begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Fold in authors, Technological Speculation, Spy Thriller, and Detective Tale into Victorian Era and mix until bland and without individualistic flavor.
STEP 2
Stir 3 Major Characters and 1 Mysterious Box of Computer Punch Cards into mixture. VERY IMPORTANT: mix thoroughly! Mixture must remain insipid and uninspiring. Add discreet amounts of Salt and Pepper. Salad can be refrigerated in airtight container for several decades.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
March 24, 2011
– Shelved
March 24, 2011
– Shelved as:
fog-and-gears
February 15, 2012
– Shelved as:
rain-man-reviews
Comments Showing 1-50 of 62 (62 new)
message 1:
by
Wendy Darling
(new)
Oct 20, 2011 10:55PM
Sounds unappetizing.
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a surprisingly bland and disappointing dish!
oh but I loved this book when I read it, I had all sorts of epiphanies - although it was quite a while ago now. I like your receipe!
but now i want to know all about those epiphanies!
I read it in 2001 -I was struck with how baroque the story was - full of noisy abundance of details taken from everywhere and stitched together. It made me think I could do things I had never tried. Learned then how to take a computer apart & fix it, tinker with my car, & try out a bunch of archaic art techniques. It was 11 years ago. I guess it opened up possibities.
my gosh, it sure did! that's an awesome reaction to a book.
mark wrote: "my gosh, it sure did! that's an awesome reaction to a book."I wish I could find more books that did that for me, not necessary to be steampunk/scifi. I get glimmers here and there but it's elusive. Right now I'm reading about Olives - locally grown books first but now onto olives in Liguria (Italy). There's something about Lime we have forgotten that is really interesting.... babble babble
now you've got me thinking on whether i've been influenced in similar ways by a book. maybe Catcher in the Rye. although i suppose that is a cliche.
mark wrote: "now you've got me thinking on whether i've been influenced in similar ways by a book. maybe Catcher in the Rye. although i suppose that is a cliche."I still haven't read that one!!!! How have you been influenced by that book?
probably more in outlook than in action. although perhaps action came from that outlook, so to speak. it sure helped me to realize that wanting to get away from people sometimes wasn't the worst thing in the world - but also, sometimes, it ends up feeling like the worst thing in the world. and it had a good perspective on kids and how they can be pretty awesome. not Holden necessarily (although him too at times) but his perspective on his kid sister, who reminded me of my kid sister.
mark wrote: "probably more in outlook than in action. although perhaps action came from that outlook, so to speak. it sure helped me to realize that wanting to get away from people sometimes wasn't the worst th..."Outlook is often more important than action - I wouldn't judge which sort is better, and outlook precedes action anyway. So it's all good. I feel bad I haven't got round to reading this yet. Surely nearly everyone on the planet has done so. ;0
Clever format. I may have to consider reading this before I destash it.
thanks CBM! it was fun to write.
This book has been setting on my shelf for a gazillion years and after reading your review it wouldn't hurt to let it set for another gazillion years. Great Review Mark.
thanks Jeffrey. it's such a simple review but rather mystifyingly popular. maybe folks dig recipes. or maybe they just found the novel to be as bland & disappointing as i did, who knows.
I'd just like to say that the 'recipe' formula is a huge cliche - only because I used it myself early on in a creative writing college course I took and this very same observation that I make above was delivered to me 20 years ago. You've done it quite well, but it is still a huge cliche . Hope you take this comment in the spirit that it's meant - once it was pointed out to me, I immediately recognised the truth of it and never did it again.
mark wrote: "er.... thanks?"er... no worries? lol
Huh. I remember really liking this book. perhaps I wouldn't be as impressed today? I've been thinking of re-reading it, since I keep wanting to bring it up in discussions with people but forgetting all kinds of details.
Also: I don't know a damned thing about steampunk, but I thought this book was better than Neuromancer. Computers are boring!
i tried rereading Difference Engine a bit ago (for this review) and couldn't finish it - so it definitely didn't improve with age for me.but i reread Neuromancer for a group read, and i think i enjoyed it a lot more than the first read. i remember being really intrigued the first time, but also quite confused and often annoyed. not so much the second time.
So far I think my favourite Gibson book was the one about people living under the bridge in San Francisco. There was some kind of corporate hijinks going on and a girl with some special glasses. His books are such quick reads with a nice, friendly style, but I always end up forgetting loads of details afterwards.
i wonder which one that is. Pattern Recognition?
This review amused me--again! I was going to give it a like and saw that I had already done so. Why oh why can't we do multiple votes?!?
3 Major Characters, lukewarmPerfect description of characters one could plausibly convey in the briefest yet the clearest way possible.
you had me at 'microwave until authors soften.'bravo, man. bravo.
well thank you, Mr. Nuts.
Sounds like it needs seasoning.Jeffrey wrote: "This book has been setting on my shelf for a gazillion years and after reading your review it wouldn't hurt to let it set for another gazillion years. Great Review Mark."
That only improves wine and spirits ;)
I just reread this thread and for some reason particularly enjoyed George's critical little comment from 2012. then I went to his profile and noted that it was the only comment he's ever made on Goodreads. I'm honored!
Yes, George's little critique was just the right seasoning to complete this comment thread. I think cliches are delicious when done right, yum!
Haha, I love this recipe-review! Very clever
thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, I did a recipe-review a while ago. I wonder if on some subconscious level I was imitating yours? (view spoiler)
since you are one of my many online alter egos that make up roughly 75% of all goodreads users, i have no doubt that all of my thoughts & actions are your template. nice try though, mark, you almost had me convinced you were a separate person!
mark wrote: "since you are one of my many online alter egos that make up roughly 75% of all goodreads users, i have no doubt that all of my thoughts & actions are your template. nice try though, mark, you almos..."I think I'm a clone now...
I love talking to myself! this has been a great conversation, marks!
Moist and delicious (the review, not the reviewed), but I ain't mincing William Gibson.
girl, I thought mincing came natural to you!
*feels a powerful and renewed attraction to you both*
sounds like someone's down for a double team.Kafka, let's do this.
I laughed out loud.I also cried a bit inside because I've already bought this book and so will have to chew through this salad at some point.
fortunately for you (maybe), my perspective appears to be a minority view on the book.
Wow amazing recipe Mark. Now I'm sure that this dish will make me vomit, so I'd rather ignore it completely :)
I don't know if it will make you vomit, it's not that bad, but there are plenty of much more delicious dishes out there!
