Liminal spaces are the spaces in-between, the tunnels and doorways, the forgotten parts of our houses used mainly for transit to unknown worlds.
Welcome to Liminal Spaces! This channel features video about books, film, and media in general. There are two main creators for this channel who also happen to be brothers: Chris (the one with the beard) and Jason (the one with no beard). Chris has a bachelors in literature and an MFA in creative writing. Jason has a bachelors in theater and an MFA in acting,
The channel started because we both love talking about movies and books and we decided it would be fun to take these conversations to the internet to talk with more people about the art we love!
It's been decades since I explored the Jerry Cornelius novels, but remember 'The Final Programme' being especially spicy and surprising, less futuristic as I recall than a kind of alternate-universe Sixties, replete with all the psychedelic flavor that made that decade so distinctive and pivotal. In this opening novel, Cornelius is an assured, suave man of the world, but as the series progresses (with the heady Sixties giving way to the disillusioned Seventies and beyond), he becomes a more equivocal figure, a kind of sad clown. I would venture to guess that 'The Final Programme' might be Moorcock's single most famous science fiction effort, if not necessarily his best. Bear in mind that the film adaptation was released Stateside by an alternate title, 'The Last Days of Man on Earth', and it is my understanding that the American release saw some trimming of the original version, though I'm not sure how much of a difference this made overall. I saw the movie version quite a while ago, on a VHS transfer, and I assume it was the American edit I watched. It's a colorful spectacle, making me think of James Bond meets 'A Clockwork Orange', different in spirit from Moorcock's original text but reasonably entertaining for what it was. It's worth a look by anyone who enjoys the original novel.
I have a certain fondness for the movie version - I can certainly appreciate why Michael didn't like it but at the same time it takes me to a world of non conformist experimental madcap adventure that is fairly unique imho. Image that James Bond has resigned, gone rogue, embraced all the shit that he had been working against and discovered that he is merely a small cog in a much greater plan that he didn't even know existed. And that's only the first 20 minutes, it get really crazy after that.
As much as I adore this book, I don't find the firehose or the hedge animals scary. I wish he would have come up with something else in place of those.
The film is both terrible and fascinating. You should watch it. My memories of it are a little bit vague now but back then Moorcock was my favourite author so I had to watch it. It looked cheesy then so god knows what it looks like now. Still, I remember enjoying it for all the wrong reasons. I did try to torrent it a while back but had no luck.
This is not the book for me. I like the MC and was interested in his story, but the wandering, rambling philosophy kills immersion, and the plot. The sci-fi aspects were never addressed directly, leading to a good deal of confusion as to the world setting. There was a description of the cells the torturers lived in compared to the hut in the jungle that completely threw me because i had read the description of the citadel and the towers as medivel, but as Wolfe made a more detailed description of the cells near the end of the book as being made of metal, with metal walls and floors, that destroyed the image of the world that we were made to believe it was. When the MC was finally making progress in the plot and leaving the guild, we are sidelined and delayed as we fall into a never-ending rabbit hole of philosophy with no meaning or point (if there was one, it was not conveyed well enough to be understood). The duel and quest for a flower was contrived, and the gardens were so boring that i wanted to put the book down and walk away. The art of the pros and Wolfes skill as a writer made the book interesting and i do like the MC as a character because i can sense deeper depth into the flat personality he portrays. But as a story with a clear plot with a goal, it falls short.
The trade was great, I'll show off the books you sent me in my next book haul. Hope you enjoy the books, interested to hear what you think of Inverted World and Rax. I don't have any 'I' either. For 'J' Laurence Janifer is one I got recently. I have the same Hole in the Zero, started reading it a while ago and it is wild and trippy, I wasn't in the right mindset for it at the time but really want to read it at some point.
Letter I: Dean Ing. I don't know his novels, only his short stories from the 70s. One in particular sticks out about dolphin psychology called Liquid Assets.
"Star Winds" is an excellent novel. I read it once decades ago and I've been looking for a copy ever since. I also recommend "The Grand Wheel" and "The Garments of Caean". The author is a bit like Jack Vance in that his premises, his settings, are so unusual that it's difficult to get a sense of where the story might go. The only J I can recommend, that you haven't covered, is D.F. Jones. He wrote "Colossus" which was made into "Colossus: The Forbin Project" in 1970. His novel "Earth has been Found" is also good. His characters are a little roughly hewn and simplistic, but the stories are engrossing.
Cool grabs and collection. I've had "The Inverted World" in my watch list for about a month! Sounds like an interesting concept. Is that "To Serve Man" on the cover of that Damon Knight collection? I didn't know he wrote that Twilight Zone episode!
@@LiminalSpaces03 Amazing! You're like a magical genie. Should i finish the trilogy before watching the videos? I'm used to longer fantasy so i'm pretty sure i'll get through these in a month or two. I'm 40% through The Wiard fo Earthsea, and i'm already shocked at how all the naming is clearly an inspiration for Rothfuss. I read Rothfuss and thought, oh wow how cool is the whole 'Naming' idea, without realizing how much came from le guin. Also same can be said with Harry Potter and wizard school! Apart from lord of the rings, the earliest fantasy i have read is wheel of time. So it's really shocked but delighted me in the way in which le guin tells the story. It's very old school. Like a 'tale' of old. Like it moves at a super quick pace. Like if the wizard of earthsea was a modern fantasy, the 40%that i have already of book 1, would already make up 3 x 200,000 word books. The old school fantasy moves quick man. I love your channel man, and i'll also be checking out your music channel which you mentioned. As a 41 year old guy, my recent tastes have been very 70s rock, like Ram Jam etc... and i'm kinda guessing you might be in that vibe? But i also could be totally wrong and your music channel is all about contemporary german trance music. Anyway, i'm absoluetly loving that your channel exists. By that i mean, you're not jsut some young punk who is chasing the algorithm, and then when you get a bit of success you then just start dropping one piece anime reviews to keep the clicks going. You are genuine in your passion, and i love it!!
I have a sci-fi book club hardback of 'Best of Kuttner'...I think he wrote 'The Last Mimzy'....How about Dean Koontz? not sure if he fits the category...
That is where I knew him from! He and his wife, C.L. Moore, collaborated on stories under the pseudonym Lewis Padgett. Together they wrote Mimsy were the Borogroves! I love that story, I plan to do video on it sooner than later. Thanks for watching and the reminder!
I’m looking forward to that Lord of Light review. I’ve heard great things about Zelazy but when I first tried him with Jack of Shadows, I was extremely disappointed. He will get a second chance if I ever see a copy of Lord of Light in the wild, as the premise sounds fascinating. Recently I finished The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You by Dorothy Bryant. It’s a mystical book with a focus on relationships and personal transformation but still thought I would mention it, in case you might enjoy it. I did.
Ooh, we're lining up well on this one. Beggers In Spain is a great gateway Science Fiction book and often overlooked, Lord of Light and Inverted World are top tier classics and Ice will be part of our December read-along.
I was surprised how little Beggars in Spain is talked about! The first 50 pages of Lord of Light have been incredible, and I might join you with the Ice read along in December, I've been wanting to read it and doing it with a community would be fun!
I am eternally jealous of that Children of Men hardcover. It's a great book and I have never seen that edition in the wild. For the love of Odin, do not give me your address, I don't trust myself.
Greetings, Like your channel, I never before considered reading science fiction books, but you inspired me to read them. Right now, I'm working my way to catch up. Maybe I didn't notice if somebody had mentioned it, but there is this novel - The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan, that also deals with spaces.
You're really missing out on some amazing movies. Just because you're older doesn't mean you shouldn't watch animated films. The tractor and some of the other scenes in this film were rotoscoped. For example the lantern Mrs. Brisby, Mr. Ages, and Justin use to descent into the rats lair was a lantern Don had found one day while out shopping. This is my all-time favorite film. I saw it on my birthday when I was seven in 1982 and I've seen it thousands of times since. As far as how Don got Dom Deluise it was very similar to how Robin Williams was enticed to do the Genie in Aladdin. Don called him up and asked him if he'd like to voice the character, and they pretty much let him riff off of the character in the studio.
I read the Final Programme. Be sure to mention the entire Cornelius Chronicles and Moorcock’s overarching Eternal Champion concept. Library Ladder covered it .
As soon as I read this line I knew I wasn't putting it down 'No wonder there is only one of him; the wonder is that there should be any at all. Where did he come from?"
I was going to put the Annihilation movie in my queue when I realized that it was already there from your guys discussion of Roadside Picnic/Stalker. Final Programme is now in my movie queue.
Ahhhhh SO PLEASED you love this story! Easily in my top ten Lafferty stories. Your praise of its philosophical sophistication makes me feel better about making 3 (THREE!) videos on it (over three hours in total) haha! I was inspired by the Alzabo Soup Gene Wolfe podcast doing two episodes on Snuffles (my third was in response to theirs). I couldn't agree more that it would make a great film (I talked a bit about this too). I basically talked about it as a wonder planet but hadn't actually made the clear connection Alice in Wonderland! Doh! Nicely observed. Thanks for the shout out! Can't wait to have our conversation in a few days! 😊😊 And I really enjoyed watching the whole tale of our series of reviews and responses as well.
totally agree about Annihilation. the director tried to distill the series into a movie. it required a 20 part show to do it justice. many many elements were left out. BTW we were yakking about A Voyage to Arcturus last week. it begins in a tower with peculiar _lenses_ . coincidence?
Hi, I'm following you from Italy. Your videos are great and help me broaden my reading and improve my writing. A funny story about Hawkwind: about twenty years ago a friend of mine who was passionate about hard rock and psychedelia saw a poster from the bus while crossing the city of Padua. When he got home he told everyone that he saw that Hawkwind was coming to play in town. For a few hours we were all excited, but we soon discovered the truth. He had misread: the poster announced a conference by Stephen HAWKING. Maybe a great day for physics, but a terrible one for psychedelic rock. (ps: sorry for my English - it's not my language)
I got my parents to videotape this when it was on TV (it was on late at night). I watched it during the holidays and loved it ever since. There was a rich era of kid's fantasy movies in the 1980s that seems to have become entirely animated these days. I've watched the entirety of Gilliam's films and hit or miss; there's something unique about the films you'd recognise as Terry Gilliam as soon as they start.
Once again Chris you gathered up the various ideas, critiques, and praise about a story and project and clear, concise, and even handed review. And you make it all look easy. Wonderful job !👏👏👏
Even when Lafferty confuses me, I still like his work. There's a talent there, or a core of power - call it whatever you like, but Lafferty had it IMO. Especially in his short stories.
