When Did Books Get So Freaking Enormous? The Year of the Very Long Novel

ajvenigalla · 12日前

This seems like the kind of thing that could be actually studied, rather than just throwing assumptions and anecdotes around.

It would be easy to just look at the page length of the bestseller lists over the last few decades. Maybe also look at the length of some notable prize winners (Booker, Pulitzer, etc). See if there's any significant change over time.

ethniccake · 19日前

I was more hoping to hear about a host of Dornish and Meereenese folk, each more dull and indistinguishable than the last.

jovtoly · 20日前

It's definitely a myth.

The reason it gets perpetuated is exactly like you describe: parents see their kids eating heaps of sweets and getting hyperactive.

There are two effects here:

1) Kids tend to eat heaps of sweets at exciting events (like parties), where they will be acting hyperactive anyway

2) Parents believe in the 'sugar high' myth actually interpret their kids as being more hyperactive if they have eaten sugar.

People have tested this experimentally. They took a bunch of kids, fed some of them sugar, and some of them placebo. Then the researchers got all their parents to watch them playing, and rate their level of 'hyperactivity'. They found that (a) if parents weren't given any information about which kids ate sugar, they couldn't tell the difference between the two groups. And (b), when the parents of the placebo-fed kids were told (erroneously) that their kids had eaten sugar, they then rated their kids behaviour as far more hyperactive than otherwise.

There's no sugar high. It's a weird, self-perpetuating western myth.

thepkmncenter · 22日前

I'm with you.

I've read the first three books a few times, and AFFC+ADWD once, and I have no idea what happened in Mereen. And people seem interested in questions like "Is the Green Grazlobog the Harpy?" and "Is Hirdaz vo Kumbak plotting against Hrazog lo Blortek?" And I have no idea what any of it means.

I think the whole plot line just passed straight through my head and out my ears, without anything remaining with me.

I'm convinced that no-one really cares about this stuff. There was a 'wish fulfilment' thread here a while back, where people talked about what they wanted to see happening in the remaining books. And there wasn't a single mention of any character from Meeren or Dorne. I'm convinced that people as a whole are far more invested in the actually interesting characters in Westeros.

evadage · 22日前

Yes, The Bantersaurus Rex and his good friend, the Archbishop of Banterbury are both to be confiscated, and detained at the 'Bantanamo Bay' detention camp. They will both be held without trial or legal council for many years, and eventually - when they are old and broken - they will be woken up one cold November night, marched from their cells, and summarily shot in the backs of their banterous heads. Their last thoughts will be of their mothers.

maximus-throwaway · 22日前

I think it's roughly (though not exactly) the split between 'new' and 'old' Labour.

Labour were massively unpopular for many years (18 straight years of Tory rule, four straight election victories 1979-1997).

Labour (previously the party of the trade unions) managed to get elected by re-branding as 'new' Labour, with a shift to the political right (becoming more of a centrist party), moving away from the influence of the unions. New Labour was also accompanied by the use of media spin types (like Alastair Campbell), which the Old Labour people tended to disapprove of.

Blairites tend to be 'new' Labour types (more centrist), and Brownites tend to be closer to 'old' Labour (more socialist).

HotSauceJohnson · 24日前

Blight Town ain't so bad.

Lost Izaleth was truly awful for me, and makes me pause every time I go for a replay. Horrible flat level design, weird dragon ass enemies everywhere, and the whole level suffused with an awful eye-bleedingly neon orange glow (and you have to put up with a 'being burned by lava' sound effect throughout).

Ugh.

Sir_Bantersaurus · 25日前

Plus, he was a real economic heavyweight.

Not only did he have a PhD in economics, he also spent a few years as a research fellow at the centre for the study of global governance at the London School of Economics.

I can't imagine what it must be like for someone like Vince to get into politics and be lectured about economics by George Osborne (whose economic background includes a 2:1 degree in history, and being a freelance writer for The Daily Telegraph).

FaidSint · 25日前

That's right. The whole plot of the movie is him repeatedly going back in time and changing small things, which then changes the future in massive ways (which is why the film is called The Butterfly Effect). Like he'll go back and stop his friend from getting in an accident. Then he returns to the present, and everyone's lives are utterly different because of that one small change. This happens multiple times, and is the whole premise and plot (and title!) of the movie.

Except one single scene where he needs to 'prove' that he time travels... so he goes back in time, wounds his hands, and returns to 1) an identical present, with 2) Everyone shocked that scars just appeared on his hands.

I think it's the most egregious plot hole of all time. Because it violates the entire plot+premise of the movie.

DANDANBAMBAM · 26日前

You can't have an 'efficient market' for healthcare.

The demand for health care is a nearly inelastic demand. And any elasticity is basically bad (think people putting off important procedures because they can't afford it).

This is why the NHS is regularly placed amongst the best healthcare systems in the developed world, and the US system is among the worst. Wanting to move towards a US-like system is madness.

Kiekoes · 26日前

Yeah, you're way too early!

If you've played Dark Souls, this is like reading about Gwyn and the Frampt/Kaathe Primordial Serpent conspiracy just after you've defeated Capra.

Ivashkin · 26日前

Where did this come from? Do you have a link?

beIIe-and-sebastian · 27日前

I think this is pretty likely. Unless there is a massive upset I can't see the Tories getting enough seats to do anything. With Lab+SNP, there's a substantial enough 'Anything But Tory' bloc in the house I'd bet that it'll turn out the way you hope.

beIIe-and-sebastian · 27日前

No Tony Benn??

beIIe-and-sebastian · 27日前

It's the same in a lot of countries.

At least in the US, there are vast swathes of sparsely-populated rural farmland which vote republication, and dense urban concentrations which vote democratic. So, from a map it looks like the country is a wash of conservatives, but in the end it balances out.

O000000 · 28日前

Just hired a load of programmers to trawl through a ton of code, updating the dates into four-figure format. Plus, buying backup systems in case they missed anything.

O000000 · 28日前

Like the other poster said, it was supposed to be this really epic 'evolution simulator', where you design a micro-organism and evolve it right the way up to an advanced galactic civilisation. It was made by the guy that made the original SimCity, SimAnt, SimLife, and other amazing/groundbreaking Sim games.

The annoying thing is that the game looked great. They released videos of it in progress, and it seemed like it was going to be just incredible, detailed, complex, the whole package. For a few years online, it was like this legendary thing that people would talk about.

But, the design team became divided into two factions. One wanted to release a detailed+complex evolution simulator, and the other wanted to make a fun+cartoony game with more mass appeal (particularly to kids). The second faction won, and the game was stripped down and rebuilt in a simpler 'cartoony' way. The final game release basically consists of 5 iPhone-style mini-games.

It's particularly annoying, because it's not even a case of the developer promising and not delivering features. The features were in place, and they were intentionally removed in favour of making a cartoony kids game.

Imagine if Kerbal Space Programme was teased for years, and everyone was super hyped for it. Then, what gets finally released is a cartoony spaceship game, where you just press 'x' to fly, and you go around the Solar System collecting tokens. That was what Spore felt like.

DylanRhymaun · 1ヶ月前

Thank you! I don't understand why it's become conventional+accepted wisdom that Bethesda will be alternating Fallout and Elder Scrolls games. They have been releasing ES games pretty regularly (roughly 5 years between each title) since 1994. From that point of view, we're roughly due an announcement.

They have made a single Fallout game, which just happened to come out in 2008, between Oblivion and Skyrim.

There's no pattern here!

thesaddestkhajiit · 1ヶ月前

It's very vague though. I honestly think it's just badly-written dialogue, if this is the intention.

This is his exact dialogue:

[First encounter]

Well, what do we have here? You must be a new arrival. Let me guess. Fate of the Undead, right? Well, you're not the first. But there's no salvation here. You'd have done better to rot in the Undead Asylum… But, too late now. Well, since you're here… Let me help you out. There are actually two Bells of Awakening. One's up above, in the Undead Church. The other is far, far below, in the ruins at the base of Blighttown. Ring them both, and something happens… Brilliant, right? Not much to go on, but I have a feeling that won't stop you. So, off you go. It is why you came, isn't it? To this accursed land of the Undead? Hah hah hah hah…

[Later]

Hm? What, you want to hear more? Oh, that's all we need. Another inquisitive soul. Well, listen carefully, then… One of the bells is up above in the Undead Church, but the lift is broken. You'll have to climb the stairs up the ruins, and access the Undead Burg through the waterway. The other bell is back down below the Undead Burg, within the plague-infested Blighttown. But I'd die again before I step foot in that cesspool! Hah hah hah hah…

To me this really isn't clear. At this point, the player doesn't know anything about the area layout. You're just told to climb some stars to eventually access one bell, and that the other bell is 'back down below the Undead Burg'. Does 'back down' mean come right down the stairs, back to Firelink, and carry one down? Who knows? To me, this could easily be interpreted as saying the lower bell is accessed through the graveyard.

The fact that this is a really, really common mistake surely implies that the game is doing a bad job of communicating a direction to new players.

thesaddestkhajiit · 1ヶ月前

I don't think he does tell you to go up. He tells you that there are two bells, one up, one down.

There are actually two Bells of Awakening. One's up above, in the Undead Church. The other is far, far below, in the ruins at the base of Blighttown. Ring them both, and something happens… Brilliant, right? Not much to go on, but I have a feeling that won't stop you.

And

One of the bells is up above in the Undead Church, but the lift is broken. You'll have to climb the stairs up the ruins, and access the Undead Burg through the waterway. The other bell is back down below the Undead Burg, within the plague-infested Blighttown.

So it seems he's saying that the order is optional. And at that point, the player doesn't know that the lower bell is accessed via the lower burg and the depths. You just know that there are two possible routes -- one 'up', one 'down'. Combine this with the fact that skeletons are a pretty standard 'first easy enemy' trope, and I can definitely see why players go to the graveyard first.

ChildOfEden · 1ヶ月前

Apologies -- I didn't realise this was a thing.

I guess it depends on your region then. My wife works for the NHS mental health services, and they have no policy of referring people to MIND.

Sorry it didn't work out for you.

ChildOfEden · 1ヶ月前

I would suggest going to your GP and explaining all of this. They can then put you in touch with your local mental health services. NHS mental health services are underfunded, but it is still effective in lots of cases.

There's some more information here:
http://www.nhs.uk/nhsengland/aboutnhsservices/mental-health-services-explained/pages/accessing%20services.aspx

MIND is a charity (not afflicted with the NHS), and all local associations operate independently. Sucks to hear you had a bad experience with them, it could be that your local branch has some difficulties.

Lunaniem · 1ヶ月前

I just found+downloaded it from the UK store -- you have to go into the 'demo' section.

HiFiHair · 1ヶ月前

Wikipedia summarises it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Miliband#Harvard

And he discusses it here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ed-miliband/11384138/Ed-Miliband-Lecturing-at-Harvard-and-advising-the-Treasury-shows-I-have-life-experience.html

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