Book Fail Helpline

[pieces o nine]

Swato, do you still have a log-in for TOP? 

There's a member presenting (seriously) as a Sami shaman who might be a resource for you. If you dropped your account, I could ask him for print resources, if you wish.

[Swatopluk]

Not been there for years. I am a bit hesitant to call on someone with personal connections to the topic because I intend to (ab)use said info for the belated April hoax. Around here I can assume that it would be understood as my usual Cthulic activity without any sinister intent. But the persecution of the Sami (a main target of the witch trials) is, I think, as sensible a topic as the Armenian genocide in WW1 is to Turks and Armenians.
I could order some literature directly from Norway but that would be rather expensive. I'll see, if one of the local universities has some of the stuff on my list. If not I'll have to drop some of the 'authenticity' I intended and simply make stuff up (I mean in addition to the stuff I make up anyway as part of the hoax).
What could help is, if someone here had access to academic sources (e.g. journals) he or she could scan and send me as a pdf.

[Griffin NoName]

What could help is, if someone here had access to academic sources (e.g. journals) he or she could scan and send me as a pdf.

I do, articles are all online so no scanning necessary, downloadable as PDF, but it breaks copyright I think, have been asked before, but won't. Too law abiding me. And haven't bothered to read the small print as to whether it does break copyright.

[Swatopluk]

In the case of the articles I know of specifically, they are not online and for one I'd have to open a facebook account, which I won't do. But one is included in abook printed in Germany, so that might be available somewhere around here. Some stuff is probably only available in Norway itself. I could of course contact the author but given what I intend to use the info for, this would be very bad style.

[Griffin NoName]

The author(s) may be pleased to be part of an April FooL??

No, can't go to Sheffield, which is library I have access to, physically, too far.

I may go to Cambridge, where I am sure I could get access to the University Library (copyright library, so more likely to have books, probably not borrowable) but unlikely to go for a year or too........sorry! If you still need it summer after next, try asking me again.

[Swatopluk]

I just found out that one of the more promising texts is in a book in English printed in Germany and (according to the catalogue) available at the library of the TU Berlin, i.e. my old alma mater that I can reach in half an hour
I hope
a) that the library is not closed this week
b) the book is there and not lent out

As I said in a post above, the topic is quite sensitive, so involving personally connected people is a minefield. People that have been mercilessly persecuted for alleged devil worship for centuries* may not appreciate a hoax that alleges that they actually worshipped Cthulhu. I guess Inuit are not fond of Lovecraft either given how he described them in his famous story.

*within living memory actually.

[The Meromorph]

But I love the almost realtime element of LotR, and the poems as well. Maybe i'm one of the odd ones out here, but I loved it all. PoN, we need words on your views on Tolkein and Herbert!

Bradbury, Heinlein, and Wells are great authors, but i've never taken the plunge with McCaffrey, Norton, and White. One of my most treasured books is a first edition of The Time Machine (UK edition), which has been read many times.

I would draw your attention to Spider Robinson, Elizabeth Moon, and Sherri S Tepper.

[Swatopluk]

This article seems to be available online at a number of universities but none I have access to. Anybody here in a better position?

Hagen, Rune Blix. "Sami shamanism: the arctic dimension." Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft. University of Pennsylvania Press. 2006

[Griffin NoName]

Checked my Uni.  They have it in their search results, but they don't have the text online.

Actually I shall probably be writing about shamanism in my essay, so it may have been of interest to me -

[Roland Deschain]

Thanks, The Meromorph. More to add to my list for future perusal!

[Griffin NoName]

I love the way The Meromorph pops up occasionally.

It makes me think that we all witter away and he just drops in and wisely sets us straight

[pieces o nine]

I would draw your attention to Spider Robinson, Elizabeth Moon, and Sherri S Tepper.

Mero, I didn't know you read Sherri Tepper! I discovered a first edition -- in pristine condition -- of The Gate to Women's Country in a remainder bin back in college.  (I re-read it every couple years, enjoying my own changing reactions, much like the actresses performing Iphigenia!)  Thereafter, I found first editions of subsequent works at regular intervals under the same circumstances, until I finally decided that I *owed* her purchasing them properly, in appreciation. 

Although, by the time I got to The Fresco, I thought her pet theme was becoming a teensy bit repetitive and redundant...   

A favorite quote: a deity character is talking with a female protagonist, answering her peeve at [his] failure to be OOO per her expectations, specifically notknowing her name. [He] responds that of course he knows her -- he made her and has always known her, but then admits, "I didn't know you call yourself Margery."

[Griffin NoName]

A favorite quote: a deity character is talking with a female protagonist, answering her peeve at [his] failure to be OOO per her expectations, specifically notknowing her name. [He] responds that of course he knows her -- he made her and has always known her, but then admits, "I didn't know you call yourself Margery."

Probaby did not know she was an Agony Aunt  either !

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

I think I remember that one The Gate to Women's Country or perhaps it was another-- I've only read a couple of books by Tepper.  The do not seem to come across my radar often enough for me to remember to read them, I guess.   I enjoyed them both (whichever they were), but I cannot recall what either one was about... damn me for being old again, if you like.  It was years and years ago.

What else is new?  


I do remember your favorite quote, though pieces (at least I remember reading it), and at the time, I liked the idea, even though it represents a failure of omniscience:  an omniscient being would know how we address ourselves-- which would eliminate free will too, but there you go.

[Aggie]

I love the way The Meromorph pops up occasionally.

It makes me think that we all witter away and he just drops in and wisely sets us straight

It's true. I can vouch for this.