Discussion

NaddiaAoC · Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2002 10:02 pm Post subject: Discussion

Is anyone else actually reading this book yet? I'm half way through chapter four. I'll comment more on it later.

Cheryl

Lucaya · Eligible to vote! Joined: 06 Jun 2002 Posts: 16 Gender:

Cherly,

I have not received the book yet, but if you are half way through chapter 4, it must be good. Feel free to post your thoughts, I would not mind getting a sneak preview.

Lauren

ltlmzcbw · Eligible to vote! Joined: 03 Jun 2002 Posts: 17 Gender:

Cheryl,
I was wondering the same thing, probably because I haven't started the book yet and I was hoping I wasn't the only one. I took my major test for work today (my fingers are crossed) so I will be able to join you in the reading now. I'll try and catch up ASAP. Halfway through chapter four, alright! I'm going to try one of these icon thingies...Stacy

NaddiaAoC · Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2002 10:39 pm Post subject: Re: Discussion

Alright folks, I’m in chapter 5. I’ll give my opinion of this book so far. I found one paragraph really interesting. This is on page 38.

When a fifty-year-old father tells his fifteen-year-old son that he will have to wait two years before he can have a car of his own, that interval of 730 days represents a mere 4 percent of the father’s lifetime to date. It represents over 13 percent of the boy’s lifetime. It is hardly strange that to the boy the delay seems three or four times longer than to the father. Similarly, two hours in the life of a four-year-old may be the felt equivalent of twelve hours in the life of her twenty-four-year-old mother. Asking the child to wait two hours for a piece of candy may be the equivalent of asking the mother to wait fourteen hours for a cup of coffee.

Overall I think this book is a total waste of time. It was probably a great read and really enlightening back in 1970. The problem is not that the book is old, but that it’s completely outdated. There’s little to be learned because the information isn’t current. It’s mostly dates and statistics from the 1950’s –1960’s.

I found a couple things amusing. Apparently a fad was raging at the time the book was written where people were wearing paper clothes. They would buy an outfit, wear it once, and then throw it in the trash. I wasn’t born until 1974 so I have no recollection of this, but the author seemed to think that this would become the norm. Soon nobody would be wearing fabric clothes and everyone would be wearing paper clothes. This being the result of our “throw away society.”

The author also talks in one section about how popular Barbie is and that now Mattel is promising us a new Barbie that twists at the waist. LOL. You mean Barbie hasn’t always twisted at the waist? OMG.

Anyway, I’m totally bored with this book. I wish I could say that I was in chapter 5 because I’m really enjoying it. The truth is I’m just trying to get through it as quickly as possible so that I can start something else. I find my mind wandering often as I’m reading, but I’m not about to go back and reread the information.

I’m sorry to sound so negative about the book. I went into it optimistically. It’s just not interesting to me. If the figures and dates were current it would be much more educational. So I’ve decided to suspend reading for now. If some of you start reading it and want to discuss it I’ll continue reading it. But I think I’ll channel my time into something else until then.

Cheryl

greg in the machine · Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2002 12:12 pm Post subject: Re: Discussion

Okay, we apparently have a problem here. It looks like Future Shock might not be worth reading.

Here's my idea: No one who hasn't already purchased the book do so. Those besides Cheryl who have - Stacy and Lauren, I think - please read the first 2 or 3 chapters and let us know your opinion. We all respect Cheryl (and I suspect she's right about the book) but I don't think we should make a decision to abandon the reading until we have more than one point of view.

So we'll put the whole thing in suspension until Stacy or Lauren (or both) have a chance to read a little of Future Shock and tell us what they think. If they agree with Cheryl we'll dump the book in favor of something else. If they find that they like it better or find more value in it, the rest of us can then go ahead and buy it and continue with the reading.

How does that sound?

G

Chris OConnor · Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2002 12:21 pm Post subject: Re: Discussion

Greg:

That sounds like a good way to handle it. Don't you all wish that movies and books would be classified in order of "goodness?" I've always hated going to Blockbuster to find a movie and never really knowing if I made a good choice until it is too late. They say not to judge a book/movie by it's cover, but sometims that's all we have to go off of.

I'll wait to hear what Stacey & Lauren have to say about the proposed solution. And notice that I've started a Category called "CHAT ROOM FORUMS." I'm still working on these boards, but the goal will be to create monthly chats where we can all discuss things in real-time. I am addicted to Yahoo Chat, as is Cheryl, so this is the chat service I'm selecting. If anyone thinks there is a better chat service let me know.

Chris

Edited by: Chris OConnor at: 10/30/05 3:24 pm

Lucaya · Eligible to vote! Joined: 06 Jun 2002 Posts: 16 Gender:

I have no idea what is going on with my Amazon.com order. I paid for express shipping and it is not here yet. I went to track the order and it does not provide any shipping information except that I am to contact the seller (this leads me to believe that it may not have been shipped). They did not supply me with any contact information on the seller, so I emailed Amazon support. They are supposed to get back with me within 24 hours.

However, I think that I am going to take Cheryl's side here and say that we should choose another book. Some of us are having a hard time finding it, and I feel that we should try something more applicable to our world today. This is our first book, and I am hoping for some insightful discussions. It is easier to talk about something as it relates to you and the world around you.

What do you guys think?

Lauren

greg in the machine · Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2002 5:47 pm Post subject: Re: Discussion

Posted by Chris:

" That sounds like a good way to handle it. Don't you all wish that movies and books would be classified in order of "goodness?" I've always hated going to Blockbuster to find a movie and never really knowing if I made a good choice until it is too late. They say not to judge a book/movie by it's cover, but sometims that's all we have to go off of."

Larry Niven once said "That's the problem with buying information. You never know what you're getting until you've got it." All to true.

As far as abandoning the book immediately, Lauren, I still would like at least one more opinion. It does seem that Future Shock is a bad prospect, but we should have input from more than one person before making a decision like that (just as we should before choosing a book). Considering that Stacy already has a copy, and you may very well have one on the way, I don't see the harm in one or both of you reading a couple chapters and giving us a second opinion. However, if you find out that it hasn't been shipped after all, you should probably cancel the order and we'll wait for Stacy to tell us what she thinks.

Meantime, all of us should be thinking of a replacement and posting our ideas to the "Suggest a book" forum.

G

ltlmzcbw · Eligible to vote! Joined: 03 Jun 2002 Posts: 17 Gender:

Whatever you guys want to do is fine with me. There is alot of discussion about people not waning to read the book and I don't want anyone reading the book who doesn't want to. I mean I feel that this group is about not only reading, but reading something that you enjoy. I can read the book on my own and we can choose something else.
No problem, Stacy

Chris OConnor · Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2002 3:16 pm Post subject: Re: Discussion

Stacey:

You had no way of knowing whether or not the book would be a winner. I'm going to not be buying it at this time seeing as there is a general consensus that the book ins't that good. I hope you don't take it personally.

Have you voted on the book subject for July? Only 5 people have cast a vote so far and I haven't checked to see who voted for what. It looks like the subject of Native American culture is taking the lead, but there are enough of us where this lead might not hold. If you have yet to vote please do. Once we have a subject selected we can vote for a specific book.

Chris

Edited by: Chris OConnor at: 10/30/05 3:24 pm


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