Reading Journal: 3 February 2012

Some quotes from A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke (1961):

Sooner or later, all astronauts believed, the human race would meet intelligence from elsewhere. That meeting might still be far in the future, but meanwhile the hypothetical 'Outsiders' were part of the mythology of space, and got the blame for everything that could not be explained in any other way. (p.38)

The mind has many watchdogs; sometimes they bark unnecessarily, but a wise man never ignores their warning. (p.51)

He could tell, by the expressions of those around him, that this was the moment that separated the men from the boys. Until that helmet was seated, you were still part of the human race; afterwards, you were alone, in a tiny mechanical world of your own. There might be other men only centimetres away, but you had to peer at them through thick plastic, talk to them by radio. You could not even touch them, except through double layers of artificial skin. Someone had once written that it was very lonely to die in a spacesuit; for the first time, Tom realised how true that must be. (p.69)

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A couple of interesting links:

• Geoff Dyer talks about the cover art on Penguin Modern Classics in "The Art of the Novel"
• Caitlin Flanagan tries to explain the Joan Didion mystique, in "The Autumn of Joan Didion"

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Books-of-Interest list -- Recent Additions:

• 1939: The Last Season of Peace. Angela Lambert
• The Book of Lost Fragrances. M.J. Rose
• Da Vinci's Ghost. Toby Lester
• The Flight of Gemma Hardy. Margot Livesey
• Girl Reading. Katie Ward
• The Haunting of Maddy Clare. Simone St. James
• The House I Loved. Tatiana de Rosnay
  
• The Icon Thief. Alec Nevala-Lee
• The Meaning of Night. Michael Cox
  
• The Solitary House. Lynn Shepherd