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The Happiest Days of Our Lives
If you've ever read Wil Wheaton's blog (clevernickname to us), you know he's not afraid to put everything on the table. One of the things I've always admired about his writing is his willingness to talk about his kids. On the internet. With ... people. Despite the obvious problems that could cause, Wil has been sharing anecdotes about his adventures in parenting since the early days of WWDN. His newest book, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, talks about growing up geek and what it means to be a nerd and a father at the same time. Read on for my review.
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
author
Wil Wheaton
pages
136
publisher
Monolith Press
rating
8/10
reviewer
Zonk
ISBN
0974116017
summary
Wil Wheaton's recollections of growing up, and parenting, as a nerd.
That the bones of the book's content comes directly from Wil's website shouldn't distract you. Whether you've been a reader all along (and might recognize some of these stories) or not, they've all been expanded and clarified for inclusion in the book. That clarification is something that comes across very strongly in Happiest Days, especially if you have read any of his previous work. Wil has put a great deal of work into the craft of writing over the past few years, and it shows. Some three years have passed since his sophomore effort in Just a Geek, and even more since Dancing Barefoot.
Where once it seemed as though Wil had something to prove in his writing - that he was over showbiz, that he was over Star Trek - Happiest Days is full of simple stories. The day he bought a Lando Calrissian action figure essentially by mistake, a simple outing for ice cream with his sons; they're everyday events but artfully told. In total he has about thirteen short tales in the chapbook-sized novel, ranging from just two pages long to a few dozen.
Some of his most evocative stories (and the reason this review is here) are all about Wil's growth as a nerdling. The most evocative for me was the chapter 'a portrait of the artist as a young geek', which details Wil's introduction to tabletop roleplaying. From his first brush with the infamous 'red box' D&D set at Christmas 1983, to his experience teaching his kids how to roll up characters under the 3.0 rulesset, the story reminds me (and may remind you) of a D6-laden past.
And really, that's what Wil makes this a book about. It's about his own past, his troubles, his triumphs, but in reality this is meant to be a book that reaches out to you as a reader. If you see something of yourself in the kid who agonized in the toy aisle, if you see something of yourself in the dad who argues with his kids over the radio station (and rocks out to 80s synth-pop), then the purpose of the Happiest Days has been fulfilled. Or at least, as I see it.
And, of course, if you like Wil's discussion of Star Trek there's some elements of that there as well. The difference, again, is that instead of pining for Trek itself, Wil reminisces about the impact Trek has had upon him. Great experiences talking like adults with Jonathan Frakes, the chance to speak to Ron Moore backstage at a con, and the recording of a documentary are what makes for stories from Wil in the here and now.
Probably the book's strongest element is also its biggest drawback. Wil's vicious editing and strong prose makes for an incredibly short book. The amount of story and emotion packed into the bare 136 pages is impressive. But ... it's still just 136 pages. And for $20, that seems a bit steep. For me, though, it was worth it to support an author that's been a pleasure to watch grow over the last several years. From blogger to published writer, Wil Wheaton's journey is laid out in miniature in the pages of Happiest Days. With the sour taste of Just a Geek washed out of his mouth, my hope is that we'll see more long-form work from Wheaton in the future. In the meantime this is a worthy 'sequel' to Dancing Barefoot, and well worth a look by fans of the well-placed word.
You can purchase The Happiest Days of Our Lives from Monolith Press. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
That the bones of the book's content comes directly from Wil's website shouldn't distract you. Whether you've been a reader all along (and might recognize some of these stories) or not, they've all been expanded and clarified for inclusion in the book. That clarification is something that comes across very strongly in Happiest Days, especially if you have read any of his previous work. Wil has put a great deal of work into the craft of writing over the past few years, and it shows. Some three years have passed since his sophomore effort in Just a Geek, and even more since Dancing Barefoot.
Where once it seemed as though Wil had something to prove in his writing - that he was over showbiz, that he was over Star Trek - Happiest Days is full of simple stories. The day he bought a Lando Calrissian action figure essentially by mistake, a simple outing for ice cream with his sons; they're everyday events but artfully told. In total he has about thirteen short tales in the chapbook-sized novel, ranging from just two pages long to a few dozen.
Some of his most evocative stories (and the reason this review is here) are all about Wil's growth as a nerdling. The most evocative for me was the chapter 'a portrait of the artist as a young geek', which details Wil's introduction to tabletop roleplaying. From his first brush with the infamous 'red box' D&D set at Christmas 1983, to his experience teaching his kids how to roll up characters under the 3.0 rulesset, the story reminds me (and may remind you) of a D6-laden past.
And really, that's what Wil makes this a book about. It's about his own past, his troubles, his triumphs, but in reality this is meant to be a book that reaches out to you as a reader. If you see something of yourself in the kid who agonized in the toy aisle, if you see something of yourself in the dad who argues with his kids over the radio station (and rocks out to 80s synth-pop), then the purpose of the Happiest Days has been fulfilled. Or at least, as I see it.
And, of course, if you like Wil's discussion of Star Trek there's some elements of that there as well. The difference, again, is that instead of pining for Trek itself, Wil reminisces about the impact Trek has had upon him. Great experiences talking like adults with Jonathan Frakes, the chance to speak to Ron Moore backstage at a con, and the recording of a documentary are what makes for stories from Wil in the here and now.
Probably the book's strongest element is also its biggest drawback. Wil's vicious editing and strong prose makes for an incredibly short book. The amount of story and emotion packed into the bare 136 pages is impressive. But ... it's still just 136 pages. And for $20, that seems a bit steep. For me, though, it was worth it to support an author that's been a pleasure to watch grow over the last several years. From blogger to published writer, Wil Wheaton's journey is laid out in miniature in the pages of Happiest Days. With the sour taste of Just a Geek washed out of his mouth, my hope is that we'll see more long-form work from Wheaton in the future. In the meantime this is a worthy 'sequel' to Dancing Barefoot, and well worth a look by fans of the well-placed word.
You can purchase The Happiest Days of Our Lives from Monolith Press. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Three hundred people read my 'blog' yesterday! You have no idea how proud I am, the best anyone has managed to get to the Womens Institute for a talk is thirty three. June Dawkins only managed nineteen, she was green when I told her about my three hundred new friends who read my diary! Of course my readers are much younger too, Simon told me that most people on the internet are teenagers while everyone at the WI is ancient like me.
I have seen that some of you who talk to the internet have little counters that say how many people are reading. I am much more impressed with how advanced my system is; I ring up Simon and ask him. I really should mention Simon, he is the nice man who connected me to the information motorway. Anyway when I want to know how many of you are listening to me I call him up and ask.
Much better than a silly little counter. I rang him yesterday and he said "oh, at least three hundred people, whatever" which is how young people talk these days. I asked him how many people would be reading today and he said five hundred! I am very impressed with his service indeed . And hello to the two hundred new people who will listen to me today!
Yours,
Mildred
This Internet 2.1 blog for user Mildred is powered by The Cheapest Blog Host On The Internet! , the revolutionary web 2.0 metalayer. Get yours now! blog navigation | previous post | first post a link to the next post will be in a comment to this post
At least our countrymen are getting exactly what they deserve: the number of people coming out on top is ever diminshing; eventually the remaining citizens will revolt. It's happened in every other empire, and there have been empires far more powerful, relatively speaking, than the American. I look forward to the end of aristocracy, whether borne of physical strength, mental prowess, or wealthy family.
Tell it, brother!
Very soon we will rise up and overthrow the power that The Man holds, and take our rightful place! No longer will The Man make us work and slave for him, we'll feast upon their ill-gotten tables. Then we can retire to their lives of leisure, all the working men and women finally able to rest. It's our turn, baby!
Just like when Rome fell! No more did the Romans force their roads, buildings and civilization on the world, all built from the labor of their slaves! Sure, there was the 1,000 years of the dark ages after that, but this time the professional athlete will embrace the trash man, both slaves to the power structure, and a new enlightened society will rise from the ashes of the aristocracy, and all will cry out, "FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LEAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE ARE FREE AT LAST!"
"Parent" comes, via the French language, from the Latin "parens". Itself coming from the verb "parere".
I am not enough of an Latin etymologist to tell if it comes from
*parere/pareo : to be obedient to, obey
*parere/paro : prepare, raise, furnish/supply/provide or
*parere/pario : bear, give birth to, beget
(each makes sense)
But clearly, it comes from the verb "parere", which would be something like "to pare" if it had propagated to Modern English.
Putting a -ens generally is a way to make up a substantive from a verb which will specifically refer to the performer of the action.
Examples:
ferere (to bear) --> ferens (bearer). Ex. Christopher = Christos Ferens = the one who bears Christ
exponere --> exponens
Anyway, it is plain ridiculous to take a verb, make a substantive out of it, and make another verb out of it that means the same thing as the original verb. Someone who fishes fishes is called a fisherman or a fisher, yet his job is not called "fishermanning" nor "fishering". Someone who farms is a farmer yet you don't call his job farmering. Someone who insures people is an insurer, yet he is not in the "insurering" business.
The only way "to parent" would be an acceptable verb is if it was not about raising children (performing the action) but about making one a parent (making the object a performer of the action).
Fuck you, language rapists. What's next ? are should we call people, who perform the action of "parenting", "parenters" ?
Sure, in the luxury of the Nile and protected by the desert, Egyptians didn't have much motivation to behave as exploitative, expansive Romans, but they sure as hell knew how to apply simple mathematics to engineering projects a good couple of millennia before Rome.
Of course people threw together some structures before Rome, but so what? The point is that Rome didn't just sit on all these advances, they brought them to the savages in the outlying areas. They spread civilization around the world, similar to what England did during their Empire years. You're talking about a few insulated societies who managed to naval-gaze for awhile, I'm talking about civilizing the world.
Please state what you're actually trying to say - is it Christian philosophy that causes empires to fall?
Where do you think the power went to once the Roman empire fell? Straight to the Roman Catholic church is where. They grabbed the power for themselves and undermined the Empire. The Church enslaved far more people than the Romans ever dreamed up -- they just did it in a more subtle way. "Put your faith in God, and honor him by building this church! And by giving us a tithe! And by the way, you better put your faith in God or we'll slaughter you." It's just slavery by a different method.
Again, Rome was fascist.
Of course they were! But they were on the path toward modern society. Technology would have brought about the evolution of that society away from a slave-based empire to a capitalistic one, just like the English kings eventually gave power to its business citizens -- because it made more money that way. It was still brutal, but it was moving in the direction of greater freedom.
Instead, the anti-science Church plunged everybody back into darkness and superstition that lasted over a thousand years, and even then Galileo was put in jail for being a scientist. If Galileo had the same ideas in the Roman empire, he would not have been persecuted.
It's undeniable that the fall of Rome was a travesty of history.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Ooh, please educate me more on this "Rise of religion". I'd love to know more about the thousands of years of human history before religion existed. I always thought religious beliefs arose at the latest around the time we advanced from bands to tribes, but apparently religion didn't arise until christianity!
Hell, I'd even been led to believe that the Romans were a very religious culture themselves, but I guess those "Roman gods" I heard about must have been referring to something else.