Date: 26 May 2024
Location: Joyce
Thirteen bookers met to discuss the science fiction thriller, The Ice Limit by Preston and Child.
About nine of us read the book and most enjoyed it. Obviously, the book required a ‘willing suspension of disbelief’, which of course was fine. However, some of the stuff was so ludicrous as to be almost silly. For example, they discovered that to move the meteorite they needed “thirty-six axles, with forty tires on each axle”. As Gary pointed out, that meant they needed 1440 heavy-duty aircraft tires – which they just happened to have on the ship! Well, okay, we are talking pure escape literature here.
The plot was a pretty good page turner, but what folks seemed to enjoy the most were the characters: the billionaire, the engineer, the archeologist, and especially the two main females – the ship captain and the genius mathematician.
There is a sequel to the book which a couple of Bookers have read. However, it is even more ‘way-out’, and they did not really recommend it.
After a fairly good discussion, we had another really nice meal – thanks especially to our host, Joyce.
— Bob
Perspective (contribution from an absent, recuperating booker)
As we go about our daily lives, interacting with the little piece of the
world we are currently occupying and the people near us, we do so with
some type of perspective. If our mind and body is the same today as it
has been for a while, we will be doing much the same we did yesterday,
last week, last month. That is, while we are working on the current task
at hand and engaged with those around us, we might be thinking about
more distant things such as why am I doing this when I don’t know how
much time I have to do something I would rather be doing or maybe global
warming or thinking of the beach, which is where you really would like
to be right now.
However, if things are not the same as yesterday, or last week or last
month, we are likely focused on what makes things different. That is
where I am right now – having cracked ribs changes your whole
perspective. Now the focus is on the pain, how can I hold or move my
body to avoid or minimize pain. More especially, how can I find a way to
lay down and sleep without being in such pain as to make sleep
difficult? I assume that everyone’s pain is not the same but as the
doctor at the Emergency Room told me, “Your main issue until you heal is
pain management.” They do not truss you up any more, it seems the body
can do okay without that. There are medications that can help alleviate
the pain but the amount of help depends on how your body works with, or
doesn’t work with, the medication. So each of us does what we always do,
the best we can and we just soldier on through the process.
About the book… I read it and enjoyed it. From the title, The Ice
Limit, I was surprised that this was not a thesis on the proper number
of ice cubes that should be put into mixed drinks, but rather the story
of an EGG.
Reynolds