2009 Reading #58: Subterranean Twin Cities

[snurri]

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
51. Devil In a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley.
52. A Red Death by Walter Mosley.
53. White Butterfly by Walter Mosley.
54. Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa From a Shaky Doom by Ysabeau Wilce.
55. The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip.
56. James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest by Albro Martin.
57. King's Blood Four (Book One of The True Game by Sheri S. Tepper.

58. Subterranean Twin Cities by Greg Brick. Apparently this book created a bit of a stir among the Twin Cities spelunking community--Brick seems to be a bit of controversial figure, which he obliquely acknowledges in certain sections. For me the first two chapters, on Carver's Cave and Fountain Cave, were the most useful. For the rest, I enjoyed the historical accounts but glassed over a bit on the mechanics of worming through utility tunnels and sewers. There was a time I might have thought this stuff would be fun, but Brick's frank descriptions of the conditions of many of these places makes me think I'm probably too squeamish. "Toilet paper volcanoes," folks. Ish.

Comments

[redcrowkater.livejournal.com]

I thought I was a pretty good reader, but dang, you have like a book-a-day habit.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Heh. Mostly I'm just plowing through a lot of books for research; if I was reading more of the stuff I read for pleasure I think my progress might be a bit slower.

[justinhowe.livejournal.com]

Was it illustrated? Not that I want pictures of tp-volcanoes, but I like urban decay just as much as the next person.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

There are photographs and old newspaper drawings, etc., but not lots and not necessarily of the decay--a lot of them are of the man-made undergrounds that he talks about.

[(Anonymous)]

Dave, I'm curious - is "ish" a Minnesota term? The only other person I've heard use the term is my dad (a lifelong Chicagoan) who used it in exactly the same context as you did here. He sometimes modified as "ish kabish" when something was particularly distasteful.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

It may be a Norwegian loan word; I get it from my grandmother, who used it as an expression of disgust.

[st-writes.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to complain that you used the word "ish" at all. It is so very, very ishy.

[(Anonymous)]

Oops - didn't intend for my "ish" comment to be anonymous. Apologies.

Pete (www.petelit.com)

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I guessed it was you, Pete. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, I didn't realize my blog commenting style was so distinctive. My dad was Swedish, so maybe there's something to your Norwegian theory.

Pete

Greg Brick

[(Anonymous)]

Found a bit more info about the "stir" he raised with his book - not with the spelunking community, but with the related "urban exploration" community that he crosses paths with due to the manmade "caves" he explores:

http://www.actionsquad.org/Greg-Brick-Subterranean-Twin-Cities.htm