I built my own desktop, which is incredibly easy these days. It cost me about 800 bucks, and runs pretty well (Skyrim on Ultra). If you could stand having a desktop, you could build a machine for half the cost of that laptop. If you have to have the portability though, that one seems as fine as any. Edit: Which is…

Is it explained why Death couldn't just give them all heart attacks the next day? Why does he have to resort to schemes?

Life sort of intervened so I missed most of the comments for Carter, which I very much enjoyed. Look forward to going over them soon. I will very much miss WUiB.

Iris and Laura's legacy
Zack mentions above Iris thinking she inspired Laura's suicide. And while there are certainly many other factors involved, she has to feel somewhat responsible. I wonder then if it crosses Iris' mind that should these memoirs ever see the light of day (a possibility she has to consider) what it…

I liked the newspaper clips as well. Knowing what was really going on at the Griffens juxtaposed with the breeziness of the gossip columns gave them an enjoyable sinister quality.

I was pretty sure it was Iris about halfway through, but like G-B M mentions, there was a little bit of doubt that stuck with me until almost the end. For instance, once we know that the woman in The Blind Assassin is holding back revealing she's pregnant. Of course I assumed that it was Iris pregnant with Aimee, but…

My favorite line from the book involves said colons.

Not to jump the gun with the polls still open, but I'm heading down to the ol used bookstore today to pick up Carter Beats the Devil. I also have Gore winning in a squeaker!

Alex's writings
Do Alex's writings for the pulps give us any insights into his character? If we assume that he did come up with the story of The Blind Assassin (the book within the book) and the story of the Lizard Men of Xenor, can we glean anything? His Commie politics seem to come through when all the classes of…

What drove me crazy about Iris' loss of Aimee, and Sabrina as well, was her passivity in it all. She never ever went to court to fight for Aimee, she just accepted that her lawyer said "this is bad, we probably won't win". Getting led around by the elbow by a man yet again. I don't believe there was even a lawyer…

I would say it was a combination of everything, with learning of Alex's death being the prime mover. But specifically that she was sure he was coming home safe. She had (to her mind) made a deal with God that she'd endure Richard, the forced abortion/asylum in order for Alex to come back safe, and God didn't hold up…

About whether Sabrina gets the documents or not, what I like to believe is that the book we are reading is sort of "The Full Blind Assassin", and that it's been published *after* Sabrina comes to Port T., finds everything, and releases it to the world in the form we are reading. I know nothing in the text points to…

I would agree with Jasper that Alex would more fit the MPDG mold. Not to the Chase women, but to the culty readers of The Blind Assassin. But more of a brooding secret lover they could spend cold Ontario nights dreaming of. Alex Thomas - proto-Edward Cullen for fictional Canadian superfans?

I also thought that the portrayal of Richard (and really Winifred too) was a bit too sinister. One thing to keep in mind though is that the only portrayal of them we get is from Iris, who obviously has an axe to grind. There isn't any sort of outside narrator to provide a more neutral point of view. Now of course,…

I just want to hear a little bit about the guys who don't love the game of football.

Well Pugs, you are in luck! Collinsworth and Michaels went on pretty gratingly about how much Phillip Rivers loves the game of football. And even though he may *seem* like a taunting jerk, he totally "gets it". Why, he's the son of a coach!

PC availablity
Does anyone know the status of the PC version of this game? I checked on buying it after seeing the PC tag in the review, but all I can find about it is that it was delayed with no new release date. Doesn't seem very promising, but I know next to nothing about how these things work.

I would argue that he is cruel *in* his indifference, especially toward the cleaning woman, (CLEANING WOMAN?!?! *chokes someone*) Maria. While he's on her floor of the hotel, they clearly develop a connection and she pinch-hits like a champ when Caroline conks out on her newlywed duties. She's got a dreary, droning…

To add to the points about the book encompassing 20th century America, as Martin builds each new bigger, better, shinier product, he simply discards the old last one he made.

"It's so hard to me to keep even minor thoughts in my head, Dressler's slipping away." He said, gazing at his desk; the book of stamps, the plush Razorback football, the checkbook, the black cell phone with a glossy cover, the hula girl with plastic grass skirt and guitar, the Lyle Overbay rookie league bobble head….