Unusual topics you are obsessed with

[Miss Chicken]

You know the sort of topic you will buy/read every book possible on.

For me it is Flight 571 ie the plane carrying members of an Uruguayan rugby team, their supporters and family members which crashed in the Andes Mountains back in 1972 which is sometimes referred to and the greatest survival story of the last 100 years. I own 15 books on the topic, the 13 in this photo and 2 I only have on Kindle. I know of the existence of other books but they are either too expensive to buy or else are only available in Spanish. I have also watched/own documentaries and movies on the this subject.

One of my friends thinks this is strange but I know there are people out there who collect every book about the sinking of the Titanic, and I know there is one man who has 100s of different editions of The Little Prince.

 

[publiusr]

With me it is tornado research---the link between ground and sky.

Vortices are hypnotic

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Annie McCoy]

Alan Turing.
When I was 10 my mum gave me a copy of the Andrew Hodges Alan Turing biography and I spent most of being 11 reading it, then I had my school library order different biographies of him in, or read books that had a bit dedicated to him. Since then I've had a Christmas present be going to Bletchley Park, and I asked for a £50 note when they were released with him on them, when there's exhibitions I go to them etc.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Which two Turing biographies do you consider the best to read? I have yet to read any biography about him and I love biographies.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

You know the sort of topic you will buy/read every book possible on.

For me it is Flight 571 ie the plane carrying members of an Uruguayan rugby team, their supporters and family members which crashed in the Andes Mountains back in 1972 which is sometimes referred to and the greatest survival story of the last 100 years. I own 15 books on the topic, the 13 in this photo and 2 I only have on Kindle. I know of the existence of other books but they are either too expensive to buy or else are only available in Spanish. I have also watched/own documentaries and movies on the this subject.

One of my friends thinks this is strange but I know there are people out there who collect every book about the sinking of the Titanic, and I know there is one man who has 100s of different editions of The Little Prince.

Whew.....13 books to date. ALIVE may have been the first; it's probably the most-read. SOCIETY OF THE SNOW was also a recent Oscar nominee. Movie-wise, there's also SURVIVE from the mid-'70s, plus the documentary I HAVE COME FROM A PLANE WHICH CRASHED IN THE MOUNTAINS.

I talked with Doctor Canessa about eight years ago during a Washington book festival. He informed me that the oldest survivor, a widower from the crash, passed away from cancer. Since our talk, one of the younger 15 survivors has also died.

As for my literary obsessions, they're a bit counteracted after all these years because nobody apparently has written a Roddy McDowall biography. I cannot do this myself for conflict-of-interest reasons, but if he got 13 or more bios, I'd read every single one.

 

[C.E. Evans]

The history of various foods & drinks and how they are made, either in the past or in the present. Tacos, sausages, pizza, teas, coffee, hot sauce, cheeses, etc. All that stuff fascinates me. I don't own any books on those subjects, but I've watched a considerable number of YouTube videos and TV shows and never get tired of them whenever a new one pops up.

With teas in particular, I wound up with a lot of different teas in my cupboard (green, black, oolong, & rooibos to name some) that took me quite awhile to get through.

 

[fireproof78]

Etymology. I watch videos and have books on ancient languages, especially the Indo-European family.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Whew.....13 books to date. ALIVE may have been the first; it's probably the most-read. SOCIETY OF THE SNOW was also a recent Oscar nominee. Movie-wise, there's also SURVIVE from the mid-'70s, plus the documentary I HAVE COME FROM A PLANE WHICH CRASHED IN THE MOUNTAINS.

I talked with Doctor Canessa about eight years ago during a Washington book festival. He informed me that the oldest survivor, a widower from the crash, passed away from cancer. Since our talk, one of the younger 15 survivors has also died.

As for my literary obsessions, they're a bit counteracted after all these years because nobody apparently has written a Roddy McDowall biography. I cannot do this myself for conflict-of-interest reasons, but if he got 13 or more bios, I'd read every single one.

‘Alive’ was first published in 1974 after the survivors selected Piers Paul Read to write their story. He was the first author who was able to have interviews with the survivors. However several of the survivors were disappointed in the book.
Three of the books I had were published before ‘Alive’. I am not sure of the exact order in which they were published but all three were published in 1973. They were
‘They Lived On Human Flesh’ by Enrique Hank Lopez
‘Survive’ by Clay Blair jr
‘The Place Where the World Ends’ by Richard Cunningham
of these three I would say that Lopez’s book is the most inaccurate. Blair at least interviewed Gilberto Regules, the young man and team member who missed the plane.

As you said Javier Methol died in 2015. His wife Liliana died in the avalanche on the 17th day and he returned home to their four children. He later remarried and had another four children.

Coche Inciarte died in 2023. He was given a special viewing of the movie ‘Society of the Snow’ before his death.

There is another movie being made.It is ‘El Rosario de Los Andes’ and is based on a book written by Madelon Rodriguez, the mother of Carlitos Paez. She had some of the other mothers never gave up hope during the 10 weeks that the plane was missing. I am hoping that maybe her book will be printed in English once this movie come out.

The book I want most is ‘ The Moon Between my Son and I’ by Uruguayan artist, Carlos Paez Vilaro, the father of Carlitos. Of all the parents Paez Vilaro was the one who was most active in searching for the plane. Unfortunately English versions of this book are price at over $500.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Despite the American leads and the relatively ''restrained'' take on cannibalism, I've always appreciated Frank Marshall's 1993 ALIVE film. That final moment with the helicopters....

And quite little of it was dramatized.

 

[Commander Troi]

I've been obsessed with mythology since I was a child, starting with Greek, then into Norse and Celtic, then Native American. I've checked into a lot of other ones too, but not yet in depth. I have 2 or 3 shelves full of books, plus a huuuuge World Mythology book.

 

[fireproof78]

I've been obsessed with mythology since I was a child, starting with Greek, then into Norse and Celtic, then Native American. I've checked into a lot of other ones too, but not yet in depth. I have 2 or 3 shelves full of books, plus a huuuuge World Mythology book.

I love that too and have several books, as well as enjoy the Percy Jackson series and the Dresden files for similar reasons.

I blame loving Homer and the Odyssey for starting my Greek language obsession and it spiraling from there.

 

[BillJ]

Death. Insanely curious about what comes next...*

*I am not suicidal. I love life and plan on being around for a while to continue to harass people here!

 

[Commander Troi]

I blame loving Homer and the Odyssey for starting my Greek language obsession and it spiraling from there.

I'm pretty sure I can blame Wonder Woman comics.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm obsessed with mass transit.

Not the technical stuff, like who built this subway car or that commuter train or that streetcar; I simply enjoy RIDING it.

Seriously. If I'm on vacation in a city with decent mass transit (like I'm about to do, in Toronto), I will quite happily just ride around, even with no particular destination in mind.

In fact, the first time I ever learned how to ride the New York City subway, I was so proud of myself that that's all I did for the rest of the day. I just got on the subway and rode around to random destinations. Pathetic, isn't it?

I also collect those special payment cards that you use to pay for your rides. I have hundreds of them (like Toronto's PRESTO card, NYC's OMNY card, the CharlieCard from Boston, Chicago's Ventra card, etc.). In fact, literally ANY kind of card, paper ticket, token, etc. that is used for riding mass transit, I will eagerly collect.

 

[auntiehill]

Sherlock Holmes. I stumbled into it as a teen, and got more and more interested as I got older. I have several novels by different authors; I like seeing the different interpretations. I watch the shows and movies and get very snooty when I think they don't measure up.

Also, animals--particularly cats & dogs--but pretty much any mammal--hell, even reptiles or insects, in some cases. If you have a pet, you are instantly far more likeable and interesting to me. If you say you don't like animals? "There's the door, bye-bye, don't let the door hit you on your way out."

I wish I could've been obsessed with something useful, like my husband's obsession with computers got him a job. But me? Not so much.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Also, animals--particularly cats & dogs--but pretty much any mammal--hell, even reptiles or insects, in some cases. If you have a pet, you are instantly far more likeable and interesting to me. If you say you don't like animals? "There's the door, bye-bye, don't let the door hit you on your way out."

I DO like dogs and cats, but I know I could never actually have a pet. I live alone and I work 9 hours a day. No way in hell I'm leaving an animal alone in my house for that long.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I’ve been obsessed with Ancient Egypt for the majority of my life. I went to a local exhibit last year and nearly cried of joy! Seeing all those thousands year-old artifacts. The gift shop filled with books and the replica artifacts that were actually made in Egypt! I was forthing at the mouth when deciding what to buy. I picked a patina scarab and some books.

I also really like Ancient Greece. A few years ago I finally read The Iliad, The Odyssey, Jason and the Argonauts, Theogony, and Works and Days.

The Iliad was my favourite of the bunch.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I also have a bit of a hankering for Shakespeare, but not in the way you think.

I'm not a huge Shakespeare fan as such - I just love it when they take one of his works, make a film out of it, and set it IN THE MODERN AGE - while still keeping the original dialogue.

Like Romeo + Juliet (in modern day California), or - and this is a total work of genius, BTW - Hamlet in New York City.,

I mean, come on. Hamlet in fucking NYC? The Denmark Corporation? Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius? Sam ing Shepard as the Ghost? In what way is that NOT totally awesome?

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

And you know, Bill Murray really DID knock it out of the park as Polonius.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Oh, and about Romeo + Juliet....I totally love it when somebody says "Put up your swords!" and everybody whips out a gun ("Shakespeare with guns" is the greatest thing ever) whose brand name is Sword.

And the bit at the end where Juliet shoots herself. In the original text. she stabs herself with a dagger, but in the film she uses a gun... whose brand name is Dagger.

Edit: Back in the day there were rumors that Sir Patrick and Sir Ian were working on a modern version of The Merchant of Venice set in Las Vegas. Sadly I think that was just a rumor. But it would have been just as awesome as the others I just mentioned.

 

[Velocity]

I’ve been obsessed with Ancient Egypt for the majority of my life. I went to a local exhibit last year and nearly cried of joy! Seeing all those thousands year-old artifacts. The gift shop filled with books and the replica artifacts that were actually made in Egypt! I was forthing at the mouth when deciding what to buy. I picked a patina scarab and some books.

I also really like Ancient Greece. A few years ago I finally read The Iliad, The Odyssey, Jason and the Argonauts, Theogony, and Works and Days.

The Iliad was my favourite of the bunch.

I'm the same about Ancient Egypt. Can't get enough! I subscribed to KMT magazine until it tanked during the pandemic, and still subscribe to Nile magazine online. Such a beautiful magazine with up to date info and gorgeous pictures. I have scarabs, ushabtis, and pyramids on my dresser. I dragged my husband to a traveling Egyptian exhibit in Baltimore in 18 degree Fahrenheit weather. I saw the King Tut tomb replica in Las Vegas. My kids surprised me with a visit to an Ancient Egypt exhibit in Norfolk, VA. Best birthday present ever!!

 

[fireproof78]

In what way is that NOT totally awesome?

Not knowing Sam Sheppard is? It sounds fun but I don't know enough to say.

I'm the same about Ancient Egypt. Can't get enough! I subscribed to KMT magazine until it tanked during the pandemic, and still subscribe to Nile magazine online. Such a beautiful magazine with up to date info and gorgeous pictures. I have scarabs, ushabtis, and pyramids on my dresser. I dragged my husband to a traveling Egyptian exhibit in Baltimore in 18 degree Fahrenheit weather. I saw the King Tut tomb replica in Las Vegas. My kids surprised me with a visit to an Ancient Egypt exhibit in Norfolk, VA. Best birthday present ever!!

I and my brother both enjoy Ancient Egypt a lot and went to a Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, a 7 hour drive from our house. It was amazing to see the work. I also get regular updates of discoveries there.