# Lucifer's Hammer book discussion (OPEN spoilers) \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155 "2014-12-02T19:37:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/21 "2014-12-03T13:14:42Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > (Still, the OP apparently didn’t like _Dune_, so what can one say?) That the OP has taste? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/22 "2014-12-03T14:12:31Z")
I read it as a high school student when it was first published. I haven’t read it since, as even to rather undiscerning HS-me, it wasn’t a great\_or even good\_book. Some bits from the book were so memorably bad that I remember them still… A major character slaps his child across the face for being upset at not being able to watch TV. This, the slapping, is presented as A Good Thing. Kids aren’t allowed to react to the stress of an apocalypse, it seems. The whole cannibal army thing. That was just dumb. Giving one of the Russian characters a dirty joke name. The hippies who were part of “the good guys” were ridiculous caricatures and the death of one (Galadriel?) seemed to be extra grotesque just because. The “lightning” speech seemed over the top even to teenage me. Many of the major characters were assholes. Not complex characters with unpleasant aspects to them. Just assholes. Overall, it was a very 70s story. It was part and parcel with the disaster movies that were an entertainment staple at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/23 "2014-12-03T15:09:26Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I read it as a high school student when it was first published. I haven’t read it since, as even to rather undiscerning HS-me, it wasn’t a great\_or even good\_book. I wouldn’t disagree. It’s easy to see why it was so highly regarded in the day, but it shows its strong Heinlein influences (as well as a few other writers of that stripe leading up to the sf-70s). It seems so terribly important and adult and relevant and ground-breaking, but adult reflection shows it to be an extended _Boy’s Life_ story of rather preachy morals and obvious developments. And gadgets. Of the two, _The Stand_ is far more likely to survive the long run. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/24 "2014-12-03T15:35:40Z")
I loved this book, and have read it several times, though it’s been probably 20 years since my last read-through. But every time I’m driving through California’s Central Valley (as I did just last week) I think to myself, “the railroad tracks are elevated over the rest of the valley; we can use them to travel if there’s a sudden flood of almost Biblical proportions”. If you haven’t already, pick up \*Footfall \*next; as has been mentioned it’s practically the same story but with aliens instead of a comet, but it’s also quite a good read. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/25 "2014-12-03T15:41:44Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Of the two, _The Stand_ is far more likely to survive the long run. I agree, as long as we are talking about books. The Stand was done as a mini-series with fair-to-middlin’ success. There is talk of a series of movies now. Lucifer’s Hammer has never been filmed, but of the two it would be more easily translated to a successful film. Unlike The Stand, the story could be well told in a single movie. Everything they’d have to jettison to update the story for modern sensibilities and to bring it in with a 2 hour-ish run time would only be improvements. If both are brought to the big screen, Hammer will most likely be the better movie and remembered longer. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/26 "2014-12-03T15:47:21Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Giving one of the Russian characters a dirty joke name. Which was that? Was it a joke in Russian, or an equivalent English joke name like for a Chinese guy named “Long Dong”? I got rid of my copy after I read it. I’m happy I’m not the only one who disliked it. I felt kind of alone. The internet truly does bring us all together! Now if I could only get you all to agree how bad Catch 22 is! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/27 "2014-12-03T15:47:54Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > If you haven’t already, pick up \*Footfall \*next; as has been mentioned it’s practically the same story but with aliens instead of a comet, but it’s also quite a good read. And contains the single most squee line in all of sf. 😃 “God was knocking… and he wanted in _bad_.” > [@Scumpup](#): > > Everything they’d have to jettison to update the story for modern sensibilities and to bring it in with a 2 hour-ish run time would only be improvements. If both are brought to the big screen, Hammer will most likely be the better movie and remembered longer. I don’t think a single-movie version would be worth watching - at least, not for any reason tied to the novel. Could you make a good 2-3 hour “survive the comet strike” movie? Probably. Would it be LH? No. As with _Stand_, the sprawl of the story and characters and timeline are essential. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/28 "2014-12-03T15:49:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Now if I could only get you all to agree how bad Catch 22 is! 🙂 Ah say. I mean, ah say! P-51 propellers at dawn, suh. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/29 "2014-12-03T15:52:33Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Which was that? Was it a joke in Russian, or an equivalent English joke name like for a Chinese guy named “Long Dong”? > > I got rid of my copy after I read it. I’m happy I’m not the only one who disliked it. I felt kind of alone. The internet truly does bring us all together! > > Now if I could only get you all to agree how bad Catch 22 is! 🙂 Jakov. If pronounced as a Russian or Ukrainian would say it, it sounds like “jack-off.” ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/30 "2014-12-03T15:59:21Z")
I miss-spoke there. If Jakov is pronounced like the authors think a Russian or Ukrainian would say it, it sounds like “jack-off.” They make sniggering references to it in the book, IIRC. IRL, such a name would be pronounced as “yakoff.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/31 "2014-12-03T16:11:46Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > IRL, such a name would be pronounced as “yakoff.” In Soviet Russia, government jacks you off! (and not in a good way…) ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/32 "2014-12-03T16:18:59Z")
Also his first name is Pieter. Peter Jackoff. 1970’s anti-commie humor! 😛 Page 544 now! 80 more to go! Looks like they’re going to have a smaller than expected final battle? Jellison’s men are taking a boat to try to save the nuclear plant, and Hooker, Alim, and that Owens guy are gonna send a small 200-300 men force to destroy it. If I’m not mistaken, Jellison’s sent only about 50 people? 4 boats full, it said. And with only 80 pages to go, I’m not at all expecting a big confrontation, retreat, planning, and an epic battle. I think this is it ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/33 "2014-12-03T16:27:33Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Also his first name is Pieter. Peter Jackoff. 1970’s anti-commie humor! 😛 If Billy Jack was trapped on a roof, would you help Billy Jack off? 1970s juvenile humor. :o ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/34 "2014-12-03T16:32:14Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Now if I could only get you all to agree how bad Catch 22 is! 🙂 I want the time back that I spent reading Catch-22. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/35 "2014-12-03T18:25:29Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > For some reason, I’m sure I’ve read this book. But damn if I can remember _anything_ of it. And when I do try, all I get is memories of “Footfall.” For me, there’s “the one with the comet”, “the one with the elephants”, and “the one with the talking lizard” (Forge of God). They’re irreversibly conflated in my head. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/36 "2014-12-03T21:24:04Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > I want the time back that I spent reading Catch-22. But in order to want to have the time back, you’d have to read the book in the first place, and if you read the book, you’ll never get that time back. Dun dun dun! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/37 "2014-12-03T22:29:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > If Billy Jack was trapped on a roof, would you help Billy Jack off? 1970s juvenile humor. :o “If Jack was stuck on his horse…” - 1960s juvenile humor, pre-(uh)-BJ. Gad, it never ends. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/38 "2014-12-03T23:34:43Z")
I always heard it as "Your elderly uncle Jack is having a hard time getting off the plane. Would you help your Uncle Jack off? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/39 "2014-12-04T01:00:13Z")
The main thing I remember about that book was how as soon as the comet piece came down in the Pacific, everyone going about their day _immediately_ started murdering the shit out of everyone else, like badly managed movie extras in a bar fight scene. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155/40 "2014-12-04T01:30:31Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > The main thing I remember about that book was how as soon as the comet piece came down in the Pacific, everyone going about their day _immediately_ started murdering the shit out of everyone else, like badly managed movie extras in a bar fight scene. I don’t think that was too unbelievable. The world had known for months the comet was going to hit - it just wasn’t known how hard the hit might be. Even at the last minute they thought it was going to go past with minimal strikes. So when it obviously hit with full force, everyone immediately knew what it meant… and started beating the religious nuts who’d said they were holding it off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucifers-hammer-book-discussion-open-spoilers-edited-title/706155.md?page=3)