The Book Topic

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 23 Jun 2009 20:31

We need a topic for discussing books in general, as opposed to the 50 book challenge topics and the Good Novels topic. So post in this topic about anything book related - your thoughts on what you're reading, new books you've bought, how much you can't wait until the next Stephanie Meyer book comes out that you think will be fabulous, or whatever else you like

I am pretty much between books right now. I'm a little bit in to two books - The Kitchen Readings; Untold Stories of Hunter S Thompson By Michael Cleverly and Bob Braudis and The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg but not really that in to either (although I'm sure they're both actually good books).

I'm probably going to read something relevant to my uni studies. Skeptical Environmentalist probably is, but only for being a smartarse and correcting the lecturers in geography on their statistics

I'm thinking probably either;
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Collapse by Jared Diamond
The Necessary Revolution by Peter Senge
Eight Little Piggies by Stephen J Gould
The Odyssey by Homer
The Aeneid by Virgil

Probably not the last two, although I do need to read those soonish. These are all books I already own, but if you have any suggestions feel free to make them, although it's probably a waste of everybody's time if you suggest books that you liked, rather than books that are relevant to my studies (this semester; social and physical geography, geology, cell biology, genetics and evolution, and classical literature (Odyssey, Aeneid, Ovid's Art Of Love and Euripides).

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 23 Jun 2009 21:11

The last time I finished a novel I was standing in line for tickets to Leonard Cohen. I just looked it up and this would have been around march of last year. What the hell :/

Blue_turnip · Post by **Blue_turnip** » 24 Jun 2009 03:55

After my probability exam today hopefully I won't have to read "Fundamentals of Probability with Stochastic Processes" by Saeed Gharamanhi ever again.

But because of a test I have tomorrow I have been reading "Introduction to Real Analysis" by William Trench.

Corey · Post by **Corey** » 24 Jun 2009 06:24

i am currently reading tom sawyer its a short book its pretty good so far consodering mark twains work can be tedious it is not as good as huck finn but from what ive read so far id reccomend it

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 24 Jun 2009 17:15

Yeah I enjoyed Tom Sawyer and am a big Mark Twain fan. I've never found his work tedious. Samuel Clements once judged the modified online competitions, although it didn't attract any attention. Post modern though - using a famous pseudonym's real name as a pseudonym.

BainbridgeShred · Post by **BainbridgeShred** » 24 Jun 2009 17:33

Who here is a Barbara Tuchman fan? I wish she were still alive so I could agree with every word she said. Reccomendations:

Zimmermann Telegram
Guns of August (Best, most accesible history book I've ever read)
A Distant Mirror (The period from about 800-1300 was a blank spot in my knowledge of history until this book)

Also, who's a Ken Wilber reader? I can't imagine anyone besides Jeremy. He's got a lot of good stuff on the topic of postmodernism and life in general. Some of his stuff is as far from accesible as possible, but he has a lot of stuff that is very good reading material.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 24 Jun 2009 17:38

Haven't heard of either before, but I just read Ken Wilber's wikipedia site and he doesn't sound like somebody particularly appealing. I went through a philosophy stage a few years ago but don't see myself reading much any more. Waste. Of. Time.

BainbridgeShred · Post by **BainbridgeShred** » 24 Jun 2009 17:56

you've never heard of BARBARA fucking TUCHMAN?

(laugh)

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 24 Jun 2009 19:04

No never, but I don't have any interest in military history either.

full nelson · Post by **full nelson** » 25 Jun 2009 12:19

I'm reading Something Happened by Joseph Heller. I went to the local, used bookstore over the weekend and picked up: Lincoln - Gore Vidal, Practical Grammar, and Brasyl - Ian McDonald. $3 each.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 29 Jun 2009 17:39

Ok well I ended up not choosing any of those books, but am reading some creationist book whose name I can't even remember but it's something like "Has Science Removed God." Basically somebody gave it to me and wanted my opinion (obviously in the hope of converting me). The book is terrible, but hilarious at times. The Author apparently doesn't get jokes at all, because at one point he quotes some atheist as saying "Oh god, if I could stop one person from believing in God I'd be happy" and comments on his use of "oh god" at the start of that sentence. I'm only a little way into the book anyway so maybe I'll be converted later on. Anyway the only thing I've really taken from this book so far is just how awesome Francis Crick is (already one of my heroes prior to this book).

The reason I say this, again showing what appears to be a complete inability to understand what is a joke and what is serious by the author is the story of how Crick resigned from Cambridge when they stated building a Cathedral. Upon hearing this Winston Churchill sent Crick a letter saying that only those who wished to need to enter the building. Crick replied by sending him 10 guineas to help fund the building of a brothel at Cambridge. Legend

Francis Crick was a leading physicist until the end of WW2. Due to his dislike of working on making weapons, he changed fields to biology (much to the dismay of one of my other heroes - Freeman Dyson), and then a few years later discovered DNA with James Watson and won a Nobel Prize for it. Later he changed fields again and become a neuroscientists. His comments about how philosophy has essentially made no tangible achievements while science has influenced every part of our lives, which he made in an interview with Susan Blackmore just before he died (in the excellent book - Conversations on Consciousness) helped me to choose to study science instead of philosophy.

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » 29 Jun 2009 21:21

I just started reading some of Haruki Murakami - so far just the Wind Up Bird Chronicle, but I just checked out another one too. Anyone else familiar with him?

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 22 Jul 2009 20:28

So currently reading The Odyssey by Homer for university. Good read so far. A lot easier to read and understand than I thought it would be, and a fairly engaging story, although there are certainly some cultural differences that make some of the heroes come across as fairly rude in my opinion

I already know the story very well, and I'm just up to the bit where Odysseus is about to own the suitors, so that should be good

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 10 Aug 2009 00:44

So I'm now reading The Canon by Natalie Angier.

It's fairly average in my opinion. Angier is a great writer and fairly amusing, but there are far too many jokes throughout the book and the first 6 chapters (of 9) were very basic science. It is a book aimed at explaining science to non-scientists though, so that criticism is probably based on me not being the target audience. The section on molecular biology on the other hand is far more advanced than any of the other sections so far (chapter 7 - that I've nearly finished), and I've enjoyed this a lot more (especially because it covered stuff we've been learning at uni). I also feel like the vocabulary is way too advanced for the audience - I've looked up more words from this book than any book I've read in a long time. It's also full of American pop culture references that I never get - although I suspect most Australians probably would too, so again probably not that valid a criticism for most people. So really this book is aimed at well educated mainstream people with no scientific education at all. Parts are interesting none the less.

Texta · Post by **Texta** » 12 Aug 2009 15:37

I'm reading Oliver Sacks - Awakenings at the moment. It's pretty cool. It's about the work he did to treat "sleeping sickness". He builds the story up a lot at the start, but it's probably worth it.

BainbridgeShred · Post by **BainbridgeShred** » 13 Aug 2009 11:05

No never, but I don't have any interest in military history either.

Must've missed this one. Whether or not you have any "interest" in military history (Which isn't what Tuchman focuses on anyways in a sense) it's pretty stupid to think you can have a grasp over world affairs without an understanding of military history.

BainbridgeShred · Post by **BainbridgeShred** » 13 Aug 2009 11:08

Currently reading a Fitzergald short story anthology for the second time. It's always fun going back a few years later and reading a book that had such a major influence on you when you were little. FSF was definitely the master of the short story, bar none save maybe Salinger who loses out for the same reason Biggie will never be the goat (Greatest of all time); lack of material to judge by.