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I read both of these. What is up with this guy and wheel chairs? He also needs to go shopping. No more tweed coats for him or any one else in the book.Quote:
Originally posted by Twoplanker
Just read all of the Dan Brown stuff:
Da Vinci Code
Angels & Demons
I just started reading the Celistine Prophecy.{sp?}
Any one else read this? What did you think?
I read to accomplish two purposes, to learn and to escape. I try and juggle both objectives by reading one book for pure pleasure, then reading a book more for the educational value.
so, the last book I just put down for education - but is a hellu good read as well is
"A Vietcong Memoir" by Truong Hhu Tang
Great read if you want an insiders perspecitve on the vietcong, the reason they fought, the inside scoop on how even the vietcong were dupped by the communist party.
For pleasure I am tackling the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, currently on the fifth book in the series; the fires of heaven.
The series started of nice, but I am bogging down in this last book.
It is your basic fantasy book.
Speaking of fantasy, for such a strong market segment I am a little suprised to see no one else admitting to reading the genre. I wonder if most of us are too busy dredging up works we think might be impressive to others? "shrug"
My favorite books come out of the travel section of the book store.
A.C. Weisbecker-
In Search of Captain Zero
This is a link to reviews and a photo journal with clips from the book- check it out.
I loved this book. He also wrote Cosmic Banditos- which was good, but not better than Capt. Zero.
This is the book I can most highly recommend. It is about surfing, road trips, dogs, sharks, drugs, and Costa Rica. Great beach/hammock read.
Also check out-
Nickel and Dimed- Barbara Ehrenreich
about how tough it is for people to climb out of poverty, and why.
Following the Equator- Mark Twain
Travel around the world on a steamship.
The Proud Highway- Hunter S. Thompson.
A collection of his letters from 1955-1967- a really cool glimpse into the state of affairs during those years. He is a great writer, if not sheriff.
That was published as Paperback Raita over here. I wasn't that impressed. IMO It had a reasonable narrative but the story wasn't actually totally epic and the writing was not great either. I guess that makes it ideal beach material through. :) I felt the author was just trying to appeal to slightly ethno traveller types who had bought Alex Garland's books but didn't write as well.Quote:
Originally posted by James Carvile
Will Rhode "Paperback Original"
Author gets involved in drugs and the mafia in India to get his inheritance.
For a cool book about India I recommend Hari Kunzri's (sp?) The Impressionist. It is actually set in the colonial days but is a fantastic piece of writing and deals, I think, with the Anglo/Indian aspect much better, albeit from a slightly different viewpoint. Looking forward to reading his new book which is, if the reviewers are to be believed, even better.
Other stuff I really like:
- most Orwell stuff (although not the metaphorical stuff like Animal Farm). I find that his essays are cool and love the autobiagraphical stuff he wrote stuff like Down and Out in Paris and London. Simple, clear writing style so good beach material, although the comment is a bit political.
- all Evelyn Waugh. Basically satirical or social comment of 1930s England. Some of his stuff (eg Decline and Fall ) is hilarious. Other stuff is really quite dark (eg Bright Young Things ). Crafts his writing really well yet also very simple - great use of language.
- Alexander McCall Smith's books about a woman detective in Botswana. Also very simplistic writing (there's a theme here :) ) , very easy reading but nice stories, charmingly told.
- Stuff by Guy Birt. A young British author, writes some dark psychological stuff. Beautiful description, good plots although they don't always follow a strict narrative. The Dandelion Clock about a youth spent in Italy and the repercussions of this in adulthood is great as is The Hole a dark thriller about rich kids that was made into a mediocre film a couple of years ago.
Authors that are way over-rated IMO:
- Paul Theroux
- Zadie Smith
- Bill Bryson
frz,
I read A LOT of fantasy when i was younger
all of the Lord of the Rings books repeatedly, Whell of time (like you loved the first 3 dealt with the 4th & quit on the 5th), Piers Anthony Xanth series, all the Shannarra books, Dragonlance, & a few others.
I found no one in the genre held a candle to Tolkien.
I have not picked one up in years.
Also used to read a grip of Sci Fi Herbert, Clarke!, Asimov, Niven, Heinlein (sp?!!?) also dont read that much any more either unless I come across a Heinlein book I have yet to read. hes great.
but you are right there seems to be some intellectual posturing although a lot of Brown & Clancy fans disprove that.
when Nic worked @ the book store i got turned on to a lot of good readable contemporary authors like McKewan how I am devouring now.
also wish everyone here could read
Charles Bowden and Scott Carrier
Just chiming in to give Tonghands some props for an interesting essay.
For a pure pleasure read with no redeeming educational value, Harry Potter wins right now. Came in late to work becuase I couldn't put the stupid thing down.
The Iron Dragon's Daughter: Michael Swanwick. If you like fantasy, even a little bit, but wonder why every successful series since 1979 is a bad Tolkien ripoff, go read this book. Strange, dark, wonderful, and so damn good.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Hunter S. Thompson. No one is exactly sure how much of this book is real, but it will make you laugh out loud. Often. Unless you're really uptight, in which case you'll be very, very uncomfortable. The movie is actually quite good, and a nearly literal recounting of the book version.
tonghands: People can believe whatever they want, but they don't have the right to make the school system force those beliefs on others.
The role of school is to teach knowledge and methods of inquiry, which includes science, languages, math, history, and all that other good stuff. Even teaching *about* religion is fair game, especially since most US teenagers will have no idea what Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Hinduism, or even Coptic Christianity actually are. But you don't get to make the kids *follow* a religion, that's your job and duty as a parent.
And if your religion comes into conflict with basic scientific knowledge, then that's your own problem to resolve. The sun doesn't revolve around the earth, no matter what the Pope said or how many people the Church killed or tortured.
Unfortunately, frozen, it goes downhill from there. I actually went through the 6th, 7th, and 8th books, and they just get more and more political manuevering, droll, and boring. The 8th book encompasses a period of 7 days and still manages to be 900 someodd pages long. Stop now, you won't regret it.
I just finished Breakfast of Champions for the third time last week, and it's still extremely weird, but very entertaining. I'm going to admit that The Recruit is what inspired me to pick up my first Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle, but I enjoyed it, as well as his series of short vignettes about being killed and resuscitated by Dr. Jack Kevorkian, and in the space between, his experiences at the Pearly Gates.
I'll probably catch hell for this, but I'm reading Jesus the Christ by Talmage right now, and I find it really interesting. It's essentially a believer's breakdown of the scripture regarding the life of Christ, birth to death.
I recall reading a captivating novella titled "A Deadly Kind of Paradise" a while back. Maybe ice knows who wrote it? ;) Or where I could get a copy to read it again?
edit: I go to Collage! We make posters out of pictures from magazines!
I've just spent the last 12 hours reading Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach. To tell the truth, I just couldn't put it down.
I used to read a lot when I was younger, but I actually haven't been able to read much lately because I usually don't feel like it after staring at a textbook all day. But many of these books are going on my list to read as soon as I get a break.
For some reason my favorite book has always been Vertical Run by Joseph Garber. It's just the typical action type novel, but I've read it about 10 times and have never gotten sick of it.
I didn't read the whole thread, but two books worth reading in this time of warm weather :
The ski bum, by Romain Gary - Lenny, skibum in summer, drags his skis in geneva, longing for the winter to come and passing gold with the daughter of an american diplomat.
Into thin air, by Jon Krakauer - "personnal account of mount everest disaster", the story of the 1996 Rob Hall's expedition to everest.
Plus all the book of Russel Banks (Cloudsplitter, Trailerpark, ...), Boulgakov (The Master and Margarita, one of my favourite books) , Alan Duff's "once were warriors"...
Currently reading:
The Vampire Lestat - book #2 of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.
Next in Line:
The Da Vinci Code
Reccomendations:
Prey - Crichton
Tourist Season & Lucky You - Hiassen
Heh, thanks for remembering it. I'm such a slacker it is really unbelievable, but I plan to put it on Cafepress soon so I can send copies to agents instead of sending piles of looseleaf. When I do I'll let you know, I'll sell copies at cost.Quote:
Originally posted by hopped
I recall reading a captivating novella titled "A Deadly Kind of Paradise" a while back. Maybe ice knows who wrote it? ;) Or where I could get a copy to read it again?
Just finished :
.The Beckoning Silence (liked it alot)
.The Face (Koontz?, good)
Working on:
.Annapurna, A womens place (interesting)
.Colorado 14ers (I have alot of studying ahead of me)
I think wheelchairs are cool - it's an easy, cheap way to add something very solid and imaginable to a character.Quote:
Originally posted by jstead
I read both of these. What is up with this guy and wheel chairs? He also needs to go shopping. No more tweed coats for him or any one else in the book.
I just started reading the Celistine Prophecy.{sp?}
Any one else read this? What did you think?
I read the Celestine Prohpecy. I thought it was cool, although at the end I felt a bit like I was trying to be sold a religion or at least a new age philosophy. There's a second book out too...
I read the first 5 books in the Wheel of Time. Since each book is about 600 pages, I figure that's about 3000 pages. It started to feel a little too much like work, reading those giant texts, so I'm not reading them anymore. I do like the mythology created, the wheel metaphor, etc.Quote:
Originally posted by frozenwater
For pleasure I am tackling the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, currently on the fifth book in the series; the fires of heaven.
The series started of nice, but I am bogging down in this last book.
It is your basic fantasy book.
Dude, you've got an illness and I share the same affliction. I've read everything you mentioned above:Quote:
Originally posted by Woodsy
frz,
I read A LOT of fantasy when i was younger
all of the Lord of the Rings books repeatedly, Whell of time (like you loved the first 3 dealt with the 4th & quit on the 5th), Piers Anthony Xanth series, all the Shannarra books, Dragonlance, & a few others.
I found no one in the genre held a candle to Tolkien.
I have not picked one up in years.
Also used to read a grip of Sci Fi Herbert, Clarke!, Asimov, Niven, Heinlein (sp?!!?) also dont read that much any more either unless I come across a Heinlein book I have yet to read. hes great.
but you are right there seems to be some intellectual posturing although a lot of Brown & Clancy fans disprove that.
when Nic worked @ the book store i got turned on to a lot of good readable contemporary authors like McKewan how I am devouring now.
also wish everyone here could read
Charles Bowden and Scott Carrier
every fantasy book, trilogy, series, Shannara, Tolkien, DL, etc. (Now, I wish i had been reading something important or educational)
All the SF titles you listed.
Did you know that Arthur Clarke's Rendevous With Rama is going to be a movie starring Morgan Friedman? The entire movie, except the actors, will be ditigal.
http://www.rendezvouswithrama.com/img003.jpg
When I was an adolescent, I was a voracious reader of Conan and Doc Savage, which is funny because I am not that old. Titillating to a 12-year-old mind, but never delivering the goods. If they had only delivered what the covers promised.Quote:
Originally posted by frozenwater
Speaking of fantasy, for such a strong market segment I am a little suprised to see no one else admitting to reading the genre. I wonder if most of us are too busy dredging up works we think might be impressive to others? "shrug"
Well anyhoo, I was reading the Riverworld series by Philip Jose Farmer, and had asked my mom to get me a few more of the books for Christmas. She bought me PJF’s A Feast Unkown. Hot tamales, I had finally hit the motherlode! The story of Tarzan if a Penthouse Letters’ writer had written it. My Dad picked the book up to read one weekend and I never saw it again. That was a tough blow for a young man. Funny how I started to get Jules Verne and Robert Heinlein novels for the next few years.
Oh, that's funny. I read all the Conans when I was a kid and remember being disappointed that the Barbarian didn't get his pole waxed more often by the heathen women clinging to his leg.Quote:
Originally posted by Cosmic Bandito
When I was an adolescent, I was a voracious reader of Conan and Doc Savage,
I grew up reading "trash" - fantasy, comic books, scifi, horror, whatever I could get my hands on that was cool. When you're young, the important thing is to be reading - a lot- regardless of what it is. Once kids get the bug, then they can be turned onto more "enlightened" reading and the skills they develop from reading all that trash will translate directly into doing better in school.
Another of my favorite authors - Stephen Jay Gould (especially the Mismeasure of Man). No one makes reading about anthropology, paleontology, geology, and several other -ologies more fun that that guy, may he rest in peace. He was even on the Simpsons.
Well, I sort of agree and sort of disagree. I'm absolutely in the Richard Dawkins camp, I'm no creationist. I think teaching Creationism in the schools is crap. However, should a person who does not believe in evolution be forced by the government to have their children be taught evolution? I'm not so sure. It comes down to what role you think the government should have in people's lives. Certainly one can believe in Creationism and have a happy and productive life. On the other hand, I do believe that kids whose parents do not believe in Creationism might feel justifiably annoyed having to listen to it.Quote:
Originally posted by Spats
tonghands: People can believe whatever they want, but they don't have the right to make the school system force those beliefs on others.
The role of school is to teach knowledge and methods of inquiry, which includes science, languages, math, history, and all that other good stuff. Even teaching *about* religion is fair game, especially since most US teenagers will have no idea what Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Hinduism, or even Coptic Christianity actually are. But you don't get to make the kids *follow* a religion, that's your job and duty as a parent.
And if your religion comes into conflict with basic scientific knowledge, then that's your own problem to resolve. The sun doesn't revolve around the earth, no matter what the Pope said or how many people the Church killed or tortured.
One simple way out of this is home schooling, If a parent feels strongly on the issue, they could pull their kids out of school for an hour or whatever and teach whatever they want on the subject at home. All I really mean to say here is that while I do not agree with most religious people's beliefs, I don't think that they're insane, and I think that this is their country as well, and I think that the government needs to respect that.
my woman just bought me "shakey" the neil young biography.
read everything I could find of his too.Quote:
Originally posted by Twoplanker
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Another of my favorite authors - Stephen Jay Gould (especially the Mismeasure of Man). No one makes reading about anthropology, paleontology, geology, and several other -ologies more fun that that guy, may he rest in peace. He was even on the Simpsons.
best part of high school ( educationally;) ) was being turned on to him & Ed Abbey
If you guys haven't read any John McPhee, you should pick up one of the "John McPhee Readers" (there are two). Excellent writer who combines a journalist's eye with a butter-smooth style.
I think the problem that people have with evolution is that they think it necessarily implies a belief system or is incompatible with their own. There are many biologists and scientists who have no trouble integrating their theological perspectives and their scientific, evolutionary perspectives into their view on the universe. Many people also think that evolution is a belief and not a scientific "fact" and that if this is the case than other competing beliefs (such as creationism) should be taught as the same time. This represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the scientific method and science in general.Quote:
Originally posted by tonghands
Well, I sort of agree and sort of disagree. I'm absolutely in the Richard Dawkins camp, I'm no creationist. I think teaching Creationism in the schools is crap. However, should a person who does not believe in evolution be forced by the government to have their children be taught evolution? I'm not so sure. It comes down to what role you think the government should have in people's lives. Certainly one can believe in Creationism and have a happy and productive life. On the other hand, I do believe that kids whose parents do not believe in Creationism might feel justifiably annoyed having to listen to it.
One simple way out of this is home schooling, If a parent feels strongly on the issue, they could pull their kids out of school for an hour or whatever and teach whatever they want on the subject at home. All I really mean to say here is that while I do not agree with most religious people's beliefs, I don't think that they're insane, and I think that this is their country as well, and I think that the government needs to respect that.
Ice: I read "A Sense of Where You Are" and I wasn't really bowled over. Kind of dissapointing considering I really like (and am interested in) Politics, New York, and basketball. What say you about that book compared to his other writings?Quote:
Originally posted by iceman
If you guys haven't read any John McPhee, you should pick up one of the "John McPhee Readers" (there are two). Excellent writer who combines a journalist's eye with a butter-smooth style.
I would say it's well below par. That and "Basin And Range" (which is interesting but FAR too long) are my least favorite works. I think the problem with "A Sense of Where You Are" is that he was too close to the subject. He and Bradley are friends, they're practically neighbors in - dammit, what's the name of the town where Princeton is? - and they socialize. I think it affected the book for the worse.Quote:
Originally posted by shamrockpow
Ice: I read "A Sense of Where You Are" and I wasn't really bowled over. Kind of dissapointing considering I really like (and am interested in) Politics, New York, and basketball. What say you about that book compared to his other writings?
Try "The Second John McPhee Reader" (The Noonday Press,1996), which contains excerpts from eleven other books, to get a better feel for the guy. I still highly recommend him.
Airport reading: Anything by Carl Hiaasen. If I'm stuck in the crummy airport bookstore, I'll grab one of his books about stupid people committing crimes in Miami, and several hours will go by a lot faster than they would otherwise.
Ding!Quote:
Originally posted by Twoplanker
This represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the scientific method and science in general.
"Science" isn't guys in white coats, your physics teacher, or expensive machines that go "ping". Science is an *iterative process* by which we learn, test, and verify new information.
-Make a hypothesis
-Design a test for it
-Run the test
-Submit results for peer and public review
-See if others' tests produce the same result
-Go back to square 2 with new information in hand
This process has been proven to reliably produce new, useful knowledge over centuries. As a result, we have things like electricity, air conditioning, cars, planes, telephones, CD players, computers, and the Internet.
No other process has done so.
The Bible doesn't contain the laws of thermodynamics. The Koran doesn't contain Maxwell's equations. The Torah doesn't contain Newtonian physics. And they don't tell you how to get them, either, because applying scientific process to Holy Writ could result in Holy Writ changing -- and if it could change, it wouldn't be Holy Writ, would it?
Therefore, I think the question of "should schools teach religion" is clear. Unless you are willing to give up electricity, printed books, air conditioning, cars, planes, telephones, CD players, computers, and the Internet, you cannot teach religion as an alternative to science.
To stay on topic, here's another vote for the Hitchhiker's Guide series.
I'll follow it with a quote from Douglas Adams:
"Now, the invention of the scientific method is, I'm sure we'll all agree, the most powerful intellectual idea, the most powerful framework for thinking and investigating and understanding and challenging the world around us that there is, and it rests on the premise that any idea is there to be attacked. If it withstands the attack then it lives to fight another day and if it doesn't withstand the attack then down it goes. Religion doesn't seem to work like that. It has certain ideas at the heart of it which we call sacred or holy or whatever. What it means is, "Here is an idea or a notion that you're not allowed to say anything bad about; you're just not. Why not?--because you're not!" If somebody votes for a party that you don't agree with, you're free to argue about it as much as you like; everybody will have an argument but nobody feels aggrieved by it. If somebody thinks taxes should go up or down you are free to have an argument about it. But on the other hand if somebody says 'I mustn't move a light switch on a Saturday,' you say, "I respect that."
The odd thing is, even as I am saying that, I am thinking "Is there an Orthodox Jew here who is going to be offended by the fact that I just said that?" But I wouldn't have thought "Maybe there's somebody from the left wing or somebody from the right wing or somebody who subscribes to this view or the other in economics" when I was making the other points. I just think "Fine, we have different opinions." But, the moment I say something that has something to do with somebody's (I'm going to stick my neck out here and say irrational) beliefs, then we all become terribly protective and terribly defensive and say "No, we don't attack that; that's an irrational belief but no, we respect it."
Why should it be that it's perfectly legitimate to support the Labor party or the Conservative party, Republicans or Democrats, this model of economics versus that, Macintosh instead of Windows--but to have an opinion about how the Universe began, about who created the Universe . . . no, that's holy? What does that mean? Why do we ring-fence that for any other reason other than that we've just got used to doing so? There's no other reason at all, it's just one of those things that crept into being and once that loop gets going it's very, very powerful. So, we are used to not challenging religious ideas but it's very interesting how much of a furor Richard [Dawkins] creates when he does it! Everybody gets absolutely frantic about it because you're not allowed to say these things. Yet when you look at it rationally there is no reason why those ideas shouldn't be as open to debate as any other, except that we have agreed somehow between us that they shouldn't be. "
The argument goes like this:
`I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, `for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.'
`But,' says Man, `The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.'
`Oh dear,' says God, `I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly disappears in a puff of logic.
`Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next pedestrian crossing.
Most leading theologians claim that this argument is a load of dingo's kidneys, but that didn't stop Oolon Colluphid making a small fortune when he used it as the central theme of his best-selling book, "Well, That about Wraps It Up for God."
bwaaaaahaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaahaahaahaaaa
and the Hilarious Book Title of the Day Award goes to...(drumroll please)...Fox News personality Sean Hannity for his new book Deliver Us from Evil : Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism
This thread got me to thinking about how I'd been in between good books for a while, so when I was driving through Bishop on my way to the DMV I saw a bookstore and decided I'd stop on my way back and check it out, that just happened to be the first book that jumped out at my eyes right in front on the "best sellers: 25% off" rack
Ohhh, so what I did end up picking up was
"Downhill Slide: why the corporate ski industry is bad for skiing, ski towns, and the environment" by Hal Clifford
should provide some interesting food for thought, I know someone on this board mentioned it once before
and
"The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: the truth about corporate cons, globalization, and high-finance fraudsters" by Greg Palast
but I haven't started either one yet so I'll have to get back to you on exactly how good they are
One of the last really good books I read was
"Lame Deer Seeker of Visions: the life of a sioux medicine man" by John (Fire) Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes
any of the 3 "The Boondocks" comic strip compilations is excellent. Aaron McGruder's a pretty funny guy (maybe not as funny as Sean Hannity, but still...)
and one of my all-time favorite novels is "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe... such a great writer, his other books are good too
Chalk up another disgruntled reader who quit the World of Time series by book 5. Good story, but if I want to read 100s of pages of women bitching I'll turn on daytime TV instead.
Just read the Royal Robbins biography. A bit too short of a read, but it gives some insight into how big of balls those guys had.
Next on the list is Food Politics. For some reason I can't get enough of how f'ed up modern society is.
what like Fast Food Nation? Haven't read it, but I've heard about itQuote:
Originally posted by Mountain Junkie
Next on the list is Food Politics. For some reason I can't get enough of how f'ed up modern society is.
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks..........quite simply one of the best novels ever written. Get through the first fifty pages and this book will move you.
Ummm, most of us are Americans, got anything that might grab us within the first ten words?Quote:
Originally posted by Hayduke
Get through the first fifty pages and this book will move you.
I mean, that's the window.
Ok. Well how about one of those kids books about a helicopter that battered ex-princess Fergie wrote for you guys? One of the UK's finest exports.
Start with that, then go and read Birdsong, but definately read Birdsong. Did I mention you should read Birdsong?
Most of my reading tends to be guidbooks.
Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain, by Bruce Tremper... good shit
I just bought Mario Puzo's The Godfather the other day and am about halfway through that. I have never seen the movie, but so far the book is pretty good, I love all that mafia shit.
Today I bought Stephen Kings Different Seasons. It contains long story's/short novels, called novellas. I just read the one that Shawshank Redemption is based on. Pretty good. Next up, The Body, which is what Stand By Me was based on. Should be good also.
I have a habit of reading two or three things at once.
I've mostly been reading kids books these days, but have managed to squeeze out the Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, The Life and Death of Great American Cities, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Need to make a trip to the bookstore for a new book. I enjoyed the DaVinci Code, but struggled with Angels and Demons.