CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Non-Audio Stuff => Random Thoughts => Topic started by: olor1n on October 11, 2012, 10:22:58 AM
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(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/TheShadowOfTheWind.jpg)
I'm in love with this book, with its characters, setting, humour, and the intrigue and foreboding wrought throughout its pages. It's a mystery, a ghost story, a period piece, and a coming of age tale laced with warm nostalgia. Fermin Romero De Torres, a sidekick, is truly the wisest man in the Universe.
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(http://seansturm.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/bubbles-cover.jpg)
"[Bubbles] is . . . the first volume to be translated of Sloterdijk’s Spheres trilogy: the other two are due for an English release over the next year or two. Each volume uses the motif of the 'sphere' in different yet complementary ways to refer to 'spaces of coexistence' between and among human beings. Bubbles is devoted to micro-spheres, the most intimate of originary spaces: the womb; the relationship between lovers; and that between God and the human subject. The second and third volumes deal with other kinds of spheres: the world considered as a single cosmopolitan macro-sphere, and then our contemporary decentralized network of social and cultural spheres, in which the concept of a central, self-structuring totality — religion, myth, science, enlightenment — has collapsed, and we find ourselves living in a complex sea of fragmentary yet contiguous spheres, which Sloterdijk likens to a 'foam.'"
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I'm still learning....
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Good thread, olor1n. I was meaning to make a similar one, but not sure how well it would be received.
My book tastes are certainly more "pop" than some of the academic luminaries we have here. I'm working on these two now:
(http://www.chrismcdougall.com/images/cover_pb.jpg)
I recently got into minimalist running to try to counteract my planar fasciitis, so a friend recommended this to me. It's about the writer's encounters with a tribe of ultra-distance runners from South America. It reads like a popcorn movie -- very fast read, and the narratives culminate into this big ultra-marathon event in the Copper Canyons. Pretty interesting if you're curious about minimalist/barefoot running, or marathons in general. There is a chapter that goes into the history of the running shoe, starting with the Nike Cortez, and how runner's injuries have increased exponentially with the advancements in running shoe technology. It calls into question the philosophy behind running science and typical running shoe designs (more padding = good) and makes a case to the notion that less = more.
(http://www.thenerge.com/wp-content/uploads/youarehere.jpg)
Cool laymans physics book. He talks about the history of the universe, and all things microscopic and macroscopic. It's gotten to the point in the book that tackles quantum physics, and I'm finding it a bit too theoretical to hold my interest at this point. I may end up not finishing it.
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http://www.amazon.com/Six-Impossible-Things-Before-Breakfast/dp/0393332039/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350000321&sr=8-1&keywords=six+impossible+things+before+breakfast
I really enjoy this book when I read it, real funny. if you have a sense of humor
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Any Haruki Murakami fans here? :) In general, his works would fall under magical realism.
I've read all his books, currently on IQ84 and it's been a slight disappointment so far because of the style changes. Supposedly the story goes downhill after the 2nd book.
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Any Haruki Murakami fans here? :) In general, his works would fall under magical realism.
I've read all his books, currently on IQ84 and it's been a slight disappointment so far because of the style changes. Supposedly the story goes downhill after the 2nd book.
I read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World recently and found it enjoyable. Didn't find it utterly captivating and read through it in patches while plowing through other books.
Wonderland is kinda like the Zafon novel I'm reading at the moment in that there's a distinct sense of place, although some of it is fantastical. There's also subtle and clever humour throughout, in the character's observations and the absurd situations they find themselves in. Wonderland just became predictable and a bit of a chore towards the end.
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I read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World recently and found it enjoyable. Didn't find it utterly captivating and read through it in patches while plowing through other books.
Wonderland is kinda like the Zafon novel I'm reading at the moment in that there's a distinct sense of place, although some of it is fantastical. There's also subtle and clever humour throughout, in the character's observations and the absurd situations they find themselves in. Wonderland just became predictable and a bit of a chore towards the end.
I think I'll try finding a copy of "Shadow" then, since that's probably by favorite genre. Thanks!
About Wonderland, it was one of Murakami's earlier works so I his style wasn't as polished, and I agree it tended to get plodding in certain parts. I think a good introduction to his work would be one of his short story anthologies (Blind Willow Sleeping Woman or Elephant Vanishes), along with Norwegian Wood, which is my personal favorite among his novels. It's also the only one that's basically a love story, grounded in reality (Tokyo in the 60's) and without any magical happenings.
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Since I've left the Academia I've got extremely lazy with my reading. I spend most of my time either working or researching the principles of amplication or digital to anlog conversion. To be honest It's a rather shite feeling when you realize that you can't quite muster te strength needed to grasp the ideas I used to find simple and most importantly- interesting.
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Any fans of Krasznahorkai, Canetti, or Musil? Beckett? Borges?
If so I really recommend checking out Danilo Kis and Natasza Goerke.
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I have Norwegian Wood on the Kindle. I'll make that my next Murakami.
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Austin Osman Spare - Fallen Visionary: Refractions (Jerusalem Press, 2012)
http://jerusalempress.co.uk/?page_id=707
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Struggling to finish Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. I say struggling because my attention as of late is attracted to the procrastinating wonders of Internet. I specifically target this book first from Murakami because of a certain other fictional character that may or may not be based from this book.
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I've been meaning to read a bunch of Lovecraft but I can't get into reading any fiction lately for some reason.
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(http://seansturm.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/bubbles-cover.jpg)
"[Bubbles] is . . . the first volume to be translated of Sloterdijk’s Spheres trilogy: the other two are due for an English release over the next year or two. Each volume uses the motif of the 'sphere' in different yet complementary ways to refer to 'spaces of coexistence' between and among human beings. Bubbles is devoted to micro-spheres, the most intimate of originary spaces: the womb; the relationship between lovers; and that between God and the human subject. The second and third volumes deal with other kinds of spheres: the world considered as a single cosmopolitan macro-sphere, and then our contemporary decentralized network of social and cultural spheres, in which the concept of a central, self-structuring totality — religion, myth, science, enlightenment — has collapsed, and we find ourselves living in a complex sea of fragmentary yet contiguous spheres, which Sloterdijk likens to a 'foam.'"
I missed out on a literature, in particular Dutch literature. Sloterdijk and Bordewijk are noted, thanks...
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Radiotron Designer's Handbook. 4th edition
PDF (http://www.tubebooks.org/Books/intro_RDH4.pdf)
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That's an interesting book. It's on archive.org too. Wonderful. :)
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Indeed! Thanks Maverickronin!
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I've seen it recommended in a few different places. It's 60 years old but there hasn't exactly been a whole lot of advancement in audio frequency tubes since then.
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The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
Not something I normally read. Personally I'm more a fiction guy. The first part of the book where Dawkins talked about Einstein's idea of God and religion was rather interesting.
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The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
Not something I normally read. Personally I'm more a fiction guy. The first part of the book where Dawkins talked about Einstein's idea of God and religion was rather interesting.
Hehe. Some people don't like it when you treat the existence of deities as a scientific question. Another good book along those lines is God: The Failed Hypothesis by Victor Stenger.
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Must resist the temptation to respond further...
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Just finished No Hero - Jonathan Wood... Just starting Yesterdays Hero Jonathan Wood.
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Finally getting around to reading Zizek's latest:
(http://www.versobooks.com/system/images/1822/original/9781844678976%20Less%20than%20nothing.jpg)
As an undergraduate (at least, up until my senior year) Zizek was pretty much my master, and I considered myself a Lacanian / Zizekian. I've pretty much disavowed that perspective, but I still enjoy reading his work and try to keep up with his latest refinements. This work in particular is shaping up to be one of his most impressive, one of those rarities that manages to be both accessibly and fun to read while getting into the depths of thought (this monster is over 1000 rather large pages).
Zizek makes philosophy fun. Some would say too fun LOL.
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http://www.habibibook.com/
(http://thehungryreader.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/habibi-by-craig-thompson1.jpg)
A graphic novel by the excellent Craig Thompson.
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I just started reading George Orwell's "1984". The actuality of that story frightens and fascinates me at the same time. The way Orwell tells Winston's story is effective and dread inducing once you start to draw the parallels and analogies.
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Heh, my brother just started rereading that one.
Reading:
The Electrostatic Loudspeaker Cookbook - Roger Sanders
Tubes and Circuits - Bruce Rozenblit
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Heh, my brother just started rereading that one.
Reading:
The Electrostatic Loudspeaker Cookbook - Roger Sanders
I've had this on my wish list for a while, did you get it for a sane price? :)
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Thinking of fixing those Quads yourself? :P
If you consider 27 euro a sane price: http://www.hificollective.co.uk/books/bk5002.html
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http://www.cc-webshop.com/Electrostatic-Loudspeaker-Design-Cookbook-AA-BKAA020.htm
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Looks like someone's looking forward to buying some Sanders speakers...
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Haha maybe later down the line, but I'd have to hear them first. I'm going to build my own ESL HPs. I've had the book for a while now but just got around to starting it while on vacation last week, interesting stuff.
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Bob Katz - Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science :)p7
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517JH1775iL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
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"1984" is finished, what a book! I must reread it.
Now I'll try to restart reading S. A. Barnett's "Science Myth Or Magic" and Thomas Paine's "The Age Of Reason". I'm planning to go for an international bachelor studies on university level so I might as well start reading.
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Heads-up: The kindle version of "World's Collider: A Shared-World Anthology" is currently free from Amazon US/UK. I purchased it myself a few months back, wonderful read if you're into dark science-fiction.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XfzXOjHwL._SS500_.jpg)
http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Collider-Shared-World-Anthology-ebook/dp/B008J9X2P4/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1354077338&sr=8-1&keywords=world%27s+collider+a+shared-world+anthology
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The complete Plato collection, I'm about 1/4 of the way through, fascinating and enjoyable stuff really. Pairs well with jazz :P
Really though very interesting dialogues, much more applicable to today than one might expect.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41EMsalGmkL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
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Serious reading; Proficient Motorcycling. First in a series of books I plan to read to hopefully be a better rider and avoid killing myself. This first book is mainly about knowing how the bike works, and common stuff on public roads that can get you in trouble.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LSbsK6QBL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg)
Fun reading. I've loved some of Chabon's other works (Kavalier & Clay being the best) and music being part of the setting for his newest book is an instant pick up for me. Hoping it's good!
(http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335716595l/10756240.jpg)
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Re-reading "A Broodmare For Gloriana", a Sherlock Holmes short story written by (renowned Doctor Who) writer Lawrence Miles. Whole thing:
http://holmesbestiary.blogspot.com/2011/12/broodmare-for-gloriana.html
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I'm a total sucker for high-tech military fiction. Read the new Tom Clancy earlier in the week. About to dig into the newest Dale Brown's Dreamland book.
According to Walter Mosely's website, the next Easy Rawlins book is scheduled to come out on my birthday. Woo-hoo!
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Jonathan Swifts "Gulliver's Travels". I'm reading the Everyman's Library edition in old English. Once you get used to the English it becomes easy to understand...
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(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aTdhEqEoCuc/UMCvnKTXyWI/AAAAAAAAPks/p42In-fl5MM/s1600/Ain%27t+No+Sanity+Clause.jpg)
Kirosia likes dark fiction
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(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41aWy%2B6ZiqL._SL500_SS500_.jpg)
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(http://www.dunenovels.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/book_image_thumbnail/Sisterhood_0.jpg)
With the release of a new mid-time-line trilogy, I have decided to re-read all the novels in the Dune series in chronological order:
House Atreides
House Harkonnen
House Corrino
The Butlerian Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin
[insert new trilogy]
The Road to Dune
Dune
Paul of Dune
Dune Messiah
The Winds of Dune
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune
Hunters of Dune
Sandworms of Dune
And as a reward, I already have this gem lined up:
(http://www.dunenovels.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/book_image_thumbnail/High-Opp%20Cover%203.JPG)
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"Jacob's Hands" by Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood, good story...
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(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/H2G2_UK_front_cover.jpg)
Oldie, but goldie.
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recently bought this
(http://imageshack.us/a/img593/7/51blabbl0mlsl500aa300.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/593/51blabbl0mlsl500aa300.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
also bought the book ''The Secret'' and will read that soon as well.
also had the book ''Zen:Art of happiness by chris prentiss'' sitting by me for awhile i need to catch up on.
after done reading these bad boys, i'm hoping to read DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman.
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Yay! You are alive.
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Nope. His account got hijacked, the real Rex only watches History Channel.
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Getting a bit biologically spiritual there Rex!
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Yay! You are alive.
yup! still kicking strong, even after all that probing.
Nope. His account got hijacked, the real Rex only watches History Channel.
shhh, don't tell anyone.
Getting a bit biologically spiritual there Rex!
always been a spiritual guy in a way(not religious. i personally think there is a difference). even though i grew up in a roman catholic denomination i always knew there were more out there but, it's just been the past year where my interest just sparked and i just want to know more answers so i been reading a lot of everything with an open mind. i might save money and visit peru cause spending time in a jungle in solitude sounds very wonderful and peaceful to me. maybe i get pet jaguar as well and name it binky or snickle butters. who knows!
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also had the book ''Zen:Art of happiness by chris prentiss'' sitting by me for awhile i need to catch up on.
Have you read Zen [...] Art of Archery? It's an approachable text.
The most educational texts I've read on Zen have been:
The poems of Ryōkan. (Various texts)
And The Zen Teaching of Rinzai:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VJ0Co--NL._SL500_.jpg)
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Now reading:
(http://www.mtviggy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/American-Psycho.jpg)
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(http://images.pearsoned-ema.com/jpeg/large/9780273767282.jpg)
I'm learning a new kind of English. :-Z The class for which I'm reading this book requires that we (students) blog about content related topics. The theory I understand but the choice of words is often confusing. In my opinion the authors are a bit sloppy for they sometimes omit crucial explanations while bombarding you with their jargon.
At least it's a nice exercise in analytical reading and summarizing...
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also had the book ''Zen:Art of happiness by chris prentiss'' sitting by me for awhile i need to catch up on.
Have you read Zen [...] Art of Archery? It's an approachable text.
The most educational texts I've read on Zen have been:
The poems of Ryōkan. (Various texts)
And The Zen Teaching of Rinzai:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VJ0Co--NL._SL500_.jpg)
nope but will give it a look. i think local barnes and noble should carry it maybe. if not i see if i can order it(after i get done reading what i have here first of course). thanks a lot for the suggestion.
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/shipsupt/51CYjYgYApL_BO2204203200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-clickTopRight35-76_AA300_SH20_OU01__zpsad480158.jpg)
Morgan Jones - Valve Amplifiers
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Just started Old Man's War
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i finished the shaman&ayahuasca and it was a very interesting read. Don Jose experience with the great plant from his early age to now was fascinating read. about his own experiences,the ceremonies he performed,people he healed and met and things he learned working with not only the plants but the doctors as well. i liked it a good amount.
i started The Secret today and 10 pages in i kinda just felt was ''what th...i kinda already knew this stuff and it's nothing new''. but problem i had with it i noticed is they take the whole new age belief to a whole new level, like in a way, kinda ridiculously. i don't mean to be critical of it or sound like it. it just how i feel of it now. i will continue to read more of it. i do read with an open of course but so far from what i learned and knew in the past about spiritualism/beliefs/religion i find this book so far....what is the right word...i can't think of it now, the exact word but it is somewhere between obsolete and odd(i don't know if i chose the right words or not. man am i retarded).
again this is from 10 pages of reading. hopefully it improves. if not i might go back and read Conversations with God(an uncommon dialogue) by Neale Donald Walsch since i only finished book 1(i really liked it too) and still have 2 and 3 to finish while i wait for my order for DMT:The spirit molecule to come in.
EDIT: i forgot to ask here too. anyone know a good suggested translation of the holy quran? i was going to get the one done by Maulana Muhammad Ali since i read lot of good things on it. just asking cause i heard there is a lot of mistranslations of it from different people to support their interpretations(i know it's the same for the bible and any other thing that has been done as well).
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I'm actually curious about The Secret if you think its kind of over-the-top after reading the first 10 pages!
Dunno much about the Quran.
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I once glanced and scanned through a copy of "The Secret". I seriously thought I was reading a pimped up leaflet about how to lead a better life with a more secular perspective. As a kid I went to church, particularly "Evangelical" churches and when those people started talking about leading a better life: pretty much the same as "The Secret". I felt like a pickle in a fruit salad when they did that. Yuk...
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thing is i like some of the new age perspective on life and a lot of religions all tie together in a way to be honest. just the book ''the secret'' explains how to use these beliefs in a materialistic way(personal wealth,money,cars,houses and so forth) which is odd cause all the spiritual belief systems i know tend to teach these things to be more compassionate,understanding,open of all living things and true wealth is internally.
i do believe in positive thinking and finding a higher self and, i do believe we can take charge as a creator but it always had something to do with eliminating the ego and finding that the true wealth is inside/internal and not the external/physical. it is very possible to lead a better life but that's up to the individual what is considered ''better'' cause everyone is different.
i know you can use these things to reflect externally cause the more positive and humble you are,the more grounded and better mood you tend to feel which translate to a more functioning self which translates to more achievements(can be internally or externally/physically) but of course it all depends on multiple things.
i just don't know as of now right this moment to be honest cause i'm still reading it and do feel pretty much neutral of the book. it might just be the way i am interpreting it myself. i don't want anyone to disregard the book itself cause of my impressions. if you feel interesting in it give it a little read at a local book store if you can(i should of done that. i just read the back real quick and that's it).
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What's often referred to as the "new age perspective of life" is what I've found to be mostly the more Middle Eastern/Asian and naturalistic religious views on life. You'll find a lot of similarities once you start digging.
The moment any religion/philosophy or 'doctrine' on life becomes dogmatic and self glorifying I'm out. I'm a bit of a gnostic but I err to the atheist side. I do admire the intellectual cultures of Catholicism and Judaism though.
Sorry for the derailment...
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What's often referred to as the "new age perspective of life" is what I've found to be mostly the more Middle Eastern/Asian and naturalistic religious views on life. You'll find a lot of similarities once you start digging.
The moment any religion/philosophy or 'doctrine' on life becomes dogmatic and self glorifying I'm out. I'm a bit of a gnostic but I err to the atheist side. I do admire the intellectual cultures of Catholicism and Judaism though.
Sorry for the derailment...
i know what your saying but that's all i am going to say now and save for another time. i do apologize myself here as well for derailing things a bit. my fault big time.
anyhoo,keep things on topic i was given this by my uncle earlier for reading
(http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac26/RexAeterna/51v2gSQCjNL_SS500_.jpg)
read few pages of it real quick and like it even though math is my weak point. but for some reason i tend to understand things like quantum physics and sacred geometry very easily(horrible at devision). i think i might have some form of autism or something lol.
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(http://s.s-bol.com/imgbase0/imagebase/large/FC/7/3/0/5/1001004008535037.jpg)
I like the science behind it but the sophisticated language to fill the pages makes the book thicker than necessary.
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i just stopped reading the secret. couldn't get into it. finally picked up though this
(http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac26/RexAeterna/0978089281927_500X500.jpg)
i read beginning first pages and it's very interesting on the explanation of first experiments of psychedelics. LSD was first used for stopping uterine bleeding due to the serotonin compounds found in LSD before anyone ever knew it'll make a strong hallucinogen . haven't got to DMT yet since i just read the introduction. seems though things like LSD,DMT,mascline(found in peyote), and psilocybin somehow connected to serotonin and are found in the tryptamine family which is an amino acid that out own dna produces for well-being.
DMT is actually considered Serotonin's cousin in the tryptamine family and is considered the gateway to reaching higher levels of consciences and reaching what lot people claim the spirit realms and always has a higher intelligence working through them through their experience. through these experiences people had unexplained psychological and physical cures(cancers, schizophrenia, drug dependence, alcoholism,ect). i will continue to read this cause i find it very interesting.
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So how was it?
I'm reading Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman. Recommend. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami on the side, and about to start Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.
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it was pretty good start but getting near the ending it just felt like an old record. when you read to a certain point you realize you don't ncessary need to continue. overall it was interesting and good theory overall rick strassman had but not too well constructed of information of anything different from what i already knew digging into natural botanics and herbs. i find the current book i am now reading is far more interesting than DMT:The Spirit Molecule.
it's called: The Cosmic Serpent:DNA and the orgins of knowledge.
not only does it dig deeper of understanding with shamanic rituals of botanical use but he has an interesting theory behind everything by eliminating his typical rational left brain way of thinking and seeking into more wider part of the picture and a wider aspect of possibilities not hindered by logical thinking. he tries to combine the unexplainable into a logical understanding in a way to make the avg person on their way of thinking to try to grasp the larger picture of things.
not finished it yet though. been taking my time with reading since i end up going crazy cause of mind overload. i had few occasionally where i thought of the possibility of me going crazy or just insane like something wrong with me cause when i read i tend to think a lot to figure every possible answer and meaning to everything with endless questioning and questing my own answers of possibility me being very very wrong or trying to dig deeper. i take break but when i finish it i let you know. i like to take my time and fully break everything down with full analyzing and piece everything back to see the larger picture of things.
let you know though, from what i already knew and been finding out reading and experiencing there is a much deeper understanding to things in our lives then this typical ant farm we live in. i just know it. it's just a sense i have that i can't explain.
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Dad's old textbooks make for some light summer reading....
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41rg3iXc5vL.jpg)
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(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5c/Down_(Summerfield).jpg/197px-Down_(Summerfield).jpg)
The novel is part of the Virgin New Adventures series, starring Bernice Summerfield, a former sometimes Doctor Who companion who Paul Cornell created to wank off to. Being one of Lawrence Miles earlier works, I expected something raw, iffy, but conceptually interesting. And it is. Read 20% in one sitting. Submarine-inside-a-dinosaur.
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Dad's old textbooks make for some light summer reading....
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41rg3iXc5vL.jpg)
Looks like the perfect companion to have on a sailboat in the pacific ocean, the soft winds of LT1115 gently rustling your hair.
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Reading a universe from nothing, by Lawrence Krauss.
It was recommended to me by youtube commenters, then I saw it at Kinokuniya the next day, our fates were intertwined, I take such exorcistic rapture in nihilism.
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(http://bks7.books.google.co.uk/books?id=QCVQsxlRuCcC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE73PQEUoy14Gc4AwlwyVP_9E2EcJ6R4yN2ZvTfaB43KBPUjdvx59AEbProcjMipePlfdJqZcAQTbjFDMR2V6H4td7QmnIdDbwQ1yAA3xUh9Dhn-SLbytz1xe4zYScditB0coDexb)
Some mindless sci-fi for my train ride. I'm well into the Lost Fleet series now.
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hello,
currently reading the fifth in the series that starts with this one:
Storm Front: Book one of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.
great fun, a combo of hard-boiled detective and fantasy.
memorable characters, fast paced, funny bits and lots more!
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Re-reading certain sections of old Doctor Who books.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/Kirosia/Watch.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/Kirosia/Piper.png)
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A Universe From Nothing has a catchy and provocative title, which I'm assuming makes many read it, but the content somewhat defies the title, since it seems to rely on the concept / notion that "nothingness", in the way we intuitively think of it, i.e. pure nothingness, doesn't actually exist, and never has, at least that's the jist you get from it.
So with that <i>colossal</i> axiom moved out of the way, it has the self-liberty to freely discuss the history of physics and latest advancements, theories, discoveries in particle accelerators et cetera. all which revolve around the notion of anti-nothingness, as if "nothing" is only colloquial in the English vocabulary.
As such, it's a book which never really discusses the central theme implied in the title. If it was instead titled "A Universe From Foreverness And Anti-Nothingness", then that wouldn't have the same anti-theistic connotations which are part of the driving force in the literature.
Page 142, paraphrased.
"In any case, in a universe with no miracles, when you are faced with a simple underlying order, you can draw two different conclusions. One, was that order was created by a divine intelligence. Two, is that the laws themselves are all that exist."
"The laws may be eternal, or they too may have come into existence, again by some yet unknown but possibly purely physical process."
Read the above quotes 5 times and you'll realise this book doesn't give any clear-cut answers at all.
/review
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Re-reading certain sections of old Doctor Who books.
Are the old Dr. Who books worth reading? I'm looking for something to read and I consider myself a fairly strong fan of the series...
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Yes, I would say. The best books likely surpass the best televised episodes with regards to characterization, plot- all that literary jazz. Plus you get to experience the "First War in Heaven", a time war that doesn't involve the cruddy Daleks being the main antagonists. Certain writers are highlighted- Lawrence Miles, Lance Parkin, Simon Butcher-Jones, Daniel Mahoney, to name a few. They also happen to write for the "spin-off" universes such as Iris Wildthyme and Faction Paradox.
Recommendations:
Seventh Doctor (New Adventures, in no order)
- Christmas on a Rational Planet
- The Dying Days
- Just War
- Falls the Shadow
Eighth Doctor (Eighth Doctor Adventures)
- Alien Bodies (likely the best Who novel... ever)
- Interference Books 1 and 2
- The Taking of Planet 5
- Father Time
- The Adventuress of Henrietta Street
- Gallifrey Chronicles
Bernice Summerfield (Virgin New Adventures)
- Dead Romance
- Down
There is technically an over-arching plot between the books within a certain series... just wiki them, each one listed above should have a number. Go in ascending order, if one is inclined. I'd also prioritize the books written by Lawrence Miles and Lance Parkin, personally. To give you an idea of Miles' work, here's his rewrite of a Sherlock Holmes story: http://holmesbestiary.blogspot.com/2011/12/broodmare-for-gloriana.html
And Newton's Sleep by Daniel Mahoney, a part of the Faction Paradox universe (think branching future of Doctor Who not wholly related to the later books and rebooted televised series). Free and legal from the publisher site, the image I posted with "Chapter 3: The Family of Eyes" is an excerpt. http://www.randomstatic.net/newtonssleep.php
Oh, and I'll gladly send drm-free versions (epub, pdf, and mobi) of whatever books I have, if you're interested.
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Awesome write up! Thanks for taking the time to post that.
I'm heading to the iBooks to see what I can get to download on the iPad for the commute.
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The international edition of "Essential of Statistics" by Triola. I have the fourth edition.
This book is absurdly oversized. What is it with Pearson and making its basic course books unnecessary big and heavy?
Do not get me started on the sheets of unnecessary text...
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A Universe From Nothing has a catchy and provocative title, which I'm assuming makes many read it, but the content somewhat defies the title, since it seems to rely on the concept / notion that "nothingness", in the way we intuitively think of it, i.e. pure nothingness, doesn't actually exist, and never has, at least that's the jist you get from it.
So with that <i>colossal</i> axiom moved out of the way, it has the self-liberty to freely discuss the history of physics and latest advancements, theories, discoveries in particle accelerators et cetera. all which revolve around the notion of anti-nothingness, as if "nothing" is only colloquial in the English vocabulary.
As such, it's a book which never really discusses the central theme implied in the title. If it was instead titled "A Universe From Foreverness And Anti-Nothingness", then that wouldn't have the same anti-theistic connotations which are part of the driving force in the literature.
Krauss is enjoying catching some ground in the post-Hitchens vacuum the New Atheists find themselves in. If you want physics anecdotes rendered less preachy then read his earlier stuff.
That said, I appreciate the simplicity of his view in the rejection of the linguistic sophistry of the "meaning of nothingness". If you're expecting a physicists to render an opinion on the nature of existence vs. nonexistence you are looking in the wrong field, explanations of quantum mechanics don't have to make that kind of sense.
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Thanks for your thoughts. I think many people picking up the book expect that, I rather read a sciency book than an explanation of Zen Buddhism. :(
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Brakespeare Voyage. Deeply connected to the Faction Paradox canon, so I might have to dip into the prior books since the wiki isn't all that encompassing.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/Kirosia/Brake2.jpg)
http://obversebooks.co.uk/product/brakespear/#!prettyPhoto
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http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=273008421&m=274232216
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Charles Bukowski
(http://static.fnac-static.com/multimedia/Images/FR/MC/cc/61/40/20996556/1540-1.jpg)
Simon Carmiggelt
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By Benjamin Graham...Linky (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060555661/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=37416339665&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11255131224639107696&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_maz9b7c23_e)
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I tend to things in swaths. Reading three or four concurrent books (half of which are anthologies). My favorite at the moment is About Time 5, which chronicles/critiques/backstories Doctor Who seasons 18-21. And as it happens, I'm watching season 18 right now, so it's a very good companion read.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/Kirosia/Swath.jpg)
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(http://www.creativereview.co.uk/images/uploads/2013/07/event06_0.jpg)
Interesting read...
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I usually read Popular Science and only when I'm in the can. :)p8
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I'm currently reading :
- Axiomatic from Greg Egan, a great collection of hard science fiction short stories p:3
(https://img.sfbook.com/books/large/axiomatic.jpg)
- Une autre vie est possible from Jean Claude Guillebaud, in this brief essay, Jean -Claude Guillebaud protests against the despair that inhabits our societies. He convinces us that , really, the future needs us .
And the last book I've read is Spin from Robert Charles Wilson, I loved it !
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I'm about a third of the way through Philip K. Dick's Ubik. He's one of the few sci-fi writers I've read who's actually a good prose writer too.
I like these OOP editions by Vintage despite their peculiar covers because they're easy to hold and very well typeset.
(https://images.contentreserve.com/ImageType-400/0887-1/A2D/8D0/EA/%7BA2D8D0EA-38D5-434E-994C-036393218ACD%7DImg400.jpg)
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I'm about a third of the way through Philip K. Dick's Ubik. He's one of the few sci-fi writers I've read who's actually a good prose writer too.
You're in for a treat, Ubik is my favorite of Dick's works :)p5
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You're in for a treat, Ubik is my favorite of Dick's works :)p5
It was pretty well-written as expected and maybe a little predictable, but only by today's standards. I think he accomplished more in The Man in the High Castle. But in both cases, the endings don't quite feel like endings. I'm sure to pick up another soon . . . otherwise I'll end up starting The Dispossessed for the nth time.
Have you ever read anything by Tim Powers? He writes these "genre-benders." Three Days to Never was more or less okay, and I've been stuck in the middle of Declare for the longest time. That one stands out. The writing isn't on Dick's or LeGuin's level (readable though), but it's fairly imaginative and thoughtful. I only hope it comes together in the end.
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I drive 108 miles, round trip, every day to work in the metro Atlanta area, then add traffic and well, it can really beat you down, especially when putting in 10 to 12 hour work days for the last 7 years. I just recently turned to audio books. I'm not sure why I haven't thought of this before. Now the drive isn't so bad, seriously. I've not been a big Stephen King reader but just recently listened to The Dome and am currently finishing up Mr. Mercedes. I've enjoyed his twisted mind and sometimes the readers voices are pretty hilarious. Anyway, also reading Lee Child's The Affair over lunches and at bedtime. Huge Jack Reacher fan and the library is saving me huge $$$'s on both audio and printed books.
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Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle", it is strangely fascinating and brilliant. Things that at first do not make sense somehow make sense later...
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Just finished All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Great.
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Just finished The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro.
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Thomas Pynchon ' s Inherent Vice
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The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Good so far.
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Am reading Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian.
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Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
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Finally getting around to colorless tsukuru tazaki and his years of pilgrimage
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That's on my back burner as well...haven't gotten around to it. I invested a lot of time in 1Q84. Overall not time wasted exactly, but it's not his best work, nor "tight" by any means. Could have been much shorter than the 900 pages or so it was.
Right now I am reading Super Sad True Love Story.
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After watching Bosch on Amazon, I started reading some of Michael Connelly's books. City of Bones (2002) has mediocre writing but it was pretty sensible as detective stories go. So I tried The Last Coyote (1995), which was fairly well-written and interesting; also much more in keeping with the hard-boiled subgenre. This leads me to suspect that his earlier novels might be stronger in general so I just started his first, The Black Echo (1992).
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It's been a while since I've had the time or desire to read outside of my studies.
For no particular reason other than I've never read one of Stephen Hawking's books, I recently began A Brief History of Time. I'm a biologist, but there were many portions of physics that I enjoyed. Looking forward to finishing this one.
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I'm reading Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey.. it's book 1 of his Expanse series. Soon to be a tv series so I want to feel superior to the people who only watched the tv series
http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey/dp/0316129089/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429195823&sr=8-1&keywords=leviathan+wakes
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Intermediate Accounting I (Kieso) and Federal Taxation for Individuals. Seeing if I can grasp accounting basics in case I can ever afford to go back to school.
I'm getting it, for the most part. I've heard Intermediate is what makes or breaks you as a potential accounting student, so if I can pull this off, I may not be a total idiot after all...
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I restarted reading Haruki Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle." A novel of this size took some time to adjust to. When you appreciate his style there is a brilliant quality which is sometimes described as "magical realism." Murakami is a master of magical realistic narration.
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Abominable by Dan Simmons
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Read "Ongoingness - The End of a Diary" by Sarah Manguso this weekend.
Her thoughts in the book are written in an almost stream of consciousness way, and just satisfyingly profound... a very enjoyable 1 hr read. Basically, she compulsively kept this diary of her daily life for 25 years, and this book is sort of just her thoughts surrounding the need to write down what she did... why she felt compelled to try and capture her life in words, not that she had a special life or anything.
I just felt connected with a lot of her thoughts, and they're written in 2 or 3 paragraphs per page, so it's a very easy, short read.
Here's a tiny little thought of hers, to give an idea of what her writing is like;
The catalog of emotion that disappears when someone dies, and the degree to which we rely on a few people to record something of what life was to them, is almost too much to bear.
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I just finished The Martian. Wanted to knock it out before the upcoming movie comes out. Good stuff.
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Currently re-reading "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami. A non-fiction account of how Murakami has identified himself a runner throughout his life, written honestly and hilariously. This narrative of thoughts throughout his life may be held together by a constant desire to run, however the story itself is enjoyable regardless of personal thoughts on the subject of running itself.
I personally enjoyed reading how he went from being a poor student to starting a successful jazz club, working from morning all through the night, eventually deciding to start writing for an hour or two after his long nights. He also describes the first time the notion of becoming a writer crossed his mind, as an idle thought while drinking a beer and watching a baseball game in Japan. It's his personal reflections throughout the story, told in such an informal way that really make it an enjoyable read.
Murakami also writes about his tendency to commit himself to what seem like arbitrary goals, not in a competitive way, but for his own reasons. Reading about his resolution to live this way exposes how he may have come to cultivate his popular writing into the novelist he is today. "I'm the kind of person who has to totally commit to whatever I do. I just couldn't do something clever like writing a novel while someone else ran the business. I had to give it everything I had. If I failed, I could accept that. But I knew that if I did things halfheartedly and they didn't work out, I'd always have regrets."
I also appreciated his honesty, describing at one point smoking sixty cigarettes a day, "all my fingers were yellow, and my whole body reeked of smoke. This can't be good for me, I decided. If I wanted to have a long life as a novelist, I needed to find a way to keep fit and maintain a healthy weight."
My favourite part of the book is when he decides to run in Greece, from Athens to Marathon, as a nod to the original marathon, only in the dead heat of the summer, for an interest article in Runners World magazine. He describes running along a commuter highway, encountering dead animals, including a cat that is, "totally flat, like some mis-shapen pizza, and dried up." His enthusiasm for the run quickly turns to desperation for an ice cold beer, then anger towards basically everything he can see, "angry at the sheep happily munching grass in an empty lot next to the road... who needs this many sheep, anyway?" The photographer in the van snapping shots of him suggests that he quit, as most of the subjects don't actually finish their runs, but he refuses to quit. Eventually finishing, Murakami writes, "I sit at a cafe in the village and gulp down cold Amstel beer. It tastes fantastic, but not nearly as great as the beer I'd been imagining as I ran. Nothing in the real world is as beautiful as the illusions of a person about to lose consciousness."
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Currently re-reading "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami. A non-fiction account of how Murakami has identified himself a runner throughout his life, written honestly and hilariously. This narrative of thoughts throughout his life may be held together by a constant desire to run, however the story itself is enjoyable regardless of personal thoughts on the subject of running itself.
I personally enjoyed reading how he went from being a poor student to starting a successful jazz club, working from morning all through the night, eventually deciding to start writing for an hour or two after his long nights. He also describes the first time the notion of becoming a writer crossed his mind, as an idle thought while drinking a beer and watching a baseball game in Japan. It's his personal reflections throughout the story, told in such an informal way that really make it an enjoyable read.
Murakami also writes about his tendency to commit himself to what seem like arbitrary goals, not in a competitive way, but for his own reasons. Reading about his resolution to live this way exposes how he may have come to cultivate his popular writing into the novelist he is today. "I'm the kind of person who has to totally commit to whatever I do. I just couldn't do something clever like writing a novel while someone else ran the business. I had to give it everything I had. If I failed, I could accept that. But I knew that if I did things halfheartedly and they didn't work out, I'd always have regrets."
I also appreciated his honesty, describing at one point smoking sixty cigarettes a day, "all my fingers were yellow, and my whole body reeked of smoke. This can't be good for me, I decided. If I wanted to have a long life as a novelist, I needed to find a way to keep fit and maintain a healthy weight."
My favourite part of the book is when he decides to run in Greece, from Athens to Marathon, as a nod to the original marathon, only in the dead heat of the summer, for an interest article in Runners World magazine. He describes running along a commuter highway, encountering dead animals, including a cat that is, "totally flat, like some mis-shapen pizza, and dried up." His enthusiasm for the run quickly turns to desperation for an ice cold beer, then anger towards basically everything he can see, "angry at the sheep happily munching grass in an empty lot next to the road... who needs this many sheep, anyway?" The photographer in the van snapping shots of him suggests that he quit, as most of the subjects don't actually finish their runs, but he refuses to quit. Eventually finishing, Murakami writes, "I sit at a cafe in the village and gulp down cold Amstel beer. It tastes fantastic, but not nearly as great as the beer I'd been imagining as I ran. Nothing in the real world is as beautiful as the illusions of a person about to lose consciousness."
You have convinced me. After "24 Stories", "The Elephant Vanishes" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" I am enjoying novels again. The way he uses seemingly meaningless things as important plot devices is amazing. He can tell you a story that sucks you in but you do not feel sucked in. You simply enter and a fictional universe opens up.
"What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" is next. The attitude to try to excel at a thing for purely personal reasons has kept me going through difficult periods.
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You have convinced me. After "24 Stories", "The Elephant Vanishes" and "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" I am enjoying novels again. The way he uses seemingly meaningless things as important plot devices is amazing. He can tell you a story that sucks you in but you do not feel sucked in. You simply enter and a fictional universe opens up.
"What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" is next. The attitude to try to excel at a thing for purely personal reasons has kept me going through difficult periods.
Awesome, it's an easy read around 175 pages. I'll have to check out some more Murakami as well.
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I'm just starting "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle."
I never met a magic realism book that I liked until I read Murakami's "1Q84." I'd been forced to read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in high school, and it really rubbed me the wrong way. Ever since then, I'd considered the genre to be nothing more than page after page of random bullshit. One day I grabbed "1Q84" off the shelf at the library, started reading, and was hooked before I realized what the genre was.
Now I'm a huge Murakami fan, and intend to read everything he's written. Maybe I just like my random bullshit Japanese flavored.
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I've often wished for a new translation of Wind-Up Bird Chronicle rather than the significantly cut and rearranged version that the US got. I haven't been able to get through any of his more recently novels, but I think Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is my favorite Murakami novel.
I dearly love Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief trilogy, so I'm reading his recently released collection of short fiction, imaginatively titled Collected Fictions. Not everything in it is good, but the good stuff is truly great. So far, the second half is pretty weak compared to the first, but I'm hoping it picks up again.
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After a Murakami novel for me there are three directions. More Murakami, something less "silly" or something even more absurd. Prior to "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" I had read Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle." Before "Cat's Cradle" I had read "The Elephant Vanishes" and now I am into some weird Dutch literature and poetry.
I am enjoying reading much more these days :)p8
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hello,
Will Friedwald's "A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers." that and his "Jazz Singing: America's Great Voices From Bessie Smith To Bebop And Beyond" have got me on a Wish List creating binge on both the Big River and half.com.
now to find the $$$ for more cabinets from http://www.can-am.ca/
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"Adventures In Python" by Craig Richardson
"Python Pocket Reference" by Mark Lutz
A book about Java is on the way. I started on Codecademy with Python but I prefer working with a book.
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"Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery" by Henry Marsh.
Tales of the fascinating and terrifying things that can go wrong with the inside of your head, and how a brain surgeon attempts to fix them. Terrific stories told by a British brain surgeon nearing the end of a long career.
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I'm on the third volume of Robert Caro's epic biography of Lyndon Johnson (Master of the Senate). These books are amazing. Lots of insight into how power works in America. Insane detail and research (Caro interviews everyone possible in person to get at the truth). Books read like really good novels. Like Game of Thrones, there are a lot of fans rooting for the author to finish his heroic undertaking before it is too late (not sure if there is the same frustration that the author is working too slow).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Years_of_Lyndon_Johnson
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(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/TheWayOfKings.png/200px-TheWayOfKings.png)
I was just going to ask which Sanderson book I saw in the post about negmon v. lsr-305...
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I recently heard an interview with David Foster Wallace, and remembered I started but never finished Infinite Jest. Here's to restarting things, again.
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All I've read recently are the books in The Expanse series. Will start "Nemesis Games" soon. Really looking forward to the TV series starting up this winter. Books are a ton of fun to read. Lots of thrilling, space opera type stuff without being a slog to read, really out there, or convoluted.
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(http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070717080755/tardis/images/2/20/Dead_Romance.jpg)
It's a re-read. And yes I'm aware that the thing on the cover looks like foreskin.
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This is a really enlightening book, especially for someone like me, who grew up exposed mainly to Eastern religions and concepts. As an outsider, my primary impression of Abrahamic religions was that they were oddly fixated/obsessive about antithetical concepts. Zealot goes into the political and social climate of first century Palestine and explains a lot about how the Christian movement gained steam, and how off the mark modern understanding is of that time, climate, and of course Jesus himself.
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(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/TheWayOfKings.png/200px-TheWayOfKings.png)
Wait until you hit the second book. It gets a lot better.
I'm currently re-reading the ARC for Fool's Quest. Megan Lindholm is always pretty wordy (she's prone to lengthy exposition) but her characterization is fucking amazing.
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(http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/9780060005696.jpg)
A friend (and fellow Pyrate) sent this over to me. It's making for a very interesting read.
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A friend (and fellow Pyrate) sent this over to me. It's making for a very interesting read.
Wait. Wait. You can READ?
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Wait. Wait. You can READ?
Ehhh....at a 4th grade level, yes.
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I enjoyed the Way of Kings and Words of Radience, as well as many of Sanderson's other novels, but his stuff is a far cry, IMO, from the quality of the modern fantasy being put out by guys like Rothfuss, Butcher and Abercrombie. I'll also give an honorable mention to Anthony Ryan's Blood Song, but the trilogy pretty much heads down hill from there. That said, I am still looking forward to the next installment in Sanderson's Mistborn series come October.
Currently, I'm listening to Crypotnomicon as an audiobook via overdrive. I'll confess I find Stephenson's more mature works somewhat challenging for purposes of pure pleasure reading at the end of a long day, but they are just perfect as books on tape. Goddamn can this guy write. Also presently working my way through Fritz Leiber's Gather, Darkness and Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series.
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Crypotnomicon
Oh man, I hope you've read/heard Snowcrash. Another great audiobook. Was my intro to Stephenson. I got probably half way through Cryptonomicon but I lost interest; need to revisit.
I'll check out that other modern fantasy stuff, thanks for the rec. I have a mixed take on Way of Kings so far. The writing is acceptable by my standards. I think it's moreso the high fantasy stuff that I can't get into as easily. I prefer more grounded fantasy a la ASOIAF. I've reread/listened to it 4 times now. A whole nother level of depth and nuance brought to the genre.
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Cryptonomicom was pretty good, but I stopped reading his stuff after being bored partway through the first book of his Baroque Cycle. As for mature cyberpunk authors I've liked Gibson's recent work a lot more: solid atmospheric technothrillers.
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Oh man, I hope you've read/heard Snowcrash. Another great audiobook. Was my intro to Stephenson. I got probably half way through Cryptonomicon but I lost interest; need to revisit.
I'll check out that other modern fantasy stuff, thanks for the rec. I have a mixed take on Way of Kings so far. The writing is acceptable by my standards. I think it's moreso the high fantasy stuff that I can't get into as easily. I prefer more grounded fantasy a la ASOIAF. I've reread/listened to it 4 times now. A whole nother level of depth and nuance brought to the genre.
Agreed, Cryptonomicon is what nerds always mention but his quintessential work is Snow Crash.
Currently, I'm listening to Crypotnomicon as an audiobook via overdrive. I'll confess I find Stephenson's more mature works somewhat challenging for purposes of pure pleasure reading at the end of a long day, but they are just perfect as books on tape. Goddamn can this guy write. Also presently working my way through Fritz Leiber's Gather, Darkness and Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series.
With regard to the list mentioned, I mostly agree with you but you've left out Wolfe for the Book of the New Sun/Book of the Long Sun. Those two cycle end to end officially catapulted Wolfe to the top of the list of my favorite living American authors.
There is one glaring oddity on there: Rothfuss has one epic work with Name of the Wind, but the Wise Man's Fear is overrated. His prose is still quite good in the second book, but the narrative falls apart and the characterizations get wonky as hell. Not to mention there are parts of the book that sound like they were written as fan service for internet virgin neckbeards. His novellas are interesting, but I'd really like to see him deliver the end of the kingkiller cycle as strongly as he began.
This is a really enlightening book, especially for someone like me, who grew up exposed mainly to Eastern religions and concepts. As an outsider, my primary impression of Abrahamic religions was that they were oddly fixated/obsessive about antithetical concepts. Zealot goes into the political and social climate of first century Palestine and explains a lot about how the Christian movement gained steam, and how off the mark modern understanding is of that time, climate, and of course Jesus himself.
Thank you! Picked this up tonight; it looks very interesting.
Now I'm a huge Murakami fan, and intend to read everything he's written. Maybe I just like my random bullshit Japanese flavored.
Me too! I've ready everything of his I can get my hands on (well, everything translated into English). I vacillate between loving the more mystical and the more real novels more :)
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Warning: it pains the mind to watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt1cOnNrY5s
He did well enough against that idiot. I only wish he hadn't relied on the phrase, "Let me be clear" (academic-speak and one of Pres. Obama's pet phrases).
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Just wow. Despite Reza’s attempts to get back on his feet, Fox can chalk that up as a win. Their narrative came across strong, clear, and brief: This guy is Muslim. He wrote a book about Jesus. Just who does he think he is?
My kindle said I was at 71% when I started the Notes section of the book, which goes chapter by chapter and presents counter-arguments to Reza’s own arguments. If that’s not an attempt to be logical and transparent, I don’t know what is.
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According to my favorite biblical podacster (http://www.robertmprice.mindvendor.com/), Aslan's book is more or less a rehash of some older work by S.G.F. Brandon which I have yet to check out myself.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0281004501?ie=UTF8&tag=mindvendor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0281004501
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684310104?ie=UTF8&tag=mindvendor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0684310104
Also, if you have a spare decade or two, check out his suggested reading list (http://www.robertmprice.mindvendor.com/study_list.htm)...
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(http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/9780060005696.jpg)
A friend (and fellow Pyrate) sent this over to me. It's making for a very interesting read.
"How the culture of abundance robs us of satisfaction"
That is why I simplified my life over the years. In the end you have consumed many things and you are still not happy. Consumer society will face its self-induced suicide and then what? Guru after guru, trend after trend and the sheeple follow each other to the edge of materialistic death...
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Oh man, I hope you've read/heard Snowcrash. Another great audiobook. Was my intro to Stephenson. I got probably half way through Cryptonomicon but I lost interest; need to revisit.
I'll check out that other modern fantasy stuff, thanks for the rec. I have a mixed take on Way of Kings so far. The writing is acceptable by my standards. I think it's moreso the high fantasy stuff that I can't get into as easily. I prefer more grounded fantasy a la ASOIAF. I've reread/listened to it 4 times now. A whole nother level of depth and nuance brought to the genre.
I'm right there with you! Snowcrash was my introduction to Stephenson, after a friend gave me a copy in ~1999/2000, and I went on to greedily consume all of his other early work. Then I tried Cryptonomicon, in paper form, and gave up on it part way through. Fast forward 15 years to the present, and I am just loving the audio version though, probably more than I enjoyed revisiting Snowcrash as a book on tape. I also really enjoyed Reamde and Anathem as audio books, although I'm fairly confident I would have hated the latter if I were reading it in print.
ASOIAF were great reads and great on audio. Enjoying the show too, less certain departures from the books. Given your preference for more grounded fantasy, I think Name of the Wind should be high on your list, although I agree with ZD that the sequel wasn't quite as good, but still good. That said, steer clear of Rothfuss' really bizarre companion piece "Slow Regard of Silent Things" where he indulges in the inner monologue of an insane girl/support character from the other books who lives in the sewers - unless you like never ending descriptive passages and the personification of inanimate objects. Yuck. Here's hoping the actual conclusion of the trilogy gets him back on the rails.
Abercrombie is way more violent and gritty, and less literary, but also a very immersing read. His characters are seriously great. Logan Nine Fingers, aka the Bloody Nine has got to be one of the greatest anti-heroes ever written, to say nothing of Glotka, Bayaz, Cosca, Shivers etc. Writing this is making me want to hole up in my office and reread The Blade Itself. (Brent Week's stuff is sort of in this same vein as well but not quite up to the level of Abercrombie for me.)
Cryptonomicom was pretty good, but I stopped reading his stuff after being bored partway through the first book of his Baroque Cycle. As for mature cyberpunk authors I've liked Gibson's recent work a lot more: solid atmospheric technothrillers.
I couldn't make it through the first of the Baroque Cycle either lol. Planning to retry as a book on tape at some point. Seems like too much of a loss to just give up on 2-3,000 pages of Stephenson's work. Changing gears, I totally agree that Gibson is terrific. Loved his whole catalog up through Pattern Recognition. He is another author who plays with language in a way that is novel and brilliant but still fun to read. Spook Country was a little slow for me for whatever reason, and I still need to read the most recent 2. Throwing those on the wish list now!
With regard to the list mentioned, I mostly agree with you but you've left out Wolfe for the Book of the New Sun/Book of the Long Sun. Those two cycle end to end officially catapulted Wolfe to the top of the list of my favorite living American authors.
There is one glaring oddity on there: Rothfuss has one epic work with Name of the Wind, but the Wise Man's Fear is overrated. His prose is still quite good in the second book, but the narrative falls apart and the characterizations get wonky as hell. Not to mention there are parts of the book that sound like they were written as fan service for internet virgin neckbeards. His novellas are interesting, but I'd really like to see him deliver the end of the kingkiller cycle as strongly as he began.
Thanks for the recommendation! I actually haven't read or heard about Gene Wolfe before (as far as I can recall), but I will certainly remedy that. Looking forward to picking these up soon.
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I am reading a what are you reading thread on a headphone web site *meta*
real answer: Those Above by Daniel Polansky.. it's a fantasy set in a world where elf-like aliens or mutants or something rule over normal humans and the humans rebel. Not very good, I give it a 2.5/4 score. It's like a poor man's copy of the Steven Brust Taltos series which was great but I think the author gave up after like 10 books so isn't coming out anymore
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The only thing I have time to read are school books at the moment. I can't wait to finish the Ender's Game series though.