Now reading (The Book Thread)

Balzac's novelettes, "The Girl With Golden Eyes." This one has a lengthy description of the money-hungry, deadish French populace of Balzac's days and I notice it can be applied to any large city today. Some sharp words there.

Essential French Grammar. I decided to learn French.
 
Learn French. What spurred that?

I'm currently halfway through Richard Dawkin's "The Selfish Gene." I'm really enjoying this book. Very easy to read, entertaining and enlightening. He's made me an advocate of the camp of "gene selection." Basically the thesis of the book is that genes are the fundamental level on which evolution works. Even though it may seem that animals act in ways designed to perpetuate the species and that there is, in fact some sort of high level phenomonen going on, all that's really happening is animals, or "survival machines," as Dawkins puts it, are acting on behalf of their own selfish genes. It's not a particularly uplifting, but it makes a lot of sense.

It has definitely changed the way I think about animals and even human relationships.

After I finish this book I'm going to read Stephen King's, "The Talisman."
 
<i>Man walks into a room</i> by Nicole Krauss. It's about a guy who loses all his memories after the age of twelve. Very interesting, so far.
 
makeshift said:
Learn French. What spurred that?
Click to expand...

I am not fond of translations. I'd like to be able to comprehend stuff in exhibits, movies, songs, etc., without having to read someone else's interpretations. Yes, this means that German, Italian, and Sanskrit are also on the menu.

I'm also reading Buddhist folk tales and today I found out how straws came into use. :)

You see, I just graduated, and it's now time to learn all the things I've always wanted to know.
 
Touchwood said:
just finished the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Very moving.

In the holiday stack:
The Snow Geese by William Fiennes
Derailed in Uncle Ho's Victory Garden by Tim Page
Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin
Click to expand...

Darnit. I don't think I'm going to have time to read Kite Runner. I have a ton of other reading to do. Well, now that you have whetted my appetite, I'm going to have to read it along with the 6 other things I'm trying to read simultaneously.

Me, on the other hand, I am an abnormally slow reader. I used to be very fast but I have recently gotten this obsession with trying to remember every detail I read and so I find myself going backwards to read paragraphs over again and, even at times, reading the entire book from scratch before I'm ever done with it because I can't remember too well. Looks like I'll have to overcome my pedantry and get through Godel, Escher, Bach. Goddamn Hofstadter and his puzzles that I can never solve!

Where's an answer book when you need one..
 
§outh§tar said:
Me, on the other hand, I am an abnormally slow reader. I used to be very fast but I have recently gotten this obsession with trying to remember every detail I read and so I find myself going backwards to read paragraphs over again and, even at times, reading the entire book from scratch before I'm ever done with it because I can't remember too well. Looks like I'll have to overcome my pedantry and get through Godel, Escher, Bach. Goddamn Hofstadter and his puzzles that I can never solve!

Where's an answer book when you need one..
Click to expand...

There are books that can be read quickly. You read for an hour on the train and when your stop comes you shut that book and move on with your daily activities. Then, there are books that are meant to be read slowly. You read a passage, contemplate it, remember it if you especially like it, and keep reading as long as you want, despite the time. If you like a book, relax and don't worry about how long it takes to get through it. I'm a slow reader, too; it's very pleasant.
 
The book on the taboo against knowing who you are by Alan Watts.

Interesting stuff. Breaks down basics of Vedanta, a hindu philosophy which asserts that we are not a sperate entity in a bag of flesh but a representation of the universe so everything and everyone is connected ergo ego is useless, so is religion..pretty much.

Interesting, quick read.
 
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy & The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
You have to read the classics before you can dig into the new stuff, right?
 
Just read Slaughterhouse 5. I was expecting more, it didn't really draw me in. I do admit I was contemplating time the way the Tralfamadore's do, though - being in all periods of my existence at once. It was interesting enough that I'm considering Cat's Cradle for my next read.

Currently reading The Poisonwood Bible - decent so far, but it's not a page turner for me.
 
sargentlard said:
The book on the taboo against knowing who you are by Alan Watts.

Interesting stuff. Breaks down basics of Vedanta, a hindu philosophy which asserts that we are not a sperate entity in a bag of flesh but a representation of the universe so everything and everyone is connected ergo ego is useless, so is religion..pretty much.

Interesting, quick read.
Click to expand...


Alan Watts is the bomb!

edit to add:
I just started on Don Quixote
 
Finished Comus and Paradise Lost both by John Milton.
Paradise Lost was pretty good book which puts an interesting twist about God and Satan.
 
Nights of rain and stars, by Maeve Binchy.

It's a wonderful book. So interesting and touching I couldn't stop crying.

Light a penny candle, also by Maeve Binchy.

I'm sort of in love with her right now. This book is about WW2 when this English girl goes to live with her mothers best friend that lives in Ireland. She becomes great mates with her daughter and the book is basically just about their lives.

Right now I'm reading Invisable man by Ralph Ellison. It's interesting so far.
 
right now i am deeply studying one books on "Practical socialism " by Nilkanth kadhilkar . it is a nice book . :m:
 
"The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends" by Peter Berresford Ellis

This's from the book:

I was a listener in the woods,
I was a gazer at the stars,
I was not blind where secrets were concerned,
I was silent in a wilderness,
I was talkative among many,
I was mild in the mead hall,
I was stern in battle,
I was gentle towards allies,
I was a physician of the sick,
I was weak towards the feeble,
I was strong towards the powerful,
I was not parsimonious lest I should be burdensome,
I was not arrogant though I was wise,
I was not given to vain promises though I was strong,
I was not unsafe though I was swift,
I did not deride the old though I was young,
I was not boastful though I was a good fighter,
I would not speak about anyone in their absence,
I would not reproach, but I would praise,
I would not ask, but I would give.

Cormac Mac Cuileannain
King and poet of Cashel, AD 836 - 908
 
That boook sounds really interesting. I'm going to have to check it out.

If you're interested in Celtic history you might want to read about the Saints of Ireland. It's interesting history or fiction if thats the way you go. Either way it's great stuff.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, hug-a-tree, I will check that out sometime.

ghostelephant, I'm reading a book by Joseph Campbell too (together with Celtic Myths),
it's called "The Mythic Image". Quite an interesting read.

I'm usually reading two books at a time, it lets me switch when one book freaks me out too much.

p.s. Myths to live by is more like a self-help book, I suggest you better read "The Hero with a thousand faces", if you haven't already.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top