This week, I are mostly reading....

OfflerCrocGod

Cordette wrote:

Half way through Terry Pratchett's Good Omens...loved it at at the start, kinda slumping now.

Anyone else read it?

Yes it's an excellent book the beginning is the strongest section yes but I never felt the middle and later parts where that weak at all.

Cordette

About 50 pages to go and I'm really enjoying it again.....fell asleep with it on my lap about this morning.

dublinario

I'm reading Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion, and hence I don't believe in nothing no more (if you'll excuse the, eh, triple negative). I'd write more but, what's the point? Of any of this?

Backtoblack

dublinario wrote:

I'm reading Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion, and hence I don't believe in nothing no more (if you'll excuse the, eh, triple negative). I'd write more but, what's the point? Of any of this?

LOL! It stands out, imo, I would consider reading it.... apart from your current negative headspace, what else can you say about it? Recommend? Steer clear?

Mick86

"Gallipoli" by L. A. Carlyon.

An excellent account of the Allied attempt to force the Dardenelles in 1915. Carlyon hates the Generals and so will you when you read this book. He also does a pretty good character assassination on Rupert Murdoch's father who was supposed to be a war correspondent.

Unfortunately the book is misnamed. It should be entitled something like "The Australians at Gallipoli" because the Irish, British and French contributions to the campaign are treated as little more than sideshows to Australia's first "independent" appearance on the world stage. The Kiwis fare just a tad better than the Poms.

All that said the book is well worth the read. In particular, Carlyon's account of the Aussie attack on The Nek in August 1915 is very moving.

Rb

I just started reading "Talking with Serial Killers - The most evil people in the world tell their own stories" by Christopher Berry-Dee.

Very interesting so far, may write up a full review once I get through it.

dublinario

Backtoblack wrote:

LOL! It stands out, imo, I would consider reading it.... apart from your current negative headspace, what else can you say about it? Recommend? Steer clear?

It's a great book, but my brain has been dunked into the murky, dank sewer of nihilism. I think Dawkins' intended to be uplifting, suggesting we live for the now, because there may not be an (afterlife) tomorrow. It had the opposite effect on me: I threw out all my furniture, painted my walls black, severed contact with my friends, put 'Losing my Religion' by REM on infinite repeat on my gramaphone, and now spend my days huddled beneath a blanket, rocking back'n'forth, barely staving off hypothermia by the flicker of an impotent candle, dawdling away my existence in anticipation of the expiry of my rapidly-decaying carcass. Good read though.

brianthebard

I'm reading Ulysses. For Final year you understand. Quite enjoyable so far (what like three chapters?) but why does it have to be read with a deadline in mind? That is so not how Joyce wanted it to be!!!

OfflerCrocGod

Backtoblack wrote:

LOL! It stands out, imo, I would consider reading it.... apart from your current negative headspace, what else can you say about it? Recommend? Steer clear?

If you are an atheist then don't bother because it's too dull to put yourself through the book for a "preaching to the choir" if you aren't go ahead. I didn't fell it was nihilistic at all if I must say but then again I'm a long term atheist so the stark naked truth doesn't affect me too much

John

I'm reading The God Delusion at the moment too.

OfflerCrocGod wrote:

If you are an atheist then don't bother because it's too dull to put yourself through the book for a "preaching to the choir" if you aren't go ahead. I didn't fell it was nihilistic at all if I must say but then again I'm a long term atheist so the stark naked truth doesn't affect me too much

I'm a long term athiest too but I find it a good read so far even if I'm thinking "Of course Richard, I agreed with you when you said this in The Blind Watchmaker and in The Devil's Chaplain and I still agree with you." It is aimed at the religious more than the likes of me but he still writes the arguments very well and makes some points I haven't considered before. And I think it's a wonderfully uplifting book.

Backtoblack

dublinario wrote:

It's a great book, but my brain has been dunked into the murky, dank sewer of nihilism. I think Dawkins' intended to be uplifting, suggesting we live for the now, because there may not be an (afterlife) tomorrow. It had the opposite effect on me: I threw out all my furniture, painted my walls black, severed contact with my friends, put 'Losing my Religion' by REM on infinite repeat on my gramaphone, and now spend my days huddled beneath a blanket, rocking back'n'forth, barely staving off hypothermia by the flicker of an impotent candle, dawdling away my existence in anticipation of the expiry of my rapidly-decaying carcass. Good read though.

Good lord!! :eek:
You need: www.dekleinevuurtoren.nl/images/Rescue%20Remedy.jpg
The remedy will rescue you!!

:rolleyes:

Or maybe you just need to read it again? Maybe you missed the point like?

Blush_01

Gabriel García Márquez. Read No One Writes to the Colonel yesterday, reading The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor today. Also reading The Blind Assassin, as I simply adore Margaret Atwood. (And The Idea of the Vernacular which is remarkably interesting and has lots of excerpts from ME texts in it with information about the authors, intended audiences et al. Noice!)

theCzar

Just had a couple of weeks by the beach so just finished:

Lord of the Rings (JRRT)
Shantaram (Gregory David Roberts)
Age of Kali (William Dalryrimple)
Dead As Doornails (Anthony Cronin)
Midnights Children (Salman Rushdie)
City of Djinns (Willaim Dalryrimple)

You may infer where I was holidaying

nesf

In between the economist, scientific american, PC & Linux Format and Foreign Affairs this month, I've managed to start and get a few chapters into Words and Rules by Stephen Pinker. It's interesting, if things like irregular verbs and where they came from make you curious. Though apparently (according to simu) he presents some of the "cloudier" ideas in linguistics (like dates for proto Indo-European and it's precursor) as a bit too much like generally accepted facts.

I got through Mind: A historical and philosophical introduction to the major theories. It's written by one of my lecturers and was a nice bedtime read. It's written from a psychologist's rather than a philosopher's perspective which was an interesting shift from the usual books I read on the subject. It has loads of detail on experiments in psychology and how they fit into the philosophical theories, along with the philosophical impact of major psychological theories themselves (which was possibly the most interesting part). Possibly not everyone's cup of tea though it does have plenty of humour in it.

humbert

Read Queen of the Damned. Rather disappointing I'm sorry to say after enjoying The Vampire Lestat quite a lot. Read Ecce Homo by Nietzsche too. I'm no fan of autobiographies generally and I certainly wouldn't consider it a great way to introduce yourself to Nietzsche(Christmas present) but it was interesting and absorbing. Will have to read Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

John

nesf wrote:

I got through Mind: A historical and philosophical introduction to the major theories. It's written by one of my lecturers and was a nice bedtime read. It's written from a psychologist's rather than a philosopher's perspective which was an interesting shift from the usual books I read on the subject. It has loads of detail on experiments in psychology and how they fit into the philosophical theories, along with the philosophical impact of major psychological theories themselves (which was possibly the most interesting part). Possibly not everyone's cup of tea though it does have plenty of humour in it.

Just added to my amazon wishlist, sounds great.

I'm currently reading a collection of existential horror called Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti. Frightening on a very cerebral level so far. I want to be properly scared though.

Also re-reading Heart of Darkness by Conrad and I'm struggling again.

nesf

John wrote:

Just added to my amazon wishlist, sounds great.

Yeah, it's worth it just for the few chapters putting those final few nails into the coffin of behaviourism.

I'd get it from here though: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/showbook.php?id=087220832X

secret_squirrel

nesf wrote:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/showbook.php?id=087220832X

Have a big pile of books coming from them soon. Will report on how they were. They are also an amazon seller.

Blush_01

They're good on individual books anyway and are much better with terms of stocking random books that are hard to find than bookshops are. Got Greetham's Textual Scholarship: An Introduction from them (via Amazon, although they're cheaper when you buy direct, as I found out later) when the only other place I could find it was in the States, and had delivery times quoted as 8 weeks.

I'm picking my way through the Baugh and Cable history of the English language. Nesf, that language book sounds really interesting! I'll add it to my wishlist!

Backtoblack

nesf wrote:

In between the economist, scientific american, PC & Linux Format and Foreign Affairs this month, I've managed to start and get a few chapters into Words and Rules by Stephen Pinker. It's interesting, if things like irregular verbs and where they came from make you curious. Though apparently (according to simu) he presents some of the "cloudier" ideas in linguistics (like dates for proto Indo-European and it's precursor) as a bit too much like generally accepted facts.

Economist online is great, always find an interesting article there!

nesf

Backtoblack wrote:

Economist online is great, always find an interesting article there!

I used to have a subscription years ago, but didn't renew it when I knew I'd be stuck on dial up for a few months (it really doesn't pay to subscribe online when you have to pay dial up rates to read the articles). I've been contemplating a print subscription for a while now..

Backtoblack

nesf wrote:

I used to have a subscription years ago, but didn't renew it when I knew I'd be stuck on dial up for a few months (it really doesn't pay to subscribe online when you have to pay dial up rates to read the articles). I've been contemplating a print subscription for a while now..

damn, you should just get broadband.. or is it available where you are?
My parents have dial up - I feel your pain. We got wireless broadband in our rented place.. its the business!!
I'm subscribed to "New Internationalist" (www.newint.org).. which is worth checking out too.

nesf

Backtoblack wrote:

damn, you should just get broadband.. or is it available where you are?

I've broadband again now. There was just a fair amount of hassle sorting it out for this place.

Tar.Aldarion

The Abhorsen - Garth Nix

simu

@ Swim Two Birds - Flann O'Brien

arbeitsscheuer

Currently reading a left-wing magazine called Red Pepper, which I picked up on Friday, and I'm starting The Progressive Patriot by Billy Bragg, which I bought today.

Tar.Aldarion

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

The Abhorsen - Garth Nix

Every time I have posted in this thread mentioning this book, I have gotten the title wrong and realised a few minutes later.

Abhorsen - Garth Nix

Mrs. MacGyver

James Herriot - let sleeping vets lie
Reginald Perrin Omnibus

John

Re-reading Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species

bowsie casey

I'm reading Patrick McCabe's "Call Me The Breeze" and finding it hard going.

I am a huge fan of his earlier books, "The Butcher Boy" and "The Dead School", but I haven't been able to get into his most recent books.

I found "Breakfast on Pluto" mediocre, and positively hated "Emerald Gems of Ireland".

As far as I'm concerned, "Call Me The Breeze" is the last chance I'm giving him to return to his old form...and while it is an improvement on the two mentioned, the second half better be bloody good, before I'll buy another of his books.