What Are You Reading? - Page 2

jflick35 · 09-08-08, 08:14 PM

crimsoned prairie: the indian wars by S.L.A. Marshall
the social contract by Robert Ardry

Jogga · 09-09-08, 03:35 AM

Originally Posted by DaLabrador

Hey, more Thomas Covenant books?! Sweet.

Currently I'm reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins(Thank you, Jogga. Excellent reading.), Xanth(8) by Piers Anthony and The Last Testament by Sam Bourne (might not finish it because of #1).

I'm thinking of trying Bertrand Russell for non-fiction next although I really need to start reading books in my native tongue because my grammar and lexicology is starting to fall apart.
When I try to come up with words in my own language only english words pop out. Quite annoying, actually. I used to pride myself in being eloquent.
Is Russel worth my eventual language collapse?

That's a tough question to answer

I've thoroughly enjoyed my week with Russell (I'll finish tonight now that I've rebuilt my pc), his use of the English language is sumptuous and his thoughts are expressed with precision. However, I find myself (slightly) critical of his style; whilst I acknowledge the clarity, the content is sometimes less than comprehensive and the reading experience leaves one unfulfilled.

In part, this shortcoming may be the essay style, or the restraint of the time; for example, the debate between Russell and Fr Copleston did not leave me with the impression that Russell was an agile thinker only that he was a polite atheist with an extensive vocabulary. That said, the first of the essays (Why I'm not a Christian (1927)) is a solid and masterful piece of work and one can see where Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennett, Harris et al have found their inspiration.

Well worth a few days of anyone's time and not a book to be rushed. However, I'm not sure that it is worthy of the sacrifice of your native tongue (for that, read Carl Sagan: The Varieties of Scientific Experience).

ungluud · 09-09-08, 04:38 AM

Anansi boys. After the first quarter of the book it's pretty good.:rolling:

spud42 · 09-09-08, 09:59 PM

currently Asimov's Foundation series again....also Honor Harrington series by David Weber all in ebook form on my ipaq.Baen free library is good to try new authors a free book to hook you in..lol

Jogga · 09-14-08, 04:19 PM

After a week of open-sourcing and finishing up Russell's Why I'm not a Christian, it's on with some more Sagan :)

The Dragons of Eden

Zaniax · 09-14-08, 05:32 PM

Allan & Barbara Pease:
"Why Men Don't Have a Clue and Women Always Need More Shoes"

... and yes, I have a reason :o

Pocketbrain · 09-14-08, 08:30 PM

Reading The Watchmen graphic novel, Power Down, and Dark Sun.

Jogga · 09-28-08, 11:13 AM

The Dragons of Eden was an enjoyable if not esoteric read: the evolution of intelligence is not a topic that receives a great deal of attention :). However, I'm treating myself to a little lighter reading now - John Grisham's novel, The Appeal.

I know, I know, it's not exactly the most challenging book that I'll read this year but I do enjoy Grisham's style and he tells a great story. It won't take long and then it's a toss-up between Relativity or The Origin of Species.

**Martin** · 09-28-08, 06:39 PM

I've had the misfortune to read Relativity (wife is a physicist), and I do not recommend it.

The stuff on special, if one already knows the theory, is fairly redundant (unless you have some strange desire to read Einstein's attempt to explain his theory as he would to a monkey). The stuff on general is equally redundant, but that is because it is utterly impossible to understand the theory unless you are a first-class physicist. If you have a PhD in quantum mechanics or some such, then perhaps it is helpful to walk the illuminated path of Einstein's meandering thoughts on general. If, like me, your PhD lies elsewhere, it's meaningless gibberish (and, as my wife put it, if you think you understand it, then you've misunderstood it.)

Grisham is good for planes, though I prefer his early stuff (e.g. A Time to Kill) to his later yarns.

**Frenchy** · 09-28-08, 08:26 PM

The good guy - Dean Koontz

Zaniax · 09-28-08, 09:41 PM

Sorry Martin for making some splits:

Originally Posted by Martin

...
(unless you have some strange desire to read Einstein's attempt to explain his theory as he would to a monkey). The stuff on general is equally redundant, but that is because it is utterly impossible to understand the theory unless you are a first-class physicist..

Actually Einsteins (special) theory of relativity is not too difficult to grasp and he made a huge effort to make his theories understandable to us 'monkeys without a PhD'.
Not in vain ...
"The Evolution of Physics" 1938

Originally Posted by Martin

... If you have a PhD in quantum mechanics or some such, then perhaps it is helpful to walk the illuminated path of Einstein's meandering thoughts on general.

Actually Einstein didn't believe in quantum physics:

"At any rate, I am convinced that He [God] does not play dice."
- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

and he had intense debates with Niels Bohr on that subject.

Originally Posted by Martin

...(and, as my wife put it, if you think you understand it, then you've misunderstood it.)

"Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it."
- Niels Bohr

Zaniax ©