What are you currently reading?

Started by facehugger, April 07, 2007, 12:36:10 AM

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J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Bogey on May 19, 2008, 08:26:00 PM
Started reading this to my son tonight...only a handful of pages in and he is already hooked, as am I, once again.

 

I am re-reading this as well (for the first time in almost 35 years)!

Fascinating when you consider the whole mythology of which it forms a part. I am struck by the humour and liveliness of it all. Tolkien tells the story very well. And for adults, too, there is a lot more than meets the eye.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Bunny

The latest Elizabeth George -- and it is excellent.


op.110


SonicMan46

Quote from: op.110 on May 20, 2008, 10:29:37 AM
 

Boy, that Organic Chemistry book brings back memories - took my two courses @ the U. of Michigan back in the mid-60s!  But, as an abdominal imager, I still need to read radiology books - last recently read one on Doppler ultrasound (inserted above) - excellent updated second edition, BTW!  :D

op.110

Quote from: SonicMan on May 20, 2008, 10:54:29 AM
Boy, that Organic Chemistry book brings back memories - took my two courses @ the U. of Michigan back in the mid-60s!  But, as an abdominal imager, I still need to read radiology books - last recently read one on Doppler ultrasound (inserted above) - excellent updated second edition, BTW!  :D

I would love to study from an orgo book from the 60s. That would mean less memorization, a whole lot less

SonicMan46

Quote from: op.110 on May 20, 2008, 01:00:20 PM
I would love to study from an orgo book from the 60s. That would mean less memorization, a whole lot less

LOL!  ;D  But, as I remember, the book we used was still pretty THICK!  However, was the text for both semesters; yes, the world has become more complicated - when I took my Oral Boards in radiology in 1975, we had 6 half-hour sessions - did not include ultrasound, CT, or MRI; now there are 8 sessions for my current residents, which now include separately or as part of other areas the newer modalities - what will be invented next?  :)

Lilas Pastia

#1326
I have read many books written during my lifetime  ::) that were kind of, well, unreadable. I was kind of skeptic when my best friend fervently advocated reading Plato's writings. Well , after a few hundred pages I have to say I'm completely won over. In a sense, this is as captivating as reading a polar. Plato's writing is extraordinarily witty, flowing and just plain easy to read. And he happens to write about subjects I deeply care for. Among the half dozen 'Dialogues' I've read, Criton (Crito in English) is the most thriliingly interesting. The link gives a strict description of the subject matter, but nothing written 'about' Plato begins to approximate the intellectual satisfaction one finds in reading him.

val

NIETZSCHE:       "Also sprach Zarathustra"

One of those few books that I read from time to time. I never got tired of it.

Kullervo

Taking a short break from Proust to reread Mann's Doktor Faustus for a forthcoming research paper. I probably would have made it easier on myself by choosing something shorter, but I didn't want to risk reading something new and having it bear the taint of schoolwork afterwards. I've yet to give anything by George Eliot a chance for that very reason.  :-\

MN Dave

Quote from: Corey on May 22, 2008, 06:20:15 PM
Taking a short break from Proust to reread Mann's Doktor Faustus for a forthcoming research paper. I probably would have made it easier on myself by choosing something shorter, but I didn't want to risk reading something new and having it bear the taint of schoolwork afterwards. I've yet to give anything by George Eliot a chance for that very reason.  :-\

You keep up the light reading, Corey.  ;D

Me? This:



Cracking! (so far)

mozartsneighbor

I am reading:

Much better anti-war book than Catch 22, IMO. Celine's scabrous nihilism is great, and there's something that produces an out loud laugh every 2 pages at least. My father's suggestion and a brilliant one.

Excellent book -- if you want to get a sense of Chinese history the place to start. Very readable but it does cover 400 years of a very dense subject and is 750 packed pages so not a quick read.

bwv 1080

#1331
Quote from: mozartsneighbor on May 23, 2008, 12:28:40 PM


Excellent book -- if you want to get a sense of Chinese history the place to start. Very readable but it does cover 400 years of a very dense subject and is 750 packed pages so not a quick read.


That is a great book - I read it a couple of years ago, knowing next to nothing at the time about Chinese history.  Spense is one of the great history writers and there is great drama and many poignant moments in this book

val

Edgar Morin:  "Une AnnĂ©e Sisyphe".

Morin's diary of 1994. Boring. The man is obsessed with food and wine. Not a lot of ideas (perhaps it's better so, because I can't stand them).     

mozartsneighbor

bwv 1080: Any other books on China you have read you recommend?

SonicMan46

#1334
Well, received a package from the History Book Club (a member since the mid-70s) - had a 50% OFF sale; just started the two below (getting back to my interests in evolution & earth history, I guess) - CLICK on the images for comments & reviews, if interested:

After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals  (2006) by Donald R. Prothero - just starting both of these books; fascinating 'early' chapter on the problems w/ accepting the 65 million 'dinosaur extinction' due to just a large rock hitting the earth in the Yucatan peninsula - looking forward to the remainder of the book!

Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors (2007) by Nicholas Wade - genetic interpretation of 'early' man, relationships to the apes, and to others -  :)

 

M forever

Before the Dawn looks very interesting. I just ordered a paperback copy of that. Do you know this book? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674019997/ref=pd_luc_sbs_03_02

SonicMan46

Quote from: M forever on May 26, 2008, 03:20:11 PM
Before the Dawn looks very interesting. I just ordered a paperback copy of that. Do you know this book? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674019997/ref=pd_luc_sbs_03_02

M - thanks for the link - I've not read the book (at least yet!) - looked @ the reviews, most quite positive, a few 'low ratings' - always difficult to decide on those comments - but, please advise on your opinion - seems like a 'long' book on a time of human history that is completely open to speculation, so just curious on your thoughts or those of others -  :D

bwv 1080

Quote from: mozartsneighbor on May 26, 2008, 12:44:51 PM
bwv 1080: Any other books on China you have read you recommend?

The Search for Modern China is the only one I have read, although Guns Germs & Steel has a great chapter on prehistoric China

J.Z. Herrenberg

I have just ordered from a bookseller very far away (New Zealand) 'The Nightmare Factory', a story collection by horror writer extraordinaire Thomas Ligotti. It's one of the most expensive books I have ever bought (his books are extremely rare), but I think he's worth it.

I must thank Dave once again (he mentioned Ligotti to me).
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

M forever

Quote from: SonicMan on May 26, 2008, 03:41:35 PM
M - thanks for the link - I've not read the book (at least yet!) - looked @ the reviews, most quite positive, a few 'low ratings' - always difficult to decide on those comments - but, please advise on your opinion - seems like a 'long' book on a time of human history that is completely open to speculation, so just curious on your thoughts or those of others -  :D

I haven't read it either, in fact, I just discovered it on amazon when I ordered Before the Dawn. Your post reminded me that I had wanted to read more about the archaeology and anthropology of the prehistoric period for a long time now but somehow never got to it. All those religion threads that are going on in this forum remind of that, too, because it is a fascinating subject, where we come from and all that, but those biblical stories reduce the very long adventure of humanity to a few children's stories. Where we come from, where our cultures come from, where our mythologies come from - we will never really know for sure about all these things, but that is what makes the prehistoric period "before the dawn" so fascinating...