What are you currently reading?

[Grazioso]

I linked three books and their pictures all came blank. 

They were two I recently read:

"The Storm of War: A New History of WWII" by Andrew Roberts and "Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder.

And another I'm currently reading: "Stalingard: The Fateful Siege: 1942 - 1943" by Antony Beevor. I enjoyed the WWII book mainly because I hadn't read any history of WWII before ( I'm sure a one volume history can't do that topic justice). The Snyder book was a compelling account of the barbarities committed by Hitler and Stalin. I just started the Beevor and, 60 pages in, I already think it's the best written of the three.

I can vouch for the Beevor book: he does a fine job humanizing the conflict, from the infantryman on the ground up to the highest levels of "leadership" (I use the term loosely!). Beevor also pulls no punches in showing just how stupid, ghastly, and costly the battle was.

This is a dry but clear and useful overview of the Eastern Front conflict

[asin]B0047XAEIY[/asin]

A fine overall history of WWII is John Keegan's book The Second World War. An indispensable reference is The Oxford Companion to World War II.

[chasmaniac]

For the military history per se of WWII's eastern front, in English at least, David Glantz is an excellent source.

[Grazioso]

Interesting, but no great novel. Basically, it's a gentle English drawing room mystery, where the victim, detective, and diverse cast of suspects happen to be stuck on a snowed-in train instead of in a manor house. The mystery is a fun brain-teaser, though the ending will have you either nodding your head at its cleverness or angrily saying, "What a load of improbable BS!"

This is a "sit around and talk" mystery, rather in the tradition of the Sherlock Holmes short stories, with little action or drama during the course of the novel. Rather, the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and his two allies interview suspects and discuss the case from the comfort of the dining car. This sort of thing can work with Holmes because he's one of the most memorable characters put to paper; Poirot, at least in this novel, is eminently forgettable: just some small, rotund guy with a big mustache who likes to put "his little grey cells" to the test.

The interesting thing about this book is how it's the product of its time. It's clearly inspired by the Lindbergh kidnapping--a huge event in its day--and on every other page someone is casually voicing a stereotype about another race or nationality.

[Opus106]

The one quip I generally have with Holmes' stories is that reader cannot participate, so to speak, along with Watson in trying to figure out what happened and why. The details, although noticed by Holmes sometimes right at the beginning of the novel or short story, are by and large hidden from the reader. Even though it creates for great ta-da! moments for Holmes, I find it a sort of let down. Maybe it was intentional on ACD's part. This isn't as bad as in Christie's novels.

[Grazioso]

The one quip I generally have with Holmes' stories is that reader cannot participate, so to speak, along with Watson in trying to figure out what happened and why. The details, although noticed by Holmes sometimes right at the beginning of the novel or short story, are by and large hidden from the reader. Even though it creates for great ta-da! moments for Holmes, I find it a sort of let down. Maybe it was intentional on ACD's part. This isn't as bad as in Christie's novels.

That's quite true. For me, I can live with that because those moments where Holmes shows off his brilliance to the amazement of all are quite entertaining in their own right and have their own literary merit. Doyle does a great job in portraying Holmes as walking a very fine line between towering--and exasperating--smugness and genuine cleverness. I can easily see how YMMV, though.

[Opus106]

[T]hose moments where Holmes shows off his brilliance to the amazement of all are quite entertaining in their own right and have their own literary merit. Doyle does a great job in portraying Holmes as walking a very fine line between towering--and exasperating--smugness and genuine cleverness. I can easily see how YMMV, though.

Oh, I end up being star-struck by the man, no doubt about that.

[Grazioso]

Oh, I end up being star-struck by the man, no doubt about that.

Avoiding a spoiler, I'll say that I found it interesting that Orient Express ends with Poirot and friends making the same sort of moral decision about the culprit that Holmes often makes once he's gotten his abstract intellectual pleasure out of solving the crime.

[Lisztianwagner]

Sigmund Freud
"The Wit and its Relationship with the Unconscious"



Ilaria

[Coco]

About to start this:

[Geo Dude]

I keep forgetting I need that. Thanks for the reminder.

I'm close to half way through the book yet and I can strongly recommend it.  It's very informative and also well-written.  Brahms is a fascinating character, too.

[springrite]

I am just starting to read Devil's Music Master. Great reading so far!

[Mn Dave]

What are you reading? This.
[asin]0815412533[/asin]

[Grazioso]

About to start this:

A translation of some of the Pali suttas, I take it? Those are very interesting and edifying.

[Opus106]

What are you reading? This.
[asin]0815412533[/asin]

I was reading something similar last night. It's a collection of short stories titled The World's Greatest Short Stories. I was at Walter de la Mare's The Nap, but I went into "the story" before I could complete it.

[Mn Dave]

I was reading something similar last night. It's a collection of short stories titled The World's Greatest Short Stories. I was at Walter de la Mare's The Nap, but I went into "the story" before I could complete it.

Last night in bed, I read "The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller" by Gustave Flaubert but snuggled with no leper.

[Coco]

A translation of some of the Pali suttas, I take it? Those are very interesting and edifying.

Yeah — a compilation of sermons and parables from the different sutras, with added commentary and a reading guide.

[Mn Dave]

BEASTS, MEN AND GODS - Ferdinand Ossendowski

[Coco]

About to start this:

I would recommend this to anyone. Wallis's commentary shows great erudition but also places the concepts in a setting applicable to modern life.

Now starting:

[Mn Dave]

I would recommend this to anyone. Wallis's commentary shows great erudition but also places the concepts in a setting applicable to modern life.

So are you practicing or just reading the literature?

[Grazioso]

I would recommend this to anyone. Wallis's commentary shows great erudition but also places the concepts in a setting applicable to modern life.

Now starting:

In studying Buddhism, it's also important, to my mind, to study how it's been transmitted to the West and interpreted or modified to suit. You might want to try books like Batchelor's Awakening of the West or McMahan's The Making of Buddhist Modernism. A big oversimplification: Western scholars and practitioners have historically tended to try to divorce Buddhist philosophy and meditation from ritual, theology, and cosmology, positioning Buddhism as a rational, godless alternative or antithesis to both Hinduism in the East and Christianity and Judaism in the West.

Jowcol here at GMG might have some insights to offer if you're interested in such matters.