What are you currently reading?

[Bogey]

[Antoine Marchand]

Ramón Andrés, Johann Sebastián Bach - Los días, las ideas y los libros, Ed. El Acantilado, 2005, ISBN 84- 961 36-96-5, 338 págs.

[Elgarian]

Interesting choice. I read it many years ago, on the grounds that it was a strong recommendation of CS Lewis's (whose writing I've always admired). My memory of it is very hazy now, but I recall enjoying the journey, while lifting several eyebrows at some of the arguments - including some strange notions about the spiritual condition of 'early man'. But the recollection is very vague. How have you found it?

[Elgarian]

I missed Alan's recommendation of this earlier [The Night Circus: Erin Morgenstern].  Thanks for calling it to our attention, coffee!

Worth emphasising that I suspect it's a 'love it or hate it' book, Dave. In my case I wasn't sure which until halfway through! But I know of nothing else like it, and still, a few weeks later, it haunts me; and I leave the book lying around the house simply because it's such a delight to pick up and look at now and then, while remembering the strange atmosphere of the tale it contains.

[Bogey]

Interesting choice. I read it many years ago, on the grounds that it was a strong recommendation of CS Lewis's (whose writing I've always admired). My memory of it is very hazy now, but I recall enjoying the journey, while lifting several eyebrows at some of the arguments - including some strange notions about the spiritual condition of 'early man'. But the recollection is very vague. How have you found it?

Just got out of the cave man chapter.  A handful of lines worth revisiting to this point, ie Art is man's signature.

[Elgarian]

A handful of lines worth revisiting to this point, ie Art is man's signature.

Oh that's so good I ought to have remembered it, and I'm sorry I didn't, so thanks for highlighting it. It calls to mind something Ruskin said. (A very different kind of statement, except in its emphasis on the significance of art):

"Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts: the book of their deeds, the book of their words, and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others; but of the three, the only quite trustworthy one is the last."

[Lethevich]

Which is Hardy's least depressing novel, if such a thing exists?

[val]

Edward J. Larson:     "Evolution: the remarkable History of a scientific theory"

This book won the Pulitzer Price. I don't understand why since, in my opinion, it is a very superficial work. Better read Stephan Jay Gould, "The structure of the Theory of Evolution" to have a much more complete perspective of the "evolution" of the scientific concept of Evolution.

[ibanezmonster]

Tao Te Ching

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and Earth.
The named is the mother of the ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one sees the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name; this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.

thanks to jowcol... how could you not want to read something that starts off like this?

It would be so awesome to write an orchestral score that has nothing but this as the page right before the score, and to proceed with music in this style.

[Geo Dude]

Quite good so far, though I think a few areas are covered too briefly.  One doesn't get much detail on how Haydn went about his self-education in music theory, for example.

[asin]0520043170[/asin]

[eyeresist]

The Essential Jung - ed. Anthony Storr

[ASIN]0691029350[/ASIN]

Much saner than I expected, so far. It's easy to read, but I'm always conscious that I'm reading a digest, as the subtleties of his thought process are elided to some degree. He uses mystical language, but to express fairly practical ideas about the human mind. I find him much more convincing than sex-crazed Freud.

[Florestan]

I find him much more convincing than sex-crazed Freud.

QFT.

[Bogey]

Chuckling my way through.  Most charming.

[Coco]

Incredibly beautiful so far.

[Florestan]

Incredibly beautiful so far.

Hah! I've just bought my Romanian copy these days. 

[Drasko]

Not this exactly, but the Serbian translation of complete Szindbad stories (this is selection). Very nice, but Zoltan Huszarik's film based on them is better (one of best things I've seen in years).

[Mirror Image]

Seeing as I expressed to my parents that I was interested in art, in addition to the $250 they gave me for Christmas, I was very surprised, and thrilled, to have received these two books this morning:

[Bogey]

Seeing as I expressed to my parents that I was interested in art, in addition to the $250 they gave me for Christmas, I was very surprised, and thrilled, to have received these two books this morning:

A review, when you can, MI.

[Mirror Image]

A review, when you can, MI.

I'm sure if I give either one of them a proper review as I'm just starting to read them, but the book World Art: The Essential Illustrated History covers a lot of ground and talks about many artists, some well-known and some not. This book is also a hardback and contains some excellent illustrations of the paintings by each artist. The other book 50 Artists You Should Know is more or less a condensed overview of 50 innovative artists and features some great illustrations of their work. Both books are laid-out in an organized way which makes the reading much easy to follow. I would say if you're interested in art, then, from what I can tell so far, these are two very fine books to have in your collection. Unfortunately, World Art: The Essential Illustrated History is out-of-print and quite expensive to buy new. I'm sure you can find one for a good price in the used market.

[Bogey]

I'm sure if I give either one of them a proper review as I'm just starting to read them, but the book World Art: The Essential Illustrated History covers a lot of ground and talks about many artists, some well-known and some not. This book is also a hardback and contains some excellent illustrations of the paintings by each artist. The other book 50 Artists You Should Know is more or less a condensed overview of 50 innovative artists and features some great illustrations of their work. Both books are laid-out in an organized way which makes the reading much easy to follow. I would say if you're interested in art, then, from what I can tell so far, these are two very fine books to have in your collection. Unfortunately, World Art: The Essential Illustrated History is out-of-print and quite expensive to buy new. I'm sure you can find one for a good price in the used market.

In 50 Artists You Should Know, who do they start with....is it chronological?