What are you currently reading?

[Bogey]

I just started The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov.

Coolness!  Except for a few dated "sayings" I loved the first three books from this series.

[Geo Dude]

Finished Caves of Steel.  On to The Naked Sun tomorrow.

[Bogey]

Finished Caves of Steel.  On to The Naked Sun tomorrow.

More of the same, but still enjoyable.  I look forward to your review on installment three, Robots of Dawn, as it was written later than the first two.  Hope you stick with it.  I have not read the fourth in this series, but your reading has rekindled my interest.

[Karl Henning]

Hoy, Bill! I am in the thick of Copperfield, and will surely plough my way through to the end. As I was saying off-line to Cato, there must have been a chunk in the middle which I somehow skipped, back when (probably hadn't left a bookmark, and then, three weeks later, tried to find my place sort of deal, I expect) because I am certain that if I had read the interview between Mr Peggotty and Steerforth's mother, I should never have forgot it.

[Bogey]

Hoy, Bill! I am in the thick of Copperfield, and will surely plough my way through to the end. As I was saying off-line to Cato, there must have been a chunk in the middle which I somehow skipped, back when (probably hadn't left a bookmark, and then, three weeks later, tried to find my place sort of deal, I expect) because I am certain that if I had read the interview between Mr Peggotty and Steerforth's mother, I should never have forgot it.

I am about 100 pages into Oliver Twist, Karl. Copperfield dominates this read....for that matter, Nicholas Nickleby does as well, IMO.

[Geo Dude]

More of the same, but still enjoyable.  I look forward to your review on installment three, Robots of Dawn, as it was written later than the first two.  Hope you stick with it.  I have not read the fourth in this series, but your reading has rekindled my interest.

I agree with your assessment.  I've put Robots of Dawn on the reading list because I like the philosophy that Asimov presents in these stories and I'm curious to see what he does with the new setting 30 years later in his writing life.  Hopefully the library will have it ready for me soon.

[CaughtintheGaze]

New slew of books:
National Intelligence Systems edited by Treverton and Agrell
Geopolitics by Sempa
Wars of Disruption and Resilience by Demchak
The Arab Revolt by Various
Privileged and Confidential by Absher, Desch, Popadiuk, et. al.
From Disgust to Humanity by Nussbaum
Dead Languages by Ryuichi
The Japanese Effect in Contemporary Irish Poetry by Angelis

[Florestan]

I am about 100 pages into Oliver Twist, Karl. Copperfield dominates this read....for that matter, Nicholas Nickleby does as well, IMO.

I've always found Dickens' obsession for mistreated and abused children rather morbid. To judge from his novels, Victorian England was hell on earth for kids. One wonders how on earth (pun intended) they managed to survive their childhood. 

[Octave]

El cronista de cine (1534 pages)
Cabrera Infante is probably one of the greatest cinema critics in any language and this book collects an important part of his output as a critic. Although he wrote fluently in English (for instance, he co-wrote the script for Richard C. Sarafian's 1971 cult film Vanishing Point), many times his prose in Spanish is quite untranslatable because of his love for palindromes, among other reasons.

Thanks for mentioning this.  I was reminded of his name when VERTIGO was being discussed in the film thread recently, as I think we was an early admirer of that film in this hemisphere?  But I cannot where I've read that, or read his memories of seeing it.  I wish had Spanish so I could read that edition; thanks for mentioning it.

[Klaze]

Diaghilev - A Life by Sjeng Scheijen

Very good read so far. I would say: recommended, but since it's the first book I'm reading on Les Ballets Russes or Diaghilev, I've got no comparison. 
It offers really vivid peeks into the life and work of Diaghilev and those around him.

[Geo Dude]

I'm now reading Tom Godwin's The Cold Equations and Other Stories. I was planning on starting with the short story The Cold Equations since it was the reason I bought the book, but I decided to start at the beginning on the editor's recommendation with the novel The Survivors. I'm glad I did, it was an excellent work! Those who are interested can find that novel for free if you're a Kindle owner under the title Space Prison.

[Gold Knight]

IMHO, The Cold Equations is one of the best sci-fi short stories ever written, bar none!

[Bogey]

I've always found Dickens' obsession for mistreated and abused children rather morbid. To judge from his novels, Victorian England was hell on earth for kids. One wonders how on earth (pun intended) they managed to survive their childhood. 

I think that is what Twist suffers from for me...not enough let-up and to over the top punishment.  I found Copperfield more plausible, as well as Nickleby.

[Geo Dude]

Taking a break from The Cold Equations to read Robert Heinlein: In Dialogue With His Century, Vol. 1 by William H. Patterson.  The nice thing about short story collections is that you can jump back in whenever you please.  Meanwhile, I'll enjoy the biography.

[CaughtintheGaze]

1. National Intelligence Systems edited by Treverton and Agrell
2. Geopolitics by Sempa

1. Utterly fantastic book for intelligence theory. Covers the major models whilst adding in new insights. Complete recognition that intelligence is underpinned by realism, making this a must read.

2. A foundational text summing up Mackinder´s theories on geopolitics. Clearly demonstrates the far teaching impact and how it became firmly established as the theory. Also, showed it applicability to today's world and how the cold war mindset was settled long before. Simply a stunning read.

[Octave]

Philo, thanks for the brief lowdown on you reading; the titles you mention sound fascinating.  I would like it if you'd make a routine of giving us nutshell impressions of these books you're reading.  Do you mind saying a word about the Nussbaum?  I rarely ever watch TV, but stumbled across a talk she was giving on "Book TV" (CSPAN2?) recently re: double-standards used persecutorially [sic?] against Muslims in America.  I didn't find her actual reasoning always that compelling when she expanded individual examples to the status of exhibits, but the arc of her argument was persuasive, and of course makes loads of sense even/especially in the context of the past ~12 years.

[CaughtintheGaze]

Will do, Octave.

[CaughtintheGaze]

1. Wars of Disruption and Resilience by Demchak
2. The Arab Revolt by Various

1. She largely overstates her case and miscasts political realism, but she does offer up some very interesting ideas. The first that jumps out is the reinstating of city-states as a dominant metaphor for understanding the global north. The second is the transformation of the concept of cyber-terrorism into cybered conflict. The first term she felt was far too limiting and truly misrepresented the threat level. Through this decoupling she brings to light that warfare of this sort is still largely camped within realism.

2. This text is just a collection of articles that stem from either Foreign Affairs or the Council on Foreign Relations, most of them have a pro-United States slants making the reading slightly less interesting, and the insights all the more obvious for anyone who has kept up on the region. Only two articles really stood out: Bahrain's Base Politics and The Mythology of Intervention. The first laid out, in fairly great detail, Mackinder's theory about the pivot of the world lying in Central Asia, and the U.S.'s struggle in maintaining a balance between idealism and pragmatism. The second simply dispelled many of the myths, held in the west about the effectiveness of U.S. interventions.

[CaughtintheGaze]

On Nussbaum: Her points are well argued, and she articulates with great nuance. Not being a legal philosopher, I can capture only the broad strokes. I found them most persuasive, but will admit that I was already biased toward them.

[CaughtintheGaze]

1. Privileged and Confidential by Absher, Desch, Popadiuk, et. al.
2. Dead Languages by Ryuichi
3. The Japanese Effect in Contemporary Irish Poetry by Angelis

1. This is the book on the presidency and politicization of intelligence. It goes deep into the history of the advisory board and shows, quite clearly, that this board was designed only to bolster the president's position on whatever he laid a stake to. It is a bit scary to realize that one with so much power might keep his own counsel, especially when there are a multitude of dedicated services, which can provide a much more dispassioned appeal. It is understandable that the fragility of his position would make him want to seek the comfort of the board.

2. Simply one of the greatest collection of poetry I've come across. A poet who was alive during the atrocity of the nuclear age's actualization, his poetry is always a reflection of that. Highly fragmented, and constantly breaking down. Reminds me of Celan, with bold declarations and immense lyricism.

3. Decided to pass on this book for the time.

New slew of books:
Containment or Liberation by Burnham
Terrorism and Counterintelligence by Mobley
Condemned to Repeat by Anderson
Democratic Ideals and Reality by Mackinder
America's Strategy by Spykman
The Influence of Sea Power 1660-1783 by Mahan

... and the book I'm most excited for:
A Theory of Security and Strategy for Our Time by Shiping Tang