What are you reading?

[Htom Sirveaux]

Book sale day at the library! I got . . .

-Works of William Shakespeare
-L.E. Modesitt Jr.'s Legacies, Darknesses, and Scepters
-Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions and Slaughterhouse Five
-Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon
-John Saul's Nathaniel
-Stephen King's The Dark Half (I bought a copy of this at the last book sale, but it turned out it was missing the first forty or so pages.)

[Adorima]

T.A. Barron's "The Wings of Merlin" The fifth and final installment of the Lost Years of Merlin series!

[Hohenheim]

'My Brain Made Me Do It: The Rise of Neuroscience and the Threat to Moral Responsibility', by Eliezer J. Sternberg.

Unlike most scientists today, this book's author defends free will and moral responsibility, and also criticizes biological determinism. There is a detail here or there that I might not agree with, but as a whole Sternberg's ideas are well thought out and reasoned. The real-life scenarios he employs in the chapters also help to get his points across to the audience.

[The Doctor]

Unmerited Favor by Pastor Joseph Prince.

[ich1990]

“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare

I am liking Shakespeare's tragedies much better than his comedies. Heck, some of the tragedy is even more humorous than his comedy. Case in point: the magnificent “get thee to a nunnery” speech (although the Hamlet and gravedigger exchange is great as well). Indeed, I thought having the mad, sardonic Hamlet as the lead was perfect. And, after hearing all of the magnificent monologues that Hamlet dishes out, I have to admit that Shakespeare has a real knack for dialog. This is a very good play, make no mistake, but I have yet to reverse my opinion that Shakespeare's popularity is disproportionate to his skill. 10/10

Most over-quoted quote: “To be, or not to be: that is the question”

Suggested replacement: Well, pretty much anything else that Hamlet says. It is all pretty good.

[Htom Sirveaux]

I started reading L.E. Modesitt, Jr's Legacies. I've just passed fifty pages. I really want to like this book, 'cause the story so far seems promising. But it's so badly written, I just can't bear it. For crap's sake, how many times do you feel you need to remind the reader that the sky is silver-green?! And what's up with the systems of measurement for time (a "glass"? Okay, I guess as in "hourglass", but you can't have an hourglass without an hour, and you need to put a name to the thing you're measuring before you devise a way of measuring it. Therefore "glass" as a fantasy unit of time measurement contradicts itself.) and distance (how do you have "yards" and "vingts"? Did he forget that "yard" is a real unit of distance? Not to mention according to one passage of the text, a fantasy "yard" is considerably shorter than a real yard. Once it even says "a third of a yard". Whatever that is, I can only guess that it wouldn't be a foot.) Argh. This is why most fantasy literature frustrates me so much.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Finished Frankenstein, and moved on to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - for the second time (*sigh* at least I actually like this one). Great look at the depravity in all of us.

Another book for school is Wuthering Heights, which is proving to be very wuthery indeed, and is holding my interest very well despite it only being about domestic troubles. For the first time since Dracula, a nineteenth-century novel has managed to freak me out. The narrator got a nightmare where a dead girl was begging to be let in through the window, and the guy was trying to keep her out, but she kept pushing to get in. Reminded me of The Grudge *shudder*

And I'm still reading the same books for pleasure.

[uc pseudonym]

This is not the strangest pairing of books I've read simultaneously, but it's at least notable.

The Problem of Pain by CS Lewis

As over-quoted and overrated as Lewis can sometimes be, this book reminded me that he's needlessly under-appreciated (or reviled) in some circles. No argument can be a completely satisfactory answer to the problem of evil, but this book does give an intellectually consistent view of it. There were some interesting ideas here, more challenging than the usual Lewis, and I wonder if that isn't part of the reason why this book isn't as well-known.

I've read that this book needs to be read alongside A Grief Observed, so that will be next on my list (they're books on the same subject, but in between the two Lewis's wife died). Now that my opinion has been set down here, we'll see if I feel the post-grief approach is fundamentally different.

Kick-[Donkey] by Mark Millar

I probably have several pages of thoughts on why this book is ultimately bad, but I'm not sure that would help anyone. In brief, it's a comic book that seems to think making reference to comic books makes it realistic. The combination of pretension with comic book sensibilities ultimately leads to a less enjoyable experience than either.

Also, in this case I suspected that it would be faster to read the book than to see the movie (which I have no desire to see, given that it is unquestionably worse). So I timed myself and compared it to the running time. The book is about three times faster than the movie.

[Htom Sirveaux]

Gave up completely on L.E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Legacies, and started Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon. All's I can say is, that's more like it.

Also reading Matthew Paul Turner's Hear No Evil.
As much as I enjoyed reading Churched, I wasn't really feeling it completely, because my family wasn't fundamentalist. Hear No Evil has much of that same theme, but I can identify with it more because it's really about how music influenced Turner's life and faith. And, like his other work, it's written with a wryly funny narrative style reminiscent of David Sedaris, Chuck Palahniuk, or Kurt Vonnegut. I don't read much nonfiction, but Matthew Paul Turner is always a good way to go.

[rocklobster]

Finished Secular Sabotage by William Donohue.

[uc pseudonym]

A Grief Observed by CS Lewis

This is my favorite Lewis book, hands down. I've had it misrepresented to me: it's not an argument along the lines of Mere Christianity, it's his personal journals immediately following his wife's death. They are very personal and dig much deeper into the issues than in most of his writing.

There is no triumphalism here, but in a strange sense it is effective. So many arguments about the problem of evil are represented in the book, but they're only fractions of his overall mind and process, incomplete thoughts that evolve as he progresses. This isn't a book to be read in a scattered fashion, because it's very much a process. Lewis goes back to previous thoughts, contradicts statements, and sometimes reads over everything he's written so far and comments on it.

As someone who has mixed feelings about Lewis, this book cemented the fact that I'm sure I would get along with him in real life. In his time of greatest grief he shows himself to be an intelligent and profound human being.

[Htom Sirveaux]

Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon is almost there, but not quite. I like the refreshingly gritty style, but the problem is it's very complex and I've already been confused more than once. So, I've found my way over to Glen Cook's Chronicles of the Black Company. This seems a bit more my speed.

[Hohenheim]

Been moving on, started looking through Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about God, Science, and Belief, by John Polkinghorne and Nicholas Beale. An interesting book. It is basically a collection of responses toward questions posed to the authors online. Basically, this means you can just move to any question you want and see the authors' response. The responses seem quite detailed too, whether religious or scientific in nature.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]I've been on a bit of a book binge over the last couple days since I'm no longer allowed to bring my netbook to work. I'm working on "The Diary of Anne Frank: The Critical Edition". Basically, this is the ORIGINAL diary Anne Frank wrote, PLUS her rewrites, and the original manuscript as edited and modified by Otto Frank (Anne's Father). The way the book is laid out, it can get a little confusing, but once you get into the swing of things, it's really fascinating.[/color][/SIZE][/font]

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Just finished a paper on the foundations of logic for which I read Edmond Husserl's Logical Investigations Volume 1. I read it for class a couple of years ago and fell deeply in love with it; this time it was just as wonderful. Basically, a big chunk of vol 1. is about establishing that the foundations of logic must necessarily be outside of psychology in the structure of reality. Husserl goes into great detail about just what validity means. For validity to function the way we know that it does necessitates that the ground of logic cannot be the human mind. Anyway, I find this sort of thing fascinating and would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone (barring the totally uninitiated) interested in the philosophy of logic.

[rocklobster]

Finished Artemis Fowl book 2 and am now reading The BFG by Roald Dahl.

[ich1990]

“Starship Troopers” by Robert A. Heinlein

I was quite pleased to hear that I had been assigned this novel for class as I had intended to read it soon anyways. Considering that the act of killing large amounts of defenseless birds is one of the few joys remaining in my life, I looked forward to this chance to take down a pair at a time.

Even before the feathers had all landed upon the ground, I knew I would not be disappointed. One of the first aspects of the story to make itself apparent to me is Heinlein's exceedingly fine use of the dialog, prose, and rudimentary descriptions to drop the reader into his world gently, yet at a fast pace. Without info dumps or inane descriptions, one is given hundreds of fascinating and vibrant details that give the story color. The only thing that I can really compare it to is Frank Herbert's “Dune”, although that story has none of the subtlety of “Starship Troopers” and a totally different flavor.

What added to the aesthetically enjoyable writing style, was the content of the story itself. Superficially, it told an engaging-if-not-riveting story of one man's journey through a future military system (that, oddly enough, is quite like our real life military system). Deeper down, however, is a bold, yet articulate slap in the face of the American governmental system, the anti-war movement, racism, and host of other, smaller topics. If for nothing else, this book deserves recognition for being blatant and convincing about the message that it preaches.

In fact, there were times where I literally found myself arguing with the inanimate pieces of paper I was reading the story from. The book is so engaging, and so casually philosophical that I could not help but throw some counter-arguments back at it. Pity Heinlein couldn't hear me, because I would have loved to discuss a few things with him.

Finally, Heinlein is never afraid to stick a knife in your gut and give it a twist. This is a novel about war, primarily, so the death of the characters within is hardly a shock. To make up for the lack of predictability, Heinlein creates characters that are darn likable, and then kills them. To his great credit, even with all of the philosophical speculations soaking up screen time, he still takes the time to make the consequences of war personal. I don't necessarily agree with him, but he makes his points and makes them well. 9/10

[uc pseudonym]

Mother Teresa: The Final Verdict by Aroup Chatterjee

Admittedly, the field of books saying that Mother Teresa was overrated is relatively small, but I think I can say this is the only one worth reading (I didn't bother to mention Hitchens' book in this thread). Chatterjee is obviously upset, but he rarely descends into vitriol and he gives credit where it is due.

Nonetheless, his purpose is to argue that Mother Teresa's fame is more a result of publicity than of actual good works. Though he doesn't argue that she did nothing worthwhile for the poor, he does accuse her of exaggerating the facts. He also regrets that Calcutta has been viewed as a slum by most of the world when in fact it is a thriving city struggling with poverty, like many others.

It's nice to have footnotes, unlike with Hitchens, though they could be more thorough and naturally they don't prove anything unless the source itself is sound. But a few of them are solid and independently corroborated, such as the open question of how her organization used the millions in donations they received. Even if all the other claims in the book are false, these facts need a serious response, which is why I've been disappointed that most reactions to this book seem very cursory.

I recognize bringing this up is potentially controversial. If anyone has a source that deals with these claims substantially, I would be interested in seeing it. It would be particularly nice to see someone else actually from Calcutta address the issue, as opposed to westerns dealing with third hand sources.

[mkalv]

I'm reading a novel called The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, by Barry Lyga. Its okay.

After that, I want to read Catching Fire, the sequel to the Hunger Games, which was good and suspenseful.

[Nate]

I finished reading The Sirens of Titan the other day. I read it because of a bit of the "Earthbound Book Club" if you will, since Itoi is a huge fan of Vonnegut and this book inspired the Mother games, if only a bit.

I will say I found it a bit average. It was a bit reminiscent of Douglas Adams in a way, with the humorous commentary on life and society and whatnot, but it was too serious to be entertaining, and too silly to take it seriously. It was a weird mix, and I don't know, but I felt a bit underwhelmed that Rumfoord never really got any sort of comeuppance for the things he did. He did, at least, seem pretty miserable near the end of the book (especially when he found out the truth about development of civilization on Earth), but it was almost a sort of irritation than true despair. Though I did like the fact that he was being manipulated himself just as he had manipulated Malachi.

I did think the best part of the book was Boaz's ultimate fate, and I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous of him. I actually kind of wish I could find what he found.

So overall, it wasn't a bad book. I even kind of liked it but it wasn't as great as I had hoped.

[ich1990]

[b]“Fahrenheit 451â€

[Kaori]

As I Lay Dying by Faulkner. I was mainly drawn in by Faulkner’s vivid description of the characters’ varying responses to grief, but I also love the book’s dark humor, which is justifiably famous. It was enjoyable to reread this and pick up on some things that went over my head back when I read it in high school.

[Hohenheim]

I have been reading Theology in the Context of Science by John Polkinghorne. I must say that Polkinghorne expounds upon the ideas in his book very clearly. His analysis takes into account the similarities that science and theology have in their missions, and even includes various philosophical research into the mix (epistemology, postmodernism, etc.) Great stuff here.

[Htom Sirveaux]

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. It's like Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, except shorter and it doesn't suck.

[Kit_Icy_Cloud]

Soooo currently I have no books to read so I've been actually reading manga online. But the last book i read was..... I thing "Escaped" I forgot who wrote it but it's about a women who escaped polyigimist (sP? ) mormonism camp with her six children....

[Atria35]

Got the book 1776 for a bit of light reading two weeks ago and have finally picked it up.... and what a wonderful book! No wonder it won a pulitzer! It's written well, very understandable, gives the social and historical context of the Revolutionary War, etc. I'm dying to read it all the way through.... but I have so much else I need to watch/read at the same time

[That Dude]

The God Who Is There -by- Francis Scheaffer.

I love the way he wrote, and his incredible insight into the modern mind, even before the modern mind came about, he was telling us it would and how to address it properly and biblicaly.

[Kaori]

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton: this book was written just before apartheid legislation went into effect in South Africa. Critics would say that Paton goes too easy on the Europeans and doesn’t censure them enough for contributing to the deterioration of tribal society and of morality generally (though he does hold them responsible, to a degree). Nevertheless, the book does give valuable insight into the problems that faced South African society at that time, which is a subject about which I had formerly been completely ignorant. I also find the book to be fairly true to life and human nature generally—for example, the way that Kumalo’s anger and grief causes him to lash out at others. Despite the restrained style with which grief is described, the deep emotion beneath the surface makes the book very moving. I only wish my students had enjoyed this book as much as I did.

[rocklobster]

[i]The Long Walk by Richard Bachman, er I mean Stephen King.

[GeneD]

Finished "Howl's Moving Castle" today, for the second time. I want to read the second sequel now and the first one again (which I actually read before "Howl's"). Wouldn't mind buying both of them either.