Now Reading

Reading Flannery O'Connor's short stories. Holy Catholic parables, Batman!

  On 9/25/2012 at 7:45 PM, baph said:

  On 9/24/2012 at 7:38 PM, Nebraska said:

 

please don't read the rest of the series though

unfortunately i got this together with 'the garden of rama'

Book one in a trilogy apparently....

Picked this up a couple of weeks back and only just got round to starting it last night.

WOW! Really well written. Not particularly ground breaking in fantasy concepts so far but the story telling is impeccable and I found myself rattling through the first 17 chapters with barely a pause. Actually looking forward to getting back from work so I can read some more. This has not happened in a long time.

  On 10/4/2012 at 10:36 AM, Iain C said:

Reading Flannery O'Connor's short stories. Holy Catholic parables, Batman!

I really liked O'Connor's short stories in high school, wonder what I'd think about them now. Though I'm not a Catholic nor have ever been, I enjoyed her hardcore "no excuses for living a bad life" approach. It's sort of like the Holden Caulfield "everyone's a phony"...but for Catholics.

Finally reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "Trilogy" after all these years. I now know where half of the names on the internet come from.

I'm far into this (though my has a shittier cover art):

It's very enjoyable, but clearly not as good as the original Dune.

What is that?

  On 10/16/2012 at 10:42 AM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 11:10 AM, spratters said:

What is that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebus_the_aardvark

hey guys do you know any good book about the basics of neuroscience?

Vineland was not the best of Pynchon but quite OK. After that I also read this, which was nice:

Now trying to figure out what to read next from my shelf. Might go with Murakami's 1Q84.

Calling all history nerds or Francophiles....can anyone recommend a relatively good overview of the French Revolution? I only have texts in bits and pieces, texts that only really focus on the Wars and Napoleon, or on the effects of the Fr. Rev. in their colonial territories....I really want to get a good handle on what was happening in France itself.

A well reviewed academic manuscript or even textbook would be preferred, but public historys /journalistic manuscripts are absolutely fine as well...this is more for personal hobby, not for a paper or anything.

Quatrevingt-Treize, Victor Hugo

A tale of two cities, Charles Dickens

La Révolution, Robert Magerit

That's all I know of... no I've read another, but that was a looooong time ago!! :)

  On 10/16/2012 at 9:07 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 10:42 AM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 11:10 AM, spratters said:

What is that?

 

http://en.wikipedia....us_the_aardvark

that's it. book 2 - high society, is already a whole lot better than book 1^~^

  On 10/18/2012 at 2:20 PM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 9:07 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 10:42 AM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 11:10 AM, spratters said:

What is that?

 

http://en.wikipedia....us_the_aardvark

 

that's it. book 2 - high society, is already a whole lot better than book 1^~^

the series is amazing. Some of the finest work ever put out in a graphic novel.

bought this: Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life

Neuroscience for dummies, I guess... Read some 3-4/5 ratings.

  On 10/18/2012 at 7:52 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 10/18/2012 at 2:20 PM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 9:07 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 10:42 AM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 11:10 AM, spratters said:

What is that?

 

http://en.wikipedia....us_the_aardvark

 

that's it. book 2 - high society, is already a whole lot better than book 1^~^

 

the series is amazing. Some of the finest work ever put out in a graphic novel.

They sound very interesting. From what's on wiki and a few trawls over the interweb, I think I'll give them a go. Is it worth starting from issue 1 or just jump in wherever?

hey guys do you know any good book about gothic/victorian stuff? like history about that culture or maybe a novel (but no vampires and shit), thanks!

some music:

  On 10/17/2012 at 7:49 PM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

Calling all history nerds or Francophiles....can anyone recommend a relatively good overview of the French Revolution? I only have texts in bits and pieces, texts that only really focus on the Wars and Napoleon, or on the effects of the Fr. Rev. in their colonial territories....I really want to get a good handle on what was happening in France itself.

 

A well reviewed academic manuscript or even textbook would be preferred, but public historys /journalistic manuscripts are absolutely fine as well...this is more for personal hobby, not for a paper or anything.

As you can imagine the literature is vast, and as you probably know a lot of it is somewhat controversial (e.g. Marxist vs non-Marxist interpretations, etc... here's a decent overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historiography_of_the_French_Revolution). If you want a brief survey, the little Very Short Introduction (if you have them in the States) is a good 100-page overview of everything, written by William Doyle (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-French-Revolution-Introduction-Introductions/dp/0192853961/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1350774598&sr=8-3). Doyle also wrote the general Oxford History of the French Revolution, which is probably one of the best overviews by an Anglophone historian (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Oxford-History-French-Revolution/dp/019925298X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350774598&sr=8-1). The leading modern French authority was Francois Furet. His classic work is translated as 'Revolutionary France, 1770-1880', but the first half up to 1814 can be had excerpted: http://www.amazon.co.uk/French-Revolution-1770-1814-History-France/dp/0631202994/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350775038&sr=1-2

Highly recommend this book, only 1/4 way though but really well written thus far.

  On 10/20/2012 at 7:46 PM, spratters said:

  On 10/18/2012 at 7:52 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 10/18/2012 at 2:20 PM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 9:07 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 10:42 AM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 11:10 AM, spratters said:

What is that?

 

http://en.wikipedia....us_the_aardvark

 

that's it. book 2 - high society, is already a whole lot better than book 1^~^

 

the series is amazing. Some of the finest work ever put out in a graphic novel.

 

They sound very interesting. From what's on wiki and a few trawls over the interweb, I think I'll give them a go. Is it worth starting from issue 1 or just jump in wherever?

I'm only on book 2 and probably not the best person to ask.

I'm a bit of a completist though, and felt it was necessary to tackle it from the beginning. I enjoyed a few moments in Book 1, but overall the book definitely dragged and the stories felt disjointed. Most of the stories were along the lines of 'Cerebus gets money', 'Cerebus loses money', back and forth again.

Book 2 has focused on the one continuing story of Cerebus joining a political campaign and running for Prime Minister, and has been a real pleasure to read^^. There are some recurring characters and references that had been introduced in Book 1, but overall i can't imagine you'd really be missing all that much.

  On 10/22/2012 at 11:36 PM, rixxx said:

 

 

Highly recommend this book, only 1/4 way though but really well written thus far.

Saw this was out. I've read Bad Science, I regularly read his columns, and I've even seen him give a talk. Not sure there's much more to be gained from reading this one for me...

If you like him, I strongly recommend this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reckoning-Risk-Learning-Live-Uncertainty/dp/0140297863/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351007004&sr=1-1

Just finished...

About to start...

  On 10/24/2012 at 1:12 AM, mat said:

About to start...

 

Was hoping that's where they got Tony Hancock's film idea from. Unfortunately not.

  On 10/23/2012 at 9:14 AM, pigster said:

  On 10/20/2012 at 7:46 PM, spratters said:

  On 10/18/2012 at 7:52 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 10/18/2012 at 2:20 PM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 9:07 PM, chenGOD said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 10:42 AM, pigster said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 11:10 AM, spratters said:

What is that?

 

http://en.wikipedia....us_the_aardvark

 

that's it. book 2 - high society, is already a whole lot better than book 1^~^

 

the series is amazing. Some of the finest work ever put out in a graphic novel.

 

They sound very interesting. From what's on wiki and a few trawls over the interweb, I think I'll give them a go. Is it worth starting from issue 1 or just jump in wherever?

 

I'm only on book 2 and probably not the best person to ask.

I'm a bit of a completist though, and felt it was necessary to tackle it from the beginning. I enjoyed a few moments in Book 1, but overall the book definitely dragged and the stories felt disjointed. Most of the stories were along the lines of 'Cerebus gets money', 'Cerebus loses money', back and forth again.

Book 2 has focused on the one continuing story of Cerebus joining a political campaign and running for Prime Minister, and has been a real pleasure to read^^. There are some recurring characters and references that had been introduced in Book 1, but overall i can't imagine you'd really be missing all that much.

Ok thanks. I might go straight to 2. They're not the cheapest books to get hold of but hopefully a couple will be worth it to get me going.