What are you reading now?
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@loki said in What are you reading now?:
Sorry I should have been more clear. I was referring to the 12 rules for life.
No I gotcha. 12 Rules isn't a lit theory book, but those lessons are baked in anyway. Maps of Meaning is much more dense. It took me several months to chip away at it because here and there I compared his analysis to source material.
FWIW, I also think his lectures on Genesis and Exodus provide perspectives that fill a lot of modern gaps.
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Uhm, George? Everything okay?
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Re-reading it, first read it maybe 25 years ago. Exceptional book, holds your attention for all 1250 pages.
Shirer was an American journalist assigned to Europe, lived in Paris and Berlin and Vienna. He became one of Edward R Morrow's guys.
So many casual first person references, not as the story itself, just as side notes. Two examples:
He was in Vienna during the Anschluss.
I had emerged from the subway at the Karlsplatz to find myself engulfed in a shouting, hysterical Nazi mob which was sweeping toward the Inner City. These contorted faces I had seen before, at the Nuremberg party rallies. They were yelling, “Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Hang Schuschnigg!
He was at Munich in September of 38, and describes Chamberlain and Hitler as their meeting ended:
The ice, however, had been broken, and as the meeting broke up at 1:30 A.M. the two men seemed, despite all that had happened, to be closer together personally than at any time since they had first met. I myself, from a vantage point twenty-five feet away in the porter’s booth, where I had set up a temporary broadcasting studio, watched them say their farewells near the door of the hotel. I was struck by their cordiality to each other. Schmidt took down the words which I could not hear: ...
And on and on. It's really gripping. You don't really notice the length, any more than you do in a series that's several seasons long. I mean, other than it takes a couple months to finish. lol
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DON’T let them eat cake.
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I've had this book in PB for very many years. Haven't redd it. Books come and go, that one always remains, getting more and more tattered as time passes. Someday.
Thanks for your comment. Maybe someday will come a bit sooner now.
ETA: Another book that has that same easy style that absorbs you is The Russians by Hedrick Smith. He wrote it based on his experiences as the Moscow NYT Bureau Chief. IIRC, the emphasis was very much on everyday life in Russia, and not so much on politics. (I could be wrong about that, though.)
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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
Yeah. Reading them in chronological order is definitely worth the effort. Reynold's world-building is great. He has a very unique style - sometimes first-person, sometimes third-person.
Just started this the other day:
Finishing this up this week. It's quite a ride.
Reynolds' books are like a jigsaw puzzle. You really don't know what the hell is going on until the end.
Sort of reminds me of "Salem's Lot." There are so many things, just hung out there, and then, WHAM!, they all come together. King seems to do it better, but these stories are pretty good as well, even if it takes longer to get them to "dovetail" together.
I'm gonna put Reynolds' stuff aside for a while, but I'm looking forward to getting into his stuff in the near future.
Considering getting back to the "Dune" universe with Brian Herbert's "Sisterhood of Dune."
@LuFins-Dad, have you read this?
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
Yeah. Reading them in chronological order is definitely worth the effort. Reynold's world-building is great. He has a very unique style - sometimes first-person, sometimes third-person.
Just started this the other day:
Finishing this up this week. It's quite a ride.
Reynolds' books are like a jigsaw puzzle. You really don't know what the hell is going on until the end.
Sort of reminds me of "Salem's Lot." There are so many things, just hung out there, and then, WHAM!, they all come together. King seems to do it better, but these stories are pretty good as well, even if it takes longer to get them to "dovetail" together.
I'm gonna put Reynolds' stuff aside for a while, but I'm looking forward to getting into his stuff in the near future.
Considering getting back to the "Dune" universe with Brian Herbert's "Sisterhood of Dune."
@LuFins-Dad, have you read this?
Not yet.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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I finished Fung's book over the weekend. Totally fascinating reading. There's so much physiology involved, and he explains it so it's really simple to follow.
Bottom line: Your body has a "set point" for weight. That is set by the hypothalamus, and it can be modified by insulin. Like any other substance, your body becomes accustomed to a level of stimulation (think cocaine, narcotics) and to get the same effect, you need more and more. Insulin is the same. To get the same ability of moving glucose in the cells, you need more and more insulin, if your insulin levels are consistently high: Insulin resistance. As the required level of insulin climbs, the set point goes up as well. This doesn't happen overnight, it happens over years and years.
So, how to keep insulin down? Well, for one thing, don't eat! Eating stimulates insulin release, and some foods (sugars and some carbs) are notorious for causing a spike in insulin. Because it's a "spike" in satiety (these foods are quickly absorbed) you get hungry again and you eat again. A couple of cans of soda and a large steak may have the same number of calories, but which one keeps you satisfied longer? Duh...
He talks about how we transitioned from 3 meals a day to "grazing." Grazing doesn't allow insulin levels to fall, and the "set point" keeps going up and up. The importance of the set point can't be overstated. For example, think of a lean actor who needs to put on 30 lb for a role. His set point is at, say 180lb. He pigs out, balloons up to 210 lb for the movie. However, his set point is still at 180. After the movie is done, he can get back to 180 really quickly, and easily. It's the chronic, insidious rise of the set point that's the culprit.
Ghrelin is a hormone secreted by the gut. It's the "hunger" hormone. It spikes three times a day (guess what those times are) and when it does, you get hungry. If you get past the spike, however, you'll find that, in a couple of hours, you're not hungry any more. Those of us who have skipped breakfast or lunch find that a common occurrence. You want to eat a nice lunch, but you're busy at work. Suddenly, it's 3 pm and you've not eaten, and...you're not hungry.
Big discussion of artificial sweeteners - all of them cause an spike in insulin (bad thing).
Big discussion of rice. The Chinese consume more white rice than any other group, and until the 1970s, there was little obesity (though Mao may have had something to do with that, LOL). The incidence of type II diabetes was about 1.3%. As the nation became more industrialized, and sugar became a staple of their diet, the incidence of diabetes skyrocketed to 13.6%, higher than the US (at 13.3%).
It's an easy quick read and doesn't get too technical.
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Having enjoyed "The Obesity Code," I thought I'd continue with one of Fung's other books:
Not nearly as compelling as "The Obesity Code," but a reasonably interesting read. He makes some...interesting assertions (particularly when it comes to...guess what? insulin), trying to link cancer to hyperinsulinemia.
I'm not sure I buy it, but some of the other points he makes, such as the genetic diversity, of the same tumor; in fact the genetic diversity of the same actual tumor. Lots of discussion about nature/nurture (stomach and breast cancer in native Japanese vs immigrants and their families). There's a brief, and not particularly helpful chapter on screening, and not much is said about treatment. However, that's perhaps beyond the scope of what he wanted to say.
It was an interesting diversion.
I'd love to see what @bachophile has to say.
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The Obesity Code looks very interesting - I've added it to my wish list.
Proud supporter of Plan 2525. Everything you think, do and say will be in the pill you took today.
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@doctor-phibes said in What are you reading now?:
The Obesity Code looks very interesting - I've added it to my wish list.
It really is. I've been talking about Fung and his approach to the physiology of obesity for a few years now. This book ties it all together and it all makes sense, particularly when looking at epidemiological data.
Link to video Link to video -
Yes, fascinating! Thanks very much for posting about it, George.
You see occasional references to the advantage of keeping track of your insulin on the Internet. It makes sense! Now Fung's book hopefully will give it more exposure.
It's also going on my wish list.
ETA: 16,700 ratings on Amazon, 4.5 stars.
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What he says about artificial sweeteners is interesting. I've had a pet theory for a while that the reliance on these awful things has made the population considerably fatter.
Proud supporter of Plan 2525. Everything you think, do and say will be in the pill you took today.
