What are you reading now?
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Actually, for me, it is kind of a boring book.
About how the earth would be if humans suddenly disappeared. Each chapter is kind of standalone and examines the impact (or lack of impact) on different areas of earth.
I was read that it was based on a magazine article that the author wrote and then expanded into a book.
Maybe I will just read the article. 5555
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@taiwan_girl There was a TV show several years ago that was pretty fascinating (especially for TV), that examined what the world would be like if people disappeared. That is, not that they were never here, but that they had been here but vanished.
I remember one episode in particular that was set in Las Vegas. As years passed, you saw the tall signs and marquises on the Strip gradually buried in sand, and then at the end, a smooth surface of desert . . . and you knew a whole city was . . . down there . . .
Br-r-r-r!
Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace. – Mike Ditka
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@catseye3 The book is the same. It assumes that people were here, but then disappeared. Mostly, I like books more than movies, but in this case, I can see where a subject like this might be better visually than just words on paper.
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Finished
It is a quick read discussing the rise of authoritarianism around the world beginning with Poland, Hungary, etc. She notes that the desire is linked to both left and right ideologies coming from an insufficient understanding of (respect for?) the nature of democracy.
Provides a compelling case questioning her religion, the subjugation of women, and numerous other issues antithetical to human rights. She is, an interesting person and has had an amazing life. She notes that Islam is extremely focused on the notion that this life means nothing - and the next life is the major focus. Islam has not had a reformation. She also explains why poverty and ignorance are not the causes of violent actions by its adherents.
.I'm still slogging through Ariel and Will Durant's History of Civilization volume 1. It is dated but still fascinating. I realize some significant deficits in my education - particularly, the history and culture of India. India had an amazing culture before AD 1000 - including some quite sophisticated medical expertise.
Reading now.
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A second recommendation for Ali's "Heretic." It an easy read, and she gets a bit preachy about "what must be done." But the early parts, about her growing up in a fundamentalist Islamic culture, and her later years, in the Netherlands, are just fascinating.
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Finished
Very enjoyable - amazing life.
Better than I thought it would be with the first few chapters being the best part. I think many have seen violence work quite effectively, and our culture celebrates it in film and real life, but it is interesting and helpful to listen to a different perspective. I think there is a balance, taught in some martial arts - mastering the reptilian brain.
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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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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
@kluurs said in What are you reading now?:
Finished
Very enjoyable - amazing life.I read that a few years ago. His narration of the early days in the desert was fun, wasn't it?
God, yeah. His life seemed to be like Forest Gump - meeting everyone of import in the mid 20th century.
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@kluurs said in What are you reading now?:
@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
@kluurs said in What are you reading now?:
Finished
Very enjoyable - amazing life.I read that a few years ago. His narration of the early days in the desert was fun, wasn't it?
God, yeah. His life seemed to be like Forest Gump - meeting everyone of import in the mid 20th century.
The only person that could get away with the ice cube thing, during the hearings on the Challenger disaster, is a Nobel Prize winner in Physics.
Even Neil Armstrong couldn't have done that experiment in that setting.
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I love Reynolds' work. His "Revelation Space" series - at least 5 books and novellas is a fantastic universe with multiple intertwined stories.
However, not all his books fall into that universe (actually most don't) and have nothing to do with each other.
So I started this today.
Like all of his books, the prose is dense, (When's the last time you heard "cinquefoil" used in a sci-fi book?) the seeds of the story are sewn and you don't know what will come of anything told in the first few pages.
"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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Quite a depressing book. The fiction story of a young British expat who goes to Thailand, falls in love with a bar girl, and.......
Written in first person from a variety of viewpoints. Set in Bangkok, but even if you have never been to BKK, that is okay.
Good book, but as I say before, a fairly cynical look at relationships and cultural differences, though I think that there is a fair amount of truth in the writing, especially as it relates to life of the bar girls and their interactions with expats.
(I think you can get the book as a free download.)
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Heavy dope by C.S. Lewis. I picked this up mostly just because it contains The Nameless Isle. It's in alliterative verse, which, badass.
Here's how it starts:
In a spring season I sailed away
Early at evening of an April night.
Master mariner of the men was I,
Eighteen in all. And every day
We had weather at will. White-topped the seas
Rolled, and the rigging rang like music
While fast and fair the unfettered wind
Followed. Sometimes fine-sprinkling rain
Over our ship scudding sparkled for a moment
And was gone in a glance; then gleaming white
Of cloud-castles was unclosed, and the blue
Of bottomless heaven, over the blowing waves
Blessed us returning.--"cloud-castles" is a kenning, which I appreciate. It's a construction well-known in Anglo-Saxon languages, and were often used in conjunction with this form. Ol' C.S. is keepin' it OG here.
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Not me, but I'm sending this along for those who like to read about music and musicians and music history.
Amazon: "From the beloved host and creator of NPR’s All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts comes an essential oral history of modern music, told in the voices of iconic and up-and-coming musicians, including Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, Michael Stipe, Carrie Brownstein, Smokey Robinson, and Jeff Tweedy, among others—published in association with NPR Music.
"NPR’s renowned music authority Bob Boilen posed this question to some of today’s best-loved musical legends and rising stars. In Your Song Changed My Life, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), St. Vincent, Jónsi (Sigur Rós), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Cat Power, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Jenny Lewis, Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia, Sleater-Kinney), Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), Trey Anastasio (Phish), Jackson Browne, Valerie June, Philip Glass, James Blake, and other artists reflect on pivotal moments that inspired their work.
"A diverse collection of personal experiences, both ordinary and extraordinary, Your Song Changed My Life illustrates the ways in which music is revived, restored, and revolutionized. It is also a testament to the power of music in our lives, and an inspiration for future artists and music lovers."
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0124MOQRY?_bbid=19778944&tag=bookbubemail1-20
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Nemesis games. (Expanse #5)
I had a hiatus after #4 and now returned to the series.
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G George K referenced this topic on
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@george-k said in What are you reading now?:
Finally finished it the other day.
What a ride!
Totally unrelated to Reynolds' other works and sets up a totally different "universe." Set millions of years (yes, millions) in the future, where humanity has evolved into many related "species," it deals with an ambush, homicide, and the relationship of several races of sentient beings, not all of them human.
Starts out a bit slow, and you really don't understand what's going on until about ⅓ of the book. The first half is, as I said slow. But, once the piece fall into place, it really takes off.
Very enjoyable science fiction.
Oh, and he uses big words too....
He has a novella with the main protagonists in it. I'm queuing that up next - just for the sake of completeness.
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As I've mentioned, I've become enthralled with Alastair Reynolds' books.
He is an astrophysicist who said, "Maybe I can make a career of writing science fiction."
He wrote three books in the "Revelation Space" universe - a trilogy that spawned some other short stories and other novels not in the series, but in the same "universe."
So much science fiction is popcorn. Reynolds' works are steak.
You gotta pay attention. He uses weird words. His stories have foreshadowing that, if you're NOT paying attention, you'll miss.
So, last week I started the addition to the Revelation Space trilogy - "Inhibitor Phase." He said it could be a standalone book, but, nah, you gotta know what the hell is going on to reap the benefits.
Of all Reynolds' books, this is one of the easiest reads. Very linear (for the most part) and a classic adventure tale.
If you like science fiction, check out Reynolds' works. I recommend, if you want to get into the RS stories, starting with the short story/novella "The Great Wall of Mars." All the other tales hinge on what's explained here.
"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.
