Which book are you reading now? Volume XI
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Gen.Mannerheim
Grand Moff
The Once and Future King is one of my top 10 all time books. T.H. White, along with Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain series, are what got me to go deeper into the Fantasy genre and past the monolith that is Tolkien.
It is the start of a brief Fantasy/Sci Fi binge for me. Penguin issued a 6-book series called it's Galaxy Series. This is the first of the 6.
Traitorfish
The Tighnahulish Kid
Sometimes I'll keep a narrative book and a drier scholar-type book on the go at once, although I think I may have ended up over my head with Serge. It's a bit denser than, like, spaceship-fights.
SS-18 ICBM
Oscillator
The Republic, written by Plato, translated by Tom Griffith, and edited by G. Ferrari. Strives for clarity, to the point of Woolseyism. The translator does insert some notes about what the original text said, though I still prefer the more detailed approach of the Nichomachean Ethics I read.
Probably the definitive work of Plato, even more so than the Symposium. Contains an introduction to the forms, a theory of justice, a vision of utopia, classifications of governments, ethical frameworks, and a study of the soul. While some ideas are a bit on the iffy side (e.g. prescribing proper forms of music to cultivate ideal guardians), many other ideas will continue to resonate through the ages, as demonstrated by the Western philosophical canon. One particular example was the description of an oligarchy, providing a striking resemblance to the contemporary United States of America.
The only other weakness of the work I can clearly see is the Socratic "dialogue" of the work. Around book 4 of 10, the conversation becomes rather one-sided. It's just Socrates pontificating while his counterpart either agrees (most of the time) or disagrees with the current speech. I suppose that's another pioneering achievement of The Republic: one of the first Mary Sues in literature.
Probably the definitive work of Plato, even more so than the Symposium. Contains an introduction to the forms, a theory of justice, a vision of utopia, classifications of governments, ethical frameworks, and a study of the soul. While some ideas are a bit on the iffy side (e.g. prescribing proper forms of music to cultivate ideal guardians), many other ideas will continue to resonate through the ages, as demonstrated by the Western philosophical canon. One particular example was the description of an oligarchy, providing a striking resemblance to the contemporary United States of America.
The only other weakness of the work I can clearly see is the Socratic "dialogue" of the work. Around book 4 of 10, the conversation becomes rather one-sided. It's just Socrates pontificating while his counterpart either agrees (most of the time) or disagrees with the current speech. I suppose that's another pioneering achievement of The Republic: one of the first Mary Sues in literature.
JohannaK
Heroically Clueless
Maybe the ideas resonate through the ages precisely because they are part of the canon.
FriendlyFire
Codex WMDicanious
We are BOB
Interesting take on future EM, and dystonia earth
Second book isnt that great though, becomes a little wacky with aliens should have explored the Chinese and Brazillan a lot more then pen in predictable cliche alien enemies.
I Contain Multitudes, Ed Yong. It's about our symbiotic relationship with microbes. I read 10% Human last year, so we'll see if they differ much..
Kozmos
Jew Detective
The Pale King by the late Wallace. I'm learning a lot about taxes and feeling a lot of pity for taxmen.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
I just finished organizing my entire sci-fi paperback collection. Here it is
If you switch to List view you can see the books I haven't read yet. One of those books is Chariots of Fire by Michel Parry. It didn't get good reviews at all but I like reading about alternate Inca history. I'm pretty sure it's about the Inca anyway, even though the cover might be showing the Aztecs.
All I've done so far is take it off the shelf as the next book I'm reading through, so I haven't actually started reading it. But thanks to Librarything.com (thanks Valka!) it was easy to look through all my books and pick one to read. Plus it lets me see which books I have belong to different series, which makes it easy to figure out which books I should be adding to my wish list.
If you switch to List view you can see the books I haven't read yet. One of those books is Chariots of Fire by Michel Parry. It didn't get good reviews at all but I like reading about alternate Inca history. I'm pretty sure it's about the Inca anyway, even though the cover might be showing the Aztecs.
All I've done so far is take it off the shelf as the next book I'm reading through, so I haven't actually started reading it. But thanks to Librarything.com (thanks Valka!) it was easy to look through all my books and pick one to read. Plus it lets me see which books I have belong to different series, which makes it easy to figure out which books I should be adding to my wish list.
Narz
keeping it real
Zorba the Greek, I found it more depressing than the "celebration of life" claptrap people seem to be saying about it.
Spoiler :
I've read a fair amount that I never got around to posting. I don't even remember all the titles.
A trilogy of scifi novels by Greg Bear: War Dogs, Killing Titan, and Take Back the Sky. Not long novels, but dark. Worth a read.
Maine to Greenland: Exploring the Maritime Far Northeast. Fitzhugh and Richard. This is a non fiction that I've been working on a bit at a time for a while. It's about the Atlantic coastal region of North America, the people and history of the region. Much of that is in Canada, and it talks a lot about that region, and Canadian parks that are so remote almost no one goes there.
If my memory was functional these days I'd think to remember and mention more of what I've read recently.
A trilogy of scifi novels by Greg Bear: War Dogs, Killing Titan, and Take Back the Sky. Not long novels, but dark. Worth a read.
Maine to Greenland: Exploring the Maritime Far Northeast. Fitzhugh and Richard. This is a non fiction that I've been working on a bit at a time for a while. It's about the Atlantic coastal region of North America, the people and history of the region. Much of that is in Canada, and it talks a lot about that region, and Canadian parks that are so remote almost no one goes there.
If my memory was functional these days I'd think to remember and mention more of what I've read recently.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
That's a lot of work for someone who hasn't even posted his last vacation pics yet...
It had to be done! My office is still a bit of a mess, I needed to start the clean-up/re-organization operation somewhere. The books were a good place to start, and hopefully the exercise will lead to me reading more again.
As for my last two trips.. You are right, I should get on that
I'm one to talk, really. I have trips from Nova Scotia last year that I haven't sorted or posted myself.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
I will be watching for that one with some interest.. I still haven't seen a lot of Canada and I haven't been out east at all. I enjoyed your last trip report, maybe your next one will convince me to get out east sooner rather than later
I think I'm actually closer to the Maritime provinces than you are. And I have a car, which I seen to recall you don't. Rural Canada is as I'm sure you know exceptionally not populated. Making motor vehicle touring about the only choice.
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