Which Book Are You Reading Now? Volume XII

[Zkribbler]

'Causing' is indeed a verb.

Wait! In this sentence you're using it as a noun.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Ending February on a high note is A Short History of Modern Angola by David Birmingham. The country's history is brought to life by colorful anecdotes of daily life and short summaries of contemporary local literature. These snippets are masterfully weaved with crucial events and themes of Angolan history into a concise but highly informative work. as demonstrated by the following excerpt:

[Lord Salisbury's] ultimatum of January 1890, banning Portugal from claiming territory along the middle stretch of the Zambezi, may have seemed mild to him but to the Portuguese it was a dagger in the back wielded by their oldest ally. It caused an uproar, the effects of which lasted for a generation. The future of Angola as the Atlantic gateway to the whole of Central Africa crumbled. Portugal's inability to counteract such rampant British imperialism brought traders such as Silva Porto to despair. In April 1890 the disillusioned old man wrapped himself in the Portuguese flag, sat on a barrel of gunpowder, and lit the fuse. The explosion reverberated around the Portuguese empire.

That is how you write with impact. And I am not referring to the pressure wave of the blast.

 

[Traitorfish]

sat on a barrel of gunpowder, and lit the fuse

wait what

 

[Cutlass]

wait what

I'm assuming a protest suicide similar to immolation.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Wiki (yeah, I know. Also no direct citation, but there are sources at the bottom.) seems to confirm that it happened. A few addenda too. It was a actually a dozen barrels of gunpowder. And the guy didn't die immediately. Kind of like the Portuguese colonial empire, now that I think about it.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Mandarin Phrasebook and Dictionary by Lonely Planet

 

[Cutlass]

 

[Zkribbler]

The Case of the Purloined Pyramid
Cairo, post WWI, a disfigured British vet.
Very good so far, very authentic, gives off an Indiana Jones vibe.

 

[Kyriakos]

I read the first 12 pages of Celine's Journey to the edge of the night. Can't say i found it to be of interest. Then read the full synopsis too. Ehm... Not my thing i suppose.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

So it's basically a book about the Mississippi?

 

[sophie]

So it's basically a book about the Mississippi?

Colorado and Hudson too, I would assume, particularly given the "And America Remade its Rivers".

There's also the Chicago river, which was redirected to flow backwards - from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi.

 

[Cutlass]

So it's basically a book about the Mississippi?

Not really, no. Although the Mississippi plays a part. There is a lot about building canals, a lot about water rights in the west, a lot about the problems of rivers being irregular in flow, a lot about flooding. A lot about how American law grew up with and around and shaped and was shaped by water use. And I'm only about 1/2 way through it. It's not the most page-turner of a read. But is not all that large a book either, and has some interesting stuff in it.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I'm nibbling at a few, trying to determine which one I want to jump in to. There's Smart Cities, Tomorrowland, and an updated version of CS Lewis' letters.

 

[Mouthwash]

Recently read Imago, by Jack Reyn.

Spoiler Spoiler-laden review, don't open if you want to read it :

The book is an ultra-generic thriller set in an alternate history. The author is much too taken with deception as a plot device (the characters who don't turn out to be working for the bad guys, I can count on one hand, and two of those are traitors in some form or another), and while the writing isn't bad, it's also pretty flat. I was expecting the setting to be the highlight of the book, and to some degree it is. The fleshing out of the alternate history is reasonably interesting, although the author's decision to show rationalism as widespread is puzzling - given his background, he knows how closely tied the development of European science was to Christian thought. The 'pagan Vatican' was also disappointing. It seems as though the author just imagined the tropes of modernity ('religion' and 'science' as distinct categories, the medieval Papacy, Middle Eastern terrorists, etc.) as cropping up by historical coincidence, which in my opinion seems to defeat the purpose of alternate history. He'd have been better off conjecturing how a pagan Europe might have actually developed.

I think the story really drops the ball when it stops being about Christianity. The story seems to promise this angle at first (Christian terrorists! A mysterious murder of a Christian!), but the whole thing is completely dropped and then it's just pagans and rationalists. The pagan sects aren't fleshed out at all, not even the Orcus cult, so the setting seems rather wasted here.

In my opinion, this would have been a much better book if the author had used a generic thriller as a springboard for exploring ideas related to religion and alternate history, rather than using those ideas as a springboard for a generic thriller. The final solution to the riddle was actually very clever and satisfying, and highlights why I think it was a better subject to focus on than clandestine politics and assassinations.

Currently in the middle of 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by He-who-must-not-be-named.

 

[Lexicus]

So it's basically a book about the Mississippi?

If you're looking for a book about the MIssissippi, I would recommend River of Dark Dreams, by Walter Johnson. Excellent revisionist history of the US centered on the antebellum Mississippi valley economy.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

I read the first 12 pages of Celine's Journey to the edge of the night. Can't say i found it to be of interest. Then read the full synopsis too. Ehm... Not my thing i suppose.

did you at least find it funny? for me that is easily one of the best books ever written and I devoured it (I usually read very slow :x). this is one of the very few books where the self-insert protagonist actually works, and works well. not even the antisemitic and fascist tendencies could turn me off. celine feels like a more profound, bleaker, funnier bukowski.

some parts were also very beautiful. like his short-lived relationship with the prostitute or his whole ordeal with the family once he is back in france. celine's depiction of war reminds me of the myth of sisyphus. he is constantly danzing a waltz with death, mocking him, tricking him, seemingly not caring at all. celine's personal brand of nihilism is part of what makes him so special.

Currently in the middle of 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by He-who-must-not-be-named.

I am not one tiny bit surprised that you eat out of Jordan's hand tbh He seems like he's exactly your guy.

pls tell me you have at least read my books, jordan is a huge fan of them.

 

[Kyriakos]

^I found his descriptions of germans to be funny ^^

 

[Mouthwash]

I am not one tiny bit surprised that you eat out of Jordan's hand tbh He seems like he's exactly your guy.

Um, how's that? I disagree with him on a lot of stuff.

pls tell me you have at least read my books, jordan is a huge fan of them.

You mean Jung? What would you recommend?

 

[Lexicus]

I disagree with him on a lot of stuff.

But you evidently bought his book.

 

[Traitorfish]

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by He-who-must-not-be-named.

The #1 Sunday Times and International Bestseller from 'the most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now'

Genre: Self-help book

Western civilisation officially cancelled.