Which Book Are You Reading Now? Volume XII

[JollyRoger]

I've got it on my reading list and realized the reality of The Prince is a bit different from the myth.

Now reading:

There is an essay in this collection that looks like it goes into Foucault's Discipline and Punish.

 

[Takhisis]

Exoplanets: Extant Life? is a short text by Dieter Rehder on the scientific aspects of the question of life on recently- and to-be-found exoplanets. Taking a chemistry-focused approach, it starts with the astronomy of stars and planets before talking about the possibilities of life. Of interest are buildup of organic precursors on ice particles, methanol as an alternative to water, and the role of clay particles in initiating life.

Is it available anywhere?

Currently I am rereading the Chronicles of the Dragonlance. Lord of the Rings introduced me to the wonder of fantasy. Dragonlance to its enjoyment. Have fond memories of it and was curious how it would hold up these days.
Well it's tropey and constructed. It was awkward how head-first the story dived into the company-of-heroes-to-save-the-world-
narrative and how ready the characters are to accept this sudden, dramatic and implausible turn of events as just that narrative.
However, as hamfisted and hackneyed so many things are, the company of heroes is well constructed. Very much constructed, as so many things, but still well constructed. More so than in many other fantasy novels I have read. Right from the start, you wonder what the deal is with each of them (not quit each), and everyone seems to have a special and interesting back story, but which you will only learn as the story progresses. The resulting tension and conflicts within the group are cookie-cutter, but again, they are still set out well.
The story itself is extremely fast-paced, jumping from one wonder to the next adventure. And it works. In spite of all the flaws I see now as clearly as never before (and that also includes the plain craftsmanship of words), it still is a fun ride.
It is very flawed, but it does some essential things right, and better than a lot of other fantasy, even if that other fantasy may be more mature and refined.

Don't let Valka get started on this, but I liked the worldbuilding books far more than I did the ones about the Heroes of the Lance, which were (we've already had this argument with her) almost entirely a standard RPG campaign set out in prose format. Not that that is bad per se, but it wasn't that great.

 

[Leifmk]

Currently I am rereading the Chronicles of the Dragonlance. Lord of the Rings introduced me to the wonder of fantasy. Dragonlance to its enjoyment. Have fond memories of it and was curious how it would hold up these days.

I too have fond memories of that from when I was like 15 and had recently discovered D&D. However I think I will leave those memories in peace.

I'm currently reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Damn, that's some good hard-hitting stuff. Written in 1993 and set in a near future where society is more or less disintegrating due to environmental and economic chaos.

 

[JollyRoger]

 

[Takhisis]

I too have fond memories of that from when I was like 15 and had recently discovered D&D. However I think I will leave those memories in peace.

Most if not all of the Dragonlance books hold up quite well even some decades after publication.

I've been rereading The Catcher in the Rye.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I've got it on my reading list and realized the reality of The Prince is a bit different from the myth.

Now reading:

There is an essay in this collection that looks like it goes into Foucault's Discipline and Punish.

So, did you finish Moby Dick before you started Colossus?

 

[Kyriakos]

Hm, with only 5 pages left to read/translate (out of 21), i generally found Freud's article on the Uncanny as not by itself a convincing thesis. It mostly refers to other psychoanalytic works, and maybe it is meant to be read along with those, but as a lone work it can't really stand.
The bulk of the position seems to rest on various conclusions from Freud's (and associates) work regarding animism (eg from the treatise on Totems and Taboos), and the notion of the 'Imago' of the parent. While Freud stresses the tie between fear of losing one's eyes and the infantile fear of castration, he doesn't provide very conclusive evidence for this in the actual article on the Uncanny -- yet he does attempt to argue against any reaction to this tie, a reaction noted to come from people who are not involved in psychoanalysis.

Overall, this brief treatise is interesting, but not really standing by itself. The formating of the argument is a bit all over the place too, though i can accept that it would be very differently picked up by one who is already well-read in other (and the major) treatises of psychoanalysis; particularly Freud's version of it.

To me, at least, this read more like one possible road to accounting for the uncanny; a road that certainly has its own signs and is neatly summarized in its own context, but seemingly without the valid claim to be the sole or definitive one, or even the one which has to lead to such a definitive one.

 

[JollyRoger]

 

[Arakhor]

I'm beginning to think that you may be trolling us, JR.

 

[JollyRoger]

I started a reading list back in late 2014. I'm now doing Bloom for upcoming books and making up for past neglect. Lots of Modern Critical Interpretations in the upcoming year.

The first evening of reading on this one did give me some comfort on the middle aged angst front. I now have a little bit of subtle seed planting to inflict on my muse.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Lacan - Salvoj Zizek
I am not yet sure weather I find it fascinating or plainly misdirecting. Basically, I am not sure this whole philosophical quest really leads anywhere, or in fact, is anything. But it is great fun to think about it. Better than Sudoku.

 

[FriendlyFire]

 

[Gori the Grey]

I started a reading list back in late 2014. I'm now doing Bloom for upcoming books and making up for past neglect. Lots of Modern Critical Interpretations in the upcoming year.

The first evening of reading on this one did give me some comfort on the middle aged angst front. I now have a little bit of subtle seed planting to inflict on my muse.

You read the essays in the Bloom collections in advance of reading the literary work itself?

Or alongside the novel?

Or instead of the novel?

 

[JollyRoger]

Right now, after (for the backog on my list since 2014). Going forward, before, with some refreshing during.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

I too have fond memories of that from when I was like 15 and had recently discovered D&D. However I think I will leave those memories in peace.

Well the bad can be pretty bad, but overall, I am having a hell of a time. The nostalgia glasses are on, baby.

 

[Traitorfish]

I can already feel Dachs' disapproval burning into the back of my skull, but I think you should support things you like.

(For those lacking context, Dachs hates Sleater-Kinney.)

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Is it available anywhere?

Google recommends Amazon.

Anyway, Rare Earth and Critical Elements in Ore Deposits is a collection of articles on the subject edited by Philip Verplanck and Murray Hitzman. It explores current knowledge of the geological settings and potential sites where rare earths and important elements are found worldwide. Understandable enough, but don't ask me to remember off the top of my head the difference between mafic and felsic rocks

 

[JohannaK]

Who is Sleater-Kinney

 

[warpus]

I somehow smashed my dad's e-book reader and now there is a big crack in the lower half of the screen. So I am unable to (for now) finish reading Judas Unchained. I'm not really sure how it happened, somehow I was able to hold on to the ebook reader and keep it safe throughout a 2 week long hike in the Himalayas. But as soon as I bring it to work it gets destroyed.

I bought a copy of The Art of War in Kathmandu, so I'm going to read that until I get a physical copy of Judas Unchained for Christmas. It's not very long, I know, but I probably won't have much time to read before Christmas anyway. I also bought an illustrated copy of an explanation of the Kama Sutra. Or rather 10 copies. I was giving it out as a door gift at my birthday party. Guests had the option of taking home the book or 15 sticks of handmade incense sticks from Nepal. It's not very long either, but having peeked through some of the pages it's going to be an entertaining read

 

[Katie88]

About half way through this one. I've really enjoyed it so far.