What are you reading Chapter 4

[kleinenenten]

I was just debating getting a Clint Eastwood movie collection, the Eiger Sanction being one of the films. Can't say I know much besides that I generally enjoy Eastwood films. Would you recommend the book? I didn't know that movie was based on a book, not that I'd spent much time looking anything up.

Shibumi by Trevanian. He also wrote the Eiger Sanction.

 

[climber]

I was just debating getting a Clint Eastwood movie collection, the Eiger Sanction being one of the films. Can't say I know much besides that I generally enjoy Eastwood films. Would you recommend the book? I didn't know that movie was based on a book, not that I'd spent much time looking anything up.

The book is excellent, as is the movie. It’s a real classic. I highly recommend them both.

 

[Lo-E]

I just started Fargo Rock City.

So far, it’s very funny.

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

Robert Harris - The Precipice


As perfect as Harris' works usually are. Unlike the previous book that was set up in post-Cromwellian England and New England, this one is in first two years of The Great War, and mostly limited to London and some other places in England. But as well as in the previous book, most characters are the real historical figures.

 

[Frosteeman]

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin

Next up for book club. It's been on my list for awhile and I'm very intrigued, but boy is it dense with worldbuilding from the jump. It's a bit of a contrast from Earthsea (I know, one is YA and the other isn't, but still).

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

Harry Turtledove - Powerless

I think this book could safely be called "In the Presence of My Enemies v.2". Not Turtledove's best, but not the worst, either. All in all, worth reading.

 

[darev]

Birthday gift

Kubrick never made “Napoleon” but took his stunning amount of research and made Thackeray’s “The Luck of Barry Lyndon” instead.

 

[Jeff Scott]

 

[oldrocker]

Just finished reading this. I wild jaunt in and around the state parks of Florida with Serge and Coleman.

Unfortunately Tim Dorsey is no longer with us..

 

[Jazzdogg]

The Frederick Douglass autobiography, My Bondage, My Freedom.
Highly recommended, especially in America today.

 

[kleinenenten]

The Frederick Douglass autobiography, My Bondage, My Freedom.
Highly recommended, especially in America today.

Just teaching about his era recently. Incredibly relevant material, unfortunately.

I've been reading more history in general, as usual. Just finished a book about the early modern period in Germany (basically, the plague era and slightly beyond). Well-written, excellent details, but nothing terribly new or different from many of my other Renaissance and slightly later era works. Still, a few more details are never unwanted.

Besides that, I've recently read "The Rape Of The Lock" and the "Kebra Nagast", both entertaining and interesting, but nothing much else happening.

 

[WG Plum]

 

[Frosteeman]

Clockwork Lives - Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart

I've been reading a lot of things between 50 and 300 years old and I wanted something more contemporary to shake things up a bit. This is also another step in clearing out the various book series I have left unfinished. I read the first novel that told the story of the Clockwork Angels concept album, and it was entertaining if not a little derivative. My main takeaway was the world was great and had potential for better stories. Here's hoping this book and the second sequel can live up to that potential.

 

[mellowgerman]

The User Illusion by Tor Nørretranders.
Highly recommend it if you're interested in human perception, brain function, consciousness, etc. It was written over 30 years ago but is probably more relevant than ever in today's discussions about (artificial) intelligence, information, and understanding.

 

[WG Plum]

The User Illusion by Tor Nørretranders.
Highly recommend it if you're interested in human perception, brain function, consciousness, etc. It was written over 30 years ago but is probably more relevant than ever in today's discussions about (artificial) intelligence, information, and understanding.
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That's a GREAT book. Can't say I completely understood everything in it, but I really enjoyed it.

 

[mellowgerman]

That's a GREAT book. Can't say I completely understood everything in it, but I really enjoyed it.

Absolutely! I'd be pretty impressed if anyone sat down with this book, breezed through it, and learned everything there is to learn from it in one go... There are so many layers to it and a lot of it is pretty dense. I think it would be missing the point if the reader doesn't self-reflect and think about how it applies to one's own perception of life. I wouldn't approach it like an educational text book, where you read and absorb the facts it contains. I'd say it's an all-you-can-eat buffet of food for thought. I'm reading it almost like poetry, re-reading lines and paragraphs to break down all that's there on the page and how it applies to my experience. The plan is to re-visit the book in the future and I'm sure I'll get more out of it every time. Really fascinating stuff

 

[WG Plum]

One of my tattoos is actually from that book, the conversation tree image. I had it done as a reminder to try to communicate more effectively. It's been a long time since I read it, but if I remember correctly it was in the section discussing how many bits of information our brains can process per second.

 

[mellowgerman]

One of my tattoos is actually from that book, the conversation tree image. I had it done as a reminder to try to communicate more effectively. It's been a long time since I read it, but if I remember correctly it was in the section discussing how many bits of information our brains can process per second.

Nice! Yes, also revisited in the portion on storytelling and how children process the information/exformation. I love how effective some of those simple diagrams are that he includes.

Funny, I also have a communication tattoo, to remind me to listen more... though it's not from Nørretranders, it's a sketch my wife did around the time we first met. That was over a decade ago so I guess it worked?

 

[bobyoung53]

Not a Thelemist at all, just have read several books about him trying to find out what he was really like, serious or not, satanist nutcase etc. This book so far seems to be the most real and best researched.

 

[kleinenenten]

Clockwork Lives - Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart

I've been reading a lot of things between 50 and 300 years old and I wanted something more contemporary to shake things up a bit. This is also another step in clearing out the various book series I have left unfinished. I read the first novel that told the story of the Clockwork Angels concept album, and it was entertaining if not a little derivative. My main takeaway was the world was great and had potential for better stories. Here's hoping this book and the second sequel can live up to that potential.

I used to love Kevin J. Anderson when I was a kid. Of course, those were his Star Wars novels, and I loved anything Star Wars. How is his other material overall? I don't believe I've ever read anything of his outside of Star Wars. I know he's helped with the Dune franchise, but I lost interest in that one after Herbert's original run, and hear the more recent sequels aren't that great.

Funny, I also have a communication tattoo, to remind me to listen more... though it's not from Nørretranders, it's a sketch my wife did around the time we first met. That was over a decade ago so I guess it worked?

I'd be interested to hear corroborating testimony about that...