Read a good book lately?

[Baron Von PWN]

The last book I read was Tolstoy's collected short works volume 2. Fun read it's a window into his mind. Allot of religious themed stories which emphasized the noble nature of peasants and their form of simple but honest faith.

[nietzsche]

At the moment I'm reading David Hume's Treatise on Human Nature. Don't read it unless you like deciphering obsolete English and philosophy.

"Abstruse thought and profound researches I prohibit, and will severely punish, by the pensive melancholy which they introduce, by the endless uncertainty in which they involve you, and by the cold reception which your pretended discoveries will meet with, when communicated. Be a philosopher; but amidst all your philosophy, be still a man."

David Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding

That's the best knowledge I got from Hume, having passed the "melancholy" of reading Nietzsche myself.

[mpjh]

Try Krugman's Depression Economics.

[Symmetry]

The last book I read was Tolstoy's collected short works volume 2. Fun read it's a window into his mind. Allot of religious themed stories which emphasized the noble nature of peasants and their form of simple but honest faith.

Tolstoy is always better than I imagine him to be. Sometimes you get a view of a writer in your head, or a view of a novel, without actually reading. Tolstoy is one of those for me. Picking up Anna Karenina was an effort. Putting it down more so.

Recently read an old book on Anarchism by George Woodcock which suggested that Tolstoy was a proto-anarchist (in the strict sense of rejecting authority, not the modern anarchist cookbook sense). Interesting reading, but I don't know if I'd agree. Will have to look at the short works- I really only know the major novels.

[PLAYER57832]

I've read a large number of books over the past couple of months...but hm, only a few I would recommend.

No-No Boy -- by John Okada (Fiction, 1957),

Really good collection of stories! I read it a long time ago.

Recently, I have oriented toward juvenile fiction (middle-high school stuff). (They have toys for my little guy down in the children's section, so I can look for a short time without him tugging on my arm constantly.. lol)

One my son and I both liked was about 2 eskimo boys who got stuck on a drifting ice floe for several months.

Finished the "Alchemy" (Magyk, Physik, etc.) series not too long ago. Not the best I have ever read, but enjoyable.

One thing I have found, to really enjoy different books, it pays to switch genra completely after reading something very good.
Sort of like "cleaning one's palat between courses" at a big banquet, I suppose. If I start right in with something similar, then i find myself comparing instead of just enjoying the book I am reading...and no author really "compares" to another.

[BigBallinStalin]

Here ya go : Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

Ishmael is a 1992 philosophical novel by Daniel Quinn. It examines mythology, its effect on ethics, and how that relates to sustainability. The novel uses a style of Socratic dialogue to deconstruct the notion that humans are the end product, the pinnacle of biological evolution. It posits that human supremacy is a cultural myth, and asserts that modern civilization is "enacting" that myth.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_(novel)

Sounds pretty interesting- have you read any of Richard Dawkins' stuff? The evolution books, not so much his anti-religion bits. Selfish Gene, Blind Watchmaker, and Climbing Mount Improbable have some similar arguments from an evolotionary biology perspective.

I haven't really. I usually don't dabble into that sphere of books, but there it is.

[Ray Rider]

I recently read a series of historical fiction books about Julius Caesar that were pretty good. I can't remember the titles though.

Sounds interesting. Any way of finding out what they were, or whether Symmetry was right?

At the moment I'm reading David Hume's Treatise on Human Nature. Don't read it unless you like deciphering obsolete English and philosophy.

I skip-read that a few years ago. The old English was fine, but the philosophy is heavy.

I'm about halfway through Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Michael B. Oren (Israeli ambassador to the US). It is an extremely fascinating book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in some history (from the Jewish perspective) of the conflict in the Middle East . Although it is a history book, it is different than most other history books I've read--his style of writing keeps the reader interested and the suspense builds throughout the book.

Once I'm done that one, I have a few other books I want to read: Truth & Transformation: A Manifesto for Ailing Nations by Vishal Mangalwadi, Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied And Survived Saddam Hussein by General Georges Sada, and The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis.

[rockfist]

I recently read a series of historical fiction books about Julius Caesar that were pretty good. I can't remember the titles though.

One of these? From Wiki:

Emperor Series, a series of four novels by the writer, Conn Iggulden

That one

[Symmetry]

I recently read a series of historical fiction books about Julius Caesar that were pretty good. I can't remember the titles though.

One of these? From Wiki:

Emperor Series, a series of four novels by the writer, Conn Iggulden

That one

Sounds interesting, part of what I do with English Civil War history is related to the way that Caesar is treated in history (betrayer of the Republic, or virtuous emperor). I'm not going to ask you for a book review, but it'd be cool to know what you thought about him.

I'll go ahead and recommend "I, Claudius" by Robert Graves as a great book. Read it a long time ago, mind, but it sticks out as the best piece of fiction based in ancient Rome I've read.

[Frito Bandito]

If you enjoy English history I'd recomend the Ken Follett books- Pillars of the Earth & the sequel World Without End. They capture how life was for the aveage serf and more in the time period around Queen Isabel and Edward II and III.

Very different than his spy novels.

[Symmetry]

If you enjoy English history I'd recomend the Ken Follett books- Pillars of the Earth & the sequel World Without End. They capture how life was for the aveage serf and more in the time period around Queen Isabel and Edward II and III.

Very different than his spy novels.

Cheers, I've, personally, gone off Ken Follett stuff though. I honestly couldn't tell you why, but I don't really like his style. I guess a lot of it is to do with reading a lot around the period- not so much that he's wrong or anything like that, but more what Player said- you need a break from it.

[rockfist]

Its historical fiction, so its hard to get a clear picture for who he was because there are some "liberties" the author takes in the book, such as making Marcus Brutus and Julius Caesar the same age and childhood friends, when I think Caesar was 10-12 years older IRL. The books generally portray Brutus as being the more sympathetic of the two main characters. I have not read much actual history about the life of Julius Caesar so I can't comment too much on it.

I read a good biography of Benedict Arnold by Willard Sterne Randall recently too. I will probably get in trouble with most of the Americans in this forum for saying so but the rebels really treated Arnold poorly and drove him to betray to betray the revolution. When my countrymen call Arnold a traitor they always look at me funny when I say "twice in fact."

Anyone know any good biographies of Arthur Duke of Wellington? I've read about Napoleon and Nelson and I'd like to read up on Wellington.

[muy_thaiguy]

A book called Dragon's Magician (along those lines). Kind of an alternate history, but it keeps your attention.

Now currently reading The Help for one of my classes. Interesting, but not something I would read normally.

[Symmetry]

Its historical fiction, so its hard to get a clear picture for who he was because there are some "liberties" the author takes in the book, such as making Marcus Brutus and Julius Caesar the same age and childhood friends, when I think Caesar was 10-12 years older IRL. The books generally portray Brutus as being the more sympathetic of the two main characters. I have not read much actual history about the life of Julius Caesar so I can't comment too much on it.

I read a good biography of Benedict Arnold by Willard Sterne Randall recently too. I will probably get in trouble with most of the Americans in this forum for saying so but the rebels really treated Arnold poorly and drove him to betray to betray the revolution. When my countrymen call Arnold a traitor they always look at me funny when I say "twice in fact."

Anyone know any good biographies of Arthur Duke of Wellington? I've read about Napoleon and Nelson and I'd like to read up on Wellington.

No problem- I'm more interested in how people have thought of him than anything that claims historical accuracy.
Benedict Arnold sounds like an interesting one.

It's one of those interesting things about studying history with any degree of seriousness, but you do encounter people who are genuinely angry about some of the stuff they were taught. In my field that comes across if you mention that Queen Mary was anything other than a killer.

There's a fun book called "1066 and all that" that satirises the whole "good person, bad person" approach to history. Worth a read, and you can finish it in a day. Also, it has cartoons.

[rockfist]

I really love history but I majored in accounting....so all of my historical knowledge is picked up from books I read for fun, which means I am well versed on some topics and woefully ignorant of others.

[AndyDufresne]

Actually, I'm pretty bad when it comes to modern poetry, so those last two sound really interesting. Poetry-wise I really likes "Taking off Emily Dickinson's Clothes" by Billy Collins. Genuinely funny stuff, and kind of an antidote to some of the po-faced images of modern poets.

It's definitely taken me a gradual time to grow to enjoy some modern poetry---though there are still a great many of modern poets I tend not to enjoy---but I still appreciate their work nonetheless.

If you are into humor, Scary, No Scary may have some appeal to you---it has an otherworldly, alien, and at times a grotesque feel to it---which adds to a strange sense of humor at times. Additionally, The Difficult Farm -- Heather Christle (Poetry, 2009) may be something you could enjoy, it is no so much the landscapes that are alien like Scary, No Scary---but the "individual" that is alien, otherworldly, which heightens the humor.


--Andy

[Snowgun]

Hagakure

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hagakure-Book-Samurai-Yamamoto-Tsunetomo/dp/4770029160/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266900856&sr=1-2

A wonderful 300 yr old historical piece that reads like poetry. Yet it's a dead serious manual on how to become the ultimate of warriors. Kind of like sun tsu, but for the person instead of the army general, and not as big picture, some of it is very specific:

Even if a Samurai's head were to be suddenly cut off, he should still be able to perform one more action with certainty. If one becomes like a revengeful ghost and shows great determination, though his head is cut off, he should not die.

[Snowgun]

also, "the book of the five rings" by musashi miyamoto is wonderful as well.

[Symmetry]

also, "the book of the five rings" by musashi miyamoto is wonderful as well.

That's a good one, and very much on my list. I guess Carl von Clausewitz "On War", and Machiavelli "The Prince" would be all that I can offer in response. You sound like Sun Tzu is something you covered already, but sorry if you've done the others.

[Army of GOD]

Also, one book that I loved was the 48 Laws of Power. Gives a lot of historical context and stuff.

[Snowgun]

Also, one book that I loved was the 48 Laws of Power. Gives a lot of historical context and stuff.

If you liked that, you should read his "the 50th law". It's pretty much a mash of 48 laws combined with insights from 50 cent (the rapper) about life lessons learned from the streets.

[thegreekdog]

I'm currently reading The Black Company series of books by Glen Cook. Pretty poorly written and not very descriptive, but fun stuff in any event.

On a related note, I tried to read Titus Groan and found it to be the exact opposite (well written and very descriptive, but ridiculously ponderous). I got through about 110 pages and then stopped; it wasn't what I expected.

[kevusher]

I'd agree with the Titus comment. Read the whole trilogy, and have no idea of the general plot (although the BBC did a good adaptation, I think just the first book, about 10-15 years ago), but have a wonderful image of the lands and characters.

If you like Historical Fiction then I would go with Stephenson's Baroque Cycle - generally set between Fire of London & post Glorious Revolution. Cornwell is a good shout too, though I found Sharpe the weakest thing he's done so far....

[thegreekdog]

I'd agree with the Titus comment. Read the whole trilogy, and have no idea of the general plot (although the BBC did a good adaptation, I think just the first book, about 10-15 years ago), but have a wonderful image of the lands and characters.

If you like Historical Fiction then I would go with Stephenson's Baroque Cycle - generally set between Fire of London & post Glorious Revolution. Cornwell is a good shout too, though I found Sharpe the weakest thing he's done so far....

I did the Baroque Cycle and liked it.

I like Cornwell. Read The Warlord Chronicles (this can also be a little ponderous). I really enjoyed The Grail Quest (not enough Crusades historical fiction in my opinion).

[Frito Bandito]

For something completely different than most of the fare mentioned so far, I highly reccomend

"My Losing Season", by Pat Conroy. It's his true account centering around his senior season at The Citadel. Before he became a mega book author - "The Prince of Tides, etc." he was a varsity DI basketball player. How he evolved from the beaten kid to a brilliant writer is incredible, sort of like "To Sir With Love", but with a bunch of child abuse.

If you've ever seen The Great Santini ( starring Robert Duvall), that's based on his real life dad - but, incredibly, that's the toned down version of his dad. His real life story is really amazing, as was the life at a military academy in the 60's. The audio version is solid.