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Postby krusch » 2010.12.06 (01:14)

hairscapades wrote:I've been reading The Illuminatus! Trilogy which is life changing, you know, if you're into the kind of thing. If you've never read Robert Anton Wilson's stream of consciousness, you're missing out on account he's totally brilliant and Robert Shea is hilariously funny.
I just had a quick browse of the first page and noticed you were reading this. I'm reading a few books at the moment, the most engaging I'm finding to be Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson. It began as a Ph.D. dissertation called "The Evolution of Neuro-Sociological Circuits: A Contribution to the Sociobiology of Consciousness," which he wrote in 1978-79, which was later been revised by R.A.W. for publication, "adding much to the humor and nothing to the good taste."

It's a practical analysis of Dr Timothy Leary's 8-Circuit Model of Consciousness, chock full of humor, profundity, and wild predictions about the future. A great book for provoking self-critical thought (in a good way), as in thinking about the way one's own brain works. I recommend this book for sure.

Along similar lines, I'm also reading "Morphic Resonance and the Presence of the Past - The Habits of Nature" by left-field biologist Rupert Sheldrake. This is a theory on morphogenesis (the development of form) in not just biology, but geology, astronomy, and like, everything. Sheldrake attempts to provide an alternative to the (apparently) paradoxical idea of biological evolution in an otherwise static universe based on fundamental physical laws. In other words, it's a theory of cosmic evolution.

I think it's incredible. The opening chapters, which basically analyse the history of modern scientific thought, philosophy and the philosophy of science were especially enlightening to me. I could see a few of you guys coming to grief over this book, as it's very unconventional for scientific writing. However, it's worth keeping in mind that, as R.A.W. points out in Prometheus Rising, scientific discoveries generally have about a generation's gap between their discovery and their acceptance by the populace. Think about it!

I'm also re-reading Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World my Muarakami, an old favourite.

Edit: took out some "basically"s. -_-
Last edited by krusch on 2010.12.06 (01:27), edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Tanner » 2010.12.06 (01:18)

entwilight wrote:
hairscapades wrote:I've been reading The Illuminatus! Trilogy which is life changing, you know, if you're into the kind of thing. If you've never read Robert Anton Wilson's stream of consciousness, you're missing out on account he's totally brilliant and Robert Shea is hilariously funny.
I just had a quick browse of the first page and noticed you were reading this. I'm reading a few books at the moment, the most engaging I'm finding to be Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson. It began as a Ph.D. dissertation called "The Evolution of Neuro-Sociological Circuits: A Contribution to the Sociobiology of Consciousness," which he wrote in 1978-79, which was later been revised by R.A.W. for publication, "adding much to the humor and nothing to the good taste."

It's basically an analysis of Dr Timothy Leary's 8-Circuit Model of Consciousness, chock full of humor, profundity, and wild predictions about the future. It's a great book for provoking self-critical thought (in a good way), as in thinking about the way one's own brain works. I recommend this book for sure.

Along similar lines, I'm also reading "Morphic Resonance and the Presence of the Past - The Habits of Nature" by left-field biologist Rupert Sheldrake. This is basically a theory on morphogenesis (the growth of form) in not just biology, but geology, astronomy, and like, everything. Call it evolution and faith-based constancy's unified theory.

I think it's incredible, and the opening chapters, which basically analyse the history of modern scientific thought, philosophy and human values, were especially enlightening to me. I could see a few of you guys coming to grief over this book, as it's very unconventional for scientific writing. However, it's worth keeping in mind that, as R.A.W. points out in Prometheus Rising, scientific discoveries generally have about a generation's gap between their discovery and their acceptance by the populace.

I'm also re-reading Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World my Muarakami, an old favourite.
Thank you for this post. It makes me so happy when someone else loves on RAW. He's the best ever.
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Postby otters~1 » 2010.12.10 (02:19)

=w= wrote:Aye. Martin needs to write faster.
But I'm all set in the high fantasy blockbusters arena for now, because just got my hands on WoT #13 (penultimate, in fact).
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Postby krusch » 2010.12.10 (13:03)

Does anyone here read China Miéville's books? He writes some of the best fantasy around right now, amongst other things (in my opinion, of course). If you're into epic storytelling, metaphysics and generally creative thinking, I'd recommend checking out "The Scar" and "Perdido Street Station". An appreciation of the English language also comes in handy. I've had the pleasure of hearing him speak twice now in Melbourne, and in person, he's just as eloquent, sharp and cool as his writing is. Plus, he listens to UK garage!

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Postby SlappyMcGee » 2010.12.10 (16:23)

I am reading Mary Roach's Stiff right now. It's a very funny non-fiction that explores the uses of corpses and cadavers for science. Her writing is easy to read and very informative. Rec.
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Postby otters~1 » 2010.12.11 (06:32)

entwilight wrote:Does anyone here read China Miéville's books? He writes some of the best fantasy around right now, amongst other things (in my opinion, of course). If you're into epic storytelling, metaphysics and generally creative thinking, I'd recommend checking out "The Scar" and "Perdido Street Station". An appreciation of the English language also comes in handy. I've had the pleasure of hearing him speak twice now in Melbourne, and in person, he's just as eloquent, sharp and cool as his writing is. Plus, he listens to UK garage!

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Postby noops » 2011.01.01 (02:41)

Read Kushiell's Dart. Or, at least, started to. I had to put it down about a hundred pages in because it was just so... Boring. The jacket promised action, excitement, espionage, all that. But it just read like a really boring fanfiction mixed with a political thriller-type thing. And not to mention the fact that it is written in a Ye Olde Englishe style that just bogs down things. And it's not even pretty, Bradbury bogging down. It's a "slap tons of words around because they sound nice" type deal.

Never before has the phrase "Don't judge a book by it's cover" ever apply in my life so.... Literally.
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Postby otters~1 » 2011.01.17 (02:34)

Always enjoy Simon Winchester.
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Postby Naythan » 2011.01.21 (17:33)

spuun wrote:Never before has the phrase "Don't judge a book by it's cover" ever apply in my life so.... Literally.
Havemercy. If you skip the m/m love story, it's pretty good. Unless you're into that kind of stuff, then read it all the way through. I did, but that's because I'm hardcore. xD
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Epic cover. That's why I chose to read it. You should too.
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Postby 乳头的早餐谷物 » 2011.03.05 (13:56)

Lately, I've been doing some reading for the first time in a long time:

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. Less than the sum of its parts, but the parts are pretty great. Bokononism is as good as a religion is going to get, and the concept of a granfalloon is fantastic and so true.

Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Recommended by krusch in that thread where I asked people for recommendations. A book in two halves. The Hard-Boiled Wonderland part of the book is great, and though the End of the World part is very interesting and of course essential, I must admit I occasionally found myself wanting to skip forward to the next odd-numbered chapter.

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov. In post-Soviet Ukraine, a writer with a pet penguin gets caught up in deadly intrigue. I read this book around the same time as I read Hard-boiled Wonderland, and noted that both feature very average protagonists who get caught up in very unusual situations. Kurkov's unusual situations aren't as enjoyable as Murakami's, but he does write a very good penguin.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. I decided to pick up this book since I enjoyed Sacks's appearances on Radiolab and wanted to read more about people with interesting neurological disorders. I wasn't disappointed: the stories are very interesting indeed. Not quite so interesting are the many parts where the book starts to reads more like a neurology textbook, but these don't weigh proceedings down too much.

The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost. Humorous travelogue written by a man who moves with his girlfriend to Kiribati. I've been meaning to read this for years, ever since I first heard of it and was sure I would enjoy it. And I wasn't wrong. After reading the book, I read some reviews, and in most cases, those who didn't like the book didn't like it because of Troost's attitude. Not me, though: I found the book to be very funny and I found Troost to be uncannily similar to me in a lot of respects.
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Postby Vyacheslav » 2011.03.05 (14:45)

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Postby Apakenua » 2011.03.25 (00:02)

C'mon people, read some classics!!! Some right off the bat I've read this year:
The Great Gatsby
The Good Earth
Kon-Tiki
A Tale Of Two Cities
The Screwtape Letters
Brave New World
Cry, The Beloved Country
A Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich
All Quiet On The Western Front
A Doll's House (Play Script)
Ten Little Indians AKA. And Then There Were None
Murder On The Orient Express
Various Arthur Conan Doyle mysteries (Sherlock Holmes)
AND MORE.
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Postby Rose » 2011.03.25 (00:58)

ThisIsApakenua wrote:C'mon people, read some classics!!! Some right off the bat I've read this year:
blah blah blah
Brave New World
something something
I've been meaning to read that ever since I heard the Iron Maiden album, as well as Out of the Silent Planet and Dune.
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Postby Apakenua » 2011.03.25 (01:02)

Rose wrote:
ThisIsApakenua wrote:C'mon people, read some classics!!! Some right off the bat I've read this year:
blah blah blah
Brave New World
something something
I've been meaning to read that ever since I heard the Iron Maiden album, as well as Out of the Silent Planet and Dune.
Ah yes, I adore that book. Amazing. And Dune, read that too. Good book.
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Postby im_bad_at_n » 2011.03.25 (01:47)

ThisIsApakenua wrote:C'mon people, read some classics!!! Some right off the bat I've read this year:
...
Brave New World
...
A Doll's House (Play Script)
I've read brave new world before, it was just ok. I have to read a dolls house this weekend for class on Monday ;)
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Postby Apakenua » 2011.03.25 (02:04)

im_bad_at_n wrote:
ThisIsApakenua wrote:C'mon people, read some classics!!! Some right off the bat I've read this year:
...
Brave New World
...
A Doll's House (Play Script)
I've read brave new world before, it was just ok. I have to read a dolls house this weekend for class on Monday ;)
I do too. I hope it's good.
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Postby otters~1 » 2011.03.25 (02:33)

Good mini-reviews, ortsz. I will put the four of those that I have not read on the list in my head. Hopefully the list will still be there tomorrow morning ... usually it is not.
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Postby unoriginal name » 2011.03.26 (15:57)

Rose wrote:
ThisIsApakenua wrote:C'mon people, read some classics!!! Some right off the bat I've read this year:
blah blah blah
Brave New World
something something
I've been meaning to read that ever since I heard the Iron Maiden album, as well as Out of the Silent Planet and Dune.
Dune is boring. Feel free to discover that for yourself, though.

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Postby Tanner » 2011.03.26 (17:32)

xVxCrushloaderusSupremusxVx wrote:Dune is boring. Feel free to discover that for yourself, though.
Dune is "boring" in the same way that LotR is. That is to say, it's really not if you let yourself get involved.
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Postby otters~1 » 2011.03.27 (01:36)

hairscapades wrote:
xVxCrushloaderusSupremusxVx wrote:Dune is boring. Feel free to discover that for yourself, though.
Dune is "boring" in the same way that LotR is. That is to say, it's really not if you let yourself get involved.
Definitely. Dune is a very involved novel, with all the complexities you could want. Prepare to be pleasantly surprised.
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Postby Night_Fire » 2011.03.27 (05:46)

Reading The Wheel of time book for - the shadow rising. Book 1001 pages long ;( but is a good book..... anyone read david eddings
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Postby Pheidippides » 2011.04.14 (22:51)

I've been reading prose poetry for my Forms of Poetry class this semester, and The Ghost Soldiers by James Tate and Halls of Fame by John D'Agata were both pretty good. "Housefly" and "The Scarab" from The Ghost Soldiers were laugh-out-loud funny. I wish I could find them online to share. Maybe I'll record myself reading them...
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Postby otters~1 » 2011.05.03 (02:07)

Finally getting around to Gravity's Rainbow. Not my first Pynchon, so I knew what to expect, but still ... yikes. Picture because the cover is so damn cool:
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Postby Tanner » 2011.05.03 (04:05)

Nostromo wrote:Finally getting around to Gravity's Rainbow. Not my first Pynchon, so I knew what to expect, but still ... yikes. Picture because the cover is so damn cool:
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If you can make it through that book, you will have my congratulations but I hear the congratulations of your fellow readers will be about the biggest reward you get.
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Postby SlappyMcGee » 2011.05.03 (21:57)

Gravity's Rainbow is fantastic and much easier than people say it is. You can do it in a month.
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