el zorro by isabelle alende
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el zorro by isabelle alende
Then: Dick & Jane.
Now: Jane & Dick.
:geek:
Etgar Keret's new one.
A few days ago I finished reading Jennifer Egan's novel A Visit from the Goon Squad. The book was nominated by numerous people as their favourite novel of 2011; I don't know why. The book is well written but has no distinctive style, although it tries to diversify this with a power point presentation towards the end that doesn't work. Time is a Goon, a phrase that occurs twice in the book, indicates that the book concerns a group of people over 20 odd years, all of whom have known each other at various levels of intimacy, and mostly involved in the punk rock/music industry, therefore allowing scenes in low-rent apartments on the lower-east side, or California. The characters are not interesting, their antics are not interesting, their marriages, sex-lives, dope habits, musical tastes etc etc are not interesting. I bought the book in a charity shop; the most charitable thing I can do with it, is take it back, and give it away for free.
A Visit From the Goon Squad: Amazon.co.uk: Jennifer Egan: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51UTRRK2zQL.@@AMEPARAM@@51UTRRK2zQL
The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement by David Brooks.
A rather light account of some of the contemporary scientific theories about the nature of the self.
right now- The Road by Cormac Mcarthy
I'm just finishing up Crime & Punishment. But my nine day vacation begins today, going to Zion National Park in Utah. I'm thinking about bringing Even Cowgirls get the Blues by Tom Robbins and Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski.
next up Naked Lunch
A book on ol' Ayn Rand....
Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
Bird Sense by Tim Birkead
Just finished Jared Diamond's Collapse, Ratner-Rosenhagen's American Nietzsche and David Bellos' Is that a Fish in Your Ear?
When do you sleep?Quote:
Originally Posted by trish
I always have my kindle with me. So I read in line, on the bus, at the coffee shop...I'm a reader...when I'm not thinking about mathematics or physics or checking out what people around me are wearing. I usually work on two to four books at a time...finish a chapter in one and start a new chapter in another. It's just like following several different tv-series through a season; and if you're lucky enough to have picked a good set of books, it's better than tv. To be fair it takes me a month or two or three to finish a set.
Mathematics... now tell me this then Trish. I've run across the claim in many places that there are more synaptic connections to neurons in the human brain than there are particles in the known universe.' This clim was first made to me by Professor (now Baroness) Susan Greenfield (not a physicist but a neuroscientist) and I've seen it repeated ad nauseum. It doesn't make sense. For surely synaptic connections must be composed of the very particles they're meant to outnumber.
Took me a few hours to read that rubbish, prose so brittle it falls apart at the slightest pressure. Now, the Naked Lunch -that to me is the kind of outrageous, inventive, sarcastic, erotic, even informative prose that doesn't get published these days. Together with Selby's Last Exit to Brooklyn and John Rechy' City of Night Burroughs has this genre licked, as it were.Quote:
Originally Posted by south ov da border
Lovely argument. I think you’ve got a proof there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Prospero
It’s hard to know what the authors of the claim may have meant. Maybe they meant the observable universe and the average brain extends into reaches beyond the resolving powers of modern telescopes :)
I recall reading the brain had 10^11 (100 000 000 000 = one hundred billion) neurons. If each one was connected to each of the others by a single connection there would be about 5 x 10^21 connections (5 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 connections. The formula is n(n-1)/2 connections if there are n neurons). That’s still less than the number of hydrogen atoms in a gram of hydrogen (Avogadro’s number is about 6 x 10^23). So there're still way more particles in the universe.
Perhaps the authors meant the number of possible brains one could obtain by various wirings. For example suppose each of the 10^11 neurons can be connected to each of the others by one connection or no connection. Then there are 2^(5x10^21) possible brains or possible wirings of a single brain. That’s a one followed by five septillion zeros. It’s probably greater than the number of anything in the universe.
On the other hand if two neurons can share more than one connection then the number of possible connections would climb economically. (I think it was Feynman who once commented that economical numbers have gotten way bigger than astronomical ones).
Still I think you have an airtight objection. The number of actual physical connections cannot exceed the total number of molecules that constitute the connections.
I believe Eddington estimated the number protons in the observable universe to be less than 10^80. It’s worth noting too that Richard Feynman observed a consistent interpretation of quantum field theory allows that there is only one, albeit very busy, electron in the entire universe.
Good one, Trish.
Trish - thank you for that. It is odd how this statistic is bandied about by even great experts in the field of Neuroscience as a wow gosh fact when it is clearly spurious. (Im afraid I'm culpable on this too for including it in a film I made a few years ago about the search to understand consciousness. The claim has bugged me ever since - but was in a quote from a scientist.)
Larissa Taylor The Virgin Warrior, The Life and Death of Joan of Arc (2009)
A relatively short and concise history of 'the Maid' which goes beyond the mystery of her 'voices' and shows what a truly extraordinary woman Joan/Jeanne/Jehanne was. The book also sets her in the context of a 'France' that was still being formed (Jeanne was born in the Lorraine which at the time was not part of France), and also as one of many female mystics and savants (some of them frauds) who emerged in the middle ages and who were often taken seriously by people. Taylor explains Joan's rise to power as a figure who emerged when the French were so disorganised and demoralised after waves of English victories that anyone with a positive view was encouraged, whatever their gender. She also received counselling from members of the King's circle and was trained how to use weapons. If her success on the battlefield is one thing, he ability to outwit her interrogators, after her arrest and incarceration in Rouen, and her impacable belief she was visited by the Angels is undeniable. One of those figures from history I would like to meet...or at least see from a distance, preferably not tied to the stake....
The Virgin Warrior: The Life and Death of Joan of Arc: Amazon.co.uk: Larissa Juliet Taylor: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517mEOf4clL.@@AMEPARAM@@517mEOf4clL
Just finished The Enchanter by Lila Azam Zanganeh, a short confection inspired by her passion for the writing of Vladimir Nabokov - a wonderful reminder of why I found him so inpsiring in my 20s.
And am now reading the new book by Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi called "The Great Partnership" on the relationship between Religion and Science. He writes beautifully though, so far, I am not persuaded by his arguments for God.
ian banks - use of weapons
:cheers:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Shit was as depressing a read as I have ever had.
For the most part I like his prose- every once in awhile he goes into a paragraph where you can tell he is really indulgent with himself- but in general he seems ok.Quote:
Originally Posted by ed_jaxon
If you like his style try "All the Pretty Horses"- I read that a week or so ago and enjoyed it more than "The Road". Still pretty dark, but no looming apocalypse to consider.
Like MdrDave, I've enjoyed Cormac McCarthy, too, a couple of times but I haven't read The Road. And I agree, his prose can be challenging at times.Quote:
Originally Posted by ed_jaxon
Currently, I'm about 100 pages into John Irving's, In One Person. Although Irving has had transgender characters in several of his novels, this one seems to be a deeper dive into the topic. I haven't gotten that far yet, but Irving seems to be focusing on the bisexual nature of transgenders and the people who like them.
Thanks for the tip, Odelay, as I have never heard of Irving. I cant believe you find Cormac McCathy's prose challenging, though, his books often sound to me like Hemingway on steroids; yes, it really is that bad.
I am reading an English classic, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, for the first time in my life. The fluency of the writing makes one realise how insipid and dreary so many other novels are in comparison.
I've seen the movie versions of Jane Eyre, but haven't read the novel. Recently read Wuthering Heights by her sister. That's a trippy book.
Irving's an odd duck and his work is not consistent. Some of his books are such a hard slog that I can't finish them. But then Cider House Rules and Prayer for Owen Meany I found to be very good. World According to Garp is probably his most popular - which had a couple of transgender characters.
Thanks -I recognise the Irving titles from the films, The World According to Garp being the only one I have seen, although I thought John Linlithgow was miscast as the transexual; but at some point I will investigate the books further. Wuthering Heights is such an odd book when compared to the one her sister wrote -very bleak, rough, crabbed writing style, in effect the record of a form of child abuse, I detested it which is why it was such a pleasure to begin reading Jane Eyre.
Just finished The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson - a slight but beautifully written little tale about the witch trials in Lancashire during the reign of James the 1st of England.
And reading....The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman a wonderful book of history about the latter part of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century preceding WW1... and The Great Partnership by Jonathan Sacks, the UK's chief Rabbi about the conflict and possibllity of harmony between science and religion.
Right now, a collection of texts by Konrad Lorenz, one of the most underrated and unsung thinkers of the 20th century, founder amongst a few of ethology. He basically establishes a link between animal and human behaviour. Just before, Jean-Pierre Changeux, on the brain and neurology. Also in the process of reading once more the whole of ancient Greek theatre we have, and satirist-philosopher Lucian…
Religion and the Decline of Magic-Keith Thomas
(A study of religion and magic in England. Thorough, but a bit dry. Try it with a nice Riesling)
Hedy's Folly-Richard Rhodes (A quick and fun read. Who would've guessed Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil shared such a bizarre passion?)
The Sisters Brothers (Short and arresting, a western reminiscent of Cormac MacCarthy.)
I kept seeing the "What songs are you listening to right now," and "what was the last movie you watched" threads. But didn't see one for reading material. I tend to read a lot of classic lit. I'm currently finishing up "The Knight of Maison-Rouge" by Alexandre Dumas, and am hesitant about jumping into "The History of the Peloponnesian War" by Thucydides without something lighter inbetween. So let me know what you've been reading, and what you like about it to help give me some suggestions.
Interesting you should mention Alexandre Dumas. I just finished reading The Three Musketeers last week.
Right now I'm not reading anything, but I'm sure that will change soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by runningdownthatdream
Well screw it, this one's here now. Sorry for repeating the thread.
My favorite Dumas is still The Counte of Monte Cristo, but I really liked Knight of the Maison-Rouge a lot more than Three Musketeers. Although, it's been a few years since I last read it. I might have to go back and look at it again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack59
The Power Elite. By C. Wright Mills. It's shaping my thinking at the present moment -- :)
The premise, and nobody knows this -- ha ha! --, is that America is run by the White House, the Pentagon and Wall Street. And throw in sports and entertainment. For good measure. (Even George Carlin said that America is run by about 800 people. These people make all the important decisions. They decide public policy.
But, again, nobody knows this -- ha ha!)
Charles Wright Mills documentary - YouTube
Wut err them thangs?
Mine was Sam's "Teach Yourself SQL in 24 Hours".
http://freecomputerbooks.com/covers/...n_24_Hours.jpg
I found it boring, but I did learn some SQL database authoring techniques.
Technical books also double as sleeping aids.
If you're ever looking for some high quality sleep, I've got a Basic Real Estate Transactions textbook left over from law school...Quote:
Originally Posted by GrimFusion