God is not Great - Christopher Hitchens.
Interesting so far; nothing new for me, but interesting arguments. He's very verbose and uses many words I am personally unfamiliar with - not a bad thing, but it does make for slow reading in places.
Interesting so far; nothing new for me, but interesting arguments. He's very verbose and uses many words I am personally unfamiliar with - not a bad thing, but it does make for slow reading in places.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Straw Dogs- John Grey
Good so far, I currently can't find it... might be under my bed. Anyway, he essentially tears Humanism a new one. He says that the "modern" humanist movement is nothing, but Christianity in disguise. For all they criticize about Christianity, he argues the only thing humanists are doing differently is replacing "God" with "Mankind." The meat of the matter is that we think we're unique because we have language and technology, but in reality we are just one more animal on this planet and NOTHING more. We are not superior to the chimp or the cockroach. Just like there was the time of the dinosaurs, now is the time of man. The Earth was here before us and it will be here after us, yet we are hell bent on thinking life has "meaning" or "purpose" and that we must "conquer" the earth, the seas... space, etc. Basically our lives would be much easier if we just admit we're going nowhere fast. Great read. It is a much more intellectual, scholarly version of Daniel Quinn's "Ishmael"... also highly recommended.
Good so far, I currently can't find it... might be under my bed. Anyway, he essentially tears Humanism a new one. He says that the "modern" humanist movement is nothing, but Christianity in disguise. For all they criticize about Christianity, he argues the only thing humanists are doing differently is replacing "God" with "Mankind." The meat of the matter is that we think we're unique because we have language and technology, but in reality we are just one more animal on this planet and NOTHING more. We are not superior to the chimp or the cockroach. Just like there was the time of the dinosaurs, now is the time of man. The Earth was here before us and it will be here after us, yet we are hell bent on thinking life has "meaning" or "purpose" and that we must "conquer" the earth, the seas... space, etc. Basically our lives would be much easier if we just admit we're going nowhere fast. Great read. It is a much more intellectual, scholarly version of Daniel Quinn's "Ishmael"... also highly recommended.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
LOL, reading this review, I think I'd not even start wth that book, Onhell.
...His book is so remorselessly, monotonously negative that even nihilism implies too much hope...
+
...But Gray does not want to hear of human value, which would wreck his sensationalist case. He wants to hear that human beings are garbage, plague and poison, a rapacious species that is "not obviously worth preserving". Straw Dogs, like all the ugly rightwing ecology for which humanity is just an excrescence, is shot through with a kind of intellectual equivalent of genocide. It is a dangerous, despairing book, which in a crass polarity thinks humans are either entirely distinct from bacteria (the sin of humanism) or hardly different at all...
+
...The globe is indeed a grim place. But the blistering eccentricity of this polemic feels more like a symptom than a solution. Gray, the gloom-ridden guru, is just the free-marketeer fallen on hard times. The iron determinism of this book is the flipside of its author's previous love affair with freedom. In its histrionic desperation, Straw Dogs is a latter-day version of Herbert Marcuse's One-Dimensional Man, and just as one-dimensional....
If you love this kind of stuff, you sure must love the world!
You might want to read "Anarchy Evolution" by Greg Graffin as soon at it comes out. Graffin is not a humanist, he calls himself a naturalist, and this book is highly anticipated.
"Most people know Greg Graffin as the lead singer of the punk band Bad Religion, but few know that he also received a PhD from Cornell University and teaches evolution at the University of California at Los Angeles. In Anarchy Evolution, Graffin argues that art and science have a deep connection. As an adolescent growing up when "drugs, sex, and trouble could be had on any given night," Graffin discovered that the study of evolution provided a framework through which he could make sense of the world.
In this provocative and personal book, he describes his own coming of age as an artist and the formation of his naturalist worldview on questions involving God, science, and human existence. While the battle between religion and science is often displayed in the starkest of terms, Anarchy Evolution provides fresh and nuanced insights into the long-standing debate about atheism and the human condition. It is a book for anyone who has ever wondered if God really exists."
Meanwhile try this entertaining correspondence between Preston Jones and Graffin:
Preston Jones, a historian at the Christian John Brown University in Arkansas, who sent Graffin an e-mail asking about one of his songs, and Graffin replied. Their resulting year-long e-mail exchange was published as a book in 2006, entitled "Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant? A Professor and Punk Rocker Discuss Science, Religion, Naturalism & Christianity".
"Greg Graffin is frontman, singer and songwriter for the punk band . He also happens to have a Ph.D. in zoology and wrote his dissertation on evolution, atheism and naturalism. Preston Jones is a history professor at a Christian college and a fan of Bad Religion's music. One day, on a whim, Preston sent Greg an appreciative e-mail. That was the start of an extraordinary correspondence.
For several months, Preston and Greg sent e-mails back and forth on big topics like God, religion, knowledge, evil, evolution, biology, destiny and the nature of reality. Preston believes in God; Greg sees insufficient evidence for God's existence. Over the course of their friendly debate, they tackle such cosmic questions as: Is religion rational or irrational? Does morality require belief in God? Do people only believe in God because they are genetically predisposed toward religion? How do you make sense of suffering in the world? Is this universe all there is? And what does it all matter?
In this engaging book, Preston and Greg's actual e-mail correspondence is reproduced, along with bonus materials that provide additional background and context. Each makes his case for why he thinks his worldview is more compelling and explanatory. While they find some places to agree, neither one convinces the other. They can't both be right. So which worldview is more plausible? You decide."
I read this second book and thought it was entertaining, but I admit that I totally agreed with Greg's arguments (and worldview) and thought that the Christian wasn't that convincing with his worldview.
Still, Onhell, since you have a stronger belief in God, you might find both points of view well done.
I for one am certainly curious for Graffin's next book!
...His book is so remorselessly, monotonously negative that even nihilism implies too much hope...
+
...But Gray does not want to hear of human value, which would wreck his sensationalist case. He wants to hear that human beings are garbage, plague and poison, a rapacious species that is "not obviously worth preserving". Straw Dogs, like all the ugly rightwing ecology for which humanity is just an excrescence, is shot through with a kind of intellectual equivalent of genocide. It is a dangerous, despairing book, which in a crass polarity thinks humans are either entirely distinct from bacteria (the sin of humanism) or hardly different at all...
+
...The globe is indeed a grim place. But the blistering eccentricity of this polemic feels more like a symptom than a solution. Gray, the gloom-ridden guru, is just the free-marketeer fallen on hard times. The iron determinism of this book is the flipside of its author's previous love affair with freedom. In its histrionic desperation, Straw Dogs is a latter-day version of Herbert Marcuse's One-Dimensional Man, and just as one-dimensional....
If you love this kind of stuff, you sure must love the world!
You might want to read "Anarchy Evolution" by Greg Graffin as soon at it comes out. Graffin is not a humanist, he calls himself a naturalist, and this book is highly anticipated.
"Most people know Greg Graffin as the lead singer of the punk band Bad Religion, but few know that he also received a PhD from Cornell University and teaches evolution at the University of California at Los Angeles. In Anarchy Evolution, Graffin argues that art and science have a deep connection. As an adolescent growing up when "drugs, sex, and trouble could be had on any given night," Graffin discovered that the study of evolution provided a framework through which he could make sense of the world.
In this provocative and personal book, he describes his own coming of age as an artist and the formation of his naturalist worldview on questions involving God, science, and human existence. While the battle between religion and science is often displayed in the starkest of terms, Anarchy Evolution provides fresh and nuanced insights into the long-standing debate about atheism and the human condition. It is a book for anyone who has ever wondered if God really exists."
Meanwhile try this entertaining correspondence between Preston Jones and Graffin:
Preston Jones, a historian at the Christian John Brown University in Arkansas, who sent Graffin an e-mail asking about one of his songs, and Graffin replied. Their resulting year-long e-mail exchange was published as a book in 2006, entitled "Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant? A Professor and Punk Rocker Discuss Science, Religion, Naturalism & Christianity".
"Greg Graffin is frontman, singer and songwriter for the punk band . He also happens to have a Ph.D. in zoology and wrote his dissertation on evolution, atheism and naturalism. Preston Jones is a history professor at a Christian college and a fan of Bad Religion's music. One day, on a whim, Preston sent Greg an appreciative e-mail. That was the start of an extraordinary correspondence.
For several months, Preston and Greg sent e-mails back and forth on big topics like God, religion, knowledge, evil, evolution, biology, destiny and the nature of reality. Preston believes in God; Greg sees insufficient evidence for God's existence. Over the course of their friendly debate, they tackle such cosmic questions as: Is religion rational or irrational? Does morality require belief in God? Do people only believe in God because they are genetically predisposed toward religion? How do you make sense of suffering in the world? Is this universe all there is? And what does it all matter?
In this engaging book, Preston and Greg's actual e-mail correspondence is reproduced, along with bonus materials that provide additional background and context. Each makes his case for why he thinks his worldview is more compelling and explanatory. While they find some places to agree, neither one convinces the other. They can't both be right. So which worldview is more plausible? You decide."
I read this second book and thought it was entertaining, but I admit that I totally agreed with Greg's arguments (and worldview) and thought that the Christian wasn't that convincing with his worldview.
Still, Onhell, since you have a stronger belief in God, you might find both points of view well done.
I for one am certainly curious for Graffin's next book!
The Millenium Series by Stieg Larsson. Not sure what the English titles are, but the first one is the quite popular 'Girl with a Dragon Tattoo'. Don't want to give too much of it away because it really is an entertaining read, but let me say that it is nothing for the faint of heart. And yes, there's alot of finance talk in it (at least in the first one). But when the action comes, it is kickass. Great series, highly recommend it.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Didn't read the book, but I saw the first film of these series (or the film of the first book), a few days ago. Loved the plot and the actors are very, very good.
I find it hard to imagine how all those images would be done in a book. It's a very visual story.
Anyway, go see the film if you haven't done that yet.
I find it hard to imagine how all those images would be done in a book. It's a very visual story.
with all those photos and angles and such
Anyway, go see the film if you haven't done that yet.
I read the first book, and while I enjoyed it (I read it during one of my sleepless nights during the great LC Tooth Abscess of 2010), I found the ending to be extremely overdrawn, and it took far too long to resolve. I'm told the movie isn't so bad for that.
Astaroth said:
Awesome read. I've always liked Arthur Dent.
I'm reading the Bifrost Guardians series by Mickey Zucher-Reichert. Its an entertaining read about a US soldier in Vietnam that gets thrust into the middle of a battle between Norse gods.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
I'm reading 'The Sign' by Raymond Khoury. A few months ago I read another of his novels, 'The Last Templar', which was excellent. This one is a bit of a slow starter but it's been picking up in the last few chapters.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Just finished reading Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer. Many of you may know him from Into Thin Air, Into the Wild or Under the Banner of Heaven. Either way, all his books are great and this one is no exception.
The Book centers on the life and death of Patrick Tillman, a strong safety for the Arizona Cardinals, that walks away from a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract to join the Army Rangers to fight in Afghanistan. Tillman was drafted in the late 90s and after 9/11 was so shocked by the events that he felt compelled to do something.
The book also delves DEEPLY into the U.S's involvement in the Middle East going back to the Cold War and how the CIA lured the Soviet Union into a no-win situation into Afghanistan by purposefully destabilizing their government by funding the insurgent mujaheddin to the recent conflict. Krakauer does a great job of balancing the history and the narrative of Tillman. As it turns out (no spoiler hear since you know from the start of if you pay attention to the news), Tillman was a victim of fratricide (killed by friendly fire), but what followed was a conspiracy to conceal the particulars of his death by the Army from his family, friends and the nation. Due to the poor progress in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the government was desperate for heroes, so desperate that they invented them, both in the case of Jessica Lynch in Iraq and in the case of Tillman in Afghanistan feeding classic propaganda to the American public to gain continued support for the war. It is sad the extent to which the Army abused Tillman's celebrity status after his death and how badly they disrespected his family.
GREAT book, HIGHLY recommended, classic Krakauer.
The Book centers on the life and death of Patrick Tillman, a strong safety for the Arizona Cardinals, that walks away from a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract to join the Army Rangers to fight in Afghanistan. Tillman was drafted in the late 90s and after 9/11 was so shocked by the events that he felt compelled to do something.
The book also delves DEEPLY into the U.S's involvement in the Middle East going back to the Cold War and how the CIA lured the Soviet Union into a no-win situation into Afghanistan by purposefully destabilizing their government by funding the insurgent mujaheddin to the recent conflict. Krakauer does a great job of balancing the history and the narrative of Tillman. As it turns out (no spoiler hear since you know from the start of if you pay attention to the news), Tillman was a victim of fratricide (killed by friendly fire), but what followed was a conspiracy to conceal the particulars of his death by the Army from his family, friends and the nation. Due to the poor progress in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the government was desperate for heroes, so desperate that they invented them, both in the case of Jessica Lynch in Iraq and in the case of Tillman in Afghanistan feeding classic propaganda to the American public to gain continued support for the war. It is sad the extent to which the Army abused Tillman's celebrity status after his death and how badly they disrespected his family.
GREAT book, HIGHLY recommended, classic Krakauer.
Raptor
Prowler
Little Brother by Cory Doctrow.
Link there for amazon as I think to say too much would be to give it away.
Set in the near future where teenagers are thought to be terrorists in a post bombed san fran. Really good read, more so if you are anyway geek-ified.
Link there for amazon as I think to say too much would be to give it away.
Set in the near future where teenagers are thought to be terrorists in a post bombed san fran. Really good read, more so if you are anyway geek-ified.
snake plissken
Ancient Mariner
The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It's fucking shite 
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Just finished reading Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth.... Fucking... EPIC. The story takes place in 12th century England and spans 35 years. The plot that holds all the subplots together is the building of Kingsbridge Cathedral. The book is incredibly well researched and every character is very well developed and detailed. When following the Master builder of the Cathedral the talk about building techniques and architecture are just as rich as when following the Benedictine Monk, prior of Kingsbridge.
That is what I enjoyed the most about the book, the thoroughness. You have characters that are honestly devout Christians, corrupt bishops and earls, weak or temperamental kings, "witches," etc... no favoritism, no overriding philosophy, just an incredibly epic tale of politics and love. I HIGHLY recommend it. I don't want to say more about it because I don't want to spoil it. If you do go out and get it DON'T get the one with the Miniseries cover and pictures... as cool as seeing the actors is, the fuckers spoil a lot of things in their blurbs. Now that I'm done reading it I will be renting the miniseries (since I don't get Starzz) and I am moving on the the sequel (written 20 years later!).
That is what I enjoyed the most about the book, the thoroughness. You have characters that are honestly devout Christians, corrupt bishops and earls, weak or temperamental kings, "witches," etc... no favoritism, no overriding philosophy, just an incredibly epic tale of politics and love. I HIGHLY recommend it. I don't want to say more about it because I don't want to spoil it. If you do go out and get it DON'T get the one with the Miniseries cover and pictures... as cool as seeing the actors is, the fuckers spoil a lot of things in their blurbs. Now that I'm done reading it I will be renting the miniseries (since I don't get Starzz) and I am moving on the the sequel (written 20 years later!).
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
LOL I read about it on Wikipedia, apparently there's at least three board games inspired by it. I forgot to Mention, the two bookending historical events in the novel are the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of Thomas Becket, to give a better idea of the politics and historical context of the novel. And no, those are not spoilers as it is history. Few books have captivated me, made me laugh and brought tears to my eyes as this one...