Your current reading list

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Re: Your current reading list

Postby Sri Lanky » Tue Mar 08, 2011 5:27 pm

I'll have to check out Susan Blackmore's "The Meme Machine" again. Read it about a dozen years ago or so. I think my perspective will be different this time around.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby HockeyGuy » Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:39 am

suwon fish wrote:I am also working on a Mark Twain.

Image

His real life adventures and travels as a young man. It's not as polished as his fiction but it's a great read nonetheless.

If you've got an ebook it's free here...

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3177
This I may check out. It seems that everything I read is technical nowadays and it really takes away from the imagination and enjoyment. I read Huck Finn many moons ago and this seems to be a good start...
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby vagabond » Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:09 am

This:

Image

And dipping into this every now and then:

Image
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby suwon fish » Sun Mar 27, 2011 1:32 pm

Image

This book is the intertwined narratives of 3 UN staff. The book covers their work in Cambodia, Rwanda, Haiti, Somalia and Bosnia.

It's the story of tiny victories (and as many defeats) under almost impossible conditions. It's a bloody good read.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby Hitoru » Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:09 pm

suwon fish wrote:I am also working on a Mark Twain.

Image

His real life adventures and travels as a young man. It's not as polished as his fiction but it's a great read nonetheless.

If you've got an ebook it's free here...

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3177



Mark Twain: His Adventures at Aurora and Mono Lake


First book of the Mark Twain in the West Series. Provides an insight into Samuel Clemens' period of life at Aurora, Nevada where he worked as a silver miner. The story is based on the recently discovered unpublished letters by Twain and reflects an important part of Twain’s life, largely unnoticed by Twain scholars. After a brief stint as a soldier, he arrived in Carson City, Nevada in August 1861 with his brother Orioon. Clemens’ adventures in Carson City have enriched him with an experience that he ultimately reflected in his later works - mainly, in Roughing It, his second book, published in 1872. In April, 1862 Clemens moved on to a silver mining town of Aurora, Nevada. For half a year Clemens dealt with mining and prospecting. He had almost achieved success but ultimately lost his chance due to the lack of experience. The book includes thirty-five rare historical photographs and Clemens’ original mining deeds, published for the first time.

94 pages, index, 35 rare photographs, bibliography, guide maps for travelers
Price: $8.95 I
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby Penta » Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:35 pm

suwon fish wrote:Image

This book is the intertwined narratives of 3 UN staff. The book covers their work in Cambodia, Rwanda, Haiti, Somalia and Bosnia.

It's the story of tiny victories (and as many defeats) under almost impossible conditions. It's a bloody good read.

+1

The people who recommended it to me warned that it could undermine a person's support for the UN. Quite the contrary, it reaffirmed my admiration for people doing the best they can in, as you say, almost impossible conditions.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby Caliban » Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:24 pm

Hitoru wrote:
suwon fish wrote:I am also working on a Mark Twain.

Image

His real life adventures and travels as a young man. It's not as polished as his fiction but it's a great read nonetheless.

If you've got an ebook it's free here...

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3177




Read it many years ago. Excellent. Will add it to my Kindle for future pleasure.
In a similar vane I am currently kindling (have I just invented an e word? mmmm) The Road by Jack London, his early years as a hobo. Very entertaining.

My next read was ordered last night from Amazon so should be waiting on the doormat when I get home from holiday (have set my watch back 40 years and chilling in North Cornwall for a couple of weeks) -
Tex O'reilly, Born to raise hell. The unbelievable but true life story of an infamous soldier of fortune. By Tex O'reilly and Lowell Thomas
Basically as well as everything else he was a gringo mercenary with Pancho Villa. Its a period of history that I have always had an interest in but know comparitively little about so to compliment and contextualise the book I have also bought -
Insurgent Mexico, with Pancho Villa in the Mexican revolution by John Reed

Any other recommended books on the subject ?
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby DrakeS » Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:29 pm

Not really smack dab on topic but not too far away in another part of the forest....

http://www.amazon.com/California-Trail- ... 0803291434

Probably one of the most enthralling, interesting and well written books I ever had the pleasure of picking up

and just look at this for instance.

Cheers.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby DrakeS » Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:09 pm

Check this out

you know Joe Halderman, I mean NOT the Joe Halderman who received an Emmy Award nomination for the 2006 film Beslan: Three Days in September which was narrated by Julia Roberts and aired on Showtime who went on try to blackmail David Letterman for two million dollars.

but this guy is a writer Stephen King calls the Fort Knox of science fiction, he's really incredible because he was writing way back when in Vietnam right smak dab in the middle of things, sending his manuscripts home (two versions: a lite version for his gf at the time, and a slightly more heavier version for publication later)...but even then he reasoned later he was only giving people the bones...so he was published much much later

its fascinating stuff and worth a look-see for anyone sincerely interested in authentic war time diary writing

He went to a book fair incognito with a friends card to check out his own work when they told him at the time
"no one is interested in Vietnam war stories". This is fascianting stuff because the average person would be flabbergasted and amazed to learn how long it took for rambi (sic) to make it from conception to book to screen, a long and somewhat tortuous route


But this book is like finding a well used set of playing cards from that era


http://www.amazon.com/War-Stories-Joe-H ... 1597800228
nice choice of words Kurt. "damn shame" My arent we eloquent. Just wait till someone has a few "choice words " for you, too. Uhhh duhhh...hmmmmh
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby friendlyskies » Sat Apr 09, 2011 4:50 pm

I just finished "The Memoirs of Cleopatra" by Margaret George (worthwhile English-language books are tough to get down here, and a friend with good taste highly recommended it against my better judgement), and it really was excellent!

Basically Cleopatra's point of view about everything that went on between Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, and the author was good enough to include a breakdown of what was historic (with sources) and what she added for literary flow. For instance, I always assumed the carpet thing with Julius Caesar was Shakespearian (it's really historic), while I thought Cleopatra's betrayal of Marc Antony's forces in the final "battle" of Alexandria was historic (nope, it was wartime propaganda from Agustus Caesar echoed by Shakespeare, there's no evidence she went over to Augustus' side, or that Antony ever thought so).

More of a chick book though, considering that the subject and author were both female. And it's fattened up with lots of (historic) information on what was served for dinner, where her outfits came from, what kinds of perfumes were used, etc - all that was recorded by palace scribes, sure, but I could have done with about 80% of it edited out.
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby DrakeS » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:58 pm

friendlyskies wrote:I just finished "The Memoirs of Cleopatra" by Margaret George (worthwhile English-language books are tough to get down here, and a friend with good taste highly recommended it against my better judgement), and it really was excellent!

Basically Cleopatra's point of view about everything that went on between Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, and the author was good enough to include a breakdown of what was historic (with sources) and what she added for literary flow. For instance, I always assumed the carpet thing with Julius Caesar was Shakespearian (it's really historic), while I thought Cleopatra's betrayal of Marc Antony's forces in the final "battle" of Alexandria was historic (nope, it was wartime propaganda from Agustus Caesar echoed by Shakespeare, there's no evidence she went over to Augustus' side, or that Antony ever thought so).

More of a chick book though, considering that the subject and author were both female. And it's fattened up with lots of (historic) information on what was served for dinner, where her outfits came from, what kinds of perfumes were used, etc - all that was recorded by palace scribes, sure, but I could have done with about 80% of it edited out.


Did it say she was ugly? Did they doubt the veracity of whether or not she could withstand being bundled up in a carpet and carried that far in 120 plus degree heat? Must have had lots of water before hand...but then again..-,..
nice choice of words Kurt. "damn shame" My arent we eloquent. Just wait till someone has a few "choice words " for you, too. Uhhh duhhh...hmmmmh
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby friendlyskies » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:52 am

George said Cleopatra was "pleasing to look at" rather than spectacularly beautiful, but not ugly. It also gave references backing up the claims that she was smuggled into the palace in a carpet, but did not mention the temperature.

Image
A bust believed to depict Cleopatra

Image
Julius Caesar about to get sprung
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby DrakeS » Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:48 pm

Julius had a note passed to him warning of the men who wanted to assassinate him and were going to do their dastardly deed. What is the connection to Cleopatra? He did not read the note. ps he did not read the note. Pleasing to the eye is obvious to this reader : "to be kind". Too kind.
nice choice of words Kurt. "damn shame" My arent we eloquent. Just wait till someone has a few "choice words " for you, too. Uhhh duhhh...hmmmmh
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Re: Your current reading list

Postby Sri Lanky » Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:12 pm

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Re: Your current reading list

Postby flipflop » Tue Jun 14, 2011 1:09 pm

Just published and through the post today, looks like a timely riposte to all the horseshit written about the 'chavscum' white working class

Image

Will report back in a week or two (I'm halfway through a weighty tome about Calcio, and there's loads of beer in t'fridge n sun's out)

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