Literature Fans

[mnagowski]

I actually read The Road this past weekend. It was the first book by Cormac McCarthy that I have read, and it definitely took more than a couple of pages for me to get used to his style. His prose sure is pretty, though. The book reminded me a bit of The Giver by Lois Lowry in terms of a young boy trying to cope with hopelessness.

Dave Eggers's Zeitoun is next. And at some point I have to read Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep for our Cornell Club book club.

[Ken70]

Wisdom of Crowds made a interesting argument, I thought, which was: in many circumstances individual decisions, even by "experts", aren't as a good as group decisions, and group decisions in which the decisions of independent members are combined/averaged to arrive at an answer are more accurate/better than those in which the group arrives at a concensus answer.

Unfortunately this idea has now become a cottage industry in Corporate Idiocy World, with Dilbert-esque "consensus skills" seminars.  If you've ever had to sit through "The Blizzard," you want to prevent the guy who wrote WoC from being born.

Also, it defies another time-honored truth.

For a fuller and more erudite ::smashfreak::discussion of said truth see: http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/hell/Bestof/Andy/

As to TWoC, Surowiecki is strongly anti-consensus.

[Trotsky]

And at some point I have to read Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep for our Cornell Club book club.

Forget everything about Blade Runner before you read it, it's essentially an entirely different story.

[profudge]

Currently reading John McPhee's new book  "Silk Parachute"  and finding it highly educational and enjoyable as I have found most of his previous books.

My favorite being probably  "Coming into the Country"   or maybe  "Encounters with the Archdriud"  but I highly recommend any of his  works as good summer and travel reading!

For more on John McPhee see John McPhee's homepage

[Rita]

Two months and no one has any book reviews to share?

Although not "literature" in the classic sense, I recently finished "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris who is also a frequent contributor to NPR's "This American Life".

It is the first book of his that I read, but won't be the last. The collection of essays was perfect reading for my daily train rides and beach/pool reading. I enjoyed his interesting and unique take on people and his surroundings and many times I found myself laughing aloud on the train.

The first essay is about the babysitters that he and his sisters had when their parents would go away on a week long vacation and really set the tone for the book. The final essay is about his quest to stop smoking by relocating to Tokyo for several months and the trials (and ultimate success) that he had. Of course, what set him on the road to quit smoking has now made me hesitant to use the remote in any hotel room without thoroughly sanitizing it first!

[nyc94]

In non-fiction I flew through "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine" by Michael Lewis, author of "Moneyball", "The Blind Side" and "Liar's Poker".  Didn't learn too much I didn't already know but the backgrounds of the players that cashed in the mortgage mess are interesting.  And ratings at S&P and Moody's are like grades at Harvard: everyone gets an A.

[Beeeej]

I enjoyed Mil Millington's short comic novel "Love and Other Near Death Experiences."  The potboiler "The Dark Tide" was highly mediocre, but it was free for Kindle and was a quick read, so whatever.  Now about 95% through "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," enjoying it thoroughly, and looking forward to the other two books in the series.

[munchkin]

I'm still on a WWII non-fiction kick (thank you Brookline Booksmith Bargain Table).  I recently finished Harry Truman and the Foundations of Israel and am currently reading the Last 1000 Days of the British Empire.  The former is far more gripping than I'd been expecting, and even though we all know that Israel exists, throughout the book I was waiting with anticipation for the final diplomatic moves that would establish the state.  The Last 1000 Days has excerpts from many of the diaries of the men involved in the dismantling of the British Empire which show the real feelings rather than those published in the official archives. And how else would I have learned that Churchill "pissed on the Rhone" just to prove British superiority during the final push towards Berlin as the German defenses were crumbling rather than attending a meeting in regards to Indian independence.

[Al DeFlorio]

I'm still on a WWII non-fiction kick (thank you Brookline Booksmith Bargain Table).  I recently finished Harry Truman and the Foundations of Israel and am currently reading the Last 1000 Days of the British Empire.  The former is far more gripping than I'd been expecting, and even though we all know that Israel exists, throughout the book I was waiting with anticipation for the final diplomatic moves that would establish the state.  The Last 1000 Days has excerpts from many of the diaries of the men involved in the dismantling of the British Empire which show the real feelings rather than those published in the official archives. And how else would I have learned that Churchill "pissed on the Rhone" just to prove British superiority during the final push towards Berlin as the German defenses were crumbling rather than attending a meeting in regards to Indian independence.

Rhine, not Rhone.

[munchkin]

I'm still on a WWII non-fiction kick (thank you Brookline Booksmith Bargain Table).  I recently finished Harry Truman and the Foundations of Israel and am currently reading the Last 1000 Days of the British Empire.  The former is far more gripping than I'd been expecting, and even though we all know that Israel exists, throughout the book I was waiting with anticipation for the final diplomatic moves that would establish the state.  The Last 1000 Days has excerpts from many of the diaries of the men involved in the dismantling of the British Empire which show the real feelings rather than those published in the official archives. And how else would I have learned that Churchill "pissed on the Rhone" just to prove British superiority during the final push towards Berlin as the German defenses were crumbling rather than attending a meeting in regards to Indian independence.

Rhine, not Rhone.

Typo.

[Trotsky]

Rhine, not Rhone.

He crapped in the Rhone.  French, you know.

[Robb]

Rhine, not Rhone.

He crapped in the Rhone.  French, you know.

Hmmm...  I'm sitting about 300 yards from the Rhone right now.  Maybe I should go take a leak in case anyone ever writes a book about me.

[RatushnyFan]

Hmmmm.......I'm sitting about 300 yards from Lynah right now.  I like the view.

[munchkin]

Hmmmm.......I'm sitting about 300 yards from Lynah right now.  I like the view.

I'll be stopping in at Lynah this weekend since I'm going to be in Ithaca to go to the Finger Lakes Wine Fest in Watkins Glen.

[Lauren '06]

Hmmmm.......I'm sitting about 300 yards from Lynah right now.  I like the view.

I'll be stopping in at Lynah this weekend since I'm going to be in Ithaca to go to the Finger Lakes Wine Fest in Watkins Glen.

And, to bring this thread full-circle, I just finished penning a novel that partially takes place on a Finger Lakes vineyard...

Not that anyone should be a fan of it, myself included. **]