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Reading Minds: The CoastGab Book Club

Started by PhantasticSanShiSan, October 23, 2008, 12:06:30 AM

b_dubb

I think my next book is going to be "Gravity's Rainbow"

Quote from: b_dubb on January 06, 2014, 05:51:02 PM
I think my next book is going to be "Gravity's Rainbow"

Best wishes... Or perhaps my condolences is more appropriate.

zeebo

Quote from: Cynnie on January 05, 2014, 05:06:18 PM
My favorite book(s) as a kid were the amber cronicles by roger zelazney ..i just odered the complete series ( one big book ) and its as wonderful as i remembered ..why hasnt this been made into an amazing movie ?

I've always meant to read those but haven't got around to it.  First I have to read his "Lord of Light" which I have sitting on my to-be-read bookshelf and was on several recommended sci-fi book lists.

zeebo

Quote from: b_dubb on January 06, 2014, 05:51:02 PM
I think my next book is going to be "Gravity's Rainbow"

I tried and failed, twice.  I had to add it to the other books that beat me which include "Ulysses", "Foucault's Pendulum", and "Infinite Jest".  Good luck and let us know how it goes. 

I just started Chris Hadfield's new book An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.  It is focused and informative, perhaps not overly rich in descriptive detail, but engaging.  He began his effort to join the space program at the age of nine.  It just makes me think about how many of us wait until late high school or even our third year of college to finally try to figure out what we want to do with our lives.

My parents had few resources, little advice to offer on education.  They both said it was important, having little of it themselves.  My mother graduated high school in 1950 and went straight to work (secretarial, of course).  My father completed only the ninth grade.  My parents' parents only finished third and fourth grade.  (Those were the days when many family had ten kids, and they needed to start earning income fast.)

At twelve, I thought I'd be a police officer.  I can remember checking out a Penal Code in 6th grade.  A year later I learned my vision would prevent me from such a career, so I switched to astronaut, only to discover almost at once that, again, I needed perfect vision to accomplish that goal.  I mucked about for most of high school before finally deciding I wanted to be the next Dan Rather.  I had images of wearing a trench coat and reporting from some distant war front.  Talk about overly romanticizing something!  I decided my first semester into college that television broadcasting was not for me.  I did work in radio for a time, but it pays very, very poorly.    Ended up with a damn near useless M.A. in English Literature.

If I were doing it all over again, I'd pursue something of a science/composition mix.  We need more people who can discuss science in the way a Carl Sagan could.

b_dubb

Someone asked Pynchon about LSD.  His response was "Just say yes".  Or at least that's what my Baby Boomer professor told me.  Probably compete bullshit.  But a predilection for LSD would explain Pynchon's expanded mind. 

Quote from: West of the Rockies on January 09, 2014, 12:48:20 PM
If I were doing it all over again, I'd pursue something of a science/composition mix.  We need more people who can discuss science in the way a Carl Sagan could.

You still can. Start small, start local.

aldousburbank

Quote from: b_dubb on January 09, 2014, 02:46:22 PM
Someone asked Pynchon about LSD.  His response was "Just say yes".  Or at least that's what my Baby Boomer professor told me.  Probably compete bullshit.  But a predilection for LSD would explain Pynchon's expanded mind.
Just Say Know

Quote from: Mind Flayer Monk on January 09, 2014, 05:31:25 PM
You still can. Start small, start local.

Yes, West.  Good advice.  ^^^^^^  Try some of the free classes online.  See what clicks.  Sky's the limit.     :)

Good Luck!

Quote from: Treading Water on January 09, 2014, 05:56:34 PM
Yes, West.  Good advice.  ^^^^^^  Try some of the free classes online.  See what clicks.  Sky's the limit.     :)

Good Luck!

Thank you both for the encouragement!  I looked very briefly into a one-year science writing M.A.  MIT was offering it, but it was $28,000 for the year, in other words, beyond my hopes.  I could not afford to be out of work for a year just on the hope it would lead to future work (not with a twelve-year-daughter to take care of, too.  But your advice sounds sage. ✨✨✨

Juan

There's always Khan Academy for a start - and, despite what it appears on the landing page,  you don't have to have a facebook or google account.
https://www.khanacademy.org/

There are a lot of short science and math courses that would be good introductions, and they're free.

FallenSeraph

Reading "The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren," by Gerald Brittle. Pretty compelling stuff. I always thought the Warrens were a couple of kooks. This book is changing my mind a little.

I guess I'm on a demonology kick these days. I think it's because my sister-in-law has started dabbling in conjuring-spells and hanging around with a local coven. My nieces are 6 and 3 and the loves of my life, and I feel the need to shield them. Let them have their unicorns, Barbies, rainbows, ballet classes and stuffed animals and keep the tarot cards and Ouija boards away from them for a while. :(

Yes, there are good witches and witchcraft does not equate to Satanism (if there really is a Satan), etc., etc., etc., but my sister-in-law is an amateur who doesn't really know what the hell she's doing. Their house suddenly feels oppressive.

I'm a lapsed Catholic and programmed to be wary, I guess. I feel an urge to sneak some holy water over there and throw it around the next time I babysit.

I wish she would just take up baking or something Martha Stewartish instead. What's that game all the housewives play? Bunko?

A quote about turning a book into a movie and what the Hollywood studios demand:

Q: Will this book become a movie?
A: Look, my dear, don't - let's not talk about Hollywood. They want everything...
Well, I'm not willing to sign a contract. They want everything. They want the rights to do the movie and everything else they can think of, forever. There's no limit to the contract. In this universe and universes to be discovered - I'm not making this up - this is in the contract. And they also want the copyright of the characters. So I lose my characters. And if I want to repeat them in another book, I have to pay them a royalty. Give me a break.

The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio, 2002.

and concurrently feeding my guilty pleasure of pulp detective novels:

Branded Woman by Wade Miller, 1952.

zeebo

Quote from: Camazotz Automat on February 25, 2014, 12:52:14 AM
The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio, 2002.

If you like that one Cam, you may want to check out Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh.  I really enjoyed that one.  Fascinating story following an arc in the history of mathematics as various mathemeticians try and work through Fermat's Last Theorem. 

Quote from: zeebo on February 25, 2014, 01:07:04 AM
If you like that one Cam, you may want to check out Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh.  I really enjoyed that one.  Fascinating story following an arc in the history of mathematics as various mathematicians try and work through Fermat's Last Theorem. 
Thanks much, Zeebo. I appreciate a personal recommendation. You convinced me at "following an arc in the history of mathematics." Sounds like a good read.

I really enjoyed the Golden Ratio, wish I could find my copy so I could read it again! I'm also going to make a note to check out the book on Fermat's last theorem.

paladin1991

 Just read again,  Education of an Unlikely Bodybuilder, by Samuel Fussell.  Had read this book when I was still in the  Marines.  Heheh.  Loved it then, hanging with the rest of the Marine Gymrats reading this out loud between sets, then handing it off so someone else could read while I worked....
Good times, Good times.   

Finished Napalitano's, The Constitution in Exile.

Also finished Grasping God's Word: A Hands-on Approach to Reading, Interpreting and Applying the Bible,by Duvall and Hays.

Grov505th

I am re-reading the whole Honor Harrington series....for some reason every couple of years I will reread a series.



zeebo

As part of my sci-fi classics reading list, just finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein, 1966.  Cool book that although it has sci-fi elements, is really more of a political/cultural story.  I'll never look at the moon the same way again.

The Annotated Alice by Lewis Carroll, notes by Martin Gardner.

Dasein

Quote from: Mind Flayer Monk on January 26, 2014, 03:52:11 PM
A quote about turning a book into a movie and what the Hollywood studios demand:

Q: Will this book become a movie?
A: Look, my dear, don't - let's not talk about Hollywood. They want everything...
Well, I'm not willing to sign a contract. They want everything. They want the rights to do the movie and everything else they can think of, forever. There's no limit to the contract. In this universe and universes to be discovered - I'm not making this up - this is in the contract. And they also want the copyright of the characters. So I lose my characters. And if I want to repeat them in another book, I have to pay them a royalty. Give me a break.


If it turns you into a multi-millionaire sign the damn contract and start dreaming up some new characters.

Quote from: zeebo on February 26, 2014, 04:37:10 PM
As part of my sci-fi classics reading list, just finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein, 1966.  Cool book that although it has sci-fi elements, is really more of a political/cultural story.  I'll never look at the moon the same way again.

That was a fun read, Zeebo (and, yes, I did just use "read" as a noun -- I will go commit hari kari now)....

Heinlein was a very interesting cat... I think he had a thing for much older men and younger women (actually, girls)....  Cannibalism pops up now and again in his writing, too.  I think a Ph.D. thesis could be written about his politics/world view.

If there are any horror fans here you should check out Christopher Golden's new novel, Snowblind.

onan

Ordered the King in Yellow. Will be reading that in the next day or two.

Also got this page turner:

Cognitive Therapy of Schizophrenia (Guides to Individualized Evidence-Based Treatment)

Ms. C

Quote from: TheMan WhoFell ToEarth on March 05, 2014, 02:51:31 PM
If there are any horror fans here you should check out Christopher Golden's new novel, Snowblind.

Okay!  I looked this up and see its compared to early Stephen King and liked the reviews ... ordered and will report back after reading, thanks for the suggestion!

Quote from: onan on March 05, 2014, 03:03:51 PM
Ordered The King in Yellow. Will be reading that in the next day or two.

YES

Quote from: Juan on January 10, 2014, 06:52:41 AM
There's always Khan Academy for a start - and, despite what it appears on the landing page,  you don't have to have a facebook or google account.
https://www.khanacademy.org/

There are a lot of short science and math courses that would be good introductions, and they're free.

Khan Academy is boss. I use it all the time. Also there is Open Culture (http://www.openculture.com)  which offers links to free university and certificate courses, free e-books, audio books, films, and lectures by the likes of Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman and loads more. It's a great resource.

Quote from: Agent : Orange on February 25, 2014, 03:24:35 AM
I really enjoyed the Golden Ratio, wish I could find my copy so I could read it again! I'm also going to make a note to check out the book on Fermat's last theorem.

This is on my summer 'to read' list.

Quote from: zeebo on February 25, 2014, 01:07:04 AM
If you like that one Cam, you may want to check out Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh.  I really enjoyed that one.  Fascinating story following an arc in the history of mathematics as various mathemeticians try and work through Fermat's Last Theorem. 

And that's the other on my 'to do' list. Glad to read positive things about both.

Is the King in Yellow a stage play? I think Analog Kid or b_dubb posted something about it and the HBO show True Detective.

HorrorRetro

The Road Through Wonderland: Surviving John Holmes, written by Holmes' girlfriend from the time she was 15 and he was 32, ending with the Wonderland murders.

The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort 

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