And now, for comparison with Brave New World
What are You Reading Now?
- Thread starter jpmcwjr
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton- It discusses Chesterton's theological beliefs- it was written while he was still an Anglican (of which he converted from later) but certainly serves as a piece of apologetics that Catholics use to defend the validity of the Faith. It is not a religious piece of work but instead his personal journey that led him to believe it. He claims that the Christian faith is the answer that solves all the worlds problems and needs. It certainly is Chesterton that is a poetic genius! A very good read and frequently revisited.
Attachments
I’m in a book club that is reading each of the Aubriad one book per month and meeting to drink rum and chat. We just finished Desolation Island, so we’re officially 1/4 of the way through. Thoroughly enjoyable, love the fact that every other novel so far has included a case of trepanning. Such a fantastically detailed world, even if most of it washes over me (sorry, dad joke).
I just finished rereading (via audiobook) Lost In Thought by Zena Hitz, about the life of the mind. She is a dear friend and classmate of my former boss’s, and was in residence at the academic center that I work at while she was writing the book, so it was a delight to revisit.
Tonight I started Kubrick: An Odyssey, the new biography of the auteur.
Tonight I started Kubrick: An Odyssey, the new biography of the auteur.
I had no idea what “trepanning” was until I read these. Maturin’s natural history collections fascinated me as well. I have a much greater appreciation of bugs and such now.
Just finished A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. It’s half a history of the Vietnam War and half biography of a deeply flawed man. A really engaging read.
I recently finished reading Bret Baier's 2021 book, "To Rescue the Republic - Ulysses S. Grant, The Fragile Union, and the Crisis of 1876."
I bought this book simply because I forgot to bring the book I was reading at the time when I had to do some waiting, and picked it up on impulse from a store selling used stuff cheap for a couple bucks. However it's VERY will written, and extremely interesting! Baier tells the story of Grant's life, and his time during the civil war, but concentrates on his presidency and efforts during reconstruction after the war.
I wasn't expecting to be so captivated, but it's a helluva well researched and written book! I'm going to be reading more about Grant in the future...
I bought this book simply because I forgot to bring the book I was reading at the time when I had to do some waiting, and picked it up on impulse from a store selling used stuff cheap for a couple bucks. However it's VERY will written, and extremely interesting! Baier tells the story of Grant's life, and his time during the civil war, but concentrates on his presidency and efforts during reconstruction after the war.
I wasn't expecting to be so captivated, but it's a helluva well researched and written book! I'm going to be reading more about Grant in the future...
Attachments
During pursual of a favorite local used-book store this weekend I found a copy of Burton L. Spiller's Grouse Feathers in the "Ancient And Honorable Order of Brush Worn Partridge Hunters" Edition (1972), signed by Mr. Spiller himself! I already had a copy (unsigned) of this delightful book which I have read, and re-read, many times. It will be passed on to another grouse-hunting nut like myself, while the signed copy will be a permanent (at least for my lifetime) part of my library.
Reading some M. R. James stories. I was skeptical of these editions at first but I have to say that they surprised me. Cloth bound, ribbon marker, nice endpapers and the size is very comfortable in the hand.
Every few (3-5) years I reread Millennium by John Varley. The older I get, the less tolerance I have for Varley, but I still enjoy this one...mostly. I haven't decided whether I prefer this or the original short story ("Air Raid"). The book starts off strong and eventually devolves into nonsense, but fortunately ends before it gets too nonsensical. It's still good enough to reread every so often. The same cannot be said of many of the 70s and 80s SF books I used to enjoy.
(Not my photo, but this is the edition I have)
(Not my photo, but this is the edition I have)
Just got this today:
Some copy and paste info stolen from the interwebs:
Hoffmann, E[rnst] T[heodor] A[madeus]. SELECTED WRITINGS OF E. T. A. HOFFMANN. Edited and Translated by Leonardf J. Kent and Elizabeth C. Knight. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, [1969]. Octavo, two volumes, cloth. First edition of this collection. Volume one collects seven tales, including "The Sandman," "The Golden Pot," perhaps Hoffmann's finest single piece of fiction, and "The Mines of Falun," a subterranean fantasy of love and death. The whole of volume two consists of Hoffmann's novel THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF KATTER MURR ..., a subtle satire which tells of the doings of Murr, the tomcat. KATER MURR, one of Hoffmann's longer works, was unfinished at the time of his death. The first volume was published in 1820 and the second in 1822. The projected third volume was never written. Hoffmann "rivals Poe (whom he influenced) in his importance as a creator of the modern supernatural tale." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 204-05. "The celebrated short tales and novels of ... Hoffmann ... are a byword for mellowness of background and maturity of form ... they convey the grotesque rather than the terrible." - Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, p. 45. Clute and Grant (eds), The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), p. 472-73. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature II, pp. 831-835.
Some copy and paste info stolen from the interwebs:
Hoffmann, E[rnst] T[heodor] A[madeus]. SELECTED WRITINGS OF E. T. A. HOFFMANN. Edited and Translated by Leonardf J. Kent and Elizabeth C. Knight. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, [1969]. Octavo, two volumes, cloth. First edition of this collection. Volume one collects seven tales, including "The Sandman," "The Golden Pot," perhaps Hoffmann's finest single piece of fiction, and "The Mines of Falun," a subterranean fantasy of love and death. The whole of volume two consists of Hoffmann's novel THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF KATTER MURR ..., a subtle satire which tells of the doings of Murr, the tomcat. KATER MURR, one of Hoffmann's longer works, was unfinished at the time of his death. The first volume was published in 1820 and the second in 1822. The projected third volume was never written. Hoffmann "rivals Poe (whom he influenced) in his importance as a creator of the modern supernatural tale." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 204-05. "The celebrated short tales and novels of ... Hoffmann ... are a byword for mellowness of background and maturity of form ... they convey the grotesque rather than the terrible." - Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, p. 45. Clute and Grant (eds), The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), p. 472-73. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature II, pp. 831-835.
If it can be counted as reading, I’ve been listening to Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun. Severian and Vodalus kept me company while I enjoyed some Cult BRM.
After I finished Millennium last week, I ordered the DVD because I could not remember the movie at all, and watched it a few days ago. That's 90 minutes I'm not getting back. I've read John Varley's account of how the movie turned to crap, and have seen it before, but I watched it again anyway.
At least Cheryl Ladd was easy on the eyes, but there are much better ways to see her.
At least Cheryl Ladd was easy on the eyes, but there are much better ways to see her.