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What book r u reading?

exchemist

Veteran Member
You probably enjoyed the Magus (John Fowles)
Your fleshed out short description was most useful. Realise just Title and author is not enough.Hope other posts follow your educative format.
No I hated it and didn't finish it. (Private Eye hated it too and called it "The Bogus", I remember:D) I honestly can't remember what it was that annoyed me, as it was so long ago now. Maybe today I might even like it.

I don't read novels nearly as much now as I should. I think my attention span has been damaged by the internet. But the Essex Serpent was able to galvanise me.

The last serious novel that I read before that was Waugh's "Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold", a semi-autobiographical novel about a man having a nervous breakdown, partly as a result of a toxic combination of excess alcohol and inappropriate use of medical drugs. It has its typically funny moments, like all Waugh's writing, but is fairly bleak most of the time. Waugh has a way of distancing himself, and observing the hapless writhings of his protagonists, in situations that are by turns amusing and ghastly, with a detachment that can verge on the sadistic. I sometimes think my father, who is still just about going at 94 after 2 strokes and the death of his wife, has modelled himself on Waugh. He's always looking for the absurd in life, to compensate for its many vicissitudes. I suppose I've inherited that a bit, too.
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
Now that's spooky, I've just finished that. :)
It's a very interesting read, in my view. I just finished it for the second time (I got my book club to read it.)

Consciousness seems to get everyone working on some bizarre idea or other, but I rather like the wonderfully simple example given early in the book of the earthworm. If you touch an earthworm, even lightly, it will immediately draw back. It's reacting to it's skin being touched -- no big deal there. So why, when it is burrowing through the earth, does it not react to the touch of the earth as it moves forward? It seems simple enough -- there's a feedback mechanism of some kind that tells the system that would normally withdraw at a touch, "don't worry, that was me."

Think about that for a moment. Now wonder why you can't tickle yourself. From there, pondering consciousness just seems to get easier -- at least to me.
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
No I hated it and didn't finish it. (Private Eye hated it too and called it "The Bogus", I remember:D) I honestly can't remember what it was that annoyed me, as it was so long ago now. Maybe today I might even like it.
Me, too (the Magus, Fowles). I hated it as well, and I can't remember why.
 

Secret Chief

Vetted Member
It's a very interesting read, in my view. I just finished it for the second time (I got my book club to read it.)

Consciousness seems to get everyone working on some bizarre idea or other, but I rather like the wonderfully simple example given early in the book of the earthworm. If you touch an earthworm, even lightly, it will immediately draw back. It's reacting to it's skin being touched -- no big deal there. So why, when it is burrowing through the earth, does it not react to the touch of the earth as it moves forward? It seems simple enough -- there's a feedback mechanism of some kind that tells the system that would normally withdraw at a touch, "don't worry, that was me."

Think about that for a moment. Now wonder why you can't tickle yourself. From there, pondering consciousness just seems to get easier -- at least to me.
I enjoyed it too although I was expecting a bit more octopus. Such amazing creatures (and squids and cuttlefish). I particularly liked the little anecdote where the octopus demonstrated its contempt to the scientist regarding the food provided. :D
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
Now that's spooky, I've just finished that. :)
I read that some years ago. I was very taken with the story of the octopus that hated the female lab worker and squirted her - and her only - every time she visited. I've come to the conclusion that we probably should not catch and eat octopus.......
 

Secret Chief

Vetted Member
I read that some years ago. I was very taken with the story of the octopus that hated the female lab worker and squirted her - and her only - every time she visited. I've come to the conclusion that we probably should not catch and eat octopus.......
I'm glad you think that. And as for farming them... They're more intelligent than a MAGAr. Though that's a pretty low bar I admit.
 

Sand Dancer

Currently catless
I bet The Bible, The Koran, The Veda's The Torah will all be mentioned but does not have to be religious.
*********************************************
I was in a charity shop and picked up David Niven's The Worlds a balloon. Hilarious 6/10.
Your turn.

Ageless Body, Timeless Mind by Deepak Chopra

Stoicism and the Art of Happiness by Donald Robertson
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
Oh that's interesting. I don't know the books or the TV adaptation, but my son read a large number of Cornwell's Sharpe series about the Napoleonic Wars when he was a teenager. He found them very good.
I might check those out just because I am very much enjoying Cornwell's style. He tells such amazing stories, and the characters, whether entirely made up or someone who really existed, are exciting and unforgettable. Like his portrayal of Alfred the Great, it really does well reflect his status and historical significance of what he is, such as a pillar of Christianity and a wise, steadfast statesman who shaped and molded England's history and redefined Kinghood. And where I'm at in the books, his time in the swamp is nearly over.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
I might check those out just because I am very much enjoying Cornwell's style. He tells such amazing stories, and the characters, whether entirely made up or someone who really existed, are exciting and unforgettable. Like his portrayal of Alfred the Great, it really does well reflect his status and historical significance of what he is, such as a pillar of Christianity and a wise, steadfast statesman who shaped and molded England's history and redefined Kinghood. And where I'm at in the books, his time in the swamp is nearly over.
Has he burnt the cakes yet?
 

JIMMY12345

Active Member
I bet The Bible, The Koran, The Veda's The Torah will all be mentioned but does not have to be religious.
*********************************************
I was in a charity shop and picked up David Niven's The Worlds a balloon. Hilarious 6/10.
Your turn.
Note do not be restrictive.It can be a best read from the past.My choice.Big Big Bang
"Everybody has heard of the Big Bang theory.How many of us can claim to understand it.Why do cosmologists believe the Big Bang to be an accurate origin description of the Universe.
Simon Singh is a genius at explaining complex science simply.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
Note do not be restrictive.It can be a best read from the past.My choice.Big Big Bang
"Everybody has heard of the Big Bang theory.How many of us can claim to understand it.Why do cosmologists believe the Big Bang to be an accurate origin description of the Universe.
Simon Singh is a genius at explaining complex science simply.
I remember the furore caused by Simon Singh's book on "alternative medicine". He got sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association - who lost.
 

JIMMY12345

Active Member
I bet The Bible, The Koran, The Veda's The Torah will all be mentioned but does not have to be religious.
*********************************************
I was in a charity shop and picked up David Niven's The Worlds a balloon. Hilarious 6/10.
Your turn.
 

JIMMY12345

Active Member
I bet The Bible, The Koran, The Veda's The Torah will all be mentioned but does not have to be religious.
*********************************************
I was in a charity shop and picked up David Niven's The Worlds a balloon. Hilarious 6/10.
Your turn.
Never mind the B..ll..cks. Here's the Science by Professor Luke O Neil Trinity College Dublin
I like this guy. He explains science simply. He covers Control over your life, Should drugs be legal, Why are you working in a horrible job. Should you let people die. Would you give all your money to charity?
Number one best seller in Ireland and Internationally
 

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member
Currently reading The Theory of Everything Else: A Voyage Into The World of The Weird by Dan Schreiber. Quite entertaining and worth a look if wanting something in between more heavy tomes. :oops:
 
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