Attention to and Acknowledgement of the Analysis of our August reading

[Nikitta]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I finished Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, which apart from a somewhat muddled last chapter is a must-read for anybody that feels a little disillusioned by religion. Some of the religious types ought to read it too, to get a different perspective.

It is quite good, though I think it tries to fit too much into too few pages and therefore sometimes only brushes issues/arguments, which could use some more attention, IMO. He sometimes mentions things I've never heard of, or only marginally heard of, before and mention that they're too well known to be described in the book.

Since he has a long list of recommended reading at the back of the book and he refers to various sites too, it's a good start, though and he does get his main point across loud and clear.

I do, however, think it's hilarious that he's the first person to recommend me to read the bible

[pyan]

Originally Posted by Marky Lazer

Chapman's The Illiad by Homer and translated by Chapman

Hope you enjoy it, Marky...

On first looking into Chapman's Homer

Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne:
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

John Keats. 1795–1821

[j. d. worthington]

Marky: I recall you asking for others to read Chapman right around the time I joined the site -- I tried to join in, but my copy of Chapman's Homer arrived too late... Still, it's sitting on a shelf next to my bed, and I've been meaning to get to that one for a while.....

On The God Delusion: yes, Dawkins has strongly recommended reading the Bible both there and in his lectures/speeches on the subject. Whether you agree or disagree with him (I think it's obvious from posts elsewhere which camp I'm in on this one), he certainly wants people to have informed opinions on the matter, and that requires looking at both sides with a keen eye....

As for myself: the way things have been going, I'm still stuck on the Airaksinen for now (though I hope to finish it in a day or two more, if the roof doesn't fall in). I'm able to enjoy the book a bit more this time around, but I still find large chunks of it intensely irritating. It's as if the man deliberately misread major portions of HPL's tales, or is going on a not particularly reliable memory of several of the tales in discussing them, hence some egregious errors in actual incident and even points of plot now and again (not to mention some grave misstatements on Lovecraft's biography). Some very challenging and thought-provoking stuff here, but I still tend to feel it's terribly marred by this sort of thing; it had the potential to be so much stronger a book on Lovecraft and, given that it comes from a noted academic, would have been an important milestone in moving Lovecraftian studies into a broader sphere....

[Nesacat]

Marky ... personally loved the tales put together in Elephant Vanishes so am quite curious about what you will think about them.

[hammerhead]

i just started reading, the sleeping god by violette malan

[Nikitta]

I started in on The Year of Living Biblically last night, after finishing Suicide Blonde (talk about whiplash there!) and I'm already halfway through it. With my reading tempo, it means that I've read most day, just putting it down to eat, use the bathroom and that kind of things. It's twenty to seven here now - I didn't notice that until now.

[BookStop]

I read Duma Key by Stephen King the other day. It was good, and I did stay up really late so I could finish, but his new books just aren't grabbing me the way some of the older ones do, and although I enjoyed the book, I still feel disappointed.

[chopper]

horrifically, i'm not actually reading much this month. i need to spend time writing. but still - rereading Memories of Ice, and dipping into Antonia Fraser's book on the wives of Henry VIII.

[Dave]

I've just finished The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and CM Kornbluth. Next up is Iain Banks, The Crow Road. I do need a suggestion for holiday reading. Is The God Delusion a little too heavy?

[mosaix]

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

[flygin]

Reading Aegypt by John Crowley. Liking it so far. I don't know how I missed it, but this is a tetralogy. I've been trying to stay away from series lately. I'm trying to decide if I'll pick up the rest.

[kcs_hiker]

finished Breaking Dawn (picked up sister-in-law's copy and read it before taking it to her )

Robert Louis Stevenson's Travels With a Donkey

hope to finish up Hamilton's Pandora's Star (started in June... been going kind of slow but it's picking up)

The Best Amrican Short stories of 2007 edited by Stephen King

and I've scored a copy of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon off of bookmooch which I'm very much looking forward to reading

[flygin]

Originally Posted by kcs_hiker

hope to finish up Hamilton's Pandora's Star (started in June... been going kind of slow but it's picking up)

I felt the same way about it. And I didn't know it had a sequel, and ended on a cliffhanger. I have the next book, but I heard it starts slow like the other, and I've lost interest. If I can find it, you're welcome to it.

Oh, and Kavalier and Clay was awesome. Good choice.

[woodsman]

Finished Shadowplay by Tad Williams which I really enjoyed, as expected really. Anyone know when book three is out?

Started in on; The Hammer Of God by Arthur C. Clarke. Amazingly this is the only book by him in my local libary (no Asimov, Heinlein, le Guin or P.K.Dick at all)

Also reading Woodland Management - Chris Starr ( it does, what it says).

[Adasunshine]

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

xx