Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Huntn
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Just started this meta-book:
What a crazy postmodern adventure it's proving to be
What a crazy postmodern adventure it's proving to be
As promised - reporting back on this one.
Highly recommend it if you have even a passing interest in European politics, economics, the Euro etc etc. I'd give it five stars or should that be 12 stars? Or 11?
Anyway, my view of Yanis Varoufakis has gone up (a bit). It has also heavily reinforced my (originally tentative view) that he is absolutely excellent at economic analysis but then isn't prepared to politically go where such analysis should take him. (I think his whole DiEM25 movement is a wish washy attempt to resolve such cognitive dissonance). However, to be fair, he does recognise it in himself, and is quite self critical of prevaricating at the critical point but perhaps one could argue he isn't not critical enough?
The cast of characters is interesting, in the much derided Anglo Saxon political world we're currently (with good reason) having buckets of the proverbial dumped over our politicians for their attitudes and behaviour but that's all happening in plain sight, very few of the politicians featured in this book come out of this debacle smelling of roses (with the interesting exception of Macron).
It's difficult to expand much further without getting political and I'd happily do that (having folded over quite a few page corners that feature pithy quotes) but this isn't the particular forum for that.
This one amused me though and I think summed up the situation Yanis found/got himself into: "... Alas, it is hard to argue with creditors who do not want their money back. ..."
One of the most interesting political / economics books I've read.
Ah, so, highly recommended, then? Fascinating, and thank you for reporting back.
I shall keep an eye out for it, in that case.
Still listening to the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich except I had to stop for a bit because my morning and evening commutes were overfilled with Hitler...
I need some encouragement to finish this thing, half way through now. Please no spoilers like what happens to the main character at the end!
I need some encouragement to finish this thing, half way through now. Please no spoilers like what happens to the main character at the end!
William Shirer is an excellent writer and that is a first rate account written by someone who lived through it and had access to an impressive range of firsthand sources; who did the voiceover for the recording?
The book is amazing don't get me wrong, best account I've seen of WWII and the narrator is very engaging. It's just a lot of information and things clicking in historical context along with contemporary comparison can wear a person down with thoughts...if that makes sense?
Oh, yes, it makes sense.
However, I really like Shirer's book both because it is exceptionally well written - in a way that welcomes the reader - the way the best of journalism does, and while also being historically very sound, solid and sober.
So, it stands the test of time as an excellent history book that is written in an accessible manner by a journalist who could make that leap to serious historical without losing his capacity to hold his audience spellbound.
Just started this meta-book:
What a crazy postmodern adventure it's proving to be
Capolavoro! (Masterpiece!)
Bloomsday today… snuck up on me this year!
As much as I love the maddening, nonsensical, labyrinthine novel, I last read Ulysses in its entirety years ago.
But every year on the 16th June, I do read Penelope (XVIII).
Few finer things ever written.
As much as I love the maddening, nonsensical, labyrinthine novel, I last read Ulysses in its entirety years ago.
But every year on the 16th June, I do read Penelope (XVIII).
Few finer things ever written.
Bloomsday today… snuck up on me this year!
As much as I love the maddening, nonsensical, labyrinthine novel, I last read Ulysses in its entirety years ago.
But every year on the 16th June, I do read Penelope (XVIII).
Few finer things ever written.
Agreed. Enjoy it.
I'm reading this…. preparing to teach the game to my young nephews and nieces this summer. I will make geeks out of them!
Had just emailed a friend I'd decided not to do some "deep dive" into some historical era or geopolitlical focus this summer, maybe just pile up some beach reads and kick back. Then, trying to give a nod to my determination not to waste money spent on assorted news subscriptions, turned to the FT and flipped into the Arts and Life Section.
Bumped into their long read on Austen.
Bumped into Lunch at the FT with... Svetlana Alexievich (whose Second Hand Time I had read not that long ago).
So now I'm trying to decide about the summers' plans anew: Re-read Austen or have a go at some other of Alexievich's works. The one about Chernobyl tempts me.
So much for beach reads. Well they might have damaged my brain more than I've damaged it reading the news lately anyway.
(and you'd think I don't have a pile of books half-read on the back of the couch as it is)
Bumped into their long read on Austen.
Bumped into Lunch at the FT with... Svetlana Alexievich (whose Second Hand Time I had read not that long ago).
So now I'm trying to decide about the summers' plans anew: Re-read Austen or have a go at some other of Alexievich's works. The one about Chernobyl tempts me.
So much for beach reads. Well they might have damaged my brain more than I've damaged it reading the news lately anyway.
(and you'd think I don't have a pile of books half-read on the back of the couch as it is)
A nice compilation. I'd read most of the stories elsewhere. Some of them just seem somewhat random. You don't want the Norse gods mad at you, and probably don't want them interested in you at all.
@Scepticalscribe The Great War by F W Beckett is a little expensive at around £30. I've seen the 1st version available for less than £5. Have you any idea what's the difference between first and second versions?
This is one of those times where I cheerfully say by way of reply that I have absolutely no idea what the difference between the first and second editions actually is.
At a guess, @Dave Meadows, I'd say that the second edition contains possibly an update, or amendments, or corrections.
It may have a new preface, for example, to incorporate new events which throw an interesting light on what happened in the past, or it may involve the correction of errors that may have crept into the first edition, (possibly tiny, but very irritating to an author), - the kind of errors that could be spelling mistakes that had escaped the proof-reads, or a typo leading to a historical mistake, or a mislabelled photograph, or possible reference to sources or works on the topic of the book that were published after the first edition was published.
Or, perhaps the addition of necessary stuff such as a glossary.
However, it is rare for a second edition to contain anything that drastically alters what was written in the first edition. The author will usually let you know if it does.
[doublepost=1498915822][/doublepost]
About £27.50 I'd say!
Well, in truth, where books are concerned, cost is not what determines my purchases.
As an historian, I'd be more concerned to ensure that the scholarship is up to date and accurate and reasonably objective.
Last edited:
Finished reading The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis. Just started The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Both were excellent but I loved The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a bit more. I've never read the Narnia series before. I decided to read them in chronological order rather than publication order, since the author himself suggested this. Which means The Horse and His Boy is next. I heard it's the weakest book in the series. Let's see.