Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

[yaxomoxay]

Justice on Trial (2019) by Mollie Severino and Carrie Hemingway.

Avoiding a PRSI post... I rarely read books on current events, however I followed the Kavanaugh confirmation with a certain degree of attention (I am sure that I left enough material on PRSI for those who want to know some of what I was thinking about it), so I was curious about this book.

It reads like a thriller; some of the elements are quite disturbing, and I found most of the material intriguing to say the least.

Mandatory question: is the book biased? Yes. The authors don't hide it; as a matter of fact, they clearly spell it out so it was very easy to filter through some of the comments to get to the bone of the matter. However, I could not find any evidence of tampering with the information presented in the book. I found myself researching some of the most intriguing aspects, and I found enough corroboration to say that the elements exposed here are credible to say the least.

I recommend this to anyone interested in political intrigue.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Today I started scouting around to expand on my initial idea for this summer's "deep dive" reading... and while I'm still very taken by a focus on the art of translation, I can see it will blossom more readily if I don't limit the exploration to issues in the translation of poetry only. A lot of translators are themselves poets (which certainly makes sense to me), and most of those have translated at least some poetry, but a lot of what they end up translating by choice, happenstance or economic necessity is prose, whether fiction or nonfiction.

I'm already having fun with this idea, found a wonderful piece in the Guardian with remarks from six translators who've made me feel like I'm going to have a lot of fun this summer. I thought to concentrate on the issues as seen from standpoint of the translators, and indeed from that piece I've realized it might be harder to round up thoughts on the art of translation from the authors of translated manuscripts: they've usually long since moved on to their own next creations by time translation issues come up on a previous work. But the Guardian piece provides glimpses into how important the exchange of views between author and translator can be, when the author is still living and available for consultation.

The subtle art of translating foreign fiction

How foreign fiction is booming in the UK, and the secrets of some of the world’s best translators

www.theguardian.com

"So, I hear you're two-timing me with Cervantes" - brilliant.

Terrific and fascinating article.

 

[LizKat]

"So, I hear you're two-timing me with Cervantes" - brilliant.

Terrific and fascinating article.

A fortuitous find. The piece made me want to have all six translators and the authors they mentioned over to dinner. Imagine the sprawl of the conversations taken into the living room later!

 

[RootBeerMan]

I received my copy of "Drumbeats" by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart yesterday (a special signed and numbered edition that I got through KJA's Kickstarter for it). Started reading it this morning and I am really enjoying it! It's about the size of a novella, when you include the foreword, the story and afterword. It was worth every penny just to get the story behind KJA and Neil's friendship and the things they worked on together. I do believe that there will be a more mass market version of this reissue in the near future. The writing is lyrical and so descriptive, you can tell what Neil did. Rarely have I read a story where the writing itself was something to be admired.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

I've decided to re-read a book I read as a teenager, one that really helped kindle my enthusiasm for reading, The Magus by John Fowles.

It's about a young man who leaves his aimless life in London behind to teach English on a remote Greek island and gets sucked into the elaborate mind games of a recluse who lives on the island.

I generally don't re-read books since there are so many new ones I want to read, but I already feel I'm getting more out of now that I did when I first read it.

 

[JamesMike]

Starting read I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes on a recommendation from a friend, it is supposed to be a good suspenseful novel.

 

[rebelion]

Starting read I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes on a recommendation from a friend, it is supposed to be a good suspenseful novel.

Good book. Enjoy it!

 

[Matz]

Wandering through my Kindle library this morning, I happened upon The Hero, by Lee Child. He is one of my very favorite authors. Now, after having read this 81-page bit of writing, I more fully understand why that is so.

For you Jack Reacher fans, this is not a Reacher novel.

It is a story of the evolution of the story.

It is a unique (in my experience) narrative of the evolution of humans, told through the lenses of pharmacology, biology, anthropology, classics, politics, and modern culture. In particular, Child offers a case for the evolutionary development of fiction (including the concept of the hero) in our distant past as being critical to our character and survival as a species.

My words don't do it justice. If you have a couple of hours available and enjoy reading, I seriously doubt you'll regret reading The Hero.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Reading "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Reading "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe.

Great book.
The movie is also pretty great!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Great book.
The movie is also pretty great!

Yes, I recall enjoying the movie, well scripted, well acted, well told.

 

[Mefisto]

View attachment 918791

Wandering through my Kindle library this morning, I happened upon The Hero, by Lee Child. He is one of my very favorite authors. Now, after having read this 81-page bit of writing, I more fully understand why that is so.

For you Jack Reacher fans, this is not a Reacher novel.

It is a story of the evolution of the story.

It is a unique (in my experience) narrative of the evolution of humans, told through the lenses of pharmacology, biology, anthropology, classics, politics, and modern culture. In particular, Child offers a case for the evolutionary development of fiction (including the concept of the hero) in our distant past as being critical to our character and survival as a species.

My words don't do it justice. If you have a couple of hours available and enjoy reading, I seriously doubt you'll regret reading The Hero.

This sounds interesting, thanks for the recommendation! I've actually never read anything by Child, but maybe this is the beginning of something new.

 

[Matz]

This sounds interesting, thanks for the recommendation! I've actually never read anything by Child, but maybe this is the beginning of something new.

Yes, I do hope you enjoy it, and are motivated to read some of his Reacher series. He's one of the best crime fiction writers I've found.

 

[Huntn]

​

Bobiverse Trilogy
I just finished the Bobiverse Trilogy (We are Legion-We Are Bob, For We Are Many, and All These Worlds) and I can recommend it. The plus side, it‘s a light read, a unique kind of human based science fiction story, arguably an AI story that is very creative in creating a universe. It includes hostile aliens.

My critique which may meet some disagreement, is that with the scope it tries to attain, it is shallow and lacks depth with chapters just a couple of pages long each so in some ways feels more like the outline of a story. There are space battles that are presented matter of fact and not very colorful and nothing with the kind of story or character depth or space battle thrills that you’d experience in something like the Honor Harrington Book Series a human based, science fiction masterpiece.
There is a Post in the AI thread with plot spoilers: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/best-artificial-intelligence-fiction.1906626/post-28447569
[automerge]1590776515[/automerge]

Yes, I recall enjoying the movie, well scripted, well acted, well told.

The book is even better! When the book came out (1979) I was a Naval Air student in Corpus Christi Texas, and was shocked by the described military flight training fatality rate that was a norm in the 1950s.

 

[Huntn]

View attachment 914364

Good?
My track record with such books is not so good. There are elements that I find incredible such as describing quantum physics, but I find that myinterest is not generally sustainable.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

​

...
The book is even better! When the book came out (1979) I was a Naval Air student in Corpus Christi Texas, and was shocked by the described military flight training fatality rate that was a norm in the 1950s.

Yes, agreed, it is (although, in the movie, I must say that Sam Shepard was superb playing Chuck Yeager); to a large extent, my sense is that Tom Wolfe's sympathies lie with Yeager, and what he and his colleagues attempted to achieve.

Actually, I found the 50s stuff (and the material from the late 40s) fascinating.

The exceptionally high mortality rate you refer to, serves as a reminder that flying (especially at the "push the envelope" level, where planes and systems, and engines and speeds were tested to the utmost) remained a fairly dangerous activity until relatively recently.

What is also striking - as with motor-cars - is that few real genuine technological break-throughs in aviation have occurred in the half century or more since those tests took place.

As a footnote, (because, of course, I was also busily cross-checking - and confirming - and substantiating - facts and sources, as I read, once a historian, always a historian), I note that Annie Glenn, widow of astronaut John Glenn, passed away just last week (May 19, 2020) - aged 100 - from complications arising from Covid-19.

 

[S.B.G]

Good?
My track record with such books is not so good. There are elements that I find incredible such as describing quantum physics, but I find that myinterest is not generally sustainable.

Good? Fantastic!

He avoids all the minutia of uber scientific language and explains things in a broader, more layman's way so that "the person in a hurry" can understand it and learn from it.

 

[Huntn]

View attachment 919808​

Bobiverse Trilogy
I just finished the Bobiverse Trilogy (We are Legion-We Are Bob, For We Are Many, and All These Worlds) and I can recommend it. The plus side, it‘s a light read, a unique kind of human based science fiction story, arguably an AI story that is very creative in creating a universe. It includes hostile aliens.

My critique which may meet some disagreement, is that with the scope it tries to attain, it is shallow and lacks depth with chapters just a couple of pages long each so in some ways feels more like the outline of a story. There are space battles that are presented matter of fact and not very colorful and nothing with the kind of story or character depth or space battle thrills that you’d experience in something like the Honor Harrington Book Series a human based, science fiction masterpiece.
There is a Post in the AI thread with plot spoilers: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/best-artificial-intelligence-fiction.1906626/post-28447569
[automerge]1590776515[/automerge]

The book is even better! When the book came out (1979) I was a Naval Air student in Corpus Christi Texas, and was shocked by the described military flight training fatality rate that was a norm in the 1950s.

Speaking of Honor Harrington one of the greatest space operas ever written (imo ) I was mulling over re-reading the 16 book saga, and discovered that the first two books in the series are currently free to buy and read on the Kindle App (Amazon). This might be an opportunity if you have never tried it. For myself, have/had all 16 books, but they were paperback, which I find hard to read these days and much easier to enjoy on my iPhone.

Of note, these books are easy to read, you don’t have to acclimate to alien cultures or get used to funky names, this is basically humanity projected into the future, with holy crap military engagements.

​

Excerpt Chap1:
“The fluffy ball of fur in Honor Harrington's lap stirred and put forth a round, prick-eared head as the steady pulse of the shuttle's thrusters died. A delicate mouth of needle-sharp fangs yawned, and then the treecat turned its head to regard her with wide, grass-green eyes. "Bleek?" it asked, and Honor chuckled softly. "' Bleek' yourself," she said, rubbing the ridge of its muzzle. The green eyes blinked, and four of the treecat's six limbs reached out to grip her wrist in feather-gentle hand-paws. She chuckled again, pulling back to initiate a playful tussle, and the treecat uncoiled to its full sixty-five centimeters (discounting its tail) and buried its true-feet in her midriff with the deep, buzzing hum of its purr. The hand-paws tightened their grip, but the murderous claws—a full centimeter of curved, knife-sharp ivory—were sheathed. Honor had once seen similar claws used to rip apart the face of a human foolish enough to threaten a treecat's companion, but she felt no concern. Except in self-defense (or Honor's defense) Nimitz would no more hurt a human being than turn vegetarian, and treecats never made mistakes in that respect. She extricated herself from Nimitz's grasp and lifted the long, sinuous creature to her shoulder, a move he greeted with even more enthusiastic purrs. Nimitz was an old hand at space travel and understood shoulders were out of bounds aboard small craft under power, but he also knew treecats belonged on their companions' shoulders. That was where they'd ridden since the first 'cat adopted its first human five Terran centuries before, and Nimitz was a traditionalist.”

— On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington Book 1) by David Weber

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ARPJBS0?ref_=k4w_ss_dp_bot

On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington Book 1)

INTRODUCING HONOR HARRINGTON Having made him look a fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her. Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station. The aborigines of the system's onl...

smile.amazon.com

[automerge]1590778916[/automerge]

Good? Fantastic!

He avoids all the minutia of uber scientific language and explains things in a broader, more layman's way so that "the person in a hurry" can understand it and learn from it.

I’m tempted!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Speaking of Honor Harrington one of the greatest space operas ever written (imo ) I was mulling over re-reading the 16 book saga, and discovered that the first two books in the series are currently free to buy and read on the Kindle App (Amazon). This might be an opportunity if you have never tried it. For myself, have/had all 16 books, but they were paperback, which I find hard to read these days and much easier to enjoy on my iPhone.

View attachment 919824​

On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington Book 1)

INTRODUCING HONOR HARRINGTON Having made him look a fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her. Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station. The aborigines of the system's onl...

smile.amazon.com

[automerge]1590778916[/automerge]

I’m tempted!

Re space operas, an impressive understanding of military culture and how it informs the background, context and setting of a story (and character), and seriously strong female characters (all very much a plus, to my mind), may I recommend Elizabeth Moon's (who served as a 1st lieutenant in the Marines), excellent Heris Serrano series.

 

[JamesMike]

I continue to read two excellent books; A World Lit Only By Fire by William Manchester and I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Manchester's writing is once again superb. The book by Mr. Hayes is a quality read and its theme will scare you.

 

[Sword86]

Completed SkyBolt.....Hill
Bogged down in all the budget and politics and about zero on the development. Can’t really recommend.
America’s Secret Submarine....Vyborny and Davis
Pretty much all the budget and development in addition to some of the deployments, but not much of the missions it undertook. There are some books far worthier of your reading time, but it was OK.
Now about to complete, Always Another Dawn......Crossfield and Blair.
Pretty decent account of the life of Scott Crossfield, the first man to fly past Mach 2 and longtime NACA/North American Aviation test pilot.

oh, forgot to mention completing Operation Whisper.....Cohen & Cohen
Highly recommended. These folks we responsible for Klaus Fuchs and when they were done exploiting U.S. nuclear secrets they fled NYC and kept going for years in the UK before being caught. Pretty much responsible for the Russians getting the bomb in short time after the U.S.

S

 

[verito81]

i’m reading the bible there is no more powerful book in the world that word of God
If you have one at home i advice you to start with Matthew

 

[RootBeerMan]

Finished up Kevin J. Anderson's "Hair Raising", a Dan Shamble, Zombie PI installment. What a great fun read in a great series. Now I have moved on to "Just One Damned Thing After Another" by Jodi Taylor. The cover says it all.

 

[Huntn]

I‘m determine to lure someone into reading the first Honor Harrington novel and added the starting paragraph from Chapter 1 to this post:

What Book Are You Reading?

Speaking of Honor Harrington :D:Done of the greatest space operas ever written (imo ;)) I was mulling over re-reading the 16 book saga, and discovered that the first two books in the series are currently free to buy and read on the Kindle App (Amazon). This might be an opportunity if you have...

forums.macrumors.com

​

 

[LizKat]

I continue to read two excellent books; A World Lit Only By Fire by William Manchester and I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Manchester's writing is once again superb. The book by Mr. Hayes is a quality read and its theme will scare you.

I just saw part of a timeline in that Manchester book that practically threw me into despair:

1522 The voyage of circumnavigation ends, vindicating Copernicus.​

​

Right, so two years short of five centuries later, well... yeah, and flatlanders actually still abound!

I’m gonna have to make time in the early morning hours to appreciate that book properly, I think. It's the time of day I'm most optimistic about the journeys that humans have made and continue to make while Planet Earth persists. Still, it has remained provably true that the planet is more round than flat... while it follows its path around one of the several hundred billion stars in just one of the couple trillion galaxies of the known universe.

(but sure it's possible that the earth is flat, there's always been fake news for those who prefer it)

Meanwhile I confess having escaped from a needful focus on MacBook Air: Essentials earlier today to the beckonings of David Ignatius' latest offering, The Paladin: A Spy Novel.

​