What 📔book are you reading right now?

Deimos said:

Not a satire and not a criticism of fascism.

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Bill the Galactic Hero (AKA "The Starsloggers") on the other hand, very much is. And of course, Starship Troopers is a specific target.😉

Ent said:

The Secret Life of the Mind - a book purporting to help us understand "how our brain thinks, feels, and decides."

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Wow, this is a somewhat dense book, sharing what areas of the brain do this and that, citing studies 'proving' this and that', and so forth.
Some intriguing terminology and really decent information to probe, indeed..!!

He's working to keep it at a somewhat basic level - which is a good thing, given Ent's significant and enduring limitations.
But it's going to be fun running all this down..!
Meanwhile, it comes down to "does this, or does this not, impact one way or the other, Ent's own work, study and research into how to think, and whether the mind controls us, or we control our mind."

Is it "all or nothing at all"? Or if it's a mixture of 'controls',' how does that impact Ent's model?
AND, even if the mind itself has certain 'built in mechanisms' for the handling of things, does this nullify our ability to overcome, or at least recognize and compensate, for what the mind is theoretically trying to control outside our awareness?

A primary question: If we can "see" and "know" the mind "does this/these thing(s) in this/these way(s), does that give us the ability to circumvent the mind's controls, or are we truly simply 'at its mercy' in spite of ourselves?

Ent has a perspective at present, of course... but that perspective MUST remain open to challenge and adjustment if there is veracity in alternatives..!
(This is what's called 'growth.')

Currently the author is dealing with 'infant development.' (He has totally ignored the 'learning' that occurs within the womb for some reason. Perhaps because, his focus is on 'impirical evidence' and he's found no studies as yet showing 'impirically' the condition of the infant immediately upon birth - though we know there are biological and chemical impacts and 'learning' that occur while in the womb.)

Anyway, Ent will shut up about this now. But for anyone interested in thinking and growth, I do believe this work would be worth the read - holding it as 'a more current view' than other older theories it references - and understanding it is, as with any other of the sciences, just 'a more current view.' Tomorrow is an entirely different day.

Squint-eyed Southerner said:

Bill the Galactic Hero (AKA "The Starsloggers") on the other hand, very much is. And of course, Starship Troopers is a specific target.😉

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Oh, I gathered that when you said it was a riposte to ST ( and I even used to fence in my younger days 😁)

I should probably add that the later series was basically slapstick, written by other hands, though I believe HH provided outlines. None of the vitriol and black humor of the original.

I just read The Story of Kullervo today, Tolkien's precursor to The Children of Húrin. I thought all the connections were fascinating. I was not expecting a Huan origin story. 😂 Kullervo's tale is noticeably less fleshed out than Túrin's, but it is evident how much thought concerning Kullervo went into the developmental progression of CoH.

Angst from Stephan Zweig.

The Silmarillion again, at the moment.
I did recently finish the children of hurin again, though.

I just started the Book of Lost Tales I.

Finished Winter of the Witch, which was book 3 of Katherine Arden’s Winterlight trilogy. It was an excellent fantasy series involving Russian and Slavic folklore.

Now I’m startling this book by some guy, it’s a fantasy that not a lot of people have heard of, called The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. I hope it’s good 😉

Right now, I am juggling reading, "The Book of Lost Tales: Part 1." As well as "Soul Mountain," by the great Gao Xingjian. Gao is a very talented writer who was the first ever chinese recipient for the Nobel Prize in Literature, he is also a painter and play writer. During the chinese cultural revolution he had to burn a good majority of his writings to not get into trouble with the government at the time, after fleeing to Paris. He also is fluent in French and English and Soul Mountain is a testimant to his intelligence and creativity. Soul Mountain is written from two points of view, one point being him and his own personal adventires after he was misdiagnosed with lung cancer, esentially viewing it as a second chance at life. The other perspective he writes in (perspectives also alternate with each chapter) is written in second person, and those chapters reflect stories of old chinese folklore and tall tales but also parallel the chapters involving the author in some ways throughout the books. Very strong discriptive style and extremely off the wall situations make the book A PAGE TURNER AND A HEAD SCRATCHER.

Before this I also finished The Silmarillion for the second time and I can safely say it will not be my last.

What scary novels, short stories, plays, poetry does anyone plan to read around (or on) Hallowe'en?
And will they be re-reads or a "new" read?
And even if persons are themselves doing a new read, perhaps they can recommend works to others that they have they've already read.

Deimos said:

What scary novels, short stories, plays, poetry does anyone plan to read around (or on) Hallowe'en?
And will they be re-reads or a "new" read?
And even if persons are themselves doing a new read, perhaps they can recommend works to others that they have they've already read.

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I’m still working through my reread of Dracula, which is perfect for the season! Getting into it more, I have been doing additional research on it and discovered there was a play written in 1924 based on the book, and also found classic radio dramas too.

In related fare, I also recently read The Vampyre by John William Polidori, which predated Bram Stoker’s Dracula, having been published in 1819. A gripping quick-read! Took me only two days to finish it.

Fingon_Findekáno said:

I’m still working through my reread of Dracula, which is perfect for the season! Getting into it more, I have been doing additional research on it and discovered there was a play written in 1924 based on the book, and also found classic radio dramas too.

In related fare, I also recently read The Vampyre by John William Polidori, which predated Bram Stoker’s Dracula, having been published in 1819. A gripping quick-read! Took me only two days to finish it.

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I first read Stoker's Dracula about 25 years ago. I reread it every 4-5 years, not necessarily around Hallowe'en.
It terrifies me every time, especially the coach ride through the Carpathians.
I'll have to check out The Vampyre 🙂

Deimos said:

What scary novels, short stories, plays, poetry does anyone plan to read around (or on) Hallowe'en?
And will they be re-reads or a "new" read?
And even if persons are themselves doing a new read, perhaps they can recommend works to others that they have they've already read.

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Does God Emperor of Dune count?
It's so boring that it's actually terrifying.
I'm 2/3rds in and virtually nothing has happened.
Basically the entire book is Leto yakking on about politics and why he chose to have a female army.

Idril Celebrindal said:

Does God Emperor of Dune count?
It's so boring that it's actually terrifying.
I'm 2/3rds in and virtually nothing has happened.
Basically the entire book is Leto yakking on about politics and why he chose to have a female army.

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You, my friend, I am sorry to say, have contracted the dread "Mors Taedio"

Mors Taedio, Lat. death by tediousness

A sometimes irreversible condition of the spirit, often misdiagnosed as simple exhaustion or apathy. It occurs when a patient's neural pathways are so underutilized that they begin to atrophy, resulting in the permanent disconnection of one's will to live. It is most commonly contracted during mandatory corporate training videos or slideshow presentations featuring more than five bullet points per slide.
Most alarmingly there has been increasing evidence of contracting it via any Frank Herbert Dune related novel subsequent to the original Dune.

Symptoms:

• A persistent, glazed-over expression.
• The inability to detect passing time.
• Spontaneous eye-rolling and profound, deep sighs.
• In extreme cases, complete psychological collapse known as "Dune Sequel Stupor"

J.R.R. Tolkien A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter, and The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

I am reading the Silmarillion again and Chronicles of Nania at the same time right now (I have a bad habit of starting multiple books at once)

I've just finished reading The Little Grey Men by BB (Denys Watkins-Pitchford) Originally published in 1942 and very much a book for children of all ages. There's an obvious comparison to The Wind in the Willows but I think this is better and a better comparison is with The Hobbit except here we are very much in the English countryside that the author knew so well. Apart from the four gnomes of the story, all the characters are creatures of the English countryside (squirrels, badgers, water voles, foxes etc.). There is a single linear narrative along the Folly Brook, a variety of well drawn characters and although the loose ends are tied up cleverly at the end for an all round happy ending, there are some sad moments in the story as well: it is realistic. The descriptions of the English countryside and nature are simply beautiful and are complemented by the author's distinctive woodcut illustrations.

Another poster has suggested that the BB here was an inspiration for the name Bilbo Baggins though I haven't found any other evidence for this. The gnomes of this story are also very much concerned with food and foraging for food, and they do not want to be seen by their ultimate enemy: man. They have the hobbitlike ability to disappear at a moment's notice. Definitely recommended if you like books like The Hobbit, The Wind in the Willows and Watership Down.

Ent is working on four books with the title How To Stop Being Toxic. (Authors: Tom Stokes, Julia Deloach, Taylor Blake, and Theo Knight.)

Ent isn't sure they're helping, though.

Reading Death Interrupted by Jose Saramago