What's everyone reading?

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annis
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What's everyone reading?

Post by annis »

We've not had one of these threads in quite a while...

On the fiction front I recently read Neal Stephenson's most recent door-stop, Anathem. If you like Stephenson already, this book will please you. If you like philosophy you will also probably like it a lot. He imagines a world where similar developments in philosophy have taken place (masked by different names). He even manages to have his characters have a rather lengthy debate about Husserl's phenomenology of all things. As is his habit, Stephenson ends the book in a way I find annoying, but I'm used to this by now.

On the classics front, the Cambridge green-n-yellow library added Lucian last month, so I just got that. I've always liked Lucian.

Actually, most of my recent book purchases — aided by gift certificate holiday gifts — have been methods and tune books for 5-string banjo (clawhammer style), but that's probably a matter for a different thread.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Adelheid »

Fiction: "I, Q" by Peter Davis. Nothing high level, but very entertaining.
Classics: stuck on book 6 of the Iliad (I really will have to break through some barrier there, it seems).

I am currently tweaking an iPod Touch, trying to get books with Greek content on it. I tested it with Lucian's "How to write History". Which I would like to read too. After I finish book 6, that is . :?
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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by annis »

Adelheid wrote:I am currently tweaking an iPod Touch, trying to get books with Greek content on it.
How are you going about that? I haven't really looked at document software for the Touch since the App store opened. Anything especially worthwhile?
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by timeodanaos »

Fiction: I'm slowly but surely gnawing through Thomas Mann's Der Zauberberg, my first venture into the world of German novels. The prospect of reading a thousand pages of high literature makes me quite breathless, but the sheer genious of everything I have so far read of his works (short stories etc) makes the journey worthwhile. I know it will all add up. Apart from that, I'm reading a small novel of the Danish symbolist Sophus Claussen, Antonius i Paris, a story of a young man going to Paris, frequenting cafés in the latin quarter and struggling with his French. I don't think he has been translated to English.

Classics: I've just concluded my first semester of Latin at the university of Copenhagen with my oral exam (Roman history and oratory) coming up in eight days, so the past few weeks have gone by in the company of Caesar, Cicero, Tacitus, Suetonius, Sallustius and Cornelius Nepos. Primo February I believe the professors have a program of especially Seneca and Cicero lined up (at least I know we are to read Laelius de Amicitia and the entire De Re Publica), while I shall also be taking a course in classical archaeology and art history.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Adelheid »

annis wrote:I haven't really looked at document software for the Touch since the App store opened. Anything especially worthwhile?
I use Stanza for Greek texts. Quite nice, only it chokes on large files (Stanza didn't like me trying to load the whole Iliad on the Touch, a 1,5 MB file). The eReader software (was also my preferred reader on the Palm) does a better job (loads files as large as 2 MB), but it isn't unicode aware.
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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Kasper »

Morning train: De Bello Gallico
Evening train: professional stuff (a riveting review of the Freedom of Information Act for this week)

Leisure: a book on learning to play delta blues guitar.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by spiphany »

Hmm...
Euripides: Bacchae (for class)
Horkheimer & Adorno: Dialectic of Englightenment (ditto)
Kleist: Penthesilea (for comps)

...and no pleasure reading at the moment. It's going to be one of those semesters, I'm afraid. For relaxation I have some sewing projects I'm working on.

timeodanaos: I hear you. I struggled my way through Der Zauberberg as well. He reminds me of the Russians sometimes. Ponderous. But worth it, I think, even if his style of realism isn't quite my thing.
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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by rDeckard »

"the ruin of the roman empire" by james j o'donnell. i read "the fall of rome" by brian ward-perkins not long ago and have "the fall of the roman empire" by peter heather for when school is over.

for classes i am reading juvenal's satires, and letters of abelard and heloise (in english but will have to start looking at the latin for the paper i will be writing) and sort of ignoring the stuff for medieval philosophy, for other school related research i am reading ovid's heroides (only dido's letter to aeneas) and some of bede's exegesis and other writings.
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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by thesaurus »

Non-Classics: Lots and lots of poetry for my English graduate seminars, mostly Wordsworth and 19th century Romanticists. For a medieval literature class on the Legends of King Arthur we're starting with Geoffrey de Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. I managed to read a third of the thing in Latin, but time restraints necessitated a translation for the rest. It's actually some good fun to read in Latin and not very difficult, given the time of its origin. Lots of crazy battles and strange happenings. Here's a random sample:
Galfridus Monemutensis, Liber II wrote:Adivit ergo regem, et bipennem in dextra manu librans, illum hoc modo allocutus est: "Haeccine rependis mihi, Locrine, ob tot vulnera quae in obsequio patris tui perpessus sum, dum praelia committeret cum ignotis gentibus: ut filia mea postposita, te connubio cujusdam barbarae submitteres? Non impune feres, dum vigor huic inerit dextrae eripuit." Hoc iterum, iterumque proclamans, librabat bipennem quasi eum percussuras: cum amici utrorumque sese interposuerunt. Sedato vero Corineo, Locrinum quod pepigerat exequi coegerunt.
Otherwise, trying to teach myself the rudiments of French and Biblical Hebrew this year.

Classics: Ovid's Metamorphoses, currently working through Book I. Should be interesting, as I'm taking it with an experienced professor, and prior to this most of my reading has been self-guided. Also, I'm slowly slogging through Plato's Crito on my own in an attempt to shore up my perpetually laggard Greek.
rDeckard wrote:"the ruin of the roman empire" by james j o'donnell.
You should let me know how that is. I'm planning on attending a lecture by O'Donnell next week, "When the Roman Empire Was Flat." By the way, his website is a treasure-trove of classical/hellenistic information; I stumble across it all the time without expecting it. (Specifically, his e-text of Boethius' Consolatio Philosophiae is beyond compare <http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/jod/ ... thius.html>).
Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. --Cicero, De Senectute

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Essorant »

Statius' Thebaid, just began Liber IV.

Also A Companion to Ancient Epic.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Estoniacus Inoriginale »

I'm reading Herman Hesses Glassbead Game. This is a disturbing but very good book.
OINOM ANNOM STVDIAVEI DINGVAM LATINAM OREIGENEBOS VARIONS
HANCE SICNATOVRAM VIDETE ET REDITE

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by edonnelly »

I somehow got myself bogged down with two monsters:

The first is Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Though I generally agree with her philosophy, I'm finding that I think she's a terrible writer, which is strange because it seems like most people who agree with her philosophy love this book.

The other is Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I'm not actually reading this, but rather I'm listening to the Librivox recordings of it while I commute back and forth to work. I'm midway through Volume 2 (of 6) -- about 30 hours of audio so far (and 90 more to go). Though incredibly long and full of detail, the book is surprisingly well-written with an easy-to-follow, straight-forward style.

So, it happens that the book I thought would be great (Atlas) has turned out to be a bit of a dud, while the one I thought would be tedious and pretentious has proven to be quite nice and rather modern in its feel.
The lists:
G'Oogle and the Internet Pharrchive - 1100 or so free Latin and Greek books.
DownLOEBables - Free books from the Loeb Classical Library

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Lex »

edonnelly wrote:I somehow got myself bogged down with two monsters:

The first is Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Though I generally agree with her philosophy, I'm finding that I think she's a terrible writer, which is strange because it seems like most people who agree with her philosophy love this book.
I also think she was a poor writer, even though I'm generally libertarian and an atheist. And after I read her philosophical books, I don't consider her a great philosopher, either. I agree with some of her conclusions, but not with how she got to them.

I just finished the revised, extra-long version of The Stand, by Stephen King, which is also a monster. I also recently finished Defending the West by Ibn Warraq.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by PeterD »

Hi, William.

I am currently reading Jenny Olive's Maths: A Student's Survival Guide. It's basically a self-study workbook geared to first-year undergraduate scientists and engineers who need to brush up on their maths. It covers Algebra, Graphs and Equations, Functions, Trig, some Geometry, Sequences and Series, Binomial Series, Calculus (both Differentiation and Integration), Complex Numbers, and finally, Vectors. In my case, I am trying to understand option trading, and, unfortunately, you need to have not only a good foundation of basic maths but of Calculus as well. So I am trying to get up to speed. (God knows my financial portfolio can't wait.) It's a very comprehensive text, written in a very friendly, pleasing style. The text is recommended by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). It's a great read. I am very lucky to have discovered it.


Best,

PeterD


PS What's the weather like in Wisconsin, cold? You a Cheddarhead fan?
Fanatical ranting is not just fine because it's eloquent. What if I ranted for the extermination of a people in an eloquent manner, would that make it fine? Rather, ranting, be it fanatical or otherwise, is fine if what is said is true and just. ---PeterD, in reply to IreneY and Annis

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by PeterD »

I forgot to mention that the book is the 2nd edition, and the author has her own website where she can be contacted.


... and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.


BOOYAH! What's happening, people? Has the bad cat got your tongues, or are you all too busy making crazy love to your significant other(s)?
Fanatical ranting is not just fine because it's eloquent. What if I ranted for the extermination of a people in an eloquent manner, would that make it fine? Rather, ranting, be it fanatical or otherwise, is fine if what is said is true and just. ---PeterD, in reply to IreneY and Annis

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Re: What's everyone reading?

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Not much life here anymore.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Estoniacus Inoriginale »

Vivant omnes rectores!
OINOM ANNOM STVDIAVEI DINGVAM LATINAM OREIGENEBOS VARIONS
HANCE SICNATOVRAM VIDETE ET REDITE

ITEM BOLVNTAS BIXET BERITAS BIVAT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxc0qxl4 ... age&fmt=18

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by easternugget »

εν ελπιδι της ζωης

I am reading Dostoyesvky's The Idiot, which has been good so far. I really liked Brothers Karamazov.

I am also working through Xenophon's Anabasis to hopefully help transition from NT Koine with which I am pretty comfortable to some Classical. That has been pretty good as well, and not too hard to go through.

ερρωσθε

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Re: What's everyone reading?

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easternugget wrote:I am also working through Xenophon's Anabasis to hopefully help transition from NT Koine with which I am pretty comfortable to some Classical. That has been pretty good as well, and not too hard to go through.
I also recently started working my way through the Anabasis, and I'm reading some NT Koine for the first time alongside. So we rock! Not really the thread, but is there a particular book of the Bible you'd recommend starting with? So far I've been reading John without incident (I keep my Vulgate at hand if I get stuck).
Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. --Cicero, De Senectute

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Bert »

thesaurus wrote:
easternugget wrote:I am also working through Xenophon's Anabasis to hopefully help transition from NT Koine with which I am pretty comfortable to some Classical. That has been pretty good as well, and not too hard to go through.
I also recently started working my way through the Anabasis, and I'm reading some NT Koine for the first time alongside. So we rock! Not really the thread, but is there a particular book of the Bible you'd recommend starting with? So far I've been reading John without incident (I keep my Vulgate at hand if I get stuck).
The gospel according to John, 1 John and Revelation are fairly easy to read. The other three gospels are quite easy as well because they are mostly narrative.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by easternugget »

Bert wrote:The gospel according to John, 1 John and Revelation are fairly easy to read. The other three gospels are quite easy as well because they are mostly narrative.
I agree wholeheartedly with John, 1 John and Revelation. We read Revelation in one of my Advanced Greek classes (we were reading rather than parsing everything), and it became one of my favorite books. Matthew and Mark are not too bad. Luke is a little tougher because his Greek is a little harder.
thesaurus wrote:
easternugget wrote:I am also working through Xenophon's Anabasis to hopefully help transition from NT Koine with which I am pretty comfortable to some Classical. That has been pretty good as well, and not too hard to go through.
I also recently started working my way through the Anabasis, and I'm reading some NT Koine for the first time alongside. So we rock! Not really the thread, but is there a particular book of the Bible you'd recommend starting with? So far I've been reading John without incident (I keep my Vulgate at hand if I get stuck).
You are right, we do rock! :D We translated 2 Thessalonians, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and then read Revelation. So after reading the Johns, you probably could try tackling those.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Damascena »

Currently, I'm reading A Distand Mirror by Barbara Tuchman. It's a popular history f th 14th Century in Europe, and I'm enjoying it. I'm also reading a novel byMary Higgins Clark for escape ...and it' pretty goo.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Amadeus »

Philosophy:
-An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, by David Hume (very flimsy argumentation)
-Hume, by Barry Stroud
-An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, by John Locke (confusing argumentation)
-Problems from Locke, by J.L. Mackie
-Skepticism and The Veil of Perception, by Michael Huemer
-Ten Philosophical Mistakes, by Mortimer J. Adler
-And many other articles and books found freely on the Web about the same topics

Classics:
-None. :( (stupid 24-hour days)
Lisa: Relax?! I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or... Only two synonyms? Oh my God! I'm losing my perspicacity! Aaaaa!

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Re: What's everyone reading?

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Amadeus wrote:Philosophy:
-Skepticism and The Veil of Perception, by Michael Huemer
It's been a while, but I had an epistemology class with Huemer and we used his book in part. I might be able to answer some questions if you have any, although I'm not sure I remember more than the general arguments.
Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. --Cicero, De Senectute

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Amadeus »

thesaurus wrote:It's been a while, but I had an epistemology class with Huemer...
Cool! That must have been a very interesting class. I actually e-mailed him about an issue regarding the nature of ideas, whether they were perceivable on reflection or not. That dubium had been driving me nuts! Fortunately, he was kind enough to respond, and the issue was settled...more or less.
I might be able to answer some questions if you have any,
Great! I'll let you know. :wink:
Lisa: Relax?! I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or... Only two synonyms? Oh my God! I'm losing my perspicacity! Aaaaa!

Homer: Well it's always in the last place you look.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by annis »

Amadeus wrote:(stupid 24-hour days)
I know! Someone's got to do something about that.

O'Donnell's book happened to catch my eye at the bookstore today, so I've added that to the to-read queue.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
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Re: What's everyone reading?

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Unfortunately, most of my spare time is spent keeping my latin up. I am only teaching Latin 1 this year and reading about that Ecce Romani Family in a ditch will not keep my Latin up to snuff. So, I have been reading Lingua Latin II (very dull in parts) and any Latin text I can get my hands on where I do not have to use a dictionary all the time (The Adventures of the Monkey Pilosus Naso anyone?). Usually, I am doing this at 10pm and am falling alseep. The only other free time is in the bathroom where one is free to linger over Orberg's description of the Rape of the Sabines.

I just taught Macbeth and Julius Caesar to my 7th grade Reading class and will be doing Up from Slavery next month. I also read a book with my class from time to time called The Young Folk's Plutarch. Besides this, it is Harold and the Purple Crayon and Curious George with my daughters.
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Re: What's everyone reading?

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Estoniacus Inoriginale wrote:I'm reading Herman Hesses Glassbead Game. This is a disturbing but very good book.
I have called this book my favorite of all time, perhaps because when I read it I was about to return to college, and I was full of academic pretensions. This book can be well appreciated for its artful expression and enumeration of academia, and the stern warning thereof. But then Hesse is so good with piercing insights into almost all things human.
words are such a poor representation of reality. please listen to what I mean, not what I say.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

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I got a 1st ed/1st pub ($5 USD) of Chadwick's The Mycenaean World. Although not completely authoritative any longer, I'm reading it as an homage to all his research and great efforts with Ventris on Linear B. Hey! it has pictures, too. [ed. I do, although, appreciate his views on the Dorian invasion.]

I'll have to find something a bit more contemporaneous to get an up-to-date view of the Mycenae. Suggestions? anyone.
Last edited by grdSavant on Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Adelheid »

I bought "Mycenaeans" by Rodney Castleden a while ago. Can't comment on how authorative it is, but it was a good read.
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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by grdSavant »

Adelheid wrote:I bought "Mycenaeans" by Rodney Castleden a while ago. Can't comment on how authorative it is, but it was a good read.
I did look up this book. My use of "authorative" may have been too limiting. "A good read" is good enough for sure.
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Re: What's everyone reading?

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Outside of the classics, I am reading Пиковая дама (Pikovaja dama), The Queen of Spades, by Alexander Pushkin, in Russian. Pushkin is less known for his novels, I believe, and more for his poetry - the best of which, I believe, is Медный всадник (Mednii Vsadnik) - The Bronze Horseman. It is a poem about the Bronze Horseman statue in St Petersburg, is about 500 lines long, and has made a lasting impression on Russian literature as a whole.

In terms of the Classics, I am reading Lingua Latina, Familia Romana, and loving every page of it. I'm not getting through it very quickly due to my need to concentrate on my Russian studies, but I should be moving onto Roma Aeterna in a month or so.

Jack

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Estoniacus Inoriginale »

grdSavant wrote:
Estoniacus Inoriginale wrote:I'm reading Herman Hesses Glassbead Game. This is a disturbing but very good book.
I have called this book my favorite of all time, perhaps because when I read it I was about to return to college, and I was full of academic pretensions. This book can be well appreciated for its artful expression and enumeration of academia, and the stern warning thereof. But then Hesse is so good with piercing insights into almost all things human.
Herman Hesse was an integral genius, and by integral I mean he tried to integrate the external, internal, individual, collective, dimensions of human (and one can assume animal) existence, and that is otherwise expressed as subjective, objective, intersubjective and interobjective quadrants of reality that integrate in many directions, which actually unites humanity and all of life to some degree, and also Herman Hesse practiced eastern religious, spiritual and philosophical methods of transformation and thought... and he disturbed me the most...
OINOM ANNOM STVDIAVEI DINGVAM LATINAM OREIGENEBOS VARIONS
HANCE SICNATOVRAM VIDETE ET REDITE

ITEM BOLVNTAS BIXET BERITAS BIVAT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxc0qxl4 ... age&fmt=18

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Re: What's everyone reading?

Post by Lex »

Existentialism for Dummies :lol:, and The Greeks and Greek Civilization by Jacob Burkhardt.
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Re: What's everyone reading?

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Estoniacus Inoriginale wrote:Herman Hesse was an integral genius, and by integral I mean he tried to integrate the external, internal, individual, collective, dimensions of human (and one can assume animal) existence, and that is otherwise expressed as subjective, objective, intersubjective and interobjective quadrants of reality that integrate in many directions, which actually unites humanity and all of life to some degree, and also Herman Hesse practiced eastern religious, spiritual and philosophical methods of transformation and thought... and he disturbed me the most...
Ah yes, impressive dude indeed. I felt quite similarly about Dostoevski. I get total brain convextivity beyond my current capacities even considering these two, today.
words are such a poor representation of reality. please listen to what I mean, not what I say.

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1%homeless
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Re: What's everyone reading?

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PeterD wrote: In my case, I am trying to understand option trading, and, unfortunately, you need to have not only a good foundation of basic maths but of Calculus as well.
Heh. :) I just got into options myself. Once I discovered options, I don't see myself touching stocks anymore unless it involves options. I might give this book a try too. It's difficult to find a good Math book for self-study... I just ordered Vedic Mathematics. This is supposed to help you do basic calculations quicker.
Lex wrote: I also think she was a poor writer...
Although I don't know if I can call her a poor writer, but Rand's style irritates me. Is it me or is her writing patronizing?

Well... I've built up quite a pile of books. Here is just a sample to represent my current interests:

Comprehensive Asian Fight Arts by Donn Draeger. This is actually quite a good book about Asian martial arts. I think this is as close as you can get to a scholarly kind of work about martial arts. It has greatly simplified conceptually the various Chinese and Japanese styles. Ok, I am taking Aikido classes too. :P

Unknown Quantity -A Real and Imaginary History of Algebra. This book has the best basic explanation I've ever encountered about N (natural numbers), Z(integers), Q(rational numbers), R (real numbers), C (complex numbers). I'm not sure if it has anything else for those wanting to learn math through a historical approach. You need some math training to understand/appreciate this book.

Way of the Turtle -The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders. Despite the new-age infomercial subcontext of the title, it has a few tid-bits of useful information for intermediate level traders. It's practicality is arguable. The main title is derived from an experiment/bet about whether it was nature or nurture that determined your trading skill. There's also nothing really secret about the methods either.

grdSavant
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Re: What's everyone reading?

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1%homeless wrote:Although I don't know if I can call her a poor writer, but Rand's style irritates me. Is it me or is her writing patronizing?
Geez, I find your word "patronizing" much more acceptable than the word I had for her intellectual presentation. --jerry
words are such a poor representation of reality. please listen to what I mean, not what I say.

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Re: What's everyone reading?

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As far as school reading, Frankenstein and Haunting of Hill House are the reading books. I have a bunch of Chemical, XHTML/CSS, and Math stuff to wade thru, not to mention I might end up reading Marxism by Thomas Sowell and I read an awful lot for somebody that's supposed to be a "scientist". Fortunately for me, I like reading, which is a good thing because I do a lot of it.

As far as Classics, I'm starting to do Wheelock's next week. I need to replace my Computer Mouse-sized dictionary from High School.

And then! For fun, I'm slogging thru The Count of Monte Cristo and reading The Bell Jar on the side.

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Lex
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Re: What's everyone reading?

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Wabbles wrote: And then! For fun, I'm slogging thru The Count of Monte Cristo and reading The Bell Jar on the side.
:shock:

Let me get this straight... you're reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar for fun? That book would be enough to make me want to commit suicide. :wink:
I, Lex Llama, super genius, will one day rule this planet! And then you'll rue the day you messed with me, you damned dirty apes!

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Re: What's everyone reading?

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Lex wrote:
Wabbles wrote: And then! For fun, I'm slogging thru The Count of Monte Cristo and reading The Bell Jar on the side.
:shock:

Let me get this straight... you're reading Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar for fun? That book would be enough to make me want to commit suicide. :wink:
I'm very close to death with my workload, and somebody has to finish the deed. :wink:

On the other hand, I can't stop laughing at how everybody keeps swooning and going into Inigo Montoya moments randomly in The Count of Monte Cristo for no good reason.

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