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s_hamann
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« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2010, 01:25:54 PM » |
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I think there is nothing wrong just putting down a book that you haven't finished if it just isn't getting you anywhere. I agree wholeheartedly. |
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jimmy behan
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« Reply #16 on: January 08, 2010, 02:13:53 PM » |
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well get started and then you can BECOME ONE OF US cool billy! only if I can be a MIND though. I take it there will be the obligatory conventions etc. where we can all dress up...  I think there is nothing wrong just putting down a book that you haven't finished if it just isn't getting you anywhere. me neither, I do it all the time, maybe I'm a sucker for the blurbs. I wouldn't sit through an album if I thought it was rubbish. |
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radere
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« Reply #17 on: January 08, 2010, 02:36:29 PM » |
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Currently slogging through Cities Of Salt by Abdelrahman Munif. The first half was excellent, the second...not so much. It just kind of keeps dragging on with no apparent direction or coherent narrative. Can't wait to finish it and move on to something new!
I think there is nothing wrong just putting down a book that you haven't finished if it just isn't getting you anywhere. I agree, but I'm 25 pages from the end now! Just been toughing it out... |
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billygomberg
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« Reply #18 on: January 08, 2010, 02:45:09 PM » |
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well get started and then you can BECOME ONE OF US cool billy! only if I can be a MIND though. I take it there will be the obligatory conventions etc. where we can all dress up... well, then someone would have to dress up like a Dweller and bring "party suppositories" which may not go over so well. |
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radere
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« Reply #19 on: January 21, 2010, 09:34:30 PM » |
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Oliver Sacks - Musicophilia - Tales of Music and the Brain - non-musical people stroke by lightning and suddenly feeling compulsive urge to listen to and compose music, music brainworms, absolute sense of hearing (your dad sniffles in d-minor), music savants, etc. - amazing.
Just picked this up based on this recommendation. Thanks very much! Looking forward to checking it out. Also reading The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead...because I'm a massive dork. |
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« Last Edit: January 21, 2010, 09:46:04 PM by radere »
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tenandtracer
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« Reply #20 on: February 05, 2010, 06:58:19 PM » |
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Favorite books recently:
Robert Sapolsky - A Primate's Memoir. About the author's 20 year study of baboons and surrounding stories of Africa and the like. Fantastic.
Nishida Kitaro - An Inquiry Into Good. In some ways, I feel like many many years of reading led to this book really having a profound impact on me. A difficult read, but in the end on of the most well articulated philosophies I've ever read.
Three Pillars of Zen - Philip Kapleau Roshi. A very fine translation of Zen concepts and well articulated concepts and justifications for various aspects of Zen and its ultimate goal (self-actualization) etc. Rather addictive as well for some reason.
Chaos - James Gleick. Put this one off for years but finally went through it. Great great stuff about chaos theory and scaling and a fine narrative of the process of scientific inquiry.
Glad to see the Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia on here, its been sitting on the shelf for some time but I've been thinking about finally getting in to it. I read much of 'This is Your Brain on Music' but couldn't make it through, maybe Sacks has something more - his quote is on the Sapolsky book actually so he has something going.
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Guy Birkin
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« Reply #21 on: February 06, 2010, 06:49:02 AM » |
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Nishida Kitaro - An Inquiry Into Good. In some ways, I feel like many many years of reading led to this book really having a profound impact on me. A difficult read, but in the end on of the most well articulated philosophies I've ever read.
Chaos - James Gleick. Put this one off for years but finally went through it. Great great stuff about chaos theory and scaling and a fine narrative of the process of scientific inquiry.
That Kitaro book sounds intriguing - will have to check it out. I remember reading Gleick's Chaos for the first time when I was working in the Lake District. I was reading the bit about deterministic chaos and strange attractors: it gave an example of dropping leaves into a stream. I tried it for myself and watched the paths of the leaves gradually diverge from similar initial conditions - chaos in action! Currently reading Thomas Mann - The Magic Mountain. Incredibly detailed account of the passage of time in a Swiss sanatorium. |
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rob
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« Reply #22 on: February 08, 2010, 10:26:48 AM » |
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Walking On The Moon - It's a bio about the Police. The author has a bit of an ax to grind, but he draws equally from all three autobiographies to present the case that they were arguably one of the most vain and calculated bands in the history of rock and roll.
Up next: Barbara Ehrenreich's "Bright Sided" or John Mueller's "Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda"
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Why yes, these are Bugle Boy jeans I'm wearing.
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Koda
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« Reply #23 on: February 08, 2010, 11:06:10 AM » |
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I read much of 'This is Your Brain on Music' but couldn't make it through...
It was a slow read for me. Yet still, there was enoguh to keep me dedicated to finishing it. The Vanishing Elephant - Murakami (wanted some no brainer short stories to read while on the beach during holiday) |
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« Last Edit: February 09, 2010, 07:57:28 AM by Koda »
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jimmy behan
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« Reply #24 on: February 10, 2010, 06:34:31 PM » |
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John Mueller's "Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda" Reminded me of a fascinating interview I heard recently with the author of The Last Train from Hiroshima, a new book by Charles Pellegrino. Sounds like an interesting read. |
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gustavius
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Posts: 6
I used to be Guts (Gus) back on the old forum.
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« Reply #25 on: February 12, 2010, 12:54:12 PM » |
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Hi everyone. I'm finally making my way back in here after the big ploof. :-) has anyone tried one of those kindle/sony readers? any thoughts on them?
I got a Sony PRS-505 a couple of years ago, and I LOVE it. It's perfect for me, because I tend to gather a lot of text material online and I find it a bit of a chore to read it at my desk off the screen. Now I can crash out anywhere to read. Plus, it'll read all the important formats too. I use it so often that when I am reading something on paper (gasp) I feel like I'm cheating on my ereader. As for the new Sonys I've checked out the 700 at the Sony Store and I'd say it's about the best of the current crop. Has some sweet features, like marginal notes and highlighting. |
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-G
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tenandtracer
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« Reply #26 on: March 31, 2010, 11:33:01 PM » |
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A Practical Guide To Racism by C.H. Dalton. Too funny.
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Guy Birkin
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« Reply #27 on: June 09, 2010, 09:19:59 AM » |
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Curtis Roads - Microsound
Tristram Cary - The Illustrated Compendium of Musical Technology
Microsound is brilliant, I'm learning a lot from its in-depth analysis of granular synthesis and historical overview of the genre. Tristram Cary's book is similarly useful, particlularly for electronic music, and has a few insights into his work in the introductory chapter.
Just arrived this morning from Amazon:
Robert McFarlane - Wild Places
A literary equivalent to the Audiobulb compilations Favourite Places. McFarlane recounts his travels to some obscure natural locations, not necessarily vast wilderness, but small pockets of nature hidden amongst the increasing urban sprawl of the British Isles.
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machinesleet
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« Reply #28 on: June 09, 2010, 11:25:34 AM » |
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I have microsound, but haven't got deep in to it.
I've recently bough 'Undercurrents: The Hidden Wiring of Modern Music' which I've not had time to get in to but it seems a good read. Also published by Continuum is Audio Culture which was a real eye opener for me a couple of years ago, its a great book.
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