Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Luffy]

My 4 star review of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, by Sam Harris :-

Spoiler:

The End of Faith is the type of book of which I can say that I am always grateful that it exists. Most philosophy books are obtuse and inaccessible to the layman. I have always had nothing but admiration and gratitude to people who make precious ideas, and structures of thought available. Even this type of public service is rare. In the form of YouTube videos, info about socialism and capitalism is rare. The best kind of prevaricate. That is why I had been very glad that Sam Harris has used his intellect for the benefit of neuroscience, as opposed to say, derivatives.

Sam Harris is a very articulate person. If he has not written a politically charged book about religion recently, it is because he chooses to express his views through podcasts. And I can attest that Harris has no lack of material. Everything that he talks about could be placed in a book. The guy is very intelligent. When you look at the standards of public discourse, and religious speeches, Harris can blow your mind with ideas that seem irrefutable.

The ideas in The End of Faith are limpid. What I found inaccessible previously, I now find fascinating. And what I found accessible on the first read, I now find interesting, but without the sparkle that usually animates Harris' soundbites. Harris has become a person who can make his living by writing. You got to respect that, given that what he has written has been salient. He is not very visible though. A conman like Lex Fridman boasts 20 times the number of subscribers than Harris.

It is very difficult to gain the type of info that you want, that you know will fill some craving in your mind. I am not talking about eschatology and evangelicalism. I am talking about a subject so rare that you cannot order buttloads of books of them. Twitter is like hillbilly land these days, though I cannot claim to be an expert on such levels of time wasting, as I only recently got an account.

Harris is a cool customer. He provides ideas that will either challenge or change you. Hitchens said that what you can accept without evidence, you can also dismiss without evidence. The sometimes simple levers that underpin the human brain, when that brain has been conditioned to accept faith on blind faith, is fascinating to witness. All because of Harris and the rare service that he provided.

The question of Eastern philosophy should not have interested Harris, as that makes him less interesting in my opinion. Meditation is a luxury that has no crucial scientific benefits, though that is a matter of rigour. If meditation can help you combat alcoholism, depression, megalomania, I'm all for it. Should it be part of such a book? I don't think so. It blunts the subject matter, though I have never heard of anyone else complaining that aspect of Harris' disposition.

This book will always be precious to me. It was released before The God Delusion and is the better of the two. I am so interested in what the world is going to be in the upcoming years. I know I am living in a world where science is progressing so fast, yet the hobbled effigy of religion is always trying to hobble science and pay it back for its irrelevancy. This is the problem... we cannot get at the info we want, what we really need.

We have been hindered by a mechanism of camouflage. The vital piece of knowledge that can do things like making your life easy in terms of productivity, help you keep your calm, help you vote in a way that is highly beneficial to you, all of this is exposed. In the end I would say that The End of Faith is a gift of reason. It is a dollop of rationality that is encapsulated in a breath of fresh air. What Harris had been dreading in the opening paragraphs has not happened. There has not been nuclear winter. The situation seems defused. But bad things keep happening in the world. Let me end by saying that The End of Faith is entertaining?? It was a delight to partake of its contents. I would rather reread it than watch the next Batman movie, e.g. Throughout the years so many formerly prized things have become boring to me. Football matches, porn, movies, Shakespeare to an extent, all have become boring. But I can always cheer myself up with the perusal of this timeless book.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Best of Jerry Pournelle. Another recent purchase.

Which also turns out to be a book by the assistant to a best selling author after the author's death.

But in this case, it's a collection of stories and articles (most articles are about Pournelle, not by Pournelle), some stories previously unpublished.

It was good, but I think it would have worked better as a two volumes, a personal biography, and a collection of his shorter fiction. 4/5

Next up: Curtain: Poirot's Last Case by Agatha Christie. Her 76th book. I'm almost to the end of her output.

[issybird]

I've finished Diana Tempest by Mary Cholmondeley, a sensational late Victorian novel that is both well-written and includes trenchant social commentary on women's roles, sexual morality and religion. A terrific read.

I'm currently reading Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern by well-known classicist Mary Beard which is fascinating and One's Company: A Journey to China in 1933 by Peter Fleming (Ian's brother, he gets a mention), which is an interesting snapshot but hurt by a smart-alecky tone.

[Bookstooge]

the silent seven, another The Shadow novel by Maxwell Grant.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

I've finished Diana Tempest by Mary Cholmondeley, a sensational late Victorian novel that is both well-written and includes trenchant social commentary on women's roles, sexual morality and religion. A terrific read.

I'm currently reading Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern by well-known classicist Mary Beard which is fascinating and One's Company: A Journey to China in 1933 by Peter Fleming (Ian's brother, he gets a mention), which is an interesting snapshot but hurt by a smart-alecky tone.

I do love a good Mary Beard.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Curtain: Poirot's Last Case by Agatha Christie. Her 76th book. I'm almost to the end of her output.

A good ending to Poirot's cases. We'll ignore the timeline problems.

Next up: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. The fourth in his Stormlight series. Another massive tome - 1324pp according the calibre!

[Luffy]

My 3 star review of The Age of Reason Begins: The Story of Civilization, Volume VII, by Will Durant:-

Spoiler:

I have always wondered how I keep coming to try these books after DNFing them so regularly and so discouragingly. With this book, I got my answer finally. I have realised that the highs in this series are really high, while the lows are mere grey, and quite insipid. I have taken away jewels of knowledge from this huge nonfiction book. But there was no chance in hell of it getting 5 stars.

The standout conflict, to put it mildly, was the tussle between Phillip II and the entire Dutch Civilisation. People say that Mauritians are not patriotic because they haven't shed blood for the cause of their independence. While this has a kernel of truth in it, it does not tell the entire story. True enough, the most inhuman and most drawn out war, the 80 Year war was mostly about getting rid of foreign and religious oppression. As a result of the peace, the Netherlands were the most emancipated country in Europe. The first free press came from them. For about a century they were the masters in the very crucial science of mapmaking. The Dutch were the first inhabitants of my country's history, Mauritius. To cut to the chase, I would say that the level of savagery achieved in this war was more than what they showed in Game of Thrones. The variety of inflicting defeat and pain was second to most none.

The development of technology and the proliferation of inventions were heartwarming when read about them in the book. The fountain pen, the thermometer and barometer, the invention of the printing press, all changed the game of civilisation. The Bible remained the most published and most read book ever. But the ideas of mortals came to wobble it from its throne. I now fully understand the quote of Isaac Newton:- “If I have seen further,” Isaac Newton wrote in a 1675 letter to fellow scientist Robert Hooke, “it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Now I know the names of those giants. I also know why people don't place any scientist, including Newton, above John von Neumann in terms of raw cerebral power.

Throughout Europe there was the dismantling of feudal power. The 16th and 17th centuries had the kings being under the influence and yoke of the Popes. I hated Henry III more than I liked Henry IV, who sounds like Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark mixed together. This, is neither an exaggeration, nor a joke. Along with the Dutch history, I loved reading about the English and French courts. Shakespeare's chapters gained me new glimpses into the plays I am yet to read of his. I have forgotten a lot already of Spenser, Marlowe, and Sidney. All these writers merged together in one entity in my mind.

The European artists were something! I read avidly about Rembrandt and Rubens, who is my favourite. I began to understand the subtleties of paintings. The play on shadows, colours and light was something I could not get without education. So much that is quotable worthy has been written in this book. The essayist Montaigne was a tough nut to crack. I read about him with excitement. He influenced so many writers. I suspect his effect on future generations was telling. I am almost sure that he influenced Poe, who himself, though a god of literature, is too recent to appear in a volume of Will Durant's. The latter has already been dead by the 80s. I wish he could continue his chronicles indefinitely. I enjoyed his magnum opus a lot and recommend it to people of all ages and abilities.