I finished Harry Potter: The Half Blood Prince last week and since I finished it I've been trying to find people to discuss it with. There were so many clues and revelations to ponder, and like Order of the Phoenix the ending was thrilling, jaw-dropping, and emotion filled. When you've finished reading, post your thoughts below.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Just so you know, I'm not dead.
I have a few things to say. One: I know I haven't posted too many book reviews lately, but that doesn't mean I stopped reading. I recently finished Dark Tide : The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo. It was an excellent and interesting read. There were many things I didn't know in there, such as the fact that the molasses was being used mostly in the production of industrial alcohol for amunitions to be sent to Europe for World War I. Also, During the time leading up the war, America saw numerous terrorist threats, including mail bombs, and carriage bombs (today's equivalent would be car and truck bombs). If you like historical stuff, or are interested in local history, check the book out. It's a good read.
I also recently finished Hoover Dam: An American Adventure by Joseph E. Stevens. It was also an excellent read, detailing an important accomplishment in American history: the building of the Hoover Dam. The book covers the political work that went into choosing everything from the site to the name, as well as the technical aspects of accomplishing such an enormous task. For example, if all of the cement had been poured at once, it would have taken over 100 years to cool. Instead, they had to frame out a cube, run pipes through it, pour the concrete into it, run cold water through the pipes to keep the temperature of the concrete low to avoid cracking and stress fractures, and then fill the pipes with grout. I find these types of man-made structures fascinating: human ingenuity is amazing.
Finally, I'm currently reading Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis. So far it's a great read as well as an excellent counter-point to the current hot-stove season.
Hope everyone out there in blogland is doing well. Talk to you again soon!
I got a comment today from one Ann Marie regarding the quest at davincicode.com. I couldn't answer her at first, as I was completetely unaware that there even was a quest. I quickly took up the challenge and went to check it out. You should too. Then we can talk about it. I made it all the way through to the end, only using the hint button once and looking up the middle of chapter 44 info as I have since given my copy of the book away. Let me know how you make out.
I recently finished reading Ambling into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush by Frank Bruni. I was not impressed.
Bruni is a reporter who followed Bush during his election campaign. Most of Bruni's insight comes from interactions and interviews with Bush during this time. The book is long winded and seems to go no-where. Bruni uses 288 pages to say nice things about Bush and to talk about the fun he had on Bush's campaign plane.
On top of this, Bruni's style and commentary on journalism left me feeling disgusted. He mentions times when one candidate would be asked a question while the other was unable to comment (due to being somewhere else or being busy with something else). The candidate who commented was on the "offensive", the other on the "defensive" (merely because they couldn't asnwer right away). Bruni and the media would turn events like this into a big issue, changing public opinion and affecting the candidates momentums by turning small things into big deals. Bruni claims this is unfortunate and wrong, but does so in such an off-handed way as to make it hard to believe him.
With all of the scandal and problems in politics, the last thing we need is journalists contributing to the circus. This book left me feeling disheartened and upset. Between Bruni's style and the lack of information, it was a waste of time. In short, Bush is a smart and personable man who does much better communicating in small groups as opposed to giving speeches in front of large audiences. He has a wild and sometimes childish sense of humor and a strong sense of family. There's more to him than meets the eye. Now you don't have to waste your time reading Ambling.
In other news, I started reading Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution by Howard Rheingold. I'm enjoying it a lot so far. I'll let you know if I still like it when I'm done.
I finished Stiff by Mary Roach a few weeks ago, but things have been so crazy I haven't had a chance to tell you about it, so here goes:
I really enjoyed this one, but it's definitely not for everyone. The subject matter is definitely hard to stomach, and death is not something many of us are comfortable with. Given that, Roach adds a lot of humor to the topic, while at the same time pointing out all of the ways that cadavers help the living. She definitely covers a lot of territory from forensic study of decay to "medicinal" uses of corpse parts.
If you have a quirky sense of humor and a lot of curiousity, you'll enjoy this book. It made me laugh out loud quite a few times. If you're more conservative, though, you might want to skip this one. It leans slightly towards the voyeuristic and some of Roach's humor is easy to take offense to. It's full of information, though, and enjoyable as a quick and entertaining look into a strange and obscure subject.
The bottom line: you'll need to decide for yourself if you want to check this one out, but personally, I enjoyed it.
I finished reading Hillary Clinton's book Living History. This book is far from an award winner, however it's an interesting look into the political system.
Having never run for office, I found myself marvelling at the things she had to do in order to get where she was. For instance, she's been active in politics since she was a child. She had a huge social network from working on other politicians campaigns. I'd like to think that a politically minded twenty something year old could be successful running for some kid of office, but based on her story it seems unlikely unless you're a lifelong politician.
Another thing I found disturbing in this book was the extent to which partisan politics was placed above the good of the American people. It seemed that constantly one or the other parties was more concerned about the other party and their doings than they were about what was important to the people who elected them. That, my friends, is bullshit.
The story is very detailed and full of names. So much so that Clinton introduces you to them over and over, as even she knows you'll never keep them straight. Some of the happenings are not very exciting, however all of them are interesting as far as understanding Hillary and her outlook on things. There are some very funny passages as well, such as her recounting of Boris Yeltsin's attempt to feed her moose lips.
The bottom line is that this book comes off as the foundation for larger political goals (read: a Presidential run). Hillary outlines her beliefs, her politcal goals, what she's accomplished, what she hasn't, what she wants, and why we should cut her some slack (those damn Republicans!). The style is somewhere between formal and friendly, rough in spots, but touching in its awkwardness in others.
Although it dragged at points, Living History was worth the read. It taught me a lot about Hillary and left me looking forward to Bill's side of the story of his Presidency. What was he doing while she was travelling the world? How did he feel about the constant roadblocks and investigations? Something tells me I'll get my chance to find out in the near future...
Don says that he blew through the first books. But the "most recent volume, Order of Phoenix, seems different from the previous four volumes. It goes deeper into Harry Potter's mind and tries to teach something to the kids. While I breezed through other volumes in matter of hours, I struggled over several days to read few chapters of the latest volume."
Hello? Earth to Don? What is wrong with teaching something to kids? You make it sound like a bad thing. Walk through any public place and look around. You'll notice that today's kids have *a lot* to learn.
Don also says "My son had similar problems so he skipped through most of the book. When I asked him his opinion about the book, he said it was fun. I didn't probe deeper because he was obviously faking it." I'd be very interested to know how old Don's son is. Maybe he's not old enough to be able to appreciate the struggles Harry is going through as he works through his teen years.
The books are written so as to follow Harry's travels through school. In the first book he's ten and in the fifth he's 15. His view of the world while young is much more shallow and superficial than it is as he grows older. Some people, and that includes Don, may want Harry to stay in his fantasy world where everything is black and white and the grown-ups know best. In my opinion, though, the series is nothing but better with the addition of the more realistic themes and Harry's more young-adult view of the world. The fifth book definitely didn't go south.
I finished reading the DaVinci code, and I have to say: I liked it a lot. The shorter chapters were conducive to reading on the T and kept the story moving quickly along. The strong reliance on art history and art studies gave the book a very truthful and realistic feel, drawing me in even more. The writing style is light and easy. Plot wise, there's not a lot of fluff; the story is fast paced and moves.
Overall, I highly recommend this one. It reads quickly and lends itself to a few chapters before bed, a few on the train, and before you know it you're hooked and burning from one end to the other. Throughout I found myself guessing at the meaning of clues and riddles as I tried to figure out what was going on. With a few sharp turns at the end, there are suprises even when you think you've got it all figured out.
When you finish, let me know what you think.
ESPN.com: Page2 - Harry Potter and the Corked Broom
I used to read the Page 2 Column, enjoying it the most during the Patriots' run for the SuperBowl as the author is a Patriots fan. At some point, the old Page 2 and I grew apart. I checked it out tonight though, finding this "sample" chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Great stuff!
I finished Harry Potter Five, The Order of the Phoenix on Friday night. Having had a few days to think it over and to get into some preliminary discussions with some other people, I’d like to start a conversation hear about the story, what people thought, how it relates to the other books, and where Rowling will go from here.
Careful, though: there will most likely be spoilers ahead…
Last night I went to Barnes and Noble to get my copy of the newest addition to the Harry Potter series. It was a lot of fun.
I reached the store at about 10:45. There was no parking nearby so I had to park a few stores down. Entering the building, I was greeted by a B&N employee who asked if I had preordered and since I hadn't directed me to a table where I could get a ticket in order to get in line for a copy. As I made my way towards where he had pointed I was amazed by the number of people and the Potter fever that was everywhere. People with lightning bolt scars, people with wands, people dressed up like Myrtle, people dressed like the knight in the painting, people with capes and hats and Griffindor t-shirts and scarves and more. What had done this? A book! And not just any book, an 890 page monster. Incredible.
I had a great time waiting for the books to go on sale watching the excited kids and adults as they passed the time. When the book finally went on sale, groups of ticket holders were called up front thirty at a time. It was handled very well avoiding a lot of the nastiness usually involved in some long awaited consumer product. The lines moved quickly and orderly, the doors weren't blocked, and people managed to keep a smile on their face all the way to and out of the door. It was great.
I'm really excited to have the book and to start reading it. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, do you have your copy?
So there's this guy named Burke. He says human beings use and misuse symbols (translation: we use words). Burke claims by looking at these symbols, how they're organized and grouped, and in what situations they're used we can determine meanings that are systemic in nature; we can find meanings that are implied but not explicit.
I know what you're thinking. "This crap is so boring." I disagree. This type of analysis is important in figuring out not what was said, but what was meant.
Now here's my contribution. Words=Characters=Binary. In my opinion, and without a lot of AI, it should be relatively easy to construct a web of symbols from a text, linking portions together by their constructs (i.e. phrases to particular usages of the individual words in them). It would then be possible to create a simple burkean analysis of a piece of work much larger than what has been done in the past. However, this burkean analysis could be taken further.
What happens when you begin to explore the thoughts of a group? Burkean analysis of the warbloggers? Of sports bloggers? By looking at social networks and the words they use and the way they use them (while keeping in mind that what is said is just as important as what's not said) I think we could come up with some interesting ways to study memes in the blogosphere.
Now I'm not the first to claim this task is automatable. There's a guy named Rod at the University of Texas doing similar things, only his work seems to be based on dictionaries. I'll have to download and try his stuff to see how it works.
And just like that, I'm spent. Feel free to add to the convesation if you'd like. I'd be interested to hear what people in other disciplines think.
So I'm currently reading the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov. I managed to score a paperback version with the first three books together for a buck. Can't beat that, right? Problem: try and find a picture of the cover. Problem Two: I'm too lazy to scan it. In any case, the Foundation trilogy is to science fiction what the Lord of The Rings trilogy is to fantasy. Excellent set of books. What I didn't know is that there are more of them, written by other authors though. Anyone know anything about them?
I'm not currently listening to anything in particular. I go through spurts where I buy books, and then through rushes of CD buying. This weekend I managed to grab The DaVinci Code as well as (don't laugh!) Hillary Clinton's memoir. I know, I caved. Who knows, though... Maybe it'll turn out ok... Back to music (where I started) BB King released an album last week supposedly, so I'll probably look for that. I'll let you know if I find it.
What are you reading and listening to?
[T]ake a deep breath. Assume Shakespeare's account is accurate and Julius Caesar gasped "You too, Brutus" before breathing his last. What are the chances you just inhaled a molecule which Caesar exhaled in his dying breath? The surprising answer is that, with probability better than 99%, you did just inhale such a molecule.
For those who don't believe me: I'm assuming that after more than two thousand years the exhaled molecules are universally spread about the world and the vast majority are still free in the atmosphere. Given these reasonably valid assumptions, the problem of determining the relevant probability is straightforward. If there are N molecules of air in the world and Caesar exhaled A of them, then the probability that any given molecule you inhale is from Caesar is A/N. The probability that any given molecule you inhale is not from Caesar is thus 1 - A/N. By the multiplication principle, if you inhale three molecules the probability that none of these three is from Caesar is [1-A/N]3. Similarly, if you inhale B molecules, the probability that none of them is from Caesar is [1-A/N]B. Hence the probability of the complimentary event, of your inhaling at least one of his exhaled molecules, is 1-[1-A/N]B. A, B (each about 1/3oth of a liter, or 2.2 x 1022), and N (about 1044 molecules) are such that this probability is more than .99. It's intriguing that we're all, at least in this minimal sense, eventually part of one another.
The above passage comes from Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences, by John Allen Paulos. I picked it up from the Quincy library yesterday and after only thirty pages, I'm alread confused and amazed. The amount of information Paulos gleans from very simple facts, although not earth shattering is at least amazing. For instance, he claims it takes a mere 367 people to assure that more than one person will have the same birthday. Extremely interesting reading.
And yes, I know I need to update the currently reading section... Maybe I should look into using all consuming instead.
I'm currently reading 19 Weeks by Norman Moss. It's a book about "America, Britain, and the Fateful summer of 1940". Althought the writing isn't top notch, it's a good read full of facts, history, and great insights.
For example, Moss says:
As it happens, an event occured in May 1940 that had as powerful an effect on Japan's trade in the long run as any government measure could have. The first nylon stockings went on sale. The previous year, American women alone had bought 580 million pairs of silk stockings, most made with Japanese silk. Now the great era of silk was coming to an end.
The point he's making is that because of the change in technology and materials, he Japanese economy was put into a weaker position, possibly pushing them further towards war than they might have otherwise been. It's an interesting thing to think about.
One of the other things he talks about is how quickly the Germans moved and how differently they used their tanks and armored vehicles. Hitler did things that we emulate today; there are striking similarities to how he used armor to spearhead an invasion after using aircraft to soften up defenses and what we just did in the war in Iraq.
So far, this has been a good read. Can anyone recomment other books about World War One and Two or more specifically about F.D.R.?
Ok. I admit it. I finished reading Tolkien's Silmarillion weeks ago. In the meantime I've cruised through The Belgariad series (five books) by David Eddings and am halfway through the final book of his Mallorean series (five books as well). Curse me and my book review writing procrastination.
If you're a Tolkien fan, the Silmarillion is amazing. Don't get me wrong, it's tough to read and tough to get through. Definitely worth the effort though.
Why's it so hard? Written using what is most easily described as Old English or Shakespearean, the style and tone are difficult to get a grip on. It's heavy and dense. For those familiar with LOTR, it's a far cry from the easy readability those books had. There are many characters with similar names, and many characters with more than one name. I found myself frequently flipping to the name index in the back of the book (which completely ruled) to figure out who we were talking about.
Even though it's a little tough to read, the stories are amazing. Epic and heartbreaking, Tolkien pulled no punches. Face it: in life, sometimes we get screwed. In Middle Earth, it wasn't sometimes. People got screwed almost all the time.
And that's part of what makes it so great. The hardships and difficulties, losses and tragedy that plague the different races in the Silmarillion set the scene for the incredible triumph we see in LOTR.
The Silmarillion is written and edited with the same care and attention to detail that went into the other books. The stories are enthralling and addictive. This is definitely one book I plan to read again, well worth the effort and the time.
CNN.com - New Potter book goes public June 21
Yes! I can't wait either. I really really liked the fourth one. Matter of fact, I didn't really get to talk about it much, so let this thread be the start of my new Harry Potter discussion. Feel free to bring in relevant info from other fantasy literature, and be warned: the very first comment is going to have spoiler info, so stay away if you haven't read the books yet.
A while ago, I mentioned that I had started reading Six Days of War, by Oren. Last night I finally finished it.
It was definitely hard to get into. The first section of the book sets up the background for the war. It was hard to keep all of the names straight because to my unexperienced American ears, the Arab names all sound the same. However, the more I read, the more familiar I became with the different players, and the more it made sense.
It's said that history repeats itself, and this book is a perfect example. After many guerilla raids and terrorist strikes against Israel, many threats from the Arab world and many attempts by the Israelis to reach peace through political methods instead of war, there was no other choice. Israel struck first, destroying the entire Egyptian army and humiliating the Soviets, the Syrians, the Jordanians, the Egyptians, the Iraqis, and more. I found the details of the battle to be extremely interesting, however the political struggles that went on behind the scenes were also enthralling.
I'm glad that I invested the time and effort to finish this one. It was well worth it, giving me at least a little bit more knowledge about why we are where we are today.
In closing, I think I'm hooked. Anyone know of any books that look at the time from 1967 to the present in the Middle East? I'd appreciate it.
Recent Comments