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Post by Laura on Jan 4, 2010 6:42:19 GMT -6
Oh, I've read Ishmael Beah! Great book!
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Post by juliet on Jan 4, 2010 17:29:35 GMT -6
As a side note to Rosa's reads, there is a book by William Golding called The Inheritors. It depicts the meeting between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens. Interesting read and beautiful story telling by Golding.
I would like to read Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
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rosa
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Post by rosa on Jan 5, 2010 20:04:03 GMT -6
and, i just realized I might have misrepresented - that's not his main thesis. The main focus of the book is aggression and problem solving, from politics to homicide to war. I'm just extra interested in the sex parts
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Post by juliet on Feb 13, 2010 21:57:37 GMT -6
Breaking the Spell by Daniel Dennett.
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rosa
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Post by rosa on Feb 15, 2010 21:51:45 GMT -6
What's that about, Juliet? I'm 3/4 of the way through a book by one of my favorite authors, Barbara Hambly. It's a historical novel set during the civil war, an epistolary novel. The letter writers are young women who were friends at some sort of young ladies' academy (that's one of Hambly's special interests, the education of young women and how the bookish girls felt about it in the 18th and 19th centuries - she is a history professor and a big SF geek). On e is from Maine, but her husband is from Kentucky and went South to fight for the Confederates. The other is from Kentucky. They both read a lot of novels (with the reminders that what we think of as Great Literature was once considered frivolous) when they can, and have a LOT of daily work to do, and get bogged down with family duties (caring for wounded or abandoned relatives, caring for an elderly parent) while being basically estranged from everyone around them and separated from their friend by distance and interrupted communication. I really like it - she did an earlier novel about the Revolution through the War of 1812, but the conceit she used to pull it together (a fictional woman spy who befriended various first ladies) fell flat for me. This one is awesome. I hope someone decides to illustrate it - it's written in historian style, with notations [never sent] or dates of letters lost, or images just marked out with sketches and described in the text.
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Post by juliet on Feb 15, 2010 22:31:42 GMT -6
Hi Rosa, Daniel Dennett is a philosopher and in this book he is asking the questions, "If religion, like music, for example, is a natural part of humanity, why is it taboo to seek to better understand it through thorough study?" and, "What could we gain from studying religion as we do other humanities?" It has been a wonderful read, so far. I even went on YouTube (found a <30 min. clip of him at a TED conference on this topic) to find him speaking so I could actually "hear" his voice as I read the book. He is gentle in his approach, but realistic. His writing style is fluent and elegant. It's a very important question, indeed. Why, of all the humanities, is religion so protected from questioning and study? He does pose a few thoughts on the matter, he's a philosopher after all. Thanks for mentioning your current book. What is the title? First of all, I feel like I can relate to alot of your descriptions. It sounds like something I would be interested in reading. Reminds me of Michener and some of the beautiful characters he created in various times in history. BTW, do you think that a deep understanding of human nature is the tie between history and good SF?
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rosa
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Post by rosa on Feb 16, 2010 10:33:58 GMT -6
Oh, that is an important question. There seems to be a lot of "science of religion" research going on right now. I think a deep understanding of human variation is the link between good historical fiction and good SF. There's too much "X kind of people are blue and live on this planet, which is all jungle" SF out there, though. The book is called Homeland, by Barbara Hambly. Finishing it, I am not 100% on board with the ending - i'm going to have to reread it in a little bit, after I've thought about it. I did really enjoy the literary references/links among the women. It was like a cross between a Michener novel and Reading Lolita in Tehran Another historical novel I really love is by Marge Piercy, City of Light, City of Darkness - it's a working-class women's eye view of the French Revolution. And it has a happy ending, which is nice. The other really good historical novel I've read recently isn't even a historical novel - it was a literary novel that just happened to be written during WWII. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. That one does not have a happy ending, though.
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Post by juliet on Mar 21, 2010 12:27:23 GMT -6
Still working my way through Breaking the Spell. I take it in small chunks as I have mental focus...I don't want to miss anything, but I could always read it again. In the meantime, I have also read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. And I am so glad I did. My psychologist recommended it, and I do also.
Rosa, I like what you said about understanding human variation, including an individual's own variations based on situation, learning, experience, etc.
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