Top 10 Books

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

I subscribe to this magazine but for some reason I can't seem to access the whole article. Anyway, it offers criticism of several of hs works.

The problem, say many scholars, is that Diamond gets the past wrong. Criticism of his work focuses on a concern that Diamond fails to appreciate the complex role that culture plays in the development of societies. Anthropologists and archaeologists whose lives are devoted to studying the complexity of culture recoil at Diamond's statement that "historical studies of human societies can be pursued as scientifically as the study of dinosaurs."

http://www.archaeology.org/0803/abstracts/insider.html

This is not online but from the same article:

"The entire premise of of Guns, Germs, And Steel is flawed, thery say, because it seeks to explian the dominance of European civilzation as the culmination of a seriues of historical accidents that started with the first domestication of plant and animal species some 13000 years ago."

They do not take issue with Diamond's insistence that genetic differences have not impacted history but I certainly do. As a matter of fact, they say it's laudable to stress this point. Good grief...

[SDML]

Vermouth - I didn't realize Miller was "stream of consciousness". Ever read "Naked Lunch" or some of Tom Wolfe's experimental journalism?

How do you non-linear & "mind-fuck" films like much of the work of David Lynch ("Lost Highway", "Mulholland Drive", etc.) & David Cronenberg ("Videodrome", "Dead Ringers", etc)?

Mr. D - I look forward to the article. Perhaps I'll look up some other critiques, too.

Spunk - Read Carl Sagan's "Demon Haunted World" and then get back to me....

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

I'll try but I can't seem to get the whole article. I pasted some of it above with a link. I don't know why I can't access the whole thing. I'm a subscriber! 

[Peter1469]

I have a hard time reading books, but lately it's been getting better.

Right now I'm doing some fictional reading.

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Numerology"

When I finish, I will want to know you guys' names and birth dates so I can tell you your life paths and maturity paths.

I like to bite into this kind of stuff once in awhile just to see if it has any merit.


Hey.  I still believe in aliens; should it be no surprise?

Let me know when you are ready. 

[Vermouth]

The problem, say many scholars, is that Diamond gets the past wrong. Criticism of his work focuses on a concern that Diamond fails to appreciate the complex role that culture plays in the development of societies. Anthropologists and archaeologists whose lives are devoted to studying the complexity of culture recoil at Diamond's statement that "historical studies of human societies can be pursued as scientifically as the study of dinosaurs."

I understood the book to be a presentation of a theory, not a comprehensive analysis. Certainly you have to look at all influences - cultural, genetic, environmental. His book introduced factors which had not previously been considered and may have have influenced the course of history.

Why do anthropologists and archaeologists take issue with the idea that studying culture is a scientific endeavor? Assuming we are talking about ancient societies from which no first-hand accounts remain.

[Vermouth]

Vermouth - I didn't realize Miller was "stream of consciousness". Ever read "Naked Lunch" or some of Tom Wolfe's experimental journalism?

How do you non-linear & "mind-fuck" films like much of the work of David Lynch ("Lost Highway", "Mulholland Drive", etc.) & David Cronenberg ("Videodrome", "Dead Ringers", etc)?

Actually, I probably shouldn't have described him that way. I don't think Miller is technically "stream of consciousness" ... he's more like someone telling a story who never takes a breath and goes on a lot of tangents.

I was disappointed by Naked Lunch. I thought I'd really like it, but I didn't. I'm not familiar with Tom Wolfe. I'm embarrassed to say I've never seen any of those movies, but I thought "Memento" was great. I guess that one was more reverse-linear!

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

The problem, say many scholars, is that Diamond gets the past wrong. Criticism of his work focuses on a concern that Diamond fails to appreciate the complex role that culture plays in the development of societies. Anthropologists and archaeologists whose lives are devoted to studying the complexity of culture recoil at Diamond's statement that "historical studies of human societies can be pursued as scientifically as the study of dinosaurs."

I understood the book to be a presentation of a theory, not a comprehensive analysis. Certainly you have to look at all influences - cultural, genetic, environmental. His book introduced factors which had not previously been considered and may have have influenced the course of history.

Why do anthropologists and archaeologists take issue with the idea that studying culture is a scientific endeavor? Assuming we are talking about ancient societies from which no first-hand accounts remain.

It is Diamond's aim to discount all factors except those beyond the environmental ones.

I'd have to review the article. I read it some time back. They only have this excerpt online which is kinda silly but whatever. I found the issue in my closet and will report back.

[jack_griffin1]

AOL released their list of "10 Book to Read Before You Die".

1) Gone With the Wind
2) Lord of the Rings
3) Harry Potter
4) The Stand
5) DaVinci Code
6) To Kill a Mockingbird
7) Angels & Demons
Atlas Shrugged
9) Catcher in the Rye
10) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I disagree whole-heartedly with this list, of course. But it's nice to have a book list anyway.

What would be on YOUR list?

This list is such a load of crap. The only deserving titles on there are "Gone with the Wind," "To Kill a Mockingbird," and "The Catcher in the Rye." Why isn't Jack Kerouac on there? What about George Orwell? Where the hell is H. G. Wells?

It saddens me that TWO Dan Brown novels beat J. D. Salinger. Dan Brown wishes he could write as well as Salinger on a bad day. It's embarrassing.

Here's my list...in no order, because I can't stand organizing it…

1.   "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" – Robert Louis Stevenson
2.   "The Great Gatsby" – F. Scott Fitzgerald
3.   "The Catcher in the Rye" – J. D. Salinger
4.   "Dracula" – Bram Stoker
5.   "Frankenstein" – Mary Shelley
6.   "The Invisible Man" – H. G. Wells
7.   "Nineteen Eighty-Four" – George Orwell
8.   "Animal Farm" – George Orwell
9.   "On the Road" – Jack Kerouac
10.   "To Kill a Mockingbird" – Harper Lee

[SDML]

Good list, Jack! I didn't care for "Dracula", but I loved "Frankenstein".

Vermouth - Didja see either "Fight Club" or "The Matrix"? Not as weird as the others listed, but they share that mind-twist thing...at least on the first viewing.

[Mr. Dirlewanger]

Good list, Jack! I didn't care for "Dracula", but I loved "Frankenstein".

Vermouth - Didja see either "Fight Club" or "The Matrix"? Not as weird as the others listed, but they share that mind-twist thing...at least on the first viewing.

Other way around for me. Dracula is one of the best I've ever read but Frankenstein didn't do it for me.

[Vermouth]

Good list, Jack! I didn't care for "Dracula", but I loved "Frankenstein".

Vermouth - Didja see either "Fight Club" or "The Matrix"? Not as weird as the others listed, but they share that mind-twist thing...at least on the first viewing.

Yes. I liked both of those.

[Vermouth]

Sailing Alone Around the World - Joshua Slocum, 1900

I apologize for my sailing jag this evening. I just want to point out that Joshua Slocum was the first to solo circumnavigate.

http://www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.org/solo/solotable.htm

Granted he was lost at sea a few years later, but his navigation skills were unreal.

[gorknoids]

AOL released their list of "10 Book to Read Before You Die".

1) Gone With the Wind
2) Lord of the Rings
3) Harry Potter
4) The Stand
5) DaVinci Code
6) To Kill a Mockingbird
7) Angels & Demons
Atlas Shrugged
9) Catcher in the Rye
10) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I disagree whole-heartedly with this list, of course. But it's nice to have a book list anyway.

What would be on YOUR list?

Sure as shit not THOSE! 

The Journeyer
Aztec
It (Gott'a have that crackhead on the list, I suppose.)
After that it's all technical manuals dealing with the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, with the exception of published in 1913 entitled "The People's Home Library, A Library of Three Practical Books."  It' one of those books you've heard of wherein the author recommends things like placing a  curing cancer of the colon by opening the patient's window and placing 3 eggs on his or her stomach.  It has no ISBN, because that system wasn't in use at the time of publishing.   

[Gunit Hussein Sangh]

I primarily read sci-fi ...

1) The Well World Series (6 books) by Jack Chaulker
2) The Foundation Series (originally a trilogy -- then 3 more books written and expanded by his son) by Isaac Asimov
3) The Dune Series by Frank Herbert
4) The Clan of The Cave Bear series by Jean Auel
5) The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind

I would also the Hobbit to the list.

[SDML]

I had a rough time with the "Foundation" books (except for the first one), but I love the "Dune" books and everything else I've read by Frank.

Ever read "Green Brain" or "Destination: Void" or "Helstrom's Hive"?