What do Macheads read?

[ora]

Thanks Esquilinho! I'm off on holiday in a week or so and I need to grab some books. If they have either the calvino or the borges at the english bookstore, I'll grab them.

I"m interested in your literature studies, what's your area?

Rhisart; if you like pop-science (but not too pop) try that Paul Broks book I mentioned, It's kinda my area (the neuro and the writing side) and its beautifully poetic and one of my faves. Also try Genome by Mat Ridley, pop-sci but decent, beware his other books though.

I agree on Clarke by the way, amazing ideas but I just don't think the guy can write!

[adambyte]

Originally Posted by rhisiart

Where can I get this? Don't get me wrong, I have a lovely wife, but I really could do with a good hearty laugh right now.

Hope this amazon link works...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031...Fencoding=UTF8

[Rhisiart]

Originally Posted by adambyte

Hope this amazon link works...

Yes it did. Thanks. Only problem is ... well, since intially posting this message and actually having read the description on Amazon, its sounds a bit exploitive. Actually, it sounds very exploitive. Mind you, if it was written by a woman about getting dumb men laid, perhaps it would be seen as OK? Who knows? (BTW, I loved Stupid White Men).

Originally Posted by ora

Rhisart; if you like pop-science (but not too pop) try that Paul Broks book I mentioned, It's kinda my area (the neuro and the writing side) and its beautifully poetic and one of my faves. Also try Genome by Mat Ridley, pop-sci but decent, beware his other books though.

Will do. Grazie.

[bbloke]

If you feel like a chuckle, rhisiart, Douglas Adams' books can be very good if you haven't already read them.

As for Calvino, I've only read one of his books ("Marcovaldo") so I can't judge his entire works, but I did find that one odd. It felt very "simple," I don't know how else to put it. I wondered more and more if it was a book aimed at teenagers, perhaps. It probably just isn't quite my sort of thing, but I'm not slagging it off, though.

If people don't mind a bit of heavier reading, I strongly recommend works by Primo Levi. I started with "If This is a Man" and was very much gripped. "The Truce" was a bit weaker in my view, but "The Drowned and the Saved" was very strong again. Primo Levi was an Italian who was sent to Auschwitz and survived until the late 1980s. He was a scientist (specifically, a chemist) by profession and wrote about his experiences in Auschwitz in a very analytical manner. He wrote with emotion and compassion, but seemingly without bitterness (quite a feat...). He learned a huge amount during his incarceration and his books are as much about the nature of life and the way human beings tick as they are about his specific experiences. I've also got "The Periodic Table," but have not read it yet.

[thatcomputerguy]

Another vote for Douglas Adams, the man was a genius. Also, Spike Milligan is an old favorite that i'd forgotten about until recently and am "rediscovering".

[Ferdinand]

My fav books are "The Golden Hour", "The Opponent", "Pompeji" and "Anders". Though two of them are in German and I think only availabe in Austria. If you like action, mystery etc then The Opponent is a really good book for you to read.

[Esquilinho]

Originally Posted by ora

Thanks Esquilinho! I'm off on holiday in a week or so and I need to grab some books. If they have either the calvino or the borges at the english bookstore, I'll grab them.

I"m interested in your literature studies, what's your area?

Back in the 90s, I studied Modern Languages and Literature – English and German (i.e., literature written in these 2 languages). But I didn't go much further than my college degree. It was just those 4 years and that was it. Now I only read!

So I studied a lot of different authors from different eras, like Shakespeare, Gore Vidal, Goethe, Thomas Bernhard, Melville, Dickens (iac!), Oscar Wilde, Virginia Wolf, Brecht, you name it! And also some authors that were not from those languages, in more general subjects that I had, like Calvino, Borges and Umberto Eco (his essays are great, BTW) in Literature Theory or Aristotle in Introduction to Literary Studies… Enough? I always feel like I talk to much!

Originally Posted by bbloke

As for Calvino, I've only read one of his books ("Marcovaldo") so I can't judge his entire works, but I did find that one odd. It felt very "simple," I don't know how else to put it. I wondered more and more if it was a book aimed at teenagers, perhaps. It probably just isn't quite my sort of thing, but I'm not slagging it off, though.

I didn't read that one But The Invisible Cities is not strange either. But the other ones I quoted are definately strange!

[sinclair_tm]

Originally Posted by fryke

Oh. Ray Bradbury. Almost forgot to mention him.

ditto. i lovehis stuff too. i like the older sci-fi stuff by the masters; ie bradbury, asimov, clarke, herbert... thats what i read of fun.