Great Book(S) Recently Read

[3DOP]

I'm slowly working through Augustine's Confessions and I really like it. So far it's basically his spiritual autobiography. He explains the issues he had with Christianity and how they were resolved. It's surprisingly relevant to our day -- he had faith vs. science issues and at one point seemed to be wondering if all truth was relative.

I love the Game of Thrones books mainly because of the characterization. The characters are real people and very few are stereotypical good or bad characters. I don't recommend watching the series; I saw the first two episodes and that was more than enough. The books have explicit scenes but it's possible to skip them.

 

I struggled with the Confessions too. It has to be slow. It gets pretty deep sometimes. I enjoyed the most stuff like how he felt when he stole the peach. He did steal a peach, I hope? (I mean I hope my memory is accurate, not that I have anything against Augustine's neighbor or his peach tree)

[Calm]

http://www.askphilosophers.org/question/4686

Memory is accurate...sinning for the sake of sinning...hmm...

Apparently some translate it as pear:

"There was a pear tree close to our own vineyard, heavily laden with fruit, which was not tempting either for its colour or for its flavour. Late one night–having prolonged our games in the streets until then, as our bad habit was–a group of young scoundrels, and I among them, went to shake and rob this tree. We carried off a huge load of pears, not to eat ourselves, but to dump out to the hogs, after barely tasting some of them ourselves. Doing this pleased us all the more because it was forbidden. Such was my heart, O God, such was my heart–which thou didst pity even in that bottomless pit. Behold, now let my heart confess to thee what it was seeking there, when I was being gratuitously wanton, having no inducement to evil but the evil itself. It was foul, and I loved it. I loved my own undoing. I loved my error–not that for which I erred but the error itself. A depraved soul, falling away from security in thee to destruction in itself, seeking nothing from the shameful deed but shame itself."

http://idlespeculations-terryprest.blogspot.com/2009/08/st-augustine-and-pear-tree.html

Edited July 23, 2014 by calmoriah

[3DOP]

http://www.askphilosophers.org/question/4686

Memory is accurate...sinning for the sake of sinning...hmm...

Apparently some translate it as pear:

"There was a pear tree close to our own vineyard, heavily laden with fruit, which was not tempting either for its colour or for its flavour. Late one night–having prolonged our games in the streets until then, as our bad habit was–a group of young scoundrels, and I among them, went to shake and rob this tree. We carried off a huge load of pears, not to eat ourselves, but to dump out to the hogs, after barely tasting some of them ourselves. Doing this pleased us all the more because it was forbidden. Such was my heart, O God, such was my heart–which thou didst pity even in that bottomless pit. Behold, now let my heart confess to thee what it was seeking there, when I was being gratuitously wanton, having no inducement to evil but the evil itself. It was foul, and I loved it. I loved my own undoing. I loved my error–not that for which I erred but the error itself. A depraved soul, falling away from security in thee to destruction in itself, seeking nothing from the shameful deed but shame itself."

http://idlespeculations-terryprest.blogspot.com/2009/08/st-augustine-and-pear-tree.html

Wow cal...what a reflection...peach or pear...I am sure it was pear...doesn't matter. Thanks.

[bluebell]

As far as military nonfiction, Blackhawk Down is an awesome read. But yes, lots of typical military swearing as well.

[3DOP]

As far as military nonfiction, Blackhawk Down is an awesome read. But yes, lots of typical military swearing as well.

 

bluebell...I am shocked that you would make such a recommendation...Heh.

 

I am against swearing, military or otherwise, but it is endurable under some scenarios more than others. I am somewhat inclined to allow a Gen. Patton, a man who read the Bible every day, to say he reads it "every blanked day.", than I am to allow random vulgarity. I haven't exposed myself much to the Vietnam experience. I need to do that.

Edited July 23, 2014 by 3DOP

[Storm Rider]

I don't understand the swearing I read and hear in today's world.  I can tolerate strategically placed verbiage, but I don't understand the perceived need for the filth in everything from television to magazines to movies and to books. Great literature and great entertainment has no need of vulgar language, but Hollywood seems content promote such a vile culture. 

 

Augustine's Confessions is one that I read years ago and is in our library.   One that I enjoyed is St. Therese's "The Story of a Soul".  An inspiring autobiography. 

[Kenngo1969]

I have long since lost count of the number of times I have read the Standard Works of the Church - I would expect it to be much more than 20 times.

 

My interest in books can be quite eclectic.  Books that I have read more than once: ...

 

• Don Quixote by Cervantes ...

That's interesting!  Have you read it in the original Spanish, or have you read an English translation?  If the latter, can you recommend a good English translation?  (I don't think my command of modern Spanish, let alone its XVII-century counterpart, is good enough to allow me to enjoy the original, alas. )  

[Damien the Leper]

Memoirs of God by Mark S. Smith. Maklelan recommended it to me.

[ERayR]

I keep hearing about this show but have never seen it. Is the series based on books?

And why does it make you naughty??

 

Yes it is roughly based on a series of books by George R. R. Martin.

 

Both the books and the show should be R rated.  Extreme violence and explicit sex in the books and violence, sex and nudity in the shows.

[3DOP]

That's interesting!  Have you read it in the original Spanish, or have you read an English translation?  If the latter, can you recommend a good English translation?  (I don't think my command of modern Spanish, let alone its XVII-century counterpart, is good enough to allow me to enjoy the original, alas. )  

 

Hey Ken, I'll let Storm Rider answer for himself of course. I listened to a lecture by a professor of literature who taught at the Naval Academy for years. He loved Don Quixote and insisted that by far the best translation was by J. H. Cohen. It is/was published by Penguin.  

[ERayR]

Fiction I have read that I thought was great:

 

Dune series - by Frank Herbert and finished by his son Brian and Kevin Anderson

Anything else done by Frank Herbert.

Most of Dean Koontz

 

Non-Fiction

 

I am presently reading Mormons Codex

I especially like Church oriented works if done well.

Books on history

Books about anomalies

 

Being a book lover I have read literally hundreds of books - fiction(in many genres)  and non-fiction.  Some bad some good and some very good.

 

Least favorite - Math and statistics books

[ERayR]

Hey Ken, I'll let Storm Rider answer for himself of course. I listened to a lecture by a professor of literature who taught at the Naval Academy for years. He loved Don Quixote and insisted that by far the best translation was by J. H. Cohen. It is/was published by Penguin.  

 

I think I read that years and years ago but really do not remember.  Must not have been impressed them.  Maybe I should take a vacation from the boards and try it again.

[bluebell]

bluebell...I am shocked that you would make such a recommendation...Heh.

I am against swearing, military or otherwise, but it is endurable under some scenarios more than others. I am somewhat inclined to allow a Gen. Patton, a man who read the Bible every day, to say he reads it "every goddamned day.", than I am to allow random vulgarity. I haven't exposed myself much to the Vietnam experience. I need to do that.

When it comes to modern war books (nonfiction) swearing doesn't bother me as much, because it is true to what the people were actually thinking and saying. It would be impossible to accurately describe what was going on and leave all the bad words out, since the swearing is a part of what was actually going on.

Primary sources are so valuable, I would like to see them preserved accurately.

But I don't like swearing in general and usually won't tolerate it in fiction.

If you are looking for a good military book on the Vietnam war I recommend "We Were Soldiers Once, and Young". It's basically about the very first battle between the US and the viet kong. it gets technical though in its battle descriptions so it can feel like a slog in some sections.

Blackhawk Down is about the US involvement in Somolia in the early 1990s.

[3DOP]

When it comes to modern war books (nonfiction) swearing doesn't bother me as much, because it is true to what the people were actually thinking and saying. It would be impossible to accurately describe what was going on and leave all the bad words out, since the swearing is a part of what was actually going on.

Primary sources are so valuable, I would like to see them preserved accurately.

But I don't like swearing in general and usually won't tolerate it in fiction.

If you are looking for a good military book on the Vietnam war I recommend "We Were Soldiers Once, and Young". It's basically about the very first battle between the US and the viet kong. it gets technical though in its battle descriptions so it can feel like a slog in some sections.

Blackhawk Down is about the US involvement in Somolia in the early 1990s.

 

Thanks bluebell...by the way, I forgot myself, and the ladies in the room...I edited my reference to Gen. Patton...who incidentally would have refrained from using it himself in this situation. It looked very out of place to me this morning. Anyway, whether anyone minded...I offer my apologies anyway.  Sorry.

[Kenngo1969]

Hey Ken, I'll let Storm Rider answer for himself of course. I listened to a lecture by a professor of literature who taught at the Naval Academy for years. He loved Don Quixote and insisted that by far the best translation was by J. H. Cohen. It is/was published by Penguin.  

Thank you, Sir!  You are A True Gentleman and a Scholar!

[Stargazer]

After having been aware of the book and familiar with its contents, I finally decided to sit down and read "Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky, from cover to cover.  Note that dear old Saul was a huge socialist, but I expected to find, and indeed did find, that his book's strategies could be used by anyone who wanted to militate towards a particular outcome.  "The Rules" could even be used by anti-Mormons to fight against the Church.

 

Most of his techniques do require a certain amount of dishonesty and disingenuousness in order to be effective, however.

[changed]

Has anyone read this one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Triple_Package

The three unlikely traits listed by Chua and Rubenfeld as predictive of why some cultural groups perform better in the United States than others are:^[2]

1. A superiority complex
2. Insecurity
3. Impulse control

The eight cultural groups that the book lists as examples of successful performers are the Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Iranian, Lebanese, Nigerians, Cuban exiles and Mormons.

 

 

[Calm]

Just a few reviews of it. Did not impress me enough to look for it. I think there is a thread about it in the News forum awhile back.

Edited August 4, 2014 by calmoriah