Because everyone in the Salon is nappin'. . .

[ex_darshan119]

WHAT'S EVERYBODY READING THIS SUMMER? TELL US ABOUT IT. . .

WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO READ BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR?

I'll reveal mine a little bit later. . .

Comments

[two_truths]

"The Book of Dead Days"

Haven't started it yet. From what I know, it is a rather gothic story of magic and fantasy.

Ironically, the book refers to the five days at the end of the year - running from Christmas to New Year. In reality; the significance of these five days way before Christianity. To begin with, the Egyptians used the Mesopotamian 360-day calendar (typically, all things with a base of 60 stem back to the Mesopotamians). Yet over centuries they realised that the calendar was imperfect. To correct the error they added five days, the heriu renpet, which Egyptologists call the epagomenal days

Sounds interesting. . .

[ex_darshan119]

Did you ever read any of the River God series by Wilbur Smith? If so, what were your thoughts, impressions. . .

[xxxtallxmattxxx]

I'm reading three books now-

The Elegant Universe- Brian Greene. I'm sure most of you have heard of this book/TV series which gives an overview of modern string theory. Everything from the calming of the sub-Planck length furor caused by the uncertainty principle's effect on Einstein's general relativity; to a description of the Calabi-Yau spaces (the curled-up six-dimensions through which strings vibrate); to a discussion of the theory's prowess in resolving some of the larger issues encountered with black holes. Very insightful read, but a great deal of topics are not covered in satisfactory detail and I'm afraid I'll have to take a course in modern physics to get those things...

Timequake- Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Vonnegut's latest book is not so much of a hilarious story as his previous books, but more of a light-hearted aimless scribbling that reminisces as much as it meanders. Vonnegut talks about his life, family and relates witty anecdotes to previous books. This is not, by far, my favorite Vonnegut book, but a good read

[ex_darshan119]

Saw the PBS companion show to The Elegant Universe. . . Quite interesting. Does the book read dry or is it an enjoyable read? I'm not afraid of big words or concepts, I just don't like to read something that sounds like a dirt dry dissertation.

I love Breakfast of Champions and also found Hocus Pocus to be a really enjoyable, thoughtful and thoroughly satisfying read. Give Hocus Pocus a try. . .

Finally, speaking og Drinking, et al. . . . Have you seen Coffee & Cigarettes yet? I really enjoyed it and will probably do a post on it here in Gemut. . . in the next few days. . .

Chat with you later,

--D.

[xxxtallxmattxxx]

Greene's book is about as exciting as a physics book can get, which, by book standards, is pretty dry. Unless you are genuinely interested in string theory, I don't think you'll enjoy it.

Coffee & Cigarettes is a film?

[ex_darshan119]

Coffee and Cigarettes

[fireflyfaster]

I just finished Tim Winton's The Riders. Even though it was a Booker Prize finalist and the prose was beautiful, I found the main characters annoying.

Right now I'm reading Charles MacKay's Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, first published in 1841. It's quite sensational and of dubious credibility, but considering that it is more than 150 years old, it's a swell read.

Ya know. . .

[ex_darshan119]

You exhibit here a couple of the things that I find most charming about you. . .

A) You are reading things that nobody else seems to be

and

B) You say things like "it's a swell read."

How are ya?