currently reading?

[Strangelet]

Originally Posted by Deckard

Just finished Plato: a very short introduction. Nice punchy little guide. I'm a sucker for wanting to collect every book in a given series, but there are over 200 of these cute little buggers, so that won't be happening anytime soon. Still, some very interesting topics covered, and they're a good way into a subject you might otherwise not think about studying. Archaeology will be next I think.

Currently working my way through Dawkins' 1976 classic The Selfish Gene (30th anniv edition). A beautifully explained gene's eye view of life, but still having to concentrate as I'm definitely no biologist. Having to keep reminding myself that it's a metaphor. His speculation about how life might have emerged from the primordial soup is fascinating.

Coming up next: I've just had the Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide posted to me from the US, a lovely leather-bound collection of Adams' five Hitchhiker novels. Unbelievably, I've reached my mid 30's and never read any of these (so I figured I'd do it in style ).

hey decks, I think you might enjoy Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia by british philosoper John Gray. it uncannily resembles our discussion of evil in context with atheism and the religious elements of secular political and scientific movements.

[Deckard]

Hey thanks for that. Will add it to my wishlist (which is expanding so fast it will soon develop its own intelligence).

[Strangelet]

lets see, other books I've been reading...

I quite enjoyed Love Sex Fear Death about the Process Church of the Final Judgment. The process church of the final judgment is yet another apocalyptic cult of the sixties, and by yet another I mean file this next to anton lavey's church of satan, scientology, the OTO, the manson family, etc.

What is the same in each of these cults is that their members all interchanged, they all involved celebrities, they all saw the world in dark terms of apocalypse, past or future, and they all had something to do with California. I don't know, you tell me what to conclude from that.

With respect to the PCOFJ, apparently the two founders decided that Scientology just wasn't batshit crazy enough for their tastes so they took a few e-meter machines and went home to devise a new level of weird. 5 to 6 years later : there are "coffee houses" in every major city in north america and the uk, that are the front for church communes where they worship jesus, jehova, lucifer, and satan, the holy tetraty, have sex orgies, and send their initiates out in black funereal robes and warped crosses on chains to hand out literature.

So yeah, just another weave in the rich tapestry of the human experience.

[froopy seal]

Originally Posted by stimpee

Yeah long time ago. Theres a new BBC TV series where Stephen Fry tracks down the animals in the book. Looks good.

Thanks for the hint, hadn't heard of that.

[froopy seal]

Originally Posted by Deckard

Coming up next: I've just had the Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide posted to me from the US, a lovely leather-bound collection of Adams' five Hitchhiker novels. Unbelievably, I've reached my mid 30's and never read any of these (so I figured I'd do it in style ).

Whoa, mighty late in the game, unbelievable indeed. Life-long learning, ey?

I think I lil'ed (laughed inward loudly) more than once per page on the average. It's one of the very few books I read more than once.

[Deckard]

Yup, I'm going to read 'em back-to-back, followed by The Salmon of Doubt.

(Btw, the recent Last Chance to See BBC series was very enjoyable - Carwardine and Fry shared a good chemistry.)

[grady]

Googled: The End of the World As We Know It by Ken Auletta

[Rog]

Blott on the landscape - Tom Sharpe

[froopy seal]

Just started the Dune series by Frank Herbert. Inspiring topics, captivating writing, great language.

[//\/\/]

halfway through 'the girl who kicked the hornet's nest' by stieg larsson - 3rd book in the 'millenium' trilogy - absolutely brilliant stuff.