Who's reading what,when & the experience

sshekhar · Jun 8th, 2006, 23:57

Two really good books that compliment each other:

(a) A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness : From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers, by V S Ramachandran

(b) On Intelligence, by Jeff Hawkins

The first talks about the programming of human brains and the second talks about programming based on understanding of human brains. You will like it if software is something that interests you.

The last book is a little off-topic but it is really well written:

Parallel Worlds : A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos, by Michio kaku

timdog · Jun 9th, 2006, 02:00

Just spent the afternoon sitting in the sunshine in the park and finished reading a new book, "On the Road to Kandahar" by Jason Burke, a British journalist. It's about his various travels in the trouble spots of the Islamic world (his previous book was a very perceptive study of al-Qaida). He writes very well, and is very perceptive, and it's a good book because he does not stay in one particular "camp". Unlike some other "liberal" western journalists (Burke is certainly a liberal - he writes for the Observer) he does not feel the need to offer absolute defense of the Muslim world, or absolute condemnation, or pessimism about the current situation.

In a minute I'm going to start reading "In Patagonia" by Bruce Chatwin again. I can't expressive strongly enough how good a writer he was...

Sama · Jun 9th, 2006, 02:28

The following is a quote from the book Eat Pray Love written by Elizabeth Gilbert. She chronicles her journey from divorce, despair, and living on autopilot to finding herself through a 12-month soul-searching trip that took her to Italy to eat, India to pray, and Bali for balance.....

"What I've come to believe (only because I can't not believe it, given what this journey has brought to me) is that there is such a thing as "the physics of a quest" --- which is to say that there is a divine hidden force behind human questing that is as natural and inevitable as gravity or equilibrium or mortality. That equation works something like this --- if you really do commit to going out there in the world (or in there, deep down in yourself) on a search for truth, and if you really do bravely cut away all that is comforting and confining to you, and if you really are prepared to see anything that happens to you as expression of truth that has been offered up for your own benefit and learning --- then revelation will not be withheld from you. You will be shown who you are and what it all means. And if revelation doesn't occur, well, it either means you need to look more closely or that you weren't really listening carefully enough. Or --- worst-case scenario --- that you can sue the universe for breach of contract…"

Don't know about anyone else, but these words absolutely resonated with me. I've ordered the book and can't wait to read it....

Nick-H · Jun 9th, 2006, 10:40

Apart from the current novel (Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility) I'm also reading my next-door-neighbour's autobiography that he gave me this week.

Having lost his family estate in Burma during the war, he left the country on foot, entered the publishing industry and eventualy built up one of the largest publishers of Tamil works.

The English-version translation is a little idiosyncratic, but I love this passage:

Quote:

...Trees, plants, cattle and sheep also have the power of thinking. They communicate among themselves in their own language. When the Peepal tree on the river bank, tossing in the wind, is akin to speaking. As an ardent lover of nature, it is my utopia. If by some strange new alchemy, one could transcribe their thoughts into words, into human language, we are bound to get new dimensions in life

His company is on some of the most expensive land in Chennai, yet he told me that he insists on giving space to trees all around it. Wouldn't it be a better world if more businesspeople thought like this?

ploink · Jun 9th, 2006, 17:35

Suketu Mehta's Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. Gripping.

iwanttogoback · Jun 9th, 2006, 20:34

Quote:

so, have many of you read this latest offering from salman rushdie?

finally tracked down a copy after being convinced by reviews here that it was worth reading.

i love 'midnight's children' but, to be honest, cannot think of a rushdie book since then that i enjoyed. so it was with some trepidation that i began 'shalimar the clown'. and it's brilliant, cannot recommend it too highly.

and of course, now i have to visit kashmir

btw conor - you're supposed to lend the books out, not read them

Casey · Jun 10th, 2006, 19:44

I was recently at a conference and one of the speakers was Sekutu Mehta. I was so upset that I had to leave the day before his talk!!! I too, have been hesitant to read any more Rushdie after The Ground Beneath Her Feet and Fury so disappointed me. I believe I will have to read Shalimar the Clown, because others who have disliked many of the more recent Rushdie seem to enjoy this one. I know he can pull off far better than he has been doing. I shall add it to my list.

iwanttogoback · Jun 10th, 2006, 21:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casey

I believe I will have to read Shalimar the Clown, because others who have disliked many of the more recent Rushdie seem to enjoy this one. I know he can pull off far better than he has been doing. I shall add it to my list.

i was like you casey, but 'shalimar the clown' is brilliant. do read it, i don't think you will be disappointed.

sam371 · Jun 28th, 2006, 00:07

Just picked up "Lost in Transmission" by Jonathan Harley. So far so good.

Here's a review of the book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/186...007953?ie=UTF8

PeakXV · Jun 30th, 2006, 07:41

The Jim Corbett Omnibus: Man-eaters of Kumaon, Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag and Temple Tiger.

sam371 · Jul 6th, 2006, 00:56

PeakXV,

That Jim Corbett Omnibus is very rich in detail on the Kumaon Fauna and flora. I bought that book at the Dikhala camp store and finished it in days. This is one of those books that you wanna read over and over.

Enjoy.

Aurai · Jul 6th, 2006, 01:57

ooooo...what a yummy
Henry Miller { any man that reads him is after my heart} I love "Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch"
That is a book I dearly love. be warned a peaceful funny Miller... I will be going to Big Sur in 10 days yippie!
My reading list
Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi, amazing, startling, I am putting it down to rest for a few days, the book and I need to jell work out our feelings.
As if Lolita was not truly heart wrenching enough..........
H.H. the Frenchman comes back to life as a new jailer.
However, F. Scott Fitzgerald is discussed perfectly, I love the women in this book I want to hold thier hands, drink tea and read Lo-in the morning Lola in the afternoon....
We are all the same, in the end.

Nick-H · Jul 6th, 2006, 11:48

Washington Square by Henry James.

Its OK. Just... ok.

icetea · Jul 7th, 2006, 02:27

Just finished Life of Pi (Yann Martel)...not bad..at times quite funny too. But it's inevitably Robinson Crusoe reloaded (with a more perverse add-on: a tiger)...narrated with a philosophical bent. Great beginning, but getting rather diluted towards the end.

Moving on to a bulkier one...Freedom at Midnight (Lapierre & Collins). 1947 in facts, in the signature-style of Lapierre (the author of The City of Joy - you might have read that one).

Aurai · Jul 7th, 2006, 02:40

I enjoyed Pi, I however most enjoyed the middle.
I have noticed most that read it are begining or ending people.
I did love the whole part about his name.

Jun 9th, 2006, 02:28	#108
Sama a pain in the asana Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: the India inside my heart Posts: 5,203	Eat Pray Love The following is a quote from the book Eat Pray Love written by Elizabeth Gilbert. She chronicles her journey from divorce, despair, and living on autopilot to finding herself through a 12-month soul-searching trip that took her to Italy to eat, India to pray, and Bali for balance..... "What I've come to believe (only because I can't not believe it, given what this journey has brought to me) is that there is such a thing as "the physics of a quest" --- which is to say that there is a divine hidden force behind human questing that is as natural and inevitable as gravity or equilibrium or mortality. That equation works something like this --- if you really do commit to going out there in the world (or in there, deep down in yourself) on a search for truth, and if you really do bravely cut away all that is comforting and confining to you, and if you really are prepared to see anything that happens to you as expression of truth that has been offered up for your own benefit and learning --- then revelation will not be withheld from you. You will be shown who you are and what it all means. And if revelation doesn't occur, well, it either means you need to look more closely or that you weren't really listening carefully enough. Or --- worst-case scenario --- that you can sue the universe for breach of contract…" Don't know about anyone else, but these words absolutely resonated with me. I've ordered the book and can't wait to read it.... __________________ *My India, 2005-2008*

Jun 9th, 2006, 17:35	#110
ploink ...thori si pagal hai vo... Join Date: May 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 336	Suketu Mehta's Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. Gripping. __________________ But rather, ten times rather, die in the surf, heralding the way to that new world, than stand idly on the shore! -Florence Nightingale

Jun 30th, 2006, 07:41	#115
PeakXV Naan.tering Nabob Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Abode of Glooscap Posts: 4,029	The Jim Corbett Omnibus: Man-eaters of Kumaon, Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag and Temple Tiger. __________________ We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started ...and know the place for the first time. T.S. Eliot Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

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Jun 8th, 2006, 23:57	#106
sshekhar Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 131	Two really good books that compliment each other: (a) A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness : From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers, by V S Ramachandran (b) On Intelligence, by Jeff Hawkins The first talks about the programming of human brains and the second talks about programming based on understanding of human brains. You will like it if software is something that interests you. The last book is a little off-topic but it is really well written: Parallel Worlds : A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos, by Michio kaku

Jun 9th, 2006, 02:00	#107
timdog Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Cornwall, UK Posts: 10	Just spent the afternoon sitting in the sunshine in the park and finished reading a new book, "On the Road to Kandahar" by Jason Burke, a British journalist. It's about his various travels in the trouble spots of the Islamic world (his previous book was a very perceptive study of al-Qaida). He writes very well, and is very perceptive, and it's a good book because he does not stay in one particular "camp". Unlike some other "liberal" western journalists (Burke is certainly a liberal - he writes for the Observer) he does not feel the need to offer absolute defense of the Muslim world, or absolute condemnation, or pessimism about the current situation. In a minute I'm going to start reading "In Patagonia" by Bruce Chatwin again. I can't expressive strongly enough how good a writer he was...

Jun 10th, 2006, 19:44	#112
Casey Maha Guru Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 625	I was recently at a conference and one of the speakers was Sekutu Mehta. I was so upset that I had to leave the day before his talk!!! I too, have been hesitant to read any more Rushdie after The Ground Beneath Her Feet and Fury so disappointed me. I believe I will have to read Shalimar the Clown, because others who have disliked many of the more recent Rushdie seem to enjoy this one. I know he can pull off far better than he has been doing. I shall add it to my list.

Jun 28th, 2006, 00:07	#114
sam371 Dreaming of India... Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: New York Posts: 374	Just picked up "Lost in Transmission" by Jonathan Harley. So far so good. Here's a review of the book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/186...007953?ie=UTF8

Jul 6th, 2006, 00:56	#116
sam371 Dreaming of India... Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: New York Posts: 374	PeakXV, That Jim Corbett Omnibus is very rich in detail on the Kumaon Fauna and flora. I bought that book at the Dikhala camp store and finished it in days. This is one of those books that you wanna read over and over. Enjoy.

Jul 6th, 2006, 01:57	#117
Aurai Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Samsara Posts: 49	ooooo...what a yummy Henry Miller { any man that reads him is after my heart} I love "Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch" That is a book I dearly love. be warned a peaceful funny Miller... I will be going to Big Sur in 10 days yippie! My reading list Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi, amazing, startling, I am putting it down to rest for a few days, the book and I need to jell work out our feelings. As if Lolita was not truly heart wrenching enough.......... H.H. the Frenchman comes back to life as a new jailer. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald is discussed perfectly, I love the women in this book I want to hold thier hands, drink tea and read Lo-in the morning Lola in the afternoon.... We are all the same, in the end.

Jul 6th, 2006, 11:48	#118
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 25,811	Washington Square by Henry James. Its OK. Just... ok.

Jul 7th, 2006, 02:27	#119
icetea 'sort of hate India' club member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Chennai, via Romania Posts: 917	Just finished Life of Pi (Yann Martel)...not bad..at times quite funny too. But it's inevitably Robinson Crusoe reloaded (with a more perverse add-on: a tiger)...narrated with a philosophical bent. Great beginning, but getting rather diluted towards the end. Moving on to a bulkier one...Freedom at Midnight (Lapierre & Collins). 1947 in facts, in the signature-style of Lapierre (the author of The City of Joy - you might have read that one).

Jul 7th, 2006, 02:40	#120
Aurai Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Samsara Posts: 49	I enjoyed Pi, I however most enjoyed the middle. I have noticed most that read it are begining or ending people. I did love the whole part about his name.

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