The Idiot Board Readers Corner - General Discussion

Re: The Idiot Board Book Club

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand was actually a really great read, and pretty damn hilarious. He actually is very apologetic for his ridiculous persona and acknowledges his own douchebaggery, all in a mocking way that makes you start laughing with him if you were previously laughing at him.

Not a biography but a good book nonetheless, I just finished reading The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss. It's told first-person from two characters' points of view, and it weaves together very well. It drags a little at times, but seeing as how it is ultimately about the Bank of the United States and the first financial crisis, I would have been surprised if it didn't. Great read if you like American historical fiction.

 

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I just started Man's Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl. He was a psychiatrist (and one of the founders of existential therapy) who was sent to the concentration camps during WWII and his book examines the stages of psychological impact he experienced, finding meaning in adversity, the construct of hope, and the human condition. Gripping read.

 

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I picked up and read The Darkness that comes before based on Chater's recommendation, and I have to say I whole-heartedly agree with his review. I really liked the fact that it was set in a fantasy world, but put more focus on the political/theological implications of the characters actions, rather than your typical sword and sorcery focus of most fantasy books.

It was so good, I burned through The Warrior Prophet which is the second book in the trilogy, in about 2 days. It has a lot more action, since it is completely focused on the march of the Holy War, and it begins to really flesh out the importance of the characters and their unique effect on the world around them. Bakker does an amazing job of drawing you into the world he has created, throwing out teasers of what is coming in each chapter, and then fleshing it out perfectly over the ensuing pages.

It's hard to get too detailed without completely spoiling it, but the final book of this trilogy, The Thousandfold Thought looks like it is going to be completely fucking awesome, sewing up the loose threads he has thrown out so far.

If you get chance to read this series, don't pass it up. Even if you're not a fantasy fan, this book will definitely entertain you.

 

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I read a couple of books recently;

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. I've never read anything else him, but goddamn, is Nabokov an amazing writer. Not only is his prose phenomenal, but the book itself is intensely unorthodox, exciting, and brilliantly paced.

The format of the book itself is strange; it starts off with a foreward by the fictional Dr. Kinbote, as he presents a 999 line canto written by his colleague, acclaimed poet Professor John Shade. Afterwards, we read the poem, and after that, there is a criticism and analysis section written by Kinbote, which occupies the majority of the book.

There are several different stories in here; Kinbote's story about the deposed King of his native Zembla, Shade's life story (contained in the poem), the relationship between Shade and Kinbote themselves, and the events leading up to Shade's murder. A truly great novel.

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

It doesn't have anything in common with the film in terms of plot, but they do share something else very important. They are both physically boring to read.

O'Brian spends well over a hundred pages describing how Captain Aubrey enjoyed his dinner, what he thought of Italian musicians, how he took on board some random clerk after speaking with the prize agent, the nature of his ship's sails and how he improved them slightly, the copper plating on the ship's bottom, etc, etc.

Yet, his actual descriptions of naval battle are terse, boring, and horribly explained.

If you want to know more about the day to day life of a British naval ship in the early 19th century, I guess this is a great book. It is realistic and well-researched. However, if you want something either exciting or thoughtful, don't read this.

 

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I'm midway into Evolution of God and it's pretty interesting. Much of it is completely over my head (biblical history, theology, psychology of religion are all things I know little about), but it's presented in a fairly easy to pick up format, and well done.

The Moral Animal is one of those key books to understanding evolutionary psychology like Sperm Wars, and it sticks with you for a long time. My outlook on things was certainly different after I read that book.

High Fidelity-Nick Hornby. The book (and the movie) are both fantastic fun. Highly recommend.

 

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Stones From The River: It's about a dwarf woman in Nazi Germany. Amazing imagery, and while a lot of really depressing things happen, it leaves you with hope for humanity.

The Help This one is about black housekeepers in 1960's era Southern America. The character development is great, it focuses a lot on inequality among the races, and the end concludes perfectly.

Also, any of the quirk classics. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, etc They stay true to the Jane Austen story line, but it's not nearly as boring.

 

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This just arrived at the library for me, looking forward to reading this.

 

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I just got Anna Karinena and Heart of Darkness it's going to be a "fun" month. I finished the second Dark Tower book recently and it was great; King is really a tremendous writer.

In the humour section: Emails from an asshole - cracks me up everytime I pick it up.

 

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The Trouble with Islam by Irshad Manji
Disclaimer: I know precisely fuck-all about the Muslim faith.

This book has been enlightening. The author is a Canadian, Muslim (obviously) lesbian who is a tv personality/producer. She has a very liberal perspective on her faith, and calls for progressive Muslims to speak up. She basically analyzes the current state of Muslim affairs, how we collectively reached that point and does not shy away from hard, ugly truths about being a "Westerner" or a Muslim.

She writes like she would be speaking in front of a camera, which can be refreshing or annoying. Overall, she has a good voice and the bias comes off as liberal, pro-West, pro-democracy and upholds tolerance more than anything. Interesting reading, and in about 200 pages makes some damned fine points about the good and the bad of the current state of Muslim faith.

I came away from this book less ignorant, which was why I picked it up (and I'm a westerner contemplating living in a Muslim culture). Still confused, and intimidated by a HUGE cultural gap of understanding, but I am content having read it. I can't say I would recommend it as a casual read, but it doesn't take long.

 

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Broke my collarbone about 6 weeks ago, so needed some light reading. Here's what I've been reading lately:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Was on a lot of Vicodin for this one, which only helped. If you're ever feeling sick or shitty and don't feel like starting a new book, just pick this one up. Still enjoyable 10 years later.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
A book about an Indian entrepreneur. This is definitely a book that gets better as it goes on. I had no idea where this was going for the most of the book, but kept reading because the writing was light and the main character, Balram, was compelling. By the time the book wraps up, it's a really cool look at what it takes to succeed. Also the description and feel of India was awesome. If you're looking for a light, fresh novel, pick this one up.

Ender's Game
Another reread from my childhood. Holy shit this book is fucking awesome. It's about a genius 6 year-old kid who, in the midst of this war with an alien race, gets plucked from Earth and goes to train at the Battle School in space. Really fast read. I would recommend this book to just about everyone.

4-Hour Work Week
Another reread. Tim Ferriss is awesome. Read this if you're even remotely interested in business.

What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
I've read the Tipping Point, Outliers, and part of Blink, and I think What the Dog Saw might actually be my favorite Gladwell book. I've never read any of his New Yorker columns, which helped. I think Gladwell is much more compelling as a writer when he gets to talk thematically about a topic for 30 pages as opposed to 300. The stories and anecdotes are the focus of WtDS, as opposed to the broad conclusions that are the focus of his other books. I think Gladwell really excels as a story teller and not so much as a thinker, which is fine when writing short columns, and I think why I enjoyed WtDS so much.


Up next: The Road, Atlas Shrugged. I have a family vacation coming up after finals, so going to try to knock out the remaining 800 pages in Atlas Shrugged. Just bought The Road, so I'll try to slip that in there somewhere.

 

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I just finished reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. The story is told from the perspective of Enzo, the main character's dog. He tells the story of Denny, his owner, and how events in Denny's life unfold as Enzo understands them. It balances Denny's passion for auto racing and his desire to further his career as a racer, against the demands of his family life and how his dog sees the events play out through his filter of devoted loyalty to Denny.
It is very funny in parts, and quite sad in others. The author does a great job of capturing the dog's naive and innocent understanding of some complex human interactions. It's a pretty easy read, and perfect if you just want to escape into a good story.

 

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Conn Iggulden's Khan series. Finished The Wolf of the Plains and in the middle of Lords of the Bow. Extremely well crafted historical fiction on a subject that's pretty interesting in itself (Genghis Khan's rise to power starting with his childhood). The pacing of these books is phenomenal and the battle scenes are described in brutal detail. It's an easy and entertaining read. Highly recommended.

Scar Tissue by Anthony Keidis

RHCP frontman's autobiography. I'm a fan of the band so I was already partial to the book, but I came away from it a little disappointed and feeling like it might have been about a hundred pages too long. It's full of great anecdotes and interesting tidbits about the band, but in the end it just keeps repeating itself. Keidis descends into drug addiction, he gets a new girlfriend, tensions rise in the band, he goes into rehab, the band replaces a member, and all is well again. Repeat. I wouldn't call the book a total waste of time, but it was a little boring at times.

Also, I've been wanting to tackle Don Quixote for a while now and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations as far as which translations are the best.

 

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Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy - Vincent Bugliosi

It took me nearly a month to get through this 1500+ page book but that's not because it was boring. The assassination always interested me and I'd studied it before but like many people I thought it unlikely that L.H. Oswald acted alone. This book attempts to prove that he did and that there was no conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt, and is written by one of the most famous prosecuting attorneys in history.

It's worth renting from the library if only to read the "Four Days in Dallas" section, which opens the book. It's a timeline of the events of the assassination on an hour to hour, even second by second basis. When one reads about how it went down it seems so unworldly, like something that would happen in fiction or an alternate reality. The historical record is fascinating in its detail, richness, and sadness. It's hard to fathom just how monumental those few seconds were at 12:30 in Dallas and all of the things that could have happened differently.

The book also includes a biography of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby, a section on the movie JFK and Jim Garrison, a section on Oswald's guilt, and a section for every conspiracy theory and the evidence behind them. Once you get into the really technical stuff and the small details, the book slows down. This is partly because Bugliosi wants to prove his point beyond any doubt and strengthens his arguments again and again when any reasonable person would already be convinced. He does this, he says, because conspiracy theorists have made the JFK assassination the most complex murder case in history, and the must studied historical event in the history of mankind.

Like I said, the book is long and dry at spots but well presented throughout. It's pretty disgusting how every anomaly and event concerning that event has been over-analyzed, distorted, and twisted to make it seem like there was some really shady shit going down. But Bugliosi says that this is because people believe that great events have great causes. It's hard to believe that a 24 year old, anti-social, Marxist loser with a surplus rife that would be considered an antique even at that time could make a decision that the facts suggest was on a whim (he begged his separated wife in Ft. Worth the night before the assassination for her and his daughters to come back to live with him in Dallas...she said no) and alter the course of history forever.

The book does a really great job of explaining every detail of the assassination and why it happened. It also unveils the falsehoods, heresy, and lies that every conspiracy theory is based on. Pick it up if you are at all interested in JFK.

 

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[In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

Is an account of the true story upon which the book Moby Dick is based.

 

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Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity by John Stossel. This is Stossel (of 20/20 fame) exposing some media bias in specific areas. It's part consumer report, part right-wing free market propaganda, but it's interesting. Each "myth/truth" is less than a page on average, the chapters are divided into topics like education, health, law, etc. He cites some good sources, but it pays to keep in mind there are two sides to any argument, regardless of what science they use. I think most people who read this book have one moment like "Huh. Well, he makes a good point. I guess I won't be doing X any more."

Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. This is a short (90 something pages) collection of arguments for atheism lumped into a book. Not much new here ("The Bible says slavery is ok! GASP!"), but he does make good points about abstinence-only education, AIDS, abortion, poverty (The US ratio of CEO pay to lowest paid employee: 475:1. Belgium: 24:1), evolution and a handful of other areas where religious concepts get crow-barred into policies. He's not winning Christian fundamentalists to atheism and of the entire book, I agreed with about a quarter of it, but it was worth the 2 hours to get some interesting statistics and facts.

Genome by Matt Ridley. I'm just getting into this, but Ridley makes some interesting biological concepts and theories easy to understand. This is not your typical evolution book, trying to explain why the male nipple exists, instead this is a slow dance around how we came to be. Interesting, but complex.

 

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The Wolf Of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort
It is the memoirs of a party boy, millionaire, stock broker, who was riding the wave in the 80's until it crashed and left him in jail. He started by cold calling and working the phones, to taking Steve Madden public as head of his own firm and hiding millions overseas and flying his helicopter on a handful of ludes. Imagine IHTSBIH meets Boiler Room. Great read, hilarious.

No Angel
It is the story of the ATF agent who has gotten deeper into the Hells Angels than anyone else. Just started it. I will let you know how it turns out.

 

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Lone Survivor by Marcus Lutrell.

Lutrell is a Navy SEAL and this book is about being a SEAL and parts of his tour in Afghanistan. Now, anyone who can honestly claim to be a SEAL deserves respect, the training they go through is...beyond imagining. However, a SEAL does not make for a great author. He talks about his home life "On the farm" in Texas, like a Republican campaign ad. He has this "aw, shucks" tone that belies the fact this is one of the world's greatest warriors. The book reads like Tom Clancy for 8th graders. There is no shade of grey when it comes to characters, every SEAL is a hero, "One of the greatest men I have ever known", and every Afghan is a potential terrorist and hates him unconditionally. This is the first half, which left me a bit irritated.

The second half details what actually happens to his team in the Hindu Kush mountains hunting targets. Holy. Shit. For a vivid, brutal picture of war, read Jarhead or Black Hawk Down. The guy doesn't do vivid imagery very well. He does, however, let you know precisely how hard their job is and why they are the best at it, which made it worth reading.

The good parts: learning about SEAL training (those people are carved out of stone, apparently), a ground perspective on Afghanistan, some military porn (it's like a Michael Bay film with subtititles like "This is a B14 Bomber, dropping the world's largest conventional bomb at 12,000 pounds"), and a decent survivor/military story. The bad: it just feels cliche, the whole thing. His home life on the farm, vivid impressions of boot camp, etc. If you want a real-life Tom Clancy novel, pick it up.

 

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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

I reread this book, I'm not sure why. I loved it in collage, I also loved drugs in collage I'm not sure if they are related.

It is a brilliant story told about Edmund Dantes, a young fisherman who had such horrendous and terrible acts committed against him that you as a reader are wanting him to do whatever it takes to get his revenge. The story as a whole is about revenge.

It takes place directly after Napoleon was in power in France, and does an excellent job of romanticizing the city of Paris. However like all pieces written in this time it takes three pages to describe breakfast, or a conversation about breakfast.

It is absolutely brilliantly written, it is an ingenious story, it is also well over a thousand pages. It has the basic problem that all great works of literature have, it's horribly wordy. The story Dumas tells is so amazing but you find yourself wanting it to end. One of the best characters in the book is the Abbe Dantes meets while in prison, that character is long, long gone by the time you finish the story. Of course I may be the problem with young America because I do not have the patience to let a good story run it's course, but remember it is over a thousand pages.

If you do love literature then this is a must read, but it is quite a project even for an avid reader.

 

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sorry for spelling college wrong, it was late. God that makes me look like an idiot.