FreeFallin94 wrote: » 200 pages into The Cider House Rules by John Irving. Really enjoying it so far, and I have heard such amazing things about it.
Shenshen wrote: » I read some of his books in the 90s, I was rather addicted. The Cider House Rules and The World According to Garp are the only two I actually vividly remember. Really good books.
gutenberg wrote: » Finally got a copy of Howard Jacobson' J from local library. Ive heard mixed things but I'm a sucker for a dystopia...
Buona Fortuna wrote: » The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo. I saw one of his lectures (on TED I think) and that's what drew me in. It was never going to be a light read. PZ covers the Miligram electric shock obedience experiments, the bystander effect, conformance and his own Stanford Prison experiment. The book goes through to, if not a defence, perhaps an explanation of abuses and mistreatment at Abu Graib. He describes how the organisation, the military, the state, chose only to punish those relatively junior in the organisation. No officers were punished, while a senior sergeant got 8 years prison.tl:dr Zimbardo argues that people are made bad by situational forces rather than being born evil.
Oranage2 wrote: » How was it? Dystopia novels make up about 80 percent of what I read. I just finished 'Do androids dream of electric sheep', it was on my bucket list for a long time. Amazing book, it was so good I read it in one day. Need another recommendation if anyone has one, any genre.
take everything wrote: » Zimbardo did the Stanford Prison Experiment. Ethically crazy but interesting results. I read his Demise of Guys. Shortish ebook essay. Good little read. Currently reading Bob Newhart's autobiography I shouldn't even be doing this and Dave Gorman's Too much information. Of course I got a stack of half-read stuff as well.
Buona Fortuna wrote: » You and me both They usually find there way to the charity shop. My last half read was Why does E=mc2 by Brian Cox. I thought I could hang in there but no.
take everything wrote: » If you're looking for a readable popular science book, an incredibly accessible read on Quantum theory (if you're into that) is Jim Al-Khalili's Quantum: A guide for the perplexed.
Vincent Vega wrote: » Currently reading the Phoenix manga series by Osamu Tezuka. I thought Volume 1 was pretty good, but I've just finished Vol. 2: Future and it is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read. Looking forward to the other 10 I really wish more people could look beyond the cartoonishness of a lot of his art because I think the message he puts across in his books goes far beyond what most people would even dream of finding in a manga. For anyone interested here's an overview of the series.
Birneybau wrote: » 'The Circle' by Dave Eggers.
P.Walnuts wrote: » Bill Byrson's A Short History of Nearly Everything is extremely accessible, and funny throughout
looking_around wrote: » Is there an anime version? Try as I might I don't enjoy reading manga or comics.
megaten wrote: » I thought Phoenix was never completed? I've read one or two Tezuka books and don't remember thinking their that great. That's probably more to do with him laying the foundations for most other manga authors though.
FreeFallin94 wrote: » Just finished The Cider House Rules, and my God, it was so, SO beautiful. I loved the characters, and John Irving is such a fantastic writer. There were so many moments where I wished I had a highlighter so that I could underline some quote or other- and I am not usually the type of reader who gets the urge to do that at all. Also, the very last line- I don't see how the novel could have been finished more perfectly. I read it and just sat for a minute because it was such a perfect way to conclude the story. Considering I loved his writing so much, would anyone be able to recommend me any of Irving's other novels to read that would be up to the same standard?