Happy new year everyone! 2007 has come and gone, and it’s time to take care of the backlog of things one was supposed to do during the Christmas vacation. Let’s see… “Complete Spandex Force” - nope. “Be social with lots of people” - nope. “Conquer the world” - nope. “Do a new blog design” - well, I took care of that yesterday at least. Ah, here’s something I can take care of right away: “Write summaries of the books I read between October and December.” No use beating around the bush - here goes.
The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams
Description: As I predicted in my previous review post, I would be reviewing the second Dirk Gently book sometime around now. Too bad that I have to say that this book is a major letdown compared to the first one. I have a vague memory of it being a lot more fun - but apparently I was a stupid little brat back then. The premise is great: Old Norse gods, mysterious explosions, strange hostile birds, interesting characters…but something doesn’t work out. The book just trots along, and at the end I was left with a slightly bitter aftertaste. “Is this how my brief Douglas Adams period should end?” Still, if you’ve read all else he’s written you really must read this as well.
Rating: 3 snotty children out of 5.
Recommended for: Douglas Adams fans. I really can’t recommend it for the general public.
Salmon of Doubt - Douglas Adams
Description: Wait a minute… What did I write above? Something about ending my Douglas Adams period? Ha! Thank Bog that I thought of Salmon of Doubt - the last book Adams ever wrote. Or, well, tried to write. He never finished it. So this is a collection of anecdotes and tidbits and stories and interviews, as well as a sorta-edited-together version of what exists of Salmon of Doubt. Amazingly interesting to read - that goes for both the story snippet and the rest of the material - and I really must recommend this.
Rating: 4 bottles of brandy out of 5.
Recommended for: Douglas Adams fans and people interested in knowing more about the illustrious Mr. Adams.
Great Ideas of Philosophy - The Teaching Company
Description: The Teaching Company always delivers, and they deliver good stuff most of the time. They sure did this time: the lecturer was amusing and competent and very pleasant to listen to, and the topics were of utmost interest. I must admit that I’m not totally hooked on Philosophy; I’m more of a pragmatic “who gives a dang if we have free will or not - appearances is what matters” person. (Though I must confess that I believe that the world is deterministisc no matter what quantum phycisists tell you.) Still, this course did an excellent job of guiding me from Ancient Greece to the Dark Ages to the Enlightenment, presenting all the top Philosophy stars along the way. Now I know the difference between Hume and Locke, for example!
Rating: 4 snapper turtles out of 5.
Recommended for: The philosophically inclined geek. If I had been slightly less interested in such things the rating would’ve been 3.
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Description: This is a book I’ve had lying around for ages, and I finally picked it up. I’m almost wishing I hadn’t. Okay, I may be a young little whippersnapper who can’t imagine the world of the 60s; this book was written before we even landed on the moon, so space was a Great Unknown(TM)…but I get the distinct feeling that Heinlein started taking acid somewhere around the middle of the book. Martians? Sure, I can buy that. Martians who can teach humans special mental skills? No problem. But then the book just got all weird. I don’t agree with the logic presented, or the science, so let’s just end this on a civil tone and say that I preferred Starship Troopers (the book, that is) to this one.
Rating: 2.5 nose bleeds out of 5.
Recommended for: Historically inclined sci-fi fans.
Argumentation - The Study of Effective Reasoning - The Teaching Company
Description: The Teaching Company always delivers, as I said, but it’s not always good stuff; something about this course made it feel pointless. Maybe it’s because a lot of what’s discussed is the formal forms of argumentation instead of practical applications. Maybe it’s because it assumes no prior knowledge in logic. Maybe it’s because many of the techniques and forms could be just as easily replaced by common sense. I don’t know. I just know that I’ll have to give this book one of the lowest scores yet.
Rating: 1.5 frilly skirts out of 5.
Recommended for: Yo mama. So she can learn how to stop you from spending dough on courses like this.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Description: Time for some good ol’ fantasy! Or not really. This is Clarke’s debut novel, and it’s an amazing read! It takes place in 19th century Britain, and tells how the two titular gentlemen return magic to England. If it hadn’t been for all the fairies and similar otherlandishness I would’ve claimed that this novel should be classed as fantastic fiction (would it be possible to say ”fantastic historical fiction”?) rather than fantasy. But oh well, let’s go with fantasy. Either way, Clarke presents a believable and amazingly vivid England, and she does it in a splendid Jane Austen-esque style that blends Romanticism with the Enlightenment. If you go to the book’s website you can see that the reviewers often compare this work to Tolkien’s…but in my not-so-humble opinion they must be out of their mind. The two authors are completely incomparable; just because the label “fantasy” has been put on both authors’ works doesn’t mean that they’re writing in the same genre!
Rating: 4.5 dried frog pills out of 5.
Recommended for: Everyone with the slightest interest in Austen or fantastic fiction.
Dune - Frank Herbert
Description: You know, I’ve seen the Dune film and the TV series and played the games…but the books completely fell between chairs. Time to rectify that; and I’m happy that I did ’cause the book is excellent. The subtle plotting is never displayed in as much detail in any of the other media, and the character of Paul Atreides really springs to life in the novel. Sometimes I get the impression that he (and many of the others) are characters in a Old Norse tale - observing everything and acting accordingly, but never really displaying emotions - but they have depth despite that. They feel believable in the setting. If you haven’t done so yet I recommend that you give the Dune books a try, and learn all about the fall and rise of House Atreides, and the God-Emperor Muad’Dib. Oh wait, that was a spoiler, right? No, not really.
Rating: 4 sweaty stenches out of 5.
Recommended for: All sci-fi and fantasy fans!
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert
Description: The story of Muad’Dib continues; this time a decade after he became emperor. Some of the pacing seems off in this book, but it’s still a good read. The religious aspects are prominent in this novel, but I think that the political scheming was a bit less interesting this time around. This feels a bit like a middle-book, so I think I’ll have to wait until I’ve finished the rest of the books before I pass final judgement.
Rating: 3.5 arbitrary points out of 5.
Recommended for: All sci-fi and fantasy fans who’ve read Dune.
När änglar dör (When Angels Die) - Andreas Roman
Description: This book was recommended to me by a couple of work mates, and I must say that I approached the novel with some reluctance. I’ve read another fantasy book by Roman, and…it’s not exactly stellar Swedish penmanship. Still, I gave this one a try, and it’s not that bad after all! The story is a well-known one: the creation of the world, followed shortly by the creation of Man. Basically, it’s the Old Testament shown from the Devil’s eyes - but with lots and lots of little twists; such as the fact that the Devil is another aspect of God. Interesting ideas, but I feel that the dialogue left a lot to be desired. It was awkward and even irritating at worst.
Rating: 2.5 flaming homosexuals out of 5.
Recommended for: Swedish people with an interest in religion and fantasy, who wants to read a Swedish author in order to feel some patriotism.
Medieval Europe - Crisis and Renewal - The Teaching Company
Description: Ah, time for some good ol’ Dark Ages history! Not too much is known about Medieval times, but this course tries to paint an image of Medieval Europe…from the commoners’ eyes. Sure, the noble houses and the great merchants are delt with, but the main focus is on the majority of the population and how their lives played out. The Black Death is discussed, and its political effects, just as many other interesting political, social and religious events. To make a short review even shorter: this course is filled with Good Stuff(TM)!
Rating: 3.5 half-elf foreskins out of 5.
Recommended for: History nerds. Yep, that’s about it.
There! Ten books read and reviewed. That’s way less than a book per week, as I had hoped. I was actually on schedule up until my Christmas vacation; then it all fell apart and I couldn’t be arsed to do anything at all. But enough of that! Let’s see some statistics:
Total number of books for 2007: 40
Highest rating: 6 books got the score 4.5
Lowest rating: 1.5 for Argumentation - The Study of Effective Reasoning
Average rating: 3.5
Sounds like my scoring system is working pretty well. The many top scorers and a slightly high average of 3.5 can be explained by the quite simple fact that I choose my books myself. Elementary, my dear Watson.
All in all, 2007 was a pretty awful year for reading. I can only hope that 2008 will bring more literary goodness my way. I doubt it, though: I have more game projects in store, and I’ve signed up for some Economics courses. No rest for the wicked.
There, it’s October already! Damn this time thing…can someone please secure it to the ground? I’ve had enough of it flying around all over the place. October means that another three months have passed, and that I have another set of interesting books to summarize. Why? Because they’re there! And because I love telling people what they ought to read. My previous two book summaries can be found here (January to March) and here (April to June).
Curiously enough, this is also the Banned Books Week! How many of these have you read? I’m just at seven or something like that. Mea culpa!
Anyway, let’s get it aaoooouun!
Johnny and the Dead - Terry Pratchett
Description: Johnny Maxwell is a normal kid…no, never mind. He’s not normal. And this is not a normal children’s book! Mr. Pratchett is a very strange fellow, but I applaud his approaches to kids’ literature: the book is slightly dumbed down, but not condescending. And it brings up interesting topics. Johnny talks to the dead, and the dead talk back. This comes in very handy when the council wants to sell a neglected cemetary, and the dead become quite annoyed at this. In my last book post after reading Only You Can Save Mankind I mentioned that I probably would have gotten irritated even as a kid at the relatively silly conversations in the novel. I’m still of the same opinion regarding the Johnny books, but I still would’ve devoured them - just as I have now.
Rating: 3 googleplexes of sulphur out of 5.
Recommended for: Young people in search of witty and innovative fantasy.
Johnny and the Bomb - Terry Pratchett
Description: This time Johnny deals with time and the past and causuality and compassion and lots of other things. Oh, and a bomb. I quite liked this book; I think it’s very noticeable that Pratchett wrote this years after the other Johnny books. It feels more…real. Fleshed out. Possibly aimed at a slightly older clientele. It’s quite obviously a children’s book, but I enjoyed it a whole lot more than I did the other Johnny books. The race through the woods toward the end was actually pretty exciting!
Rating: 3.5 nosebleeds out of 5.
Recommended for: Young people in search of witty and innovative fantasy. And some childish adults like myself.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
Description: Seriously, do I have to write this? Everyone knows what this book is about! Heroic deeds and tying up the knots and fighting evil and coming of age and darker writing than the other books in the series and Dumbledore stays dead and so on. The Deathly Hallows items themselves are absolutely ridiculous in my not-so-humble opinion, and I get a strange vibe of monster of the month. Although strange magic item(s) of the year would be a more appropriate comment. I bet tons of wee kiddos find the Potter novels logical and well-thought-out, but meh. Good for them, then. Still, it is a good read!
Rating: 3.5 wangs out of 5. (But it felt like 4.5 when I read it, ’cause it was gripping at the time!)
Recommended for: Just about everyone who likes some light fantasy and don’t mind cheese.
Biology and Human Behaviour - The Teaching Company
Description: Much of human behaviour can be explained by neurobiology. A bit too much for some, the lecturer warned at the beginning of this book. I was eagerly awaiting something shocking, but it was just pretty common things. Maybe he was adressing Americans. Anyway, I learned some interesting things from this course, such as the fact that women produce around 5% of the male amount of testosterone…which is then converted to Östrogen in the fat cells. This explains why athletes and starving females may find their reproductive thingies malfunctioning. I love understanding more about…everything, and this course is excellent for learning more about the magical biochemistry of a human body. It was a tad bit technical now and then though.
Rating: 4 cell membranes out of 5.
Recommended for: Natural science nerds. And just maybe people who want to know more about how LSD and other interesting substances work.
Last Chance to See - Douglas Adams
Description: It’s such a pity that Mr. Adams died so young! I completely adore his writing. I couldn’t help grinning at the sarcastic wit he displayed all throughout this book, despite the hearth-wrenchingly serious topic - that of animals threatened by extinction. To be honest, I’m a cynical bastard who doesn’t really care about extinct animals all that much. I also don’t care very much about the environment. (”You bastard!” some people exclaim now. “Yes, that’s what I already called myself earlier,” is my immediate response, followed by “You see, despite what activists of different kinds claim I really think that the Earth is old enough to take care of itself and that new species will emerge no matter what we do to the poor planet. So sod off. Pun intended.”) Despite this, I loved this book and I couldn’t wait to hear about what new endangered animal they would visit.
Rating: 4.5 gallons of ear wax out of 5.
Recommended for: Everyone. Yeah, seriously, I think that everyone imperatively must enjoy Douglas Adams.
Deception Point - Dan Brown
Description: I’ve read The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons, so I might as well continue down this slippery slope toward mediocrity. This was a decent read but nothing special at all. Popcorn literature. Fast food literature. Good enough and interesting while it lasts, but not satisfying in the long run. Scientists discover fossils that prove that life exists Out There(TM), but it turns out that they’re fake. No one’s surprised, and the plot twists appear rather feeble.
Rating: 2.5 starving lemurs out of 5.
Recommended for: Someone who wants a light read. It’s damn light, but you won’t be disappointed if you’re not expecting much.
3001: The Final Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
Description: I don’t really know why this book was written. It must be to cash in on the success of the other ones - ’cause it really serves no purpose, in my opinion. It doesn’t explore many new ideas or concepts, and sometimes it feels like it was written on autopilot. Frank Poole is rescued and resurrected in the year 3001, and he meets up with the monolith. Then they plant a virus into the monolith and save mankind. The end. I get a strange deja vu from Independence Day regarding the ridiculousness of computer virii on alien computers…
Rating: 2 window shades out of 5.
Recommended for: The sci-fi nerd who really wants to know how the 2001 book series ends.
Understanding the Universe: What’s New in Astronomy - The Teaching Company
Description: Damn, there’s a lot of information in this course! And I must honestly say that I should have paid more attention, ’cause I think I missed a lot of the interesting details. Interestingly enough, this course brings up some concepts already mentioned in the Particle Physics for Non-Phycisists one, which feels great. (Such as how they detected neutrinos.) It’s great to get a sense of continuity like that! Another interesting topic was the age of the universe, and the various ways that are invented to measure it. The good thing about this course is that it brings up state-of-the-art results and not just ol’ bookstuff.
Rating: 3.5 rabid dogs out of 5.
Recommended for: Nerds who wish they had studied more astrophysics.
Gödel, Escher, Bach - Douglas Hofstadter
Description: To sum this book up in a paragraph is impossible. It really is amazing! In the starting chapters it brings up pretty mundane concepts in numerology and computer science and math and biology and art, but as more pages get turned it starts to act like the energizer bunny. It just keeps pouring out more and more! The ideas get deeper and deeper, the dialogue gets twisted in strange and wonderful ways, and the author’s knowledge of a wide variety of scientific areas seems virtually endless. I don’t get impressed easily, but this book impresses me immensely…and almost scares me a bit. I don’t agree with everything Mr. Hofstadter writes but it’s kind of hard to argue against this avalance of intertwined wit and knowledge…or should that be braided? Ah-hah, ah-hah. (The book’s subtitle is an Eternal Golden Braid.)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5. It’s just hard to give it something else.
Recommended for: Not people with a phobia for math and numbers, that’s for sure… But the rest of you: give it a try! It’s definitely a worthwhile experience.
Ancient Greek Civilization - The Teaching Company
Description: Starting with the Minoan civilization and the rest of the Greek bronze age settlements, this course mentions just about everything one could possibly wish to know about the ancient Greek world. And the fun doesn’t stop there - the lecturer brings you on a thrilling journey through battling city states, Persian invaders, Classical Greek culture, tyrants, the birth of democracy and all the way to the birth of Alexander the Great. In fact, the lecturer moves on to mention some of Alexander and his father’s exploits as well, despite the fact that it doesn’t strictly belong to the Greek civilization. Great lecturer, great course, great contents. Yay!
Rating: 4 sonic booms out of 5.
Recommended for: History buffs and other weird nerds!
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams
Description: A few weeks ago at work we started discussing this book, and a workmate told me to be careful during my upcoming move. “Make sure your sofa don’t get stuck!” “What?” “It’s from the book, you know.” In fact, I didn’t know. I had last read this book some 12 years ago and just recalled the excentric character of Dirk, and an electric monk. So, of course I had to refresh my memory. And what an awesome experience it was! Mr. Adams, you’re a twat for dying like that! I want more of this! I love it even more now than the last time I read it as a youngling. (And to give you a hint of what’s coming sometime around January 3: I’ve started on The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul right now - I just can’t stop!)
Rating: 4.5 polar bears out of 5.
Recommended for: Anyone! Everyone!
Eleven books in three months. That’s three and two thirds of a book per month. That’s less than a book per week. Which is rather awful! I really need to try to read more often, but I think I’ve gotten rather attached by this game development thing with Sheeplings and Truth, Justice and Spandex. Sure, it eats my spare time and isn’t all that rewarding…but it feels so good to produce something! Oh well! I definitely must make sure that I read at least one book per week for the remainder of 2007.
Lately I’ve been asked several times why I haven’t blogged in a while, and there’s a fairly simple explanation for that - I’m busy. These are some of the things happening right now:
- At work I have two projects which present new technologies to delve into. Interesting stuff, but the technical meetings are way too time-consuming.
- I’ve applied for a new job. I like my current one, but the new job would have me travelling all over the world - or at least to Latin America and other places where a certain large telecom company is performing business right now. I fully intend to go back to software development in a year or so, but I’d love to see the world while I’m still below the 30 line.
- I’m moving to a bigger place in a couple of weeks. Maybe now I’ll have space for all my computer junk!
- Right after I’ve moved I’m going on vacation. This was originally planned for August, and then September…but - as always it seems - I end up taking my vacation in October. I just hope there’s still some sun left around the Mediterranean.
- Finally, in my spare time I’m working on my new game: Truth, Justice and Spandex!
So, why am I writing this if I claim to be so horribly busy? Well, I just saw that Robert Jordan (aka James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) is dead. At the all-too-young age of 58 he joined the choir angelic, right as he was finishing book twelve of the Wheel of Time fantasy series. It’s a shame…but I really don’t care. And that’s what struck me as peculiar.
In 1998 I got Internet access at home for the first time (if you don’t count BBS:ing with my Amiga for a brief summer), and since I was a rabid WoT fan back then I quickly discovered similarly-minded people. I tried various IRC channels and forums, but eventually found my home at the WoT Book Forum - a place filled with equally young and equally strange and socially inept boys and girls. This forum was a spinoff from the official WoT game forum; Legend Entertainment encouraged book discussions on their game forum, and it became a strange mix of game-related threads, book theory threads, and general inane silliness threads. (Later the forum became the Ina-Community forums with a separate game and book forum. These in turn became the Infogrames forums, and eventually the Atari forums.)
This WoT forum became a second home for me for quite some time. It branched off into an IRC channel and a few spinoff forums, and I spent an unholy amount of time in these virtual communities. Maybe even an unhealthy amount - in some ways the people online helped me overcome many social issues I had, but on the other hand I might have been better off by finding Real People(TM) to deal with instead. Either way, the forums and their inhabitants were incredibly important to me, and I met many good friends there.
Back then I read the WoT books over and over; analysing chapters here, taking down notes there, and discussing various theories with other nerds like me. I must have read The Shadow Rising and Lord of Chaos a dozen of times! But eventually things began to cool down. A Crown of Swords was pretty much “meh,” and The Path of Daggers was similarly sucky. When Winter’s Heart came out in 2000 I was getting pretty bored at the slow pace of the series, and book ten, Crossroads of Twilight, still lies unopened in my bookshelf. I’ll read it sometime, just as I’ll read Knife of Dreams and A Memory of Light, but it will be a chore rather than a pleasure. The books really aren’t that good!
Ten years ago I was a rabid fan who may not have committed suicide at the news of RJ’s demise, but I surely would have been incredibly depressed. I would’ve shared my grief with others online, and I would’ve been comforted by the community. Today I shrugged and found my lack of reaction more noteworthy than Mr. Rigney’s death itself. It’s strange how priorities and obsessions change so drastically over the years; my reaction now would have been unthinkable back in the days.
Oh yeah. Colin McRae also died recently. But I’m not shocked at my lack of response to that - if it weren’t for the rally games I never would’ve heard his name before. Luciano Pavarotti’s recent demise was much more touching.
Harry Potter is dead - that is, the series is dead. It’s over. Finito. What started with a silly children’s book (Philosopher’s Stone) actually ended with a relatively gripping piece of literature. The Deathly Hallows is by no means a great work of art, but it provided much-needed entertainment on my trip to Taiwan. I finished the book on the flight home, and I would much have preferred to read more about the illustrious Harry Potter than continuing to delve through Gödel, Escher, Bach. I think that’s a good sign that the book was rather interesting.
Anyway, the ‘net is full of reviews and opinions and critique and whatnot, so I won’t even bother offering my own view. (Harry Potter is a dumb whiny bitch, but I loved the fairy-tale escapism of the books! *Cough*) Instead I’m going to ramble about some more esoteric areas.
I have a tendency to want to know more about the media I experience; I constantly surf IMDB to read trivia about films and directors and actors, and I always read about authors and all kinds of things on Wikipedia. So of course I recently searched for information on Harry Potter and Rowling. Did you know that Joanne Rowling was asked by the publisher to adopt a gender-neutral name in order to not scare away the little boyos who might want to read the Potter books? She decided to just use the initials J and K…but the interesting thing is that she has no middle name, so she used her grandmother’s name for the middle initial. I’m a sucker for useless trivia.
This is a slippery slope, and I soon ended up spending a lot of time reading about Harry Potter parodies, legal disputes, blood purity, and all kinds of other things. After a while I became bored with Wikipedia and looked up some other sites, such as MuggleNet.com. That’s where I found this list of anagrams in the books. Although…it wasn’t really a list of intended anagrams. It was a list of strange and weird coincidences. Here are some good examples:
- Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson is an anagram of Cue fine new film drama starring Potter lad
- Mike Newell’s ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ is an anagram of Enthralling film, yet we prefer to read the books
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is an anagram of Halt! Interbred arch-foe lord not happy
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is an anagram of Treachery rests on Transported Hero
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is an anagram of Portrayed Orphaned Hero for the Next Hit
- Tom Marvolo Riddle is an anagram of Immortal, Odd Lover
- Harry Potter is an anagram of Try Hero Part
- Ollivander is an anagram of An Evil Lord
- Dolores Jane Umbridge is an anagram of Dumbledore goes in jar
- Peter Pettigrew is an anagram of Tip: Pet We Regret
I suggest that you follow the link above and check out more of these - they’re quite amusing! I’m not very good at finding anagrams myself, but I have this urge to make a webpage with lots of anagrams for various book titles. The twist is that not a single one of them would be a correct anagram - it would just be close enough to fool most people. I can just imagine the observant readers who notice an error and immediately send me complaining e-mails…without noticing that every single anagram is in fact wrong. Maybe it’s my warped sense of humour, but I find the thought of that site and the huffy complainers absolutely and completely hilarious.
And as a final note, what’s this about ars manga? Is Harry Potter coming as an artistic manga? Well, who knows. But you should be able to figure out what I really mean from the last few paragraphs.
Time really flies! Three months ago I made a decently comprehensive list of the books I’d read this year, along with recommendations and comments. A respectable 12 books were mentioned then, but I ended with a suspicion that the following three months wouldn’t be as prolific. And what a fine fortune teller I am: this time I only have six and a half books to mention. (I’ll let you guess which one is the half one.)
This list includes audio books; it’s technically not reading, but since I spend so much time getting to and from work I need to do something in the meanwhile, and why not spend it following a story or learning something new? I really recommend that you try some audio books yourself - travels get much more bearable.
Only You Can Save Mankind - Terry Pratchett
Description: Johnny Maxwell is a normal kid whom no one seems to notice; he’s not exceptional or noteworthy in any way. Still he gets chosen by a computer game’s alien invaders to try to save their race. Witty writing and believable characters make this an enjoyable tale, and the anti-war message doesn’t come through as too heavy handed. The story is good; the concepts are good; the writing is pretty good; but this really feels like a children’s book to a much greater extent than Pratchett’s later young reader series (Wee Free Men, and so on). I think I would’ve gotten irritated at the slightly dumbed down conversations even as a kid.
Rating: 3 flogistone canisters out of 5.
Recommended for: Young people in search of witty and innovative fantasy. (No, despite the sci-fi setting I wouldn’t class this sci-fi. It definitely fits more into the fantasy genre; or fantastic fiction, rather.)
Particle Physics for Non-Physicists - The Teaching Company
Description: Have you ever wondered what a sub-quark really is? Or how many elementary particles we know of? Or have you ever been interested in the personal background of physicists? Or curious about what a particle accelerator is intended to do, more specifically? Or felt the urge to know enough about particle physics to scoffle indignantly at Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons? If so, listen to this audio book: you won’t regret it. There’s not much more to say about it; this series of lectures is just great for curious non-physicists.
Rating: 4.5 weevils out of 5.
Recommended for: Everyone with an interest in particle physics. It’s not particularly hard to follow, but some elementary physics knowledge might be necessary.
Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
Description: I know the story well enough, but this was still an enlightening read. Crusoe’s background story is lesser known than his exploits after the shipwreck, but it’s infinitely important in order to notice the character development that occurs. Crusoe isn’t just a stereotypical Brit who dominates nature and other men, and makes the island his domain: he’s a flawed human filled with doubt and angst, and it’s pure bliss to note how he develops (in some ways at least). The novel is an old one, and at times quite dull to get through, but it’s still surprisingly solidly written. Although, to be honest, the foreword about Defoe himself is probably even more interesting than the book.
Rating: 3.5 geologists out of 5.
Recommended for: The literary geek interested in expanding his repertoire. I wouldn’t really recommend it as a casual adventure novel - the style is a bit too aged for that.
The Sea and Little Fishes - Terry Pratchett
Description: I know that I’m a Pratchett fanboy, but he does produce excellent material. This is a very good read if you like the witches in the Discworld series: Esme’s character especially is presented wonderfully in this little piece. Note little: this is not a book or novel, but make sure you read it anyway.
Rating: 4 ankhs out of 5.
Recommended for: Just about everyone, as long as you’ve read some of the Discworld novels.
Contemporary Economic Issues - The Teaching Company
Description: Timothy Taylor is back with more information about Economics. This time he brings up contemporary issues like unemployment, the work force, liquid capital, the stock market and other crucial concepts. I like Taylor; he’s a good lecturer, and the material he presents is easy to follow and not too convoluted. Thumbs up, yet again!
Rating: 4 raving Wikipedia editors out of 5.
Recommended for: Pretentious geeks with an urge to learn some current Economics.
Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman
Description: Go go Gaiman! Wai wai! If he was as prolific (wow, I’ve used that word twice in this blog entry) as Pratchett it’d show that I’m as much a Gaiman fanboy as a Pratchett fanboy. I just love the style he writes in: it’s dark and weird and poetic and pretentious and emotional and witty. This is a collection of short stories, and - as always with anthologies like this - there are a few hits and misses. Some are right out bland, while some are absolutely exceptional. If I were to pick out my favourite stories from Smoke and Mirrors and this one and combine them into a single book, it’d get a 6 out of 5. But since I can’t do that, make sure you read both.
Rating: 4 out of 5 on the Richter scale.
Recommended for: I honestly can’t think of anyone whom I couldn’t recommend this to.
How to Listen to and Understand Great Music - The Teaching Company
Description: Time to end on a high note. Pun most definitely intended. This is a magnificent series of lectures covering early Greek and Roman music, Medieval music, Renaissance music, Catholic and secular music, the Baroque and Classical era, up to and including contemporary works. Not stuff like Green Day and Johnny Cash, of course: these lectures mostly concern Western orchestra music. (Speaking of which, the lecturer had a great anecdote about one of his pupils who, after the course was ended, mentioned that he found the course great…but there was no Western music mentioned at all - just this orchestra stuff.) Anyway, this is a great crash course in general music knowledge: you’ll learn what harmophonic music is; how a fugue is constructed; how polyphonic renaissance music sounds; what sonata allegro form is; and much much more.
Rating: 4.5 sneaky weasles out of 5.
Recommended for: Either budding musicians or people who want to know more about music. (The lecturer even makes fun of the pretentiousness of listening to the course: “Now you’ll know what an Opus means, so you can sniff indignantly at his barbaric lack of knowledge, and say that you prefer Opus 67, Symphony nr 5, movement 2!”)
There you have it! I didn’t have time to read much these three months, but I blame that on my Sheeplings release. Speaking of which: buy Sheeplings today or I’ll send the black sheep to nibble your toes at night!
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions unless they’re extremely simple to keep. This year I decided to write down every book I read throughout the year; at first I wanted to make a yearly summary, but I soon realized that it would be too much to summarize - a quarterly report seems much more appropriate. ‘Nuff said. This is the list of books I’ve read or listened to so far in 2007. (Yes, listened to. I use my commuting time to listen to audio books; I can’t imagine a time when I didn’t do this, but it’s still less than a year ago that I started. I highly recommend that you try it as well.)
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Description: The pretentious part of me feels a bit annoyed at the rest of me, because I thoroughly enjoyed both this book and The DaVinci Code. It’s an extremely basic book: the story is simplistic, the plot twists are way too obvious…but it still has this cozy “let’s see what happens next” feeling. A perfect book to read in the bath, or when lounging about on a lazy Sunday. Also, I do love religious themes despite being an atheist.
Recommended for: Everyone but the arrogant nerd who won’t read populistic literature.
Legacies of Great Economists - The Teaching Company
Description: You’ll see a few more TTC courses in this list, and I have to admit that I’m hooked on this series of audio books. It’s an excellent way to get a semi-college-level insight into various areas. (Semi because it’s relatively thorough, but not as deep as a proper course.) This was my first ever dive into Economics, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Economic theories were discussed, but the course mostly concerned the persons behind the theories; and the lecturer was full of interesting anecdotes to keep it all enjoyable.
Recommended for: Technical geeks who want to expand their knowledge of Economics.
Rama II - Arthur C Clarke
Description: Very interesting novel, but I’m not certain that it’s an improvement from Rendez-Vous with Rama. Highly entertaining science fiction with believable characters, but just a tad too much drama and not enough science for my taste. And don’t get me started on the mysticism; co-writing this novel might not have been a good idea. (I assume that those parts weren’t Clarke’s.)
Recommended for: Technical geeks who want drama.
Economics - The Teaching Company
Description: A thorough summary of basic Economics and a guide to everything from initial economic concepts to world markets. Yes, I got hooked after I finished the earlier Economics course. This wasn’t quite as gripping, but still very educational. Presented by the same lecturer, Timothy Taylor, as the former course.
Recommended for: Technical geeks who - for some reason - get hooked on Economics.
Garden of Rama - Arthur C Clarke
Description: The third Rama book, and…not the best one. I like the fact that the books aren’t stagnating, but there seems to be just a bit too much speculative sociological mumbo-jumbo in this one compared to - say - Rendez-Vous with Rama. For some reason I just find a sterile spaceship more interesting than a lush social analysis.
Recommended for: People who have read the earlier Rama books, ’cause we want to know how it ends.
I, Robot - Isaac Asimov
Description: I really shouldn’t need to give anyone a description of this novel, but since the movie gave such a half-assed attempt at utilizing the ideas from the book I have to anyway. The movie was a dull action movie featuring Will Smith. The book is a series of short stories about robots, artificial intelligence, their interactions with humans, and logical consequences of all of this. But wait, logical? I’m not so sure about that. All stories feature logical problems of some kind. “How do we determine this?” “How will a robot act in this situation?” and so on. The problem is that it’s all very simplistic, and not all that believable. Granted, it was written 50 years ago, but the scenarios just don’t hold up; the robots act illogically…and so do the people. Still, it is a marvellous piece to read despite that.
Recommended for: Computer geeks who want to read speculations about AI, and anyone else who wants a good sci fi novel.
Wizardry and Wild Romance - Michael Moorcock
Description: Enough with all the sci fi already! Time to move back to my usual genre: fantasy. I decided to read Michael Moorcock’s analytical papers on the subject (collected in this volume); and it was a marvellous read. For a while. Moorcock is an extremely well-read person with a keen mind, but I can’t agree with his conclusions. In my view, fantasy is not as tightly intertwined with Romance as he insinuates; fantasy isn’t a strict renewal of Romantic ideas, and failing to uphold these ideals does not immediately make books badly written fantasy, in my opinion. Maybe I’m just bitter ’cause he constantly talks down on Tolkien, but I do think that Moorcock’s missing The Point(TM) in a lot of Tolkien’s works, and instead compares it with his own idea of what fantasy ought to be.
Recommended for: The scholarly fantasy reader with a fetish for over-analysis.
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty - Anne Rice
Description: A twisted version of the classic fairy-tale, Sleeping Beauty. Warning: this is not a children’s book. I thought that it would be a suitably erotic grown-up version of the tale, but it turned out to be rather heavy on S&M and dominance instead. Anne Rice is a filthy, filthy woman, just so you know. Despite these positive traits, the story was fairly thin and uninteresting - too much focus was put on colourful descriptions of spankings (pun intended - colourful… ah-hah) and tortures and imaginative sexual acts, and not enough care was put into describing a believable character development for Beauty. I like smut as much as the next person, but I often got the feeling that Ms/Mrs Rice got carried away with this novella, and sat writing one-handed.
Recommended for: Innocent people who find this dive into the forbidden fascinating.
The Science of Discworld III - Terry Pratchett (and two others)
Description: Third time’s the charm, and I love mis-using proverbs. There’s no need to exclaim “third time’s the charm” with this book - all three Science of Discworld books are excellent, whether or not you’re scientifically-minded. This time the Ankh-Morpork wizards examine evolution and intelligent design, and it’s a very enjoyable read. I do think that the science part of the book is a tad too negative about intelligent design, though. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t approve of ID one bit, but this book goes to great lengths to describe why it’s unscientific and invalid; enough that I feel that the authors aren’t being strictly objective anymore. A better approach would - in my view - be to not give it credit by arguing against it so much.
Recommended for: Anyone who doesn’t get bored by popular science.
Starship Titanic - Douglas Adams, Terry Jones
Description: Absolutely delightful book by two of the most brilliant comedy writers. The amusing descriptions and the witty dialog makes this a great read at just about anytime. I get a suspicion that the science fiction theme might put people off from this book. It’s a pity, because this is a very universal book that ought to be read by anyone who wants to lighten up their day.
Recommended for: Everyone except boring humour-less bastards.
Dante’s Divine Comedy - The Teaching Company
Description: This course deals with interpreting and giving background to Dante’s Divine Comedy, and it does a great job at it. I admit that I haven’t read the poem yet, but I don’t think that it’s a negative thing to have listened to this analysis first. First of all, this has given me insight into medieval Italy, and I am also sure to notice things in the poem that I otherwise would have missed. Now I just have to get this thumb out of my rear and read the Divina Comedia sometime.
Recommended for: People with an interest in classical literature - it doesn’t get much more classical than this.
Ancient Near Eastern Mythology - The Teaching Company
Description: I’ve always had a fascination with Mesopotamia and the other Near-Eastern areas - it seems like such important cultures to know more about. And I sure got to know more about ‘em from this course; a bit more than I felt like, in fact. I loved the historical backgrounds, the archeological methods, and the explanation of the different writing systems…but the myths themselves were pretty dull. Mostly there were comparisons between bible tales and ancient Sumerian/Egyptian/[insert other civilization here] myths. I had expected something more interesting. Something more unknown and unexpected.
Recommended for: Hm… Not sure. The ones dying to assimilate more knowledge, or the ones interested in scholarly bible studies.
All in all, I feel that this has been a pretty productive quarter. Twelve books; almost one per week. It’s nothing compared to what one read in high school, but it’s still a fair amount of literature. Unfortunately the next three months will probably not be as impressive - I foresee a shortage of time, as I dive into a new game project.
For my own amusement I decided to make a list of the books I’ve read lately, and If I recall correctly it looks something like this:
Jingo - Terry Pratchett
Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations - The Teaching Company
Thud! - Terry Pratchett
The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Memories, Dreams, Reflections - Carl Jung
Snow Crash - Neil Stephenson
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
So, what does this say about me? First of all, I’m a sucker for Terry Pratchett and his Discworld books. In fact, the next book I read will be Wintersmith: the third book in the Tiffany Aching series (the others are The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky.) Technically, I think these books are for young people, but I adore the little pictsies so I ignore that.
Secondly, it shows that I’m (as always) a pretentious bastard. I mean…who voluntarily delves into history books and a book where a famous psychologist reflects on his own life? The first one was a bit of a disappointment; the reader was a pompous prick, and the book wasn’t really structured all that interestingly. The second one was better and in fact quite interesting.
Thirdly, this list proves that I’m a generic nerd-geek; Pratchett, Stephenson, Gaiman and Rand are probably well-read among the geeks who read books. (It always comes as a surprise to me, but some geeky people actually don’t read all that much!) The last author is what I decided to make a special comment about, however.
Ayn Rand was a Russian-born writer who turned philosopher. Or vice versa, depending on how you view it. She started by writing novels in which she presented and perfected her idea about the theory of Objectivism; Atlas Shrugged is the most famous of her novels, and also the last fictional one she wrote before she went hardcore philosopher. When I was younger I frequented various message boards and often got tempted into discussions about ethics and morals and economics and politics and whatnot. Rand was one author that many pro-capitalist people referred to as a source for their ideas, but I never took the time to check out exactly what she had written. Now I have read one book at least, and there are some things that I find interesting:
- I like the setting and the twists. Atlas Shrugged is never dull. But…
- …it can’t be helped: Rand is not a very good author per se. She tells a story decently, but the character development is non-existent and the book feels artificial.
- Following that thought, the speeches that occur now and then are laughable. Not the contents of the speeches, but the sudden outbursts of philosophical ideas. The characters don’t feel real - they are just Rand’s tools for presenting her thoughts.
- I disagree with Rand’s philosophy in general, but she has some nice points…
- …such as valuing productivity. It’s eerie, noticing how many of her values are the same ones I judge myself by. However, I feel that her next step is rather egocentrical: she applies these set of values to others as well; she makes a general philosophy out of something that I feel is relative and personal. In other words, to me it seems like her philosophy is based on hubris and a lack of empathy.
I’m not going into details about Objectivism or my own critique of it; I only read the book for personal enjoyment and not in order to analyze it. Doing the latter takes too much time and effort for something that I ultimately don’t feel is as earth-shaking as many others seem to think.
All in all, the book is worth a read. I liked it well enough even if I got annoyed at some details. And it’s always refreshing to read new ideas.
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Michael Moorcock: a few years ago I thoroughly admired his writing and his astonishing amount of output not only in literature, but in music as well. These days I don’t get the same thrill at picking up a novel of his, but I still think that he’s absolutely brilliant. And Elric is and will always be a magnificent character; where else do you find such a stereotypical moping goth anti-hero? I love melodrama, after all.
(I have to put in a footnote here. Or rather, a mid-note. Or middle-note. Or meso-note or something. Above I wrote “I’m a big fan of Michael Moorcock” but I tend to see the form “I’m a big fan of his” more often. Does that mean that there ought to be a possessive noun instead? “I’m a big fan of Moorcock’s” for example? Or is it just possessive when it’s a pronoun? Oh well, I’ll just leave it like it is.)
In 2001 I was travelling all around the US. My trip took me from NY to NC to FL to TN to IL to OH to WI to all kinds of weird two-letter abbreviations. The trip changed me in many ways, and it also strengthened my prejudices about America in other ways. Either way, for reasons I won’t go into here, I found myself alone and abandoned in Chicago at one time during wintertime, wandering the place aimlessly. Eventually I found a broken-down hostel in the slums that charged a fiver per night (mostly because there was no heating at all there) where I decided to read a collection of Moorcock stories. I can’t for the life of me remember what the story was called, and I’ve since then lost the book, but one of the stories was a short piece on the Eternal Champion who found himself waking up in a sled, travelling over a wintery landscape. That’s when the inspiration struck me for this parody. If you haven’t read any Moorcock, it’s probably just as enjoyable anyway. And no, I’m not really trying to be subtle.
The Eternal Champion
The first memory I can recall is that of the icy wind biting hard into my face. I travelled at blazing speed inside a strange large sled as I traversed a frozen plain that seemed to stretch out forever in all directions. I had no idea where I was going or who I was; dream-like memories of a previous life - or several lives - flowed through my thoughts, yet I had no idea why I now found myself in this vehicle pulled by fierce-looking horned beasts. I leaned back in the large seat and squinted in the hard wind, shivering slightly as I gazed out over the wintery landscape.
My attire was blood-red and thick, lined with soft fur to protect me from the bitter cold. The grim colour I wore stirred memories within me: I recalled being a warrior time and time again. I had been called a multitude of different names, and I had fought for more causes than I could fathom. Yet, the names I had worn and the places I had been at eluded me. My past seemed to be one shrouded in dark mysterious secrets. All I could remember was being a champion for these countless causes, willingly as well as unwillingly, through as many different lives. A deep sigh escaped my lips as I realised I was yet again on my way to fight for someone else’s just or unjust cause. This seemed to be the very reason for my existence. Who was I? Where had I come from? Where or to whom was the sled taking me? And - this thought troubled me constantly - was there no other reason for my being, than endless struggle?
For many hours I travelled in my strange sled, haunted by vague memories tauntingly keeping just out of my reach. At last I received something else to occupy my tortured mind: in the distance I beheld a fort of cyclopean proportions, and it was most definitely my destination, judging from my vehicle’s direction. I vaguely pondered if I should try stopping the beasts and approach a trifle more discretely. After some brief thinking I decided against it; I did not know where I was, and the large construct getting closer and closer was my only hope of receiving some answers. There was no use in delaying what indeed seemed inevitable.
As I neared the fort I saw myriad of small creatures standing outside, obviously awaiting my arrival. They grinned, I imagined, but from this distance I could not surely tell. The sled moved closer until I could make out their slightly pointed hats and their green attire. Finally my vehicle stopped just outside the enormous building and the creatures greeted me energetically with a chattering I did not understand, and fierce grins. They were eager to take me into the fort, and I did not resist. However eager, they were yet anxious and obviously in quite some reverence of the person I now were. This enforced my beliefs that I once again was a chosen warrior, destined to fight whatever obstacle that fate now needed me to overcome. As I beheld the inside of the gigantic building, after they had led me in through an enormous bronze gate wide as dozens of men, I gasped at the sight before my eyes. Within was a factory, and countless numbers of these little beings worked tirelessly at strange machines, producing strange objects. I dared not guess what purpose this factory served out here in the cold wastes, but it seemed certain now why I was here: I had to free these creatures from the slavery they apparently had been put into. The fort was not a military construct as I had thought at first €“ it was a place of slave labour. Pained memories came to me unbidden: I remembered freeing wretched starving slaves before. I recalled enslaving people myself. There was never a way to decide if what I had to do was good or of evil; I seem to be forced to work for balance instead, no matter how it may tear at my soul to be forced into actions I could not emphatically approve of. This time it seemed my cause was just and right, though. I nodded grimly to the poor small creatures, promising myself to deal out swift and lethal punishment onto their captors.
I was led out to the sled again by the cheering and chattering small beings, and in my hand they pressed a long list as they filled my vehicle with the manufactured goods. I nodded; the plan was clear to me. The enslavers were expecting a load of their slaves’ hard work, and I was to be the delivering person instead of the normal one. Again I silently promised swift death to the ones responsible for this slavery, as I skimmed through the list in my hand. It seemed almost unending, filled with names of the ones I had to destroy. This would take a very long time, and the struggle would be fierce; but I would be victorious. I entered the sled again, accompanied by the cheering of the small creatures. I had had many names: now I recalled several of them. Corum, Elric, Hawkmoon and innumerable others. This time they called me by a new name. As the sled magically arose from the icy landscape into the air, fated to bring me to my destinations, I could hear the cheering of the small beings below. They now called me Santa.
You know you’ve read too much Neil Gaiman when you feel the urge to write metaphorical semi-fantasy poems involving goddesses.
The Goddess of Love is a pitiful thing
With tresses of gold, on her bed
She’s lying unwanted, un-prayed-for and cold
Her beauty resembles the dead
She raises her hand with a delicate grace
Resenting her lovely visage
Her sisters arrive, young and pretty and full
So vivid - a lovely mirage
The Goddess of Longing, of Wistful Desire
Approaches the Goddess of eld
The Goddess of Love nods and bids her to stay
And begs desperately to be held
“I lie here alone, weak and pale as you see
While my sisters have power to lend
The Goddess of Love should be highest of all
But I’m weak and I cannot pretend”
The Goddess of Lust smells of perfume and sex
And smiles to her elder with glee
“Foremost of us, but discarded by Man
None offer prayers to thee
Man does not pray to the Goddess of Love
When he prays, he is full of desire
But once he has love, his is sated and full
He thinks love cannot ever expire”
I think I got the idea when I read Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors: I thought of a scene with depressing and/or depraved gods and goddesses, and especially the goddess of love. I reasoned that if people would pray for something, they would pray for something they lacked. Once love was granted, the need for it was sated - i.e., no more prayers. Lust and Longing, in comparison, only grant instant gratification, so they would constantly receive their prayers even if they are of “lesser worth” in the long run.
(Oh, and I’m not just throwing in capitalized words here and there. The concept of love isn’t capitalized, for example, but the personification is. Just noticed that it looked pretty haphazard in the paragraph above.)
At first I thought of Love’s character as arrogant and demanding - she would claim that all of mankind loves her, and that she is the highest goal. Still, she would sit alone on her gilded throne, not understanding why she waned away. It was supposed to be a short story…but eventually I felt that a poem would suit this idea better. And along with that came the change to Love’s character: she became a tragic and weak creature instead.
It wonder if this could be expanded into a decent story.
I listen to a lot of audio books these days due to a lack of more efficient means of transportation than my feet. I recently finished book 7 of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, so I started looking for something new to listen to. The Dark Tower was interesting, and King is a good writer, but seriously…I don’t see what all the fuss is about. The first book, The Gunslinger, was promising but it all went downhill after that. Too much was explained; too much random variation; too many haphazard twists for my taste. King himself mentions that he doesn’t write the books per se - they grow from his imagination, and he has no idea where the next book will take him. This is quite noticeable. I can’t say that I approve. So I went for something more concrete; something more strict: The Teaching Company’s Introduction to Greek Philosophy.
I like it so far. It summarizes things pretty well, and even though there are repetitions they aren’t too bad. Sometimes these repetitions are actually excellently paced: just this morning I couldn’t recall the meaning of the word doxa - and the teacher repeated it right then. And the contents are good as well; the book begins with describing myths and rapidly procedes to mention various ideas spun by early thinkers like Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes, and eventually arrives at Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The latter ones get a number of lectures for themselves; in fact, it’s mentioned that some believe that later - modern - philosophy just consists of footnotes to Plato.
Before the lecturer arrives at the important latter three, other philosophers are mentioned. Two that stuck to my mind are Heraclitus and Democritus - the weeping respectively the laughing philosopher. Oh, and a pet peeve of mine: why do English-speakers have this weird urge to change the spelling of names? Herkleitos becomes Heraclitus and so on. God damn you, it just messes up my attempts to google for info on them!
Heraclitus is known for famous sayings like “you can’t step into the same river twice” and similar eloquent similies and metaphors; all combine to form the doctrine of flux - that everything is in constant motion. This is in fact an elaboration of the state of becoming: nothing in the world is constant because everything is moving, and thus there never is a state where something is. But if we’re to trust our senses we know that things exist after all, so the logical (or well…mythical if one is to believe Plato) conclusion is that something can exist and not exist at the same time. That is essentially what becoming is; and it’s a paradox. Since it’s a paradox, it is also something that later philosophers object to: a thing that is and is not at the same time is logically faulty, and that renders the whole concept of becoming logically flawed. I.e., it doesn’t belong to reasonable thought - only is is logically valid. And something that does not belong to logos - the knowing; the reason - instead belongs to mythos - poetry; storytelling. (This is a very brief summary of Plato’s argument through Socrates’ words. Maybe this explains why I added the “mythical” comment above.)
As a footnote, it’s interesting that Heraclitus himself brings up the word logos. But to him it means the thing which all matter consists of - the arche - instead of human reason.
Back to the arguments against Heraclitus. First of all, I find Plato’s logical refutations of Heraclitus…lacking. The latter deals in relative notions, while Plato discusses absolutes. The simplest argument Plato brings up is that of self-reference: if Heraclitus is correct and everything is in flux, then even language itself must be in flux. That means that Heraclitus’ statement becomes unintelligeble since language cannot be trusted - the language loses its value and its ability to specify the doctrine of flux itself. Many other of Plato’s discussions are along those lines: he specifies premises and eventually disproves the other’s ideas by maneuvering them into a logical inconsistency. This seems fundamentally flawed to me. It’s like comparing apples and turtles. But then again, I’ve only listened to these audio lectures, so they might not have brought up some of the finer points of the arguments.
Another thing that I find lacking is the lecturer’s own interpretation of philosophers at times. While discussing Heraclitus he mentions that the philosopher brings up several possible arches throughout his writings, and that this in turn seems to indicate that Heraclitus appears to think that there is no static arche and that he is an anarchist. I.e., that he believes that there is no static foundation. I think that this conclusion is pretty far-fetched, as there are rather few examples where Heraclitus assumes a position either for or against. Read some of the old philosopher’s quotes and decide for yourself; personally, I think that this is a very premature conclusion, and one that the lecturer simply wishes to draw since it fits in with his idea of philosophy. Heraclitus seems to refuse to take a stand concerning that question and that fits in perfectly with his relativistic thinking, in my view. He refuses to name a specific arche, but he doesn’t appear to imply that this means that there is none.
I find Heraclitus’ ideas very appealing, and so do Nietzsche and Heidegger. But if there’s someone back then who really impresses me, it’s Democritus. Among many other things he completely side-stepped the question of is or becoming, and suggested that both are correct - it’s simply a question of semantics. He introduced the concept of atoms; the atom is static and indivisible, and is what all other matter consists of. In other words there is a foundation, but everything is in flux at the same time. I still recall how thunderstruck I was at this intuitive grasp of reality when I first heard about him in high school, and I’m still in awe at this theory he presented without modern means of producing empirical proof.
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