Author Topic: Rate the last book you read.  (Read 194332 times)

smirnoff

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #740 on: June 07, 2011, 07:25:58 PM »
I'd encourage you to check out this Radiolab episode first. It's the discussion that sold me on checking out the book in the first place. In hindsight it briefly covers most everything in the book. I think on the amazon.com review page for the book you can find a list and brief description of all the principals in the book. But yeah, you could just go find the book, skim it and be done with it. A more thorough reading might strengthen the case but wouldn't provide any additional revelations, imo. :)

oldkid

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #741 on: June 08, 2011, 02:13:49 AM »
It was the Radiolab podcast that turned me on to that book as well.  Radiolab is awesome.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #742 on: June 12, 2011, 07:35:22 PM »
The Social Animal by David Brooks



There has been a lot of research on the brain and about how an individual is marked by society.  But apart from some studies and chapters in broader books, there really hasn't been a work that summarized the recent science supporting social influence.  Brooks attempts to fill that void in a unique way.

Instead of writing another dusty old tome, he writes the story of Harold and Erica, from how their parents got together to their deaths as a married couple.  Because, Brooks postulates, every aspect of life is determined by society and how we fit in it.  Even though the specifics all deal with this two individuals, the summary of research applies to us all. 

Brooks deals with falling in love, sex, brain differences when becoming a part of a couple, politics, searching for a job, different kinds of employment, hobbies, brain differences in old age and so much more.

Not only is this book important-- probably the most important book I will have read this year-- but it is written well.  I swallowed it up in a week and am thinking about having it permanently on my shelf for re-reading later.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Clovis8

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #743 on: June 12, 2011, 07:42:16 PM »
I'm going to pick that up Steve.

Bondo

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #744 on: June 12, 2011, 08:39:50 PM »
I have an instinctual dislike of David Brooks. Well, maybe not instinctual, but his NYT column, it isn't good.

Jared

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #745 on: June 20, 2011, 11:12:18 AM »
Blink by Malcom Gladwell

Interesting book with a lot of in depth case studies that really delve into the power of the unconscious part of the brain. I liked this one a lot more than Gladwell's previous book, The Tipping Point. He describes how our quick impressions define our view of other races, our view of who would be good to date, etc. Really a terrific and interesting study. Im listening to his next book now.

Jared

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #746 on: June 21, 2011, 01:17:22 AM »
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

picked this one up at 1/2 Price Books when Norm Macdonald started @Normsbookclub on Twitter and made it the initial dictation. Discussion on 6/23-30 that Im looking forward to.

Anyways, this is a very good book, and between Jack Burden and Willie Stark Id have to say it creates two of my favorite characters in literature. One GETS the Stark character with the brilliant Broderick Crawford performance in the 1949 film, but its the philosophical ramblings of Burden (the story's narrator) that really pushes this novel past its adaptation.

smirnoff

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #747 on: July 05, 2011, 11:18:09 PM »
Blink by Malcom Gladwell

Interesting book with a lot of in depth case studies that really delve into the power of the unconscious part of the brain. I liked this one a lot more than Gladwell's previous book, The Tipping Point. He describes how our quick impressions define our view of other races, our view of who would be good to date, etc. Really a terrific and interesting study. Im listening to his next book now.

I agree. A really fun read. It helped me understand my own decision making better, particularly in my job. I should re-read it.



It's shameful how long this took me to read but I've been busy. I didn't find it to be the kind of book that lends itself well to short bursts, because of the broken up timeline, so I would only pick it up if I had an hour or more to really sink in.

Quite an experience though. Atwood is certainly of a higher caliber of writer than I'm used to. I don't mean the story telling or ideas (although those were terrific too) but the language and words. She seems to know what she's doing (I'm no expert but you can just kind of tell, can't you?). The book seems to have something to say about everything. Human nature, religion, torture, servitude, jealousy... you name it. Every chapter provided some new insight on some old topic. And the story itself is just so compelling. What a world!

I was surprised by the epilogue thing and still don't really know how to feel about it. I thought her story ended so well. I wanted it to be over, it felt like the right time. The switch is so sudden and things become so clinical, I wanted to pretend it wasn't there.

Heavy, kind of brutal but riveting too, and rewarding. Like nothing I've read before.

St. Martin the Bald

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #748 on: July 06, 2011, 12:05:22 AM »

Junior - I don't know if you commented on this yet but I am almost ready to label this as Mieville's best.
Never would I thought I would have enjoyed a lesson in linguistics as much as I did.
This is the story of the evolution of language for an alien race - we take language for granted daily but we fail to take into account how complex our thought processes are because of it. We can take a statement - it can be a truth, a lie or even both all at the same time for us and simultaneously define our world around us and our position in it.
I nearly cried when Avice finally got through to Spanish Dancer and he began to communicate with her - it was truly a thrilling literary moment for me. As original as The City & The City but giving a better emotional pay-out (for me) at the end.
Hey, nice marmot!

tinyholidays

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Re: Rate the last book you read.
« Reply #749 on: July 06, 2011, 09:05:17 AM »
Have you read any other Atwood, smirnoff? My favorites are Cat's Eye and Alias Grace.