Reading any good books?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

About to start Canticle for Leibowitz, for a seminar on Wednesday.

[cee2lee2]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

About to start Canticle for Leibowitz, for a seminar on Wednesday.

I've had to let go of a lot of books due to space constraints and unfortunately that was one of them. I had a paperback version from the late 60's or early 70's that was falling apart. It's been so long since I read it that I don't remember the particulars. I do remember that (imho) it's excellent. Hope you enjoy it.

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

About to start Canticle for Leibowitz, for a seminar on Wednesday.

One of the greatest religious sf books ever- love to hear your thoughts, as well as those of your fellow seminarians.

[Rían]

Originally Posted by Valandil

Currently about halfway through Northanger Abbey. Didn't watch the BBC on it, because I wanted to read it first.

I love that book!!!

[cee2lee2]

Just finished How Starbucks Saved My Life. by Michael Gates Gill. Gill lost his long-time job as a major advertizing agency executive and ended up working in a Starbucks. He learned a lot of lessons about what values are important.

[Coffeehouse]

Currently reading Empires of the Monsoon by Richard Hall. Here's a review if anyone's interested:

"History books after often dry and dull, right ? Yes, well that's my experience anyway. This book definitely breaks this mould and manages to be both factual and entertaining.
Full of fascinating accounts ( E.g. The Chinese ventures to East Africa in the fifteenth century, The fabled Christian kingdom of Preston John and its reality in Ethiopia, the landing of Vasco Da Gama at Calicut in West India and his meeting with the Hindu Zamorin ), this book is mostly about the Christian ( and other ) invaders of the Indian Ocean. I read this 500 page book in under a week and found it to be highly rewarding."

It's a mind-blowing book about the wonders and horrors of the conquests in the lands touching the Indian Ocean, from South Africa to Kenya to Oman to India

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by Coffeehouse

Currently reading Empires of the Monsoon by Richard Hall. Here's a review if anyone's interested:

"History books after often dry and dull, right ? Yes, well that's my experience anyway. This book definitely breaks this mould and manages to be both factual and entertaining.
Full of fascinating accounts ( E.g. The Chinese ventures to East Africa in the fifteenth century, The fabled Christian kingdom of Preston John and its reality in Ethiopia, the landing of Vasco Da Gama at Calicut in West India and his meeting with the Hindu Zamorin ), this book is mostly about the Christian ( and other ) invaders of the Indian Ocean. I read this 500 page book in under a week and found it to be highly rewarding."

It's a mind-blowing book about the wonders and horrors of the conquests in the lands touching the Indian Ocean, from South Africa to Kenya to Oman to India

Sounds great.

I've spent some time on the East African coast- one of my favorite places in the world- fascinating mix of Arabs, Africans, Indians and whatever else, and one of the great centres of world trade in the past.

I remember walking on the streets of a isolated village composed of mud huts, on an island which we had to reach by sailing prau, where the children fled from the sight of these strange white people- and the ground was literally covered with fragments of Chinese Ming and Qing pottery. An old woman went into a hut with a thatched straw roof and brought out a 19th-century New England cuckoo clock.

People forget that when the Europeans opened their "trade" routes, they didn't have much to offer themselves. What they did have was fast ships
mounted with cannon, and for the next few hundred years basically acted as a Mafia, squeezing out protection money- "Nice little trading port you got here- hate to see anything happen to it."

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

About to start Canticle for Leibowitz, for a seminar on Wednesday.

Ahem....well???

[Coffeehouse]

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

Ahem....well???

First I wrote a long reply but somehow I was signed out Lost it all

But no worries

I agree with you wholeheartedly. The East African shore is littered with places of bloodshed in the name of European conquest and Christianization. The first Portuguese incursions, by Vasco da Gama and others, were nothing more than Crusade-like adventures to monopolize trade relations and force the Bible on the unbelieving heathens. And if any Muslims appeared on the way, then good hunting

In fact Da Gama, often solely portrayed for his greatness as an explorer, decided when coming to Calicut by India, to punish the local ruler and his inhabitants for not being totally submissive to his mission. So he "told his men to parade the prisoners, then to hack off their hands, ears and noses. As the work progressed, all the amputated pieces were piled up in a boat." Later the author recites a contemporary Portuguese historian describing how this boat of amputated body parts was filled with the same prisoners, who now had their teeth hit out (and down their throats), and how the boat was set afire with all the prisoners piled upon each others (alive).

So much for the civilized manner of conquest. In fact many kingdoms across the Indian Ocean coasts were quite prosperous. And if you've been to Mombasa you know how beautiful it gets in those parts

Read the book

[Coffeehouse]

Oops hehe, I quoted you wrong. I meant to quote your previous post

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by Coffeehouse

Read the book

Love to, but it's quoted on Amazon as starting at $136

And, yes, Mombasa....

The island I was referring to was Pate, off Lamu. This was back in 1973, when Lamu was just becoming a stop on the backpacker circuit, pre-Lonely Planet.

You know how you always hear "ah, you should have been here, ten,twenty years ago, before it was discovered"?

Well, that's the one place I was there

[Coffeehouse]

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

Love to, but it's quoted on Amazon as starting at $136

And, yes, Mombasa....

The island I was referring to was Pate, off Lamu. This was back in 1973, when Lamu was just becoming a stop on the backpacker circuit, pre-Lonely Planet.

You know how you always hear "ah, you should have been here, ten,twenty years ago, before it was discovered"?

Well, that's the one place I was there

Yeah it is kinda expensive

I know of Lamu, my family went there a few times when living in Kenya. It still has only donkies and no cars hehe Looks like paradise from the pics I've seen.

What struck me about Empires of the Monsoon was that we see today the same shift eastwards in East African relations with the outside world. China and India and other Indian Ocean countries of Asia are establishing closer ties with their East African counterparts, including South Africa. Nations like Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa are connecting with their historical trade partners in the Arabian Peninsula, India, China, Indonesia, etc. That would be a good step in the right direction away from the unhealthy European dominance of the Indian Ocean. Yet again the Indian Ocean is becoming more of a enclosing sea than a vast ocean. I think that's a healthy development for all Indian Ocean nations

And in the end this means that all the awesome places in the Indian Ocean can fend for themselves and their peoples/culture, which makes going there as a tourist even more exotic

[katya]

Anyone ever read any Haruki Murakami? I just started Norwegian Wood yesterday. I only read a couple pages but it sounds really good so far.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

Ahem....well???

I read the first part, then got distracted by Gerard Manley Hopkins. There was a reading/discussion of the Wreck of the Deutschland at the same time as the seminar. Still planning on finishing it, hopefully before the school year is over.

And I'm not in a seminary.

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

I read the first part, then got distracted by Gerard Manley Hopkins. There was a reading/discussion of the Wreck of the Deutschland at the same time as the seminar. Still planning on finishing it, hopefully before the school year is over.

And I'm not in a seminary.

A goodly distraction, admittedly:

I CAUGHT this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!

OK, so what is the plural for those taking part in a seminar?
Seminarees? Seminarists? Semen?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I believe the correct term is "participants in a seminar".

[Valandil]

I just started "Lorna Doone". Several months ago I saw a BBC adaptation of the story, and got interested enough to buy the book. I was still working through my Austens though - and leading a book club on LOTR. I've finished those, so I'm finally starting (though I want to read "Prince Caspian" real quick.

It's intimidatingly long, and I'm still in the early parts.

- - - - - - -

Speaking of long books, I've seen recently that there may be a movie version of Ayn Rands "Atlas Shrugged" - featuring Angelina Jolie as Dagny Taggart.

[Grey_Wolf]

At the moment Im reading a book on the battleship Tirpitz - very good - Ive always been interested in the german WWII navy.

My favorite tale is the one on Bismark and its sinking.

[Coffeehouse]

Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf

At the moment Im reading a book on the battleship Tirpitz - very good - Ive always been interested in the german WWII navy.

My favorite tale is the one on Bismark and its sinking.

Ah the German WWII navy... not a fan At all! They torpedoed my grandfathers ship.. twice.. and the first time all his belongings burned up.. on Christmas Eve Damn Nazis.

[feawen]

im working my way though the dickens books. im on a tale of two cites at the moment. On the last 100 pages. But its taken a while to get though it. Bleak house is the best dickens book ive read so far.