It turns out you can put things on hold at the library! OK, I knew that already, but I went a little crazy with the Terry Pratchett Books the other week. So, over the last little while, I've read The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (a young adult novel and possibly one of his best), Hogfather (Pratchett's take, or twist, on Christmas), and Equal Rites (an earlier Discworld book and not quite as polished as his later stuff).
My favorite and, I dare say, the best of the three is The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. It has interesting themes of humanity, transcendence over our basic nature, and idealism. Funny how sometimes YA novels are the most laden with that kind of thing.
Add to this list Carpe Jugulum and, shortly, Mort. I think this will finish my Pratchett phase for now! I probably won't be reading too much between now and Christmas, but we'll see. I'd like to read The Snopes trilogy (Faulkner) and East of Eden (Steinbeck) but they take a bit more of a commitment and attention span than the books I've been attempting (the 'finish it in a week if you read less than an hour a day' variety.) I need some suggestions.... Allison asked about The Host - I've got it on hold at the library, but it had quite the waiting list and will probably take a while yet.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
You know how they say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing? This book might be lethal. I finished the book feeling like I really had a clue - like I understand Life, the Universe, and Everything. Or, that I at least wouldn't be out of my depth if I had to find out more about the (many, many) subjects it addresses. Basically, it presents what we think we know about the universe and, briefly, how we figured it out, including summarizing difficult theories and concepts using engaging analogies (e.g. if an atom were the size of a cathedral, the nucleus would only be the size of a fly) and introducing the fascinating. often controversial historical figures in science, complete with all the juicy details textbooks leave out.
As you might guess from the title, it covers SO MUCH. It's not a short book, and it took me several months to get through it, but that was mainly because nearly every sentence has at least one new idea, concept, fact, theory, or interesting bit of historical gossip in it. Sometimes it takes a while to really absorb it all. The book reads more like a novel (or, probalby travelogue, since that seems to be the author's normal genre). It's a must read. If I'd read it early in my college career, I'm sure I would have been inspired enough to take several unecessary science classes or change my major to, like, biochemistry or something riduculous (until I flunked out, that is). At the very least, it would have left me more impassioned and interested in the science classes I DID take, including chemistry and physics (which I didn't care enough about to even remember I actually took them, most of the time).
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes science (so they can tell me if he's as accurate and impartial as he mostly seems to be) and especially to anyone who never felt up to it - this is all the good stuff you knew they were hiding behind the boring nonsense they shoved at you in class. I emerged quite a bit greener than I entered, so if you don't want to care about environmental protection and species preservation, there are several chapters you'll want to skip. It's also very evolutionary, of course, but I figure the Gospel is large enough to accomodate Truth, and so there can't be any real contradictions, just misunderstandings.
As you might guess from the title, it covers SO MUCH. It's not a short book, and it took me several months to get through it, but that was mainly because nearly every sentence has at least one new idea, concept, fact, theory, or interesting bit of historical gossip in it. Sometimes it takes a while to really absorb it all. The book reads more like a novel (or, probalby travelogue, since that seems to be the author's normal genre). It's a must read. If I'd read it early in my college career, I'm sure I would have been inspired enough to take several unecessary science classes or change my major to, like, biochemistry or something riduculous (until I flunked out, that is). At the very least, it would have left me more impassioned and interested in the science classes I DID take, including chemistry and physics (which I didn't care enough about to even remember I actually took them, most of the time).
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes science (so they can tell me if he's as accurate and impartial as he mostly seems to be) and especially to anyone who never felt up to it - this is all the good stuff you knew they were hiding behind the boring nonsense they shoved at you in class. I emerged quite a bit greener than I entered, so if you don't want to care about environmental protection and species preservation, there are several chapters you'll want to skip. It's also very evolutionary, of course, but I figure the Gospel is large enough to accomodate Truth, and so there can't be any real contradictions, just misunderstandings.
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