What books are we reading at the moment ?

[αdαmsκι]

I am now reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson after being suggested it by a friend.

I'm still working my way through Cryptonomicon, which is a bit of a beast of a book at >900 pages. That's not a criticism, tho, because it's very readable and extremely interesting. There's a few stories taking place and I'm assuming it'll all come together at the end. One storyline is looking at the maths geeks who were involved with breaking the German and Japanese codes used during WWII and a special joint US-UK diversion to help confuse German intelligence. Another part of the book is concerned with a Japanese solider during WWII, who was originally a miner, and his time in the Pacific. Finally, part of the book is set in the 1990s as a group of Americans set up a data heaven in SE Asia.

There's quite a lot of mathematical descriptions in the book that explains various things, including how various codes work, Van Eck phreaking, Pearl scripts etc. I personally enjoy (even if I cannot understand it all) those sections and it makes the book a bit more than a normal story. Saying that, I know some people would get easily annoyed by all the extra information that Stephenson offers the reader, esp. as the book is long enough as it is! The section dealing with WWII has a number of non-fiction characters, most notably Alan Turning and I'm a little bit unsure how much of this book is fiction and how much is based on some sort of facts.

[bikepacker]

Sustainable energy - Without the hot air / David J.C. MacK

A subject I wanted to find more about.

[microphonie]

Have recently finished Matter by Iain M Banks, which I enjoyed a lot.

Currently a hundred or so pages into the Illuminatus Trilogy .

My brain hurts already trying to maintain hold of who's who and what the feck is happening.

Judging by this quote:

"The plot meanders between the thoughts, hallucinations and inner voices (both real and imagined) of its many characters, as well as through time (past, present and future)— sometimes in mid-sentence. Much of the back story is explained via dialogue between characters, who recount unreliable, often mutually contradictory, versions of their supposed histories. There are even parts in the book in which the narrative reviews and jokingly deconstructs the work itself"

I don't think the situation is going to improve much either...

[perpetual dan]

I'm still working my way through Cryptonomicon, which is a bit of a beast of a book at >900 pages. That's not a criticism, tho, because it's very readable and extremely interesting.

Yes, takes some reading but very interesting. I recommend it as reading-round-the-subject reading to one or two students a year.
I tried Quicksilver after that but gave up.

Last night I started Alex Ross' "the rest is noise" ... which is intimidatingly thick, so I may be some time.

Also a bit of a long one and still on the go, though I've been distracted by other things along the way and seem to be getting to bed late a lot.

[rogerzilla]

"Azincourt" by Bernard Cornwell, which is actually pretty good; a bit like Wilbur Smith in historical mode, without as much gratuitous sex and violence.  Definitely superior to the usual airport novel.

[Flying_Monkey]

Neal Stephenson is good, but:

1. He needs to allow his books to be edited (but I know hardly any publishers do proper editing these days); and,
2. He can't (or at least, doesn't) write believable female characters;
3. He's not as clever or as funny as he thinks he is, or at least it would be better if he let us know how clever and funny he is with a bit more subtlety. He info-dumps like a crazy person, which, as any fule kno, is one of the big no-no's of quality SF.

I read all of his books up to Quicksilver, but couldn't be bothered with the rest of the Baroque Trilogy. There is a great book called Q by 'Luther Blisset' (a pseudonym for a group of Italian anarchists) which does the same kind of thing so much better...

Meanwhile, I am still reading Wonders and the Order of Nature... not getting much time for non-work reading right now because we have lots of work to do on the new house.

[RJ]

Meanwhile, I am still reading Wonders and the Order of Nature... not getting much time for non-work reading right now because we have lots of work to do on the new house.

Looks like a fascinating, but demanding read ...

[αdαmsκι]

Neal Stephenson is good, but:

1. He needs to allow his books to be edited (but I know hardly any publishers do proper editing these days);

That's very true. Cryptonomicon is the first thing I've read by Stephenson, and as I've said, the book's a monster and cutting it down wouldn't do it any harm at all.

2. He can't (or at least, doesn't) write believable female characters;

True true. There's only two female characters of any significance, so far, have even appeared in Cryptonomicon and I'm 600 pages down. Never seem very realistic.

3. He's not as clever or as funny as he thinks he is, or at least it would be better if he let us know how clever and funny he is with a bit more subtlety. He info-dumps like a crazy person, which, as any fule kno, is one of the big no-no's of quality SF.

I've read very little SF and so I'm didn't know that it's passé to info-dump in the way he does. I actually enjoyed some of the details that are presented in the book, but it certainly does come across as making Stephenson appear really clever.

I read all of his books up to Quicksilver, but couldn't be bothered with the rest of the Baroque Trilogy. There is a great book called Q by 'Luther Blisset' (a pseudonym for a group of Italian anarchists) which does the same kind of thing so much better...

I've heard that The Baroque Trilogy rambles on even more than Cryptonomicon does and it's unlikely I'll be attempting to read it any time soon. I've not heard of Blisset before, but I'll look up Q.

[Tourist Tony]

Dawkins' new one, "Greatest Show..."
He starts with a great analogy about teaching Latin and Roman history in a culture where parents and schools reserve the right to deny the Romans ever existed.

[clarion]

Gets a good review in the Guardian.  Because he's off the easy taking potshots at gullible morons track of The God Delusion, and, rather than disproving Creationism (shooting fish in a barrel), he's talking about evolution and it's wonder.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I read Twilight on holiday and thought it was the biggest load of emo shite ever, so god knows why I'm now reading New Moon, which is the sequel. Probably the same reason I stuck all the way through Stephen King's Dark Tower series - once I've started, I like to know how it finishes, no matter how bad it gets.

[Flying_Monkey]

I got The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry in a book sale yesterday and it is utterly brilliant. Much better than the one that won the Booker in 2008.

[redshift]

Have recently finished Matter by Iain M Banks, which I enjoyed a lot.

Currently a hundred or so pages into the Illuminatus Trilogy .

My brain hurts already trying to maintain hold of who's who and what the feck is happening.

Judging by this quote:

"The plot meanders between the thoughts, hallucinations and inner voices (both real and imagined) of its many characters, as well as through time (past, present and future)— sometimes in mid-sentence. Much of the back story is explained via dialogue between characters, who recount unreliable, often mutually contradictory, versions of their supposed histories. There are even parts in the book in which the narrative reviews and jokingly deconstructs the work itself"

I don't think the situation is going to improve much either...

There are two things of which you should be aware:

1. It's fiction,

and

2. It's all completely true.

fnord

Hail Eris!   

[nicknack]

Just about to start "Transition", Iain Bank's latest. 

Did you like it?

I did. But then I'm not that fussy when it comes to Mr Banks - anything he does is ok by me.

Thursbitch next - thanks to whoever recommended it upthread.

[Bledlow]

Hail Eris!   

All hail Discordia!

I have just re-read Clerkenwell Tales, by Peter Ackroyd.

[mark]

"The Trial of Henry Kissinger", by Christopher Hitchens.

[groucho]

Just finished 'Juliet Naked' by Nick Hornby. Thank god I do not spend a lot of time on 'special interest' forums and am not obsessive about music. (Mrs g is not about!)

In a similar genre just started Stuart Maconie's 'Cider with Roadies'

[Mr Larrington]

Just about to start "Transition", Iain Bank's latest.  

Did you like it?

I did. But then I'm not that fussy when it comes to Mr Banks - anything he does is ok by me.

Read that on me holibobs.  Not as odd as some of his stuff but I reckon there should have been an "M" on the cover.

Edit: According to one of my Sinister Agents, it does have an "M" on the cover in USAnia.

[Quisling]

Half way through Nineteen eighty-four by George Orwell.  I've managed to avoid it until I'm 40 but it's time to catch up on my revolutionary satire.

Doubleplusgood so far.

C

[mike]

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, by Richard Holmes

just finished the first section on Joseph Banks exploring the southern oceans and absolutely loved it.  William Herschel next

[Flying_Monkey]

Half way through Nineteen eighty-four by George Orwell.  I've managed to avoid it until I'm 40 but it's time to catch up on my revolutionary satire.

Doubleplusgood so far.

C

It is one of those rare books that is as good as people say. Try Huxley's Brave New World afterwards (if you haven't already), and then go back and read Zamyatin's We (the Russian science fictional satire that inspired Orwell).

[clarion]

That's an interesting route, and it can lead onto other utopia/dystopia (it's a very blurred line) novels.  After the excellent choices above, try:

Erewhon - Samuel Butler
The Well At The World's End, The Sundering Flood or The Wood Beyond Teh World by William Morris (best to give The Earthly Paradise a miss.  It's a great work of literature, but hard going)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood
An unexpurgated version of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is an eye-opener
The Time Machine by HG Wells
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
And, last, and most uplifting, News from Nowhere by William Morris again.

[mike]

& then a chocolate orange. 

[Tom B]

And, last, and most uplifting, News from Nowhere by William Morris again

Also, 'The Dispossessed' by Ursula LeGuin
         '1985' by Anthony Burgess

[Bledlow]

That's an interesting route, and it can lead onto other utopia/dystopia (it's a very blurred line) novels.  After the excellent choices above, try:

Erewhon - Samuel Butler
The Well At The World's End, The Sundering Flood or The Wood Beyond Teh World by William Morris (best to give The Earthly Paradise a miss.  It's a great work of literature, but hard going)
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood
An unexpurgated version of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is an eye-opener
The Time Machine by HG Wells
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
And, last, and most uplifting, News from Nowhere by William Morris again.

Add "Rite of Passage", by Alexei Panshin