OS Book Club Pt II

[av7]

Ended up with Animal Farm and Grapes of Wrath. Catcher in the Rye was all checked out so I'll have to grab it next round.

No clue what to expect this time as I remember 0% of either story, should be fun.

[SPTO]

Well the last book I read was interesting but not exactly what I was looking for.

I have two candidates for my next library loan:



Here's the description from my library:

Quote:

Why does the West rule? In this magnum opus, eminent Stanford polymath Ian Morris answers this provocative question, drawing on 50,000 years of history, archeology, and the methods of social science, to make sense of when, how, and why the paths of development differed in the East and West - and what this portends for the 21st century. There are two broad schools of thought on why the West rules. Proponents of "Long-Term Lock-In" theories such as Jared Diamond suggest that from time immemorial, some critical factor - geography, climate, or culture perhaps - made East and West unalterably different, and determined that the industrial revolution would happen in the West and push it further ahead of the East. But the East led the West between 500 and 1600, so this development can't have been inevitable; and so proponents of "Short-Term Accident" theories argue that Western rule was a temporary aberration that is now coming to an end, with Japan, China, and India resuming their rightful places on the world stage. However, as the West led for 9,000 of the previous 10,000 years, it wasn't just a temporary aberration. So, if we want to know why the West rules, we need a whole new theory. Ian Morris, boldly entering the turf of Jared Diamond and Niall Ferguson, provides the broader approach that is necessary, combining the textual historian's focus on context, the anthropological archaeologist's awareness of the deep past, and the social scientist's comparative methods to make sense of the past, present, and future - in a way no one has ever done before.

The other book is from '05 and caused a huge stir when it came out in this country:



part of description:

Quote:

Here, his no-holds-barred profile of Canada’s most controversial – and most reviled – prime minister breaks new ground. Compiled from years of candid, taped conversations with Mulroney and the people closest to him while he was in power, the sometimes uproarious and often disturbing interviews – 7,400 pages of transcripts totalling 1.8 million words – have been sealed until now. Stunningly indiscreet and savagely frank, Mulroney is the first prime minister to be so nakedly outspoken. Yet he is also revealed as a witty Irish charmer, ready with a quick line to raise a laugh, no matter how impudent or profane, a man as warm in private as he was defensive in the public eye. Mulroney names the names and spills the beans about what really goes on in Ottawa, which he describes as a “sick” city that runs on “goddamned incest”: “They’re all married to one another. They’re shacked up with one another. Their wives are on the payroll of the CBC. It’s just awful.” Lucien Bouchard, his one-time soulmate, he calls “bitter and profane” and “extraordinarily vain.” He writes off his constitutional foe, former Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells, as an “unprincipled son of a bitch.” His disgust for the press is as monumental as his sense of being misunderstood, and in his eyes the Ottawa press corps are “a phony bunch of bastards” who don’t give him credit even when the world applauds him for being “one of the three men who played the most important role in the collapse of the Berlin Wall.” Out of The Secret Mulroney Tapes emerges a startling picture of the politician whose reign shocked and appalled and yet also revolutionized this country. No other prime minister in Canadian history aroused a stronger emotional response than Brian Mulroney. This book provides Canadians with a unique insight into the bold politician who changed their country like no other.

BTW about the stronger emotional response line...Well Stephen Harper has surpassed Mulroney in some aspects.

Anyways it all depends on my mood when I go to the library but one of these will be picked up.

[Perfect Zero]

Just got through reading the Karl Rove autobiography, and it's an interesting look into the Bush White House. The first few chapters where he talks about his own life are really revealing as to the person he'd become, and the middle chapters that deal with the Presidency are really well written. He ends the thing by going on about Obama and his (at the time of his writing very new) Administration. It gets to read more like Republican propaganda toward the end, but the first ten to twelve chapters are a must read, especially how he describes President Bush and the way he ran the White House. If there are any drawbacks, it might be that he doesn't really tell anything too revealing about himself, and many liberals might just burn the book instead of reading it.

[Sublime12089]

Quick check in: I am enjoying The Malcolm X bio enormously a few chapters in as he does not idolize Malcolm (specifically mentioning discrepancies in his autobio) yet is also very honest about what occurred. Marable saw previously unreleased government documents and other documents from the NOI. You can see why this took two decades to create.

Also, in anticipation of my Kindle, could anyone recommend free, public domain books for me to check out? So far, I have a small list of authors/books. (Any book published before 1923 should be available)

James Joyce - The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (and maybe Ulysses)
Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo
Twain's entire catalog
The Art of War
Alices Adventures in Wonderland
etc.....

Any specific suggestions? Thanks!!

[JohnnytheSkin]

So I'll finish up the Stieg Larsson Millennium series this weekend...a little late after my initial pace but still pretty good. Great stories, eager to watch the Swedish film versions.

After this it's Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, and then I'll re-read A Song of Ice and Fire, and then if I'm daring enough, I'll start one of two series, The Dark Tower or Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.

Suggestions?

[Fresh Tendrils]

I ran across some books of mine that my brother had for awhile and started reading one: Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. I forgot that it was one of the ones I had to read in high-school.

[Sublime12089]

i LOVED Death of a Salesman in HS. Ben meaning to reread it.

[eDotd]

Just finished Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King.

I thought it was a good read. Give it a look if you want a quick horror fix, some of the stories are downright disgusting. You may find yourself hating a couple of the main characters in the stories because of how selfish they are.

Quote: Originally Posted by JohnnytheSkin

So I'll finish up the Stieg Larsson Millennium series this weekend...a little late after my initial pace but still pretty good. Great stories, eager to watch the Swedish film versions. After this it's Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, and then I'll re-read A Song of Ice and Fire, and then if I'm daring enough, I'll start one of two series, The Dark Tower or Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. Suggestions?

I've heard nothing but good things about Hunger Games, I may jump on that next as well.

Quote: Originally Posted by Fresh Tendrils

I ran across some books of mine that my brother had for awhile and started reading one: Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. I forgot that it was one of the ones I had to read in high-school.

I forgot about this book, I had to read it sophomore year (I think) in HS. I don't remember enjoying it though.