What are you reading?

[Roberts]

Currently reading Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson. Struggling to get into it to any meaningful degree, so I've started reading The Caves of Steel
by Isaac Asimov for a change of pace.

After reading the first 4 books of Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen though, sub 1000~ page books seem so tiny.


@uc pseudonym
I started reading Garden's of the Moon about a month or so (or 2?) back (had just finished it when I read your impressions on here, truth be told), and I echo your sentiments for each book for the most part.

Anyway, it might be the fact that I only just completed reading House of Chains recently, but I would say I enjoyed that book more than the prior three. It is probably on equal footing with Memories of Ice in my eyes. Not that you will necessarily hold the same opinion, mind, but maybe something to look forward to if you venture back into the series at a later date.

Edit: Sadly no suggestions on the nonfiction front at the moment. Science related nonfiction anyway.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Just finished Descartes - Discourse on Method for Philosophical Methodology class. A fitting place to start, no?

Read it before: a classic, but flawed ideas. Descartes really threw a spanner in the works when he put forth the cogito (cogito ergo sum= I think therefore I am). By claiming this as the bedrock first principle, he paved the way for idealists of all stripes (by idealists, I don't mean dreamers; see link). The idealist project of taking the mind as given and then attempting to create a philosophical bridge to the world is a futile experiment, IMHO. A better idea for a certain first principle? Aristotle had one: the law of non-contradiction (LNC). By the time any human being is self-aware, she believes (either implicitly or explicitly) LNC. To say anything, literally to speak words, one has to hold LNC.

Descartes also is the father of body/mind dualism. Another grease-fire of an idea. Descartes essentially lowers the body and the senses and claims via the cogito that all we are at bottom is thinking beings. Bodies aren't really essential to who we are as persons. In fact, the existence of your body cannot be seen as a given (it's not mind, so it's part of the physical world...something that needs proving). This seems to degrade the body, a principle that contradicts Christian teachings. See: this set o' verses.

[ich1990]

After stalling out 15 cantos from the end of the Divine Comedy, I decided to move to lighter reading while I regain my mental fortitude.

[b]“The Last Lectureâ€

[rocklobster]

Bluestar's Prophecy, a Warriors prequel. I'm not finished with the first arc yet, but I figured it wouldn't ruin things too much. Besides Bluestar is quickly becoming my favorite character.

[Phantom_Sorano]

Reading a personal favorite play, Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare. So far excellent and chalked with inuindo.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Finished An Unauthorized Autobiography: The Unfortunate Life of Lemony Snicket. Lovely, weird book. I shall miss Lemony Snicket.

Nearly done with The Three Musketeers! I can feel things moving to a head between the four companions and "my lady".

I've also started reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the second time - I would have read it way more times by now, but I lent it to a friend for like two years or something. It's nice to get into it again.

[Wikiwalker]

I'm reading Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. I love Brandon Sanderson's fantasy, he's always very original and addresses the political issues of fantasy worlds more than other authors usually do, and as boring as that might sound, being Brandon Sanderson, he makes it very, very interesting.

[rocklobster]

Just started the third Warriors book, Forest of Secrets.

[Wikiwalker]

Just started reading Exile's Honor by Mercedes Lackey

[shade of dae]

Finished An Unauthorized Autobiography: The Unfortunate Life of Lemony Snicket. Lovely, weird book. I shall miss Lemony Snicket.

I read The Bad Beginning a while ago, but I was more interested in the Harry Potter series, which I started at about the same time. At your recommendation, however, I picked up books 1-5 from my library. I must say, at the beginning, I was disappointed because it seemed to be rather episodic- Violet, Klaus, and Sunny get dropped off with a relative, they live in relative peace for a while, and then Count Olaf appears. The orphans try to tell the adults, but no-one will listen, and they defeat him on their own, only to have him escape. The pattern continued for the first three books, and I was wondering where the mystery was, but then I read the fourth book, I believe, and there was an Oh! moment where I realized that maybe there was more to the series than I had originally thought. I just finished book 7 a couple of hours ago and am very interested in the adventures of the Baudelaires.

However, I can't start on book the eighth until I finish The Apology by Plato. It is rather refreshing to read the straightforward speaking style after reading On Happiness by Aristotle. I am reading the essays for a class that I am taking and enjoying very, very, much. I also finished Rothschild's Fiddle by Anton Chekov for the same class a while ago and found it alright, but not the greatest until I went to class and discussed it. It is amazing how much more you can get out of a book when you discuss it with others.

And sadly, I am also reading a great bit of poetry from Blake, Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats for another class. I've never been extremely interested in poetry, and these poets were seriously emo. I did enjoy some of the poetry from each poet, however, but I enjoy reading about the poet's life more than his work more. For that class, I've also started A Christmas Carol which I've gotten a few pages into tonight. I think I will like it, there is something appealing about the writing style.

So yeah, lots of reading, but I must confess I love it.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Just finished Rudolf Carnap's "The Elimination of Metaphysics Through Logical Analysis of Language," and yes, it was as interesting as it sounds.

No, it was comprehensible, but just the same old boring positivist garbage.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I read The Bad Beginning a while ago, but I was more interested in the Harry Potter series, which I started at about the same time. At your recommendation, however, I picked up books 1-5 from my library.

^_^ I'm glad to have brought someone to this wonderful series. Yes, it definitely picks up the pace after the first three or four books, and the mysteries keep stacking up on top of each other till you're ready to strangle Lemony Snicket if he doesn't reveal some things pretty soon. But I think what I like best about the series is the humor. That kind of weird, slightly random, over-exaggeratedly somber humor gets me in exactly the right way to make me roar with laughter. And Snicket somehow manages to get increasingly hilarious as the series goes along. I must learn from him!

I finished The Three Musketeers, and was very satisfied with the ending. Everything was dealt with and all loose ends were tied up, and everyone ended up as they were foreshadowed.

I'm about halfway through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and am happily remembering everything that happens and stowing it away for future reference.

On a whim, I picked up my hulking, garishly yellow copy of the complete Grimms' Fairy Tales and decided to try to get through it again (I stopped partway through last time for some reason and never picked it up again). It's good to see a whole bunch of fairy tales in their original versions.

And I've also started The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan, the fifth book in the Wheel of Time series. It's nice to get back into that delightfully confusing world again, though my irritation at the way he portrays characters has not abated, and I doubt it ever will. And it's only been six months since I finished the fourth book, but I've still forgotten a whole lot of what happened in it, I've discovered -_- Definitely going to have to reread this series.

[rocklobster]

On a whim, I picked up my hulking, garishly yellow copy of the complete Grimms' Fairy Tales and decided to try to get through it again (I stopped partway through last time for some reason and never picked it up again). It's good to see a whole bunch of fairy tales in their original versions.

I'd recommend picking up a book of Hans Christian Andersen's tales too. They're even better, IMHO.
Anywho, just finished the second book in the Ranger's Apprentice series. I'm now reading Bob Barker's autobiography, Priceless Memories.
And now I finished it. Pretty good, except for the animal rights filibuster toward the end. But it's to be expected.
Now I will start The Messenger by Lois Lowry.

[Adie]

I'm about halfway through The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

[Radical Dreamer]

Still working through Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones; it's really good so far, but I feel like the middle has dragged. XD I'm ready to see how it ends!

Also, I started Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court for my Arthurian Lit class. I'm hoping to enjoy it!

Lastly, I'm finally starting Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead, and I can't wait to really delve into it!

[rocklobster]

just finished The Messenger. Have to wait for some new books though. Drat.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Just got past Cinderella in the Grimms' fairy tales About Hans Christian Anderson, I've always been leery of reading his fairy tales because they're so sad! The only ones I've read in their original form are The Little Mermaid and The Red Shoes. Tear-jerking fairy tales, who'd have thought?

Getting towards the climax in Deathly Hallows, and about 150 pages through The Fires of Heaven. Looks like things are finally starting to happen

[rocklobster]

Halfway through another Warriors book, Rising Storm.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

I'm about halfway through The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Amazing book! I would like to read it again sometime soon. Haven't read it in years, so I'd probably get a totally new experience out of it.

Beginning Chapter 5 of A.J. Ayer's Language, Truth and Logic. Also reading a bit of The Development of Logic by Kneale and Kneale for some fun on the side. What can I say? I <3 logic.

[Adie]

Amazing book! I would like to read it again sometime soon. Haven't read it in years, so I'd probably get a totally new experience out of it.

Yes, it is definitely amazing so far. ^_^ I'm looking forward to seeing how it ends.

I also started reading The Visitation by Frank Peretti.

[GhostontheNet]

Today I finished reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley just in time for Valentine's Day, traversing 108 pages in a single day.

[rocklobster]

Just started book 3 of Ranger's Apprentice, The Icebound Land. This is a great series!

[uc pseudonym]

Purple and Black by KJ Parker

After so many large books, a novella reads like a short story. Which, incidentally, makes this the first short story I've enjoyed in a long time. You might not think that the story of a war told solely in letters would be interesting, but works well. The correspondents are old friends and their banter is entertaining. Also, it's not a gimmick, because the fact that the story is told by letters is crucial to the plot.

This might not be representative of Parker's work, but if I get the chance to read a full novel I will. Meanwhile, I'm also picking up other light reading...

Superman & Batman VS Vampires & Werewolves by Kevin VanHook and Tom Mandrake

Look at the title. You now understand the entire reason why I read this. It actually takes itself seriously, in a comic book sort of way, and it made me reflect that this premise really isn't any more ridiculous than the idea of putting Superman and Batman in the same adventure.

[Strafe]

I started on The Sickness unto Death by Anti-Climacus, or rather Soren Kierkegaard. Taking it really slow so I don't miss any points. Its really interesting. Even though Kierkegaard does not necessarily place his views aligned with Anti-Climacus, I find that I agree with much of the exposition. Especially the idea that there must be a God for one to follow, and that God we choose to follow defines our selves- Whether or not is truly is God. I see that alot, trying to find one's identity. But really, what else can our identities amount to if it is not in Christ alone? I guess a weakness in the book is that the idea of nihilism is instantly dismissed and not explored.

[FatherG]

Currently I am reading Dracula, the Undead; The Truce At Bakura, and I Am Ozzy. Each time I get a new book I start a new one and I have a tall pile just waiting on me to start after these three! How exciting!

[GhostontheNet]

I started on The Sickness unto Death by Anti-Climacus, or rather Soren Kierkegaard. Taking it really slow so I don't miss any points. Its really interesting. Even though Kierkegaard does not necessarily place his views aligned with Anti-Climacus, I find that I agree with much of the exposition. Especially the idea that there must be a God for one to follow, and that God we choose to follow defines our selves- Whether or not is truly is God. I see that alot, trying to find one's identity. But really, what else can our identities amount to if it is not in Christ alone? I guess a weakness in the book is that the idea of nihilism is instantly dismissed and not explored.

Excellent read, I'd recommend you follow it up with "Works of Love", although I am quite miserable in trying to put it into practice amidst the existential despair of heartbreak. Actually, Kierkegaard's ontology of despair addresses nihilism in the passage that explains "Despair is the misrelation in the relation of a synthesis that relates itself to itself. But the synthesis is not the misrelation; it is merely the possibility, or in the synthesis lies the possibility of the misrelation." For if, as nihilism posits, despair is the human condition, then the then the dialectical synthesis of subjective formation is the misrelation, whereas Kierkegaard contends the misrelation is only a potentiality contingent upon the relation.

[Strafe]

Yeah, but its not the way Nietzsche goes on saying God is dead, then suggesting that it is a good thing. I meant like Anti-Climacus is not inclined to suggest that nihilism is or could be right. Of course it is mentioned, it has to be, but the further possibility isn't as explored. It remains a possibility, not a nature, and Kierkegaard doesn't suggest that it could be correct within the book. I was looking for more of a large disproval of nihilism altogether. That would probably be impossible if working outside of Christian framework though, which is essentially what I'm looking for.

But I guess the book was written for those already in the faith, so it wasn't set out to deal with Nihilism's validity, as it would be expected for the reader to already have the framework presupposing that God was God. I'm just curious on the rationale that Nihilism has though. Would Nietzsche be the one to read to find out the reasoning behind it? Honestly, I just started reading into Philosophy, so I'm a noob. So I'll take any and all suggestions on reading material.

I'm dabbling in Philosophy to find if there is any bridge of framework that could connect the Christian thinking to the non Christian thinking, as I am trying to reach out to several atheist friends. I'm looking if there is a way to explain God in human terms to those who have already dismissed him. I very highly doubt it is possible, since its all so subjective, and words are not really all that strong and cannot cause true heart change. Which is why I guess the only true thing that could work is Prayer in the end. (And one's idea of its own effectiveness is subjective as well.) But apart from that, I am still curious in these things, and I probably will look up more

[TheSubtleDoctor]

@Strafe
Before talking about books, I want to comment on your attitude that any attempt by language, let alone philosophy, to bring someone to Christ is a fruitless endeavor. I think this is half true and half false. Words played a part in everyone's salvation: the Gospel has to be communicated to human beings via verbal language. I do not maintain that God doesn't do any of the work or that language does all the work; on the contrary, the Holy Spirit often uses the spoken word as a catalyst. As far as philosophy goes, it cannot save you because there is only so much of Christian doctrine that it can prove. Now, it is able to prove much more of it than some people think, but it cannot get you the whole kit-'n-kaboodle (the trinity, the divinity of Christ, etc.). Philosophy does make it possible, though, for many people to have faith. If certain people know that faith is reasonable, then they will take steps of faith (see the enduring power of Pascal's Wager).

So, on the the recommendations. I assume you are talking about moral nihilism here. A pretty good place to start is G.E. Moore's Principia Ethica. You certainly don't have to read the whole thing, but the early parts are good for establishing that there is such a thing called morality; we aren't talking about nothing here. Most folks that aren't moral skeptics (nihilists) are relativists. Both Louis Pojman and Mary Midgley have some really good arguments against relativism in favor of ethical objectivism. Midgley's paper, "On Trying Out One's New Sword on a Chance Wayfarer" is really good. Neither thinker is arguing for the Christian worldview, so they meet your requirement of being outside a religious framework. The next step is really just arguing from objective morality to God. A book called Rationality and Religious Belief has an essay by Robert Merridew Adams on moral arguments for God's existence (although I disagree with him about divine command theory).

About sort of general Christian apologetics: there is a fantastic book that is especially good for those new to philosophy caled There Is A God by Anthony Flew. Flew used to be heir to David Hume and Bertrand Russel's throne of philosophical atheism. He did a lot for that cause, but has recently become convinced (based on evidence and argument) that there is, indeed, a God. In this book, he gives a detailed account of what convinced him to reject atheism as the best explanation for things. Also, Peter Kreeft's Handbook of Christian Apologetics provides a good overview of the arguments for God's existence.

Hope this helps!

[Strafe]

Yeah I'll add those to my list, thanks! Sounds interesting, especially the one by Anthony Flew.

I think that while words are necessary, it is sort of like trying with all you have, then God will take care of the rest. I meant that words cannot completely change, but when spoken in faith, they become more than words, and can change. Or something like that I guess. Words themselves are weak without truth behind it. My conviction of the power and truth in the Christian doctrine comes from powerful and at times, miraculous encounters with the Holy Spirit, and I was looking for a way to explain that in words that nonbelievers could understand. Perhaps it should be spoken in faith and in prayer first of all, without having to "prove" anything. Just sort of looking for a way to think about and process what I know and have experienced, though it is little, and then how to share it with those who have no notion of what I mean when I say Holy Spirit. Its all a learning process for me, and I don't claim to know anything... yet.

[rocklobster]

Just started The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry.