What are you reading?

[Connemara]

Originally Posted by b&m

Getting towards the end of this, a great read so far

That was such a good book.

 

[Connemara]

Originally Posted by Magician

I'm just starting Kafka's Collected Stories. Also I don't feel like getting in to an argument but: Mike, in regards to Dawkins, provide some concrete examples or shut the **** up. You may play at an intellectual on the internet but your qualifications seem a little anemic compared to one of the leading thinkers of our era.

Give me a break! Dawkins is no idiot, but a leading thinker of "our era" he is not. Look, I don't hate him or anything. I plan on reading The Selfish Gene soon and I think the conclusions he reaches in that book are valid and important. However, The God Delusion is simply garbage. It's recycled anecdotal vitriol, there is nothing "revolutionary" about it. He also displays a stunning lack of knowledge of the basic arguments for theism/atheism.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by iammatt

Not only do I not like their writing, but I think continental philosophy ruined the Western world.

I only like continental philosophers....

 

[MetroStyles]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Give me a break! Dawkins is no idiot, but a leading thinker of "our era" he is not.

Look, I don't hate him or anything. I plan on reading The Selfish Gene soon and I think the conclusions he reaches in that book are valid and important. However, The God Delusion is simply garbage. It's recycled anecdotal vitriol, there is nothing "revolutionary" about it. He also displays a stunning lack of knowledge of the basic arguments for theism/atheism.

I haven't read the God Delusion, but could you give a brief recap of his views and why they may be invalid - in a vacuum from others' arguments on the subject. Just interested to hear your opinion on this.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

I only like continental philosophers....
I know. You could be using your powers for good instead of evil.

 

[Dedalus]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

I only like continental philosophers....

Originally Posted by iammatt

I know. You could be using your powers for good instead of evil.

I think he's beyond good and evil.

 

[Spatlese]

The Age of the Unthinkable

 

[Connemara]

Will be finishing The Age of Reform tonight (what a book). Next up is Ruling America: A History of Wealth and Power in a Democracy. It is apparently a good survey of the American aristocracy, a largely ignored topic.

 

[johnapril]

Ezra Pound's correspondence with James Joyce

 

[Dedalus]

Originally Posted by johnapril

Ezra Pound's correspondence with James Joyce

Are those good? I found Joyce's love letters to Nora online somewhere, and man, did they deliver.

 

[wiru]

I enjoyed Terry Eagleton on Dawkins, though I can't really comment on how correct or incorrect his theology is.

 

[johnapril]

Originally Posted by Dedalus

Are those good? I found Joyce's love letters to Nora online somewhere, and man, did they deliver.

The letters are mostly by Pound to Joyce with a nice history running between pieces. Pound basically served as a literary agent go between. I am very much enjoying it.

 

[Connemara]

Originally Posted by johnapril

Ezra Pound's correspondence with James Joyce

Originally Posted by johnapril

The letters are mostly by Pound to Joyce with a nice history running between pieces. Pound basically served as a literary agent go between. I am very much enjoying it.
I've seen a couple of letters that went between John Yeats and Pound. Fun to read.

 

[Flambeur]

To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World - highly recommend it, a very fun and almost un-put-downable book.

 

[Rambo]

Just got done reading The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. The ending was a bit abrupt but otherwise another great Heinlein read. Moving onto Double Star next. Anyone have other Heinlein recommendations? Already tackled Stranger, Moon, Door into Summer, and Time Enough for Love.