82 replies to this topic

[ZeldaPlayer]

The joke tests sounded kind of funny. lol

[strike]

I have recently read Brave New World, Island, and am reading catcher in the rye. I forget so much of the stuff I read

-Strike

P.S- I also read a book called the only ones

Edited by strike, 04 June 2015 - 05:17 PM.

[Dark Ice Dragon]

when i was a child I read a great book but can not remember the title ! the story took place on a very cold island , surrounded by an ocean cold and poisonus too.
to eat the fish the villagers had to sprinkle with a powder that made it edible and only the sorcerer who ruled the island knew the true nature of this antidote.

Does anyone remember/know  the title ?

[Fabbrizio]

I recently read The God Delusion. I used to think Dawkins was a bit extreme, and to a degree I still do, but that doesn't mean he doesn't raise a plethora of valid points.

I also read The Communist Manifesto - very misunderstood piece of literature, though I'll gladly blame Stalin for that - as well as Machiavelli's The Prince, which was extremely fascinating. For its time, it was a surprisingly pragmatic perspective on society. Reading it today, it's a strikingly clear window into 14th/15th century Italy.

A little while before that, I read Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku. At first his claims seem grandiose, but then you look back at technology from a century ago, and it becomes staggeringly clear that the future is closer than it seems.

Edited by Fabbrizio, 05 June 2015 - 05:46 PM.

[Russ]

I recently read The God Delusion. I used to think Dawkins was a bit extreme, and to a degree I still do, but that doesn't mean he doesn't raise a plethora of valid points.

If I may make a fairly general reply so as not to start a religious debate, I actually wasn't very impressed with The God Delusion. While I admire Dawkins' passion, there were times when the tone almost came across as angry, as if Dawkins couldn't write about the subject without working himself up. Furthermore, it felt fairly shallow, theologically speaking. He basically assumed that young-earth creationists are an accurate representation of all religious people, then set out to show their views are untenable, then applied that result to all of religion. While I have yet to read some of his older works (and I've heard nothing but praise for The Selfish Gene), I felt a bit disappointed by The God Delusion. Perhaps it was just a case of the book not being able to live up to the hype.

[Fabbrizio]

If I may make a fairly general reply so as not to start a religious debate, I actually wasn't very impressed with The God Delusion. While I admire Dawkins' passion, there were times when the tone almost came across as angry, as if Dawkins couldn't write about the subject without working himself up. Furthermore, it felt fairly shallow, theologically speaking. He basically assumed that young-earth creationists are an accurate representation of all religious people, then set out to show their views are untenable, then applied that result to all of religion. While I have yet to read some of his older works (and I've heard nothing but praise for The Selfish Gene), I felt a bit disappointed by The God Delusion. Perhaps it was just a case of the book not being able to live up to the hype.

 

I'm not saying it was an excellent book - there was a lot of redundant content that could have been cut, and more than a couple flawed arguments. I certainly don't want it to be the book that defines modern atheism, as it seems to have become. It's just that certain moments provoked thoughts I'd never considered before, and that's really all I ask of most books.

Fortunately, the Selfish Gene does remain technically his most influential work. It's next on my reading list.

Edited by Fabbrizio, 05 June 2015 - 03:27 PM.

[Logos]

Like Hergwisi, both of Orwell's more well-known works, along with To Kill a Mockingbird, are some of my favorite books. I also enjoyed "A young people's history of the United States". It was an interesting read, to be sure.

[Sheik]

I take that comment from 2013 back. There are better books than The Alchemist. I disagree with it phiosophically but it's still well written for what it's worth. I like Sophocle's Antigone as well, for example. Antigone is better than Oedipus Rex even. I would say so, anyways.