AmyStrange
Philosopher
What book is everyone reading at the moment? Part 2.
- Thread starter alex04
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Spektator
Is that right?
Karla's Choice: A John le Carré Novel, Nick Harkaway
Harkaway, a pseudonym for Nicholas Cornwwell, son of David Cornwell, real name of John le Carré, offers this novel as a bridge between The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It is a George Smiley book and is pretty satisfying.
When the story begins, Smiley has left the Circus following the debacle of the operation in Spy and has reconciled with his wife Lady Ann. The two have even gone on a European holiday to patch up their fractured marriage, broken by Ann's repeated infidelities. And then Control has one last mission for Smiley. . . .
The plot involves a man who might be a sleeper agent for the USSR, his (probable) college-age son, who has been arrested behind the Iron Curtain. The man, a respectable literary agent, vanishes in quest of the young man, leaving his pretty young assistant, a thoroughly Anglicized Hungarian, in the lurch. Control interests himself in the situation and gradually the Circus begins to suspect that the elusive Soviet spymaster Karla is involved. Though Smiley agrees to come into the case only as an advisor and strategist, before he knows it, he has to step in as a field agent, hoping to protect the young woman and to extract the boy, his father, and perhaps his mother from Hungary.
The tone echoes the books we know, and we revisit many characters: Smiley and Ann, Peter Guillam, Bill Haydon, Toby Esterhase, Connie Sachs, and even Hans-Dieter Mundt, the untrustworthy double agent who first appeared in Call for the Dead. Karla himself does a few walk-ons, and we get a chunk of his backstory. It isn't quite le Carré (at times the central figures seem somewhat out of character), but it's a satisfying, complexly plotted read.
Harkaway, a pseudonym for Nicholas Cornwwell, son of David Cornwell, real name of John le Carré, offers this novel as a bridge between The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It is a George Smiley book and is pretty satisfying.
When the story begins, Smiley has left the Circus following the debacle of the operation in Spy and has reconciled with his wife Lady Ann. The two have even gone on a European holiday to patch up their fractured marriage, broken by Ann's repeated infidelities. And then Control has one last mission for Smiley. . . .
The plot involves a man who might be a sleeper agent for the USSR, his (probable) college-age son, who has been arrested behind the Iron Curtain. The man, a respectable literary agent, vanishes in quest of the young man, leaving his pretty young assistant, a thoroughly Anglicized Hungarian, in the lurch. Control interests himself in the situation and gradually the Circus begins to suspect that the elusive Soviet spymaster Karla is involved. Though Smiley agrees to come into the case only as an advisor and strategist, before he knows it, he has to step in as a field agent, hoping to protect the young woman and to extract the boy, his father, and perhaps his mother from Hungary.
The tone echoes the books we know, and we revisit many characters: Smiley and Ann, Peter Guillam, Bill Haydon, Toby Esterhase, Connie Sachs, and even Hans-Dieter Mundt, the untrustworthy double agent who first appeared in Call for the Dead. Karla himself does a few walk-ons, and we get a chunk of his backstory. It isn't quite le Carré (at times the central figures seem somewhat out of character), but it's a satisfying, complexly plotted read.
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3point14
Pi
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2005
- Messages
- 23,085
Do audiobooks count?
The Truth, by Terry Pratchett. I've read it before, I'll read it again, as with all his works. Funny, insightful, philosophical, self aware, beautiful prose and a satisfying and well resolved plot.
If you've not read Pratchett, you probably should.
The Truth, by Terry Pratchett. I've read it before, I'll read it again, as with all his works. Funny, insightful, philosophical, self aware, beautiful prose and a satisfying and well resolved plot.
If you've not read Pratchett, you probably should.
The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom, 2024.
I don't recall ever reading a personal development book. This advance copy was given to me by my local bookshop. It had a few editorial issues but was generally complete. It's apparently been a big success, due to the author being well known for financial success and advice-giving.
It's basically a summary of all the major self-help books' advice, with some main tips from the world's richest people. Having never read those books, it was good to read this, but some of it was not news, having learned a thing or two in my life which is much longer than the author's.
I liked how he divided the types of wealth up as:
Time Wealth
Social Wealth
Mental Wealth
Physical Wealth
Financial Wealth.
There was a test you can do and I scored pretty highly for overall wealth, despite living very simply.
I haven't read the last section on financial wealth.
Overall I'd give it 3 stars out of 5, because it didn't address anything to do with mental illness or physical disability. It seemed like he'd never had any real problems in his life besides a busy work schedule.
I don't recall ever reading a personal development book. This advance copy was given to me by my local bookshop. It had a few editorial issues but was generally complete. It's apparently been a big success, due to the author being well known for financial success and advice-giving.
It's basically a summary of all the major self-help books' advice, with some main tips from the world's richest people. Having never read those books, it was good to read this, but some of it was not news, having learned a thing or two in my life which is much longer than the author's.
I liked how he divided the types of wealth up as:
Time Wealth
Social Wealth
Mental Wealth
Physical Wealth
Financial Wealth.
There was a test you can do and I scored pretty highly for overall wealth, despite living very simply.
I haven't read the last section on financial wealth.
Overall I'd give it 3 stars out of 5, because it didn't address anything to do with mental illness or physical disability. It seemed like he'd never had any real problems in his life besides a busy work schedule.
Safe-Keeper
My avatar is not a Drumpf hat
Instukid (a play on 'institution' and the English loan word 'kid'), by Johanne Rogndal. It's in Norwegian and an autobiographical account of the author's experience with psychiatric institutions for youths. I borrowed it from the library and real life has been getting in the way (just finished my human geography bachelor thesis, defence is today then I have a degree), but I intend to finally read it now.
Lennart Hyland
Muse
Done with Knausgårds 4th Morningstar installment and now I have to wait for the fifth.
Currently reading: Annihilation by Michel Houellebecq. Its my first book by Houellebecq, read some mixed reviews but the story seems interesting.
theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
Moby Dick
Still. It's a long book, and I generally listen to it during my commute. So. Many. Whale facts. Or "facts", if you prefer.
And so many figures of speech that are older than I expected. "Hot pursuit", for example.
Still. It's a long book, and I generally listen to it during my commute. So. Many. Whale facts. Or "facts", if you prefer.
And so many figures of speech that are older than I expected. "Hot pursuit", for example.
AmyStrange
Philosopher
By the end, did you feel sympathy for the whales like I did, but of course, that might be because I love all animals.
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theprestige
Penultimate Amazing
I felt sympathy for the whales before I even started, in spite of my general indifference to animals.
The real question is whether you felt sympathy for Ahab.
AmyStrange
Philosopher
I did a little, but he was too obsessed with that whale for me to like him too much. It's what got him killed, and that's his own fault.
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alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
White Fang by Jack London.
Another story taking place in the Great White North. Only a few chapters in. For some reason, for a book of this type I always imagine reading it aloud in class, even though we never read this one. I also consider doing an audiobook version of it but 1. I know it's probably been done several times already, and 2. I don't think I have a good enough setup for the process. However, I do think I could do a much better job than some of the presenters I've heard.
Another story taking place in the Great White North. Only a few chapters in. For some reason, for a book of this type I always imagine reading it aloud in class, even though we never read this one. I also consider doing an audiobook version of it but 1. I know it's probably been done several times already, and 2. I don't think I have a good enough setup for the process. However, I do think I could do a much better job than some of the presenters I've heard.
Spektator
Is that right?
No kidding, I have often thought of rewriting Moby-Dick from the whale's point of view.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
I forgot to mention that I skipped the Introduction. I had the feeling it would be one of those that gave away spoilers or even plot points for a book some people assume everyone's already read. (That happened to me with Lord of the Flies, and I've hated spoiler intros ever since.) I wanted to go in stone cold, so to speak. I'll check it out when I've finished it and see if I was right.
marting
Illuminator
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2003
- Messages
- 4,280
Dark Persuasion by Joel Dimsdale, an academic last at UCSD. Fascinating study of mind altering techniques used in research, government, and various cults.. Covers from Pavlov thru WWII, Korean brainwashing, China's reeducation, and USA's MKUltra. Also does a close examination of religious groups such as Jonestown and Heaven's Gate. These all have differences as well as similarities. The plasticity of the human mind under various stresses is fascinating. I find the book more interesting in current times with the polarization and increased hewing to a belief set regardless of facts.
Here's a video in a round table format discussing the ethics and risks:
Here's a video in a round table format discussing the ethics and risks:
commandlinegamer
Philosopher
Laidlaw, William McIlvanney, 1977.
Unconventional police detective finds himself with a particular nasty murder to solve. Trouble is, he's not the only one who wants to find the killer.
A vivid account of the "No Mean City" of legend. A place of hard men (both real and wannabe), bigotry, domestic violence, complicit silence; not the today's snazzy tourist destination (it has its rough spots now, but the city centre's generally okay).
Unconventional police detective finds himself with a particular nasty murder to solve. Trouble is, he's not the only one who wants to find the killer.
A vivid account of the "No Mean City" of legend. A place of hard men (both real and wannabe), bigotry, domestic violence, complicit silence; not the today's snazzy tourist destination (it has its rough spots now, but the city centre's generally okay).
The Dawn of Everything, a New History of Humanity. David Graeber and David Wengrow
en.wikipedia.org
Interesting, a book about prehistory trying to demonstrate that early civilizations were often egalitarian democracies rather than authoritarian monarchy or theocracy.
A lot of absence of evidence as evidence, ie, there's no obvious palace or artwork of a king so egalitarian! The evidence is mostly ruins that don't seem to have social stratification of housing. Introduced me to civilization I was unaware of until now, so that's cool.
en.wikipedia.org
The Dawn of Everything - Wikipedia
Interesting, a book about prehistory trying to demonstrate that early civilizations were often egalitarian democracies rather than authoritarian monarchy or theocracy.
A lot of absence of evidence as evidence, ie, there's no obvious palace or artwork of a king so egalitarian! The evidence is mostly ruins that don't seem to have social stratification of housing. Introduced me to civilization I was unaware of until now, so that's cool.
Cucuteni–Trypillia culture - Wikipedia
SL1! my favorite.
JimOfAllTrades
Master Poster
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2011
- Messages
- 2,140
SL-1 is both scary and fairly amazing to read about. The thought of the reactor jumping up nine feet and pinning a man to ceiling with a control rod is surreal.
And that it was caused by the guy physically lifting the rod himself!