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  • Originally posted by Jeff Lebowski View Post
    I read Norwegian Wood when it came out in the original Japanese.
    My new judge just recommended a Brazilian novel. I asked about the translation, but there is no translation. I guess he just assumed everyone is literate in Portuguese.

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    • Originally posted by SteelBlue View Post
      Any Murakami fans here? I feel like maybe old gregg and Katylied have mentioned liking him in the past? So, I have a love/indifference relationship with him. The first of his that I read was The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, his best in my opinion and by a fairly wide margin. After finishing that I wanted to read everything he has written, and I pretty much have. Unfortunately, as I've made my way through his works I have frequently felt let down. Nothing has lived up to that Wind Up Bird, though I have certainly liked others, Norwegian Wood for example was quite good. His most recent offerings have been forgettable.

      Anyway, I'm about 1/4 of the way through his newest, Killing Commendatore and it feels like a return to that Wind Up Bird form. Yes, he uses the same techniques as he does in all of his novels. If you played Murakami bingo you could check off lonely male narrator, unnamed narrator, unfaithful spouse, whiskey and whisky, jazz, opera, classical music, history of American and British rock, awkwardly described sex scenes, and though it hasn't happened yet, I'm certain there'll be a cat. The difference this time, so far, is that the story feels more complete, the magical realism has been haunting and captivating instead of inducing eye rolling. When I've really liked Murakami, he's brought to mind David Mitchell (whose works I read first) and I'm feeling that so far. So, plenty of pages left to go downhill, but so far I'm all in. It's like Wind Up at a mid-life crossroads, and since I'm there age wise, this one has been worthwhile so far.
      A little too trippy for my taste (I've read A wild sheep chase, and tried to finish 1q84).

      Comment


      • Originally posted by Jeff Lebowski View Post
        I read Norwegian Wood when it came out in the original Japanese.
        That is seriously badass. I wish I could.

        Originally posted by Applejack View Post
        A little too trippy for my taste (I've read A wild sheep chase, and tried to finish 1q84).
        Try Wind Up Bird. I hated IQ84. Wild Sheep Chase was early, I thought it was meh as well.

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        • I just started A World Ablaze
          A newish look a Martin Luther and the beginnings of the Reformation. If it means anything, it's by BYU history professor, Craig Harline and is published by Oxford University Press.

          A couple I've finished recently but haven't gotten around to typing up my complete thoughts - and I don't if I will.

          The King's Assassin

          A interesting, but not particularly well written look at King James I/VI favorite and almost certainly lover, George Villiers.
          It's an interesting look a court politics and how James raised Villliers from the minor nobility to the Duke of Buckingham.
          There are some interesting stories including the tale of the Future Charles I trip to Spain to hurry up the negotiations for a proposed wedding between himself and the Spanish Infanta. George accompanied Charles. They traveled incognito and neglected to let either the French (they travelled through France to get to Spain) or the Spanish know they were coming. In the end it didn't work and the engagement never happened.

          The title comes from the speculation at the time of James' death that George had something to do with it. When James fell ill for the final time, George dismissed James' Doctors and had his personal doctor come up with some "Physic". When James died, his enemies blamed him.

          This is only a 3 star read for me on GoodReads inspite of some interesting stories

          The Butchering Art

          This is a look at Jonathon Lister and his work with antiseptics. There are some pretty gory descriptions of Victorian operating theaters and dissection rooms. The narrative also follows the change in surgery from a trade to a profession.

          There are some pretty startling statics about surgical survival rates in London hospitals before Lister's work became accepted. Some of the hospitals had post operative death rates of greater than a 90% death rate, one almost 100%. At the roughly the same time as Lister's work, anesthesia became widely used. In fact, Lister attended the first use of anesthesia in a British operation.

          In telling Lister's story the author looks at how those twin advancements changed Surgery. Before Surgeons mainly cut off limbs and set broken bones - they would not touch the Chest or Abdomen if at all possible. The author make a point that those two advancements made modern thoracic surgery possible.

          Very readable and a solid 4 stars for me on GoodReads
          Last edited by happyone; 10-26-2018, 06:13 PM.

          I may be small, but I'm slow.

          A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

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          • Originally posted by happyone View Post
            I just started A World Ablaze
            A newish look a Martin Luther and the beginnings of the Reformation. If it means anything, it's by BYU history professor, Craig Harline and is published by Oxford University Press...
            I may read this, if only because (a) his book about his mission, Way Below the Angels, was entertaining, and (b) his son is still open.

            Comment


            • so far it's been breezy (not academic at all) and a bit irreverent. He refers to Luther as Brother Martin or Friar Martin

              I may be small, but I'm slow.

              A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

              Comment


              • Originally posted by Babs View Post
                My new judge just recommended a Brazilian novel. I asked about the translation, but there is no translation. I guess he just assumed everyone is literate in Portuguese.
                Lemme guess... "o mei pei de laranja lima"

                Am i right?
                "Be a philosopher. A man can compromise to gain a point. It has become apparent that a man can, within limits, follow his inclinations within the arms of the Church if he does so discreetly." - The Walking Drum

                "And here’s what life comes down to—not how many years you live, but how many of those years are filled with bullshit that doesn’t amount to anything to satisfy the requirements of some dickhead you’ll never get the pleasure of punching in the face." – Adam Carolla

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                • Read Michael Connelly's "Two Kinds of Truth" in one sitting on the plane. It's the most recent Bosch book until next week when a new one comes out. It was good but I didn't feel like it had the character depth and broodiness that you typically get out of a Bosch book. It was almost like a quick-hitting action thriller. Now I'm reading "The Poet", also by Connelly. It's almost too much depth/broodiness, taking a really long time to develop any type of plot so far.

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                  • My wife dated Craig Harline back in the day. His brother Brad was the ZL that emergency transferred me out of Springfield MO upon interviewing a young lady that we had scheduled for baptism.

                    Good times.

                    Downloaded "Where the Crawdads Sing." women seem to love the book. No reviews by a man that I could see.
                    Last edited by clackamascoug; 11-04-2018, 08:38 AM.

                    When poet puts pen to paper imagination breathes life, finding hearth and home.
                    -Mid Summer's Night Dream

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                    • This weekend I read the Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) book Win Bigly.

                      I gotta say it’s kind of an essential book for understanding the Trump phenomenon.

                      Today when I see Trump saying “Barack <pause> H. <pause> Obama” I’m understanding that in a different way.

                      As much of a buffoon as he is in so many ways I’m now convinced that Trump has an intuitive understanding of white blue collar psychology that is definitely an evil “genius” skill.

                      Comment


                      • Just finished Bad Blood about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. Seems like a few of you here recommended it. Really fascinating story.
                        "There is no creature more arrogant than a self-righteous libertarian on the web, am I right? Those folks are just intolerable."
                        "It's no secret that the great American pastime is no longer baseball. Now it's sanctimony." -- Guy Periwinkle, The Nix.
                        "Juilliardk N I ibuprofen Hyu I U unhurt u" - creekster

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Jeff Lebowski View Post
                          Just finished Bad Blood about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. Seems like a few of you here recommended it. Really fascinating story.
                          Yep fascinating. A modern-day, real life version of The Emporer’s New Clothes right down to the detail that it took “children” (new college grads) to point out to all the middle-aged and older people that this was all a scam.

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by CardiacCoug View Post
                            This weekend I read the Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) book Win Bigly.

                            I gotta say it’s kind of an essential book for understanding the Trump phenomenon.
                            I just ordered it from my local library.

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by Jeff Lebowski View Post
                              Just finished Bad Blood about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. Seems like a few of you here recommended it. Really fascinating story.
                              I'm halfway through on audiobook. Great story.

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by CardiacCoug View Post
                                Yep fascinating. A modern-day, real life version of The Emporer’s New Clothes right down to the detail that it took “children” (new college grads) to point out to all the middle-aged and older people that this was all a scam.
                                Yeah, that was nuts. Really felt sorry for those kids, especially the Schultz grandson.
                                "There is no creature more arrogant than a self-righteous libertarian on the web, am I right? Those folks are just intolerable."
                                "It's no secret that the great American pastime is no longer baseball. Now it's sanctimony." -- Guy Periwinkle, The Nix.
                                "Juilliardk N I ibuprofen Hyu I U unhurt u" - creekster

                                Comment

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