Less than 2 weeks and counting! BBQ was smokin', I'll write about the details later.
Happy Birthday Meems and Harry Potter!
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Analogies are as useful as a pair of glasses are to a blind man.
Archimedes the Owl: If the boy goes about saying the world is round, they'll take him for a lunatic.
Arthur: The world is round?
Merlin: Yes. Yes, that's right, and it also goes a-round.
Arthur: You mean it'll be round someday.
Merlin: No, no, no, it's round now. Man will discover this in centuries to come. And he will also find that the world is merely a tiny speck in the universe.
Arthur: Universe?
Archimedes the Owl: You're only confusing the boy. Before you're through, he'll be so mixed up, he'll... he'll be wearing his shoes on his head!
4 comments:
Well you probably hear plenty about my book tastes, but here's my list (although not quite a straight answer): Anything by Neal Stephenson, Dune series, Anything by Isaac Asimov, Philip K Dick esp Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (although for more mess with your head/less scifi I'd say Ubik), Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy. (Lord of the Rings is too obvious to count).
That's 5, but it was a bit heavy scifi. Some others: No God but God is a good one about Islam. Breaking the Spell and The God Delusion if feeling atheist - although maybe not the best to take to Iraq. America the book and Naked Pictures of Famous People (Both by Jon Stewart).
what is the finger trick for multiplying by 9?
books I recommend:
1. East of Eden. I think Steinbeck is amazing. Every time I read the book it's like I'm reading it again for the first time. I find new meanings and symbols and analogies. ...hmmm maybe the analogies are a turnoff for ms analogy-hater ;)
2. The Periodic Table, Primo Levi. He was a former chemist-turned-writer holocaust survivor who wrote these beautiful books in an almost frenetic bearing-testimony kind of way. Each chapter in the book is named after an element, and chronicles a period in his life. It's the kind of writing that can only come from him because of the sum of his experiences. I recommend it for a long trip because it's hard to read, and it's really interesting to tie the rationale for each story being titled the way it is...
3. House of Leaves, M Z Danielewski. But you've already read it! I seriously think that book is crazy genious.
4. Complications, by Atul gawande... if you haven't read it yet. it's medical, so I'm biased, but I read it pre-premed, and I really enjoyed it.
5. Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman. Or an alternate would be Dante's inferno. No time like the present, right?
Since you are going to the Middle East, might I note the obvious and suggest you look into some Middle Eastern Literature? Something by Naguib Mahfouz (Egyptian author), the poetry of Rumi, a collection of Khalil Gibran's works (Lebanese/American) or perhaps even the 1001 Arabian nights. I think a balance of some contemporary books along with some of the classical works will help you get a better handle on the mentalities of the peoples who inhabit the region where you will work.
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