Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

When I read the Wikipedia page on this novel, it described it as being on of the greatest works of literary nonsense ever written. High praise indeed.

The title is often shortened to Alice in Wonderland, which lets be honest, is a far snappier title. Though not technically a correct one. The film adaptation released a few years ago also chose to shorten the name.

As a children’s book, it was a relatively short read and kept the pace moving along at a good pace so even I didn’t get too bored any any point. It does leave you thinking that real life is rather boring though.

Having been watching the TV series, I’ve also been reading the book as well.

It’s not been a bad read, but I really think it speaks highly of the TV series that actually includes most of the details.

Sadly, I can’t think of a better example than Harry Potter. But if you take Harry Potter, the novels are great because they contain large story arcs and extra details that are entirely missing from the films. I didn’t find this to be the case with A Game of Thrones – the TV series has covered pretty much all the book.

As I’ve said, that isn’t really a fault of the book though, which was definitely worth a read.

The sixteenth book in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series looks at music with rocks in it. It might be just a noise but it’s all the kids are listening to these days.

It has some good characters in it, including Susan (the granddaughter of Death), Dibbler and the Death of Rats. The commentary on the music industry, stardom and the rise of rock and roll was somewhat interesting, though I didn’t find it particularly deep.

Men at Arms is the 15th book in the Discworld series. It focuses around the City Watch, so I was rather looking forward to it. However, while it had its ups and downs, I felt it dragged on a little and some of the stretches I found a little dull. A happy ending will see everything alright though, and with Captain Vimes becoming Commander Vimes, all was well.

Elina recommended I should read some more of the British classics, and it was only until an hour into Pride and Prejudice that she began commenting on what a terribly boring book it was.

I found Jane Austen, as a writer, to be a bit stunted in the variety of vocabulary she employed. Everyone in the novel was handsom, and all actions were either boasting or lacking in civility. Everything was civil. She simply couldn’t get enough of the word.

Despite this though, I actually found myself engrossed in a story that only grew more captivating as it developed. Far from the bore Elina had suggested it to be, I found the story strangely captivating – perhaps because it appeals to the common experience of growing up and trying to find a rich husband (to which I have yet to manage).

The fourteenth book in the Discworld series is Lords & Ladies. It takes place in the Kingdom of Lancre and primarily centres around the witches, with a guest appearance from the wizards, but nothing too substancial.

One thing I did like about Lords & Ladies was the good use of humour, especially when it came to describing the many facets of Lancre society.

The fifteenth book in the Discworld series is Small Gods. It tells the tale of Brutha, the simple minded novice with a perfect memory, who finds out that his all powerful god is in fact, a tortoise.

It presents an entertaining, though fairly straight forward criticism of religious organisations and structures that have long ago forgotten what they are actually about (and what they were actually about was a. wrong and b. now irrelevant anyway). Plus, there is a tortoise, so what more could you want?

The tenth book in the Discworld series, Moving Pictures, describes how the alchemists invented film and moved to Holy Wood to set up the moving picture industry.

It’s not one of my favourite novels from the series. I found it a bit silly at first until it finally settled down, but even then I found it quite hard going in comparison to some of the previous novels. C.M.O.T. Dibbler and Detritus the troll are great characters though, and that kept things entertaining.

I occasionally find myself pining for some better similes too. Pratchett often uses phrases like “as muddy as, well, mud” which certainly have their place in a witty text, but I do feel the technique is becoming a little overused.

Quite a few people have suggested Alain de Botton’s book “Religion for Atheists” to me, and I also read Jack’s review with interests a few months ago. Given the brevity of the book, I decided it was certainly worth a quick read to see what it was all about.

The book begins by saying suggesting that the least interesting question we can ask of any religion is whether it is true. This has been a point of some criticism from reviews but I wonder if many have actually missed the central point of the assertion.

What Botton actually means, and perhaps a better way to phrase it would have been, “given we know religion is completely untrue – there clearly isn’t a god and we all know it – what interesting discussions can we have about it?”

From this perspective, his comment makes make more sense and also perhaps explains why he paints religion in such a positive light. It isn’t that he is wearing rose tint glasses, but merely starts from a point where we acknowledge religion is both untrue and destructive, but there are some good features that have allowed it to flourish. Of course I don’t know if this is the case, Botton does not state it, so perhaps he is guilty of the rose tint after all.

The book consists of a series of chapters looking at various aspects of religions and how they could be implemented in a secular way. Laying out restaurants to encourage discussion with strangers, creating mile stones and celebrations, and delivering academic lectures with the passion of evangelical preachers are just some of the suggestions that spring forth.

I read them with mixed reactions, some I like, some not so much. A stronger focus on interesting delivery of academic content for example would certainly have improved my university days. I often struggled to stay awake in lectures and remembered nothing, in which cases a smaller amount of repetitive information would have actually increased learning.

Milestones also play an important part in our lives – this is clear from the half a million people that attended a Humanist ceremony this year. As Jack points out, the historical tradition and grandeur of gradation helps to provide such an occasion in the secular world already though.

In summary, I think Botton is generally on the right track, but then I would, holding the same position. Religion has endured throughout our history, and even onto the days when we know it is patently false, because it provides for our “spiritual” (for lack of a better term) needs. Extracting these into a secular context is essential to removing superstition from our society. Whether Botton’s suggestions are the way to do it remains unclear though.

Book twelve in the Discworld series follows the adventures of Magrat Garlick, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg as the travel to Genua to do some good old fashioned fairy godmothering.

I thought the book took quite a while to get going – I was 15-20% of the way through before they even left for Genua but after that it picked up. Nanny Ogg has firmly cemented herself as one of my favourite characters from the series.