Book Group

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McGoohan Nov 2023 10:26am, 7 Nov 2023 53,271 posts	0 McGoohan Thanks Linds. I think I'll jettison it and start on Watling Street
LindsD Nov 2023 11:10am, 7 Nov 2023 64,815 posts	0 LindsD Sounds like a good move.
DazTheSlug Nov 2023 2:13pm, 7 Nov 2023 2,381 posts	0 DazTheSlug I had my DNF-ing-est month ever in October, tossing aside 3 books in short succession: The Recognitions - William Gaddis Waterland - Graham Swift American Pastoral - Philip Roth
Diogenes Nov 2023 2:31pm, 7 Nov 2023 82,457 posts	0 Diogenes I’ve not read the first of those but I enjoyed both the other two a lot.
LindsD Nov 2023 3:27pm, 7 Nov 2023 64,824 posts	0 LindsD Maybe we should have a 'Books I dnf' thread
Chrisull Nov 2023 3:38pm, 7 Nov 2023 20,835 posts	0 Chrisull Ditto with Dio. I loved Waterland in particular. I've just finished a non-fiction philosophical tome, "The Flip" by Jeffrey Kripal. If I'm doing a one sentence sell/summary (a la Backlisted's Halloween 2023 episode). "It's about the moment when scientists had an experience in their life that could not be explained by rational means, and how it completely "flipped" their world view." It starts with recounting various scientists and authors paranormal experiences - but doesn't go where you think it's going to go, it doesn't head off into deep woo, it actually ends up with an impassioned plea to foreground the humanities because science without the arts/literature/philosophy is incapable of untangling the universe, and only through more abstruse/abstract forms of thinking (embodied by art/philosophy) can we get at some of the recent discoveries of quantum physics and their possible implications. It's a provocative, controversial, and occasionally very dense (although short at 200 pages) book, that some will go that's complete baloney at times, but I found the conclusions quite humbling and moving (especially in regards to the current climate crisis).
Columba Nov 2023 9:44pm, 14 Nov 2023 22,350 posts	0 Columba That sounds like a book worth reading, Chrisull. While stayiing with Eldest Son and D-i-L last week (D-i-L imminently expecting child no 2 - but that is by-the-by), I read The Thursday Murder Club. Recommended by the said D-i-L, and I know some of you have read it and commented. It's not a genre I usually go for, but I enjoyed it, though somehow the last few chapters left a bad taste. I have also read Watling Street, and in the next day or two will pull myself together and go off to its dedicated thread. Now re-re-re-reading Heart of Darkness.
Diogenes Nov 2023 9:55pm, 14 Nov 2023 82,603 posts	0 Diogenes I read half of Heart Of Darkness once and then lost the book, the only book I’ve ever lost. I’ve never managed to get back to it since.
Columba Nov 2023 10:00pm, 14 Nov 2023 22,352 posts	0 Columba It's a slim book in a Classics edition, Dio. Very cheap. I didn't even have to order it; my indie bookshop already had it in stock.
Hanneke Nov 2023 10:04pm, 14 Nov 2023 114,355 posts	0 Hanneke Reading Watling Street. Got into it. Got out of it. Trying to get back into it...