Reading again.
Recently noted that the only things I've really been reading were RPG books. Don't get me wrong, they're interesting and entertaining as hell and really give you an inside look at how to build a fictional world, but they're not necessarily the most intellectually stimulating. So, in an effort to not get Old And Tired And Too Grumpy To Care About Things Anymore, I decided I'd better start getting things a little deeper.
And mostly failed.
But at least I'm reading. And a lot of things I always meant to read but somehow didn't.
Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut - This one just never stood out to me as being a must-read. I've already finished it, and I liked it but think I would've read it in high school or college. The iconoclasm would've resonated more.
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep by Dick - Can't believe I never read this. Liking it so far, but it's definitely less noir than I expected.
Demon Haunted World by Sagan - I got about a chapter in and decided to come back to it later. It's not that it's bad or anything, but I feel like this is skepticism 101 whereas I'm very familiar with the basics and want to get more into the specifics. Essentially, there was nothing new for me. Coming back later, though, and going through it just to make sure I don't miss anything. There might be something totally mind-blowing in Chapter 6, after all.
Boneshaker by Priest - Steampunk and zombies. Recommended by Warren Ellis and Mike Mignola. So I'm sold.
Altered Carbon by Morgan - A few blogs back I started asking questions about transferring and digitizing consciousness in a sci-fi sense, and this is a science-noir book that makes heavy use of that concept. So it's good for where I am mentally right now, on a subject that has me excited. And I always like noir.
The Prince by Machiavelli - Another I can't believe I haven't read. I think it will further inform my perspective of the political process.
Freethinkers by Jacoby - About the history of secularism in the USA. There's generally not a lot of info about this, because everyone assumes that everyone was Christian or Jewish until 1960. Also goes in-depth with the recorded information from the founding of the nation, to give a better perspective on what the founding fathers really had planned.
Why The Religious Right Is Wrong About The Separation Of Church And State by Boston - Speaking of which... this is as mentioned above, but specifically examining the different iterations of the first amendment, letters from the founding fathers, and additional documents clearly showing their intent. I'm mostly familiar with the Treaty of Tripoli (unanimously approved by the Senate and signed into law by John Adams, specifically stating that the USA is "not, in any sense, a Christian nation."), but I really want to brush up on the other evidence. I'm a big fan of certain members of the Founding Fathers crew, and I love reading the stuff they said that makes you think, "Wow, these guys would be totally unelectable today."
Why I Became An Atheist by Loftus - I've been done with the atheist books for a while, because I have a pretty good handle on the arguments. I get it, any most people here would agree that I'm pretty well convinced that there are no gods. However, reviews of this one show that it's a more in-depth, scholarly piece of counter-apologetics from a former preacher. So this guy really gets the theological arguments, and can really take them down in a way that someone who's only passingly familiar with them, like Dawkins or Hitchens, can't. I expect that I probably know what he's going to go over and how he's going to take them apart, but counter-apologetics is something I find very fun and interesting so I'm looking forward to getting to this one.
I tried recently to give some of the more highly rated Christian apologist books a shot, but couldn't take them up to the counter. They really do just seem to trot out the same old canards again and again, and try to rephrase them so as to appear as a new argument while actually not getting around the counters already stated by the atheist crowd. So... that's a bust for now. I really do want to try and get some of those, though. I don't want to be one of those people who only reads stuff he already agrees with.
Recently noted that the only things I've really been reading were RPG books. Don't get me wrong, they're interesting and entertaining as hell and really give you an inside look at how to build a fictional world, but they're not necessarily the most intellectually stimulating. So, in an effort to not get Old And Tired And Too Grumpy To Care About Things Anymore, I decided I'd better start getting things a little deeper.
And mostly failed.
But at least I'm reading. And a lot of things I always meant to read but somehow didn't.
Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut - This one just never stood out to me as being a must-read. I've already finished it, and I liked it but think I would've read it in high school or college. The iconoclasm would've resonated more.
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep by Dick - Can't believe I never read this. Liking it so far, but it's definitely less noir than I expected.
Demon Haunted World by Sagan - I got about a chapter in and decided to come back to it later. It's not that it's bad or anything, but I feel like this is skepticism 101 whereas I'm very familiar with the basics and want to get more into the specifics. Essentially, there was nothing new for me. Coming back later, though, and going through it just to make sure I don't miss anything. There might be something totally mind-blowing in Chapter 6, after all.
Boneshaker by Priest - Steampunk and zombies. Recommended by Warren Ellis and Mike Mignola. So I'm sold.
Altered Carbon by Morgan - A few blogs back I started asking questions about transferring and digitizing consciousness in a sci-fi sense, and this is a science-noir book that makes heavy use of that concept. So it's good for where I am mentally right now, on a subject that has me excited. And I always like noir.
The Prince by Machiavelli - Another I can't believe I haven't read. I think it will further inform my perspective of the political process.
Freethinkers by Jacoby - About the history of secularism in the USA. There's generally not a lot of info about this, because everyone assumes that everyone was Christian or Jewish until 1960. Also goes in-depth with the recorded information from the founding of the nation, to give a better perspective on what the founding fathers really had planned.
Why The Religious Right Is Wrong About The Separation Of Church And State by Boston - Speaking of which... this is as mentioned above, but specifically examining the different iterations of the first amendment, letters from the founding fathers, and additional documents clearly showing their intent. I'm mostly familiar with the Treaty of Tripoli (unanimously approved by the Senate and signed into law by John Adams, specifically stating that the USA is "not, in any sense, a Christian nation."), but I really want to brush up on the other evidence. I'm a big fan of certain members of the Founding Fathers crew, and I love reading the stuff they said that makes you think, "Wow, these guys would be totally unelectable today."
Why I Became An Atheist by Loftus - I've been done with the atheist books for a while, because I have a pretty good handle on the arguments. I get it, any most people here would agree that I'm pretty well convinced that there are no gods. However, reviews of this one show that it's a more in-depth, scholarly piece of counter-apologetics from a former preacher. So this guy really gets the theological arguments, and can really take them down in a way that someone who's only passingly familiar with them, like Dawkins or Hitchens, can't. I expect that I probably know what he's going to go over and how he's going to take them apart, but counter-apologetics is something I find very fun and interesting so I'm looking forward to getting to this one.
I tried recently to give some of the more highly rated Christian apologist books a shot, but couldn't take them up to the counter. They really do just seem to trot out the same old canards again and again, and try to rephrase them so as to appear as a new argument while actually not getting around the counters already stated by the atheist crowd. So... that's a bust for now. I really do want to try and get some of those, though. I don't want to be one of those people who only reads stuff he already agrees with.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
I know I've read Cat's Cradle. I probably even have it around somewhere. But I can't remember it for the life of me. Ice 9, right?