YO SOY BACKO!

I know that Kelsi and AJ have missed me and my awesomeness for the past little bit, and repentance is nigh. LET US BEGIN! The following is a co
bbled list of the books I have read
for the past little bit:

Law, Legislation and Liberty (again) by F.A. Hayek. 9/10!

I only reread the first volume which discusses rules and order and how they emerge spontaneously. It's a great read for those who love freedom!

Deconstructing the Republic by Anthony Peacock. 8/10!

A great and short (200 pages) book about how the

Voting Rights Act has corrupted the voting process and perverted the Founder's conception of republican, individual-based government. Great for arguing with your liberal friends!

Politics by Aristotle. 9.5/10!

The only reason this got 9.5 is that even after rereading a bunch of the sections I still struggled to understand some of what Aristotle was trying to say. Aristotle talks about the natures of the different kinds of governments and which of those are best (Aristocracy of course!) and other interesting things, like how to treat your slaves and the proper role of women (you'd love it Kelsi!). A must for everyone who doesn't want to be considered stupid.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 9/10!

A beautiful book about one day in the life of a Siberian concentration camp prisoner. It is simply beautiful. It is fiction, but based on the experiences of people who lived there. It's not gruesome or anything, and I think everyone who reads it will love it.

Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. 8/10!

It only gets 8/10 because the book makes me so sad and Dostoevsky really highlights terrible and evil feelings that we all experience, and because the protagonist thinks and writes in a fairly sporadic style that seems a little unbelievable at times. Overall, it's beautiful, like all Russian masterpieces.

Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek. 9.5/10!

What can I say? Hayek rocks. This is a partisan piece on how the Socialist programs of Europe could lead to the same Totalitarian philosophy that overtook Germany and caused the Second World War. It is short and concise. A MUST!

Faiths of Our Fathers by Alfred Mapp. 5/10....

This book gets a poor score due to my perception of it as bad history. It's title should be, The Founding Fathers Were All Christians In Some Form or Another and Here's Why....It's not so much that I disagreed with the book as that if I weren't a Christian and I read the book I would be more convinced than ever that the stories about the Founding Fathers being Christian were myths and propaganda promulgated by poor histories such as this one. I admit that my perception is limited by my lack of education, but it still struck me poorly.

(FIRST OFF! Check out Calhoun's hair, does he look like the classic conception of Satan or what?!)

Union and Liberty, a collection of works by John C. Calhoun. 8.5/10!

Although Calhoun supported slavery as a positive institution for society, he made brilliant constitutional arguments about that and other things which still influence the debates concerning constitutional problems and questions. I loved this book and shall reread it to gain a better understanding of how John Calhoun got such awesome hair!

The Anti-Federalist Papers. 8.5/10!

The original (and not stupid) tea-partiers! Read what they thought about the inability to stop the expansion of the national government, the danger of the presidency, and the tyranny of the Supreme Court!

The Church Books I've read:

With Full Purpose of Heart, A Collection of Discourses and Writings of Dallin H. Oaks. 8/10! E. Oaks writes and speaks like a lawyer, and I love him for it.

To Draw Closer to God, a Collection of Discourses by Henry Eyring. 9/10!

Pres. Eyring rocks. He speaks to the heart of the matter and you can tell he is focused on getting the message of the Atonement into the hearts of his listeners.

All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, Neal A. Maxwell. 8/10!

E. Maxwell writes a bit like C.S. Lewis, just a bit, and it makes for a short and good read full of great prose and charming thoughts. I wish he'd get a little more into it sometimes, but who can't love E. Maxwell?!

God in the Dock, a Collection of Essays by C.S. Lewis. 8/10!

It only gets 8/10 because it is not quite the concentrated apologetic work that I was expecting, but it is very good nonetheless.

SO THERE! I'm not gone, in fact, I'm back and better than freaking ever! WHO'S GOING TO CHALLENGE ME NOW?!

I read another one.

This time it was Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, no big deal. On an Austenian scale, I enjoyed it more than Sense and Sensibility but less than Emma and Pride and Prejudice. It was a nice read, but didn't excite in me any feelings worth talking about on this blog.

Now I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is excellent. Get ready to hear my feelings on that one in about a week!

Huntin w/ Ruskies!!!

A week or so ago, I can't now recall, I finished The Hunt for Red October. Tom Clancy's break out thriller about submarine warfare in the cold war. It was Incredible!! I'm a huge fan of the movie, as noted by the fact that I watch it several times a year (which if you stop and think about that you'll realize watching any movie several times a year mean about every 4 months (think about it)), this being the case I'm familiar with the story line. But the book totally takes different turns!! Now I won't say Clancy is a literary genius because I felt that he brought in too many side stories, the book had ADD, but where he's the master is in his research and know how. There were so many aspects of naval stuff, tactics and all that, I never would have thought about. All I know is what the movies show me. For example when the commanding officer asks if they have a shooting solution, that process is wickedly complicated and not exact science. Cinema leads me to believe that torpedoes are point and shoot, not the case. And in the film version, and other movies I seen, subs hate to ping because it gives away their position, but in the book they just ping, ping, ping away. They have to ping in order to locate their target. Anyway the book was great, despite being extremely involved and detailed it remains engrossing. I was all wrapped up in the whole experience of the book.

My heart bleeds black

KELSI'S NOTE: I did not attempt to censor myself in any way, spoiler-wise, while writing this review. So if you ever plan on reading The Sorrows of Young Werther (I advise against it) and want to be fully surprised by every plot twist, don't read this post.

I am just a reading machine lately! I recently finished The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a book I only became interested in after seeing this comic. (Sadly, I have to thank Kate Beaton for most of the cultural influence in my life. Her comics either inform me of historical/political/literary events or prompt me to investigate them independently).

The Sorrows of Young Werther (published in 1774) is a short book about a passionate young artist named Werther. While staying in the countryside, Werther meets a lady named Charlotte and falls in love with her on first sight. However, she is already engaged to a suave older gentleman Albert (who I imagine has a mustache). Instead of doing what most normal people would do (wallow in self-pity for a while and then get over it), Werther mopes around the town, pathetically befriends Charlotte and Albert, writes 135 pages of emo poetry about how hard it is to be middle class (seriously), has to deal with a few more sucky things that he makes forty times worse by crying about them for two years, and then shoots himself with Albert's pistols (it's a metaphor).

This is what Werther would like look if he were living today. Luckily, he wouldn't be alive for long because he would soon kill himself when the local Hot Topic ran out of black nail polish.

Am I being harsh or simplistic? No, I am not. The whole book is a sob-fest about how much Werther hates his life, how much despair he feels when he is around Charlotte, how he can never possibly get over it and the only outlet is death. The entire time I was reading, all I could think was, "Emo poetry emo poetry emo poetryyyyyyyy." [In fact, I highlighted some especially dramatic passages from the story with the intention of sharing them on this blog, but for some reason my Kindle deleted them, and the thought of re-reading or even re-skimming the book makes me want to shoot myself for real (and not write three thousand sad poems about it beforehand).] Some of the philosophical insights found in the book were interesting, but they couldn't make up for the insufferable nature of the main character. It was a painful read and finishing it was a relief.

HOWEVER, while doing some post-reading research on the book, I came across an interesting fact: Goethe wrote this novel when he was 24 and loosely based it on some happenings in his own life; however, he later regretted penning the novel because of its immense success. And believe me, its success was immense (from Wikipedia):

The Sorrows of Young Werther was Goethe's first major success, turning him from an unknown into a celebrated author practically overnight ... It also started the phenomenon known as "Werther-Fieber" ("Werther Fever") which caused young men throughout Europe to dress in the clothing style described for Werther in the novel.

It reputedly also led to some of the first known examples of copycat suicide. The "Werther Fever" was watched with concern by the authorities and fellow authors.

Let's face it, if thousands of young sensitive German artist types were worshipping the literary character you created like he was the Messiah, you would be creeped out too. I imagine that Goethe suffered the type of regret that Stephanie Meyer would suffer from, if she had a conscience or a soul. It also annoyed him that, even in his later years, most folks only knew his name for Werther and not some of his other works, like Faust. So I can totally sympathize with Goethe and forgive him for his sin of bringing The Sorrows of Young Werther into the world, because it seems like he was truly penitent at the time of his death.

Plus, I don't exactly regret reading Sorrows, mostly because the payoff was nice when Werther finally shot himself and we learn that no one went to his funeral. Suck on that, you whiny German creep!

photo found here, thanks Google Images

A Tale of Too Much Greatness

What has happened to our book blog? It's become a virtual ghost town, that's what. Luckily there's a new sheriff in town who's here to take care of business and get it done. (That's me.)

I just finished A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens a couple of days ago. First of all, some background: I am not really a Dickens fan. I have read Oliver Twist and I tried to read Great Expectations and his writing style didn't really mesh well with my tastes. It's very dense, basically, and hard to get through if you have a shorter attention span. However, my respected roommate Betsy read A Tale of Two Cities during the fall and she raved about it. I was intrigued, so I picked up a cheap copy before coming to Florida and started reading it on the bus rides to work.

Now, a quick summary: A Tale of Two Cities is a story about the French Revolution. It mostly focuses on a certain family: Charles Darnay and his wife Lucie, Lucie's father Doctor Manette, and their family friends Jarvis Lorry and Sydney Carton. It also has romance, betrayal, devotion, et cetera. Honestly, that is all I want to give you in the summary. If you decide to read this book, I want you to go in with as little preconceived notions about the plot as possible.

What were my thoughts on A Tale of Two Cities? Well, I'll tell you. It is amazing. It's one of the best stories I've read in a long time. Charles Dickens packs his writing full of symbolism and foreshadowing, which you pick up on the first page and carry all the way until the last. The characters he creates are so excellent, ESPECIALLY THE VILLAIN. Seriously, the villain of AToTC is one of the most legitimately terrifying literary characters I have ever been exposed to. And the backdrop of the French Revolution is such an effective, volcanic setting. Dickens doesn't pull any punches when describing both the oppression suffered by the French people and the monstrosities they resort to in a misguided attempt at vengeance. It's insane and gripping and impossible to stop reading.

And the ending! The ending made me cry. It's true! It was beautiful and unexpected and so, so melancholy. (And rife with Christian symbolism, which should appeal to someone reading this blog, KENNETH).

Finally, I'm going to do something I rarely do: I am going to recommend A Tale of Two Cities to everyone who participates in this blog. Everyone reading this will love it. Kristin will love it, because she will sympathize with Lucie and also enjoy the metaphors! Luke will love it, because the villain is so very scary and also there is some dry British wit! Hardy will love it, because of the deep, rich symbolism (I think)! AJ will love it, because it seems like the type of book AJ will love! Ken will love it, because it will provide fuel for his hatred of the French! And when she returns from her mission, Kelsha will love it, because it is a pinnacle of literary accomplishment.

So, in conclusion: what are you doing? Are you still reading this post? Well STOP and go check out or buy A Tale of Two Cities. It is now at the top of your priority list!

The Great Gatsby, American Fictional Triumph?

My sister Anna loves this book. She doesn't know why, she read it in high school, and loved it. On this premise I bought it when I saw it in the book store. It was good. I found out that F. Scott Fitzgerald was friends with Ernest Hemingway and the used to sip coffee at Parisian cafes. Until they had a falling out, due to jealousy on Hemingway's part, the book said this and I doubt it, what did Hemingway resident bad A have to be jealous about. Anyway the book was fine, but given all its hype I expected quite a bit more. I did stumble on an interesting letter that F. Scott wrote to his publisher. You see The Great Gatsby was not well received when it first came out. Its small first edition sold slowly and the small second printing didn't even sell out. This is strange given the novel's high standing in the current literary world. One list I found ranked it 2nd in comparative greatness. What happened in between. Well the little extras in the edition I bought provided the answers. The publisher pulled strings and contacts to get the book entered into education networks. They pushed to have it used in literature classes which is where the vast majority of the novel's readers have encountered it. My thoughts would be that the book is mediocre. I enjoyed reading it, but my mind wasn't blown. I will say it is a novel with substance, if one wished they could deepen their exploration of it but a superficial read generates superficial results. According to the extra commentary F. Scott wrote it in an impressionist style and a student could pull abstract ideas if pressured, but my feeling is that the novel is not so amazing. That a publisher propagated it into education circles to turn a higher profit on a project that didn't produce as expected.

The Dog Days Are Over

I promise I've been reading. I probably read three or four books in December, I just couldn't dredge up the motivation to post. But the book I just finished surprised and impressed me, and I decided I wanted to post about it and get all my thoughts out in text.

It's called Going Bovine by Libba Bray, and it's a young adult book I bought back in October or November. I got it because I have read some other books by the author and I had heard about this one. I stopped reading it after a few chapters, though, because I was bored and frustrated. The dialogue was stupid and I just couldn't get interested, and I felt like I was too busy to waste time on it. But then yesterday morning I picked it up again, just to hurry up and finish it so I could focus on Moby Dick (aka my own personal hell), and I was pleasantly surprised.

Going Bovine is about this 16-year-old stoner named Cameron who is lazy and takes life for granted in the extreme (and also he lives in Texas). His parents, who are both professors, don't know what to do with him, and his teenage sister resents him or something. The first part of the book basically lays down what a worthless pile he is, and it was the part that made me stop reading, because the dialogue was laughably terrible and the main character is super annoying.

But then Cameron gets diagnosed with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, aka mad cow disease, which is fatal and has no cure, and he gradually starts to die (he has seizures, hallucinations, et cetera as his mind decays). As he does, he gets more and more desperate to live. He's afraid of death and doesn't feel ready.

While he's in the hospital, an angel visits him and tells him that there's a reason why he is dying, and there's a way he can stop it and also save the world--and sends him on a crazy quest to Florida to find a cure for his disease. The rest of the book plays out in a way that is parallel to Don Quixote (and, P.S., I felt super smart that I realized this because Cameron drove a Cadillac Rocinante, which is the name of Don Quixote's horse).

The quest was the part of the book that was awesome, because, as it develops, the scenarios get more and more crazy. The best part about it is you don't really know if it's a hallucination brought on by his disease or if it's real life until the very end. Cameron keeps having flashbacks to his hospital room, but the situations he gets into are so detailed and random that it seems like there is no way they can just be mere hallucinations. As he starts the quest, his experiences are fairly believable, but eventually they get more and more insane, and the pace gets more frantic and desperate. Some of the situations he encounters are absurd and also hilarious to the extreme (a religious group that lives by the mantra "All Happy All the Time", a group of physicists who are trying to hop to parallel dimensions, an evil snow globe corporation). By the end of the novel, I was really invested in what happened to Cameron, which surprised me considering the fact I started off hating the kid.

I'm not going to necessarily recommend it to this group; I don't think any other member of this little book club would enjoy it as much as I did. But personally, I'm glad I read it. It was a diverting and surprising piece of work.

Some Dumb Book List

That was floating around Facebook. Apparently the BBC released it and predicted that most people had only read six novels on the list. I don't think that's true but it makes people like me feel good because I have read more than six. Also I noticed that a lot of titles were books we have posted about on this here blog, and it's late at night and I'm stressed and need something to distract me. Let's do it! (bolded titles are the ones I've read).

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma -Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Inferno - Dante

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I have read 43 of the books on this list. I didn't count the ones that I have only partially read, like the Complete Works of Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, or Middlemarch. However, if it turns out that Ken has read more of these books than I, then I fully intend on counting those partial reads.

ATTENTION DISTANT BLOGGERS

I just found out a fun fact about Kelsha's post "The Little Prince" I will place this fun fact as a comment on that post.

Britania's Two Greatest Men of Mystery. . . Well three if you count Watson.

Sorry no picture available I'm on a cluttered mac.

I just read Sherlock and Watson's second adventure, The Sign of the Four. I personally liked it better than a Study in Scarlet. This book is where we are first introduced to Holmes' recreational cocaine use. According Homes he only shoots up when he's between cases to quiet his mind. It is also in this book that we meet Miss Mary Morstan, the character we are introduced to in the movie as Watson's recent fiance. In The Sign of the Four, Watson instantly falls in love with her but despairs because as soon as he and Holmes track down Miss Morstan's treasure she'll be rich and want nothing to do with him, or WORSE, suspect him of being a gold digger. Well precious gem digger as is the case. Fortunately the treasure is never recovered for which both lovers rejoice. I read the first page of the next book, A Scandal in Bohemia, and they are married. It was also there that Irene Adler is introduced, "the woman . . . In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex." But I haven't read on to discover anymore of this character.
I've been too busy zipping through the short stories of Britain's second man of mystery. Commander Bond, James Bond. I found this lovely little book at Sam Weller's new, used, and rare book store, it's not rare or used, falling under the new category. It's been a fun little read though I'm embarrassed to take it on the train because there's a topless woman dominating the front cover. The best story so far has been For Your Eyes Only, where an elderly couple is gunned down in Jamaica by Cuban thugs under the direction of a former Gestapo officer looking to take over their lovely estate. What these thugs didn't know was that old man Havelock had a powerful best man at his wedding. This best man was none other than the director of England's secret service, M. This murder chaffed M, who sent Bond as justice's hammer. But the thugs also didn't know that the Havelock's young daughter, whose pony and dog they'd killed as incentive for her to sell the desired property, was raised in Jamaica's jungle and had become quite sufficient with a bow. Jamaica's Catniss didn't hesitate to stalk her parent's killers in the mountains of Vermont with her shiny bow. Sweet fate it was that the two stalkers, Bond and Miss Havelock, should happen upon each other in the woods. After "taking out the trash" they hiked back to Canada to make sweet love in the kozy motel. But while this was the best short story so far it wasn't the most interesting fun Bond fact I've come across.
Fun side note is that Bond lost his virginity at the tender age of 16 to a Parisian hooker, because some well known bar tender had advised that when in Paris the adventuresome youth should tell his cabby, "Sank Roo Doe Noo" whatever that means, he lost his notebook in the process as well. Notebook being, I assume, limy for wallet.
But this still isn't what I've found most interesting, or, why I've bothered to post, what I want to put up for conversation. Perhaps like me you were disappointed with the latest Bond film installment Quantum of Solace. To me nothing new was learned and nothing resolved in the greater story line that Casino Royal had eluded to, Bond was simply put into a holding pattern. Well, in Ian Flemming's world (Flemming also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) Quantum of Solace is one of his short stories that actually has very little to do with Bond. In Quantum of Solace James Bond is sitting with the governor of Bermuda who is relating a tragic love-less story. This tragic tale is about an introverted government worker who married a flight attendant because she was the first woman ever to pay attention to him. He was transfered to Bermuda where she had a very public affair with one the the local playboys. This so broke the man that the Governor developed a term for what happened. The term he coined was . . . the Law of the Quantum of Solace. Which "high-sounding" title describes, "the death of common humanity in one of the partners." Here the Governor commentating on his observations of every human relationship, and uses it in connection with, "That particular insult to the ego--worse, to the instinct of self-preservation". Bond interprets the Quantum of Solace as, "Human beings are very insecure. When the other person not only makes you feel insecure but actually seems to want to destroy you, it's obviously the end. The Quantum of Solace stands at zero. You've got to get away to save yourself."
Now to the Conversation I'm trying to generate. Hopefully after discussing what we've got here we will be able to pull deeper understanding from the film Quantum of Solace.
Questions: I haven't looked up the definition of Quantum or Solace to get an exact feel of the usage in general or here together. Also I've quoted so much because my mind in not fully wrapped around the Governor's term, so I'd like your takes on what you think is going on. Finally any insights on how the Quantum of Solace as a term can be used to interpret the movie. This final query is of course assuming that the screen writers read this short story and didn't just steal the name because it's a Bond story and sounded cool.

Intelligent Design, pt. 1

The days of apathy are over. I officially have way too much free time at work that can be spent neither reading nor doing anything genuinely productive, so I am forced to reinstill the glory of activity to this blog. Just kidding. I've missed reading and writing on this blog and the time for repentance is nigh.

<----- This is my current read. I'm not done with it yet (it is fairly long, especially for a book on DNA), but I intend to give you a basic summary of what I've read so far as well as a finisher once the book's done.

It's written by Stephen C. Meyer (DOESN"T THAT SOUND AN AWFUL LOT LIKE STEPHAN I MEYER?!), a smart guy with good credentials.

It's basic premise is that the DNA molecule is too complicated to have arisen by any origin-of-life model currently employed, and that all sound science can be seen to point to an intelligent Creator as the architect of the cell's complexity and life's capacity for adaptation and progression.

A short background: Until the 19th century (with a few notable exceptions) the majority of the science community tended to support the idea that all nature and especially that of living nature tended to support the inference that some grand and brilliant Designer had created all things and guided their development in order to help them to adapt to their various environments.

The advent of the theory of natural selection changed all this.

While Darwin certainly didn't begin the natural selection movement, in so many ways he has generally come to personify it. His On the Origin of Species is considered a foundational work in the science of natural selection, and if not scientifically at least ecclesiastically seems to stand as the bible of evolutionists. However, lest the faithful tremble, they can rest confident in the knowledge that Darwin's book and the subsequent movement of evolutionary design are not all power/rational/knowledgeable. Darwin himself admitted that his theory did not account for the actual origin of life, but only served to show that once initiated species could adapt to their environment through the process of natural selection that we're all familiar with. He trusted to future science to establish that the beginning of life could in fact have happened without divine intervention.

It hasn't.

This book attacks several of the main theories proposed to justify a naturalistic solution to the origin of life. I've read about the impossibility of chance resulting in life, natural laws predestinating molecules to combine in such a way as to form life, and that RNA molecules came first and prefaced the development of later, more mature DNA molecules. Stephen has various darts that seem to take these fanciful creatures down, but the most prevalent and significant are the absolutely minute chances of random events creating the condition necessary for life (Appx. 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000, or one in a trillion trillion), and the necessity for preexisting information to fill on all the gaps of the inevitable combination theory and RNA first, as well as the sheer complexity of the DNA molecule.

I'm not done with it yet, but I think it's going to go down as one of the most influential books I've ever read, and thus will surely gain my recommendation for you to read it at one time. While complex it is also well written and accessible (as is told by the fact that I, the most unscientific and biology-hating person on the planet can read it), and well worth any time invested.

SO THERE! A POST FROM ME! AND MORE TO FOLLOW!

In the Soup

The long drought is over! I just finished The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, and oh boy was it great.

It was basically the story of Bertie Wooster, a not-very-bright member of the Idle Rich in London society, who has a genius servant named Jeeves who is always getting him out of scrapes. It was published in 1924 and is chock-full of phrases like "old boy" and "in the soup" and "rummy" and "cove." It's very funny and very light, and perfect for mid-semester stress reading. I will probably be reading some more P.G. Wodehouse soon; I was impressed.

Also, you know the website ask.com? Formerly known as askjeeves.com? That Jeeves is the same Jeeves as P.G. Wodehouse's character! Isn't that crazy business!

I don't have much else to say about it, except I think that British humor might be my favorite of them all. I know this is a pathetically short entry; I apologize. I haven't been reading much of anything but textbooks and comic books, but next up I want to check out "Benito Cereno," a short story by Herman Melville.

To Post or not to Post? Or another attempt at titling: If a post falls onto the blog will anyone comment?

I had always wanted to see this movie. I guess cause I was in 8th grade when it came out and wanted to see every movie but never could because I was, well, stuck in 8th grade. Well 11 years later I finally got my chance on a recent trip to Vegas. It was playing on FX right before I was to head for home. I got to watch the whole thing. Though it was really suspenseful and I was alone in the room. Naturally my skin was crawly. At the end I learned it was based on a book. I determined to buy it and read it. I was a little nervous because there was a significant homosexual thread through the movie but I got the book anyway and I'm glad I did. Because the movie's thread turned into a small piece of lint in the book. At the end of the movie Tom Ripley hooks up with a guy (who he then strangles on a boat to Greece for no apparent reason). This never happens in the book. At one point in the book Dickie Greenleaf announces that he's, "Not queer" to Tom Ripley. He says this after walking in on Tom all dressed up in his clothes talking to himself. It is true that the aunt who raised Tom referred to him as a sissy, and that Tom is repulsed by the thought of Marge, the main female character's, underwear laying on his furniture. Tom starts out being obsessed with Dickie and the thought of living with him forever. However, I would argue that this is the beginning of Tom's true obsession. Which is Dickie lifestyle and the freedom, gentlemanly class, and exploratory opportunities it offers. Because as soon as Dickie expresses repulsion and disdain for Tom, Tom kills him. Tom is obsessed with the lifestyle, originally wanting to just be with Dickie in order to achieve it. When this first less malignant option is no longer available he takes the next most logical step. . . Disposing of Dickie by the deft use of an oar, and convenient rope and cement block. He is then free to assume Dickie's identity, and who among us would not do the same! An ugly "walleyed" ginger kid gets in the way and is neatly disposed of as well.
TOLEDO! This book was really, really great! But in a freaky, freaky way. First off I was totally sucked in. I shared Tom's world. This is my favorite thing about books, when they suck you in and you literally share the experiences with the character's. I'll admit I was cheering for Tom the whole time. The killing of Dickie was written in a business like tone, and with Tom you forget that it really happened. It was just an unfortunate necessity. We didn't really want Dickie to die, but he left no other alternative. As a sociopath Mr. Tom Ripley only gets upset when he thinks he might get caught. I sometimes confused this with remorse but then I mentally checked the timing, and he only freaked out when things began to close in around him. I freaked out to! I wanted him to pull it off. But he sails through and I was glad he did. Intense!!

Environmental/Nature Writing Assignment

Here's a paper I just wrote. The assignment was "Sensory Impressions". We had to go out into nature and commune. Eyes closed for 10 minutes. All comments are welcome, except negative ones. Because I really just want to be told how awesome I am.




AJ Bell
Sensory Impressions
WRTG 4080

Quaking Winds

I quietly attempt to find a spot resembling the one in my head, or at least one filling a certain set of requirements. It's cooler today, I'll need sunshine, but not too much, not a complete clearing. Because trees directly overhead are also needed, like front row seats at the symphony. I pass a couple of prospects. I need more than just sunshine: soft ground cover, minimal amount of cattle remnants, mixed with an absolute absence of ants. This one should do, the degree of slope might even improve my comfort. Yes, this will do nicely. The light warms my skin as I settle in, muscles relaxing, molding to the ground. Now I wait, eyes shut. Wait, for the forest's breath to come. . . so it can sing.
The first wave approaches, breaking quietly. Initially it's as though I've just stopped talking, and in this new stillness a distant waterfall joins the conversation. But a water fall would speak in one tone, this sound is building. Steadily it grows, moving closer, louder as more aspen leaves join in. The ringing rustle reaches the leaves directly above, and the light outside my eyelids begins to flash yellow and orange. Then something unexpected, different, new. I've been here before. Sat among the aspens as the wind made them sing. I knew their song. I intentionally came today, to this spot to hear it. But today more of me joins in. Perhaps it's because today I closed my eyes, closed off that sense that others came alive. Today I don't see the trees, their little green leaves dancing in wind and light. I feel them. Today though still I feel movement, as sensation of swirling wind, sound of swaying trees cause my muscles to lightly contract and release in concentric waves across my body.
Before I laid down I wondered how long consciousness would last, how long I could lay peacefully with my eyes closed before sleep took me. The answer never came, only suspicions. Curiously, my eyes opened on their own, I quickly shut them again, but there was a change. I must have slipped away because as another breeze came in the leaves dance, but not the light. I tip my head back to gaze at the sun. It's now smiling back with no trees in its grin. The wind has changed to, not its sound, not its motion, but its attitude. Instead of rocking me in waves, the breeze comes in soft. It hits my face and causes a coolness to spread across my skin. I extend into this touch as into a lover's kiss. It kisses my arm.
That arm later receives another sensation, one potentially less friendly. Not wanting to acknowledge my first reaction, I hold as still as possible just in case it was only the brushing of grass. Unfortunately movement continues. They've found me. I lift up my arm to flick their little black and red bodies off into the void. A couple more flicks, a brush here, there, and I sync back in. I wonder if there are any woodpeckers around, there normally are. As if he heard my thoughts, drumming begins, pause, more hollow drumming. My thoughts deepen, and I fancy that he felt me missing him; drummed out to tell me he did. Have wind and trees, he and I have become one? I smile at my own profoundness and proposed power. But I soon question this. Perhaps my ears dulled by a sinus infection only caught his first drummings enough for me to subconsciously think “woodpecker”. Fully registering “woodpecker” only after his second set began. This doubt couples with the coolness which no longer softly spreads because it has conquered, add to this one of Grandpa's cows deciding to move through the area bellering all the way. Time's up. I send a couple more ants on there way as I get up. Then stalk off, suddenly self-conscious. When did my feet and jeans get so loud?

If We Burn

Oh man oh man oh man oh man.

I have discovered the Holy Grail of Awesome, and it is the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay. Which I finished early this morning.

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. I want everyone who reads this book to go into it completely fresh and unsullied, with only their own biases/expectations in tow. I will only leave you with my opinions of this 390-page tome of greatness.

To help you fully understand how much I loved this book, I will say this: I had a big, big day today. I had to pack all of my things and move up to my new apartment in Logan, plus at one I had a telephone interview for a Disney College internship, which I desperately want to get. Today was a day that needed a good night's rest preceding it.

However, after acquiring the book and arriving home at 1:30 a.m., I couldn't stop reading. I literally could not stop. Until I finished it at around 6 a.m.

Needless to say, today has been a blur of zombie-packing and fake cheeriness. All because of Mockingjay.

My theory for why I could not stop reading is that Collins' writing pulls you into her sparse, horrifying world and makes you feel like you have to be there. I couldn't put the book down because it would have felt like I was abandoning a friend.

On a final note, I had a nightmare about lizards last night.

READ THIS BOOK AND THEN CALL ME SO WE CAN GEEK OUT.

Le Petit Prince

One of my most favoritest books growing up was The Little Prince. It is a short story written by Antoine de Saint Exupéry. Originally the book was written in French, but there are several really good translations. I found my old copy of it laying around the other day and read it in about an hour. I forgot how much I loved it. 


The plot is basically that of a small prince that lives on an asteroid and is visiting Earth where he runs into a pilot that has broken down in the dessert. The pilot then proceeds to discover the wonderful adventures the prince has recently been on traveling around space. It is a very simple book fraught with complicated meaning if you care to look into it, which you don't have to if you don't want to bother.


Turns out there is a bunch of movie adaptations of the short story the most prominent of which involves Gene Wilder playing the role of a fox....I have been terrified of Gene Wilder ever since I saw Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (His creepy eyes mixed with his unreal intensity I think. It's just chocolate man--Lighten up!) Needless to say the man finds a way, in my opinion, of making everything he is involved in creepy. I will prove it. 


First read the quote from the book below:

(The little prince has just finished taming a wild fox and has to leave it in the wild to continue on his adventure) --The little prince went away, to look again at the roses. "You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made a friend, and now he is unique in all the world." And the roses were very much embarrassed. "You are beautiful, but you are empty,"...... 
And he went back to meet the fox. "Goodbye" he said.
"Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."....
"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.
"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."--

Now, watch the clip from the movie of it on YouTube. I predict you have first found the quote to be pretty great and will now find the same sentiment to be a bit disturbing after watching the clip.

Dear Kenny,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

-from everyone here at the book blog :D

Something new...

This picture seems appropriate concerning this post.

I'm gonna do something on this blog I've never done before: post about a book Kelsi recommended to me that I actually liked! Shocking, I know. But one must be varied and unpredictable lest one fall into the boring pit of monotony and languish there forever. So anyway, let's get talkin' 'bout The Hunger Games!

So I'm sure if you're acquainted with Kelsi you've heard at least a passing description of this book, but I'll let you have the benefit of the doubt and give you the rundown. So it's the future, right? And it's set in this place that once was a magical world called North America, see? And human civilization is split up into twelve districts scattered throughout the country and a capital city that has dominion over all the districts, okay? And years ago there used to be thirteen districts but when all the districts rose up against the Capital, District 13 was obliterated, comprende? And now every year, to remind themselves how pathetic they are and to dissuade them from ever rebelling again, each district has to give up one boy and one girl below the age of 18 to fight to the death in gladiator style games that the whole country will watch, you know? And the winner will have untold fame and fortune, but the twenty-three losers will have death. And that's the setup.

The story follows Katniss, a girl from District 12 who is desperately trying to make ends meet for her family of three (herself, her sister, and her mama) by hunting and trading. But her world is turned upside down when she is randomly chosen to compete in the games. And so Katniss The Hunter Of Squirrels And Other Small Rodents must become Katniss The Killer And Stabber Of Teenage Boys And Girls. And it is awesome indeed when she does.

I loved this book so hardcore. Action is one of the hardest things to do and do well in literature (I refer to bazillions of sci-fi books that fail miserably) and yet this book had me white-knuckled through all of its intense sequences. There's a rather awesome part when the Games first begin that's quite shocking and intense, but I won't spoil it. And kudos to Suzanne Collins for not pulling any punches. She makes a story about teens and tweens killing each other be as brutal and harrowing as it sounds. There's no sissy "maybe everyone can survive and be best friends forever" endings in this book. Only killing, killing, and then some more killing! Of course, if the book was straight action it would get rather tedious no matter how well written it was, and so it's just as well that the parts that take place outside the Games are engrossing. Ms. (Mrs.?) Collins has created a very intriguing world that I'd like to explore more and has filled it with characters that actually seem real and relatable. The dialogue never seems cheesy or hackneyed like it does so many other young adult novels. And let's talk about comedy! There's nothing funnier than teenagers killing each other in brutal and gut wrenching ways, amiright? And that previous sentence just put me on every 'Most Wanted' list in the country.

Obviously I can't say enough good things about this book, so I'll stop right there. Oh, except this: whoever you are, read this book immediately so we can talk about it and get to work on writing our fan fiction together. And if you read this book and you don't like it... I don't want to know you.

A Strange Journey, in scarlet

After my prolonged read of For Whom the Bell Tolls I launched into my complete collection of Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1 starting at the beginning with numero uno A Study in Scarlet.
Again great, it began as a narration by Watson and as it is the first book told how Watson and Holmes became rommies. What is so strange about this story and why the members of a book blog comprised of mostly Mormons should read it is that Part II begins in the Western United States Desert!! Two weary travellers settle down in the shade of a boulder to die, but before they can launch into their death throws, and to the chagrin of awaiting vultures, they are rescued by the Brigham Young and the Mormons on their way to the promised land. At first Sir Arthur presents quite a favorable image of the Mormons. This however, is short lived as they become corrupted by total control in their new home. He even goes as far as to say that the Spanish Inquisition had nothin on the LDSers in Utah. My endnotes told me that while on a U.S. speaking tour he apologized to the Mormons while in Salt Lake for misrepresenting them. But what I find fascinating is this late 19th century fascination authors had with the Mormons. Jules Verne gave them a chapter in his book Around the World in 80 days. And here we have half of the first ever Sherlock Holmes book being set in Utah with the Mormons. I just never knew we were so that interesting to the world stage, my what peculiarity will do for you.
Now I'm blogginly up to date. I have begun my first ever biography, General Patton, a soldier's life. Coincidentally it's by the same guy that wrote Lion of the Lord, about Brigham Young. All of his other works are about military men, I'm not sure of the resemblance. . .

A Beautiful Journey

It all started with a pen. A Monte Blanc Fountain pen to be exact. This exact pen, made in honor of Ingrid Bergman. This pen sent me to wikipediea to see who this lovely dame Ingrid is. From there I learned that Ernest Hemingway desired most that she play the part of Maria in the movie For Whom the Bell Tolls. If my fellow book bloggers will recall I posted a question about who is Ernest and why is he significant. You were all very helpful. I then asked each of you which of his books I should read. Ken replied don't go near The Old Man and the Sea, Kelsen said The Sun Also Rises was great but didn't recommend it. However, it was Luke that pulled through with a reasonable response, said he simply, "Read For Whom the Bell Tolls, it's great." So I bought it and began reading it clear back in May. I LOVED this book!!! And I have our blog to thank for it. You all explained Ernest's style of writing to me and gave specific examples of how he used short declarative sentances which though short convey a ton of back story. I kept calling to mind Kelsen's example, "Baby shoes for sale, never been used". Knowing this I got so much more out of the book then I otherwise would have. It took me forever to read it but that was because I went over the lines very closely to make sure I got everything and then imagined the back story of the characters. Plus the imagery is so beautiful, book me a trip for Spain. But I still don't understand how he does it. How he creates such a beautiful picture because he doesn't blurt it out, it's underlying. After finishing the book I watched part of the movie Windtakers. I only watched part because it made the scenes I had just read in the book too vivid and painful. Finally I loved how he presented views of Spain and it's people from the view of a loving outsider and citizens view of other citizens. A long journey yes but very worth it!!

Hometown Book Hero

So you FAT participants now know Shannon. Well Her mother has been working for some time on a book quilt to raise money for the Coalville Library. She's been sending quilt squares to authors explaining what she's doing and they sign it and sometimes send a signed copy of their books back. As this is a book blog with ties to Coalville I had to put it up on our blog. She has a website http://www.joslibraryquilt.com/
Which we should all visit.

Blinded By Science

{pictured: science being awesome}

I know what you are saying right now, "Well golly, it sure has been a long time since Kelsi has posted anything." That is what you were saying RIGHT GUYS because I know all you ever do is sit at the computer and wait for me to post on the book blog.

Well today is your lucky day! Because whilst on break at work, I conquered my latest volume of knowledge: The Prism and the Pendulum by Robert P. Crease.

This particular reading was a break in form for me: a nonfiction book that basically listed and described the ten "most beautiful" experiments in science, plus some reasoning and argument for why they could be considered beautiful. Among the experiments listed: Eratosthenes' measurement of the earth's circumference, Foucalt's pendulum, and Millikan's oil-drop (are any of these familiar to you folks? Because none were familiar to me before I read this book. I ain't no science nerd.) Between every chapter describing and analyzing each experiment, there was a chapter that discussed beauty, perception, artistry, and other such topics.

I won't attempt to deceive you: there were parts of this book that bored me. But that is only because I have a very limited understanding and interest in the scientific discipline. What kept me going was Crease's obvious passion on the subject. You could just tell by reading The Prism and the Pendulum that he has this big crush on physics, and it's super cute. In all seriousness, though, I find it fascinating to listen to people discuss and explain the things they love. It can keep me interested in even the most inaccessible subjects.

My favorite experiment to read about was Newton's leaning tower experiment. OKAY THAT'S A LIE I really just wanted to reference Isaac Newton so I could link this comic, because what would this blog post be without a link to my favorite webcomic? NOTHING. It would be NOTHING.

Next up I am going to try to finish Reconstructing America but trust me, it's taking forever. Probably because I finally acquired my own copy of The Hunger Games and now I spend all of my spare time re-reading that marvelous tome.