It seems that Amazon.com can now officially read my mind, as it pops up uncannily accurate book suggestions for me whenever I visit the site. I was really surprised to see this title staring back at me tonight when I was looking up a book. I originally bought Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy back in the… Continue reading Return To Gormenghast?
Category: Books
Goodbye Borders
It’s sad to see that the downtown Borders bookstore here in Louisville is closing, having fallen victim to the bankruptcy of the parent company. I’ve previously written about the shrinkage of bookstores, but the end appears to be coming sooner than I expected. Of course the root causes are easy to identify: alternative forms of… Continue reading Goodbye Borders
PC or Not PC, That is the Question
I read today about the upcoming release of a sanitized version of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn in which the “N-word,” as it is known in the media, is replaced by the word “Slave.” So, instead of “Nigger Jim,” there will be, presumably “Slave Jim.” Never mind that Mark Twain makes Jim the hero of the… Continue reading PC or Not PC, That is the Question
What's Happened To The Bookstores?
If you are a bookstore aficionado you can’t have avoided noticing how they have deteriorated over the last ten years. Fewer books, less variety, more open spaces and chairs, fewer people, most of whom are there to drink coffee and work on their laptops using free Wifi connections — it’s hard to pin it down… Continue reading What's Happened To The Bookstores?
Philip Jose Farmer
One of my favorites authors, Philip Jose Farmer, passed away this past February, at age 91. I still remember back to the 1960s sitting in the car after going out shopping with my parents in Jenkintown, PA, reading the first chapter of the first World of Tiers books, The Maker of Universes, in a green-covered… Continue reading Philip Jose Farmer
The Reavers by George MacDonald Fraser
As noted in an earlier post, this was George MacDonald Fraser’s last book. Â Fraser is best known for the wonderful Flashman novels, recounting the adventures of Victorian era swag Harry Flashman, who was, certainly not by his bidding, involved in nearly every conflict of the 19th century. Besides the Flashman novels, Fraser wrote several other… Continue reading The Reavers by George MacDonald Fraser
Alas, No More Excerpts From The Flashman Papers (?)
A continuous joy in my life since the early 1970s has been my anticipation of the next installment of the memoirs of that Victorian cad Harry Flashman, as related by George MacDonald Fraser. If you have read any of the Flashman books, you probably know exactly what I mean. If you haven’t read them, then… Continue reading Alas, No More Excerpts From The Flashman Papers (?)
Visit to the Edgar Rice Burroughs Collection in Louisville
Since moving to Louisville, Kentucky I have always wanted to visit the Edgar Rice Burroughs collection at the Ekstrom LIbrary on the campus of the University of Louisville. As my daughter Allison is a student there, and as I had a week off, we went together a couple of weeks ago. The collection is maintained… Continue reading Visit to the Edgar Rice Burroughs Collection in Louisville
GTD Next Action: Implement GTD
Among my reading material while in Nice, France for the biannual Cardiostim meeting was David Allen’s Book, Getting Things Done. Somehow I had stumbled across the concept of GTD during random web surfing and I picked up the book just before my trip. During the French trip I took a high-tech holiday, leaving my laptop… Continue reading GTD Next Action: Implement GTD
"Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis
I just finished reading “Mere Christianity†by C.S. Lewis. While initially reading it, I felt quite disappointed in Lewis’ tortured logic, twisted metaphors, and simplistic deductions. There is really a spectacular dearth of reason. He dismisses virtually all but Christian belief (except non-Christian belief systems which share similarities with Christianity), and makes sweeping generalizations supported… Continue reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis