Without knowing it, I'd always had two unspoken arrangements with the world. The first was that I would not trouble it with unpleasant conversation...
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The author, Greg Mortenson, nearly reached the summit of K2, one of the world's most dangerous and imposing mountains. After descending he nearly lost his life. But compared to his work building schools and friendships in the far reaches of Pakistan and Afghanistan before and after 9/11. In many of these regions Americans were much hated yet Mortenson repeatedly assumed great personal risk, and much deprivation, in order to continue building schools.
It may be that someday Mortenson will appear on the list of Nobel Prize winners. His work does far more to promote peace and understanding than anything our government, or any government, has been willing or able to do.
This is a fine book. Buy it, read it, and pass it on.
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(2 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
This book is nearly 40 years old but if you need to learn how a camera works, how it handles light, and how the settings work together to create an image then this is a top-notch choice.
Of course it has nothing about digital cameras. Instead it talks about the fine mechanical cameras of the late 1960's and nothing about any of this has changed other than the complexity and convenience of computerization that overlays these old fundamentals. If you understand the fundamentals, and you can learn them from this book, then you will better be able to use your modern digital camera.
In Huckleberry Finn we see Huck's dad mentioned here and there, and never in a good light. What sort of person was Pap Finn? Jon Clinch, the author of Finn: A Novel tells us his vision of Huck's father, and it's not a bright picture.
Clinch weaves the story of Pap Finn so that it meshes with the storyline of Twain's novel, and he does a beautiful job. This could be seen as a gimmick if Clinch hadn't done such a compelling job.
This is an excellent book about how mankind stepped from a relatively innocent past into an intriguing yet frightening future with the discovery of the power of the atom. By reading this book you'll have knowledge of many of the basic concepts of the atomic age and of the people who brought it about. Highly recommended.
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(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
This is a good book about a fascinating and most unusual tribe, the Piraha of the Amazon basin. It seems that their language is unrelated to any other and that their world view, which is tied up with their language, is nearly entirely in the present moment.
The author begins as a Christian missionary setting out to gently convert the Piraha to his view of the world. Yet, without trying, the Piraha convert him. The author remarks that he was led to question his and his friends' levels of happiness relative to the happiness of the Piraha and found that the Piraha were the happiest people he'd ever known.
Partway through the book there's a lengthy exposition on linguistics that I found to be difficult and, in the end, not necessary to my personal enjoyment of the book. I do recommend this book.
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(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
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Mentalfloss1 has commented on (12) products.
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Mentalfloss1, July 1, 2009
The author, Greg Mortenson, nearly reached the summit of K2, one of the world's most dangerous and imposing mountains. After descending he nearly lost his life. But compared to his work building schools and friendships in the far reaches of Pakistan and Afghanistan before and after 9/11. In many of these regions Americans were much hated yet Mortenson repeatedly assumed great personal risk, and much deprivation, in order to continue building schools.It may be that someday Mortenson will appear on the list of Nobel Prize winners. His work does far more to promote peace and understanding than anything our government, or any government, has been willing or able to do.
This is a fine book. Buy it, read it, and pass it on.
(2 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
Life Library of Photography the Camera by Time Life Books
Mentalfloss1, April 13, 2009
This book is nearly 40 years old but if you need to learn how a camera works, how it handles light, and how the settings work together to create an image then this is a top-notch choice.Of course it has nothing about digital cameras. Instead it talks about the fine mechanical cameras of the late 1960's and nothing about any of this has changed other than the complexity and convenience of computerization that overlays these old fundamentals. If you understand the fundamentals, and you can learn them from this book, then you will better be able to use your modern digital camera.
Finn: A Novel by Jon Clinch
Mentalfloss1, March 25, 2009
In Huckleberry Finn we see Huck's dad mentioned here and there, and never in a good light. What sort of person was Pap Finn? Jon Clinch, the author of Finn: A Novel tells us his vision of Huck's father, and it's not a bright picture.Clinch weaves the story of Pap Finn so that it meshes with the storyline of Twain's novel, and he does a beautiful job. This could be seen as a gimmick if Clinch hadn't done such a compelling job.
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
Mentalfloss1, March 20, 2009
This is an excellent book about how mankind stepped from a relatively innocent past into an intriguing yet frightening future with the discovery of the power of the atom. By reading this book you'll have knowledge of many of the basic concepts of the atomic age and of the people who brought it about. Highly recommended.(2 of 4 readers found this comment helpful)
Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle by Daniel L. Everett
Mentalfloss1, March 11, 2009
This is a good book about a fascinating and most unusual tribe, the Piraha of the Amazon basin. It seems that their language is unrelated to any other and that their world view, which is tied up with their language, is nearly entirely in the present moment.The author begins as a Christian missionary setting out to gently convert the Piraha to his view of the world. Yet, without trying, the Piraha convert him. The author remarks that he was led to question his and his friends' levels of happiness relative to the happiness of the Piraha and found that the Piraha were the happiest people he'd ever known.
Partway through the book there's a lengthy exposition on linguistics that I found to be difficult and, in the end, not necessary to my personal enjoyment of the book. I do recommend this book.
(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
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