I wouldn't have met Piti if it hadn't been for a chichigua. To translate chichigua as a kite does not do justice to these beautiful creations of...
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With "11/22/63," Stephen King has returned to the form that gave us "It" and "The Stand." It's a sprawling tale that ranges across the country and back in time to the early 1960s, where/when the protagonist has gone to try to prevent the assassination of President Kennedy. The book is well plotted and paced, the characters have their quirks, and the details - from the descriptions of Lee harvey Oswald's apartment to what it's like to drive a 1959 Chevy - are authentic. A great read that I couldn't put down.
"Nature's Blueprint" provides a basic primer to the theory of supersymmetry, in language understandable by the general public, without a lot of mathematical formulas. The author, a particle physicist himself, builds the historical record so that theories and discoveries are seen in context and make more sense. Nor does he shy away from the mistakes and dead ends that have marked our efforts to understand the nature of the atom. His portrayal of an inexorable march toward a "grand unified theory" is somewhat flawed, especially by his insistance that "by now, the Higgs boson will probably have been found." The last section, a game in which the reader makes choices about announcing discoveries, is amusing but unnecessary.
A very interesting little book. Although the author claims it was Henry Clay that saved the union, in his final chapter he gives as much credit to Stephen Douglas for getting all of Clay's proposals passed. The text brings alive the very different style of oratory and the nature of debate in Congress, but the book would have benefitted from a little more analysis.
"The Age of Anxiety" is devoted almost entirely to McCarthyism, ground that has been covered very well in other books. Only at the end does the author attempt to make the comparison between McCarthyism and the tactics of George Bush, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft and the other members of the Bush administration - along with Karl Rove. While there are definite similarities between McCarthy's persecution of "Communists" and the Bush administration's targeting of Muslims, by the author's own admission the comparison isn't really valid. This felt like a book written more in anger, especially given the high quality of some of his other work.
This is a fascinating story about languages and the relationship of what is said to how the world is seen. Although the title is somewhat misleading (outsiders can't save an endangered language like an endangered species), the author provides many examples of why these languages are important. Language and culture are intertwined, and the loss of one, however small, diminishes us all.
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11/22/63 by Stephen King
sgerritson, January 3, 2012
With "11/22/63," Stephen King has returned to the form that gave us "It" and "The Stand." It's a sprawling tale that ranges across the country and back in time to the early 1960s, where/when the protagonist has gone to try to prevent the assassination of President Kennedy. The book is well plotted and paced, the characters have their quirks, and the details - from the descriptions of Lee harvey Oswald's apartment to what it's like to drive a 1959 Chevy - are authentic. A great read that I couldn't put down.Nature's Blueprint: Supersymmetry and the Search for a Unified Theory of Matter and Force by Dan Hooper
sgerritson, September 1, 2011
"Nature's Blueprint" provides a basic primer to the theory of supersymmetry, in language understandable by the general public, without a lot of mathematical formulas. The author, a particle physicist himself, builds the historical record so that theories and discoveries are seen in context and make more sense. Nor does he shy away from the mistakes and dead ends that have marked our efforts to understand the nature of the atom. His portrayal of an inexorable march toward a "grand unified theory" is somewhat flawed, especially by his insistance that "by now, the Higgs boson will probably have been found." The last section, a game in which the reader makes choices about announcing discoveries, is amusing but unnecessary.At the Edge of the Precipice: Henry Clay and the Compromise That Saved the Union by Robert V Remini
sgerritson, September 1, 2011
A very interesting little book. Although the author claims it was Henry Clay that saved the union, in his final chapter he gives as much credit to Stephen Douglas for getting all of Clay's proposals passed. The text brings alive the very different style of oratory and the nature of debate in Congress, but the book would have benefitted from a little more analysis.The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism by Haynes Johnson
sgerritson, July 26, 2011
"The Age of Anxiety" is devoted almost entirely to McCarthyism, ground that has been covered very well in other books. Only at the end does the author attempt to make the comparison between McCarthyism and the tactics of George Bush, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft and the other members of the Bush administration - along with Karl Rove. While there are definite similarities between McCarthy's persecution of "Communists" and the Bush administration's targeting of Muslims, by the author's own admission the comparison isn't really valid. This felt like a book written more in anger, especially given the high quality of some of his other work.The Last Speakers: The Quest to Save the World's Most Endangered Languages by K David Harrison
sgerritson, July 11, 2011
This is a fascinating story about languages and the relationship of what is said to how the world is seen. Although the title is somewhat misleading (outsiders can't save an endangered language like an endangered species), the author provides many examples of why these languages are important. Language and culture are intertwined, and the loss of one, however small, diminishes us all.1-5 of 6next