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Post by urbino on Jul 10, 2021 1:01:56 GMT -5
Recently finished Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobeso Du Mez. Recommended. Almost finished Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton. Recommended. Next up is The Spy and the Traitor by Ben McIntyre. We'll see. I haven't read much fiction lately and need to rectify that situation. I've read that McIntyre. Found it pretty meh. Hopefully you'll enjoy it more.
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Post by terrapinflyer on Jul 10, 2021 5:07:23 GMT -5
Recently finished Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobeso Du Mez. Recommended. Almost finished Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton. Recommended. Next up is The Spy and the Traitor by Ben McIntyre. We'll see. I haven't read much fiction lately and need to rectify that situation. I've read that McIntyre. Found it pretty meh. Hopefully you'll enjoy it more. Thanks. It's a recommendation from my Mom, so I'll read it. I'm pretty sure I've read at least one of his before.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jul 13, 2021 21:06:28 GMT -5
The Complete Story OF THE Galveston Horror. Written by the Survivors. Incidents of the awful Tornado, Flood and Cyclone Disaster; Personal Experiences of Survivors; Horrible Looting of Dead Bodies and the Robbing of Empty Homes; Pestilence from so many Decaying Bodies Unburied; Barge Captains Compelled by Armed Men to Tow Dead Bodies to Sea; Millions of Dollars raised to aid the Suffering Survivors; President McKinley Orders Army Rations and Army Tents issued to Survivors and orders U. S. Troops to protect the People and Property; Tales of the Survivors from Galveston; Adrift all Night on Rafts; Acts of Valor; United States Soldiers Drowned; Great Heroism; Great Vandalism; Great Horror; A Second Johnstown Flood, but worse: Hundreds of Men, Women and Children Drowned; No way of Escape, only Death! Death! Everywhere! Edited by John Coulter, Formerly of the N. Y. Herald.
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Post by fadingdaylight on Jul 13, 2021 21:09:21 GMT -5
Still working my way back through The Hobbit audiobook. The narrator is great. And my lazy self can just lay there with my eyes closed and visualize everything.
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Post by jeffd on Jul 14, 2021 14:48:02 GMT -5
The Great Leveler by Walter Scheidel, about the history of economic inequality in the world since ancient times and how only "mass-mobilization warfare, transformative revolutions, state collapse, and catastrophic plagues" do much about it. And Exact Thinking in Demented Times by Karl Sigmund, about the Vienna Circle and the philosophical quest for the foundations of math and science.
Don't worry. For dessert I am reading Batman: Last Knight on Earth, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.
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Post by toshtego on Jul 14, 2021 20:59:04 GMT -5
I-Ching, Book of Changes translation from the Chinese by Richard Wilhelm and into English by Cary Baynes. 1950.
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Post by urbino on Jul 14, 2021 21:23:31 GMT -5
I-Ching, Book of Changes translation from the Chinese by Richard Wilhelm and into English by Cary Baynes. 1950. Makes me think of my brief flirtation with baguazhang.
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Post by toshtego on Jul 15, 2021 12:57:48 GMT -5
Dominion by C.J. Sansom. Churchill never became PM of the UK. Lord Halifax did rise to PM and sold out the allies by surrendering to the Nazis in 1940 following the fall of France. This novel is set in the early 1950s and considers what might have been had Halifax and Chamberlin been allowed to betray their nation. We forget just how close to real this was.
Sansom, is the author of the "Matthew Shardlake" series of detective novels set in Tudor Times. His prior novel is also a WWII era work. This one set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.
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Post by terrapinflyer on Jul 15, 2021 15:15:16 GMT -5
I-Ching, Book of Changes translation from the Chinese by Richard Wilhelm and into English by Cary Baynes. 1950. Makes me think of my brief flirtation with baguazhang. I hope you got some ointment.
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Post by terrapinflyer on Jul 15, 2021 15:16:31 GMT -5
Dominion by C.J. Sansom. Churchill never became PM of the UK. Lord Halifax did rise to PM and sold out the allies by surrendering to the Nazis in 1940 following the fall of France. This novel is set in the early 1950s and considers what might have been had Halifax and Chamberlin been allowed to betray their nation. We forget just how close to real this was. Sansom, is the author of the "Matthew Shardlake" series of detective novels set in Tudor Times. His prior novel is also a WWII era work. This one set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. I've read several of the Shardlake books, but nothing more modern. It sounds interesting.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jul 15, 2021 21:23:39 GMT -5
I finished Dracula today. I hate that I waited until I was 70 to read it. So much better than the hundreds of movies.
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Post by fadingdaylight on Jul 15, 2021 21:38:06 GMT -5
I finished Dracula today. I hate that I waited until I was 70 to read it. So much better than the hundreds of movies. Absolutely. I actually read it when I was 15, but I listened to the unabridged audio book at 11,12 and 13. Never found a film version that really met my expectations.
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Post by username on Jul 15, 2021 21:50:14 GMT -5
I finished Dracula today. I hate that I waited until I was 70 to read it. So much better than the hundreds of movies. Absolutely. I actually read it when I was 15, but I listened to the unabridged audio book at 11,12 and 13. Never found a film version that really met my expectations. I’m partial the 90s adaptation directed by Francis Ford Coppola “Bram Stokers Dracula”.
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Post by fadingdaylight on Jul 15, 2021 21:54:16 GMT -5
Absolutely. I actually read it when I was 15, but I listened to the unabridged audio book at 11,12 and 13. Never found a film version that really met my expectations. I’m partial the 90s adaptation directed by Francis Ford Coppola “Bram Stokers Dracula”. This was the Keanu Reeves/Gary Oldman version right? I agree, that was the best film version.
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Post by username on Jul 15, 2021 21:55:18 GMT -5
I’m partial the 90s adaptation directed by Francis Ford Coppola “Bram Stokers Dracula”. This was the Keanu Reeves/Gary Oldman version right? I agree, that was the best film version. that’s the one.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jul 15, 2021 22:14:10 GMT -5
Probably the best, but not even close to the book.
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Post by urbino on Jul 15, 2021 22:21:38 GMT -5
Probably the best, but not even close to the book. And yet closer than all the others. At least it's semi-epistolary.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jul 16, 2021 14:28:01 GMT -5
I have just re-watched Bram Stokers Dracula and read the original stage play. The movie is much closer to the play than the book. It actually includes parts of each, and other scenes and dialog created from whole cloth. Mina's relationship to the Count is completely different than what is in the book. Winona Rider is terribly miss-cast as Mina. I think that there has never been a movie made from the book, and there is an opportunity for one to be made in the future.
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Post by fadingdaylight on Jul 16, 2021 18:20:30 GMT -5
I have just re-watched Bram Stokers Dracula and read the original stage play. The movie is much closer to the play than the book. It actually includes parts of each, and other scenes and dialog created from whole cloth. Mina's relationship to the Count is completely different than what is in the book. Winona Rider is terribly miss-cast as Mina. I think that there has never been a movie made from the book, and there is an opportunity for one to be made in the future. That's fair. I would love to see someone bring it life as it was written, but I'm afraid that creative license being what it is, all we will ever see are adaptations. One of the giants could do it as a miniseries to allow adequate time to tell the whole story though.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jul 16, 2021 20:54:52 GMT -5
I have just re-watched Bram Stokers Dracula and read the original stage play. The movie is much closer to the play than the book. It actually includes parts of each, and other scenes and dialog created from whole cloth. Mina's relationship to the Count is completely different than what is in the book. Winona Rider is terribly miss-cast as Mina. I think that there has never been a movie made from the book, and there is an opportunity for one to be made in the future. That's fair. I would love to see someone bring it life as it was written, but I'm afraid that creative license being what it is, all we will ever see are adaptations. One of the giants could do it as a miniseries to allow adequate time to tell the whole story though. I think 5 parts/hours would do it.
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Post by darktater on Jul 21, 2021 17:28:15 GMT -5
just started Michael Crichton's 'Eaters of the Dead', which one of my favorite movies 'The 13th Warrior' was based on. Interesting read so far.
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Post by toshtego on Jul 21, 2021 23:41:11 GMT -5
I finished Dracula today. I hate that I waited until I was 70 to read it. So much better than the hundreds of movies. Absolutely. I actually read it when I was 15, but I listened to the unabridged audio book at 11,12 and 13. Never found a film version that really met my expectations. That is about when I read it, age 15. A welcome diversion from Hobbit lore which was all the rage back then. Agree the book is better than the movies.
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Post by urbino on Jul 22, 2021 1:37:42 GMT -5
Alexander Mikaberidze, The Napoleonic Wars
Dunno if I'll get through this one. Military history generally doesn't interest me. I'm interested in the consequences for people, but the tactics, weapons, etc., it's like reading a catalog of recipes or something. But various other things have piqued my interest in the Napoleonic Wars, and this is supposed to be a good history of them, so I'm giving it a try.
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Post by terrapinflyer on Jul 22, 2021 5:34:17 GMT -5
Rabbits by Terry Miles became available in my library holds overnight and I will start it soon.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jul 22, 2021 9:38:41 GMT -5
Listening to Zane Grey book Desert Crucible. It's the original, uncut/censored text of The Rainbow Trail, the sequel to the Riders of the Purple Sage. It's noticeably better with more depth than most of his books. Better character development than the censored version.
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Post by toshtego on Jul 22, 2021 9:53:17 GMT -5
Listening to Zane Grey book Desert Crucible. It's the original, uncut/censored text of The Rainbow Trail, the sequel to the Riders of the Purple Sage. It's noticeably better with more depth than most of his books. Better character development than the censored version. I would like to read that one. I read ZG as a yooot long ago. Perhaps this is a more mature novel for mature readers?
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Post by Ronv69 on Jul 22, 2021 10:01:08 GMT -5
Listening to Zane Grey book Desert Crucible. It's the original, uncut/censored text of The Rainbow Trail, the sequel to the Riders of the Purple Sage. It's noticeably better with more depth than most of his books. Better character development than the censored version. I would like to read that one. I read ZG as a yooot long ago. Perhaps this is a more mature novel for mature readers? The reason for the original being banned is that it was considered too prejudiced against Mormons. It was a hundred years ago and things were different. Everyone was very prejudiced against everyone back then. You didn't want to be different, or an Indian. Things seemed better until the news told me that they were worse.
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Post by sperrytops on Jul 22, 2021 10:55:00 GMT -5
The Great Leveler by Walter Scheidel, about the history of economic inequality in the world since ancient times and how only "mass-mobilization warfare, transformative revolutions, state collapse, and catastrophic plagues" do much about it. And Exact Thinking in Demented Times by Karl Sigmund, about the Vienna Circle and the philosophical quest for the foundations of math and science. Don't worry. For dessert I am reading Batman: Last Knight on Earth, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Empires are brought to an end as much by natural catastrophe as they are by mismanagement. If one is looking for a parallel to what we face today with climate change and global warming, just take a look at how the Bronze Age ended.
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Post by Ronv69 on Jul 22, 2021 11:05:32 GMT -5
The Great Leveler by Walter Scheidel, about the history of economic inequality in the world since ancient times and how only "mass-mobilization warfare, transformative revolutions, state collapse, and catastrophic plagues" do much about it. And Exact Thinking in Demented Times by Karl Sigmund, about the Vienna Circle and the philosophical quest for the foundations of math and science. Don't worry. For dessert I am reading Batman: Last Knight on Earth, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Empires are brought to an end as much by natural catastrophe as they are by mismanagement. If one is looking for a parallel to what we face today with climate change and global warming, just take a look at how the Bronze Age ended. I thought the bronze age ended with the iron age. 🤔
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Post by jeffd on Jul 22, 2021 12:49:43 GMT -5
This was the Keanu Reeves/Gary Oldman version right? I agree, that was the best film version. that’s the one. I did not like the enveloping love story. It seemed to me insufficient an explanation for the legend. There was a much better movie. Or equally good and worth seeing. If memory serves. (I have slept since then.) The 1979 version, Dracula, staring Frank Langella and Laurence Olivier. Not as good as the book, but what is? Certainly the mood of the piece and the depiction of Dracula were right on the mark. I like a seemingly invincible Dracula. Perhaps a slave to the spiritual and physical limitations of a vampire, (and needing blood to survive quite a limitation), maybe lonely and not emotionally invulnerable, but certainly not cowed by the love a woman. Certainly more depth than Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee, but still a monster of the first rank.
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