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August 14
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Matthew
gave
 
to:
Metamorphoses: A New Translation by Charles Martin (Paperback)
by Publius Ovidius Naso
bookshelves:
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my rating:
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Matthew said:
"The translation flows really well, but after Books 1&2 I'm afraid I started to lose interest. I might have to skip over some of the more superfluous myths in the middle so that I can get to some of the Homeric stuff. After awhile Jove's rapes &...more
The translation flows really well, but after Books 1&2 I'm afraid I started to lose interest. I might have to skip over some of the more superfluous myths in the middle so that I can get to some of the Homeric stuff. After awhile Jove's rapes & Juno's punishing of his victims is just not that interesting anymore, and stories about the origins of different flowers and trees and natural phenomena aren't very exciting....less
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Matthew
gave
to:
Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson (Paperback)
by Jennifer Michael Hecht
bookshelves:
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my rating:
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Matthew said:
"A great, dense, deeply researched, passionate book on the history of religious doubt.
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Matthew
gave
to:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Paperback)
by Mark Twain
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my rating:
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Matthew said:
"7/9:
I can't believe I've read Tom Sawyer a half dozen times but never read this book before. Guess I was saving it. Stacey and I are reading it aloud together. You should hear me trying to do Jim's dialect - it's abominable. Anyway, it...more
7/9:
I can't believe I've read Tom Sawyer a half dozen times but never read this book before. Guess I was saving it. Stacey and I are reading it aloud together. You should hear me trying to do Jim's dialect - it's abominable. Anyway, it's a much more purely pleasurable read than most of the denser stuff I've been reading recently. I love Mark Twain's personality and the easy intelligence of his writing....less
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Matthew
gave
to:
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World (Paperback)
by Paul Stamets
bookshelves:
constantly-reading-intermittently
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my rating:
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Matthew said:
"This book is sweet. I love the fact that oyster mushrooms can break down diesel fuel and sarin nerve gas. It's amazing to read about all the ways in which mushrooms can help to improve our lives and the lives of all the other inhabitants of the pla...more
This book is sweet. I love the fact that oyster mushrooms can break down diesel fuel and sarin nerve gas. It's amazing to read about all the ways in which mushrooms can help to improve our lives and the lives of all the other inhabitants of the planet. Stamets provides a massive amount of information and outlines some real strategies for anyone who wants to participate in the mycorevolution. Count me in....less
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July 09
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Matthew
gave
to:
Selected Writings: Sir Thomas Browne (Paperback)
by Thomas Browne
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read in June, 2008
Matthew said:
"Thomas Browne is complex. I don't agree with him on almost anything, but I'm fascinated by his work. With both Borges and Sebald referencing Urn Burial, I had to read it eventually, and I'm pleased that I've done so. A little passage at the...more
Thomas Browne is complex. I don't agree with him on almost anything, but I'm fascinated by his work. With both Borges and Sebald referencing Urn Burial, I had to read it eventually, and I'm pleased that I've done so. A little passage at the end of it gave me an idea for a story.
I contacted the editor of this book, Dr. Claire Preston, to ask her a question about the text, and she was extremely helpful. Her selection is idiosyncratic and seemingly pretty arbitrary, but Browne's work is so varied that I don't know what else anyone could expect. I don't know why the full text of The Gaden of Cyrus isn't included, since it and Urn Burial are almost always paired, and it would only expand the length of the book by about 15 pages. Apart from that oversight, it's a great way to familiarize oneself with some of Brownes' ideas....less
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April 12
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Matthew
gave
to:
Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds (Hardcover)
by George W. Hudler
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my rating:
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Matthew said:
"An easy-to-read and brief introduction to Mycology, the study of fungi. The title was undoubtedly chosen to draw the most attention, but fortunately there's a lot more to this book than a discussion of hallucinogenic mushrooms. There's a quick over...more
An easy-to-read and brief introduction to Mycology, the study of fungi. The title was undoubtedly chosen to draw the most attention, but fortunately there's a lot more to this book than a discussion of hallucinogenic mushrooms. There's a quick overview of fungal biology at the beginning, followed by chapters on fungi as forest pathogens, mycoses, yeasts, mychorrizal associations, lichens, ergots, edible and poisonous mushrooms of all kinds, and a section on how fungal metabolites are being studied as potential medicines for some of humankind's worst diseases, while other fungi can be used to break down industrial waste. I don't think I could ever get tired of learning about fungus. That's some of the coolest stuff that ever came along in the world. This book is a great place to start learning about it....less
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June 08
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Matthew
gave
to:
Pride and Prejudice (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Jane Austen
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my rating:
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Matthew said:
"Good book. The BBC film of it doesn't miss much. Not quite as amazing as Emma, but pretty damn good.
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April 03
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Matthew
gave
to:
The Fifth Kingdom (Paperback)
by Bryce Kendrick
bookshelves:
constantly-reading-intermittently
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my rating:
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Matthew
gave
to:
To Kill a Mockingbird (Paperback)
by Harper Lee
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my rating:
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read in March, 2008
Matthew said:
"Such a moving book, so simple in style, with the most perfectly planned and executed narrative.
I just read this book aloud with Stacey. Both of us have read it who-knows-how-many times before, and it was just as touching now as it has ever been.
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February 24
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Matthew
gave
to:
The Horse's Mouth (Paperback)
by Joyce Cary
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Matthew said:
"I've read The Horse's Mouth about four times since I discovered it through the film adaptation written by and staring the incomparable Alec Guinness. I'm still baffled how a book can be so hillarious even while referencing William Blake and S...more
I've read The Horse's Mouth about four times since I discovered it through the film adaptation written by and staring the incomparable Alec Guinness. I'm still baffled how a book can be so hillarious even while referencing William Blake and Spinoza all over the place. I don't know how a writer goes about creating the kinds of majestic sentences and authentic characters and vivid images that fill this book. I've read a bunch of other works by Joyce Cary and had extremely varied reactions to them. I'm so impressed by the amount of thought he puts into his characters even when I don't enjoy spending a lot of time around them, but I would love to be able to hang out with the painter and rogue Gulley Jimson or the man who was able to create him. I guess Jimson would probably tell me "Tie lead weights to your feet, fireworks in your hair, kiss your mother goodbye and jump in the river," but I feel like I wouldn't be able to help myself. I'd hang on every word he said and bask in the light of his genius. Jimson's paintings, though of course one never gets to see them, are as compelling and arresting as almost any real piece of art. It's the passion and the complexity that Joyce Cary puts into Jimson's thoughts about art that gives this book its sharpness. It's amazing that he achieves such a level of vivid depiction and that Jimson is such a bold and inovative character, especially when even Cary's essay Art and Reality: Ways of the Creative Process is a little on the conservative side. I feel like he must have gotten completely absorbed in Gulley Jimson himself and started to feel Jimson's paintings inside of him, almost as if in writing this book he was breaking down walls and flinging open the doors of perception to a degree that he never achieved with his own paintings. The writing feels more expansive than anything else he did. It feels like a joyful soul in print. At the same time, though, the book is perfectly precise. There isn't a word out of place, the story never escapes itself, everything seems like it has to have been thought through a hundred times because it fits together like an easy jigsaw puzzle. So I ask myself over and over again when I read The Horse's Mouth how such precision can coexist with such dynamism, and all I can come up with is that Joyce Cary deserves the name of genius. If this book was a painting or a piece of music, something that more people could experience more instantaneously, I think it would be a lot better known. I consider myself extremely lucky to have found it....less
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The Haters Club
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