Larry’s Comments (group member since Nov 23, 2020)

Larry’s comments from the Nonfiction Reading - Only the Best group.

Covid really is still around. One of my Facebook friends reported that her church choir of about 30 people had five cases that could be traced back to a recent practice session. She was the only person wearing a mask and didn't come done with it even though the person next to her did.

Most important .. I hope you recover fully very quickly.

Ron, I think book has a lot of good info in it. I probably agree with the general thrust of his arguments although the issues vary so much from campus to campus.

Happy Thanksgiving to all near and far!

John,

I think that you are more than well equipped to write an essay or more about any poet that you like and appreciate.

Larry

Cynda wrote: "Larry I am sorry for your loss. Love knows no boundaries of space or time. Yet we long for the familiar ways. I hope you find new familiar comforts in the fullness of time."

It's been a hard year ... especially because we lost a few people who were younger than us. But your words are right and a comfort.

John wrote: "LI was a Public Information Officer for seven years of my career — the same as his work. A rewarding job. ..."

It's a hard job to do well ... but one that is really appreciated by those in the know.

Jean is a Facebook friend of mine!

Byatt and Drabble sisters! I never knew. They had the good writing gene. Thanks, John.

Carol, I am so happy to see that about your son and family. Good food takes many forms … i love turkey but am more than happy to just have good food. We will have two Thanksgiving meals this year. My son and family and a houseguest from Charlotte, NC will be at the first. And then four others who can’t make the first event will join us in December … food can vary …the actual days of celebration can vary … but gathering with friends over food and good conversation is what is important.

A hard week for me … I lost another friend. I made several friends in the early days of electronic bulletin boards (BBS). There was one in the Washington, DC area where I hung out beginning in the early 1980s. It was named TMMBBS. This truly was the early days. Only one person could be posting messages at a time, and there was only one thread of messages. But I made a few friends, including four who I’ve kept over the years. They were Tel Monks, Michael Yourshaw, Chas Redmond, and Jack Hirshfeld.

Michael died a few months ago. He was beyond brilliant. One of the editors of the Harvard Law Review. Before he went to law school, he read a Fortran manual one night … and became a programmer for the United Fruit Company the next day. After law school, he became one of the lawyers who helped break up AT&T. He got tired of being a lawyer about 15 ago, climbed mountains in Colorado for about a year, and then went back to school to get a Ph.D. in biology to work on the human genome. He worked in that field until he died in Colorado. He joined me in a Facebook book group that I created to read the juvenile Heinlein SF novels. He loved to play board games with his fellow scientists.

Chas Redmond was a public affairs specialist for NASA. He retired after a very successful career and moved back to his native Seattle where he was active as a volunteer in neighborhood affairs. Recently, he had gotten very invoked in AI created and assisted art. He died last week.

Tel and Jack remain alive.

One point that I want to make is that the computer BBS were truly early electronic social media … for some of us, they were anything but isolating but instead were broadening in our connections to people. They were and are just a tool. Use the social media of today to connect to old friends and to make new friends … and then connect in the real world if you can.

John, regarding this: "I have his Selected Poems of Anthony Hecht. But I think I will purchase the Collected Poems of Anthony Hecht: Including late and uncollected work."

I think I will go through his SELECTED POEMS edition again ... and then do likewise in purchasing the COLLECTED POEMS edition.

Larry

John, I bet you read the WaPo Book World already this morning. Michael Dirda! Wonderful review about a wonderful biography of a wonderful poet … Anthony Hecht. Did I say wonderful???

I’ll start it today, also, Cynda.

You are making good choices in prioritizing your school work!

Ron wrote: "Okay even though I'm a DC girl through and through, I stumbled across this one by chance at the bookstore and it was one of those that by the time I was about to leave I couldn't get out of my head..."

I've also favored DC superheroes ever since I started reading comics .. the exceptions are some of the runs of the Daredevil and Thor comics in the Marvel universe. I am perplexed by the inability of the DC company to translate the success of their comics and some of the TV series to movies. Let me know what you think of that book.

An essay from 2017 by A.E. Stallings, on the sea and shipwreck ...

Shipwreck Is Everywhere
by A.E. Stallings

https://hudsonreview.com/2017/10/ship...

NONFICTION READING - ONLY THE BEST

Newsletter -- NOVEMBER 2023

* BOOK OF THE MONTH - MODERATOR'S CHOICE
* BOOK OF THE MONTH - MEMBERS' CHOICE

* UPCOMING BOOKS OF THE MONTH - MOD'S CHOICE
* UPCOMING BOOKS OF THE MONTH - MEMBERS' CHOICE
NOMINATIONS & VOTING

* BUDDY READS ...

***
NOVEMBER BOOK OF THE MONTH - MODERATOR'S CHOICE

November 2023 - The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization by Peter Zeihan

LINK TO THE DISCUSSION: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

"For generations, everything has been getting faster, better, and cheaper. Finally, we reached the point that almost anything you could ever want could be sent to your home within days - even hours - of when you decided you wanted it. ... America made that happen, but now America has lost interest in keeping it going.

Globe-spanning supply chains are only possible with the protection of the U.S. Navy. The American dollar underpins internationalized energy and financial markets. Complex, innovative industries were created to satisfy American consumers. American security policy forced warring nations to lay down their arms. Billions of people have been fed and educated as the American-led trade system spread across the globe.

All of this was artificial. All this was temporary. All this is ending."

SOURCE: GoodReads review


NOVEMBER BOOK OF THE MONTH - MEMBERS' CHOICE

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut

LINK TO THE DISCUSSION: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

"Shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize and the 2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature ... A fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining.

When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction. ... Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger—these are some of luminaries into whose troubled lives Benjamín Labatut thrusts the reader, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence. They have strokes of unparalleled genius, alienate friends and lovers, descend into isolation and insanity. Some of their discoveries reshape human life for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. The lines are never clear."

Source: GoodReads review

*****

OCTOBER BOOK OF THE MONTH - MODERATOR'S CHOICE

Indonesia, Etc: Exploring the Improbable Nation by Elizabeth Pisani.

LINK TO THE DISCUSSION: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


OCTOBER BOOK OF THE MONTH - MEMBERS' CHOICE

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong.

LINK TO THE DISCUSSION: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

*****

UPCOMING BOOKS OF THE MONTH - MODERATOR'S CHOICE

December 2023 - Michael Ruhlman - Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America

January 2024 - Michael Herr - Dispatches

February 2024 - Michael J. Sandel - Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?

March 2024 - Isabel Wilkerson - The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America's Great Migration

April 2024 - Camilla Townsend - Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

May 2024 - Bill Buford - Among The Thugs

June 2024 - Michael Lewis - The Fifth Risk

July 2024 - Usherwood & Tinder - The European Union: A Very Short Introduction, 3rd Ed. by John Pinder - The link is to the third edition ... the recommendation is for the 4th edition, which so far has no link.

August 2024 - Malcolm Harris - Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World

September 2024 - Ben Rawlence - The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth

John Keay - October 2024 - India: A History

***

UPCOMING BOOKS OF THE MONTH - MEMBERS' CHOICE
The nominations process and voting are open to all members ... I only ask that you nominate and/or vote for a book that you think you may read.

I would hope that the person who nominates a book that is chosen will actively participate in the discussion. You don’t have to lead that discussion, but if you do, that’s great.

Beginning on November 1, nominations are open for the Monthly Reading - Members’ Choice for December.

On November 11, voting may begin for the books nominated from any and all members. (Please remember to vote for the book you nominate. Unless you want to vote on a book nominated by another member. Yeah, that can happen!)

On November 21, I will announce the winner. That book will be the December Members’ Choice Book of the Month. In case of ties, I will choose the winner.

LINK TO THE NOMINATIONS AND VOTING FOR THE DECEMBER MEMBERS' CHOICE:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

***

BUDDY READS - If you want to read any (or almost any ... I have some limits) book with someone else here, I will set up folders for doing just that. Just propose a book that you would like to read as a Buddy Read along with any details, e.g. when you want to start and how long you want the discussion to continue.

I'll set up a topic/thread for a proposed buddy reads when someone proposes a book and someone else opts in for the shared reading experience ... or in some cases, even before someone accepts the invitation.

Here's a link to the Buddy Reads folder, with a number of ongoing Buddy Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...


Good Reading!

Larry, Founder and Moderator

The nominations process and voting are open to all members ... I only ask that you nominate and/or vote for a book that you think you may read.

I would hope that the person who nominates a book that is chosen will actively participate in the discussion. You don’t have to lead that discussion, but if you do, that’s great.

Beginning on November 1, I will call for nominations for the Monthly Reading - Members’ Choice for December. On November 11, I will call for votes among the books nominated from any and all members. (Please remember to vote on the book you nominate! Unless you want to vote on a book nominated by another member. Yeah, that can happen!) On November 21, I will announce the winner. That book will be the November Members’ Choice Book of the Month. In case of ties, I will choose the winner.

Use this thread to nominate a book ... and then later (beginning on Novemberr 11) to vote for the book of your choice.

This thread is for the discussion of the book When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut.

"Shortlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize and the 2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature ... A fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining.

When We Cease to Understand the World is a book about the complicated links between scientific and mathematical discovery, madness, and destruction. ... Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger—these are some of luminaries into whose troubled lives Benjamín Labatut thrusts the reader, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence. They have strokes of unparalleled genius, alienate friends and lovers, descend into isolation and insanity. Some of their discoveries reshape human life for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. The lines are never clear."

Source: GoodReads review.

This thread is for discussion of The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization

"For generations, everything has been getting faster, better, and cheaper. Finally, we reached the point that almost anything you could ever want could be sent to your home within days - even hours - of when you decided you wanted it. ... America made that happen, but now America has lost interest in keeping it going.

Globe-spanning supply chains are only possible with the protection of the U.S. Navy. The American dollar underpins internationalized energy and financial markets. Complex, innovative industries were created to satisfy American consumers. American security policy forced warring nations to lay down their arms. Billions of people have been fed and educated as the American-led trade system spread across the globe.

All of this was artificial. All this was temporary. All this is ending." (From the GoodReads review.)