Michael > Recent Status Updates

"...if a dead man has no significance unless one has seen him dead, a hundred million bodies spread through history are just a mist drifting through the imagination."

"Some questions will ruin you if you are denied the answer long enough."

"That's how the madness of the world tried to colonise you: from the outside in, forcing you to live in its reality."

"...and when you see beauty in desolation it changes something inside you. Desolation tries to colonise you."

Took a while to orient, so maybe some issues with pacing. Characters startinf to feel fleshy, the philosophical discourse is enjoyable enough, and it feels like the collision of different plots is being setup without being too obvious.

Lucid, concise, and effective. Guarantee this is a 5-star addition to modern spiritual/contemplative canon.

Pleasant, meditative. A gentle presence in my curremt reading life.

A bit of a slog. Find I have to go back a few pages whenever I restart reading, and thus far haven't felt a strong hook to carry on. We'll see.

Ok, the hook just got pulled into my cheek with this one. The setup was impeccable, the stage is set. I'm absolutely going to enjoy how this plays out.

Still slowly chipping away. Taking the same approach as when reading Kerouac - let words wash over and see what sticks.

"There, that wasn't as bad as I feared," he said cheerfully. "I've got my hammer back. And I had a good dinner. Let's go home."

I adore this book.

Probably the heaviest philo fiction I've dipped my toe in. Coherent, but better in small chunks.

This guy's approach to writing is like shoegaze - it's a wall of hazy noise with this beautiful, coherent thread that is Barely There. Concise, it is not.

Obviously at its best when he sticks to his fields of expertise.

i wish I had read this years ago.

Ok, big confession...

I don't hate this book.

Mr Collins = CREEPER

I bet I'm not the first person to think that the books Charlie reads in this make up a good foundation of reading, admittedly an American one.

I'm not finding this easy to get through. I realise the florid language is a product of its time, but come on now, is the breeding of eligible males all that can be written about?

Fine, fine, I'll keep going with an open mind.

Fuck, this is galling reading. Taibbi is eloquent as ever. Clear explanations of tremendously complex cases like the corrupt goings-on in the GFC are probably quite difficult to come by, but Taibbi manages it. Mostly. What's just as depressing is the complexity if the justice system for the poor, and how much it self-reinforces.

Pacing and gorgeous imagery. I'm actually surprised at how much of a page turner it is.

This is fun. I get the impression Feynman had a pretty high opinion of himself, but he probably wouldn't have had the stories he did without it. Also, not gonna lie, some of the more specific concepts in physics and biology leave me scratching my head. The words are English and all, but he writes small parts of these for those concerned with the particular subject.

Bloody hell. Using the most exquisite writing to narrate a despicable story is just mean. I will say how grateful I am for my Kindle's dictionary feature, though!

Tapping out here.

He's made his assertion and now I kinda just want it to be over so I can say I've finished. It's not bad writing, I am just not compelled by the topic.

Aslan has made interesting what could possibly be rather dull. That said, I am starting to lose interest. I'll give it a bit more and see how I feel.

Initial impression - he is sexing up a plausible extrapolation from what we might know about the historical Jesus. It's entertaining, thus far, I'll give it that.

Figured out the title now. She's gradually adding more threads to the weave, but the protagonist's voice still comes off with a modern, vaguely bohemian air. Still undecided.

Has a whimsical attitude thus far. I feel like I am reading the diary of a hyper-literate proto-hipster.

Has a whimsical attitude thus far. I feel like I am reading the diary of a hyper-literate proto-hipster.