2226 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

Honour Among Spies by Quinn Fawcett. About 40 pages in and just as enjoyable as the previous two. I wonder why there aren't more of these Ian Fleming adventure novels.

[Joyce Carrington]

'Stump' - by Niall Griffiths. The book is written in Liverpudlian which makes for some concentrated reading. I'm a few chapters in and it's only barely keeping me interested. Perhaps I prefer 'straight' thrillers to the 'literary' ones.

[killkenny kid]

Ask Not. Thurston Clarke's book on John F. Kennedy.

[Johnboy007]

Currently reading Timothy Zahn's Vision of the Future.

[Jaws0178]

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service", by Ian Fleming.

Anyone heard of it?

Never heard of it. Whats it about?

I am reading Goldfinger by that Ian Fleming guy. Its about this guy named James Bond. Apparently, he is a British Agent or something. It that On Her Majesty's Secret Service book about this guy too?

[darkpath]

Most recently: Silverfin by Charlie Higson.

Next up: Blood Fever by Charlie Higson and Zorro by Johnston McCulley.

[TortillaFactory]

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Original Sins by Jamie Delano, John Ridgway, Alfredo Alcala. Really a collection of the first several Hellblazer comics; as comics go, it's quite well done. Enjoying it immensely. Ah, anti-heroes.

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver - for Anthro, but it's interesting in its own right - concerns a Cherokee girl who is adopted by a white woman, without the tribe's knowledge (all adoptions outside of the tribe must be approved by the council, and they're usually not, in an effort to preserve the solidarity of the tribe). Dealing with some heavy issues from both sides of the coin. 1/4 of the way through, will be tested on it tonight....hrm. Should probably stop posting and start reading.

[Agent 76]

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

[Qwerty]

The Man Who Saved Britain by Simon Winder

[Mr Malcolm]

Don Quixote by Cervantes - I've been in a high-brow mood of late. I haven't got too far with it yet, so will see how it goes.

[Bryce (003)]

Interview with Jerry Bruckheimer in the new Playboy.

I *may* have glanced at a few of the pictures.

What?

[TortillaFactory]

Don Quixote by Cervantes

From what I remember it's quite enjoyable. I read it when I was about 7 though, so no promises on the memory being quite accurate.

[ThunderhearT]

im reading casino royale and all quiet among the western front

[K1Bond007]

Recently finished Blood Fever. Tackling The Man From Barbarossa right now.

[Joyce Carrington]

Interview with Jerry Bruckheimer in the new Playboy.

I *may* have glanced at a few of the pictures.

What?

You're not my hero anymore.

[killkenny kid]

John Gray's Men are from. I know, I know. But, Mrs K. said I would get a good laugh from it.

[Qwerty]

Death Comes As The End by Agatha Christie

[Mamadou]

"Absurdistan" by Gary Shteyngart. It's the first book I've read in a while that wasn't published before 1900. I'm reading it to take a break from the "Iliad."

But it's a very good, if very weird, book. It's satire along the lines of "Dr. Strangelove," so you don't know whether to laugh (although I've laughed out loud more times in reading this book than any other) or grimace in shock. The descriptions are rich, but odd. There are honestly some very strange comparisons in the book. The main character is flying over the titular country and, upon seeing some great blue domes, can't decide whether they're large mosques or small oil refineries.

The book follows Misha Vainberg, the massively overweight son of the 1238th richest man in Russia, as he struggles to get out of his home country and back to the woman he loves in the Bronx, who is in the clutches of the hack professor Jerry Shteynfarb (in a great bit of self-deprecating humor). The US won't let him in because his father killed an Oklahoma businessman. So we're party to all of his adventures and mishaps, like becoming a Belgian citizen; and getting stuck in the Caspian land of Absurdistan, with its dictator and tremendous oil reserves.

Weird, but fun.

[Obiwan]

I am reading at the moment A Million Little Pieces by James Frye. Its a very good book so far, I really like considering i'm only in the first 100 pages but its still pretty good. From where I am right now I would recomend it. =D

[Lazenby880]

COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM by Jesse Norman and Janan Ganesh.

This is, by the way, a rather different form of compassionate conservatism than that of George W. Bush, and the paper is a most fascinating read for those interested in the ideas that will shape Britain's future.

[Matt_13]

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell by Raymond Benson.

Horrid... positivly horrid...

It was in first person and it was impossible to comprehend. Hardly the Sam Fisher we know and love, please do not bother with this book, it's a disgrace.

[Jericho_One]

Currently reading "Less than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis, and my feeble jottings on Penal Law for an upcoming exam.

[Qwerty]

Murder Is Easy by Agatha Christie

[Bon-san]

This is, by the way, a rather different form of compassionate conservatism than that of George W. Bush...

In what way(s)?

[Matt_13]

Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit. Excellent stuff, highly recommended.

[Lazenby880]

In what way(s)?

Since you asked, I will quote directly:

"We can understand recent discussions of 'compassionate conservatism', mentioned in the Introduction, as an attempt to express this line of though within British politics. But it order to do so we have to separate this phrase from its connection with the doctrine of the same name espoused by George W. Bush before and during his first term as US President. This was a campaign slogan originally adopted in 1999 to emphasise to the public that Bush was a moderate Republican, while subtly flagging a sensitivity to the concerns of religious evangelicals. After his election, it mutated into a policy of delivering federal welfare programmes through churches and other faith-based organisations. It was abandoned when its chief sponsor in the White House, Professor John DiIulio, quit in 2001.

In fact, however, Bush's compassionate conservatism has virtually nothing to do with the ideas we are discussing, for three reasons. First, it suffered from the twin drawbacks of being neither compassionate nor conservative. It was hardly compassionate: indeed DiIulio fell foul of his colleagues in the White House by insisting the money be directed to black and Latino churches, thus alienating white Evangelicals. And it was not conservative, as was shown by the extension of federal influence into local schools through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. Secondly, Bush's compassionate conservatism was a moralising doctrine, which assumed that society's basic modern standards were in decline and set the federal government the task of improving them. Thirdly, as a slogan, 'compassionate conservatism' lacked a deeper theoretical justification that could be used as a basis for long-term policymaking. It quickly came to seem merely an electoral expedient, not a genuine contribution to a wider and cultural debate.

The compassionate conservatism that we are discussing is quite different. It is achored in an argument from first principles about the nature of society. It is not a moralising strand of ideas, and does not in general regard the moral character of British society as fit subject for legislation. Indeed it explicitly repudiates such a view in its critique of 'enterprise society', something that also sets compassionate conservatism apart from many communitarian views. It does not lack a moral sense but it locates moral responsibility primarily at the level of the individual, not at that of the state. And consistent with this, its idea of compassion is one of fellow-feeling, not of pity: one of identification, concern and sympathy with others, not of condescension to them. At root, this is the same insight as that behind the connected society."

J. Norman and J. Ganesh (2006) Compassionate Conservatism London: Policy Exchange pp 56-7

Although the authors struggle to criticise the 'compassion' side of Bush's doctrine (as if white people cannot be poor), they are on steadier ground by calling the conservative nature of it into question. The profligacy of public spending has been alarming, and has proved the limits of the efficiency of the state to actuate social change. Moreover, they are also correct to question the extent to which President Bush's slogan was anything more than an attractive political phrase designed to woo the middle ground and the more active religious base, as well as noting that it certainly was not a coherent set of ideas with which to sustain continued political change.

For the reasons listed above the 'compassionate conservatism' currently informing change in the Conservative party in Great Britain is rather different from that used by President Bush during the 2000 presidential campaign.

Read it all here.

Edited by Lazenby880, 25 June 2006 - 10:31 PM.

[K1Bond007]

Blow the House Down by Robert Baer.

An interesting book that is based on some true stories that occurred right before or were connected in some capacity with September 11th. It is essentially based on the possibility that someone made money off of 9/11; this has never been proven, and Baer acknowledges this in an author's note at the end (though virtually impossible to know for sure). It also uses real-life people as characters such as John O'Neill and weaves this fictional tale around them that in many way feels like a James Bond novel, although told in the first person and the main character is far more cynical of his job and of the people in the intelligence biz than Bond.

Entertaining.

[Qwerty]

Continuing with the books of Agatha Christie, I've now started N Or M?. My favourite of her Tommy and Tuppence books so far.

[ACE]

1) Commuter book: A Child In Time by Ian McEwan
2) Bedtime book: Cocaine: A Definitive History by Dominic Streatfield-James
3) A slow burn tome for dipping: The Sociology of the Professions edited by Robert Dingwall and Phillip Lewis

[Johnboy007]

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Mythology - Edith Hamilton
The Elements of Style - William Strunk and E.B. White

The first two aren't bad. Not pleased about having to read another pedantic grammar book.