Having not read a single scrap since flying to the boat last time, I was actually quite happy to spend these somewhat unsettled days catching up. I finished what Asimovs I had left unread in my possession and duly noted how, somehow, it all seems to tie back in. Sometimes rather obviously, sometimes with a somewhat more liberal use of imagination :).
I have to say though, The End of Eternity is indeed quite something. Unlike much of the Foundation universe books (which, wildly removed from our reality as they are, always seemed to me to be something not that far out of reach or beyond say a couple of fortuitous, albeit highly improbable breakthroughs in science or whatever :), and for all their other-worldliness they seemed to involve a humanity not that far from home), this one raised such fundamental questions of the point of existence for me that I was quite surprised, shocked even, for a bit!
In any case, suspecting that I'd be running thin of reading material before long (not counting GRRMs, still) I'd acquired Artemis Fowl from the store under the escalator in an attempt to move from the sci-fi to the magical. (Having failed to locate any of the other books that populate my 'recommended' list.) But that still didn't seem to provide an appreciable enough departure. Then I happened upon that rather unscrupulously appropriated Christmas gift from last year!
Thus it was that I started on my first foray into non-fiction in quite some time with Bryson's A Walk in the Woods! A couple of days, and what was it, 870 miles later, I'm a devout fan!! The man is pure genius!!! What else can one possibly say? Thoroughly entertaining, equally funny and depressing in his observations regarding the general world all around, quite enlightening in many - possibly sometimes unnecessary - ways. These are just some of the things that come to mind.
Of course, having read the lengthy excerpt from The Thunderbolt Kid, I'm absolutely dying to lay hands on that one. (These people certainly know how to sell books, I tell you!) But even more than that, I'd like to have a go at Neither Here Nor There first, primarily to read more about the often incorrigible yet rather lovable Katz! And yes, I shall also get to A Brief History of Nearly Everything someday soon, as my biologist cousin keeps telling me I absolutely must :).
Right. So on to Ireland's most notorious criminal then! All the while holding on to the thin ray of hope that sometime this week I might finally hear something of my expected whereabouts at the end of the next fortnight :|.
Man! Has it been raining a lot or what?!
Currently: waiting, wishing...
Listening to: Chicane - No ordinary morning
I have to say though, The End of Eternity is indeed quite something. Unlike much of the Foundation universe books (which, wildly removed from our reality as they are, always seemed to me to be something not that far out of reach or beyond say a couple of fortuitous, albeit highly improbable breakthroughs in science or whatever :), and for all their other-worldliness they seemed to involve a humanity not that far from home), this one raised such fundamental questions of the point of existence for me that I was quite surprised, shocked even, for a bit!
In any case, suspecting that I'd be running thin of reading material before long (not counting GRRMs, still) I'd acquired Artemis Fowl from the store under the escalator in an attempt to move from the sci-fi to the magical. (Having failed to locate any of the other books that populate my 'recommended' list.) But that still didn't seem to provide an appreciable enough departure. Then I happened upon that rather unscrupulously appropriated Christmas gift from last year!
Thus it was that I started on my first foray into non-fiction in quite some time with Bryson's A Walk in the Woods! A couple of days, and what was it, 870 miles later, I'm a devout fan!! The man is pure genius!!! What else can one possibly say? Thoroughly entertaining, equally funny and depressing in his observations regarding the general world all around, quite enlightening in many - possibly sometimes unnecessary - ways. These are just some of the things that come to mind.
Of course, having read the lengthy excerpt from The Thunderbolt Kid, I'm absolutely dying to lay hands on that one. (These people certainly know how to sell books, I tell you!) But even more than that, I'd like to have a go at Neither Here Nor There first, primarily to read more about the often incorrigible yet rather lovable Katz! And yes, I shall also get to A Brief History of Nearly Everything someday soon, as my biologist cousin keeps telling me I absolutely must :).
Right. So on to Ireland's most notorious criminal then! All the while holding on to the thin ray of hope that sometime this week I might finally hear something of my expected whereabouts at the end of the next fortnight :|.
Man! Has it been raining a lot or what?!
Currently: waiting, wishing...
Listening to: Chicane - No ordinary morning
Bryson is awesome and yes please do get A Short History of Nearly Everything as soon as you can. I never thought reading about Newtonian physics would cause me to laugh out loud :D
ReplyDeletehey! long time!
ReplyDeleteand yes, more Bryson is definitely coming up :)