Book suggestions

[ThunderTitan]

At the risk of returning to the original topic, you mathematicians would probably enjoy two anthologies by Clifton Fadiman: Fantasia Mathematica and the Mathematical Magpie. Both include a number of math-based short stories and diversions.

OK, can I just say that that's scary?!


Oh, and Agatha Christie novels always make for a fun read.

[Metathron]

At the risk of returning to the original topic, you mathematicians would probably enjoy two anthologies by Clifton Fadiman: Fantasia Mathematica and the Mathematical Magpie. Both include a number of math-based short stories and diversions.

OK, can I just say that that's scary?!

Indeed. Reading something entitled 'Fantasia Mathematica' would likely get me to a place called Fantasia Looneybinia.

[Gaidal Cain]

Oh, and Agatha Christie novels always make for a fun read.

Agreed. Either you figure it out and can eel proud of yourself, or you don't and get amazed at how things fit together

[Corribus]

If you are interested in the American Civil War, I just finished "None Died in Vain" by Robert Leckie, and it was quite good (nonfiction). The only complaint I'd raise is that the lack of good maps made it difficult to follow what was going on in some of the battles.

Speaking of which - anyone out there into biographies? I'd be interested (now) in a good one on William T. Sherman.

[Caradoc]

At the risk of returning to the original topic, you mathematicians would probably enjoy two anthologies by Clifton Fadiman: Fantasia Mathematica and the Mathematical Magpie. Both include a number of math-based short stories and diversions.

OK, can I just say that that's scary?!

Indeed. Reading something entitled 'Fantasia Mathematica' would likely get me to a place called Fantasia Looneybinia.

Someone called 'Metathron' is making fun of 'Fantasia' ?

[theLuckyDragon]

*remembers ancestral lands*
Did someone mention Fantasia?

Obviously, now I'm going to suggest Michael Ende's The Neverending Story, which anyone can read at any age and always find something more to think about. What a wonderful book!

[ThunderTitan]

What a wonderful book!

Why read the book when you can just watch the movie?

[theLuckyDragon]

I can't believe you actually asked that!
The movie is nowhere near as good as the book!

[asandir]

What applies to one doesnt have to aply to a whole.So it is posible that once youll have just one stick,or three when you have one and take one.You have to prove that youll always have two.Dumb

i undertand your point, but the 1 refers to a single item of any type or unit, could be a single icecream, a single metre, a single piece of hair, single is 1, so if I have a single something and then i take another single of the same something, i then have two of them .... not three or one

[ThunderTitan]

What applies to one doesnt have to aply to a whole.So it is posible that once youll have just one stick,or three when you have one and take one.You have to prove that youll always have two.Dumb

i undertand your point, but the 1 refers to a single item of any type or unit, could be a single icecream, a single metre, a single piece of hair, single is 1, so if I have a single something and then i take another single of the same something, i then have two of them .... not three or one

The ideea was to prove it purely mathematicaly. I don't even know if that's posible.

I can't believe you actually asked that!

And that takes care of my being evil quota for the day.

[asandir]

well imho proven is proven .... mathematical proof i leave to those better able, i've provided the english proof!!

[DaemianLucifer]

What if I prove to you that 1+1=0?

Anyhow,to get back on topic:Ive heard good things about 11 minutes,so Ill be reading that one now.Im sure coribus already read it though

Also,lets not forget vernes classics:20000 leagues under the sea,from the earth to the moon,journey to the center of the earth,...But my personal favourites are the children of captain grant and the mysterious island.

[asandir]

one more rejoinder before i quit my off-topicedness .... yes, yes we all know the "mathematical proof" that 1+1=0 ....

i was kinda waiting for you to mention it

[Gaidal Cain]

the mysterious island.

Ohh. That's my personal favorite Verne book as well. Cyrus Smith is just awesome.

[Corribus]

Ten (modern) selections for those who like historical fiction:

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Aztec by Gary Jennings
The Journeyer by Gary Jennings
Shogun by James Clavell
Tai-Pan by James Clavell
The Far Pavillions by M. M. Kaye
Sarum by Edward Rutherford
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
From Sea to Shining Sea by James Alexander Thom
I, Claudius by Robert Graves (also the sequel, Claudius the God)
(You could also put several of the Michener novels in there...)

Also, just another random favorite: Steven King's "The Stand".

[theLuckyDragon]

Shogun is a very good book.
Aztec by G. Jennings sounds interesting.
What are the others about? Could you give a very brief description, maybe only the time period?

[Corribus]

Shogun is a very good book.
Aztec by G. Jennings sounds interesting.
What are the others about? Could you give a very brief description, maybe only the time period?

Aztec is a fabulous book - if you can find it. Unfortunately, for some reason Jennings' books are mostly out of print (probably because he's dead and the legal issues haven't been worked out). However, I still see copies of Aztec in stores so it may still be in print. Make sure you buy the original (Aztec - no funny subtitles); there were a few sequels (Aztec Blood, Aztec Rage) that were written by ghostwriters based on notes that Jennings wrote before he died... but they are not quite as good. Jennings wrote several others (Raptor and Journeyer are the other good ones, with Journeyer being the best IMO) but Aztec was his most famous. Anyway, they're all quite long and very well written and well-researched. Jennings was well known for spending quite a long time actually living in the areas where his novels were set prior to putting pen to paper.

Anyway, as you requested, summaries:
The pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. This novel (quite different from Follett's other novels) is about the construction of a fictitious cathedral in 12th century England set amongst the backdrop of the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud.

Aztec by Gary Jennings. This novel is about the fall of the Aztec empire at the hands of Cortez and the Spanish. First person, told from the perspective of a near-blind "Jaguar" warrior. Most of the novel takes place before the Spanish arrive.

The Journeyer by Gary Jennings. Actually, it looks like this book is back in print again! Wow, I had to go to all kinds of used-book stores to find it a few years ago. Definitely pick this up - it's about Marco Polo's expeditions to the orient (1st person again) and Kublai Khan. This book blew me away.

Raptor by Garry Jennings. Hell, I'll put this one in, too. Jennings is just too good to omit one of his best novels. This one is about the Gothic conquest of the Roman Empire, at the hands of the Ostrogoth Theodoric I, told from the perspective of (get this) a Gaelic hermaphrodite.

Shogunby James Clavell. All of Cavell's books are set in the orient and revolve around the fictitious Struan family of European (specifically, Scottish) traders. This was his first and tells of the arrival of the first Struans to Japan during the time of the Tokugawa shogunate - although Clavell uses the fictitious Toranaga shogunate instead for some reason. Anyway, despite some of these fictional name-changes, it's still a great book.

Tai-Pan by James Clavell. Clavell's other great book (IMO), Tai-Pan is about Hong-Kong just after the British acquired it from the Chinese empire. Some people swear by the third book, Noble House, but I found this one to be far better - and shorter.

The Far Pavillions by M. M. Kaye. About India in the 19th century during British occupation. Starts around the 1857 Sepoy mutiny and ends (if I recall correctly) with the Battle of Kandahar in 1880. It bogs down a bit in the middle, but the last third about the Anglo-Afghan wars were very thrilling.

Sarum by Edward Rutherford. This is the only one of Rutherford's books I've read (though I've bought them all), and pretty recently at that, but it was very well done. Sort of in the style of Michener, the story is told in vignettes during different time-periods in the history of Salisbury, England. The first chapter takes place during the last ice age and the last chapter takes place in 1985.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty. A tale of the old west. Won the Pulitzer Prize.

From Sea to Shining Sea by James Alexander Thom. Chronicles the Clark family from the American Indian War through the Louis and Clark Expedition.

I, Claudius by Robert Graves (also the sequel, Claudius the God). Fictional autobiography of the roman Emperor Claudius.

[theLuckyDragon]

Gee, I said "very brief" but thanks anyway.

Jenning's books sound so interesting! Too bad Amazon (or any other online store where I might find them, for that matter) doesn't deliver in Romania

[Corribus]

Oh my, and I have to add a #11 - How could I forget Papillon by Henri Charriere!? Definitely one of the best - it's truly a heart-wrenching story, and (purportedly, although there's some controversy surrounding the claim) a true story. About a man convicted of murder and sent to a south american prison.... I always had a feeling that the Shawshenk Redemption was somehow influenced by it. There was also a movie, starring I think Dustin Hoffman.

[theLuckyDragon]

Yes, the name sounds very familliar.