Apr
01
2005
52 Books in 52 Weeks, 2005
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman by Bruce Robinson
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Publisher: Harper Perennial
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Year: 2000
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Pages: 288
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In Brief: Imagine a much dirtier Jerry Spinelli with sharply British slang writing a truly engaging book that fails to take the time necessary to make it truly satisfying. Now you’ve got a pretty good idea of what Robinson’s book is like.
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№41
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The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
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Publisher: Colin Smythe
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Year: 1989
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Pages: 205
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In Brief: A half fantasy, half fantasy parody that kicked off the famous Discworld series has its good parts, but is overall inconsistent and hardly worth the bother: there are funnier parodies (Patricia Wrede comes to mind) and better-written fantasies.
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№42
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New Rules by Bill Maher
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Publisher: Rodale Books
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Year: 2005
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Pages: 230
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In Brief: A compendium of short witticisms modeled after his show, Maher’s new book is lightweight, digestible read for those in the mood to laugh (or at least nod in agreement). Finishes in about an hour and includes plenty of pictures and white space, so don’t come looking for any serious politicizing.
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№43
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Lord Vishnu’s Love Handles by Will Clarke
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Publisher: Simon & Schuster
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Year: 2005
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Pages: 304
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In Brief: Silly novel about semi-psychic spies and Hindu gods is a lighthearted romp that dabbles in lots of different styles. The plot becomes more and more absurd as the book goes on, which may or may not be intentional. As a debut novel, it is good but not great.
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№44
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Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt
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Publisher: William Morrow
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Year: 2005
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Pages: 242
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In Brief: “A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything” is a misleading subtitle for this book, as Levitt doesn’t strike me as particularly roguish, nor does his topic even begin to break out of sociology and criminology. Still, it’s an inventive romp through statistics and studies that at least raises questions to be asked. Even if you were scared away from the book by the recent William Bennett scandal, I’d suggest reading it just for the hell of it.
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№45
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Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell
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Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
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Year: 2005
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Pages: 320
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In Brief: Fictional debut from B-movie actor turned funny autobiographer is put together well, but becomes a bit laborious at times. Doing a “What If?” piece with real people is perhaps a bit outside the scope of Campbell’s talents at this point. Still, there’s a lot to laugh at.
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№46
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Spam Kings by Brian S. McWilliams
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Publisher: O’Reilly Media
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Year: 2004
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Pages: 256
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In Brief: A narrative approach to the recent history (roughly a decade) of e-mail spamming, using well-known figures from the spammer and antispammer side to tell a representative tale and introduce readers to the terminology, tactics, and legal ramifications. It’s not fiction, mind you, but told as a story instead of an essay. Informative and engaging.
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№47
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The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney
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Publisher: Basic Books
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Year: 2005
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Pages: 342
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In Brief: Though a bit dry, this look at the institutionalized abuses of science by the Right to mollify industry lobbyists or the fundamentalist base is at times disheartening, but always informative, well-researched, and quite an impressive work for a first-time author.
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№48
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The Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
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Publisher: Dell
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Year: 1991
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Pages: 224
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In Brief: Classic anti-war novel by legendary lefty satirist is satisfying despite its brevity, and makes clear where a whole host of modern authors take their cues. Part war story, part science fiction, part dramedy, this book runs the gamut. Recommended for inquiring neophytes and established Vonnegut fans alike.
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№49
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High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
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Publisher: Riverhead Trade
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Year: 1996
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Pages: 336
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In Brief: A book about pop songs and screwed-up people is overflowing with wit and candor. Hornby’s conversational style endears the reader to the narrator, and by golly, we really start to feel for him by the end of the book.
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№50
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Did you raid my bookshelf? Because if you haven’t yet, I’ve got the Russel book and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Yeah, that’s where I got them from. I’ll also probably read the philosophy of the Matrix book.
hi, found this site searching something on google, but aynways, ive read a book on the philosophy of the matrix, and if youre talking about the same one, it wasn’t very good. Some good points in teh beginning, but the rest of the book is really repetitive.
anyways, cool site
[...] Following the lead of Heliologue, who is himself following Jason at Negro, Please, I will also make a move to read 52 books in 52 weeks and review them. It will be monstrous but I admit that I will enjoy it. Plus, it will - or at least should - motivate me to keep the site updated frequently with my musings. [...]
no need to study the philosophy of the Matrix, it can all be summed up in one concise story:
Plato’s Parable of the Cave (Also known as the Allegory of the Cave)
That’s it and that’s all. Though, that paved the way for many future philosophic/psychoanalytic theories—Like Althusser’s Ideolgical States and Ideological State Apparatusses, or Lacan’s “Mirror Stage as a Formative Function of the I”
If that were true, the series wouldn’t have been as bad as it was. The problem was, they started with Plato’s cave allegory, but then threw in an omnium gatherum of other, unrelated philosophies.
The problem with the philosophy of the Matrix is that not everyone is a raging pothead and therefore won’t find it so mind blowing.
“Like, what if the world we think we see… [dramatic pause] isn’t there?”
“Dude, that’s deep.”
i always thought the “deeper” philosophy of the matrix were the moral implications of artificial intelligence.
if you create self-aware, free-will beings such as the computer programs, beings that can see the wrongness/rightness of their actions (think the program at the train station who makes sacrifices for his daughter-program in order to give her a better “life”/existence), then this “artificial” intelligence would have the same moral value as a human being. that’s why the movies had to end with the “copout” resolution of peace. for either side, humans or machines,to wipe out the other would be to commit genocide in a sense. to create artificial intelligence—truly self-aware artificial intelligence—would be to create something on an equal metaphysical plane of existence with ourselves.
would we be gods? perhaps.
and if that’s true, kind of gives you a whole new perspective on what happens after death. pull the plug on a “computer program,” and we all know it ceases to be. pull the plug on a human? philosophers and theologians have been guessing at that for… well, forever.