fried - it might seem a bit of an off the wall suggestion, especially if you have the usual *geek alert* alarm when some one mentions science fiction
Quote from: fried on March 31, 2014, 04:18:55 pmIf anyone has any suggestions for good books mixing history, fiction, theology, philosophy....Neal Stephensons The Baroque Cycle Trilogy of books Quicksilver, The Confusion and The System of the World.I also enjoyed his earlier book Snow Crash which covers linguistics, philosophy, theology, politics, computer science and pizza delivery.
If anyone has any suggestions for good books mixing history, fiction, theology, philosophy....
Been thinking I should try to read some Canadian fiction,
And on the theme of German imperial ambitions (and more) I'm currently getting stuck into Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 and I'm learning a great deal. Very dense but fluidly written.
Quote from: andy popp on March 31, 2014, 04:43:11 pmAnd on the theme of German imperial ambitions (and more) I'm currently getting stuck into Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 and I'm learning a great deal. Very dense but fluidly written.Spooky! Just got started on this myself and agree with your early assessment. BTW, I also thoroughly recommend his earlier history of the rise and fall of Prussia, "The Iron Kingdom." Superbly written history.
I've been reading but there's not that much that's really hooked me apart from:Wolves: Simon Ings. Disturbing contemporary fiction. Vaguely sci-fi in a Ballardian/Burroughs sense. Found it hard to put down and it gave me bad dreams.
Meades has written his autobiography.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's recent death gave me the push I needed to at last get round to reading him, starting with One Hundred Years of Solitude. And I hate it ... trite and incredibly boring (I'm over half way and will finish). Am I the only one?
Me too. Didn't get far with Midnight's Children either. Evidently not cut out for classic contemporary lit.