What's New

Lately I've been spending a most of my time reading. Here's some of what I've read in no particular order:

Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott - A math nerd classic, it's a short novel relating the travels of a square through various spatial dimensions. It reads like a mini version of Gulliver's Travels. It gets tedious during the flights of fancy like when Square is describing, in terrible detail, the social ascension of shapes, but the narrative picks up after he's through detailing social conventions. I found it interesting because I'm trying to explicitly define concepts like 'shape', 'space', 'figure', and 'line'. It gives food for thought.

Have Space Suit-Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein - I'm wary of Heinlein. He can be a great writer; moving, dramatic, insightful, and appealing to the individualist. But sometimes he's spectacularly disappointing. Take Stranger in a Strange Land for example, it started off nicely with the introduction of the main character to humanity then devolves into a surreal romp through religious fanaticism. Then there's Future History, which is full of brilliant characters [most of whom are trapped in impotence or suffering] and amazing stories [most of which either end abruptly without resolution or peter out pathetically]. So, I earlier concluded that Heinlein is a wonderful writer who also happens to be a pessimist and likes to torture his characters. I avoided him carefully. Have Space Suit-Will Travel has none of these faults. Heinlein hit a home run with this one. Just to illustrate the character of the novel, my favourite part was ... SPOILER WARNING ... in a scene where an alien race is on trial before an intergalactic committee, the speaker asks if anyone will speak on behalf of them, defend them, or be character witness; no one speaks. The main character says:

"That was my chance to be noble. We humans were their victims; we were in a position to speak up, point out that from their standpoint they hadn't done anything wrong, and ask mercy - if they would promise to behave in the future. Well, I didn't. I've heard the usual Sweetness and Light that kids get pushed at them - how they should always forgive, how there's some good in the worst of us, etc. But when I see a black widow, I step on it; I don't plead with it to be a good little spider and please stop poisoning people. A black widow can't help it - but that's the point."

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - I read this book because I like science fiction and fantasy but I know very few who write in the genre and are, at the some time, competent or challenging writers. Most sci-fi/fantasy is the worst possibly fluff, literary cotton candy. A friend emphatically argued that Card is good, and he'd been recommended before, so I thought I'd give it a shot while I have time. This was my review [hurray for copy/paste, the great time-saver]:

"I flew through Ender's Game in only one day and you're right that Card's writing is much better than your average Joe Sci-fi. He handles plot/characters fairly deftly and I'm shocked [and professionally impressed] by how desperately painful the novel is. I had hoped, though, that this brilliant suffering was leading to some glorious climax. But the whole novel seems ... like there's no hope, no action, only manipulation and deceit; I found that disturbing. Ender never conquered the forces at work against him, he was used, abused, and cast aside to lick his wounds and go off on his own. I'm really hoping this is only the set-up for the next novel and that Ender, as brilliant as he is, becomes a true hero instead of a tool. That would be magnificent, but I can't help but think that the next novel will degrade into Ender's quest to atone for "crimes" of which he had no consciousness."

I haven't read the sequel yet, nor have I read anything else of Card's, but I suspect he's going to be a lot like Heinlein in the same hit-or-miss sort of way.

The Double Helix by James D. Watson - A first person narrative account of the discovery of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick. It was interesting in a historical sense but I'm biased against Watson [I think he's a mooching twit], and his extensive explanations of how he was constantly trying to cheat out of the work he was given a fellowship to do didn't help my opinion of him. I couldn't finish it out of disgust, as much as Francis Crick interests me.

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" by Richard P. Feynman - This is somewhat autobiographical; it's a collection of stories told by Feynman. It reads like you are sitting down at a party with Feynman and he is regaling you with his adventures. I really would have liked to meet Feynman, he was humourous and honest and curious in a way that makes you stop. I think that if I had to sum him up in one word, I'd say "wonder". He was a great physicist. I don't think we would have agreed about a lot of scientific matters, but it would have been a wonderful conversation and we both would have tried to learn something from the other. My favourite quote is when he talks about his experience with mind-readers:

"All the time you're saying to yourself, 'I could do that, but I won't' - which is just another way of saying you can't."

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams - Adams is the famous author of the Hitchhiker's Guide. Though it's amusing, I don't think the Guide is his best work. It's horribly fragmented from massive multiple conversions into different media and toward the end gets kind of over-drawn like a popular television series that's gone on one season too long. Adams wrote two novels around the character Dirk Gently: this and another, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. These are almost unknown, but are much better than the Guide. They both have the same delightful characteristic wit of Adams but they are each properly structured into a complete novel. And besides, Dirk Gently is a babe, there are few men half as interesting as him. To say that Dirk is eccentric and witty is to say that stars are rather hot. At one point a ghost tries to manipulate his thoughts and desires:

"He said in a low savage whisper, 'If anyone can hear me, hear this. My mind is my center and everything that happens there is my responsibility. Other people may believe what pleases them to believe, but I will do nothing without I know the reason why and know it clearly. If you want something, then let me know, but do not you dare touch my mind.'"

If you're familiar with the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, especially Rime of the Ancient Mariner, you'll appreciate the novel all the more because it draws many parallels and bases a lot of the humour on such inside knowledge. I also kind of think Adams is making fun of Scientology, either that or L. Ron Hubbard borrowed liberally from Coleridge. It's mystery novel, as well as a little science-fictiony, so you need to pay attention to details and follow conversations closely.

Other books I've read, by am not reviewing right now: Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, Newton Philosophical Writings edited by Andrew Janiak, The Character of Physical Law by Feynman. Currently reading: Number: The Language of Science by Tobias Dantzig. Planned future reading: The Universe by Isaac Asimov, From Copernicus to Newton: The Birth of a New Physics by I. Bernard Cohen, Dialogues Concerning Two Sciences by Galileo, and The Crime of Galileo by Giorgio de Santillana. If anyone has any information or advice about my future reading I'd be delighted to hear it. Especially about The Crime of Galileo, it's a biography that claims not to candy-coat the incidents in favour of Galileo by gratuitously lambasting the Catholic church. I was intrigued by that, but wary about the truth of it. ::raised eyebrow::