Into the Jungle

For my Vertebrates class I just finished Into the Jungle: Great Adventures in the Search for Evolution by Sean B. Carroll. This is a collection of nonfiction essays and stories about various naturalists and their adventures. The books features Darwin, Wallace, and Andrews among other famous naturalists as they travel the globe. The later stories focus on select organisms crucial to understanding the methods of evolution as well as vertebrate anomalies. This is a really interesting collection. The naturalists all had such fascinating lives. This book made me want to travel to some remote area of the globe and classify species or locate ancient fossils.

7/10

383 points

Eaarthlings

Bill McKibben's newest book, Eaarth, wasn't as easy of a read as his last that I read. This book focused more on the harsh realities of our current situation- the state of our planet, how this has occurred over the past few decades, and what we can feasibly do about it. It was, essentially, depressing. Which is why it is so very important for people to start facing these realities, instead of continuing to pretend that they don't exist, or that they aren't effecting us.

Key points included moving away from unlimited growth as an economic ideal and learning how to turn towards local communities- which may be a bit repetitive, but at this point, absolutely necessary.

8/10

412 points

oh my brothers...

I just finished A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess as my final novel for my science fiction class. Technically, though, I don't believe this novel is actually a piece of science fiction. It is written in a slang of English called Nadsat, which is used by thuggish youths that terrorize innocent people. The novel is narrated by Alex who, along with his 3 "droogs" commit extremely violent and sadistic acts in the first part of this three part novel. Not to spoil anything, but things take a turn for Alex in the next section which focuses on punishment for his crimes rehabilitation. The final section follows Alex as he is returned to the world as a free man, only after completing a series of conditioning treatments. I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. Once I got a grasp on the language I hardly noticed that it wasn't written in standard English.

There is a movie version A Clockwork Orange, however it ends one chapter prior to the completion of the book. This should be considered when viewing the movie, since it drastically alters the meaning of the story as a whole, and practically negates the author's intentions.

7.0/10

399 Points

Narcissus & Goldmund

Written by Hermann Hesse, this novel has been translated from German, it's original language. It tells the story of Goldmund, who leaves the cloister when he is a young man to travel in search for answers to a world that he had previously been sheltered from. His mentor, a monk named Narcissus, cares for him deeply and they depart on good terms. Goldmund learns painful truths throughout his journey, but also experiences great joy as he discovers love and the artistic manner in which he expresses his feelings. The book is simple in writing style but deep in its discussion of finding one's self in a single lifetime.

8/10

515 points

UBIK

I finished Ubik by Philip K. Dick for my Science Fiction class. I knew major plot twists before reading it based on our discussion in class. This took the thrill out of the book for me. It is an interesting story, and I would imagine pretty cool (if you didn't know the plot twists). Dick loses control in the last chapter which is somewhat of a let down. Overall, a semi enjoyable book.

416 points

6.4/10

The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future

Deep Economy, by Bill McKibben, is a well-written discussion of how American culture has increased and intensified consumerism to the detriment of local communities. As we buy into the idea of hyper-individualism, we lose the sense of connectedness to those around us. We begin to feel that we don't need the support of others for our survival and we are less happy because of it. Focusing on supporting local economies, in particular local farmer's markets, as the first step towards re-strengthening communities, McKibben makes persuasive and realistic arguments, and even mentions Ithaca a few times throughout the book! I recommend this one to you all.

10/10

472 points

If you ever need to talk someone out of being a hippie...

have them read this book. Drop City, by T.C. Boyle, follows two story lines throughout the novel. On one hand, you have a husband and wife living in the woods of Alaska, surviving on the meat they hunt and the vegetables they grow. Very appealing and a little Little House on the Prarie-esque. And then on the other hand, you have dirty, drug obsessed hippies, living off of welfare, acid-laced Kool Aid, and tofu burritos in California. When the police threaten to arrest them and kick them off their land, they journey to Alaska to "go back to nature," which for them means growing weed in their backyard and living off food stamps. Their encounters with the locals leads to events that the whole book is based upon. I wasn't really crazy about the commune sections of the book. Especially the part where one girl comes home from working at a strip club and then the whole clan gets crabs from their idyllic "free love" beliefs. Yuck.

A quick google search tells me that Drop City was an actual intentional community in Colorado in the late '60s, the first "hippie commune." Although the book is not about this specific community, I'm sure there are many similarities. Even though I wasn't crazy about some of the characters, the book still held my interest until the end and overall I liked it. But I'm also looking forward to moving on to something new.

7/10

697 points

First Post Huzzah!

Ok I think I finally figured out how to post onto this monstrosity.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

This was a pretty good book about how oftentimes your first intuition is better than a more thought out and contemplated decision. He goes into multiple examples and studies to support this idea, and they are all for the most part interesting. Gladwell has an enjoyable writing style that is pretty fluid and draws you in even though the book is pretty much non-fiction. I would recommend this book to anyone.

9/10

520 points.

The Other two books that I've read so far are The Mole People by Jennifer Toth, and Dancing Skeletons by Katherine A. Dettwyler. These two books basically sucked bad. They are both complete bleeding-heart books that are pretty biased and the agenda of the writers is painfully obvious. Mole People is about homeless people in New York City. Surprise surprise most of the homeless are drug addicts and criminals, and it's almost always their fault. The other book is about an anthropologist's studies in Mali in Western Africa. It is pretty sad at times, but it isn't groundbreaking at all, and I'm pretty sure the anthropologist was just wasting her time. I wouldn't recommend these books to anyone unless they are taking ANT 111.

367 points, and 454 points

Please don't delete my comments. They're just as relevant as all of yours.

Gully Foyle is my name, Terra is my Nation, Deep space is my dwelling place...

My Sunday and the better part of today I was cramming to finish The Stars My Destination for my science fiction class by 3:30pm today. After we all get into class our professor gets up silently and writes on the whiteboard "Sept. 27th-The Stars My Destination." Needless to say, I along with half the class, was significantly annoyed. If I hadn't enjoyed the book so much I would have been livid.

This Alfred Bester novel tells frantic and vengeful tale of Gully Foyle, a "common man" who was stranded in space. He manages to make it back to Terra(Earth), after serious damage had been inflicted onto him. It is here that he begins his long and action filled plot for revenge. The story follows his search for the parties responsible for his situation and is filled with twists and turns. As I was reading this, all I could think was "this would make an amazing movie." The novel takes place in the future when humans have discovered and pervasively use the method of "Jaunting". Which loosely is the transportation of yourself to another location through the use of thinking. Furthermore, the inner planets (mars, terra, the moon, and venus) are at war with the outer planets(3 of the moons of jupiter, neptune, and 2 of saturn's moons).

It is so action packed that you don't want to stop reading. You can really feel the pressure rising throughout the progression of the novel. I really loved this book.

458 points
9.7/10

I'm gonna be that person....

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.... Had to reread it before Nov. 19. This really doesn't have to count, I guess, but it's all I've read lately.

Points: 959
Rating: 1000000/10

Behind the scences with a real-life Sugar Plum Fairy

Usually when I'm bored at work, I draw on post-it notes, try on the belly dancing costumes, or take a nap on the floor. But lately, I've been reading one of the ballet books we have laying around that no one will ever actually buy. It's called Winter Season, by Toni Bentley, a dancer I have for sure never heard of. But she danced for years for the New York City Ballet, under George Balanchine, and the book was an interesting look into the life of a prima ballerina.

Basically, their days seem to be spent as such:
Morning: wake up, massage injured feet, drink coffee, take class
Afternoon: take another class, rehearse ballet, dance through the excruciating pain, drink Coke
Evening: nibble on a salad, or maybe some fish, drink Coke, perform

Basically the opposite of how I want to spend my days....but still, somehow I found it really interesting.

Or at least better than rearranging the racks of leotards so that all the hangars face the same way.


8/10
350 points

Brave New World

I'm not sure why this book took me soo long to get through, but I'm happy to finally be done with it. Overall, I think Huxley's vision of the future is compelling, especially when you consider that this book was written in the 1930's. Many aspects of the futuristic society that he writes about are still a possible future reality for mankind. If it's becoming legal to genetically modify and market salmon, how much longer until we are doing it with humans, too? Where will we stop?

My biggest complaint is the ending... which I won't spoil in case anyone wants to read the book, but I do hope that in reality, opposition to the "controllers" won't be met with despair and failure. This ended the book on a rather depressing note- and gave me a feeling of hopelessness, which I didn't appreciate.

But I won't let it get me down too much. Let's all go live in the woods!

7.5/10

459 points

Be Scared of My Impending Comeback

Beasts

For my science fiction class this semester I just finished The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. The story is narrated by a scientist who comes to find himself stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean. This island is none other than Dr. Moreau's, the infamous vivisector of London. Basically, all hell breaks lose when Dr. Moreau's beasts (animals physiologically reshaped and combined with other animals in order to resemble humans) revert back to their animalistic nature. Overall, the novel is quite slow to start, and somewhat difficult to read based on the older language. The middle/ending of the book is better, with more action.

4.8/10

304 Points

When you get married in Vegas, you're only married in Vegas!

I took way too long to finally get to Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich... I liked the movie version, 21, but mostly because of the BU references, and Vegas is just cool. The book not only lacks Jim Sturgess playing Kevin, an MIT math genius who joins a card counting team to spice up his monotonous life at the bio lab, but it also wasn't very different from any other Vegas story. I guess if I had read this before the movie, I would have liked it a lot more, and I wouldn't have gotten so sick of the reappearing threatening men in suits in every chapter. Plus all I kept thinking about while reading this was the stupid trailer for The Social Network, the next based-on-real-life story of Boston brainiacs getting over their heads while trying to be cool and make some quick cash.

5.5/10
445 points

Bert and I Have The Same Problem Reading Books.

Ernie just won't stop laughing.

Socrates meets Dr. Dolittle

I just finished the book Ishmael written by Daniel Quinn. Being a biology major, with a strong inclination for ecology and anthropology, I loved this novel. Quinn, through a Socratic style of teacher-pupil dialogue discusses ultimately the history the world and life and their fates. To give away Ishmael's points, or to touch upon his messages here briefly would be a disservice to the novel and to any of its future readers. Just as the pupil had to be led through the discussion so too must the reader, if the message is to have any lasting effect.

Initially I find the material discussed slightly haunting. The anonymous protagonist is left with a daunting task that resonates with the reader's own sense of burden. There is, at least for me, an urge to change for the better after finishing this book. In the back of my mind, however, remains doubt to the feasibility (or meaningful impact for that matter) of such a task.

I consider this book one of the best I have read in a very long time, and will suggest it to anyone. There is no one type of person that should read this novel, rather, everyone should.

9.4/10
463 points

I READ THIS BLOG.

That will be 409 points for me.

And 600 points from Gryffindor.

JULIA CHILD

Bon Appétit!

My Life in France, by Julia Child, is a book I've been meaning to read for about a year now. When I re-discovered it while cleaning my room, I finally gave it the attention it deserved. This book isn't for everyone; only the true foodies at heart can really appreciate her many detailed accounts of preparing poached fish in yet another type of butter sauce. But even though poached fish may not be my meal of choice, I was hooked. Her bursting passion and love for food and cooking was so relatable to me, I read some passages and felt like I could have written them myself. I was so inspired after finishing the book that I kind of got a little stressed out because I didn't know where to begin. Buy all of her cookbooks and immediately begin to master the art of French cooking myself? Re-watch Julie and Julia? Go to the market and get a freshly killed goose and learn how to stuff it with lemon and herbs??? Um. Well, no.

But I will continue to push myself in the kitchen, trying new recipes and practicing for my TV show (it could happen, ok?). Shopping at the market and eating fresh, yummy food. And who knows, maybe one of these days I will get around to that goose. Maybe.

96/100

502 points.

Into the Beautiful North

I've been obsessed with Weeds lately, so when I opened a package at work and found Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea, I was really excited. Basically, the book is about a girl living in Mexico whose father has left to live in the United States, and the rest of the men in her town follow until the only men left are old or, in the case of this one character Tacho, gay. She decides to cross the border and find some new Mexican men to procreate with and who are strong enough to come back and protect the town from bandidos- the drug dealers and such.

I really loved the characters of this book, and the story was interesting, especially considering the issue of illegal immigration and all that. It was cool to read from the point of view of the immigrants, even though it was fiction. It had random funny moments too, although they were hard to catch because not all the Spanish was translated (although I did learn some good swear words). I give it 4/5 (or 80/100 for Matt).

538 points.

And why am I no longer an admin?

The New Man In Charge

http://www.totaleclips.com/player/Splash.aspx?custid=907&clipid=e71656&playerid=69&affiliateid=-1&bitrateid=378&formatid=10

3.14159265

I read Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, yesterday, a good way to spend 1o hours on a bus to New York City and back in one day. The beginning of this book is all about animals and zoos. For those of you who know me well.... you know that I hate zoos. Life of Pi made me question that hatred. I'm not about to skip downtown to start visiting the lions and tigers and bears oh my, but maybe in the future I'll be more open to going... especially if it's for Brew at the Zoo.

Anyways, I really related well to this book because as Pi was suffering on his lifeboat, starving, wet, and at the brink of death, I was sitting on a bus with an air conditioner so cold that I could hardly move my hand to turn the page. When we stopped on the way home to get food, I was shivering from head to toe, teeth chattering, and holding a cup of soup in my hand, feeling like I just survived a storm in the Pacific Ocean myself. This really brought the reading experience to a personal level. [Side note: I don't like air conditioning. It's summer. IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE HOT.]

Overall, I liked this book a lot and if we are going to start a rating system, I'll give this book a 4/5.

526 points.

Happy birthday Matt Roosa

Also, can we have a rating system for the books?

Mark It Zero

I just read a restaurant menu. 202 POINTS.

First Book

I just finished my first book of the challenge, Screwjack by Hunter S. Thompson. It is an collection of short stories (3 in total) that build in intensity as you progress. I haven't read anything by Thompson before but this collection makes me want to try some of his other works... 259 points.