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16 <h1>A Not So Fancy Listing of Books
</h1>
17 <div class=
"contents">
20 <a href=
"#sec1">Douglas Adams
</a>
25 <a href=
"#sec2">Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (collected)
</a>
28 <a href=
"#sec3">The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
</a>
33 <a href=
"#sec4">Aeschylus
</a>
38 <a href=
"#sec5">Oresteia
</a>
41 <a href=
"#sec6">Prometheus Bound
</a>
44 <a href=
"#sec7">The Persians
</a>
49 <a href=
"#sec8">John Allison
</a>
54 <a href=
"#sec9">Looks, Brains and Everything
</a>
57 <a href=
"#sec10">Blame the Sky
</a>
60 <a href=
"#sec11">Skellington
</a>
63 <a href=
"#sec12">The Retribution Index
</a>
66 <a href=
"#sec13">Great Aches
</a>
69 <a href=
"#sec14">Ahoy Hoy!
</a>
72 <a href=
"#sec15">Heavy Metal Hearts and Flowers
</a>
75 <a href=
"#sec16">Ghosts
</a>
80 <a href=
"#sec17">Anonymous
</a>
85 <a href=
"#sec18">Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
</a>
90 <a href=
"#sec19">Aristophanes
</a>
95 <a href=
"#sec20">The Frogs
</a>
98 <a href=
"#sec21">The Clouds
</a>
101 <a href=
"#sec22">Ecclesiazusae
</a>
106 <a href=
"#sec23">Aristotle
</a>
111 <a href=
"#sec24">Ethics
</a>
114 <a href=
"#sec25">Categories
</a>
117 <a href=
"#sec26">Poetics
</a>
120 <a href=
"#sec27">Rhetoric
</a>
125 <a href=
"#sec28">Marcus Aurelius
</a>
130 <a href=
"#sec29">Meditations
</a>
135 <a href=
"#sec30">William Blake
</a>
140 <a href=
"#sec31">The Four Zoas
</a>
143 <a href=
"#sec32">Jerusalem
</a>
148 <a href=
"#sec33">Mike Carey
</a>
153 <a href=
"#sec34">Lucifer (series)
</a>
158 <a href=
"#sec35">Confucius
</a>
163 <a href=
"#sec36">Analects
</a>
168 <a href=
"#sec37">Neil Gaiman
</a>
173 <a href=
"#sec38">The Sandman (series)
</a>
176 <a href=
"#sec39">Good Omens
</a>
181 <a href=
"#sec40">John Taylor Gatto
</a>
186 <a href=
"#sec41">Underground History of American Education
</a>
191 <a href=
"#sec42">Kahlil Gibran
</a>
196 <a href=
"#sec43">A Tear and a Smile
</a>
199 <a href=
"#sec44">The Prophet
</a>
202 <a href=
"#sec45">Sand and Foam
</a>
205 <a href=
"#sec46">The Madman
</a>
210 <a href=
"#sec47">Homer
</a>
215 <a href=
"#sec48">The Odyssey
</a>
220 <a href=
"#sec49">Aldous Huxley
</a>
225 <a href=
"#sec50">The Doors of Perception
</a>
228 <a href=
"#sec51">Heaven and Hell
</a>
231 <a href=
"#sec52">Brave New World
</a>
236 <a href=
"#sec53">William James
</a>
241 <a href=
"#sec54">The Varieties of Religious Experience
</a>
244 <a href=
"#sec55">The PhD Octopus
</a>
249 <a href=
"#sec56">Henry James
</a>
254 <a href=
"#sec57">The Altar of the Dead
</a>
259 <a href=
"#sec58">Gregor Kiczales
</a>
264 <a href=
"#sec59">The Art of the Metaobject Protocol
</a>
269 <a href=
"#sec60">Søren Kierkegaard
</a>
274 <a href=
"#sec61">Sickness Unto Death
</a>
277 <a href=
"#sec62">Either/Or
</a>
280 <a href=
"#sec63">Fear and Trembling
</a>
283 <a href=
"#sec64">Repetition
</a>
288 <a href=
"#sec65">Alisa Kwitney
</a>
293 <a href=
"#sec66">Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold
</a>
298 <a href=
"#sec67">David Lamkins
</a>
303 <a href=
"#sec68">Successful Lisp
</a>
308 <a href=
"#sec69">Mencius
</a>
313 <a href=
"#sec70">Mencius
</a>
318 <a href=
"#sec71">Walter Miller
</a>
323 <a href=
"#sec72">A Canticle for Leibowitz
</a>
328 <a href=
"#sec73">John Milton
</a>
333 <a href=
"#sec74">Paradise Lost
</a>
338 <a href=
"#sec75">Alan Moore
</a>
343 <a href=
"#sec76">Watchmen
</a>
346 <a href=
"#sec77">V for Vendetta
</a>
351 <a href=
"#sec78">Thomas More
</a>
356 <a href=
"#sec79">Utopia
</a>
361 <a href=
"#sec80">Friedrich Nietzsche
</a>
366 <a href=
"#sec81">Thus Spoke Zarathustra
</a>
369 <a href=
"#sec82">Beyond Good and Evil
</a>
372 <a href=
"#sec83">On the Geneaology of Morals
</a>
375 <a href=
"#sec84">Ecce Homo
</a>
380 <a href=
"#sec85">George Orwell
</a>
385 <a href=
"#sec86">1984</a>
388 <a href=
"#sec87">Animal Farm
</a>
393 <a href=
"#sec88">Plato
</a>
398 <a href=
"#sec89">Symposium
</a>
401 <a href=
"#sec90">Euthyphro
</a>
404 <a href=
"#sec91">Apology
</a>
407 <a href=
"#sec92">Crito
</a>
410 <a href=
"#sec93">Phaedo
</a>
413 <a href=
"#sec94">Protagoras
</a>
418 <a href=
"#sec95">Luke Rhinehardt
</a>
423 <a href=
"#sec96">The Dice Man
</a>
428 <a href=
"#sec97">Neal Stephenson
</a>
433 <a href=
"#sec98">Snow Crash
</a>
436 <a href=
"#sec99">Cryptonomicon
</a>
441 <a href=
"#sec100">Bjarne Stroustrup
</a>
446 <a href=
"#sec101">The C++ Programming Language (
3rd edition)
</a>
451 <a href=
"#sec102">JRR Tolkien
</a>
456 <a href=
"#sec103">The Lord of the Rings
</a>
459 <a href=
"#sec104">The Silmarillion
</a>
462 <a href=
"#sec105">The Lost Tales
</a>
467 <a href=
"#sec106">Kurt Vonnegut
</a>
472 <a href=
"#sec107">Cat's Cradle
</a>
477 <a href=
"#sec108">H.G. Wells
</a>
482 <a href=
"#sec109">The Island of Dr Moreau
</a>
487 <a href=
"#sec110">Yevgeny Zamyatin
</a>
492 <a href=
"#sec111">We
</a>
500 <!-- Page published by Emacs Muse begins here --><h2><a name=
"sec1" id=
"sec1"></a>
505 <h3><a name=
"sec2" id=
"sec2"></a>
506 Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (collected)
</h3>
508 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
514 <h3><a name=
"sec3" id=
"sec3"></a>
515 The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
</h3>
517 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••••
</span> (
6) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
524 <h2><a name=
"sec4" id=
"sec4"></a>
529 <h3><a name=
"sec5" id=
"sec5"></a>
532 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
538 <h3><a name=
"sec6" id=
"sec6"></a>
539 Prometheus Bound
</h3>
541 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•
</span> (
9) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
547 <h3><a name=
"sec7" id=
"sec7"></a>
550 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
557 <h2><a name=
"sec8" id=
"sec8"></a>
560 <p class=
"first">The author of the rather amazing
<a href=
"http://scarygoround.com">Scary Go Round
</a>.
561 I highly recommend procuring the printed collections; the printing
562 quality is superb (full color on glossy paper), and the long story
563 arcs are much easier to read.
</p>
565 <h3><a name=
"sec9" id=
"sec9"></a>
566 Looks, Brains and Everything
</h3>
568 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
574 <h3><a name=
"sec10" id=
"sec10"></a>
577 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
583 <h3><a name=
"sec11" id=
"sec11"></a>
586 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
592 <h3><a name=
"sec12" id=
"sec12"></a>
593 The Retribution Index
</h3>
595 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
601 <h3><a name=
"sec13" id=
"sec13"></a>
604 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
610 <h3><a name=
"sec14" id=
"sec14"></a>
613 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
619 <h3><a name=
"sec15" id=
"sec15"></a>
620 Heavy Metal Hearts and Flowers
</h3>
622 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
628 <h3><a name=
"sec16" id=
"sec16"></a>
631 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
638 <h2><a name=
"sec17" id=
"sec17"></a>
643 <h3><a name=
"sec18" id=
"sec18"></a>
644 Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
</h3>
646 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
653 <h2><a name=
"sec19" id=
"sec19"></a>
658 <h3><a name=
"sec20" id=
"sec20"></a>
661 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
667 <h3><a name=
"sec21" id=
"sec21"></a>
670 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
676 <h3><a name=
"sec22" id=
"sec22"></a>
679 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
686 <h2><a name=
"sec23" id=
"sec23"></a>
691 <h3><a name=
"sec24" id=
"sec24"></a>
694 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
700 <h3><a name=
"sec25" id=
"sec25"></a>
703 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
709 <h3><a name=
"sec26" id=
"sec26"></a>
712 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
718 <h3><a name=
"sec27" id=
"sec27"></a>
721 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
728 <h2><a name=
"sec28" id=
"sec28"></a>
733 <h3><a name=
"sec29" id=
"sec29"></a>
736 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••••••
</span> (
4) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
738 <p>At the time, I enjoyed reading this collection of meditations on
739 Stoic philosophy, and it was a fairly quick read (fifteen minutes a
740 day over the course of two weeks for me). Nowadays I've read
741 Epictetus, and I suggest reading his
<em>Discourses
</em> instead.
</p>
746 <h2><a name=
"sec30" id=
"sec30"></a>
749 <p class=
"first">Blake is my
<a href=
"William%20Blake.html">favorite
</a> of the English poets. His
750 unique use of relief etching and watercoloring makes for very
751 interesting Illuminated works. There is a very high quality
752 <a href=
"http://blakearchive.org">complete archive of Blake's works
</a> online
753 with high resolution plate scans and full transcriptions among other
756 <h3><a name=
"sec31" id=
"sec31"></a>
759 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
761 <p>The unfinished manuscript of Blake's longest apocalypse. The
762 Four Zoas divide from Albion and rage through the ages of dismal woe
763 to bring about the end of the cycle of Ulro and restore the cycle of
768 <h3><a name=
"sec32" id=
"sec32"></a>
771 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
773 <p>The finest of Blake's Illuminated works.
</p>
778 <h2><a name=
"sec33" id=
"sec33"></a>
783 <h3><a name=
"sec34" id=
"sec34"></a>
784 Lucifer (series)
</h3>
786 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••••
</span> (
6) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
788 <p>Of the
<em>Sandman
</em> spinoffs,
<em>Lucifer
</em> stands out as the best for
789 the first half, but then the writer appears to take on far too great a
790 task, and, with the introduction of some disagreeable character
791 relations, fails to execute the story as well as it could have
792 been. Still, it was worth reading to the end even though most of the
793 stories after issue
35 or so were merely ok. If you like Kierkegaard I
794 suggest issues
2,
3, and
62—they show the form of the incommensurable
795 relation of the single individual to the absolute perfectly.
</p>
800 <h2><a name=
"sec35" id=
"sec35"></a>
805 <h3><a name=
"sec36" id=
"sec36"></a>
808 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
815 <h2><a name=
"sec37" id=
"sec37"></a>
820 <h3><a name=
"sec38" id=
"sec38"></a>
821 The Sandman (series)
</h3>
823 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
825 <p>Perhaps the best comic book series of all time; I would say
<em>The
826 Sandman
</em> as a whole ranks higher than anything even Alan Moore has
831 <h3><a name=
"sec39" id=
"sec39"></a>
834 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
836 <p>A friend of a friend decided one evening that I needed to read
837 so-called
<em>normal people books
</em>, and so she lent me
<em>Good Omens
</em>. It
838 was an enjoyable read and unearthed vague memories of comic book
839 magazines I read when I was small and the name
<em>Sandman
</em>; thus through
840 one book I found something far greater.
</p>
845 <h2><a name=
"sec40" id=
"sec40"></a>
846 John Taylor Gatto
</h2>
848 <p class=
"first">Former teacher and now author-activist.
</p>
850 <h3><a name=
"sec41" id=
"sec41"></a>
851 Underground History of American Education
</h3>
853 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•
</span> (
9) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
855 <p>An interesting
<em>underground
</em> history of the American education
857 <a href=
"http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/">online for free
</a>.
</p>
862 <h2><a name=
"sec42" id=
"sec42"></a>
865 <p class=
"first">Kahlil Gibran is fairly interesting; his earlier works do not
866 agree with my æsthetic sense (blah blah), but
<em>The Madman
</em> onward are
867 all rather nice. A few of his works are
868 <a href=
"http://leb.net/~mira/">online
</a>, but I recommend scouting used book
869 stores for old hardcover editions. The (late
90s onward at least)
870 <em>hardcover
</em> versions from
<em>Alfred A. Knopf
</em> are in fact permabound
871 paperbacks with a hardcasing, and are of seriously inferior quality to
872 the editions from the
50s and
60s (and cost quite a bit more,
875 <h3><a name=
"sec43" id=
"sec43"></a>
876 A Tear and a Smile
</h3>
878 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••••••
</span> (
3) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
880 <p>One of Kahlil Gibran's earlier works, I did not much like
<em>A
881 Tear and a Smile
</em> excepting the last poem (
"A Poet's Voice
").
</p>
885 <h3><a name=
"sec44" id=
"sec44"></a>
888 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•
</span> (
9) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
894 <h3><a name=
"sec45" id=
"sec45"></a>
897 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••
</span> (
7) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
899 <p>An interesting little book of aphorisms.
</p>
903 <h3><a name=
"sec46" id=
"sec46"></a>
906 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
913 <h2><a name=
"sec47" id=
"sec47"></a>
918 <h3><a name=
"sec48" id=
"sec48"></a>
921 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
928 <h2><a name=
"sec49" id=
"sec49"></a>
931 <p class=
"first">Perhaps the most overrated modern writer. Other people have written
932 everything he has to write better and many years before he got around
935 <h3><a name=
"sec50" id=
"sec50"></a>
936 The Doors of Perception
</h3>
938 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> </span><span class=
"rating-bad">••••••••••
</span> (
0) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
940 <p>Huxley stains the name of Blake by naming this horrible
941 pseudo-scientific and pseudo-poetic essay after a line from
<em>The
942 Marriage of Heaven and Hell
</em>. Subjectivity and objectivity are
943 incommensurable; his attempt and being subjectively objective is
944 utterly worthless.
</p>
948 <h3><a name=
"sec51" id=
"sec51"></a>
951 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> </span><span class=
"rating-bad">••••••••••
</span> (
0) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
953 <p>Blah blah LSD blah blah Mushrooms blah blah Peyote blah blah I'm
954 Aldous Huxley I'm a pretentious jerk. Don't bother.
</p>
958 <h3><a name=
"sec52" id=
"sec52"></a>
961 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••
</span> (
7) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
963 <p>A nice light read; the story is obvious and by the hundreth page
964 the ending is clear, but it provided a bit of a break from heavier
965 reading for me. I must say that anyone who has read
<em>Brave New World
</em>
966 and does not despise modern society has the intellectual capacity of
967 an
<em>Epsilon
</em>.
<em>1984</em> is perhaps easily misread, but
<em>Brave New World
</em>
968 is very clear with its message and is a bit like being smacked upside
969 the head with a hammer.
</p>
974 <h2><a name=
"sec53" id=
"sec53"></a>
979 <h3><a name=
"sec54" id=
"sec54"></a>
980 The Varieties of Religious Experience
</h3>
982 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••
</span> (
7) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
984 <p><a href=
"William%20James%20-%20The%20Varieties%20of%20Religious%20Experience.html">A partially finished extended summary
</a></p>
988 <h3><a name=
"sec55" id=
"sec55"></a>
991 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
995 America is thus as a nation rapidly drifting towards a state of things
996 in which no man of science or letters will be accounted respectable
997 unless some kind of badge or diploma is stamped upon him, and in which
998 bare personality will be a mark of outcast estate. It seems to me high
999 time to rouse ourselves to consciousness, and to cast a critical eye
1000 upon this decidedly grotesque tendency. Other nations suffer terribly
1001 from the Mandarin disease. Are we doomed to suffer like the rest?
</p>
1005 <p><a href=
"William%20James%20-%20The%20PhD%20Octopus.html">Full Text
</a></p>
1010 <h2><a name=
"sec56" id=
"sec56"></a>
1013 <p class=
"first">The novelist brother of William James; I've not read many (read:
1014 one) of his books, but what I did was decent.
</p>
1016 <h3><a name=
"sec57" id=
"sec57"></a>
1017 The Altar of the Dead
</h3>
1019 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••
</span> (
7) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1021 <p>A short novella about a man who maintained an altar in a church
1022 for all of his lost loved ones on the surface, but something a bit
1028 <h2><a name=
"sec58" id=
"sec58"></a>
1029 Gregor Kiczales
</h2>
1033 <h3><a name=
"sec59" id=
"sec59"></a>
1034 The Art of the Metaobject Protocol
</h3>
1036 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1038 <p>AMOP is useful as a reference to the CLOS MOP (although less so with
1039 the online MOP spec), but the true value of the book lies in the first
1040 half of the book. It presents the design of the CLOS MOP through a
1041 series of revisions that fix limitations of earlier implementations
1042 and gradually work toward a generic and well designed MOP for
1043 CLOS. Through that process one is made more aware of a few general
1044 object protocol design skills, and gains insight into how to cleanly
1045 make mapping decisions customizable.
</p>
1050 <h2><a name=
"sec60" id=
"sec60"></a>
1051 Søren Kierkegaard
</h2>
1053 <p class=
"first">Kierkegaard was a master of style and philosophy; his writing is
1054 interesting even if one finds the theistic extentialism espoused
1057 <h3><a name=
"sec61" id=
"sec61"></a>
1058 Sickness Unto Death
</h3>
1060 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1062 <p>I purchased this when I was looking through books at a store after
1063 being unable to find the book I really wanted, and I must say that it
1064 was better for me to have found this one.
</p>
1066 <p>Contained within is a beautiful analysis of despair in the context of
1067 Christianity (really theism in general). Even if the argument offends,
1068 the presentation cannot. The dialectical nature of despair is
1069 reflected in every aspect of the work, and the method of presentation
1070 forces reflection.
</p>
1074 <h3><a name=
"sec62" id=
"sec62"></a>
1077 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1079 <p>Composed of two portions,
<em>Either/Or
</em> is a rather lengthy but
1080 rewarding read. The first book is a series of essays and a diary of a
1081 young esthetician; the second is a pair of long letters from an older
1082 ethicist friend to this esthetician. You are then left to resolve the
1083 conflict between the views.
</p>
1087 <h3><a name=
"sec63" id=
"sec63"></a>
1088 Fear and Trembling
</h3>
1090 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1092 <p>An interesting dialectical lyric contrasting Despair and Faith.
</p>
1096 <h3><a name=
"sec64" id=
"sec64"></a>
1099 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1101 <p>He who despairs of esthetic repetition gets none; he who despairs
1102 of ethical repetition receieves the esthetic. Is it true then that no
1103 repetition exists? Is transition all one can hope for?
</p>
1108 <h2><a name=
"sec65" id=
"sec65"></a>
1113 <h3><a name=
"sec66" id=
"sec66"></a>
1114 Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold
</h3>
1116 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1123 <h2><a name=
"sec67" id=
"sec67"></a>
1128 <h3><a name=
"sec68" id=
"sec68"></a>
1129 Successful Lisp
</h3>
1131 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1133 <p>After learning Scheme, I read
<em>Successful Lisp
</em> and was able to
1134 pick up Common Lisp fairly easily.
</p>
1139 <h2><a name=
"sec69" id=
"sec69"></a>
1144 <h3><a name=
"sec70" id=
"sec70"></a>
1147 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1154 <h2><a name=
"sec71" id=
"sec71"></a>
1159 <h3><a name=
"sec72" id=
"sec72"></a>
1160 A Canticle for Leibowitz
</h3>
1162 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1169 <h2><a name=
"sec73" id=
"sec73"></a>
1174 <h3><a name=
"sec74" id=
"sec74"></a>
1177 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1184 <h2><a name=
"sec75" id=
"sec75"></a>
1189 <h3><a name=
"sec76" id=
"sec76"></a>
1192 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1198 <h3><a name=
"sec77" id=
"sec77"></a>
1201 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1208 <h2><a name=
"sec78" id=
"sec78"></a>
1213 <h3><a name=
"sec79" id=
"sec79"></a>
1216 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••
</span> (
7) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1218 <p>I read most of Utopia in high school with the TI-
89 ebook reader, but
1219 the way the book was split up made it a bit difficult to grasp the
1220 overall structure. I found a copy at a used book store one day, and so
1221 I read it again, and found it much more comprehensible. It is a quick
1222 read, and decent piece of literature. The interesting social system
1223 espoused resembles resembles state communism (even if perhaps as a
1224 negative ideal), but with an strange blend of
14th century European
1230 <h2><a name=
"sec80" id=
"sec80"></a>
1231 Friedrich Nietzsche
</h2>
1233 <p class=
"first">A bit acerbic and esoteric, Nietzsche is for me a good
<em>secular
</em>
1234 counterpart to Kierkegaard's theistic philosophy. Nietzsche's
1235 polemical works raise important questions for anyone who reads works
1236 on ethics. As such it is a shame that he has gotten a bad reputation
1237 by being read by far too many angsty teenagers who see (and relay)
1238 only Nietzsche the asshole rather than Nietzsche the master of the
1241 <h3><a name=
"sec81" id=
"sec81"></a>
1242 Thus Spoke Zarathustra
</h3>
1244 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1246 <p>A masterpiece of indirect communication depsite the occasional
1247 flaw and overly dramatic passage. Certainly a book worth reading many
1248 times over the course of one's life.
</p>
1252 <h3><a name=
"sec82" id=
"sec82"></a>
1253 Beyond Good and Evil
</h3>
1255 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1257 <p>A somewhat more comprehensible, if a bit less aesthetically
1258 pleasing, presentation of much of the philosophy found in
<em>Thus Spoke
1259 Zarathustra
</em> in the negative form. The final chapters are very
1260 important (not to detract from the value of the rest of the work) if
1261 one wishes to understand
<em>On the Genealogy of Morals
</em>.
</p>
1265 <h3><a name=
"sec83" id=
"sec83"></a>
1266 On the Geneaology of Morals
</h3>
1268 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•
</span> (
9) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1270 <p><em>On the Geneaology of Morals
</em> is a wonderful book of three
1271 polemical essays on the origin of moral/ethical valuations, and the
1272 blindness of modern philosphers whose very thinking is tainted by
1273 these valuations unknowingly.
</p>
1277 <h3><a name=
"sec84" id=
"sec84"></a>
1280 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••
</span> (
7) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1282 <p><em>Ecce Homo
</em> is Nietzsche's very strange autobiography and
1283 explanation of his own works. At points it is clear that it could have
1284 used a bit more editing (prevented by Nietzsche ... falling into a
1285 catatonic state and all), but is still a very useful book to read as
1286 Nietzsche explains the overall structure of his works.
</p>
1291 <h2><a name=
"sec85" id=
"sec85"></a>
1296 <h3><a name=
"sec86" id=
"sec86"></a>
1299 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1305 <h3><a name=
"sec87" id=
"sec87"></a>
1308 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
1315 <h2><a name=
"sec88" id=
"sec88"></a>
1320 <h3><a name=
"sec89" id=
"sec89"></a>
1323 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
1329 <h3><a name=
"sec90" id=
"sec90"></a>
1332 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
1338 <h3><a name=
"sec91" id=
"sec91"></a>
1341 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1347 <h3><a name=
"sec92" id=
"sec92"></a>
1350 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
1356 <h3><a name=
"sec93" id=
"sec93"></a>
1359 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1365 <h3><a name=
"sec94" id=
"sec94"></a>
1368 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
1375 <h2><a name=
"sec95" id=
"sec95"></a>
1376 Luke Rhinehardt
</h2>
1380 <h3><a name=
"sec96" id=
"sec96"></a>
1383 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••
</span> (
7) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1387 And it's his illusions about what
1388 constitutes the real world which are
1390 His reality, his reason, his society
1391 ...these are what must be destroyed
</p>
1395 <p>A quotation from one of my
<a href=
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughter_of_the_Soul">favorite metal songs
</a> inspired me to grab
1396 this book; at worst it would be a waste of time. Much reward was found
1397 in this random stab in the dark. The book is framed as an
1398 autobiography of the author as a psychoanalyst, and his progression
1399 through life as a Dice Man after deciding to live his life through
1402 <p>The style, plot, and content are equally neurotic; part comedy, part
1403 attack on psychoanalysis, and part deep philosophy. It was often
1404 difficult to put down, and was read in under a week of spare time.
</p>
1409 <h2><a name=
"sec97" id=
"sec97"></a>
1410 Neal Stephenson
</h2>
1414 <h3><a name=
"sec98" id=
"sec98"></a>
1417 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•
</span> (
9) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1419 <p>As one must read the
<em>Bible
</em> to understand English literature, so one
1420 must read
<em>Snow Crash
</em> today to be a nerd. In the realm of modern pop
1421 fiction this is one of the better books I've read; it was devoured in
1422 a mere four nights. Neal Stepheson may not be Milton, but he does come
1423 up with enganging tales.
<em>Snow Crash
</em> has a nice undertone of (quite
1424 accurate) political and social commentary that makes it worth reading
1425 as more than mere cyberpunk fiction.
</p>
1429 <h3><a name=
"sec99" id=
"sec99"></a>
1432 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">••
</span> (
8) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1434 <p>I read
<em>Cryptonomicon
</em> when it was new, and at the time I thought it was
1435 good. It could have lost a hundred or so pages without detracting from
1436 the plot, but it was easy reading and didn't take very long to
1437 finish. The story was enganging, and the continual switching between
1438 the
1940s and present day slowly unravelled the tale in a nice way.
</p>
1440 <p>I'd still have to recommend
<em>Snow Crash
</em> if one wished to read only one
1441 Stephenson novel.
</p>
1446 <h2><a name=
"sec100" id=
"sec100"></a>
1447 Bjarne Stroustrup
</h2>
1451 <h3><a name=
"sec101" id=
"sec101"></a>
1452 The C++ Programming Language (
3rd edition)
</h3>
1454 <p><em>Nonfiction
</em></p>
1456 <p>Once upon a time I was fifteen and I read this book. It was more
1457 or less what taught me how to write programs just large enough to do
1458 useful things, and so shall forever be remembered by me. A year and a
1459 half later I stumbled upon a little language called Scheme and fell
1460 down the rabbit hole.
</p>
1465 <h2><a name=
"sec102" id=
"sec102"></a>
1470 <h3><a name=
"sec103" id=
"sec103"></a>
1471 The Lord of the Rings
</h3>
1473 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•
</span> (
9) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1479 <h3><a name=
"sec104" id=
"sec104"></a>
1480 The Silmarillion
</h3>
1482 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> ••••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad"> </span> (
10) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1488 <h3><a name=
"sec105" id=
"sec105"></a>
1491 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••
</span> (
7) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1498 <h2><a name=
"sec106" id=
"sec106"></a>
1503 <h3><a name=
"sec107" id=
"sec107"></a>
1506 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•
</span> (
9) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1508 <p>There are few books that I have started to read before sleeping
1509 and found myself watching the sun rise after finishing.
<em>Cat's Cradle
</em>
1510 is definitely required nerd reading.
</p>
1515 <h2><a name=
"sec108" id=
"sec108"></a>
1520 <h3><a name=
"sec109" id=
"sec109"></a>
1521 The Island of Dr Moreau
</h3>
1523 <p><em>Rating:
</em> <span class=
"rating-good"> •••••••
</span><span class=
"rating-bad">•••
</span> (
7) /
<em>Fiction
</em></p>
1530 <h2><a name=
"sec110" id=
"sec110"></a>
1531 Yevgeny Zamyatin
</h2>
1535 <h3><a name=
"sec111" id=
"sec111"></a>
1538 <p><em>Fiction
</em></p>
1542 <!-- Page published by Emacs Muse ends here -->
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"cke-buttons">
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1568 <p class=
"cke-footer">Lindsay (Carlton): should i eat more post its
1570 <p class=
"cke-timestamp">Last Modified:
1571 October
27,
2009</p>