Books - What are you reading?
Discussion
Desiderata said:
ZedLeg said:
Desiderata said:
Just picked up Voltaire's Candide to read at lunchtime this week. I didn't think I'd read it before but it seems vaguely familiar from the first few pages. Maybe it was forced on me at school and I did the bare minimum.
I'm not normally a fan of books that old but I really enjoyed Candide.Not at all like an eighteenth century piece of French literature, closer to Terry Pratchett in style than anything else.
Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. I'm about half-way through and understand probably 1/3, intuit about a 1/3 and haven't a scooby on the rest but will take his word for it. As hard going as it is there is a parallel of interspersed dialogues which help lighten the mood and deftly & wittily explain/illustrate the broader points. There's no doubt this is a cleverly written book, obvs, and having read some of Hofstadter/Dennet before in essays which precis some of the ideas better I can just about keep a grasp. Phew.
"Through short stories, illustrations, and analysis, the book discusses how systems can acquire meaningful context despite being made of "meaningless" elements. It also discusses self-reference and formal rules, isomorphism, what it means to communicate, how knowledge can be represented and stored, the methods and limitations of symbolic representation, and even the fundamental notion of "meaning" itself."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_...
[I got an old first edition as it's super well laid out, as deserved].
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom is a must read for those interested in the potential of AI [AGI/ASI more specifically]. It outlines very well the various aspects / dangers of a created superintelligence in a very accessible way. It's probably the 'go to' book on the subject for good reason and the issues with most of the 'naïve solutions' are neatly explained.
The Self-Assembling Brain; how neural networks grow smarter by Peter Hiesinger is predominantly neurology-based but asks the question 'whether the structure of the human brain is a sufficient model for artificially intelligent neural networks' or 'how does a neural network become a brain?'. I've started it but want to finish GEB first as many of the topics overlap.
[Also lurking after these three are complete is The Cortex and the Critical Point; Understanding the power of emergence by Beggs but again this is more neurology based - and maybe a side-track given the above 3].
---
Also started the Tina Boyd series of books by Simon Kernick, more 'coincidental incidents/persons' than even the Tom Thorne series and so far [book #4] Boyd seems an almost incidental character sometimes. But, good airport/beach/idle reading for sure.
"Through short stories, illustrations, and analysis, the book discusses how systems can acquire meaningful context despite being made of "meaningless" elements. It also discusses self-reference and formal rules, isomorphism, what it means to communicate, how knowledge can be represented and stored, the methods and limitations of symbolic representation, and even the fundamental notion of "meaning" itself."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_...
[I got an old first edition as it's super well laid out, as deserved].
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom is a must read for those interested in the potential of AI [AGI/ASI more specifically]. It outlines very well the various aspects / dangers of a created superintelligence in a very accessible way. It's probably the 'go to' book on the subject for good reason and the issues with most of the 'naïve solutions' are neatly explained.
The Self-Assembling Brain; how neural networks grow smarter by Peter Hiesinger is predominantly neurology-based but asks the question 'whether the structure of the human brain is a sufficient model for artificially intelligent neural networks' or 'how does a neural network become a brain?'. I've started it but want to finish GEB first as many of the topics overlap.
[Also lurking after these three are complete is The Cortex and the Critical Point; Understanding the power of emergence by Beggs but again this is more neurology based - and maybe a side-track given the above 3].
---
Also started the Tina Boyd series of books by Simon Kernick, more 'coincidental incidents/persons' than even the Tom Thorne series and so far [book #4] Boyd seems an almost incidental character sometimes. But, good airport/beach/idle reading for sure.
Started reading Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer today. Felt really similar to another of his books, Borne but I didn’t realise until I looked it up that they’re set in the same place. Hard to describe the setting as it’s so fragmentary that world or universe doesn’t feel right.
I love it though. It’s an environment obliterated by a reckless company and biotech. Some parts seem to be earth but there are other dimensions and even weirder stuff.
Early days but I’m looking forward to getting into it.
I love it though. It’s an environment obliterated by a reckless company and biotech. Some parts seem to be earth but there are other dimensions and even weirder stuff.
Early days but I’m looking forward to getting into it.
Most cyberpunk would fit the bill if you're just looking for dystopia. Start with Altered Carbon (first in a futuristic series, excellent) or Snow Crash (near-future, stand alone, quirky, clever). Mindstar Rising series (not cyberpunk, but still dystopian near-future) by PFH also very good and easy to get into, and is very British for a change.
Alternatively, if you want real post-apocalyptic:-
- Set on Earth - Wool trilogy (dark, interesting), Girl With All the Gifts (enough said about this one, + prequel), I Am Legend, A Canticle for Liebowitz (last two older novels and stand-alone, so slightly different pace to them, but I Am Legend still holds up). Hell, The Stand is still gold-standard in this genre, or you could go to SK's Dark Tower series for something equally heavy and involved. Roadside Picnic also an odd but worthwhile read.
- Set off Earth, more sci-fi focused - Forge of God (+ sequel) or Children of Time (+ sequel). FoG has a hell of an opening act...
Edited by havoc on Wednesday 12th April 23:12
andy_s said:
Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. I'm about half-way through and understand probably 1/3, intuit about a 1/3 and haven't a scooby on the rest but will take his word for it. As hard going as it is there is a parallel of interspersed dialogues which help lighten the mood and deftly & wittily explain/illustrate the broader points. There's no doubt this is a cleverly written book, obvs, and having read some of Hofstadter/Dennet before in essays which precis some of the ideas better I can just about keep a grasp. Phew.
"Through short stories, illustrations, and analysis, the book discusses how systems can acquire meaningful context despite being made of "meaningless" elements. It also discusses self-reference and formal rules, isomorphism, what it means to communicate, how knowledge can be represented and stored, the methods and limitations of symbolic representation, and even the fundamental notion of "meaning" itself."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_...
[I got an old first edition as it's super well laid out, as deserved].
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom is a must read for those interested in the potential of AI [AGI/ASI more specifically]. It outlines very well the various aspects / dangers of a created superintelligence in a very accessible way. It's probably the 'go to' book on the subject for good reason and the issues with most of the 'naïve solutions' are neatly explained.
The Self-Assembling Brain; how neural networks grow smarter by Peter Hiesinger is predominantly neurology-based but asks the question 'whether the structure of the human brain is a sufficient model for artificially intelligent neural networks' or 'how does a neural network become a brain?'. I've started it but want to finish GEB first as many of the topics overlap.
[Also lurking after these three are complete is The Cortex and the Critical Point; Understanding the power of emergence by Beggs but again this is more neurology based - and maybe a side-track given the above 3].
---
Also started the Tina Boyd series of books by Simon Kernick, more 'coincidental incidents/persons' than even the Tom Thorne series and so far [book #4] Boyd seems an almost incidental character sometimes. But, good airport/beach/idle reading for sure.
i've read "i am a strange loop" by Douglas Hofstadter. It's certainly challenging."Through short stories, illustrations, and analysis, the book discusses how systems can acquire meaningful context despite being made of "meaningless" elements. It also discusses self-reference and formal rules, isomorphism, what it means to communicate, how knowledge can be represented and stored, the methods and limitations of symbolic representation, and even the fundamental notion of "meaning" itself."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_...
[I got an old first edition as it's super well laid out, as deserved].
Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom is a must read for those interested in the potential of AI [AGI/ASI more specifically]. It outlines very well the various aspects / dangers of a created superintelligence in a very accessible way. It's probably the 'go to' book on the subject for good reason and the issues with most of the 'naïve solutions' are neatly explained.
The Self-Assembling Brain; how neural networks grow smarter by Peter Hiesinger is predominantly neurology-based but asks the question 'whether the structure of the human brain is a sufficient model for artificially intelligent neural networks' or 'how does a neural network become a brain?'. I've started it but want to finish GEB first as many of the topics overlap.
[Also lurking after these three are complete is The Cortex and the Critical Point; Understanding the power of emergence by Beggs but again this is more neurology based - and maybe a side-track given the above 3].
---
Also started the Tina Boyd series of books by Simon Kernick, more 'coincidental incidents/persons' than even the Tom Thorne series and so far [book #4] Boyd seems an almost incidental character sometimes. But, good airport/beach/idle reading for sure.
Desiderata said:
Just picked up Voltaire's Candide to read at lunchtime this week. I didn't think I'd read it before but it seems vaguely familiar from the first few pages. Maybe it was forced on me at school and I did the bare minimum.
Thanks for the heads-up, I've added this to my list 
Ah , the best of all possible worlds ... I did this for French A Level in the Jurassic era and enjoyed it - a damn sight more than could be said for Moliere and bloody Tartuffe.
Messrs Bernstein and Sondheim did a terrific opera adaptation of Candide in the 80s which is still being performed .
Messrs Bernstein and Sondheim did a terrific opera adaptation of Candide in the 80s which is still being performed .
Just finished Becoming Superman by J Michael Straczynski. A chronicle of his early traumatic life as a child in near destitution with a scarcely believable dumpster fire of a family (father was a Nazi wannabe who was mascot for some of the occupying German troops who liked him enough to take him on Jew-killing appointments, mother was an underage prostitute wit big mental issues). I've heard that he can be difficult to work with and he himself acknowledges a total lack of people skills, but from his background just not being a total b
d would be an achievement.
The enjoyment increases severalfold as his career takes off and the anecdotes become funnier as he repeatedly builds a career from insane work rate and winging it until he gets a break, only to utterly torpedo everything over some ideological point. Repeatedly. After torching numerous careers along the way and incinerating his financial stability numerous times he manages to make it big in the end.
I'm a big Babylon 5 fan, which I still think holds up despite the CGI & occasional shonky script/character, but it might appeal to any creative who's bounced along the bottom for years. He's not especially self-critical and the Superman device is a bit jarring and a little sad when it returns near the end, I felt, but I'm certainly glad I read it. As you can imagine from Straczynski, there's a lot of Checkov's Gun throughout.
d would be an achievement. The enjoyment increases severalfold as his career takes off and the anecdotes become funnier as he repeatedly builds a career from insane work rate and winging it until he gets a break, only to utterly torpedo everything over some ideological point. Repeatedly. After torching numerous careers along the way and incinerating his financial stability numerous times he manages to make it big in the end.
I'm a big Babylon 5 fan, which I still think holds up despite the CGI & occasional shonky script/character, but it might appeal to any creative who's bounced along the bottom for years. He's not especially self-critical and the Superman device is a bit jarring and a little sad when it returns near the end, I felt, but I'm certainly glad I read it. As you can imagine from Straczynski, there's a lot of Checkov's Gun throughout.
Just finished City of Last Chances which is Adrian Tchaikovsky's latest fantasy effort. It's a bit over indulgent compared to a lot of his others and it feels like he's just introducing an enormous cast of characters for the sake of it for a lot of the first half. The last third is really excellent though as he gathers a lot of threads together. I think on balance I'd recommend it.
hairykrishna said:
Just finished City of Last Chances which is Adrian Tchaikovsky's latest fantasy effort. It's a bit over indulgent compared to a lot of his others and it feels like he's just introducing an enormous cast of characters for the sake of it for a lot of the first half. The last third is really excellent though as he gathers a lot of threads together. I think on balance I'd recommend it.
was good but took a good while to get goingfinished a few recently.....
"The Crocodile Hunter" by Gerald Seymour - a bit of a Slow Horses feel to this book. Unassuming, grey MI5 agent pursuing a potential terrorist bomber in the UK. Nothing earth shattering but I've always enjoyed Seymour's story telling and this was a decent read 3/5
"The Nowhere Man" by Gregg Hurwitz - second of the Orphan X (Evan Smoak) series and will probably be my last. The first book of the series was enjoyable enough - for me this was another level of ridiculous where he comes up against an uber-criminal and the violence and dialog are comedic at times. The problem for me is that the first book tried to actually flesh Evan Smoak out as a person which made it a bit more enjoyable - in this he's just a one dimensional killer. 2/5
"The Marriage Act" by John Marrs - interesting near future story where marriage is actively promoted through incentivisation by the goverment of the day and non-married citizens are treated as second class citizens. State monitoring and control of the population also play a part across several story arcs. All a bit over the top but ultimately a good read. 4/5
Looking for recommendations on decent fiction / non-fiction books on the 100 Years War if anyone has any suggestions...?
"The Crocodile Hunter" by Gerald Seymour - a bit of a Slow Horses feel to this book. Unassuming, grey MI5 agent pursuing a potential terrorist bomber in the UK. Nothing earth shattering but I've always enjoyed Seymour's story telling and this was a decent read 3/5
"The Nowhere Man" by Gregg Hurwitz - second of the Orphan X (Evan Smoak) series and will probably be my last. The first book of the series was enjoyable enough - for me this was another level of ridiculous where he comes up against an uber-criminal and the violence and dialog are comedic at times. The problem for me is that the first book tried to actually flesh Evan Smoak out as a person which made it a bit more enjoyable - in this he's just a one dimensional killer. 2/5
"The Marriage Act" by John Marrs - interesting near future story where marriage is actively promoted through incentivisation by the goverment of the day and non-married citizens are treated as second class citizens. State monitoring and control of the population also play a part across several story arcs. All a bit over the top but ultimately a good read. 4/5
Looking for recommendations on decent fiction / non-fiction books on the 100 Years War if anyone has any suggestions...?
towser said:
"The Crocodile Hunter" by Gerald Seymour - a bit of a Slow Horses feel to this book. Unassuming, grey MI5 agent pursuing a potential terrorist bomber in the UK. Nothing earth shattering but I've always enjoyed Seymour's story telling and this was a decent read 3/5
I recently read Foot Soldiers, another of his Jonas Merrick books, after picking it up at the airport knowing nothing about him.Very slow and dense like John Le Carre, I liked it but his style and lack of dialogue makes it a tough read sometimes for a spy novel
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