69 replies to this topic

[Angalin]

The only two I can think of right now are

I.O.U.: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay, by John Lanchester.  Iskaral, you might enjoy this one.

and

Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky, a history of the only rock we eat.

[Memory Lane]

Datepalm, on 08 October 2011 - 01:17 PM, said:

I kind of thought those two are contradictory, tbh, in essense if not in fine detail.

Not necessarily. Mann acknowledges the effects of not having metal tools, domesticable draft animals, and the like on the evolution of civilization in the Americas (although he thinks that disease played the biggest role in the European conquest - it's a big part of the sequel, 1493). Besides, I never said that I agreed entirely with Diamond's conclusions - his theory about why the Europeans industrialized and China didn't is nonsense, for example.

[Eyelesbarrow]

Iskaral Pust, on 07 October 2011 - 05:30 PM, said:

I've heard good things about Malcolm Gladwell but have not tried him yet.

Gladwell is fun, sometimes, and accessible. But there has been criticisms leveled against his writings: that he lifts ideas from researchers and repackages them as his own, that he fails to cite his sources. He's not my favorite New Yorker author (it's Sy Hersh) but I read him.

As to non-fiction I'm reading right now, a biography of Walker Evans, the Great Depression photographer, by Belinda Rathbone. I'm also reading bits and pieces of reporting by AJ Liebling, who, like Gladwell, was a New Yorker writer.

[Nukelavee]

The Arctic Grail, by Pierre Burton.  Great book about the searches for the Northwest Passage and North Pole.  It's beyond belief what some of these expeditions survived, up to 3 and 4 years trapped in ice, or on barren islands, and the sheer blindness of some explorers to what they faced.

[Datepalm]

The more I read about that whole Victorian exploration bug, the more they mostly seem like the reality tv contestants of the day, more than heroic scientists. (going where lots of other people who weren't white had gone before and then randomly killing them, yay). Fucking crazy, largely unqualified in any meaningful sense, and willing to do anything for fame and fortune. Entertaining reading though.

[wolverine]

My wife started reading recently and realized that she thinks she only likes nonfiction.  She is a Social Worker in child protection and likes the depressing shit like A child Called It and some long term kidnapping books.  Any recs?

Edited by wolverine, 12 October 2011 - 09:35 AM.

[haLobEnder]

I've read Outliers by Gladwell. Not bad, had some interesting information in it; I did get the impression however that it graised over any information that didn't fully support Gladwell's thesis --namely that practice and opportunity are much more of a factor in determining success than innate ability. Not saying I disagree with him, I just think he pained too clear-cut a picture.

David Grann's Lost City of Z and The Devil and Shirlock Holmes weren't too bad. I think I preferred the latter as it's composed of shorter articles/chapters on a variety of interesting subjects whereas The Lost City of Z, while interesting, seemed to drag on in parts.

My favourite non-fiction author though is probably Jon Ronson. Admittedly much of that is due to his work in documentry film and radio, but for me his work is just the right mixture of eccentric subject matter, skeptical detatchment and gonzo journalism. He wrote the book that inspired the movie The Men Who Stare at Goats, but don't hold that against him as the book was actually really good.

Edited by halO bendeR, 09 October 2011 - 10:35 PM.

[Nukelavee]

Datepalm - totally true.  But...the polar expeditions were fairly different in some ways.  For one...they didn't get to kill anyone.  There wasn't anyone else there.  A huge amount of teh work mapping the Canadian Arctic was actually accomplished, and a huge amount of that was done on the numerous "rescue Lord Franklin" missions.

Might not register, really, but the Franklin Expedition made Scott's disaster in teh Antarctic look like nothing.  2 RN ships, nearly 200 men -  trapped, on ship or in rock huts, for upwards of 4 years.  No survivors, no answers, in spite of dozens of ships searching over a 10year period.

[wolverine]

wolverine, on 09 October 2011 - 08:21 PM, said:

My wife started reading recently and realized that she thinks she only likes nonfiction.  She is a Social Worker in child protection and likes the depressing shit like A child Called It and some long term kidnapping books.  Any recs?

Apparently you guys like that crap as much as me.

[Eloisa]

wolverine, on 12 October 2011 - 09:36 AM, said:

Apparently you guys like that crap as much as me.

I get my depressing shit from history books.  Suggest she reads a nice cheery thing like http://www.amazon.co...18456586&sr=1-2 - kids with really bad stuff to deal with.

[Just a peasant]

Eloisa, on 12 October 2011 - 04:56 PM, said:

I get my depressing shit from history books.  Suggest she reads a nice cheery thing like http://www.amazon.co...18456586&sr=1-2 - kids with really bad stuff to deal with.

Then We wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families definitely fits this bill.

[Quoth]

Skallagrim, on 08 October 2009 - 09:00 AM, said:

Any book by Bill Bryson.  His books are truly hilarious and, at times, remarkably poignant.

Absolutely second this! Particularly "A Short History of Nearly Everything", which should be used as THE science text book in use in our schools if we actually wanted kids to, you know, learn anything. A seemingly impossible title to live up to and yet it fully delivers. Also "A Walk in the Woods" and "In a Sunburned Country" were fantastic.

Let me also suggest "Last Train from Hiroshima" by Charles Pellegrino.

[wolverine]

Eloisa, on 12 October 2011 - 04:56 PM, said:

I get my depressing shit from history books.  Suggest she reads a nice cheery thing like http://www.amazon.co...18456586&sr=1-2 - kids with really bad stuff to deal with.

Hmmm...sounds like something I would actually like to talk to her about while she is reading.  Much more so than the weird case of Elizabeth Smart or Jacey Dugard.

[Iskaral Pust]

Angalin, on 08 October 2011 - 10:24 PM, said:

The only two I can think of right now are

I.O.U.: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay, by John Lanchester.  Iskaral, you might enjoy this one.

Thanks Angalin, I'll check it out.

I read Gladwell's Outliers and Tipping Point just recently.  Entertaining and thought-provoking, but I completely agree with the weaknesses mentioned in this thread about the substance of his work.

I have Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow near the top of my pile.  And Keynes vs. Hayek by someone whose name escapes me.

[Sheep the Evicted]

Quoth, on 13 October 2011 - 10:04 AM, said:

Absolutely second this! Particularly "A Short History of Nearly Everything", which should be used as THE science text book in use in our schools if we actually wanted kids to, you know, learn anything. A seemingly impossible title to live up to and yet it fully delivers.

Just finished this, thanks mainly to your recommendation, and i absolutely agree. Phenomenal book. Easily the most important book i have read in my life. And i want to expand upon this.

Does anyone know of a similar popular history/overview of Maths ?  

That's the one thing i felt was really missing from this book. Bryson plotted the rise of all the other sciences but left the father of them all untouched.

End of Disc One, on 06 October 2009 - 04:50 PM, said:

This is going to seem random, but The Game by Neil Strauss is the most entertaining nonfiction I've ever read.

Definitely. And with the subject matter at hand its very hard to take it seriously, but IMO its also really poignant.

[Liffguard]

Just finished The Fighter's Mind by Sam Sheridan. It's a collection of interviews with a variety of notable competitors and coaches from a variety of combat sports (boxing, wrestling, muay thai, BJJ, MMA etc.) as well as a couple of others like a chess prodigy and an art critic. The aim is to try and define aspects of the mental game behind fighting but not strictly in a sports-psychology way. Some of it is incredibly insightful, some of it comes across a bit too much like new-age mysticism but in any case it's interesting hearing it from the champions.

Edited by Liffguard, 13 December 2011 - 09:07 PM.

[The Anti-Targ]

Indian Givers - can;t remember the author's name. Title not to be interpretted in the normally racist manner that such a phrase is used. It's one of those Ironical titles that means the opposite of the common meaning.

Collapse - Jared Diamond. Interesting recent developments in understanding of Easter Island history suggests some of his observations about that place are wrong. Particualrly interesting for Australians to read.

The Corporation - Joel Bachan (SP?). Most enlightening examination of what corporations are and how they "behave". Rings very true in connection to my personal observations (both direct and indirect).

A History of Venice - [Somebody] Norwich (I think). one of GRRMs recommendations. Very interesting read.

Muhammad and the Course of Islam - H.M. Balyuzi (SP?). Islam told from neither the pro-Muhammand view of a Muslim, not the anti-Muhammad view of a Christian. Most informative, even provides a bit of context to what we're seeing in the world today.

I haven't read much non-fiction in a while. Might get a chance during the upcoming summer break. At Home by Bill Bryson was my last NF book. Very enjoyable, kinda lost its way a wee bit  in places, but still a good read. I do think A Short History of Nearly Everything should be compulsory reading in highschool BEFORE students get the chance to ditch science forever. I love science history.

Edited by The Anti-Targ, 13 December 2011 - 09:54 PM.

[Iskaral Pust]

Angalin, on 08 October 2011 - 10:24 PM, said:

The only two I can think of right now are

I.O.U.: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay, by John Lanchester.  Iskaral, you might enjoy this one.

I just read it.  Very entertaining style but there was no revealing insight.  I'd recommend it to people who are unfamiliar with the financial industry.

I'm reading Keynes vs. Hayek ATM.  OK so far, but really has too much blow-by-blow of their published letters and articles criticizing each other.  I hope it gets more into the economic consequences of their respective following.

[Vrana]

Resurrectiong this one as I have been reading almost exclusively non-fiction lately. One of the good ones that unfortunately doesn't seem to exist in English translation is Kjell Östberg's Olof Palme in pace with the times.

What have you read lately? I've made a pretty extensive list based on this thread for non-fiction I want to read next, but I'm always intrigued to hear news.

[Datepalm]

My recent nonfic...

Read 1493, the followup to 1491, by Charles Mann - I didn't think it was quite as interesting - it's a very, very broad examination of globalization as starting with columbus. A few interesting moments that one doesn't normally think of as 'Globalization', like Japanese in 17th c. Mexico and the like, but overall it felt more like a loosely connected series of long articles that something entirely coherent.

Got around to Bloodlands too (Timothy Snyder) , and found it depressing and annoying. Boils down to a really long list of dead people. The argument, as far as i can tell, is that being Ukrainian in the 30's and 40's really, really sucked. OK, I agree.

Berlin Baghdad Express, by Sean McMeekin, about the German-Ottoman collaboration during ww1. I loved it, but then it's about trains and the Ottoman empire and ww1, all together, ie, all my non-fiction crack subjects. Includes actual examination of the hilliness of the Ottoman empire. Could have used more on the actual train, but fascinating anyway.