What are you currently reading?

[5th line wingnutt]

nothing wrong with being conservative. but being that conservative? probably a bit much. (disclaimer: i have no idea who john t. flynn is -- the only john flynn i know of is a pro basketball player from WNY).

 

How conservative is that conservative? And you admit you do not know. And why is any amount of conservative bad?

[MattPie]

nothing wrong with being conservative. but being that conservative? probably a bit much. (disclaimer: i have no idea who john t. flynn is -- the only john flynn i know of is a pro basketball player from WNY).

How conservative is that conservative? And you admit you do not know. And why is any amount of conservative bad?

 

How do you get 'conservative == bad' from 'nothing wrong with being conservative'? I'm not trying to be confrontational, just trying to figure it out. Like most things, liberalism and conservatism are things best taken in moderation.

Edited May 23, 2012 by MattPie

[5th line wingnutt]

How do you get 'conservative == bad' from 'nothing wrong with being conservative'? I'm not trying to be confrontational, just trying to figure it out. Like most things, liberalism and conservatism are things best taken in moderation.

 

But is the key word here.

[Claude_Verret]

Bringing it back around to books: I'm finding that lately (last 2-3 years), the stuff I buy online on recommendations (usually through the book review sections of numerous newspapers) disappoint me. They sit on shelves, half-read, for a long time.

 

Once upon a time, I used to go to bookstores. I could take that same list of recommendations, read a few pages and decide. Now, I'm impulsive, buy off of amazon.com, and I'm left with unread books. Even books billed as "exciting" and literary (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is an example that immediately comes to mind) just sit there after a couple hundred pages.

 

I realize that Talking Leaves doesn't have the greatest selection, and if I drive out to the 'burbs to Barnes & Noble, well, they're also limited by space (even if it's a LOT more space). But I have more success even in an airport bookstand than I do online. I've discovered more great books in bookstores than I ever have online or by reading reviews.

 

I think I'm going to stop buying books online unless I know it's a sure thing.

 

Amazon lets you read a free preview of the first chapter or two online or have it sent to your kindle for a lot of books.

[FogBat]

Is being conservative bad?

 

I know little about Flynn's politics, but I seem to remember that he did have an axe to grind. I read this book a long time ago and he does rake FDR over the coals. If you are really interested in something you owe it to yourself to get both sides of the story. I have read a good bit about FDR starting with the typical grade school and high school history texts that had FDR on a very tall pedestal. Reading something you disagree with builds character.

 

Is it really off topic (in an 'off topic' thread no less) to suggest a book on a subject you expressed interest in?

 

Anyhow, what is Stars Fell on Alabama about?

 

No, not at all. There is nothing wrong with being conservative. I was just pointing out some of Flynn's conservative attributes as opposed to the founder of National Review. Here's more on Flynn for your perusal.

 

Stars Fell on Alabama was written by Carl Carmer, who was a NYS native who spent 6 years as a professor at the University of Alabama in the 1930's. From what I'm reading so far, he experienced a unique set of cultures throughout the state - both good and bad. Then again, Carmer strikes me as being a tad bit liberal - but it's not enough for me to throw the book across the room.

[nobody]

How do you get 'conservative == bad' from 'nothing wrong with being conservative'? I'm not trying to be confrontational, just trying to figure it out. Like most things, liberalism and conservatism are things best taken in moderation.

 

5th and Aud might be talking past each other. :)

[millbank]

Reading "Bonhoeffer' He a Lutheran Pastor who was executed for his association with the Abwehr and the planning to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

[Trettioåtta]

Read 'Dark Matter' - decent ghost story

 

Now reading 'The Third Man Factor' - so far very interesting

[cdexchange]

Now reading 'The Third Man Factor' - so far very interesting

 

I never knew there was a biography about Hank Tallinder.

[5th line wingnutt]

How do you get 'conservative == bad' from 'nothing wrong with being conservative'? I'm not trying to be confrontational, just trying to figure it out. Like most things, liberalism and conservatism are things best taken in moderation.

 

"Conservative...but that conservative". What I was trying to get at is...

 

How conservative is "too conservative"? etc., etc.

 

Labels are easy to throw around.

Edited May 27, 2012 by 5th line wingnutt

[FogBat]

I'm just about done with reading Christless Christianity by Michael Horton. Aside from the Bible, it is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time.

[bunomatic]

Digging back into my childhood and borrowed a schoolbook off my son. Thoroughly enjoying Treasure Island the second time through. That book put the adventure bug in me back in the day and its no different now. Good read.

[Taro T]

I have been interested in the difference between liberals and conservatives since the mid 1970s.

 

Up thread I recommended A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell. This book was very on-point about this very subject. Some folks understand that liberals and conservatives often argue past each other, they both just do not where the other guy is coming from. I think a careful reading of Sowell’s book would help in bridging the gap. Sowell’s thesis is that there are basically two visions of human nature, a constrained view, and an unconstrained view, and conservatives believe in the constrained vision and liberals in the unconstrained view. This is an oversimplification; there is a whole lot more here. The unconstrained view is sometimes called the blank slate theory.

 

There is another book I came across lately that throws some light on this subject. The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt. Haidt is a moral psychologist and his thesis is that different folks have different moral matrices (aka moral foundations) that lead them to different conclusions. His ideas are not inconsistent with Sowell. He and some others have a very interesting web site at www.yourmorals.org. There are many “tests” that measure your moral foundations.

I guess that the issue I take with that is that there are several versions of 'liberal' and 'conservative;' the 2 most obvious being socially conservative/liberal and fiscally conservative/liberal. And within each of those distinctions there can be a myriad of variations as well.

[fan2456]

Digging back into my childhood and borrowed a schoolbook off my son. Thoroughly enjoying Treasure Island the second time through. That book put the adventure bug in me back in the day and its no different now. Good read.

Yea, I did that second read about 15 yrs ago. Good book.

[ThePebble19]

Just finished "Wherever I wind up" by R.A. Dickey while I was on vacation this week...pretty amazing story.

[5th line wingnutt]

I guess that the issue I take with that is that there are several versions of 'liberal' and 'conservative;' the 2 most obvious being socially conservative/liberal and fiscally conservative/liberal. And within each of those distinctions there can be a myriad of variations as well.

 

What you wrote is correct. None the less, there are a large group of people who self identify as either liberal or conservative. These books are about the differences between those two groups.

Edited June 11, 2012 by 5th line wingnutt

[Eleven]

Lots and lots of work stuff. And The Prague Cemetery, by Umberto Eco. Very good.

[X. Benedict]

Lots and lots of work stuff. And The Prague Cemetery, by Umberto Eco. Very good.

 

Let us know how that goes.

[nobody]

Deluca's memoirs

[Weave]

Nobody beat me to it.

 

Currently reading War and Remembrance by Herman Wouck.

[nobody]

Nobody beat me to it.

 

Currently reading War and Remembrance by Herman Wouck.

 

I'm done with it - you can have it now. :)

[5th line wingnutt]

Recently read Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi.

 

It is a reworking of Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper, a Hugo nominated novel from 1962. It is an ecological/noble savage morality play with some characters being complicated and others a bit too good or evil. None the less it is a fun read as Scalzi is a good story teller.

 

Scalzi also wrote the “Old Man’s War” trilogy which I liked a lot and would recommend to any sci-fi fan.

[Eleven]

The Prague Cemetery is getting sluggish in the second period, but I'll deal.

 

What I need is a good "beach book." For me, that's usually a good literary crime/suspense novel. Something along the lines of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (and its sequels) or Q&A (the book that was renamed "Slumdog Millionaire" for movie purposes). Any ideas?

[notwoz]

The War of 1812 on the Niagara Frontier, by Louis J. Babcock. Published in 1927 by the Buffalo Historical Society. The writing is incredibly dull and dry, but that'smost likely because it is written by an academic. Otherwise, it's a very detailed look at a critical theater of a war that most of us Americans don't know much about.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

The War of 1812 on the Niagara Frontier, by Louis J. Babcock. Published in 1927 by the Buffalo Historical Society. The writing is incredibly dull and dry, but that'smost likely because it is written by an academic. Otherwise, it's a very detailed look at a critical theater of a war that most of us Americans don't know much about.

 

I may be wrong on this, but is not the War of 1812 the only war the US lost, well I guess "tied" may be a better term. Over the years most Canadians view it as a Canadian victory, as the invading hords from the US did not capture any Canadian territory ... just yanging your chain ... :P .

 

Also, did not a battle during the war give rise to the lyrics of the US national anthem?