by Rupe | Dec 14, 2011 | Not So Recent Reads
Title: The Evolution of God by Robert Wright
Summary:
In this sweeping narrative, which takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright’s findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy.
He explains why spirituality has a role today and why science, contrary to conventional wisdom, affirms the validity of the religious quest. And this previously unrecognized evolutionary logic points not toward continued religious extremism but to future harmony. Nearly a decade in the making, The Evolution of God is a breathtaking reexamination of the past and a visionary look forward.
My Comments
At first blush, this could be a big turnoff for the believer, but I would caution against it.  Now, lest I lead you a stray, the topic is not too far from what is to be expected.  It does deal with  possible explanation of the God-idea, but it is not definitive in any respect.  So if you believe, this will probably not change your mind, it will or may give you a slight pause and some other things to thing about on your spiritual journey.  I for one found the book very much engaging, well written and very much accessible.  I really loved the attention to details, no slight facts were overlook and one got the sense that the author was being careful in not being patronizing.  I very much recommend this to believer and non-believers alike.
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by Rupe | Nov 25, 2011 | Not So Recent Reads
Title:Â Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
Summary:
An oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem.
For two thousand years, cadavers (some willingly, some unwittingly) have been involved in science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They’ve tested France’s first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors’ conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.
My Comments:
Probably one of the weirdest books I have every read; and I probably would not have purchased it, had it not been on sale.  I must admit, however, that I found it quite interesting and admittedly engaging.  Ms Roach does have a knack for making the bizarre pretty accessible.  If you every had thoughts about donating your body to science or any other purpose, this book might give you pause or at least give you another thought point.  It is hard not to recommend, but be prepared for the unexpected…ruhaaahhaaaahh!
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by Rupe | Nov 20, 2011 | Not So Recent Reads
Title: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Summary
“Life changes fast….You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.” These were among the first words Joan Didion wrote in January 2004. Her daughter was lying unconscious in an intensive care unit, a victim of pneumonia and septic shock. Her husband, John Gregory Dunne, was dead. The night before New Year’s Eve, while they were sitting down to dinner, he suffered a massive and fatal coronary. The two had lived and worked side by side for nearly 40 years.
The weeks and months that followed “cut loose any fixed idea I had about death, about illness, about probability and luck…about marriage and children and memory…about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself.”
In The Year of Magical Thinking, Didion explores with electric honesty and passion a private yet universal experience. Her portrait of a marriage, and a life, in good times and bad, will speak directly to anyone who has ever loved a husband, a wife, or a child.
My Comments:
Probably one of the most important books I have read. Its insights are quite profound, as if one was given the chance to look in on someone being emotionally dissected. Ms Didion is an exquisite writer who is almost mythic in some respects. Being able to stand back from the pain of loosing loved ones and garnering the courage to share that experience is telling. I absolutely admire her for that. She is truly great and I very much recommend this book.
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by Rupe | Oct 27, 2011 | Not So Recent Reads
Title: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 
Summary
Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the 21st century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.
Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.
Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.
My Comments:
Pretty illuminating book.  I realized for the first time that Steve Jobs and myself share similar birth month.  He was born on 24th of February and I on the 25th…he was 12 years my senior.  At any rate, really great read.  This guys was something else - maniacal come to mind.  In some ways I see a lot of me in him.  A well recommended read.
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by Rupe | Oct 9, 2011 | Not So Recent Reads
Title: Light in August by William Faulkner
Summary
Light in August is an exploration of racial conflict in the society of the Southern United States. Originally Faulkner planned to call the novel Dark House, which also became the working title for Absalom, Absalom!. Supposedly, one summer evening while sitting on a porch, his wife remarked on the strange quality that light in the south has during the month of August. Faulkner rushed out of his chair to his manuscript, scratched out the original title, and penciled in Light in August; however this story is probably apocryphal given the huge symbolic role that both light and the month of August play in the novel.
My Comments:
This is my first Faulkner’s book. Â I started it in early October 2011. Â Anyone who has ever read Faulkner will tell you that he is not an easy read. Â I really loved this book however. Â And reading as a follow on from Uncle Tom’s cabin was like a continuation of a long story. Â His use of literal imagery is beyond equal. Â One of the best books I have ever read. Â I can see why Gabriel Garcia Marques adored this guy. Â
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by Rupe | Oct 5, 2011 | Not So Recent Reads
Title: Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery by Eric Metaxas
Publisher’s Summary
Amazing Grace tells the story of the remarkable life of the British abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833). This accessible biography chronicles Wilberforce’s extraordinary role as a human rights activist, cultural reformer, and member of Parliament.
At the center of this heroic life was a passionate 20-year fight to abolish the British slave trade, a battle Wilberforce won in 1807, as well as efforts to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies, a victory achieved just three days before his death in 1833.
Metaxas discovers in this unsung hero a man of whom it can truly be said, “He changed the world.” Before Wilberforce, few thought slavery was wrong. After Wilberforce, most societies in the world came to see it as a great moral wrong.
This account of Wilberforce’s life will help many to become acquainted with an exceptional man who was a hero to Abraham Lincoln and an inspiration to the anti-slavery movement in America.
My Comments:
I bought this book along with a couple others, including Uncle Tom’s Cabin, in March of this year – 2011. Â Like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I started it a couple times, but put it away, partly because of time, but also because it was slow in starting. Â After finishing Uncle Tom’s Cabin and being blown away with both the story and the writing style, I decided to pick it up again a week ago. Â I finished it yesterday and was struck by the works and awesomeness of this great man – William Wilberforce. Â This is a particular important book to me because growing up in Jamaica, his efforts had a substantial and direct impact on my life. Â It was well worth the read…well worth it.Â
