Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Not sure that follows. There's a boundary to our scientific understanding. Who knows what lies beyond that?
He was on Russell Brand's podcast. Pretty sure he discussed spiritual stuff there.
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*What book are you reading? (part 2)
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Not sure that follows. There's a boundary to our scientific understanding. Who knows what lies beyond that?
He was on Russell Brand's podcast. Pretty sure he discussed spiritual stuff there.
That's quite a leap you've made there. Would you call the Dalai Lama delusional?
And if Entangled Life teaches you anything, it's this. Fungi go way beyond our categorisations and current knowledge.
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
So this is well worth a listen, regardless of what you think of Brand. Much of the running time is given over to Sheldrake's thoughts on spirituality and religion.
Orang Utan
They cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist
Yes I would call the Dalai Lama delusional
Orang Utan
They cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist
No chance!
Orang Utan
They cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist
Dillinger4
Es gibt Zeit
all existence as a human being is somewhat delusional, I'm sure the Dalai Lama would agree
Orang Utan
They cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist
On that I agree. I just react badly to the word ‘spiritual’ or ‘mystical’ cos they imply something that I believe does not exist.
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Merlin doesn't believe in God though. Mystical/spiritual are pretty vague terms which can mean different things to different people, but if you're not willing to listen to what he actually says on the topic...
Orang Utan
They cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist
I’ve read him though so I did listen. Just think his morphic resonance stuff is a bit of a reach.
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
You're thinking of his dad... correct me if I'm wrong.
Orang Utan
They cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist
Yes. That’s who I was talking about.
I haven’t read the mushroom book yet.
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
All my posts about spirituality/mysticism/religion (including the link to the Russell Brand podcast) have been with regards to Merlin.
Orang Utan
They cannot crucify you if your hand is in a fist
Uh oh, wish I didn’t know that now
Cloo
Banana for scale
Just finished reading Lorna Doone. Saw a copy on a pile of charity books and I had this recollection that it had been this big canonical classic... but no one seems to talk about it anymore. So thought I'd read - I did wonder if it was out of fashion as there was some hideously cultural unacceptable facet in it (like, I dunno, a vengeful evil 'blackamoor' or something) but nothing of the sort. It's a cracking read, albeit a long one, and while very old fashioned in some senses is suprisingly different from other books of its era in the narrator's self-consciousness (for example, he's very open about the fact that he doesn't think he's smart enough to understand the political shenanigans affecting the country around him, or what the hell's going on in London society when he visits it), and some suprisingly well drawn and unsentimental female characters too. Also really keeps it ambiguous until the very last minute as to whether there's a happy ending or not.
mod
A modernist
Shuggie Bain
by Douglas Stuart
Really enjoying it but like most books these days it’s taking me an age to finish. This is 100% down to my iPhone. I read about 20% of what I used to pre smart phone times. Something I’m trying to address but without success so far. I’ve started leaving me phone at home when I go out so I can be in the moment more. And read. I feel so grateful these things were not around in my teens and 20s and part of my 30s.
Sorry …..I went off on one there.
by Douglas Stuart
Really enjoying it but like most books these days it’s taking me an age to finish. This is 100% down to my iPhone. I read about 20% of what I used to pre smart phone times. Something I’m trying to address but without success so far. I’ve started leaving me phone at home when I go out so I can be in the moment more. And read. I feel so grateful these things were not around in my teens and 20s and part of my 30s.
Sorry …..I went off on one there.
BristolEcho
Well-Known Member
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
sebastian barry, days without end
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and how it changed the world by Laura Spinney. Published in 2017.
Very interesting. There's a few references to people doubting what they were being told and acting like complete arses.
The book's main theme is that that pandemic has been overlooked in comparison with WW1, despite killing significantly more. Europe and (European) America had better health monitoring, better public health measures and much lower Spanish flu death rates than developing nations. We were hit harder by the war and developing nations hit harder by the flu. There's horrifying snippets including one Akaskan settlement losing 85% of its population in 5 days.
The author believes that interest in the Spanish flu is growing, reflected in the increasing number of books about it. That may have been true in 2017 but probably not now
Very interesting. There's a few references to people doubting what they were being told and acting like complete arses.
The book's main theme is that that pandemic has been overlooked in comparison with WW1, despite killing significantly more. Europe and (European) America had better health monitoring, better public health measures and much lower Spanish flu death rates than developing nations. We were hit harder by the war and developing nations hit harder by the flu. There's horrifying snippets including one Akaskan settlement losing 85% of its population in 5 days.
The author believes that interest in the Spanish flu is growing, reflected in the increasing number of books about it. That may have been true in 2017 but probably not now
Throbbing Angel
this is no longer a place of honour
Ghosted - Jenn Ashworth
Steel Icarus
ersatz maven
The heart of everything that is: the untold story of Red Cloud, an American legend by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin
Nikkormat
Well-Known Member
I recommend this - short, not terribly detailed, but very readable and good as an introduction. I'm now back to finishing a collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling.
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Just started Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar by David Millar
Nikkormat
Well-Known Member
Vendulka by Ondřej Kundra
"Famed Czech Avant-garde photographer Jan Lukas snapped an offhand portrait of twelve-year-old Vendulka Vogl in March 1943. A friend of the Vogls, Lukas was saying goodbye to the family, who were soon to leave Prague for a concentration camp."
"Famed Czech Avant-garde photographer Jan Lukas snapped an offhand portrait of twelve-year-old Vendulka Vogl in March 1943. A friend of the Vogls, Lukas was saying goodbye to the family, who were soon to leave Prague for a concentration camp."
Am currently reading Nestor Makhno : Anarchy's Cossack by Alexandre Skirda. A very interesting read.
Nikkormat
Well-Known Member
Finished. Highly recommended. It's short, easy reading, but moving. Book Depository in UK have it.
BristolEcho
Well-Known Member
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
I really didn’t get on with Shuggie Bain. As I said on another thread…it was so bloody humourless. I, and I suspect a lot of us, remember thatcher’s Britain. My recollection of working class Glasgow was that you’d always find something to have a laugh about. This book was just unremitting grimness.
I’m currently enjoying “The Magician” by Colm Toibin. Slightly disappointed it didn’t sound more like Mann’s writing. Coetzee’s Master of Petersburg, about Dostoyevsky, seemed to work better .
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Throbbing Angel
this is no longer a place of honour
Joined a new library yesterday.
Borrowed Mayflies by Andrew Hagan (O'Hagan?)
Borrowed Mayflies by Andrew Hagan (O'Hagan?)
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