Topic: Reader's Nook

[goldshirt*9]

slow going atm for me.
Lavondyss - Robert Holdstock

[Beatrix]

Slowly is the word for my reading as of late.  Been just thumbing through "A Dictionary of ENGLISH LITERATURE" and going with whatever I find on the page I turn to.  I've been doing much internet googling on ancient meanings, sayings, meanings of numbers, and symbols.  It gets you digging to that special place that reminds you of the weird side of youtube. 

Also, Aristotle and the Aardvark go to Washington starts out with a kick.  Much easier to concept that Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan.

[tarascon]

^ Sounds like fun, Bea. 

William Tyndale: A Biography by D. Daniel

[6pairsofshoes]

Philip K richard, The Divine Invasion.

A novel from the 1980's containing indications of his growing interest in theology.

[tarascon]

Did you read Valis yet? Not necessary because the trilogy is only thematic... 

[6pairsofshoes]

No.  There was a reference to VALIS early on, and I wondered if there was a sequence.  I had d/l ed a large cache of his novels and just picked this one at random. 

I'm about half way through Divine Invasion.  guess I should read VALIS next.

[tarascon]

I'm about half way through Divine Invasion.  guess I should read VALIS next.

It's fun, Valis is, but not required. Like I mentioned, the trilogy is only related by the theme (and doesn't feature the same cast) though Valis does seem to be richard's intended Statement of Purpose for his future work if he hadn't died suddenly.
My three favorite novels of his are:
1. The Man in the High Castle
2. A Scanner Darkly
3. The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (which is the third and last of the "Valis trilogy")

[6pairsofshoes]

Well, I've read The Man in the High Castle (which is currently the subject of a brilliant Amazon.com production, to my amazement) a couple times, and it got better with each read.  I re-read the Transmigration a couple months back, after an interval of about 20 years and was amazed at how many familiar local haunts in Berkeley were mentioned on the second reading.  Saw the film, A Scanner Darkly, but never read it.

His death from stroke at an early age was a real loss to literature in my opinion.  He's always been one of my favorite sci-fi authors.  It is strange to live where he once did and to pick up on so many local references in his books.

[tarascon]

Well, I've read The Man in the High Castle (which is currently the subject of a brilliant Amazon.com production, to my amazement)...

Really? A movie?

His death from stroke at an early age was a real loss to literature in my opinion.  He's always been one of my favorite sci-fi authors.  It is strange to live where he once did and to pick up on so many local references in his books.

Like this man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Pike who PKD knew and wrote about (The Transmigration...).

[6pairsofshoes]

It's a miniseries.  available here.  I've only seen the first episode, but it was quite good, to my delight.

h**p://sur.ly/o/300mbfilms.co/AA000014



<Edited to break the link. Just in case. We don't want to attract unwanted spiders.>

[Beatrix]

I really liked the movie, A Scanner Darkly.  The original filming and animation was a mind bend.  I love mind bends.
My parents gave me a catholic bible recently.  I actually immediately wanted to start in the index.
This brought me to Leviticus, which was really interesting. 
I may just start at Genesis and work my way through, but I do love reading dictionaries and indexes, and books that define and organize. 

[6pairsofshoes]

You might check out advent.org.  It's basically the Catholic Encyclopedia, a monumental reference work that in its print version was about as large as the Encyclopedia Britannica.   The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church is also a good reference.  I am a sucker for good reference books.  Strange how there's never quite enough shelf space for all of them.

[Beatrix]

advent.org

Excellent Lady Six, thank you very much.

The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, sounds like something for the whole family :  ) It's great help and exciting to have good references and something to share with my parents.

Let me know some of your favorite good reference books, I'd make use of the favor.

[6pairsofshoes]

If your family is Catholic, or you have an interest in religious art, you might check out some of the Dictionaries or Lives of the Saints (Butler's Lives of the Saints, Jacobus da Voragine's The Golden Legend).  Christianity has a great folkloric tradition with trials, tribulations and adventures of Saints and Martyrs.  It makes for great reading.

I also love the Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (Harvey, nice and concise guide to classical mythology and Greek and Roman deities).

[tarascon]

^ Speaking of which, I'm reading Queen of Scots by John Guy. The beheading was a botch job... poor woman.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Queen-of-Scots-Audiobook/B002V1PL3W?source_code=GPAGBSH0508140001&amp;mkwid=suZ9FAJIp_dc&amp;pkw=&amp;pmt=&amp;pcrid=69445033260