[books 2010] a few week's roundup

[inulro]

I've been too headachey to read much so far this month, but have finished:

15. Watchmen and Philosophy, edited by Mark D White

As I mentioned earlier, this really is Philosophy for Dummies, and I still struggled with parts of it. It's a series of short essays on different aspects of philosophy and how they apply to Watchmen; as is usual with these things, some of them appealed to me a lot more than others.

This is part of the Philosophy and Popular Culture series. I'm not pants on fire to read the rest, but am willing to accept that the failing is mie.


16. The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

Mmm....Chandler....

This one is different from the earlier books in that very little of it takes place in LA. The solution is bloody obvious from the beginning, but how the story arrives there is worth the ride.

Not surprisingly, I highly recommend this.


17. Maskerade by Terry Pratchett

Not one of his better efforts. It's about the witches, and I *loathe* the witches. The opera jokes are way too obvious and not particularly funny. As to the end - apparently biology is destiny. *spit* I nearly threw it out a window at that point.

Comments

[cybermule.livejournal.com]

If it's any consolation, I'm pretty smart but also quite dumb at Philosophy. My brain doesn't work that way.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Given that my qualifications are in English and Medieval Studies with a healthy dollop of languages (dead and living), the level of my mental block when it comes to all things philosophical is pretty amazing.

[reddragdiva]

What was the biology is destiny bit?

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Perdita decides she can't hack it in the big city and goes back to her small town to become a witch like she's "supposed" to. Even in a fictional and humorous setting, I have a zero tolerance approach to the "be content with your miserable mediocre life" school of crap.

[reddragdiva]

That wasn't quite how I recall reading it (the option of being quite good at one thing or being the best at the other).

[reddragdiva]

Though I expect hating it all the way through didn't help a non-jaundiced view of the ending.

[mimmimmim.livejournal.com]

Yup. I got as wound up in the final Harry Potter book where all the Slytherins failed to join in the final battle. The hat says you're bad, so you're bad.

(Rowling later said not all the Slytherins left, but that's what the book says.)

I really think Agnes gets the rough end of things, and that's before we start on all the fat jokes, which really get on my nerves.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

Yep, and because she's fat she has to go back to Lancre and become a witch, instead of, say, standing up for herself and her right to be accepted as a talented singer and not be judged on her looks.