30 second book reviews: back in the saddle
by John at 5/11/2005 06:58:00 PM
The Science of Good and Evil - Michael Shermer
Shermer is a reformed theist (by that, I mean, he wasn't always an atheist). He's attempting to answer that age-old, annoying question, "If there is no God, why not be as bad as you want?" He presents a pretty good treatment of the issue of morality without religion, and the evolutionary origins of morals and the behavior enforcing morals. Shermer also lays out a moral system based on what he believes to be the fundamental morals of being human, that is, the morals our evolutionary heritage have programmed into us. Does he make convincing arguments? I think the first part of the book, about the origin of morality, is the better half, and the moral system he lays out in the second part is nice but didn't wow me.
How to be Good - Nick Hornby
This is my first Nick Hornby book. I've seen some of the movies, and they are entertaining enough, so I thought I'd give it a try. First off, this one doesn't fit the mold of his earlier works. The protagonist is an unhappily *married woman* not a single man. Her husband is a bastard, but he has an epiphany and changes his ways in an attempt to become the best human ever - much to the consternation of his wife, son, and neighborhood. I won't spoil the ending for you. I liked the novel, but it wasn't what I was expecting.
Don't Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate - George Lakoff
All the traitorous leftists were talking about this book last year before the election - me included! I finally read it. Like Shermer's book above, the first half is better than the second. In the first, he demonstrates the conservative "strict father" frame and explains the potential liberal "nurturing parent" frame. Detractors might call this daddy versus mommy, but there's more to it. If anything, to me it smacks of Freudianism - not in the obvious sexual way, but in it's uncanny ability to explain anything. Unlike psychoanalysis, it may actually be predictive as well - by applying the frame, can one predict which side of an issue conservatives will come down on? The second part tries to focus on what Democrats can actually do to get their frame out there, and here he is less successful. I think he is right about at least one thing, however, and that is that Democrats need to stop trying to triangulate on issues and just stand with what they believe. I think a lot of people already agree with them.
Hospital of the Transfiguration - Stanislaw Lem
This is Lem's first novel, and it is unlike any of his other works that I have read in that it is not science fiction. The story concerns the fate of a young Polish doctor who takes a position at a psychiatric hospital shortly after the invasion of Poland by the Germans at the start of WWII. In that, it is somewhat autobiographical. There are vignettes about his interactions with the colorful and tragic patients at the hospital, and his run-ins with the Polish resistance. I'm trying not to give away the ending, but it is shocking in the way that Nazis were.
The Family Trade - Charles Stross
Now, I like Stross stories. The other two novels of his that I've read were pretty damn good, and his short stories are cool. But this one? Nope. It's a fantasy were a woman accidentally passes into an alternate dimension and finds out she is only one of a large Mafia-like clan of people who can do this - sort of like the Amber series, I think, but I only read one or two of those. The story gets better as it goes along, but I never really got into it. I think it is a rule for fantasy stories that they must be trilogies or more, and this one is no exception. I'm not anxious to read any of the other ones.
The Expectant Father - Armin Brott and Jennifer Ash
I read this book for the obvious reason. It was also a gift from friends of ours who had their first child just a couple of years ago. The information is laid out by month, with specific things you should know and do at that time. So far, so good. It certainly answered many questions I had along the way, and also posed questions whose answers I didn't know at the time. It was east to read and interesting and not too preachy.
Shermer is a reformed theist (by that, I mean, he wasn't always an atheist). He's attempting to answer that age-old, annoying question, "If there is no God, why not be as bad as you want?" He presents a pretty good treatment of the issue of morality without religion, and the evolutionary origins of morals and the behavior enforcing morals. Shermer also lays out a moral system based on what he believes to be the fundamental morals of being human, that is, the morals our evolutionary heritage have programmed into us. Does he make convincing arguments? I think the first part of the book, about the origin of morality, is the better half, and the moral system he lays out in the second part is nice but didn't wow me.
How to be Good - Nick Hornby
This is my first Nick Hornby book. I've seen some of the movies, and they are entertaining enough, so I thought I'd give it a try. First off, this one doesn't fit the mold of his earlier works. The protagonist is an unhappily *married woman* not a single man. Her husband is a bastard, but he has an epiphany and changes his ways in an attempt to become the best human ever - much to the consternation of his wife, son, and neighborhood. I won't spoil the ending for you. I liked the novel, but it wasn't what I was expecting.
Don't Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate - George Lakoff
All the traitorous leftists were talking about this book last year before the election - me included! I finally read it. Like Shermer's book above, the first half is better than the second. In the first, he demonstrates the conservative "strict father" frame and explains the potential liberal "nurturing parent" frame. Detractors might call this daddy versus mommy, but there's more to it. If anything, to me it smacks of Freudianism - not in the obvious sexual way, but in it's uncanny ability to explain anything. Unlike psychoanalysis, it may actually be predictive as well - by applying the frame, can one predict which side of an issue conservatives will come down on? The second part tries to focus on what Democrats can actually do to get their frame out there, and here he is less successful. I think he is right about at least one thing, however, and that is that Democrats need to stop trying to triangulate on issues and just stand with what they believe. I think a lot of people already agree with them.
Hospital of the Transfiguration - Stanislaw Lem
This is Lem's first novel, and it is unlike any of his other works that I have read in that it is not science fiction. The story concerns the fate of a young Polish doctor who takes a position at a psychiatric hospital shortly after the invasion of Poland by the Germans at the start of WWII. In that, it is somewhat autobiographical. There are vignettes about his interactions with the colorful and tragic patients at the hospital, and his run-ins with the Polish resistance. I'm trying not to give away the ending, but it is shocking in the way that Nazis were.
The Family Trade - Charles Stross
Now, I like Stross stories. The other two novels of his that I've read were pretty damn good, and his short stories are cool. But this one? Nope. It's a fantasy were a woman accidentally passes into an alternate dimension and finds out she is only one of a large Mafia-like clan of people who can do this - sort of like the Amber series, I think, but I only read one or two of those. The story gets better as it goes along, but I never really got into it. I think it is a rule for fantasy stories that they must be trilogies or more, and this one is no exception. I'm not anxious to read any of the other ones.
The Expectant Father - Armin Brott and Jennifer Ash
I read this book for the obvious reason. It was also a gift from friends of ours who had their first child just a couple of years ago. The information is laid out by month, with specific things you should know and do at that time. So far, so good. It certainly answered many questions I had along the way, and also posed questions whose answers I didn't know at the time. It was east to read and interesting and not too preachy.
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