Finished reading this some time ago. It was recommended by a historian friend with a special interest in Arthur.

This is an interesting read if you're curious about the reality of King Arthur. The book discuesses the historical figure[s] and events that form the basis for the legend of King Arthur. There's a ton of historical and archeological references and a good deal of something that feels like historical detective-work, showing that King Arthur, his knights of the round table and even Merlin are more than just fictional characters.

Labels: Books, History, Mythology, Reading

In the past few years somehow we were bombarded by similarly themed young adult novels of exploding popularity that were of course also divoured by Hollywood and made into a whole lot of cheesy movies.

Honestly I'm not very happy about how Lois Lowry's "The Giver" quartet also got shuffled in, as yet another one of these. I read the series a couple of years back, and there are certain aspect of it that I still think about from time to time. I find the quartet especially well written, and the stories deep and meaningful, probably a lot more than they're being given credit for, especially thanks to the rather ridiculous movie.

So if you've just seen the movie and ran the other direction, I do ask you to please give the books a chance. It's possible you'll find something entirely different in there.

Labels: Books, Fiction, Movies, Reading, Sci-Fi

I have no idea how many times I've watched the movie. The Green Mile is one of my all time favourites.. it's one of those movies that I just randomly re-watch every once in a while just because. But up to very recently, it hadn't even come to my attention that there even was a book! Perhaps partially because so far I haven't been such a big fan of Stephen King's writing, and I didn't even know this was one of his.

Last month a friend of mine asked me what I thought of the book, and a couple of hours later I actually started reading it. I was a little worried that the book wouldn't be that good, or that it would be too different. Fortunately as it turned out the usual rule applied here too and the book was in fact better.

Reading the book you get to know the characters much better. Their personalities, thoughts and circumstances of their lives have been much better described. And then there's the mouse. In the movie you do fall in love with the mouse, but in the book you properly get to know the mouse. There is much more to him and his story, and he is perhaps the 2nd main character in the book. And I absolutely love that.

Paul Edgecombe's story is also better told in the book. There is in fact quite a bit about him that doesn't make it to the movie, including a very meaningful last chapter. That last chapter was hard for me to read...so very emotionally intense, and it gives you much to ponder about. Mind you it doesn't really change the story or how it ends, but it does paint a move vivid picture of Paul Edgecombe.

Labels: Authors, Books, Fantasy, Movies, Supernatural

This is something I read last year, but recently it came up in conversation several times again and I remembered how much I enjoyed reading it.

What I really like about this biography, is that perhaps due to the topic of the book still being alive and very much involved in the writing of it, the book answers some interesting questions. It gives you an idea of what made him who he is, and where some of his absolutely brilliant ideas came from. Or for that matter what was going on in his mind when he made certain decisions. If you're a fan of Joss Whedon, I very much recommend reading this.

Labels: Books, Joss Whedon, Reading

Recently I was asked if it's a good idea to watch the Cloud Atlas movie first, or to read the book. I almost always read the book first, but in this case, I came across the movie before the book. But that's alright, the movie couldn't possibly have spoiled the experience of the book...

I watched Cloud Atlas a couple of years ago, and was thoroughly impressed. I figured this must be an exceptional example of a situation where the movie didn't totally destroy the book. Some months after that I read the book.... Well, as good as the movie is, the rule still applies, the book is infinitely better.

The book is written in quite a unique shape, an amazing structure, with such subtleties that can never be imported into a movie. The relationship between the characters in different timelines are described in such elegant ways. And well, there are major story bits and implied meanings in the book, that make the book much deeper, much more complex and in some parts much darker than the movie.

So yes, the book wins once again.... since you have the choice, read the book first. ;)

Labels: Authors, Books, Entertainment, Motion Picture, Movies, Reading, Sci-Fi

This is probably recommended reading for anyone who wondered why I was thoroughly annoyed with what the Guardians of the Galaxy movie looked like, and what it was missing.

I guess it's already pretty clear that Adam Warlock is my all time favourite comic character [closely followed by the Silver Surfer]. In fact most of what I've read of Marvel Cosmic throughout the years, has somehow been the result of following Adam Warlock's trail... this actually includes Guardians of the Galaxy.

Since Warlock's annihilation at the end of DnA's Guardians a few years ago, I've been waiting quite impatiently to see him surface again. During the Annihilators mini series, Magus managed to come back for a very short while, and then got captured and put back into the cocoon by the Annihilators. Not that I had any interest in seeing his slimy purple face anyway. And since then there was absolutely nothing, 'till now.

Recently Marvel released Jim Starlin's new "Thanos: Infinity Revelation", which somehow took me a while to hear about, but I had to read it since Thanos happens to be my favourite Villain. So I got myself the digital copy... and lo and behold, here comes Adam Warlock, hitching a ride back to existence with Thanos, no cocoon needed this time. =D You can imagine my utter excitement... YAY! Finally!!

To make things even better, the book is simply brilliant. Jim Starlin is the author who made Warlock into what it is, and he's done it again. This is basically the archetype of the story line that got me interested in Marvel Cosmic in the first place, a million years ago. And I must say I haven't seen the like of it for quite a long time.

The plot explores a situation in which the universe is re-created in 2 versions, one based upon the mind and soul of Warlock, and the other after Thanos. The story is very abstract, it's mostly self discovery for these two characters, and it's more a philosophy lesson than anything else. This, is why I love Adam Warlock in the first place. Oh, and then Silver Surfer makes an appearance too. How about that? Is this the perfect book or what?

As I wrote in the beginning, this is what you should look at if you're wondering what all the fuss was about when the Guardians of the Galaxy movie came out, disappointing many of the Cosmic fans. This is generally what we're looking for, and this is the sort of thing Guardians  has always offered, before the movie happened. An intelligent plot, meaningful ideas and characters, and a respectable amount of food for thought.

Of course now I'm totally in love, since last week I got my hands on the hard cover version of the book [as usual thanks to KABOOOM], and it even looks fantastic!! It's not very clear in the pictures I've posted here, but on the cover Thano's head is a glossy print while the rest of the page has a matte finish, giving you the feeling that Thanos is coming right at you from the depths of the abyss. ;)

And this is not the end of it, Jim Starlin is soon to release another one of the same "series", called "Infinity Relativity". I'm currently dying to read that one.

If you're living in the Zurich vicinity, you can pick up a copy of this at the KABOOOM comic book store.

And yes, if Warlock keeps looking 2 different ways to you for no apparent reason, it's not you, it's him.

Perfection. Everyone I love is in there!

Labels: Adam Warlock, Art, Authors, Books, Comics, Sci-Fi, Silver Surfer, Thanos

So I read this one too, by Sean Patrick. And I really really enjoyed the cover design. Nothing else really that interesting about this book though. Turned out to be basically a motivational essay by a Tesla fan. That about sums it up.

Labels: Authors, Books, Reviews, Tesla

Recently [while I've not been doing any blogging] I've been doing a lot of re-reading. One of the books I recently re-read - ok, not exactly re-read but more like re-skimmed, just because I find it quite entertaining somehow - is Ross King's book on "Brunelleschi's Dome".

Long story short, I now know that Ross King is probably one of my favourite history / art authors. This was the first book I read from him, as per the recommendation of a historian friend, and really had fun with it.

I think what I most enjoyed about the book is that it doesn't feel like your classical history textbook. You're not bombarded by a bunch of what most academics might consider important facts. Instead there's attention to some personal and rather entertaining details in regards to the people and events involved. You get a good picture of why a certain character behaved a certain way or what was going on inside their head.

Now I'm just going to have to figure out which of his books I'm going to read next. Any suggestions?

Labels: Authors, Books, History, Reading

I recently picked up a copy of "The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" from my favourite comic book store [Kabooom, Zurich], and I must say I am thoroughly impressed. [And not just because Dolph Lundgren happens to have a picture with this. =D]

The book is a collection/documentation of, well, just about everything that there ever was to do with the He-Man universe.

The collection of illustrations in there, coming from all eras of He-Man, is just amazing.

All the maps are in there. There's maps of Eternia in various eras, a map of Preternia, a map of Subternia, and a map of their part of the universe.

Now this is really cool, there's a filmation cel in there with He-Man and Skeletor. =D [Yes, the actual cel is in a little pocket inside the book!]

And there's a ton of preliminary art work and sketches in there, including concepts that were never used. There's also a list of all the produced and unproduced toys, ideas for characters that were eventually dismissed [some of whom are actually quite interesting], and every bit of information there is to know about the creation and the evolution of this whole universe.

So yes, I really really love this. If you live in Zurich you can pick up a copy at the KABOOOM Comic Shop. Don't miss out! =)

Labels: Books, Comics, Entertainment, Motion Picture, Sci-Fi

So I was just wondering, is there a book? Because if there is then I definitely want it. =P

Good sci-fi is currently quite rare, and I have just been pleasantly surprised by how good this product of the current era turned out to be. Cheers to Christopher Nolan!

P.S: Yes thanks a lot, it turns out that is a novelization. And also a book related to the science of the whole thing. I'll check them out.

Labels: Books, Motion Picture, Movies, Sci-Fi

A friend of mine just asked me if I finally read Drexler's "Radical Abundance", which reminded me that I didn't write anything about it... or anything else I've been reading recently. =P Yes, I read it, and I re-read it, and finished doing so a while back. And I'm a big fan!

K. Eric Drexler, who is for all intents and purposes the father of nanotechnology, is probably the most qualified person to explain what we've already accomplished in the field, what's to be expected, the obstacles, the misunderstandings, and why we're not where we could be yet. In this book he also does an amazing job in describing in a very straightforward and "none-fiction" way, what the future could look like if we did in fact realize the potentials of the field.

I'll probably read this again soon enough... huuuuuuge fan!

Labels: Authors, Books, Nanotechnology, Reading, Science, Technology

It's poetic injustice really. 50 years ago Walt Disney shamelessly hijacked what can easily be considered the most important literary achievement of P. L. Travers, Mary Poppins. Now, some half a century later, Hollywood takes the story of P. L. Travers herself, twists it into something politically correct, soft and sweet and easy to sell, and feeds it to the world. How many times is P. L. Travers going to be betrayed by the entertainment industry?

Admittedly, up to very recently I had not really read the Mary Poppins books. Not that I wouldn't have wanted to, Mary Poppins simply didn't find her way to my shelf which was  usually crowded with Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and the rest of the sci-fi universe, with a touch of Hermann Hesse and W. Somerset Maugham migrating over from my mom's shelf. Point is, I didn't really read much specifically "children's" books.

My first introduction to Mary Poppins was unsurprisingly through the movie, which I watched with googly eyes when I was about 5 or so the first time. And loved it, really really loved it. And have even watched it many more times since then.

Recently, I watched "Saving Mr. Banks", which was supposedly the story of how Walt Disney approached P. L. Travers to get the rights for the movie, and her reactions, and how the movie was eventually made. Nice movie, which at the same time felt full of plot holes for something that was supposed to be based on a true story. I had a feeling that there was more to the story than met the screen.

So I went and started the research. Did my fair share of reading on P. L. Travers, found what seems to be the most accurate and detailed, and the least "interpreted" biography of her out there, titled "Mary Poppins, She Wrote" by Valerie Lawson. After finishing this book and some more articles and shorter books about her, I read the original Mary Poppins books. All 9 of them.

And now, after all the reading, I am… well… angry.

As P. L. Traverse herself had said many times before, the Mary Poppins books are not exactly children's books. They're certainly books that children can enjoy reading, but the way I see it they're somewhat comparable to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "Little Prince". They're more philosophy books than anything else, and they're nothing like the pink and fluffy image of the Walt Disney movie.

As much as I enjoyed the Disney movie as a child, right now I wish I had never seen it, that it had never been made. From what I understand, what Disney did to Mary Poppins was the source of agony for P. L. Travers for the rest of her days, and it also manage to frustrate just about anyone who had any kind of an actual understanding of the point of the books. Now after having read the books I can understand why. Disney basically took the shell and left the soul behind.

But then, this is not really what "Saving Mr. Banks" shows, is it? The movie is unfortunately yet another bit of fluff, created to please the audience. Everything I've read, everything I've dug out, shows that unfortunately Mr. Disney was not at all the fair and decent character shown in the movie. He basically ambushed P. L. Travers into finally selling him the rights to make a movie [after years of harassing her for it], and then slowly pushed her out of the picture. Despite the fact that he originally promised her that her ideas will be respected, he eventually disregarded all of the very important points that she had made in order for the movie to stay faithful to the books.

The nice and emotional conversations between Disney and P. L. Travers in the movie are all pretty much fictional, and at the end Disney had actually no intention of having P. L. Travers present at the premiere at all. To him, she was only a nuisance. The movie shows a rigid and difficult Pamela, without making any mention of why she was the way she was. Quite unfair.

It's of course even more of a horror reading some of the articles that showed up online after the release of "Saving Mr. Banks". Clueless people writing completely misguided articles about P. L. Travers, her role in the creation of the Poppins movie, and even her personal life and her relationship with the people around her, and with her son. Following the movie, these articles picture P. L. Travers as a despiteful unloving and unloved character, who was responsible for destroying the life of her adopted son. For heaven's sakes, do your research before writing this nonsense. A bit of digging will show you that the horrendous rubbish couldn't possibly be further from the truth.

P. L. Travers was an amazing person with a wonderful mind, and what's being done to her is a crime. This should be stopped.

Labels: Authors, Books, Life, Literature, Motion Picture, Movies

So, well, yes, I did finish reading The Hunger Games trilogy. My thanks to you who forced me into it. ;) I don't however have much to say about it. Not for the lack of thoughts, mind you. But simply because I don't know what to say… I don't know how to put it into words… I guess for me it got a tad too emotional.

As usual, the movies are good but they do not at all reach up to the books. The books tell a story that can very well happen tomorrow, in detail they depict a world that so resembles our current one. That's why it was very emotional for me to read them, because there are too many familiar elements, too much connection to reality. Thanks to all I've seen, I had far too many "oh, I know exactly how that is" moments reading the 3 books.

All I can say is that I hope we somehow manage to skip that. I don't know how likely it is though, as my own experiences living in various parts of the world have shown me too much to leave me with much optimism regarding the direction our race is currently headed to.

And you know what? The ending always looks like that….

Labels: Books, Literature, Reading, Sci-Fi, Thoughts

A few weeks ago I finished reading Orhan Pamuk's historical murder mystery book, "My Name is Red". Honestly I had never even heard of the apparently very popular book or the Nobel laureate author until I saw the book in the hands of an acquaintance, and well, the cover of all things took my attention. =P

The book goes deep into the culture and mentality of the society of miniaturists in the Ottoman empire, and through that, reveals many interesting facts about the general life style, religious views and beliefs in different classes of the society. But I guess what really got me reading, was that the book talks more about Persia even that it does about Turkey! Seeing that the Persian miniaturists and calligraphists of the time were considered pretty much deities of the field, there's a great deal of discussion and historical facts regarding Persia.

The books touches upon topics that I in the past couple of years I haven't read much about, and it gave me a rather nostalgic feeling. It also brought a few historical facts to my attention that I actually did not know about, despite the fact that I myself practice the Persian calligraphy and have done my fair share of reading on the topic.

And well, the story was also pretty good. =) So yes, recommended reading.

Labels: Authors, Books, Literature, Reading

After reading Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother" last month, I decided to read the sequel named "Homeland". It turned out to be a good idea.

For the first 3/4th of the book, what I would say is pretty much the same thing I said about the first book. In terms of the style, the sequel is even more sloppily written than the first book, if that's possible. I would have been very happy reading far less about the burning man and other horribly stretched topics throughout the book. But the good ideas are still there.

But I feel that during the last 1/4th of the book, there's a slight shift in the mood and the direction. It feels like the ideas are finally properly cooked! The characters actions become more realistic, actually everything becomes a lot more realistic. The points are clearly made and the conclusion has a nice balance to it.

All in all, I think that I like "Homeland" better than "Little Brother"!

Labels: Authors, Books, Literature, Reading

A few days ago I finished re-reading Margaret Cheney's "Tesla: Man Out of Time". As if I hadn't experienced enough grief reading it the first time, I had to go and do it again. Well what can I say, the book really is worth reading over and over and over again.

I've done my fair share of Tesla reading, biographies and research and everything I've been able to get my hands on. And I can say, this is definitely the best written, most informative, most comprehensive biography of him I've ever come across. Where other books have a general tendency of focusing mostly on certain periods or aspects of Tesla's life, this book does a fine job bringing the pieces of the puzzle together. The book paints a much more realistic picture of Tesla's life, who he was, and what he was like in his personal life.

This of course means that when you read about all that this world did to him, you're going to experience an especially sharp pain in the soul.

Labels: Books, Reading, Tesla

Last Sunday at "The Uncanny Book-Club" gathering, I listened to some interesting discussions regarding Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother", which made me curious enough to want to read the book. I loaded up the book to my Reader and was planning on having a go at it in our next reading group this coming Sunday, but I'm afraid it didn't last that long… It's already been "had". I munched through most of it during my commute from Zurich to Basel and back, for recent coder event at the Magnolia office.

As usual I'm not going to give much of the book away here, but since a couple of friends are wondering if they should read the book… Here's the super-short version of what I think.

It's worth reading. =)

Ok well… I'm not a fan of the writing style. The author doesn't seem to have much of that at all. This is something that I'm generally not all that sensitive about as I'm looking for the message, but it does matter. In this case the author didn't manage to get to me with his words, and I felt that in the literary sense the book was rather sloppily written. A young adult novel does not necessarily have to carry that load of cheese, and I would certainly have been happy reading far less about LARPing.

That being said, there's some good [and sometimes great] ideas in there. There is a message, even if it's being delivered in not the most powerful of ways. For me personally the message hits pretty close to home, given my own past experiences. These are ideas that should be spread, taught and pondered, regardless of the author's literary capabilities, regardless of the medium. The most important aspect of the book, to me, is the fact that it's advertising the culture of thinking, which is rare enough nowadays [comparatively speaking].

Dripping cheese aside, I find the character development in the book rather well done. Especially in regards to Marcus, the main character, himself. The way he had to grew up… some of what he felt… well connected to reality. Although the reality version would be far more complex, but still, I feel that the author is doing a good job showing the kind of growing up one ends up having to do under such circumstances. It's also nicely realistic, that he's quite the non-hero. It's not him taking care of it all and saving the day, he doesn't even want to be the leader, but due to his way of thinking and acting he ends up on the front row anyway. That's precisely how it usually happens, in reality, outside of Hollywood movies. 

I also find the ending quite appropriate, seeing that it's actually not much of an ending. What you see at the end feels to me like the eye of the storm, and a good place to end the story, especially since there seems to be a sequel. It appears that the story's main characters, while having a nice "day" at the time, are preparing to get into another, possibly much larger, round of conflict.

Anyway, wrote too much already… check it out for yourselves. ;) I think I'm going to read "Homeland", the sequel, next.

Labels: Activities, Authors, Books, Reading

Last week I finished reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "Fooled By Randomness". What I would say about it is pretty much the same as what I wrote about "The Black Swan". This is something to read for anyone who wants to know how the world works, and why we generally don't/can't do a good job in predicting what will or will not come next.

Though I think I'm still a bigger fan of "The Black Swan", I really enjoyed reading this one too.

Labels: Authors, Books, Economics, Literature, Mathematics, Reading, Science

Last week I finished reading "Roadside Picnic", the 1972 sci-fi novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky [as per suggestion of a friend]. For me, the book "felt" quite a bit  similar to  Huxley's "Brave New World". Dystopian society built around one major life changing element which is a source of unnatural luck for some and unfair disadvantage for many others.

I did enjoy reading the book, I really liked the central idea. But I must also say that this is generally not my cup of sci-fi. I am much more into Asimov's style of sci-fi. When I read a science-"fiction" book, I am not really looking for a window into the future of the mess we currently have, what we are already experiencing. I'd like to look further forward, perhaps to what comes after that mess.

But if "Brave New World" or "1984" are for you, then this is totally recommended.

Labels: Authors, Books, Literature, Reading, Sci-Fi

Last night [well, basically 'till morning] I finished reading Orson Scot Card's "Ender's Game", the first book of the "Ender's Saga". The series have been on my reading list for basically ever now, but somehow I never got to it. Then the movie showed up which I don't want to see before reading the books. [I'm a much bigger fan of books than movies and I don't want watching the movie to spoil the books!] So a week ago I finally started reading the first book, and well, looks like I pretty much devoured it.

Once I started reading "Ender's Game" I simply couldn't put it down. The book definitely is one of the best sci-fi I've ever read, as was suggested to me by several of my friends. [You were all right! =) ] Now I'm going to start with the 2nd book… I'm of course very happy that there's already 12 books in the series, and the author is writing some more…. I really do want more of this!

Labels: Authors, Books, Entertainment, Literature, Reading, Sci-Fi