Read Books This will provide a list of the books I've read with a brief review. Users are blocked, contact me for access. I welcome discussions, but I'm tired of spam.

September 29, 2017

The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman

Filed under: Mystery — Randolph @ 1:50 pm


The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman

Another book in the series of Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn. In this book, Jim Chee is investigating a murder which may be related to a self-defense murder in the past. In a complex plot involving gold mines, abandoned military bases and a missing wife, Joe Leaphorn get his curiosity up and starts his own investigation.

This book starts out following Jim Chee and one of his officers, Bernadette Manuelito. These characters eventually take a back seat to Joe Leaphorn who does a lot of the investigation.

This book gets involved in some of the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni (?) cultures. It is one of Hillerman’s better stories.

September 28, 2017

The Color of Pixar by Tia Kratter

Filed under: Art — Randolph @ 3:52 pm


The Color of Pixar by Tia Kratter

I received this book as part of the Early reviewer program on LibraryThing. I was a little disappointed and also enjoyed it.

First, the images are very good. I enjoy seeing what people can do using the technology.

Then, the book has a nice layout. The cover is appealing and the pages are colored to the visible light spectrum. It is very nice.

But, there is no text discussing the images, techology, nor the artists. I was expecting that kind of information. Second, the images seem to be inserted at random, there is no organization by theme, techniques, film or artist.

Last, the book is a little small. These images demand more space, there is a lot of information in them and they would have a better appeal if they were larger.

Overall, I like to book. It is pleasing and can fill a few random minutes of your day.

September 5, 2017

Lila: An Inquiry into Morals by Robert Pirsig

Filed under: Philosophy — Tags: — Randolph @ 3:01 pm


Lila: An Inquiry into Morals by Robert Pirsig

The book seems to be trying to present a philosophical argument and to be a work of fiction at the same time. It succeeds at neither.

Philosophically, Robert Persig is presenting his idea of the Metaphysics of Quality as a philosophical concept. Yet he uses the emotional tie-ins of his fictional story to sell the idea. From the start, it bothered me that his use of Quality is quite different from our usage. I would think another term would be more appropriate, but I believe he wants us to associate his idea with our idea of quality without having to say it.

His initial ideas are interesting, and it started to look like it may have some merits. However, after the mid-point of the book he tries to sell rather odd ideas. He redefined science from a set of objective truths to subjective truths, because that fits better in his philosophy. Now science can have different truths in different cultures, which is the opposite of the goals of science.

Psychology, likewise is defined as culturally dependent. He sells his ideas using Lila, a psychotic young woman who responds beautifully to the predictions of his philosophy. She is not likable and not very believable. Some of her behavior doesn’t feel consistent, the author would describe her as following a value system that is not consistent with that of society, but has “value”. In his philosophy, value comes from experience.

As a work of fiction, Robert Persig is constantly talking to the reader. The characters are one-dimensional and I eventually lost interest in them.

It only got worse. I have not been able to finish the book.

Powered by WordPress