Damsel in Distress – P G Wodehouse
Another seemingly effortless piece of Wodehouse brilliance. It is reassuring to know that he actually spent ages rewriting drafts, refining his lines and polishing his sparkling wit.
Dreaming War – Gore VidalA collection of essays about American Imperialism, blood for oil, other US outrages from WWII onwards.. Including an insiders account of the in junta in Guatemala at the bidding of United Fruit Company.
Time Travelling with Science and the Saints – George Erickson
A short book on how the church has always stood in the way of scientific progress and burnt, broken or banned many great men and their works. Ultimately, it’s a little flimsy. Arthur Koestler’s Sleepwalkers is better on Bruno, Gallieo, etc.
Context is Everything – Susan Engel
Memory is process not storage. I said more here
Exercises in Rethinking Innateness – Kim Plunkett & Jeffrey Elman
Hands-on companion to Rethinking Innnateness. Any cognitive psychologist who still doubts the central importance of connectionist models to cognitive theory is a fool.
The Man in the High Castle – Philip K Dick
What if Germany & Japan had won WWII? America would have an Eastern West-coast occupied by Japan & a Western East-Coast full of Germans.
The Feeling of What Happens – Antonio Damasio
Finally got round to reading this neurological speculation on the nature of consciousness. Happy with the broad way he was going but found his writing style very flat, unmemorable and uninspiring.
The Blank Slate – Steven Pinker
Finally finished it. The two years it took me to get round to the ending is an indication that this is good not that gripping. The writing is better than Damasio but the book is a broad. Chapters on Art and on Gender were the best.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
There is this boy. He is called Christopher. Apparently he’s autistic but he seemed perfectly normal to me.
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