Read one book a month

Finished The Singularity is Near last week. I’ve been following articles and blogs about the singularity and transhumanism for a while, but this book filled in a lot of blank areas. In particular, it spelled out specific roles that nanotechnology will play once it becomes mainstream. It also outlined the reasoning behind the law of accelerating returns, progress and methods for reverse engineering the human brain, and the relationship between genetics, nanotech and robotics—all three of which will bring about profound paradigm shifts when they become pervasive. Overall, though, the book was clearly a call for investment in nanotech, with some emphasis on defense against accidents/maluse. I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in technology or futurism.

Also, I’m just about through the first hundred pages of Philip Roth’s Sabbath’s Theater. I’m impressed with the provocative style of the novel, but I’m not sure how long the storyline will interest me.

Still reading The Singularity is Near but I took a two-week trip to India and it isn’t my copy so I couldn’t take it with me. In the meantime I read Rashomon, The Setting Sun and Beauty and Sadness. Kawabata’s Beauty and Sadness was by far the best of the three, and I would recommend this or any other novel by the Nobel Prize winner. The Setting Sun was worth the read, but it might be too tragic/sentimental for some. The insight to struggle for those desperately trying to cling to old values or utterly failing to assume new ones in postwar Japan was interesting. Akutagawa’s short stories were fun to read, especially “In a Grove,” “Rashomon” and “Yam Gruel.”

Okay, this month I plan on finishing Singularity and maybe Dante’s Inferno (only 14 cantos left). I also started Sabbath’s Theater, but I probably won’t get around to it until next month.

Oh, and here are my photos from India if you want to take a gander.

Lolita in Tehran turned out to be pretty solid. I would recommend it to anybody. This month I read Day of Deceit about FDR and whether or not he knew in advance about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The first 80 pages were interesting, but after that it’s pretty much the same thing over and again. Not bad if you don’t have anything else to read. (btw, he knew)
I started reading Kurzweil’s The Singularity is Near a few days ago. I like to follow technology / singularity / transhumanism, etc. so I’m liking it so far, but YMMV.
Happy reading everyone!

I’m about 100pp in Reading Lolita in Tehran. Great book so far. Somehow it captures a lot of magical qualities usually found in fiction. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Also on the list is In Defense of Food, Food Politics, and sometime this year, Ulysses.

I’m glad I’ve been able to make reading more central again with 43things. I’ve been going strong since October. The last two books I read were the best I’ve read in a long, long time: Fountainhead and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I would recommend them to anyone.