Read a book every month

I read H.G. Wells “The War of the Worlds” this month. All I can say is… Wells had a severely messed up mind to think of those Martians. And yet, creepily enough, I can see things heading in a similar direction.

His approach to the future, in this book and the Time Machine, is just so scientific and cold that it magnifies his vision. The Time Machine was eerie in and of itself, because without certain developments, I could totally see the separation of the high and low classes like he envisioned. And now, with the rise of computers, it seems like more and more of the world is dependent on these machines, and eventually we could devolve into something that is entirely dependent on these things, unable to survive without computer chips cooking our food and driving our vehicles.

I read the Once and Future King, by T. H. White. I’ve read this book three or four times before, but it’s one of my favorites. I love the slow shift in the book from terribly optimistic and childlike to melancholy and knowledgable, just like the characters. Besides that, I just love stories about King Arthur.

This month’s kind of disappointing. I wanted to finish Once and Future King, but I’m still midway through the third book, so I’m counting one of the books I had to read for school.

Living with Colonialism: Nationalism and Culture in the Anglo Egyptian Sudan, by Heather Sharkey.

Doesn’t sound that exciting, but it was actually really interesting. There were a lot of things I found out about British Imperialism, like that they singled out a certain group in some colonies (like the Brahmins in India, and the “Arabs” in the Sudan) and placed them in an elevated status. In some cases, like the Hutu and the Tutsi in Rwanda, it’s resulted in genocide. They also basically drew the lines and created the country called Sudan. The contradicting idealisms of the British empire were pretty fascinating to watch unfold. It’s the nerd in me.

I read the Time Machine, but I didn’t actually finish it until the 1st. Of October. But since I’m reading a book about time travel, maybe it’s ok?

I had read this book back in middle school, but I didn’t really remember that much about it. After re-reading it, I’m amazed. Wells novella seems more like a vessel for him philosophizing about the futility of mankind promoting itself, the destruction of traditional values such as the empowerment of masculinity, and the increasing social stratification of his time period. Written in the height of Imperialism and Industrialism, Wells reflects the age he was writing in, and his own worries about this age. I loved the parts where he just rants on about the time travelers theories on what has happened to society. There seems to be a distinct Darwinistic quality to the evolution of the Eloi and Morlocks. And with the path that the British were on regarding scientific racism not only between races but between upper and lower classes, it’s no wonder that Wells thought that the lower classes would eventually get pushed underground.

Anyway, it was a good exercise, and a fun read.

Very excellent book, well worth reading. I think I might look into Taoism more because of it, I loved the principles of the religion.

Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity.

Definitely worth reading.