Metal Reviews

No, not really. It's just funny to see how the Cold War prejudices are still there.

How does he manage to bring commies into present day Iraq? Or is he talking about the past?

Saddam was a socialist, apparently. Subsidised food and power instead of running an economy.

lol

Currently reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Damn fine book.

started nobel prize winner José Saramago's "Memorial do Convento", mandatory reading in portuguese high-schools, but at this rate it'll probably just serve as a "filler book" until my next trip to the book store. i'm thinking "Dune".

Do it!!

Started J.G. Ballard's The Unlimited Dream Company the other day, and so far, it's pretty ok.

I've started Tricksters Choice by Tamora Pierce.

What's Left? by Nick Cohen

Rather interesting attack on modern leftists for not supporting the Iraq war. He makes the case that liberals are prepared to support anything that is anti-establishment, and although he makes some good points, you can still see the gaps in his arguments.

Yeah Nick Cohen looks suitably like a chump now the war's turned out the way it has.

Edit: Actually a few did... Johann Hari of the independent was a fan of the war before it started, then about a year later wrote a column apologizing for supporting it.

Still, you can see where he's coming from sometimes. People have to be prepared to go against Leftist thought at times, rather than go along with whatever's the current flavour. I mean, look at me, don't like the homeless, violent revolutions or suicide bombers, but still consider myself pretty leftie-socialist-liberal.

Have you read What's Left? Nice attack on 90s Tories for ignoring the situation in Serbia...

Those are a few of my favourite things.

No, I haven't read it, actually, although I was thinking of it. Got too much other stuff to read at the moment for dissertation etc.

what do you think of Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore"?

and what about "Pillars of the Earth"? the store began to after they lost the pig in the woods, and i fast-forwarded some 10-20 pages and they were still after the pig. does, you know, stuff happen?

Yes, it's a big book, and brilliant.

Yeah, I too would like to know some opinions about this. I've been intending to loan it from the library but I always pick another one instead of this. Is this a good read ? What should I approx expect from it ?

On my trip, I finished off Egil's Saga and then read Rome and Jerusalem by Martin Goodman- a fascinating history of the two cultures, their relationship to one another and the seemingly completely coincidental series of events that led to the destruction of the Temple and the beginnings of anti-semitism. Excellent prose, well argued analysis and importantly, Goodman backs every single one of his statements up with evidence, and lots of it.

Am now reading Fortune's Favorites by Colleen McCullough.

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (duh)

The Color Of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Great novel if you like wacky British humor.

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets.

OpenGL Programming Guide 5th Edition

Finished Player Piano by Vonnegut. Not bad at all but not one of his better ones.

Just finished The Drive-In. Brutal violence and cannibalism desribed in ofhand conversational tones! Woo!

I'm now going to read some Viking book (fiction written by a historian, should be no more than a glorified textbook... ) and then I'll crack into The Drive-In 2.