What book did you buy today, part 2.

[clayholio]

To make up for the string of light reading books I've been tearing through lately, I bought Bertrand Russell's "A History of Western Philosophy." I think this one's going to take a little while to work through...

[Tadhg]

I picked up The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot this week. I don't know how much interest this book would have here, but it's absolutely fantastic. It's non-fiction, part biography, part detective story, part medical science history. It's about Henrietta Lacks, her family, her death, and how her cells revolutionized medicine. I haven't had time to reflect on it fully, but I think it might be one of the best pieces of non-fiction that I've read.

[Karl O'Neill]

I picked up a copy of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead revisited.

It was secondhand and cheap.

I don't plan to read it yet. As I have plenty more to read ahead of it.

[RolandJP]

Signed Oliver North biography.

It was a quick read.

[Karl O'Neill]

Oh wow!

I bought this today.

I love Agatha Christie.

Political correctness is a bummer.

[K'Nort]

Oh wow!

I bought this today.

I love Agatha Christie.

Political correctness is a bummer.

I don't really see that particular name change hurting anything. And they changed it over here way back in the 70s, long before political correctness. Not least because the source rhyme had already changed in common usage, so it would have just confused readers to encounter the outdated version.

[Libaax]

Personally i think its a horrible title,should have been destroyed decades ago.

In school when we read,talked about that book i was really shocked. I was a little kid then sure but still.....

[K'Nort]

Nice big shipment of used books. As usual, it's mostly things I've already read so there's little risk of later feeling I wasted that money.

You can also figure that I recommend each of these.


The Big Sort: How the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop

The Feast of Love: A Novel by Charles Baxter

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are by Rob Walker

Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women by Nora Ephron (early 70s essays on current events)

Heartburn by Nora Ephron -- This one I haven't read.

Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability by David Owen -- I've only read the condensed version but it was fascinating


Also received my latest Indiespensable book club shipment at about the same time. The new Louise Erdrich (Shadow Tag) and the new Lionel Shriver (So Much For That). I had no idea that Shriver was a woman. This one is a novel on the evils of our current health insurance system so I won't be rushing to read it.

[Slam_Bradley]

Personally i think its a horrible title,should have been destroyed decades ago.

In school when we read,talked about that book i was really shocked. I was a little kid then sure but still.....

Yes. It's better we pretend things didn't happen. Ignorance makes everything better.

[Roquefort Raider]

Well, in a sense the title was destroyed since it's now called "ten little Indians" or, more frequently, "and then there were none".

In French, it kept the original (translated) title, because the sensitive word doesn't have quite the same connotation. But I don't know how long that will last.

[Libaax]

Yes. It's better we pretend things didn't happen. Ignorance makes everything better.

How original of you....

We should forgive everything because they are from more ignorant days..

[K'Nort]

How original of you....

We should forgive everything because they are from more ignorant days..

Are you really not seeing the vast difference between the two?

And forgiveness is probably too vague a verb to be throwing around. There are plenty of contexts where it is appropriate.

[Libaax]

Are you really not seeing the vast difference between the two?

And forgiveness is probably too vague a verb to be throwing around. There are plenty of contexts where it is appropriate.

I was only saying the title should have been changed many years before they were changed. Didnt say anything about forgetting,ignorance.

[Roquefort Raider]

I was only saying the title should have been changed many years before they were changed. Didnt say anything about forgetting,ignorance.

In the US, it was published right from the start as "And then there were none".

Maybe the title wasn't offensive in England in 1940, since not all words carry the same historical weight on both sides of the pond; the title, for example, is not controversial in France. (This is a supposition, mind you, as I don't know what kind of history the "n" word has in England. Was it a already a racial slur in 1940?)

[Libaax]

In the US, it was published right from the start as "And then there were none".

Maybe the title wasn't offensive in England in 1940, since not all words carry the same historical weight on both sides of the pond; the title, for example, is not controversial in France. (This is a supposition, mind you, as I don't know what kind of history the "n" word has in England. Was it a already a racial slur in 1940?)

I was talking about reading the book with Nigger title in school in mid 90s.

It was offensive then.