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What books are you reading?
wraith808:
-panzer (June 28, 2017, 11:00 AM)
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The Long Walk is one of my favorite Steven King books. I had it in an anthology called The Bachman Books (a lot of his stories written under the Richard Bachman pseudonym), and to tell you what it's about would be to ruin the pathos of dawning horror. But it is very good and recommended. Also in that anthology are Roadwork (arguably- at least by me- Falling Down is based on that) and the Running Man (nothing like the tepid Schwartzenegger flick)
IainB:
^^ Thanks. Useful comment. I learned something there and after looking it up on Amazon - about the Bachman books comprising "Rage", "The Long Walk", "Roadwork" and "The Running Man".
Of those four, I have only read "Rage". I thought it a superb story, with a very realistic development of the central character and his pent-up rage, to which there was probably only one likely - if not inevitable - outcome.
panzer:
-panzer (June 28, 2017, 11:00 AM)
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The Long Walk is one of my favorite Steven King books. I had it in an anthology called The Bachman Books (a lot of his stories written under the Richard Bachman pseudonym), and to tell you what it's about would be to ruin the pathos of dawning horror. But it is very good and recommended. Also in that anthology are Roadwork (arguably- at least by me- Falling Down is based on that) and the Running Man (nothing like the tepid Schwartzenegger flick)
-wraith808 (June 28, 2017, 12:30 PM)
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Only problem with it is that King had no clue how fast a human can walk. Hundred of miles with speed over 4 miles per hour (6-9) is just not realistic. Not for a bunch of teenagers ... I can do almost 7 km in one hour (average speed of 7,5 km/h on a distance of 500 meters and 8,4 km/h on same distance on uphill road with small elevation) but after several hours I would surely drop below minimum speed ... And they walked that fast while eating, smoking and speaking with each other ... I feel he should do some more research on the matter ... Otherwise it is a good book, a little bit too long, but good ...
wraith808:
-panzer (June 28, 2017, 11:00 AM)
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The Long Walk is one of my favorite Steven King books. I had it in an anthology called The Bachman Books (a lot of his stories written under the Richard Bachman pseudonym), and to tell you what it's about would be to ruin the pathos of dawning horror. But it is very good and recommended. Also in that anthology are Roadwork (arguably- at least by me- Falling Down is based on that) and the Running Man (nothing like the tepid Schwartzenegger flick)
-wraith808 (June 28, 2017, 12:30 PM)
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Only problem with it is that King had no clue how fast a human can walk. Hundred of miles with speed over 4 miles per hour (6-9) is just not realistic. Not for a bunch of teenagers ... I can do almost 7 km in one hour (average speed of 7,5 km/h on a distance of 500 meters and 8,4 km/h on same distance on uphill road with small elevation) but after several hours I would surely drop below minimum speed ... And they walked that fast while eating, smoking and speaking with each other ... I feel he should do some more research on the matter ... Otherwise it is a good book, a little bit too long, but good ...
-panzer (June 29, 2017, 02:19 AM)
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I didn't find it unrealistic. Especially with the other factors considered that I don't really want to go into for concern at spoiling the novel. But we can agree to disagree on that.
IainB:
Adults in the Room– My battle with Europe's deep establishment
- by Prof. Yanis Varoufakis (former finance minister of Greece).
(The book's title is a sarcastic comment on the statist elite's patronising view of the masses.)
Brilliant book by a highly rational and concerned economist who is essentially performing the very useful role of whistleblower on "bankruptism" economics.
No proponent of "magic economics" or quantitative easing, the professor bluntly tells it like it is.
I found it quite alarming, and I suspect that he is right on all counts. Worth reading.
Amazon review:
https://www.amazon.com/Adults-in-the-Room/dp/1847924468
A Number One Sunday Times Bestseller.
What happens when you take on the establishment? In Adults in the Room, the renowned economist and former finance minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis gives the full, blistering account of his momentous clash with the mightiest economic and political forces on earth.
After being swept into power with the left-wing Syriza party, Varoufakis attempts to renegotiate Greece’s relationship with the EU?and sparks a spectacular battle with global implications. Varoufakis’s new position sends him ricocheting between mass demonstrations in Athens, closed-door negotiations in drab EU and IMF offices, and furtive meetings with power brokers in Washington, D.C. He consults and quarrels with Barack Obama, Emmanuel Macron, Christine Lagarde, the economists Larry Summers and Jeffrey Sachs, and others, as he struggles to resolve Greece’s debt crisis without resorting to punishing austerity measures. But despite the mass support of the Greek people and the simple logic of Varoufakis’s arguments, he succeeds only in provoking the fury of Europe’s elite.
Varoufakis’s unvarnished memoir is an urgent warning that the economic policies once embraced by the EU and the White House have failed?and spawned authoritarianism, populist revolt, and instability throughout the Western world. Adults in the Room is an extraordinary tale of brinkmanship, hypocrisy, collusion, and betrayal that will shake the global establishment to its foundations.
3 Readers' reviews:
* 5.0 out of 5 stars - The Emperor's New Clothes
By ZLF on May 9, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
"Adults in the Room" is actually a much better title than the one I use for this review, for its acerbic irony if for no other reason. But the book does show, with great clarity, that the Emperor has indeed no clothes on.
This is a book every European, or any person who cares about Europe, should read. It is part memoir, part expose, part impassioned plea for a democratic, humane, rational European Union.
Iirrationality breeds irrationality. The "I know I'm wrong but don't you dare say so" attitude, so forcefully portrayed and so minutely detailed in this book, is one of the reasons why larger and larger numbers of Europeans vote against what they regard as a lying, rotten, despotic establishment.
One other reviewer notes that Mr. Varoufakis doesn't see Mr. Schäuble as a monster, but rather as a tragic character. Be that as it may, the hubris displayed by Mr. Schäuble, Mr. Dijsselbloem and others was nothing short of monstrous.
* 5.0 out of 5 stars - Brilliant
ByAmazon Customer on May 30, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
At last a truth teller.Yanis Varoufakis is a breath of fresh air revealing what goes on behind the wizards ragged curtain.
* 5.0 out of 5 stars - Read this book - it is the real deal
By Amazon Customer on June 16, 2017
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
Pulls back the political curtain & tells some unconventional truths that need to be read. Also, Stateside or in Europa, an excellent primer to the pushback that voted Brexit & Trump
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Also came across a video of Varoufakis being interviewed about the book by a Swedish TV interviewer.
The interview is in English with Swedish subtitles. An excellent and unbiased interview (so, probably not something the BBC could have done - in fact, they'd probably prefer not to give this guy any airtime at all as it would run contrary to the pro-EU narrative/propaganda).
The book reminded me a little of the book The Rake's Progress: New Zealand Economy Since 1945 (pub. Feb 1, 1984) by John Gould (an economics historian).
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