Dan’s Comments (group member since Sep 10, 2008)

Dan’s comments from the Clock-Watchers group.

Where have you all been? I miss you. Come on here and talk about whatever you have been reading.

So what will it be? It should be something we can all easily find, as the time is short.

Well, in all honesty, I haven't touched Zeno in some time (two weeks). My thoughts are maybe it was a bad choice. I have, however, in that time read David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster. I have also begun my first Faulkner, Go Down, Moses. We need to pick a new book for next month. Any suggestions?

I wrote a short story and need advice. Editing ideas. Please read it. If you got to my page on good reads and scroll down, its lists "Dan's Writing" The story is Darkness, Like Sleep. Let me know.

Yeah, my bad. With the photocopied original. Bargain bin is bad ass. Of course, I also get an extra 30% off.

Just got back from BN. Bought "Special Topics..." as well as "Ariel". Excited about both.

This particular book by Eco, "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana", is really interesting. The plot is centered around a character who loses his memory, yet remembers every book he has ever read. So, in an attempt to recover the rest of his memory, he digs through old books, trying to make real-life connections from books he read at different points. I find that concept especially appealing: a book connecting to a specific period of your life, with memories tied into the reading. I can think of several books for me, hell, even specific poems that bridge memories.

The book, on another front, is beautifully illustrated with hundreds of comic book illustrations, cigarette labels, book covers, etc. It really helps the reader connect to the main character.

Eco's Foucault's Pendulum - A thinking man's Da Vinci Code. Awesome. I am not as down on Dan Brown's book as other people, check my review of it for more on that subject.

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I think it really taps into anything we don't want to quit but feel obligated to. It appeases our conscience to say "Oh, I'm quitting smoking....tomorrow" because, in our mind, tomorrow is a much easier time to quit than now. And, of course, as so many addicts know, tomorrow rarely comes.

I agree with the deadpan comment as well.

The interchange with the nurse was hilarious: her thinking he will kill her. And then he gets her drunk. Awesome.

I might buy the second one based of that description alone.

I am reading the Umberto Eco, and like it a lot. Very impressed with it, in fact. I am unfamiliar with the other two, are they any good?

Sissy and I began it last night. Highly enjoyable. We finished "Smoke". Of course, anyone who has quit smoking knows the feelings, but I found his storytelling technique to be very funny.

Anyone reading the current book? Comment...

I picked up Oblivion by David Foster Wallace for 2 bucks today. I think there is one copy left.

Yesterday I texted Rob several facts I found in this book.

- That as the universe expands it loses temperature and the relationship is that each time the universe doubles in size, it loses half its temperature. At this point in its expansion, the universe is now sitting right at 3 degrees Kelvin. Consider how hot the universe was as it began expending!

- Because of how elements are formed in the center of the Sun, with the combination of Helium with Hydrogen, the most common elements are naturally elements with an even periodic number. That's because a periodic number is based off the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom and, Helium, the element used in the vast majority of element-smelting, has a periodic number of 2. So every time the Sun cranks out another element it smacks a two-proton element with another element, creating yet another element with an even number.

Thought I would put up a post for book finds in the bargain section of B&N. If someone else would like to do the same with finds on Amazon.com or a used bookstore or such, feel free. If you like a particular book on the list and want to make that a future choice for reading, speak out.

$3.98 The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
$4.98 The Double by Jose Saramago
$5.98 Talk Talk by T.C. Boyle
$5.98 A Bit on the Side by William Trevor
$5.98 Kiss Me Like a Stranger by Gene Wilder
$5.98 The Mysterious Flame of Gueen Loana by Umberto Eco
$6.98 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
$6.98 The Pacific by Mark Helprin

one last one was less reading than it was looking, Ralph Steadman is most famous for illustrating the work of Hunter S. Thompson. His work is pretty fantastic.

$7.98 Untrodden Grapes by Ralph Steadman

Ed and I have name dropped this book three or four times and I have it on my currently-reading shelf. Currently, its on the bargain table at B&N for less than 5 bucks. Consider the Lobster is a collection of essays that range in detail and style.

The first in the book, "Big Red Son", is about a trip to the adult video awards and the people the author meets. I feel like he really focused on the plasticy, disconnected feel of the people from the industry. More importantly, how certain actresses, the "good" ones, had the ability to switch "it" (it meaning sincerity, reality) on and connect with the audience. While I won't get into the pros or cons of porn and what types I personally find appealing, I found that point very interesting.