The 306 Greatest Books #56 - The Republic

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is The Republic by Plato. This book can be found on the Sybervision Book List.

Of all of the books on my lists, the "Science and Civilization" section of the Sybervision book list is the hardest to get through. That is for multiple reasons but mostly because the texts are often dry and uninteresting. Although, they do have bright spots here and there if you know where to look. I had started and read most of The Republic within my undergraduate Humanities class in college, which helps greatly in the understanding of these historical works. While a historically important work of literature that delves into topics such as justice and different forms of government, this is not meant to be read as entertainment. However, I am not reading this list for a history lesson and I found the text to be extremely difficult to comprehend, even with the aid of a professor. So I would have to say this is a strong not recommended for anyone reading these stories for fun. Overall, the reason for reading this is more for educational purposes than relaxation. Proceed at your own risk.

The 306 Greatest Books #55 - Dune

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is Dune by Frank Herbert. This book can be found on the BBC and My Book Lists.

Dune is often cataloged as one of the greatest science fiction stories ever told and the precursor to all science fiction that has come since. It is also frequently listed as the first book within the bestselling science fiction series of all time. These are all titles that the book has rightfully earned. Dune contains parallels in religion, politics, and environmental changes to modern day society, even when it was written back in the 1960's. The story takes place in our the distant future (at least 20,000 years) and the only concrete evidence that it even takes place in our universe is a quick mention of Earth in the appendix. We follow a 15 year old boy who turns out to be the prophet that a culture of desert dwellers has been anticipating. He then must not only learn to live in the harsh environment but to use his "magical" gifts properly. I recommend this book because not only is it the precursor to all modern day science fiction stories but because it is riveting and extremely well written. It is a bit of what is classified as "hard science fiction", meaning that there is a lot of science and not much of the more fantastical elements, but it is still a riveting story none-the-less. My only problem is now I have this urge to read the rest of the series.

The 306 Greatest Books #54 - Walden

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is Walden by Henry David Thoreau. This book can be found on the Sybervision and My Book Lists.

While most of the books on my lists are strictly fiction, there are a few that delve into other aspects of history such as scientific and philosophical works. Walden was my first dip into these other, more intimidating, works of literature. And when I started this book I was expecting a rather long, dry, dull book, but in the end, I was pleasantly surprised. Although this is listed as a philosophy book, it reminded me much more like an amateur scientist exploring the world and describing what he sees. Walden is written in a language that is poetic and enjoyable to read where Thoreau will often comment on aspects of his society that are still prevalent today; including helping the needy and people living just to make money. The premise of the book is that Thoreau wanted to live outside of society, with no reliance on it and in the end he succeeded, for the most part. This work impacted me so much that a line within the story has become my email tag since reading it:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." 

I feel that for an educational experience this book should definitely be on everyone's list.

The 306 Greatest Books #53 - Emma

I am going back and posting all of my previous book reviews so that they are listed on my site in chronological order. The reviews are dated for the time when I read the book, hence the reason many of them will be listed for times before this website existed. 

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is Emma by Jane Austen. This book can be found on the Observer and BBC Book Lists.

Coming into Emma with a fairly large preconceived notion about the Austen/Bronte books of the time, I was pleasantly surprised and this book was actually better than I was expecting. Once I got passed Austen's round-about way of speaking the book rather intrigued me. The story is about a female in her early twenties among the upper class social scene of rural England. She had vowed to never marry in order to not stress her father. Instead of indulging in her own love-life, she then tries to hook up her friend Harriet. The problem comes when Emma realizes that she is really bad at playing match-maker and eventually causes more problems than if she had just left everything alone. The story wraps up very nicely in a happily-ever-after ending. My biggest complaint of the story is that the language used made the book very difficult to follow at times and Austen could have definitely used "by the bye" far less. Although I enjoyed it, I do not recommend it, especially compared to Austen's much better and more famous Pride and Prejudice. 

Life Update - The Blizzard of '06

Note - This was originally published on my other site "The Geology P.A.G.E." but due to the content I have moved it here and backdated the post.

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The Blizzard of '06

That's right, maybe a month too late but here is my recap of the blizzard of 06'. Declared a National Disaster by FEMA and commented on many to be worse than Katrina. OK, don't get me wrong. I am not stating this was worse than Katrina, or even close. But it was pretty bad. We lost power for a week and some didn't get back power for at least a week and a half. Our internet service and cable took a little longer to come back.

Here are some pictures:

Actually during the storm. Hard to take pictures at night in a snowstorm.

The cars were under the snow, at least 2 feet fell that night.

Our backyard, the morning after. The reason that most of the region lost power was due to the wet heavy snow taking down the branches on the power lines. You can see the branches ripped out, broken and laying in the snow drifts. The table was tipped over the prevent it from breaking.

Yup, no power means no microwave, no oven, no heat, no lights. Only candles, hot water (thank you gas) and a stove (again, thank you gas). So after deciding we needed to get rid of all our food and quick it became hot dog night on the grill.