Lisnaholic

to elphenor and Mucha na Dziko for books that look really interesting to me.

Sorry that I can't award you an online thumbs up, adidass. Despite several attempts, I don't think I've ever finished a Salman Rushdie book, and I remember giving up on The Satanic Verses even earlier than I usually give up on his books. The Magic Realism style is just not for me.
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On the topic of what's real and what's magic, I'm reading this for the second time:-


In style it's a straightforward conventional biog, but is "ground-breaking" (according to the cover) in that it emphasises Newton's explorations into alchemy: something he devoted a lot of time to throughout his life, even while working out the rules of science that we'd live by for the next 400 years or so.

I'm still in an early chapter of the book, in which Michael White is looking at the precedents of early science, and what strikes me most is what a quagmire of muddled thinking good old Newton rescued us from. As an example of just how lost people were in their ideas, here's something about Paracelsus, who lived about 150 years before Newton:-
Despite the Latin name he chose for himself, Paracelsus was born in Switzerland and is describe most positively in wikipedia:-

Surprising to me, therefore, is this quote from the writings of Paracelsus:-

Thank you, Newton for rescuing us all from so many misguided ideas. (Mind you, when I say "all", I'm not including Margerie Taylor Green with her space lasers and peach tree dishes, Trump with his bleach and who knows how many anti-science charlatans operating around the globe.)

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

jadis

David Cronenberg’s Dreams and Nightmares

Mucha na Dziko

A great exercise of imagination

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jadis

Finally got covid so now I have an excuse to read a book that has nothing to do with the stuff I'm working on

ribbons

^ Hope you feel better soon and enjoy the book. Just came down with Covid as well (for the second time and despite being double-boosted). This time it's manifesting as a massive headache in the sinus area that doesn't subside, no matter how much Ibuprofen I take.

The Batlord

Is it harder to speak French when you're sick than English?

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jadis

I wouldn't know, so far it's a mild cold basically


I don't have any fever or headache, which helps when you want to enjoy reading. Hope you get better soon!

music_collector

I think it's easier to speak French. I tend to cuss in French, so I'll be cussin' after getting sick.

music_collector

I'm reading "Les Dessous de la poche bleue", by Maxime Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse.

Trollheart

She wants Sherlock Holmes again, so back to Baker Street we go, for selected adventures. Currently it's "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist."

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018