What are you reading 2004? - Page 2

Missionary Man · 12-29-2003, 01:26 PM

I'm just about halfway through David McCullough's Truman. Great stuff. It's a beast (just short of 1,000 pages minus notes and bibliography), but well worth the investment in time and energy. I hadn't ever read much on Truman, so this is an especially interesting study, particularly when contrasted with historical figures like Lyndon Johnson (if you like large history/biography tomes, check out Robert A. Caro's three books about Johnson. It's some of my favorite stuff ever.). So many powerful men seem to be driven by the pursuit of power itself, but Truman's motivations are closer to duty and the common good than anyone else I can recall reading about. The more I read, the more I admire him.

Skip · 12-29-2003, 01:47 PM

Hey MM, have you read McCullough's Adams book? I like the Truman book better, but I think it's just because he's a more interesting man. The Adams book may be more important since there's not as much study of Adams.

WiredTiger · 12-29-2003, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzmet

Zodiac by Neal Stephenson(heard his later books were better) ... reread Ender's Game by Card

Zodiac was definitely not his best effort but I still liked it. Try SnowCrash or Cryptonomicon.

Ender's Game is still one of my favorite books. I actually like the other books of the series as much or more than Ender's Game.

Missionary Man · 12-29-2003, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip

Hey MM, have you read McCullough's Adams book? I like the Truman book better, but I think it's just because he's a more interesting man. The Adams book may be more important since there's not as much study of Adams.

Yeah, I read the Adams book about a year ago, and I'm enjoying the Truman book more. I think Truman is a more interesting man, as you say, and also a lot more likeable. While Adams is a man of great passion, he's also a bit of a prig, and while I wanted to root for him, it's difficult to do so at times because he is such a cold, humorless man. Truman, on the other hand, is a man you want to sit down and have a drink with, or a piece of pie in a roadside diner. You can relate to him in a way that Adams personality does not allow, which is likely a contributing factor to the lack of important work on him.

satchel · 12-29-2003, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzmet

Zodiac by Neal Stephenson(heard his later books were better).

I'm still working on Cryptonomicon.

Craig S. · 12-29-2003, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip

Hey MM, have you read McCullough's Adams book? I like the Truman book better, but I think it's just because he's a more interesting man. The Adams book may be more important since there's not as much study of Adams.

I thought the Truman book was fantastic, but I wasn't nearly as enamored with the Adams bio.

pwdennis · 12-30-2003, 08:43 AM

I,too, have been struggling with McCullough's book on John Adams, although why, I cannot say, as I have always admired John Adams. Perhaps the writing style has something to do with it as this book does not flow as gracefully as most of McCullough's other writings. Catherine Drinker Bowen's book on Adams is a better read for those interested in our 2nd president

TimmyB · 12-30-2003, 08:21 PM

Read McCullough's Adams in the late summer. It was quite an effort, but, as I hadn't read much on him, it was quite enlightening. However, I thought McCullough really had to push to make him be likeable. He shouldn't have bothered. The man was lots of things, and that included dedicated to the cause. He could have just let that stand on its own.

Keeping in the 2004 vein (which, alas, has yet to begin)... I just finished Stephen King's Wolves of the Calla, part V of the Dark Tower series. While not as grand as the fourth, Wizard and Glass, it is a remarkable effort by a writer whose writing has been so easily dismissed by the critics over the years. No, it won't win a Pulitzer, but it was a fine western.

Received a pile of books at Christmas, so as time allows (17 days and counting 'til a new little person arrives to brighten our lives and mess up or REM sleep) I'll report back.

WiredTiger · 12-31-2003, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by satchel

I'm still working on Cryptonomicon.

I told you it was a long read!

jzmet · 12-31-2003, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WiredTiger

Zodiac was definitely not his best effort but I still liked it. Try SnowCrash or Cryptonomicon.

Ender's Game is still one of my favorite books. I actually like the other books of the series as much or more than Ender's Game.

I've been trying to pull Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon from the library, but they've been out. And I agree about the other Ender books; though his best book may be Treason. I just picked up Robota, his newest collaboration with Doug Chiang.

jzmet · 12-31-2003, 11:50 AM

Almost forgot, a few months back I read a GREAT book called The Killer Angels by Shaara(the father of the current best-selling author). It's not about the Battle of Gettysburg, it is the Battle of Gettysburg. Easily the best war book I've ever read.

Skip · 12-31-2003, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzmet

Almost forgot, a few months back I read a GREAT book called The Killer Angels by Shaara(the father of the current best-selling author). It's not about the Battle of Gettysburg, it is the Battle of Gettysburg. Easily the best war book I've ever read.

I've read that a few times ... I agree that it is an excellent book.

WiredTiger · 01-05-2004, 08:42 AM

I am working on The Skystone by Jack Whyte. It's a fictional account of the dying days of the Roman Empire in England. Very interesting and very well written.

It's also supposed to provide the backdrop on how the Excalibur legend might have come about.

Endymion · 01-05-2004, 08:59 AM

Another plug for the Robert Caro books on Lyndon Johnson. I just got through Vol 1, and it was far and away the best Presidential biography type book I have read, and I LOVED Truman. The recent McCullough books tend to focus on Presidents who are very strong backbone and upstanding moral character. That sure isn't Lyndon Johnson. Caro does a wonderful job explaining the history of the time and really giving you a feel of how politics works.

And yes, Neal Stephenson later books are much better, though I have not read his brand new one.

Right now I am reading Rob Neyer's Lineup books. It's good winter reading fun until Baseball Prospectus 2004 ships!

TimmyB · 01-05-2004, 09:04 AM

Just finished one by Florida tourism's greatest ambassador (

), Carl Hiaasen -- Sick Puppy. This novel puts all the fun back into eco-terrorism.

Just started Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. I'll post my reaction to it in the thread that's going in the Baseball Library forum.

12-30-2003, 08:43 AM	#22
pwdennis NetShrine All-Century Team Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Winter Springs, FL Posts: 2,503	I,too, have been struggling with McCullough's book on John Adams, although why, I cannot say, as I have always admired John Adams. Perhaps the writing style has something to do with it as this book does not flow as gracefully as most of McCullough's other writings. Catherine Drinker Bowen's book on Adams is a better read for those interested in our 2nd president __________________ "I would submit that if the world survives for a million years, perhaps its finest hour may be that in the last half of the 20th century, when the power to blow up the world rested in the hands of a few men in two very unsophisticated and suspicious countries, we didn't do it, and one American, Richard Nixon, moved the cold war away from permanent confrontation toward victory. How could any wrong that he did compare with that?" - John Sears

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12-29-2003, 01:26 PM	#16
Missionary Man NetShrine Hot Prospect Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 19	I'm just about halfway through David McCullough's Truman. Great stuff. It's a beast (just short of 1,000 pages minus notes and bibliography), but well worth the investment in time and energy. I hadn't ever read much on Truman, so this is an especially interesting study, particularly when contrasted with historical figures like Lyndon Johnson (if you like large history/biography tomes, check out Robert A. Caro's three books about Johnson. It's some of my favorite stuff ever.). So many powerful men seem to be driven by the pursuit of power itself, but Truman's motivations are closer to duty and the common good than anyone else I can recall reading about. The more I read, the more I admire him.

12-29-2003, 01:47 PM	#17
Skip NetShrine Vagabond Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Louisville Posts: 7,866	Hey MM, have you read McCullough's Adams book? I like the Truman book better, but I think it's just because he's a more interesting man. The Adams book may be more important since there's not as much study of Adams.

12-30-2003, 08:21 PM	#23
TimmyB NetShrine's Magic 8-Ball Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Where the cops speak slow and the air is nice Posts: 2,591	Read McCullough's Adams in the late summer. It was quite an effort, but, as I hadn't read much on him, it was quite enlightening. However, I thought McCullough really had to push to make him be likeable. He shouldn't have bothered. The man was lots of things, and that included dedicated to the cause. He could have just let that stand on its own. Keeping in the 2004 vein (which, alas, has yet to begin)... I just finished Stephen King's Wolves of the Calla, part V of the Dark Tower series. While not as grand as the fourth, Wizard and Glass, it is a remarkable effort by a writer whose writing has been so easily dismissed by the critics over the years. No, it won't win a Pulitzer, but it was a fine western. Received a pile of books at Christmas, so as time allows (17 days and counting 'til a new little person arrives to brighten our lives and mess up or REM sleep) I'll report back.

12-31-2003, 11:50 AM	#26
jzmet NetShrine Fan Favorite Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: san diego Posts: 91	Almost forgot, a few months back I read a GREAT book called The Killer Angels by Shaara(the father of the current best-selling author). It's not about the Battle of Gettysburg, it is the Battle of Gettysburg. Easily the best war book I've ever read.

01-05-2004, 08:42 AM	#28
WiredTiger Guest Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: The city of Kaline, Cobb and Greenberg Posts: 3,395	I am working on The Skystone by Jack Whyte. It's a fictional account of the dying days of the Roman Empire in England. Very interesting and very well written. It's also supposed to provide the backdrop on how the Excalibur legend might have come about.

01-05-2004, 08:59 AM	#29
Endymion NetShrine Fan Favorite Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 92	Another plug for the Robert Caro books on Lyndon Johnson. I just got through Vol 1, and it was far and away the best Presidential biography type book I have read, and I LOVED Truman. The recent McCullough books tend to focus on Presidents who are very strong backbone and upstanding moral character. That sure isn't Lyndon Johnson. Caro does a wonderful job explaining the history of the time and really giving you a feel of how politics works. And yes, Neal Stephenson later books are much better, though I have not read his brand new one. Right now I am reading Rob Neyer's Lineup books. It's good winter reading fun until Baseball Prospectus 2004 ships!

01-05-2004, 09:04 AM	#30
TimmyB NetShrine's Magic 8-Ball Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Where the cops speak slow and the air is nice Posts: 2,591	Just finished one by Florida tourism's greatest ambassador ( ), Carl Hiaasen -- Sick Puppy. This novel puts all the fun back into eco-terrorism. Just started Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. I'll post my reaction to it in the thread that's going in the Baseball Library forum.

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