| Barbara Goldsmith by Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie, 236 pages Micaela Larkin 29 June 2006 Superb. Romance, Chemistry, and Modern Science!!! This short tome is a part of the tiny biography series that you can pick up at half-price books. | How to Understand and Use a Norwegian by Odd Borretzen, 61 pages Erik Bauer 09 August 2003 Given to me from my norwegian friend, it actually is jammed packed with satire and wit in the caliber of The Onion. |
Bonds of Imperfection: Christian Politics Past and Present (2004) by Oliver and Joan Lockwood O'Donovan, 320 pages James Donahue 10 January 2008 A group of essays, some better than others, on all sorts of digressions. On the whole however they are not as interesting to me as their monographs. Perhaps they would interest a specialist more. |
The Desire of the Nations (1996) by Oliver O'Donovan, 288 pages James Donahue 15 November 2007 The best theology book I've read in years. O'Donovan re-presents here the grand tradition of Protestant political thought in coherent and persuasive form. Highly recommended. |
Seeing Voices by Oliver Sacks, 162 pages Steve Gadd 28 April 2000 An interesting and very educational look at the community and language of the deaf, including a report on the uprising at Gallaudet University to demand a deaf president. |
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks, 233 pages Steve Gadd 15 December 2002 Best book I read this year. The most interesting clinical tales from the 'Awakenings' neurologist. Read about the woman who, following a stroke, cannot see or perceive the idea of 'left.' She makes up the right half of her face, and eats the right half of her dinner. If she is still hungry, she must turn to the right in a circle until she finds the half-portion, and she eats half of that. Amnesiacs and hypermnesiacs. And the amazing twins, who couldn't do basic math, but entertained each other by calling out large primes. What keeps the book from becoming a freak show is the extremely literate and sensitive writing of the author, whose fascination for mental abberations is balanced by his compassion for the people who suffer (or in some unusual cases, benefit) from them. |
An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks, 296 pages Steve Gadd 04 April 2003 An artist loses his color vision after a car accident, a surgeon with Tourette's syndrome shows no symptoms while he works, a man blind from birth regains sight after cataract surgery but has no comprehension of vision. Seven case studies presented in detail by the Awakenings doctor. |
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, 385 pages Steve Gadd 28 February 2009 Dr. Sacks is easy on the reader: entertaining, compassionate, and wise. This collection of case studies and reflections on music at first had the frustrations of a cookbook -- reading about something that doesn't convey well on the page. But I was soon caught up in his enthusiasm for music, and the peculiar ways in which people respond to it. Thanks, Tony, for the gift. |
Murder in Our Midst: The Holocaust, Industrial Killing, and Representation by Omer Bartov, 251 pages James Donahue 07 August 2002 Bartov discusses the ultimate meaninglessness of mass killing, its relation to modernity, and postwar attempts to both suffuse the Holocaust with purpose and make an ineffable, foundational event. Excellent analysis. |
The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk, 161 pages Steve Gadd 15 December 2000 A short novel about two lives so intertwined as to become exchanged, it is no substitute for the Kafka or Borges to which it is compared. |
Snow by Orhan Pamuk, 426 pages Jonathan Misirian 18 July 2005 Pamuk, sets his novel in the city of Kars, Turkey. A love story, a budding poet, and a local political race are all subplots to the main narrative; which is the tension between Islamicists and Reformers. There appear to be just a few Muslim countries where there is still a debate about the role of Islam. Pamuk is a Reformer, and in Snow, he makes his case. |
A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution by Orlando Figes, 862 pages James Donahue 02 November 2002 |
Old English and Its Closest Relatives by Orrin W. Robinson, 290 pages Steven Krise 27 July 2002 Survey of the 7 earliest Germanic languages. What drew me to it is first that it covers the whole spectrum of Germanic languages with an eye toward their genetic relationships and second that it gives readings for each of the languages, forcing the reader to grapple with the language on its own terms. Highlights include the discussion of Germanic alliterative verse in the Old Saxon chapter and the evolution of governing/word order among the Germanic languages in the Old English chapter. |
Saints by Orson Scott Card, 711 pages Micaela Larkin 19 April 2007 Polygamy. Polygamy. Polygamy. Not science fiction... Former ND Student writes fictional account of his Mormon pioneer ancestors. Good read! |
Under Four Administrations (1922) by Oscar Straus, 430 pages James Donahue 07 August 2006 Memoir: German-Jewish emigre rises to top of class at Columbia, becomes foreign minister to Turkey in 1890s, part of TR's administrations (second Labour Secretary), then served under Wilson. Good memoir, excellent eye for detail, especially of the final days of the Ottoman Empire, even if it reads as, more or less, a series of political vignettes. |
The Best of Outside by Outside Magazine, 416 pages Steve Gadd 15 October 2006 This magazine published the articles which later became the bestsellers "The Perfect Storm" and "Into Thin Air." This collection includes those articles and a few other hits, but overall it was a disappointment. |
Hensley Henson (1983) by Owen Chadwick, 331 pages James Donahue 25 June 2007 Henson was a turn-of-the-century bishop who somehow combined the role of church crank, heretical modernist, and Victorian hangover for over forty years. The biography is a bit watery, I never got a feel for Henson as a person. But I did enjoy Chadwick, who was the leading historian of secularization, revealing his own thoughts (which favor modernization and sees the evangelical reargard as an embarassment for Britain) in this biography. |
Call Each River Jordan by Owen Parry, 321 pages Mike Gadd 11 September 2002 I love the way this guy writes. It's almost as good as Charles Frazier's 'Cold Mountain'. I could find pleasure in reading this guy's grocery list. This is the 3rd story in the series about Abel Jones. Abel is a soldier under the direct employment of President Lincoln. He's in charge of solving some of the more difficult mysteries the union army doesn't have time for. The story is secondary to the style. If you fall in the group that loved 'Cold Mountain' then this author is well worth a look. If you didn't, well, you have bigger problems than I can help you with. |
Our Simple Gifts: Civil War Christmas Tales by Owen Parry, 150 pages Mike Gadd 24 December 2002 Four delightful Christmas tales from my favorite author. Heartwarming and inspirational, the first story is the best of the four. |
Honor's Kingdom by Owen Parry, 328 pages Mike Gadd 06 July 2003 To put it simply, this guy has my number. I cherish reading his stories. The lead character is just what I like. The writing style is gorgeous. I must include a CostCo free sample: "The inspector's eyebrows stood to attention, thick as a rank of bayonets on parade. Outposts of his whiskers, they were, detailed to guard his forehead." You get that on page 5. It only gets better. Was there a story here? I think so. I don't know that it mattered. Not to me anyhow. |
Bold Sons of Erin by Owen Parry, 399 pages Mike Gadd 29 August 2005 It's been awhile since I picked up one of Mr. Parry's. This one got a little wordy even for me. More time needs to be spent pushing the story along and less on the opinionated soliloquy. |