Whatcha Reading?

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Brack
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Re: Whatcha Reading?

Post by Brack »

honorentheos wrote:
Sun Jun 16, 2024 8:22 pm
Brack wrote:
Sun Jun 16, 2024 7:09 pm
I've been reading this book lately.

"(Mis)interpreting Genesis: How the Creation Museum Misunderstands the Ancient Near Eastern Context of the Bible"

Link
Interesting. Does it use an anthropological or historical framing in making the case suggested in the subtitle?
It is mainly a historical framing.

Many Young Earth Creationists believe that the Old Testament mentions dinosaurs, but this book refutes the Old Testament having mentioned dinosaurs. Behemoth mentioned within Job 40 isn't a dinosaur, but is likely a Supernatural bull, and his "tail" mentioned in verse 17 is likely a euphemism to his male organ. It reminds me of how Mormons have misinterpreted Isaiah 29 and Ezekiel Chapter 37 as referring to the Book of Mormon.

A lot of the book is about how the ancient Hebrews would have interpreted Genesis and the other writings of the Old Testament. The ancient Hebrews believed that the firmament separated the heavenly waters from the earth below. The heavenly waters didn't disappear during the flood of Noah since these waters are also mentioned in Psalms 148. The ancient Hebrews also believed that the earth was a flat disc. The extraordinary lifespans of the early patriarchs such as Noah and Eber aren't literal, and the author does a good job as to why that is. Noah is said to have lived to be 950 years old while Eber is said to have lived to be 464 years old, yet Abraham is the first patriarch described as having died at a "good old age" at 175 years old. (Genesis 25:8)
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Morley
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Re: Whatcha Reading?

Post by Morley »

Finished Stacy Schiff’s A Great Improvisation. I got interested after watching the Michael Douglas series about Benjamin Franklin’s time in Paris during the American Revolution. It was on Apple TV.

I highly recommend both, though Schiff’s treatment is arguably more accurate and less distracting than the series.
Marcus
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Re: Whatcha Reading?

Post by Marcus »

Morley wrote:
Sun Jun 16, 2024 10:24 pm
...Doc (and I think, Marcus) nudged me into Neal Stephenson...
:lol: I hope so!! one of my absolute favorites.
yellowstone123
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Re: Whatcha Reading?

Post by yellowstone123 »

The next couple weeks:

Karl Marx: philosophy and revolution by Shlomo Avinery;

Dostoevsky: The Seeds of Revolt, 1821-1849 by Joseph Frank
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Res Ipsa
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Re: Whatcha Reading?

Post by Res Ipsa »

Marcus wrote:
Wed Jul 03, 2024 6:34 pm
Morley wrote:
Sun Jun 16, 2024 10:24 pm
...Doc (and I think, Marcus) nudged me into Neal Stephenson...
:lol: I hope so!! one of my absolute favorites.
Mine too.
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Res Ipsa
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Re: Whatcha Reading?

Post by Res Ipsa »

Started and finished Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy and The Night Ocean by Paul La Farge. Now reading The City Inside by Samit Basu.
he/him
we all just have to live through it,
holding each other’s hands.


— Alison Luterman
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Bret Ripley
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Re: Whatcha Reading?

Post by Bret Ripley »

I finished 'Last of the Mohicans' and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I haven't seen any of the film versions, but I have a hard time thinking of Daniel Day Lewis Hawkeye. My mind's eye has him pegged as more of a Willie Nelson sort. :)

I've started 'The Blade Itself' and am enjoying it very much. The style reminds me a little bit of some of Fritz Leiber's 'Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser' stuff, but I haven't read Leiber in well over a decade and may be misremembering. I'm a little over 10% into it -- I have no idea where it's going but am digging the ride.

I was also tempted by Dr. Cam's suggestion, 'Old Man's War', and plan to check that out in the near future. Doc's Wikipedia link mentioned its writing was influenced by Heinlein's 'Starship Troopers', which made a big impression on me when I read it some 40 years ago. (Sheesh -- I feel like a rookie at this being old crap, and it's still kinda shocking to think I'm old enough to remember something I did as an adult 40 years ago).
yellowstone123
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Re: Whatcha Reading?

Post by yellowstone123 »

Bret Ripley wrote: "I finished 'Last of the Mohicans' and enjoyed it more than I thought I would."

I read that a lot of Russian writers in the 19th century loved the stories written by James Fenimore Cooper and Sir Walter Scott and thought their stories were some of the best.
Last edited by yellowstone123 on Tue Jul 16, 2024 2:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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msnobody
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Re: Whatcha Reading?

Post by msnobody »

Dr. Shades wrote:
Fri Jun 21, 2024 5:18 pm
Doctor CamNC4Me wrote:
Thu Jun 20, 2024 5:22 pm
When you get a chance, please update us. My wife and I watched Mindhunter a while back, and now that genre is of a small interest to us.

- Doc
I certainly will. For now, let's say that the author's findings is/are that there is much more than meets the eye to the serial killer phenomenon. Among many observations that haven't come anywhere near to being tied up into a, uh, tidy conclusion yet, serial killers are more accurately "mass murderers," with only those victims bearing specific similarities being released for public consumption. In this way, ritual murders, targeted murders, politically-motivated murders, etc. are pinned on one (usually, but not always) guilty guy who takes the fall for any number of other murders not his own.
Sounds like something I would read.
"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” Jude 1:24
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