h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think that it was a "Hyper-inteligent shade of blue" ICBW though.

Hi, I'm new but I'm sure you all new that..anyway.
Apart the book that currently hold number one to me is in fact two faced (three in reality) because J.D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey are the best books so far I have ever read. Though I'm reading a book by Jostein Gaarder that looks very promising.

Phooley -

Welcome, I'm glad you stopped by. I hope that you are having a good time.

While I enjoy Catcher in the Rye, I'm somewhat ambivilent (sp?) towards it. Of course the last time I read it was about 16 years, I just might have to go back and re-read it.

Courtesy

Phlooey not Phooley that sounded pompous I think. I had to read the dictionary for ambivalent, its a good word though. Well I'm probably at the age where it would appeal the most being a teenager but I just love Holden Caulfields dry critical view of the world, the storyline isnt bad either . Franny and Zooey , is brilliant Zooey is the most impossible and stunningly witty character and probably his verbal fencing skills made the book for me.

That is Pompous of me not of you.

No worries, I caught the jist of it.

I remember liking Holden's sense of humor, I think some of my attitude is from the instructor, who - while good - tended to over analyze everyting.

I do like the caustic whit, Monty Python being one of my favorite comedy troupes of all time.

So, what are your top 10 books of all time?

Courtesy

where did this 'powered by DNA' thing at the bottomw of the page come from?
Anyway, apologies for not replying to other conversation before now regarding aliens / intelligent life. I did get half way through a reply and then I got called away and had to turn the pC off in a hurry. I just wanted to add - If we were to discover Life as we would like it to be - ie legs and arms and not Super intelligent shades of the colour Blue or pink clouds of gas or microscopic - would we bother trying to be friends or would we eat them if we couldn't communicate with them. I mean, if we found beings that lived in forests or something and had no written language that we knew of and they looked a bit cow shaped / walked on all fours / flew.
My thinking is that we'd judge the Life to be either superior or inferior to us and eat or live in fear of being eaten accordingly.
I wonder what the religious groups would say about eating alien meat...

Also - unrelated to the above post, I am reading a History of Salt at the moment, fascinating stuff. Well, I like it anyway full of interesting facts: Am I the only person in the world who didn't know that the Italians got the idea of pasta from China and Tomatoes from the Americas?

As the premier sea power in their day, and the port of call for Marco Polo, Italy is something of a culinary crossroads to the rest of the world. The North of Italy features dishes also common in Germany and Switzerland, Rome has it's own cucina. The fact that explorers came back to Rome with their finds allowed the Romans to mold those influences into their own cuisine.

Also being the center of the Holy Catholic Church, the ideas of Rome spread, not only to the rest of Italy but to everywhere the church spread. The New World gave the world tomatos but Italy made them into something sublime.

Top 10 books. thats tough: At the moment it is:

Catcher in the Rye
HHGTTG
Restaurant at the end.... <---These 4 arent in any particular order.
Life the Universe and everything
So long and thanks for all the fish
Franny and Zooey
Well thats my top 6 the others need much consideration and browsing

if you look at our posts about our top ten books you'll see that most of us cheat outrageously and have for example the hitchhickers trilogy in 5 parts down as one book (hey - I've got mine all in one omnibus edition now so it's not too badly cheating!), or any favourite authors 'collected works', it means you have more to play with

And I suppose that means that yes I am the only person in the world to not know the origin of pasta !

Here is a question.

What are your guilty pleasures for reading?

Mine are WWII-Vietnam war novels, comic strip compendiums and pulp sci-fi.

'guilty pleasures'? Hmm... I'm not sure that any reading should be considered a guilty (ie shouldn't be doing it)sin thing. Reading should be encouraged! Even if it's only reading lurid horror (my pet hate genre).
Having said that... Magazines: Homestyle mags, Cosmopolitan and it's kin, rubbish like that that I always feel guilty about buying, reading and enjoying

I hate the cosmopolitan! Maybe hate is too strong a word but it's so unbelievably sexist.
I'll redo my top ten and sneak in HHGTG as an omnibus .
I still read Tintin everynow and then......

My horrible secret about reading is pulp sci-fi. Sitting down with a no brainer book that you can polish off in one sitting, and you aren't really sure what the book was about, except some of the overarching themes.

Other than that, I would say re-reading books. While not guilty feeling per say, I always feel like I could be reading a new book and expanding my library, but the old ones are like nice old jeans, comfortable, known and completely lived in.

Courtesy

That is a common problem with me as well Courtesy. I re-read all of my books. I have worn our so many copies of the Belgariad that I cannot even recall the first set.

I read my books in a way that I don't bend the spine. I know I've come to really like a book when the spine starts to have cracks in it. I've gone through 3 Ender's Game, and still have my original first printing paperbacks of the Belgariad, but I'm worried about taking them down as they seem in fragile condition

Also, my review of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume One, is in the Post this week, as always comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Courtesy

My guity reading habits are pulp sci-fi, fantasy and detective fiction, and the same mags as Fate, although I had to stop reading cosmo after I bought it three times in one month, without realising I'd read it before... I also have a pretty complete collection of Georgette Heyer's somewhere at the back of a cupboard...

Actually I read much more pulp than anything else...

My books are always scruffy, and in truth, I like them that way... It's hell borrowing them off other people and having to take care of them and remember not (NOT!) to turn pages down, drop them in the bath, use them as coffee coasters, and crack the spine the first time I open it...

Sol -

I usually look at the current book a person is reading, and establish their care and maintenance of books, before I will let people borrow them. Of course I can count on one hand the number of people who I have let borrow a book of mine.

Have any of you read Boy's Life (the book not the magazine), or The Way of the Peaceful Warrior? Both excellent books that were recommended to me by friends. I would definitely recommend them to all of you.

Courtesy

I'd reccomend Through a glass, darkly by Jostein Gaarder, it's not so much of a slog as I personally found Sophie's world which bogs you down a bit.
I'll look out for way of the peaceful warrior.