The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Dick's The Man in the High Castle is another of my recent reads for June. I wonder how many World War 2 veterans got to read this, and what they thought of the book.

[Picture culled from:  http://www.amazon.com/The-High-Castle-Philip-Dick/dp/0547572484/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340511528&sr=1-1&keywords=MAN+IN+THE+HIGH+CASTLE]

AXE TO GRIND!

Literally!
[Photo culled from: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/recreational_trails/publications/fs_publications/99232823/index.cfm]

Amidst all the Zombie Talk: I am Legend

     Alright, no zombies in the novel by Matheson, but vampires. Still George Romero took a lot of inspiration from this. I finished this quickly just before the end of the 5th of June. I still don't think others appreciate how influential this is. Vampires (undead). Science. One human (apparently). Survival.
     There are existential themes here. But I believe if I mentioned them it would mean talking about some specifics in the novel.
     [Photo culled from: http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Am-Legend-S-F-Masterworks/dp/1857988094]

5 Books of Philosophy (via Leiter's post regarding Romano)

The link to Leiter's post is here. My reply is in the comments section, reproduced here:

[Picture culled from: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/778.html]
I would say:
1. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche (Kaufmann's translation was one of the first philosophy texts I read not just for the philosophy but for the mere enjoyment of it).
2. Word and Object by Quine (I was led to Quine via Nietzsche. Quine's name was in the index of one the Kaufmann translations of Nietzsche, and so I got to "Two dogmas").
3. Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature by Rorty (I think there are many "outside philosophy" who overstate his characterizations and conclusions from this book. I got into Quine, Sellars and Davidson even more because of this.).
4. On Certainty by Wittgenstein (To be read with G.E. Moore).
5. Pragmatism by James (Well my reading of this is influenced by Putnam's. I would have to say also that it helps if we look at James here as struggling with the implications of naturalism. Of course, James would take the religious/supernaturalist view in the end). 

I would add here that James's pragmatism also discusses Vivekananda. More generally, James concerns himself with the possible consequences of holding certain metaphysical views of the world. James was quite familiar with the expression tat tvam asi.

Ray Bradbury (22 August 1920 – 5 June 2012)

"My personal telephone book is a book of the dead now," Bradbury told Weller in his book of interviews. "I'm so old. Almost all of my friends have died, and I don't have the guts to take their names out of the book." (http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/06/showbiz/ray-bradbury-obit/index.html)

Farewell.

Recent Reads for May: Justice League Dark #9

      I've somehow neglected mentioning that I've been following this series from DC, never really too aware of what the "New 52" has in store (literally and figuratively). My other recent reads for may, apart from Justice League Dark are here and here.Taking over from Peter Milligan is Jeff Lemire. The cover above was done by Mike Janin.
       One of the funny things about this issue is a reference to the title.One of the characters does not like it.  Like many things in DC, the stories are better than the names of the titles or characters.
      On a different note, the web and media are abuzz with the Alan Scott Green Lantern news. How about Constantine? Some issues have been raised, but he is not as mainstream. 

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Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Another recent for May is Bourdain's Kitchen confidential: Adventures in the culinary underbelly. I've heard a lot about this and finally read this.

[Photo culled from: http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Confidential-ebook/dp/B002UM5BXW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1338552275&sr=8-3]