August 3, 2012, Tai Po, Hong Kong.
Paperback 2012, 192 pages.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Caught by Harlan Coben
June 29, 2012, South Amboy, NJ.
Paperback 2011, 438 pages.
I am writing this blog about a week after I finished the book, so the plots are a bit fuzzy, especially since I read most of it inside a plane (Hong Kong to Chicago), in that state of neither being awake nor asleep.
There are several different plot lines that somehow intersect with one another. The main one, probably, is this group at Princeton University students whose prank resulted in the disfiguring of a woman. The one who volunteered to take the blame eventually tried to get even, one result of which was framing Dan Mercer as a pedophile. This resulted in Mercer being killed by Ed Grayson, a victim's father. Turns out the one who committed the crime was Grayson's brother-in-law. And, it turns out, Mercer was indeed guilty of murdering a young girl.
All the twists and resolution are in the final pages of the book. It felt as if the author was trying frantically to tie up all the loose ends and did only a so-so job of it. On top of that, he has a habit of taking the reader through a character's thinking process, resulting in a page of words where a sentence would do. And in most cases the reader probably doesn't care about how the characters think.
Overall, the book is an easy read, and I would rate it average, even though I find the plot a bit convoluted, and the ending unsatisfactory.
Paperback 2011, 438 pages.
I am writing this blog about a week after I finished the book, so the plots are a bit fuzzy, especially since I read most of it inside a plane (Hong Kong to Chicago), in that state of neither being awake nor asleep.
There are several different plot lines that somehow intersect with one another. The main one, probably, is this group at Princeton University students whose prank resulted in the disfiguring of a woman. The one who volunteered to take the blame eventually tried to get even, one result of which was framing Dan Mercer as a pedophile. This resulted in Mercer being killed by Ed Grayson, a victim's father. Turns out the one who committed the crime was Grayson's brother-in-law. And, it turns out, Mercer was indeed guilty of murdering a young girl.
All the twists and resolution are in the final pages of the book. It felt as if the author was trying frantically to tie up all the loose ends and did only a so-so job of it. On top of that, he has a habit of taking the reader through a character's thinking process, resulting in a page of words where a sentence would do. And in most cases the reader probably doesn't care about how the characters think.
Overall, the book is an easy read, and I would rate it average, even though I find the plot a bit convoluted, and the ending unsatisfactory.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston
June 16, 2012, Hong Kong
Paperback 2007, 526 pages.
After the death of his wife, the brilliant scientist Hazelius goes about inventing a religion by getting the government to build a $40-billion particular collider to replicate the conditions of the big bang. He has it rigged so that a program claiming to be God appears as the energy level is increased to the maximum.
Meanwhile, politicians, tele-evangelists, and native Americans get involved, and the end result is that Hazelius is branded the Anti-Christ, and the collider exploded. Hazelius is burned at the stake by a mob, but the new religion ends up being established.
The author in his "Note on the Paperback Edition" claims he is not trying to put down religion, and I basically agree with him. It is equally obvious to me, however, that he thinks science is the answer.
As a thriller, this is not a bad book. As an argument for why science is better than religion, or an explanation of some of the metaphysical concepts associated with cosmology, the book falls short, at least for me. One big hole I see is how the AI program passes the Turing Test if it is indeed planted by Hazelius? The author meekly tries to explain it away by having Hazelius wonder if the program ends up being more sophisticated than he intended; and by doing so also admits there are elements outside science at work here.
Paperback 2007, 526 pages.
After the death of his wife, the brilliant scientist Hazelius goes about inventing a religion by getting the government to build a $40-billion particular collider to replicate the conditions of the big bang. He has it rigged so that a program claiming to be God appears as the energy level is increased to the maximum.
Meanwhile, politicians, tele-evangelists, and native Americans get involved, and the end result is that Hazelius is branded the Anti-Christ, and the collider exploded. Hazelius is burned at the stake by a mob, but the new religion ends up being established.
The author in his "Note on the Paperback Edition" claims he is not trying to put down religion, and I basically agree with him. It is equally obvious to me, however, that he thinks science is the answer.
As a thriller, this is not a bad book. As an argument for why science is better than religion, or an explanation of some of the metaphysical concepts associated with cosmology, the book falls short, at least for me. One big hole I see is how the AI program passes the Turing Test if it is indeed planted by Hazelius? The author meekly tries to explain it away by having Hazelius wonder if the program ends up being more sophisticated than he intended; and by doing so also admits there are elements outside science at work here.
Monday, May 14, 2012
The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
May 14, 2012, South Amboy
Paperback 2000, 409 pages.
Bought this book in Hong Kong. Author addresses eight principal objections to faith by interviewing various scholars on the issues. Also contains a brief summary of his earlier book The Case for Christ.
Paperback 2000, 409 pages.
Bought this book in Hong Kong. Author addresses eight principal objections to faith by interviewing various scholars on the issues. Also contains a brief summary of his earlier book The Case for Christ.
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