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.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
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.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Sixth Man by David Baldacci
September 29, 2011, South Amboy
Paperback 2011, 416 pages.
This book is about how two agents-turned-Private Investigators got involved in an attempt, by the Head of Homeland Security and a certain defense contractor, to destroy a competitor defense contractor. It involves some (to me) far-fetched technology involving one single Analyst doing his job with all available information given to him. Nonetheless, the plot is quite well thought out, and the action, especially towards the end, quite gripping.
One complaint is the book started a bit slowly, and the attempts at humor were a bit contrived.
Overall a good book.
Paperback 2011, 416 pages.
This book is about how two agents-turned-Private Investigators got involved in an attempt, by the Head of Homeland Security and a certain defense contractor, to destroy a competitor defense contractor. It involves some (to me) far-fetched technology involving one single Analyst doing his job with all available information given to him. Nonetheless, the plot is quite well thought out, and the action, especially towards the end, quite gripping.
One complaint is the book started a bit slowly, and the attempts at humor were a bit contrived.
Overall a good book.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Confession by John Grisham
September 24, 2011, Tai Po, Hong Kong.
Paperback 2010, 515 pages.
This is a rather straightforward accounting of how an innocent person was executed and how the attempt to save him during the last few days failed. The only suspense, so to speak, is whether Donte Drumm would be executed. Thus this is an undramatic book by the usual Grisham standards.
One wonders whether the author had an anti-death penalty philosophy and thus used the story to illustrate his point. Since I don't need much convincing on this point, I am okay with that. My other observation is the last part of the novel basically was simply a straightforward accounting of what happens to the various characters in the novel. As Grisham tends to have trouble finishing his novels anyway, this is to be expected, and is perhaps a technique he should use more often.
Overall an average, easy-to-read novel.
Paperback 2010, 515 pages.
This is a rather straightforward accounting of how an innocent person was executed and how the attempt to save him during the last few days failed. The only suspense, so to speak, is whether Donte Drumm would be executed. Thus this is an undramatic book by the usual Grisham standards.
One wonders whether the author had an anti-death penalty philosophy and thus used the story to illustrate his point. Since I don't need much convincing on this point, I am okay with that. My other observation is the last part of the novel basically was simply a straightforward accounting of what happens to the various characters in the novel. As Grisham tends to have trouble finishing his novels anyway, this is to be expected, and is perhaps a technique he should use more often.
Overall an average, easy-to-read novel.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
God and Stephen Hawking by John C. Lennox
September 8, 2011, South Amboy, NJ.
Paperback 2010, 96 pages.
An easy-to-read rebuttal of some of Hawking's arguments in the book "Grand Design."
Paperback 2010, 96 pages.
An easy-to-read rebuttal of some of Hawking's arguments in the book "Grand Design."
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
September 7, 2011, South Amboy, NJ
Hardcover 2010, 198 pages
Hardcover 2010, 198 pages
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Devil’s Punchbowl by Greg Iles
August 11, 2011, South Amboy, NJ
Paperback 2009, 710 pages.
The setting of the story is Natchez, Mississippi. The mayor’s boyhood friend comes to him with disturbing information about dog-fighting activities going on as part of a local casino’s illegal operations; his friend ends up dead. The story is about how the mayor finds other people to help him take down the ruthless people behind such activities. The story ends with a fight on the casino (a riverboat) and one of the villains being eaten up by alligators. Some of the scenes are quite graphic and difficult to get through.
It is a rather good book, but does it have to be so long? It’s not quite “War and Peace”, after all.
Paperback 2009, 710 pages.
The setting of the story is Natchez, Mississippi. The mayor’s boyhood friend comes to him with disturbing information about dog-fighting activities going on as part of a local casino’s illegal operations; his friend ends up dead. The story is about how the mayor finds other people to help him take down the ruthless people behind such activities. The story ends with a fight on the casino (a riverboat) and one of the villains being eaten up by alligators. Some of the scenes are quite graphic and difficult to get through.
It is a rather good book, but does it have to be so long? It’s not quite “War and Peace”, after all.
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