Book Feedback

Because Kay asked.



Pratchett’s Thud! Was everything you expect from a Pratchett novel.
Humour, warm humanism and some deep-cut wisdom are the hallmarks of his Discworld works and this one delivered. It’s the kind of book I pick up with delicious expectation, and put down only reluctantly, although I admit I do try to stretch such novels out, as just opening them gives me the warm and fuzzies.

Capra’s The Tao of Physics was, on the whole, a very worthwhile read for me.
He’s talking my language when he discusses modern physics (but the level is not too graduate-it’s very accessible) and also when he’s talking mysticism.
I have no idea why I didn’t read this book 30 years ago. It’s a watershed work.

Hawking’s God Created the Integers is a tome which should be approached with caution.
If you aren’t totally infatuated with mathematics, don’t bother to even try to read it.
Most of the work consists of original oeuvres by the great mathematicians of our civilisation. Heavy going, even for me. The works are interspersed with brief biographies of the authors, which can be quite interesting.
I had no idea Alan Turing was gay, for example.

Lastly, I’m half way through Wilber’s Integral Psychology, first published in 2000.
I’m by no means a Ken Groupie, but I’m fond of his ideas.
Along with everyone else who sees some merit in his levels (or Graves’ Spiral Dynamics) I’m convinced that I’m at second-tier thinking.
Of course I am.