Category: General

Alexander to Actium by Peter Green

I can’t possibly do justice to this monumental work in the short space allowed for Facebook book reviews, but I would just like to say that in additional to being informative and educational, this book was delightfully entertaining and enoyable. I am currently taking a course on the Hellenistic Age, but this book, combined with …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2011/05/15/alexander-to-actium-by-peter-green/

Religion and Science by Bertrand Russell

Russell seemed confident, even in 1935 when this book was written, that science had effectively triumphed over religion in the minds of most people. He no doubt would have been appalled to see that in twenty-first century America religious faith is still going strong. But his analysis of the issues that religion and science dispute …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2010/07/23/religion-and-science-by-bertrand-russell/

Mr. Untouchable by Leroy Barnes

It’s hard not to read a book like this and feel like you’ve been a chump all your life for being an honest man. Leroy Barnes spent many years in prison paying for his misdeeds, but while he was at the top of his game he was awash in money, drugs, women, and adventures. The …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2010/06/14/mr-untouchable-by-leroy-barnes/

Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King

This is Stephen King’s fantasy remake of The Magnificent Seven. Not one of the best ones in the series, but still pretty good. King’s prose is sometimes rather clunky, but his imagination never fails him. And I must say that this series reveals a side of King not seen in his other works. For a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2010/06/14/wolves-of-the-calla-by-stephen-king/

Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare

Never has misanthropy been so eloquently expressed. Timon’s reversal of fortune serves as a cautionary admonition to our craving for material prosperity, as well as a cynical lesson on the fickle nature of men. The cynic Apemantus emerges as the wisest character in this story of riches to rags, yet even he is not spared …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2010/04/24/timon-of-athens-by-william-shakespeare/

The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom by Sandra Mackey

This book is about what happens when a hopelessly backward society is suddenly flooded with wealth and forced to modernize overnight. Of all the Islamic countries that are facing a crisis of modernity, Saudi Arabia has been the hardest hit. The Saudis have a bottomless appetite for the material goodies the West has to offer, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2010/03/13/the-saudis-inside-the-desert-kingdom-by-sandra-mackey/

Truman by David McCullough

This book is a case study in how extraordinary an ordinary man can be. Unlike his predecessor in the White House, Harry Truman was not a brilliant man, but he possessed character and fortitude that ultimately made him a successful president. At times the author seems to revel a little too much in how ordinary …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2010/02/21/truman-by-david-mccullough/

The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons, and Growing Up Strange by Mark Barrowcliffe

This was a delightful memoir of growing up with D&D that brought back many memories of my own. Some of the author’s anecdotes are frankly hilarious, as when he recounts his adolescent attempts to pick up girls with lines like, “Did you know that trolls have five hit dice and regenerate?” Even more interesting is …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2010/02/15/the-elfish-gene-dungeons-dragons-and-growing-up-strange-by-mark-barrowcliffe/

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

This was not a long book, but I took my time reading it because the writing was so eloquent. I have never seen such hatred and fury channeled into such eloquent discourse. There isn’t enough space allowed here for me to get into the problems of post-colonialism, but what impresses me most about this work …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2009/07/14/the-wretched-of-the-earth-by-frantz-fanon/

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski

This is Bukowski’s best novel. An autobiographical novel, it goes a long way toward explaining how he became the bitter, misanthropic, brilliant drunk that he eventually became. Bukowski’s writing really resonates with me for some reason. It’s not uplifting, but it gives the me the courage to face whatever life throws at me. For that …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2009/07/11/ham-on-rye-by-charles-bukowski/