What book are you reading now?

[Wade]

Two books

- "His dark materials", the fantasy trilogy written by Philip Pullman. Exciting stuff.

Those were my absolute favorite books when I was a kid. Pullman, the author, was an English school teacher who taught classical epic poetry to children, The Iliad and and Paradise Lost specifically. His Dark Materials is essentially a retelling of Paradise Lost, but flipped. Also his philosophy for children's literature is much healthier than what's typical. Most kid's lit instills the message that adulthood is a terrible thing to be feared and the reader should try to remain innocent for as long as possible. Pullman's feeling is that kid's stories should be about teaching kids how to grow up, and that such things as responsibility and wisdom are more fulfilling than innocence.

There's also a passage near the end of the series, which I won't explain cause it's kind of spoilery, that when I re-read the books a few years ago actually inspired me to go back to school and pick a trade.

I love those books. Have fun!


Right now, after finishing Dyson's book, I'm trying to push through "The World's Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics." Science has never been my strong suit, but it's always interested me. Dyson made it sound so exciting, so I'm giving it a shot to be a bit more science literate. The book's a collection of writings by many different scientists written for the layman. There's even a section of poems written on the subject of science. So far I've been able to push through without my head completely exploding.