All About Books
I have no idea what a tag means. Nevertheless, since it is about books, I thought I would give it a shot. Thank you, AG of Siphar.
Total books I own:
A little more than 100 hundred maybe, none of them academic or related to computers. :-) Some of the significant ones that I own are listed on the left under "Life, Lessons and Some More."
Last book I bought:
Its Not About The Bike - My Journey Back to Life
Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins.
on Sunday, 5th June, 2005.
Last book I read:
Same as above.
Currently reading:
(About to begin) Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat.
Books that have had an impact on me:
(So far...)
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand.
Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse.
The Flight of the Eagle - J Krishnamurthy
And since it looks like I have to pass it on:
I request Eroteme, Vaibhav , Aditya, The Mystic, Waterhot to kindly do the honours.
A note to the child-taggers :-) :
Forgive my imposing this on you guys. Its just that I am most curious to see your entries.
Total books I own:
A little more than 100 hundred maybe, none of them academic or related to computers. :-) Some of the significant ones that I own are listed on the left under "Life, Lessons and Some More."
Last book I bought:
Its Not About The Bike - My Journey Back to Life
Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins.
on Sunday, 5th June, 2005.
Last book I read:
Same as above.
Currently reading:
(About to begin) Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat.
Books that have had an impact on me:
(So far...)
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand.
Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse.
The Flight of the Eagle - J Krishnamurthy
And since it looks like I have to pass it on:
I request Eroteme, Vaibhav , Aditya, The Mystic, Waterhot to kindly do the honours.
A note to the child-taggers :-) :
Forgive my imposing this on you guys. Its just that I am most curious to see your entries.
Meera @ 2:10 PM| permalink
11 Comments:
www.tecnorati.com for About Tags.
(and I didn't know that, until reading your post. Then ofcourse, I had to google)
Meera,
I recommend "Last Chance to See" -- the best book by Douglas Adams. Even he claimed that it was his best.
Atanu
www.deeshaa.org
Did my bit. I am untagged!! :-)
Your wish is my command...
Tagging is a phenomenon of creating a social web...(rather a congregation( if I can user that word!!) of like minded and similar topics...) Flickr is a nice example of tagging..the other sites of real time tagging are, 43things.com, del.icio.us(this is a on-line bookmarks tagger), and all consuming...Amazon is the foremost example of tagging..the "Those who bought this book also bought this" stuff is the result of tagging...teh commercial use of tagging is that, it creates a readily available pool of respondents with a similar taste.....
Tagging is a amazing phenomenon that was put to great use by Amazon and being copied by almost all business entities right now...
Dear Hebbosome & Atanu,
Thank you for the recommendations. Will definitely try them.
Dear Anshul & Krish,
Thank you for opening my eyes to tags.
Dear Eroteme & Waterhot (and Vaibhav who is not visible here)
Thank you for indulging me... :-)
Hey Meera,
No problem....will do it.
Just give me a day....will do it by tommorrow...ok?
Thanks.
Done.....sorry for the delay though.
Meera, I apologize for this delayed response to your request - I finished a torturous set of exams just over a week ago, and so for the past three weeks or so I haven't read any blogs (nor have I posted in my own!). This response is rather weak, and I doubt there's anything here of much worth, but without further ado:
Books I own:
Most of the books I've read have been from the large collection that occupies a good portion of our living room, so in this sense I have been very lucky, for most books that I've been interested in have turned out to be shelved away somewhere! For that reason, I don't own very many books of my own; is that a testament to the strength of this inherited collection, or an indication of the dismal breadth of books I've actually read?! (A bit of both, I'd say!)
Most of the books in "my" collection as a result are, alas, rather uninteresting - quite a few technical books, most of which are purely utilitarian, and as a result, fail to truly excite (with an exception, which I'll come to later).
Last book I bought:
I believe it was The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, bought totally out of a whim (the name rang a bell, probably because I read glowing reviews of it a long time ago), which I found somewhat disappointing. I had a very different idea of what the book would be like. This would be a non-issue if what it actually delivered struck me as exceptional, but to be honest, I did not find myself being overly captivated. But, if it's any consolation to Ms. McCullers, I do intend to re-read the book in the future.
Last book I read:
I actually just finished re-reading Zen, but as for "new" books, A Confederacy Of Dunces, which I finished only yesterday. I should point out however that I really don't read as much as I should. It has reduced to me only ever reading on train rides, which can be a little disheartening sometime. With really good books, the experience can be severely diminished by the banter (I should know, I indulge in it myself on occasion) of fellow passengers!
Currently reading:
I haven't picked up anything since Dunces, but I'm leaning towards either The Trial or a Graham Greene book - it depends on my mood!
Books that have had an impact on me:
Both Narziss And Goldmund and Demian touched me deeply, probably because of the time in my life that I read them (it sounds like I read them years ago, but it was at the start of this year, when things were going awry), and N&G in particular strikes me as being a fine example of simply beautiful writing; Hesse was blessed because not only could he see the intangible beauty in the world, he had the gift of being able to express his feelings about it in a wondrous way!
Obviously Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance had an enomorous impact, so much so that I don't really know what to write about it. This again is one of those books that I felt almost drawn to, even though I knew nothing about it - perhaps it was the curious title that attracted me?
I've never quite fathomed why completely, but Huxley's Those Barren Leaves probably comes as close to topping this list as is possible. Again, it's probably a reflection of the time I read it, and the book took own its own meaning with my life as a backdrop. As it goes with really personal books, I can't quite explain what I found so magical - there just seemed to be an amazing resonance of my precise sentiments on some things, and it opened my mind to a new world, really.
I want to add Design Patterns, but it technically doesn't count, for I haven't read it in detail. In fact, I don't even own the book! But I have been exposed to the ideas it contains for the past few months, and it has probably been one of the more enriching periods of growth in my technical side. It's hard to find technical books which can be aesthetically pleasing, but I think the ideas presented in this book can do the trick. And, dare I say, it has given strength to my belief that software design is an art form!
That's about all, and as you will surely agree, the above was not worth the wait :)
Meera,
I have quite a few books that I own. Most of them leave my hands so that somebody else who can't afford the book can afford the words.
Complete Works of Leonardo da Vinci was awe-inspiring.
But the book that made me read lesser after I read it is: "If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him" by Sheldon B Kopp.
Yes, the Third Wave by Alvin Toffler and Fritjok Capra are also good. So is any book by Osho and JK.
Read "If You Meet..." and let me know.
I want to confess that I lent lot of books to people whom I never saw again... like an airhostess on a flight from Pune to Bangalore! That was "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom.
Hey, also read "Tuesdays With Morrie" by Mitch Albom.
Meera,
aah... I forgot the Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.
Awesome.
Post a Comment
<< Home