What are you reading ?

[boomerang]

From Nook Books for under $4.00--"For The Sake Of My Country", by Linda G. Corley. The work is divided roughly into two parts: Interviews with Jesse Marcel Sr. and Mrs. Marcel a few years before his death about his role in Roswell, and numerous pages of somewhat rambling speculation about the possible meaning of mysterious symbols on the infamous "I-beams" as reproduced for Ms. Corley by Marcel from memory. IMO a good value if only for the well done interview alone.

 

[boomerang]

Just finished another Nook Book by Jesse Marcel's grandson--Jesse Marcel (the third?) concerning his grandfather's role in the Roswell affair. "Alien Crash At Roswell: The UFO Truth Lost In Time" is a hard work to evaluate. The author's sometimes vague and sensationalistic writing style notwithstanding, his enthusiasm for the case and indignation about the way in which Marcel Sr. was used and discarded by a darkly mysterious system seems genuine. What makes it worth reading, IMO, is the mere fact that the author could indeed have discussed events at Roswell at some length with Marcel Sr. and come away convinced. But still, a little documentation would have gone a long way here.

 

[boomerang]

Just finished the third book in the "Marcel Trilogy": "The Roswell Legacy" by the recently deceased Dr. Jesse Marcel Jr. and it is by far the best. His rendition of how his father's role and his brief encounter with the crash debris as a child changed the lives of three generations of the Marcel family, including his children, is quite interesting. Marcel went to his grave utterly convinced that whatever material his dad brought to their house in Roswell was genuinely alien and is still in possession of a faction he refers to as the "black government". An especially hard hitting passage describes an anonymous invitation to meet with an un-named official at the Capitol Building in Washington, its taking place one-on-one in a subterranean conference room, and the official's admission that there were forces of censure at work he was not at liberty to describe. Marcel was also given a phone number to call in the event that he or a member of his family were ever physically threatened. I ramble on. But coming from someone of Marcel's apparent character and credentials, this is heady stuff.

 

[smcder]

Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion: Edward J. Larson: 9780465075102: Amazon.com: Books

Edward J Larson

He received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion.[1] The book argues that Inherit the Wind (both the play and the movie) misrepresented the actual Scopes Trial. Unlike in that play and movie, in which reason and tolerance triumph over religiously-motivated, unsophisticated anti-evolutionists, Larson's book portrays the trial as an opening salvo in an enduring twentieth-century cultural war involving powerful national forces in science, religion, law and politics. "Indeed," he concludes in the book, "the issues raised by the Scopes trial and legend endure precisely because they embody the characteristically American struggle between individual liberty and majoritarian democracy, and cast it in the timeless debate over science and religion."

 

[Jeff Davis]

Currently reading:

and...

 

[sagesigma]

Currently reading:

and...

Is it just me or are there quite a few typos in The Eighth Tower? I spent a lot of money on an out of print copy of that book and don't remember so many errors. Still a great book, but maybe a second edition of the reprint would be better received?

 

[Jeff Davis]

Is it just me, or are typos really getting common EVERYWHERE? Seriously, it seems like there is a plague of the "typo" type in play.

Keel's books are bizarre, just in and of themselves. For instance, what the heck is the story behind the book, "Why UFOs"? Are you familiar with that?

 

[nameless]

readings for losers

 

[nameless]

I am reading The Infinite Water Bottle by Akende Wembe. Its been nominated for a Starbucks Coffee award. Its about a boy whose family are killed in a plane crash and so he is brought up by a family of giraffes. The momma giraffe dies from a drought that threatens to kill all the animals of the village and so he makes a leather water bottle from her bladder and sets off to find a mythic sacred watering hole.

Also by the same author The Tamarind Seed about one woman's quest to find herself through trying to grow "Tamarinds" in a disused Honda Civic.

 

[Jeff Davis]

I am reading The Infinite Water Bottle by Akende Wembe. Its been nominated for a Starbucks Coffee award. Its about a boy whose family are killed in a plane crash and so he is brought up by a family of giraffes. The momma giraffe dies from a drought that threatens to kill all the animals of the village and so he makes a leather water bottle from her bladder and sets off to find a mythic sacred watering hole.

Also by the same author The Tamarind Seed about one woman's quest to find herself through trying to grow "Tamarinds" in a disused Honda Civic.

Your imagination is to be commended! In today's world that we all live in, that can only mean one thing...RUN!

 

[sagesigma]

Is it just me, or are typos really getting common EVERYWHERE? Seriously, it seems like there is a plague of the "typo" type in play.

Keel's books are bizarre, just in and of themselves. For instance, what the heck is the story behind the book, "Why UFOs"? Are you familiar with that?

I have not heard of that one...I looked it up on Amazon and it is saying it is the same as Operation Trojan Horse - does that seem right? Operation Trojan Horse, I thought anyway, was Keel hinting at some sort of acted/staged purpose behind UFOs sightings and landings that he speculated on with his data analysis of newspaper clippings of the time. Or maybe he was even hinting at a possible demonic/elemental hint at the source of UFOs. At least that is what I picked up on after reading the book. I always think that Keel's work is an accurate, peripheral insight on the true origin of UFOs, but that he could never quite spell it out to a T like the ETHers. That fact alone is why I personally believe his work is closer to the truth in respect to lights in the sky than many other writers on the subject (again, just my opinion)

 

[Jeff Davis]

I have not heard of that one...I looked it up on Amazon and it is saying it is the same as Operation Trojan Horse - does that seem right? Operation Trojan Horse, I thought anyway, was Keel hinting at some sort of acted/staged purpose behind UFOs sightings and landings that he speculated on with his data analysis of newspaper clippings of the time. Or maybe he was even hinting at a possible demonic/elemental hint at the source of UFOs. At least that is what I picked up on after reading the book. I always think that Keel's work is an accurate, peripheral insight on the true origin of UFOs, but that he could never quite spell it out to a T like the ETHers. That fact alone is why I personally believe his work is closer to the truth in respect to lights in the sky than many other writers on the subject (again, just my opinion)

A few years ago I had a wonderful opportunity come my way. I was at an open air flea market out about 35 miles northeast of where I live. Beautiful day. I remember it very well. I had only been there about 15 minutes when I walked up on a young man set up under the shade of some trees, located on the peripheral edge of this large cleared field. He had books strewn about on a couple of upright tables and on several blankets on the ground as he was still bringing them out of his minivan. My eyes just about popped out of their sockets when I realized that a vast amount of them were those consisting of all manner of esoteric wonder. Tons of UFO books, Fortean considerations of every type, along with books on everything from exotic kite building to esoteric horror film stars and macabre entertainment. He stated that he was selling the books for another gentleman that had recently acquired them at an estate sale. I purchased about 60 books right then, and then followed up with him over the next two weeks to finally meet with him and score some far rarer books directly from where he was staying. In these books were several of Keel's books including a pristine paper back copy of "Why UFOs" which he just gave me out of the blue as a thank you.

Having always wanted to own a nice full size hardback copy of Keel's Operation Trojan Horse, sadly I had yet to come across a copy that I could afford to own. As you can imagine I was absolutely delighted that Anomalist Books reprinted it. Now I have a nice full size copy that I can beat to death. One that I can actually read, and re-read. Not because I couldn't make out the print the first time, but because it is an undeniably killer book. So I get the new reprint and thoroughly reacquaint myself with the book which as you elude to, I find impossible too logically dismiss with respect for Keel's research.

At this point I am all fired up. I am going to read anything I've got by Keel again when all of a sudden I realize, "hey, I have that paperback that I haven't even cracked the cover on. Needless to say, was I ever in for a disappointment. Now you know why...I just don't have a clue as to how that came about.

I, like yourself, think Keel was a man due far and away more than he ever received in his lifetime. I honestly think of him as a genius of sorts. Self made, ascribed, and appointed, he was of that capacity IMO nonetheless.

 

[ALPHA ROMEO UNIFORM]

Half way through "Left of East Gate " which I been near the location many years ago and odd thing is having some strange stuff happen since such as seeing a apperation of a women in surgery clothing and half of a lady walking through a wall. Also weird dreams which seeing white glowing beings . Odd noises and yes a dragonfly type drone.

 

[Jeff Davis]

Is it just me or are there quite a few typos in The Eighth Tower? I spent a lot of money on an out of print copy of that book and don't remember so many errors. Still a great book, but maybe a second edition of the reprint would be better received?

That whole reprint/expensive originals gets a bit annoying when searching out the information. I've done that more than once with rare vinyl. Paid a small fortune only to have the record be reissued a few months later. I've more or less let that aspect of my collecting obsessions go their own way. The only thing that really matters is the information, and yes, you are a trillion percent correct (that's very correct) The Eighth Tower's typos are a joke. Pathetic. The Eighth Tower could have used an 8th grade English student to proof read it and have been much better off for it.

 

[PCarr]

I've got "The Better Angels of our Nature" by Steven Pinker on audiobook and am re-reading "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn. My next Terry Pratchett book is "Interesting Times."

I also dip randomly into the paperback edition of Forbidden Science by Jacques Vallee, which is pretty great.

 

[smcder]

I've got "The Better Angels of our Nature" by Steven Pinker on audiobook and am re-reading "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn. My next Terry Pratchett book is "Interesting Times."

I also dip randomly into the paperback edition of Forbidden Science by Jacques Vallee, which is pretty great.

I'd be interested in your take on the first two books when you finish.

 

[Nathaniel]

 

[sagesigma]

That whole reprint/expensive originals gets a bit annoying when searching out the information. I've done that more than once with rare vinyl. Paid a small fortune only to have the record be reissued a few months later. I've more or less let that aspect of my collecting obsessions go their own way. The only thing that really matters is the information, and yes, you are a trillion percent correct (that's very correct) The Eighth Tower's typos are a joke. Pathetic. The Eighth Tower could have used an 8th grade English student to proof read it and have been much better off for it.

I know; I spent a fortune before getting hitched (knowing full well the fun money was going to go away) on Vallee's original stuff and Keel's stuff. I am still trying to find that Jim Brandons "Rebirth of Pan" title that Bishop is going on about all of the time, but that one is a bit too pricey.

 

[sagesigma]

Ok, I'm on a new one : Edgar Cayce's "Story of Jesus"; so far so good but only through one chapter. Has anyone read it? Does anyone have an advice on books featuring his work? I'd like to check out more of his readings...seems like maybe he is in line with a Keel, Jung, or possibly even PK Dick?

 

[Oakenwulf]

I was bored