fruit - aNobii

Books (289)

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- Destiny Disrupted (10)
- A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes
- By Tamim Ansary
- Finished on Mar 15, 2012
  
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Destiny Disrupted

Everything happens for a reason.

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— Mar 16, 2012 | Add your feedback
- The Year 1000 (8)
- By Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger
- Finished on Feb 3, 2012
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- 國境之南太陽之西 (4169)
- By Haruki Murakami
- Finished on Jan 5, 2012
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- Come On In! (13)
- New Poems
- By Charles Bukowski
- Reading
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- 鄉土中國 (96)
- By 費孝通
- Finished
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- Spellbound (3)
- By James Essinger
- Finished on Jun 26, 2011
  
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Spellbound

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A fascinating journey of the Eng language

The title of the book 'Spell Bound - The Improbable Story of English Spelling' suggests it as a bit nerdy. I couldn't tell exactly why I picked the book from the shelf in the first place but it soon manifests itself to be unbelievably fascinating.
The book is not only about the spelling nor only th ... (continue)

The title of the book 'Spell Bound - The Improbable Story of English Spelling' suggests it as a bit nerdy. I couldn't tell exactly why I picked the book from the shelf in the first place but it soon manifests itself to be unbelievably fascinating.
The book is not only about the spelling nor only the language itself, but a lot of trivial and intriguing stories of history. Like why we have different words for animal (pig) and its meat (pork), why Eng got the simplest grammar system among the european language, the name France/French was actually the name of a Germanic tribe. Of course, by reading the book you understand a lot more about the Eng language and the British history.
The writing style of the writer contributes a lot to the book. As a linguist his English is exceptionally good but not with any intention to make it academic, so the reading is an easy ride. He would also give you some guidance to imagine the historic background as if he knew ordinary readers would encounter what exact difficulties at certain points. I remember when he wrote the large number of dialects in Britain and the great varieties each of them preserved - he asked you to imagine at that time the farthest place most people had been to won't be more than one day's walking distance. Amazing, eh?
(I haven't checked anobii for ages but I feel like writing something for this lovely book!)

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— Jun 26, 2011 | Add your feedback
- Mao's China and After (13)
- A History of the People's Republic, Third Edition
- By Maurice Meisner
- Finished on Apr 13, 2011
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- Macau (1)
- The Imaginary City
- By Jonathan Porter
- Unfinished
  
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- Justice (283)
- What's the Right Thing to Do?
- By Michael J. Sandel
- Finished on Nov 18, 2010
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- Vertigo (20)
- By W G Sebald
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- Childhood's End (139)
- By Arthur C. Clarke
- Finished on Oct 12, 2010
  
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Childhood's End

I can't call myself a sci-fi fan except the brief period I was quite into 倪匡 when I was 12. I am thus in no place to point out if Arthur Clarke is indeed (one of) the best sci-fi writer.
Yet Arthur Clarke indeed illustrated a vision of how far human being can go (as in 2001, 2010), and how we may en ... (continue)

I can't call myself a sci-fi fan except the brief period I was quite into 倪匡 when I was 12. I am thus in no place to point out if Arthur Clarke is indeed (one of) the best sci-fi writer.
Yet Arthur Clarke indeed illustrated a vision of how far human being can go (as in 2001, 2010), and how we may end up, as in this book. The stark difference between Clarke and 倪匡 (argh..sorry I got nobody else to compare with) was quite stunning. The stories by the latter are more like one man adventures or one ET encounters yet Clarke was able to depict the whole future worlds which are totally beyond his time.
The End of Childhood is not about mankind's adventure but the end of it, while another creature from outerspace arrived the Earth and asserted its ruling. The story spans a long period of time and it's growingly more intersting as it develops. Clarke is such a genious that he not only plant an vivid vision in your mind but intrigue endless philosophical questions which have been asking throughout human history.

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— Oct 12, 2010 | Add your feedback
2010 Odysse-
y Two Uk
- 2010 Odyssey Two Uk (155)
- By Arthur C. Clarke
- Finished on Sep 25, 2010
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- 2001 (323)
- A Space Odyssey
- By Arthur C. Clarke
- Finished on Sep 4, 2010
  
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2001

Completely blown away. On a second thought tho, it's entirely bizarre, why a sci-fi written in words (no photos, no illustrations) could be that vivid and beautiful in depicting our Universe? What's more, I'm reading 2001 in the year 2010...

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— Sep 4, 2010 | Add your feedback
- 漩渦 1 (254)
- By 伊藤潤二
- Finished on Aug 4, 2010
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- MW 1 (87)
- By 手塚治虫
- Finished on Jul 14, 2010
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