Vaclav Smil
Czech-Canadian scientist and policy analyst studying energy, environment, food and technical change; Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Manitoba.
Continent by Jim Crace
New, and highly recommended, first-time readings have included von Rezzori (G. von Rezzori: The Snows of Yesteryear and G. von Rezzori: Memoirs of an Anti-Semite ) and Crace (J. Crace: Continent ), and Jean Renoir’s memories of his father (J. Renoir: Renoir, My Father ).
on vaclavsmil.com · 6 Jul 2012 · Report
Is China Buying the World? by Peter Nolan
And among the books on global economy I must recommend Nolan’s look at China and the world (P. Nolan: Is China Buying the World? ).
on vaclavsmil.com · 6 Jul 2012 · Report
Memoirs of an Anti-Semite by Gregor von Rezzori
New, and highly recommended, first-time readings have included von Rezzori (G. von Rezzori: The Snows of Yesteryear and G. von Rezzori: Memoirs of an Anti-Semite ) and Crace (J. Crace: Continent ), and Jean Renoir’s memories of his father (J. Renoir: Renoir, My Father ).
on vaclavsmil.com · 6 Jul 2012 · Report
Overpotential by M.N. Eisler
I have also appreciated Eisler’s sobering history of fuel cells falling short of their repeatedly exaggerated promise (M.N. Eisler: Overpotential )
on vaclavsmil.com · 6 Jul 2012 · Report
Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to al-Madinah & Meccah by Richard F. Burton
This spring I re-read again Burton’s great two-volume classic of a pilgrimage to Mecca (R. F. Burton: Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to al-Madinah & Meccah ), one of the greatest, and the most informed travelogues ever written.
on vaclavsmil.com · 6 Jul 2012 · Report
Renoir, My Father by Jean Renoir
New, and highly recommended, first-time readings have included von Rezzori (G. von Rezzori: The Snows of Yesteryear and G. von Rezzori: Memoirs of an Anti-Semite ) and Crace (J. Crace: Continent ), and Jean Renoir’s memories of his father (J. Renoir: Renoir, My Father ).
on vaclavsmil.com · 6 Jul 2012 · Report
The Passage of Power by Robert Caro
Decades ago I was impressed by Caro’s first volume of Lyndon Johnson biography: this year came out a no-less readable latest instalment ( R. Caro: The Passage of Power ).
on vaclavsmil.com · 6 Jul 2012 · Report
The Snows of Yesteryear by Gregor von Rezzori
New, and highly recommended, first-time readings have included von Rezzori (G. von Rezzori: The Snows of Yesteryear and G. von Rezzori: Memoirs of an Anti-Semite ) and Crace (J. Crace: Continent ), and Jean Renoir’s memories of his father (J. Renoir: Renoir, My Father ).
on vaclavsmil.com · 6 Jul 2012 · Report
Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
Another enjoyable re-read was Beerbohm's playful Zuleika story (M. Beerbohm: Zuleika Dobson ).
on vaclavsmil.com · 6 Jul 2012 · Report
Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk
Right now I am in the middle of Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul (Knopf, 2005).
on vaclavsmil.com · 1 Sep 2006 · Report
Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz: Midaq Alley (Heinemann Educational, 1975), Children of the Alley (Doubleday, 1996), Akhenaten (Anchor Books, 2000)
on vaclavsmil.com · 1 Sep 2006 · Report
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
But there is one book I have been rereading (usually large random chunks of it, not cover to cover) once every 12 to 18 months for decades: Melville's Moby Dick (1851), for its inimitable combination of sublime and mundane, poetic and scientific, thrill and repose.
on vaclavsmil.com · 1 Sep 2006 · Report
The First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Emotionally, I was much taken by Solzhenitsyn's First Circle (Harper & Row, 1968), the book I could not read as a citizen of the westernmost province of the Soviet Empire and read in the original right after we came to Pennsylvania in 1969.
on vaclavsmil.com · 1 Sep 2006 · Report
The Rotters' Club by Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe: The Winshaw Legacy (Knopf, 1995), The Rotters' Club (Viking, 2001), The House of Sleep (Knopf, 1998)
on vaclavsmil.com · 1 Sep 2006 · Report
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