Monday Link List

Last week of school! And we start the week off with a bunch of random things.

Coetzee Cover

Here’s the cover to J.M. Coetzee’s upcoming book, Summertime. [via The Elegant Variation]

Neuroscience!

The neuroscience behind Yorick’s Ghost and related optical illusions. [via Scientific American]

Weepy Doctor

An interview with David Tennant as he prepares to hand over the steering wheel to Matt Smith. [via BBC]

Geeky Ideas To Save The Book

I watched this rather intriguing presentation on Friday. [via The New Yorker]

There are some really great points that he raises. In particular, I think the last idea he raises is something I’d really like to see.

It also reminded me that I have a half-ambition to have my own tiny bookstore far in the future…

Small Updates

Brr, last week of school! This week, I have a test on Friday with too much material to realistically cover. I also have a test on Monday. Then it’s off and away for the exams.

Not been writing, though I have a fairly good idea of what I want to do.

I did get my hands on the video for Series 4 of Doctor Who (too many spoilers on the interwebs), and I got started on it yesterday. I thought the opening was not bad, though not exactly fantastic. I really didn’t like the idea, but the characters managed to sustain it for me. The curveball right at the end certainly helped too. I’ll probably comment a little on it as I make my way through Series 4.

Starting on my final book before school ends today, and it’s Roberto Bolaño’s By Night In Chile. It’ll be the last book I’ll be reading purely for entertainment for a while, I think, because I’m diving into a new run through Ulysses during the break.

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New Loot

Dropped by at Kinokuniya, got a couple of presents for a couple of people, and also added to my library. Here’s what came in through the window:

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
Mark Haddon

I’ve read this before, actually, but I just had to add it to my library. It was also a long time ago since I read it, so I thought it would be a good time to make the purchase. It’s a book I remember being tremendously amused with, actually, and I’m very fond of it.

Waiting For Godot
Samuel Beckett

I have no theatre on my shelves, and I figured that that grievance had to be addressed. Something I know and love to begin with.

By Night In Chile
Roberto Bolaño

I’m devouring 2666 rather happily (more on that some other time), and so far the one affirmation I’ve had from it is that Bolaño is a magnificent writer. I’m keen to explore a bit more, so I’m starting with this.

Your Inner Fish
Neil Shubin

This volume is a natural history book exploring the evolution of the human body. I’ve had my eye on it for quite a while now, and now that the paperback is out, I’m happy to see my first science book in quite a bit. (I think the last Science book I bought was a Feynman, and that was the middle of last year, if memory serves.)

Selected Poems
T.S. Eliot

Eliot is one of the most important of writers to me, so it’ll probably seem more than a bit strange if I told you now that I gave away or sold all of my Eliot. A recent quote invoked by a friend of mine reminded me that it was high-time I restored Eliot to my shelf, and so here he is, in a lovely ff edition.

Murder In The Cathedral
T.S. Eliot

As a combination of the two previous points on Eliot and theatre, I also got my hands on an Eliot play. I’ve never read this before, and now’s as good a time as any, though that’s just a euphemism of a sort, since it’ll be a while before I get to it.

All in all, it went slightly over my budget, and I got a gift for someone whom I probably shouldn’t have got a gift for, but I think we’re doing well, especially with the return of science, the restoration of Eliot and the first seeds of theatre. All very good.

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