TWIB-IV [Insert Edition Number Here]
Apr. 30th, 2010 04:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akujunkanI'm probably going to start over once I finish posting the backlog. Anyway here are the two books I read the week of February 15-21.
1) The Authoritarians - Bob Altemeyer
This excellent book (available free here) examines what traits predispose individuals to be come authoritarians, be they Tom DeLay-style leaders or red state followers. Altemeyer is by his own admission writing for a popular audience; the tone is rather incongruously lighthearted for such a serious subject, and much of the academic stuff gets shifted to the footnotes. (Incidentally, I highly recommend reading them, as some of the funniest stuff gets shifted there as well.) Overall I found Altemeyer's thesis convincing, well-supported, and illuminating, to the point that I plan to read his academic works as well.
2) 知っているようで以外と知らないお寺さん入門 - 渋谷 申博
An Introduction to Buddhist Temples – Shibuya Nobuhiro
Bearing the supertitle : Things You Thought You Knew But Surprisingly Don’t, this volume is something of a mixed bag for the $9.00 price tag. The illustrations are many and useful, and the text covers a lot of ground: Buddhist iconography, Buddhist sects, temple architecture, and funeral etiquette, to name just a few of the subjects touched on. The downside, of course, is that it touches upon these subjects but doesn’t explore any of them deeply, with the result that readers will likely have a better idea of what they don't know about Buddhism after reading the text than the feeling that they've been immersed in the topics covered. In other words, it's a good introductory text, but only an introduction.
That will be all.
1) The Authoritarians - Bob Altemeyer
This excellent book (available free here) examines what traits predispose individuals to be come authoritarians, be they Tom DeLay-style leaders or red state followers. Altemeyer is by his own admission writing for a popular audience; the tone is rather incongruously lighthearted for such a serious subject, and much of the academic stuff gets shifted to the footnotes. (Incidentally, I highly recommend reading them, as some of the funniest stuff gets shifted there as well.) Overall I found Altemeyer's thesis convincing, well-supported, and illuminating, to the point that I plan to read his academic works as well.
2) 知っているようで以外と知らないお寺さん入門 - 渋谷 申博
An Introduction to Buddhist Temples – Shibuya Nobuhiro
Bearing the supertitle : Things You Thought You Knew But Surprisingly Don’t, this volume is something of a mixed bag for the $9.00 price tag. The illustrations are many and useful, and the text covers a lot of ground: Buddhist iconography, Buddhist sects, temple architecture, and funeral etiquette, to name just a few of the subjects touched on. The downside, of course, is that it touches upon these subjects but doesn’t explore any of them deeply, with the result that readers will likely have a better idea of what they don't know about Buddhism after reading the text than the feeling that they've been immersed in the topics covered. In other words, it's a good introductory text, but only an introduction.
That will be all.
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OMG- thank you!
on 2010-05-01 02:16 am (UTC)Re: OMG- thank you!
on 2010-05-02 06:52 pm (UTC)