OcUK Book Club #13: David Eagleman - Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives

[Nix]

New book time!

It seems a many of you enjoyed our last title, so let's hope this one is just as successful!

Our thirteenth title as submitted by Masterdog and selected by Ahleckz is the thought-provoking Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives written by David Eagleman reflecting his personal philosophy of possibilianism, which was published in February 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sum_(book)

Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, also simply called Sum (pronounced /ˈsʊm/ suum), is a work of speculative fiction by the neuroscientist David Eagleman. It is in press in 23 languages as of 2011. The Los Angeles Times described it as "teeming, writhing with imagination." Barnes and Noble named it one of the Best Books of 2009.

Over to you!

The OcUK Book Club is open to all members to contribute in any thread at any time. An index of our past threads and discussions can be found via our group here.

 

[Masterdog]

Also, let me assure anyone who's not heard of it that it's not a weighty philosophical tome - it's very fun and a light read

 

[semi-pro waster]

Ordered it now, I'm in for this again. Got to say I both love and hate 1-Click ordering, it's far too easy to just indulge myself now.

 

[jp_bl_68]

You can read the first few pages over on the rainforest site and I can agree with Masterdog that it is light and quite funny.

It's probably not something I would normally choose to read but it actually looks quite enjoyable.


Does any kind of continuous narrative develop or is it just the author's musings on the afterlife?

 

[Ahleckz]

It's on offer on Amazon atm, only £2.79! No excuses now eh?
Will order my copy soon. It's been a while since I've read a 'light' philosophy book so should be enjoyable and hopefully we'd get some good discussion.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Cheers for pointing out it was available for £2.79, when I searched before it was under the book name and that showed me one at about £5 which I had ordered not realising there was anything cheaper. I've also just realised that 1-Click doesn't allow you to select the super saver delivery as a default, what a gyp.

 

[sigma]

I can only see the £5 copy.

 

[semi-pro waster]

I can only see the £5 copy.

Maybe if you try searching under "David Eagleman" that will help, it seems to have gone up in price slightly since I bought it as it's at £3.19 but it's still well under £5.

My copy has arrived now so I think it'll be the next book up, was considering a Philip K. Dick but might as well fire on with this one.

 

[semi-pro waster]

So who's finished this and is ready to discuss it?

It's an entertaining and thought provoking hour or twos worth of whimsy. It felt like the sort of book I'd quite like to have written if I was smarter, funnier, had greater utility of the English language and a better imagination.

 

[sigma]

I read the sample pages on the 'net but wasn't really blown away so have decided to concentrate on other books I own.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Has anyone else read it at all? It's been almost a month since the thread was started so that's got to be enough time to read it hasn't it?

 

[shroomz]

Definitely going to read this one, have we had Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan yet? If not, can I submit it for consideration for the next read?