What are you reading now?

[Vodka Magic 2G]

Finished this a 2 days ago:

Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened the East

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374253854/qid=1114551403/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-6523178-1445628

That i found to be a page turner.

Started on this:

1421 : The Year China Discovered America

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006054094X/qid=1114551353/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-6523178-1445628?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

so far so good.

[DaiSuki]

I've just finished 1421 (wasn't it 'the year China discovered the world'?) Not bad, although I'm not sure it needed to be as long as it was.

Dunno what to start next.

[oracle]

i found 1421 dissapointing, couldnt get on with the authors style at all

i am currently reading the new tom clancy book, its ish atm just doesnt seem as compelling as his older stuff

[Kungfu]

Finished Bringing Down The House late last night. Cool story and well written.

Decided I needed something off the wall so I bought Naked Lunch. I've already read it many times but I feel its always a worthwhile experience to return to the classics.

[SaijoBob]

Finished this a 2 days ago:

Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened the East

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374253854/qid=1114551403/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-6523178-1445628

That i found to be a page turner.

I read that book too. Amazing story of how the guy arrives in Japan and finds himself tied to Tokugawa. All the more amazing because it is true!

[tokyochojin]

Just read the reviews on Amazon, looks a cracker any of the Japan based guys know if it is available here...?

[SaijoBob]

Tokyochojin, try:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/0374253854/qid=1114583998/sr=8-5/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i5_xgl14/249-8882649-8662759

Not sure if you've used Amazon.co.jp before, but you can set it up so that you pay when it's delivered for an extra 200 or so Yen. They are also pretty quick in my experience!

[tokyochojin]

Sweet i didn't know you could pay on delivery!

Cheers

[Vodka Magic 2G]

I read that book too. Amazing story of how the guy arrives in Japan and finds himself tied to Tokugawa. All the more amazing because it is true!

yeah its wicked.

A part of Tokoy is named after Willam Adams also (Anjincho). Which is pretty amazing

he(author) has another one which i read that was good also:

White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and North Africa's One Million European Slaves

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340794690/qid=1114602425/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_11_2/026-2019719-4231625

[tokyochojin]

A guy in the office kindly bought me

"The book of five rings" Miyamoto Musashi

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1590302486/qid=1114650140/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl/202-3179892-5531064

&

"Musashi" Eiji Yoshikawa

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/4770019572/qid=1114650178/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_0/202-3179892-5531064

Looks like i'm slacking at work, and it's there way of instilling some Samurai spirit into me. So it appears I've got some serious reading ahead!

[SaijoBob]

"Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa is a fantastic book! I couldn't put it down after I started reading it.

I've started reading "Heike" by the same guy recently. It hasn't grabbed me as much yet, but I've got some travel coming up next week. I'll try to get through it then.

[Kungfu]

I would recommend Angry White Pyjamas by Robert Twigger for a funny and interesting look at Japan. I learnt one important rule from that book don't mess with Tokyo Riot Police, EVER!

[bowser123]

I still don't know how Milo makes money on his egss though.

It's obvious, isn't it?
He buys the eggs for 7 cents and sells them for 5.


Seriously though, it has taken me numerous readings and a post-it-note for me to work it out. Here goes:

Milo buys the eggs from Sicily for 1 cent.

He secretly sells them to Malta for 4.25c. This means he's currently up 3.25 in profit.

The shop in Malta then sells the eggs back to Milo for 7c. This means the shop has made 2.75c.

Now the key thing. Milo is the shop in Malta. He's buying his own eggs back from himself. The shop is part of the syndicate, which is just a euphemism for Milo and for the fact that Milo is manipulating the market and artificially pushing prices up. Nobody on the barracks knows that Milo sells the eggs to the shop in Malta in the first place, bar Yossarian who he's just told.
Milo is the syndicate.

So, Milo has made 3.25 for selling the eggs to the shop, the shops profit stands at 2.75 for reselling them. This equals a profit of 6c currently.

Milo then sells the eggs to his comrades for 5c after he's paid 7c for them. For this stage he has just lost 2c. Take those 2c away from his previous profits of 6c, and he's left 4c up.

Which is the exact same profit he'd have made if he'd just cut the middleman out and sold directly from Sicily to the troops. But he doesn't cut out the middleman (his shop in Malta) for two reasons. The Mess Hall at the camp only pays 5c because they think they are getting a bargain, as eggs normally cost 7c in Malta. If the shop disappeared the troops would know that Milo is sourcing the eggs and they'd know that paying 5c for an item that cost 1c isn't great. The second reason it's done like this is so the author can baffle our heads.

All this is mostly revealed when talking to Yossarian about the eggs, but a few paragraphs on Milo explains the full process when we find out he's doing the exact same thing with the tomatoes to the Colonel and explains the cotton story at the start of the book.


This Milo section, along with Major Major Major's bit have been my favourite by far. I'm starting to see all the early madcap stories that were threw at the reader in the early stages now being developed on and being made sense of.

[anephric]

Completely understanding Milo's despicable capitalist webs of profiteering is a scary thing...

[bowser123]

I was more concerned with finding out why Orr was getting battered by blondie and her shoe. Yoss was told, but he couldn't understand a word as Orr had put the horse chestnuts back in his mouth. Doh!

Love the reasoning as to why Orr places food under his cheeks.