Quake3World

let's try a thread dedicated to those books you've read that were so enlightening they made you think "everyone should read this right now"

here's three of mine to start off with:

End This Depression Now! - Paul Krugman - currently reading this, and it explains in layman's terms why what governments are currently doing to address the downturn is totally wrong, as well as giving a primer in how we got into this shitcreek in the first place

Liberalism: A Counter History - Domenico Losurdo - goes a long to explaining the apparent paradox of the rise of Liberalism as a political doctrine simultaneous with the rise in the practice of slavery by so-called Liberal countries (this should be called the Jefferson Paradox), and sheds a fuckload of light on why the Anglo-American world is what it is today

Living in the End Times - Slavoj Zizek - i could have chosen almost any book by Zizek (except the ones about the incomprehensible Lacan). he's one of those philosophers who's all about interrogating the questions we ask rather than the answers people provide, so if you want your epistemological framework all shook up from a broadly Marxist perspective, Zizek is your guy. he can be opaque as mud at times, but worth it for the pretty awe-inspiring insights. plus he's over 9000 times smarter than any other public intellectual you've ever read, seen or heard (and his lectures are all over Youtube fyi)

yeah, lot of politics in there. sue me

An obvious one for most: Ishmael - Quinn

Hard going, but definitely worth a read some time in your life, some Dostoevsky:

The Brothers Karamazov - The father of the titular brothers is murdered, and what follows is a revealing social commentary.

Crime & Punishment - Not light reading in the slightest. An analysis of what drives men to murder, that asks if some men even have the right to murder. It's a truly thought-provoking book. Raskolnikov, the central character, makes you ask questions of yourself while disgusting you with his justifications for doing what he does.

The Idiot - Compared to the other Dostoevsky fare mentioned above, The Idiot is seemingly a funny, light-hearted book, but of all of them, probably had the biggest gut-punch in store for the reader.

Each of those had profound effects on me in different ways, even though it took a long time to get a grasp on the old Russian social nuances.

Pale Blue Dot - Sagan

Mat Linnett wrote:Hard going, but definitely worth a read some time in your life, some Dostoevsky:

The Brothers Karamazov - The father of the titular brothers is murdered, and what follows is a revealing social commentary.

Crime & Punishment - Not light reading in the slightest. An analysis of what drives men to murder, that asks if some men even have the right to murder. It's a truly thought-provoking book. Raskolnikov, the central character, makes you ask questions of yourself while disgusting you with his justifications for doing what he does.

The Idiot - Compared to the other Dostoevsky fare mentioned above, The Idiot is seemingly a funny, light-hearted book, but of all of them, probably had the biggest gut-punch in store for the reader.

Each of those had profound effects on me in different ways, even though it took a long time to get a grasp on the old Russian social nuances.

I very much want to read Dostoevksy, heard good things.

Catch-22

A cutting satire on the absurdity of war and the patent insanity required to partake in it. Birthed the phrase "Catch-22".

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Everyone should know this.

A Cambodian Odyssey.

This one you might not know- an autobiographical memoir of a man who lost everything and everyone he knew in the communist revolution in Cambodia; how he somehow survived being sent to his torture and death not once, but twice, and gives an incredible first person perspective on the slaughter of 1/8ths of the population of a country. Made all the more poignant by the fact that Ngor was murdered in New York in 1996.)

Mat Linnett wrote:Crime & Punishment - Not light reading in the slightest. An analysis of what drives men to murder, that asks if some men even have the right to murder. It's a truly thought-provoking book. Raskolnikov, the central character, makes you ask questions of yourself while disgusting you with his justifications for doing what he does.

read this. to put it as drily and abstractly as possible, it's a counterpoint of consequentialist morality (actions can only be justified by their consequences) and absolutist morality (certain actions are intrinsically good or bad, regardless of consequences) - but that's only if you strip out the psychological insights, i.e. the interesting parts. and no, it isn't light reading

A few recent ones I've checked out:

Sophie's World (Jostein Gaarder) - A unique book that is essentially a history of philosophy wrapped up in a good mystery story. Well written and informative, you finish the book with a bit of a sense of wonder at the universe. Makes a good case for dropping the mundane and penetrating yourself for some answers. The story itself is also quite strange and kind of wraps itself up in itself, if that makes sense. The author does a good job mixing somewhat dry reading with a sense of childish wonder to keep the pace going. Like I said, a unique read.

Zen Guitar (Philip Toshio Sudo) - A sort of instruction manual for playing guitar with a Zen twist, although almost all of the methodology in this book could be applied to any instrument or indeed, any endeavour. It doesn't have any lessons really, at least not in a traditional sense (etudes, scale practice, etc.) It's more about how to handle the instrument and become a master of it. He talks about the importance of quality in an instrument, and about conveying a message in any means possible, rather than aspiring to become a slave to technique or whatever like most "musicians" do. I've read it likely more than five times and I still enjoy picking through it from time to time.

The Holographic Universe (Michael Talbot) - A strange book that offers a hypothesis for the nature of reality, essentially. The author describes his theory of how the universe is essentially a giant interconnected web of energetic frequencies which the human body then perceives through the senses. It's a bit hard to wrap your head around but he moves fairly slowly in the beginning, touching on the nature of holograms, then onto various aspects of consciousness and its quirks. Then he goes right into the rabbit hole, talking about everything from telekinetic powers, time travel, aura-based healing, non-locality, out-of-body and near-death experiences, meditation, mass hallucinations, altered states of consciousness, LSD trips, hypnosis, telepathy, etc., etc. Quite a fucking strange read, but the author actually does a pretty good job of attaching all of his theories about the paranormal back into his main theory of a holographic universe, and uses the hologram theory to explain all of it. It's definitely quite far out but at the same time it's well structured and comes off sounding at least plausible. The author himself claims to have been psychic and offers some very fucked up stories about his psychic nature. Even if you don't believe in the stuff, it's a good read simply to force yourself to think about some of the very strange things that happen in the world.

Currently reading The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda. Also a very strange read. The more I read about shamanism the more I want to move into the woods and drink ayahuasca brews for the rest of my days. I've read that the story is entirely fictional with some decent proof to back it up, but either way it's a fascinating read even if it is fake.

Mat Linnett wrote: Crime & Punishment - Not light reading in the slightest. An analysis of what drives men to murder, that asks if some men even have the right to murder. It's a truly thought-provoking book. Raskolnikov, the central character, makes you ask questions of yourself while disgusting you with his justifications for doing what he does.

Sounds interesting... I'll have to look for this one.

Lolita, Pale Fire, Catch-22, Nothing To Envy, The Trial, Decline and Fall, The Scoop, Tom Sawyer, nineteen eighty-four, The Brothers Karamazov, Crime And Punishment, Money

Absolutely anything by P G Wodehouse

Lolita is my favourite book of all time. It's a difficult book, but every single line is like poetry.

Has anyone read Ulysses?

heavy fiction bias so far ITT

just re-read Neuromancer

William Gibson wrote:The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

greatest opening line. EVER.

I'll second feedback's Catch 22 recommendation. I read it when I was very young, and most of it flew over my head. But re-reading it recently, I found it a sheer joy to read, with the Catch itself driven home on almost every page.

Don Carlos wrote:Has anyone read Ulysses?

James Joyce?
Not yet. I hear it's a bugger to get to grips with.

Slaughterhouse Five, Fahrenheit 451

The Alchemist
http://www.amazon.com/The-Alchemist-Pau ... 0061122416

The Motorcycle Diaries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Motorc ... ries_(book)

The End of Faith, by Sam Harris.

Very easy to read, common sense, and convincing. From what I understand, its faith-death toll is pretty high.

Don Carlos wrote:Has anyone read Ulysses?

i liked Portrait and The Dead (a novella?), but never got through Ulysses... it's more of the time commitment than anything else, just haven't felt like dedicating an indefinite amount of time to what looks like a massively pretentious modernist novel. don't get me wrong, i like Magic Mountain and even the Tin Drum. i dunno. maybe if i knew a damn thing about ireland i'd care more?

ps- Zizek is lols. that guy is right up there with Noam Chomsky in terms of leveraging a fruity public image into somehow being taken seriously as an academic.

Noam Chomsky's reputation in academics has less to do with his fruity public image than his extensive academic publications over 55 years and counting.

menkent wrote:
ps- Zizek is lols. that guy is right up there with Noam Chomsky in terms of leveraging a fruity public image into somehow being taken seriously as an academic.

Stupidest thing I've read in months.

menkent wrote:ps- Zizek is lols. that guy is right up there with Noam Chomsky in terms of leveraging a fruity public image into somehow being taken seriously as an academic.

lol, ok

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Epic world war 2 novel that has about six or seven different story thread that all come together in the end. It's better than most of his work and most of his work is excellent. I must have read this one about 6 times and it's tremendously entertaining every time.

Anything by Hunter S. Thompson
The man invented a style of writing that i fell in love with many years ago, nearly all of his books are like gospel to me.

Wired for War - P.W. Singer
One of those books that's an eye opener - this man enters the world of drones, speaks to nearly everyone involved in making them, using them and thinking about them and paints a vivid picture of what tomorrow's military will look like. Excellent book and i wish to babby jesus there was some way to make people in the government read it before they sign off on the joint strike fighter deal.

Journy to the end of the night - Celine
Reads like a repeated barrage of fists in the gut, i remember only being able to deal with a few pages before it became too much. One of the most cynic books i ever read, what a hero.

etc.

Ryoki wrote:Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

I highly recommend Anathem as well.

Just finished that actually, loved it \0/